CHAPTER 17: DELIVERY.

By morning, Seraphina looked terrible.

She stood in front of the bathroom mirror and barely recognized herself. Her eyes were swollen and slightly red, dark circles sat beneath them and her hair looked like she had fought a hurricane and lost.

She looked tired…not sleepy tired but exhausted in a way that settled deep inside the bones. She splashed cold water onto her face again.

It didn't help…at this point, nothing helped. The words on the mirror kept replaying inside her head.

‘You looked behind you.’

Who the hell writes something like that? Who enters someone's bedroom twice and leaves without making a sound?

Her hands gripped the edge of the sink…no. She couldn't stay in this house anymore…not today at least, maybe not ever.

A knock sounded on the bathroom door.

"Sera?" Stephanie's voice came through softly. "You alive in there?" Seraphina exhaled shakily.

"Barely."

The door opened slowly and Stephanie poked her head inside. She had changed into office clothes and was holding two mugs of coffee. She took one look at her sister and sighed.

"You look like death."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She handed her a mug and Seraphina accepted it gratefully. For several seconds, neither woman spoke. Then Stephanie's expression softened.

"You don't have to go to work today."

"I do."

"No, you don't."

"I really do."

"You're traumatized."

"I'm also employed." Stephanie looked offended.

"You say that like those two things can't coexist." A small laugh escaped Seraphina before she could stop herself and that seemed to satisfy Stephanie.

"Better. You're laughing again." Seraphina looked down at her coffee and everything was strange. After everything, she still found herself laughing.

Maybe she was finally losing her mind…probably.

She finished getting dressed in silence. She wore a simple cream blouse, black pants and minimal makeup.

She couldn't bring herself to wear anything extra today because right now? Pretty seemed dangerous.

They were heading downstairs when the doorbell rang and both of them stopped immediately. The house became quiet and neither moved.

The bell rang again and Stephanie frowned. She wasn't good at hiding her expressions and it amused Seraphina most times.

"Are you expecting someone?"

"No." Another ring and Stephanie slowly walked toward the front door.

Seraphina followed behind her. The moment Stephanie looked through the peephole, her expression changed.

"What?" She didn't answer. "Stephanie."...still nothing and finally, she opened the door but nobody was there.

The porch stood empty beneath the morning sun.

No people, no cars…nothing.

Then Stephanie looked down and a package sat neatly on the welcome mat.

Brown paper…medium sized. No stamps, no delivery label and no sender. Also no return address.

The blood drained from Seraphina's face.

"No." Stephanie immediately picked it up. "Nope."

"Stephanie—"

"Hell no girl." She turned around and started walking back inside. "Absolutely not."

"What if it's important?"

"It most definitely isn't."

"What if—"

"It could literally be a human head." Seraphina blinked and smiled.

"...That's a little dramatic."

"We're being stalked by a psychopath."

"Fair."

Stephanie placed the package on the kitchen island like it was explosive and neither approached it…it simply sat there.

Quiet, ordinary and terrifying. Stephanie folded her arms.

"We're calling the police."

"We don't even know what it is."

"Exactly.".Curiosity slowly crept into Seraphina. The package didn't look threatening. No stains, no smell…no sounds…just paper.

Maybe it was harmless…maybe. What's the worst that can happen? She reached toward it and Stephanie slapped her hand.

"No."

"But—"

"No."

"I just want to look."

"People in horror movies say that." Seraphina sighed and Stephanie looked away for one second.

Just one and that was all it took. Seraphina grabbed the package.

"SERA!" But it was too late. She had already torn the paper open. Stephanie looked ready to faint and inside was a photo album. Nothing else…just silence.

They both stared.

"...A scrapbook?" Stephanie said finally and it was awfully beautiful. Dark blue leather, gold edges and it even looked expensive.

Seraphina slowly picked it up and the cover felt soft beneath her fingertips. Then she opened it and stopped breathing.

A photograph stared back at her…it was her.

Standing outside a grocery store and she remembered that day. It had been raining…she had been carrying flowers.

She slowly turned the page…another photo, still her walking into her office.

Another page. Her at the gym.

Another. Her front yard.

Another, the restaurant.

Another.

Another.

Another and every page contained her..Hundreds of photographs.

Some smiling, some distracted…some laughing and some alone. Some so close she could see individual strands of her hair.

Her breathing became uneven. "This..." Stephanie whispered. Page.

She was buying coffee.

Page.

She was fixing her makeup inside her car.

Next page.

She was asleep in that same car. Stephanie suddenly grabbed the album.

"What the hell?!" She flipped faster. Page after page. Seraphina outside the divorce lawyer's office.

Page, Seraphina entering her house. Next page, Seraphina standing by the pool…page. Seraphina crying beside her car.

"Oh my God." But Stephanie's voice sounded far away. The room tilted slightly and suddenly, Seraphina couldn't breathe properly.

Someone had followed her everywhere..For days, weeks and maybe longer but she didn't know. She didn't know anything anymore. Then Stephanie reached the last page and both women froze.

There was no picture…just handwriting.

Elegant, neat and beautiful. The color disappeared from Seraphina's face because she knew that handwriting.

She had seen it before. On her birthday cards, on anniversary letters and nn little notes left on the refrigerator.

She knew it. She knew it.

Her fingers began shaking and written across the page were seven simple words.

‘You always look away before I can say hello.’

Neither of them moved, then something slipped from the back cover.

A single photograph. It landed face down on the floor and Stephanie slowly bent to pick it up. She turned it over and screamed.

Seraphina snatched it immediately then her blood turned to ice.

It was a picture of her standing beside the bathroom sink, wearing the exact clothes she had on now…one hand holding coffee with her hair still slightly wet and it was taken from the hallway.

Taken...Fifteen minutes ago from inside this house.