110: Play it Again, Derrick – Pt. 2

“What are you talking about, Derrick?”

“Victoria, something’s not right,” he said, pacing near her side of the bed.

“Tell me, Derrick, what’s going on?

“I don’t know. At first, I thought it was a dream but now I don’t—I don’t know what it is. All I know is I keep repeating this day and it usually ends with your death.”

Looking at him incredulously, she waited for him to get to the punchline. But he just shrugged and moved closer to where she sat on the bed. “You don’t believe me?”

“That we’re in some weird version of Groundhog Day? Nope. Sorry.”

“Ok. In a moment, Mike’s gonna yell to me about the bacon burning.”

“Mike’s here?”

“Yes, he came to talk to you about a case: Bigfoot.”

“Oh, come on, Derrick!” Victoria exclaimed with frustration. 

“Uh, Derrick? I think the bacon is burning,” Victoria heard her partner’s voice shout from downstairs.  

“See?”  

“Ok yeah, so you’re both in on some gag?”  

“Get dressed and come downstairs. I’ll show you I’m not crazy.” 

Back at the camp, Derrick allowed the events to play out as they had before. And each time, he was able to prevent Victoria’s death from the archery accident, the bear attack to the slip and fall near the lake. “Now do you believe me?” 

“I’m just…” 

“Accident prone,” he said, finishing her sentence. “Yeah, you’ve said that already.” 

“None of this proves…”

“That we’re stuck in a Bill Murray movie,” Derrick nodded, again completing her thought.

“That doesn’t prove anything, Derrick, you can…”

“Read minds. No, I’m not reading your mind. We’ve had this conversation before; eight times to be exact.”

“Wait, you can read minds?” Mike asked, glaring at Derrick in disbelief. “Why did no one tell me that?! Have you been reading my thoughts this whole time?”

“Not to be a dick, but most people really aren’t as interesting as they think they are, you included. And no, I don’t go around spying on people, that would be way too exhausting. Besides, the skill is sharpest with those you’ve been intimate with.”

“Ah. Then I’m safe,” Mike said.

“Well, he also has the ability to erase your memory,” Victoria replied with a smirk. “Who’s to say you two weren’t intimate and he just simply made you forget?”

“Seriously?” Mike replied, throwing his hands in the air.

“Can we get back on topic please,” Derrick pressed. “This is serious and I’d really like to get to the bottom of it.”

“Alright. Let’s say you’re right and this day keeps repeating. If you have to keep trying to convince me of this every time, has the thought ever occurred to you to record the day and play it for me the next time it resets since you don’t seem to be affected?” Victoria asked. Derrick thought for a moment and sighed in exasperation before pulling out his phone and hitting record. “Great! Now if we are stuck in some weird time loop, how do we break it? Has anything different happened at all?”   

“No, nothing so far. Your next death will be a lovely surprise.”

“Geez, man, morbid much?” Mike said, kicking a rock into a tree in the center of the site. “It sucks. I get that. I don’t know what I would do if I was forced to relive Aria’s death over and over again. But there has to be something we’re doing that’s causing this. Have you tried NOT coming to the camp?”

“You mean staying home to avoid the numerous gruesome, nature-related deaths? Yes, actually. She drowned in the tub, uh choked on a bite of bacon, fell down the stairs and broke her neck and, my personal favorite, slid head first into the opened oven baking to death.”

“You mean Hansel and Gretel style?” Mike gasped.

“Exactly,” Derrick nodded.

“Wow. So, wait, maybe we just have to get through a day without me dying,” Victoria suggested. “Derrick, I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what this is doing to you.”

“Yeah, it’s so hard to even—the first three times…” he said, his voice trailing off. “I’ve lost count, Victoria. It just never ends.”

“Maybe there’s something in one of the grimoires about time loops. Have we tried researching? Or…” she said, looking over toward Mike. “Could it have anything to do with this case? Bigfoot? Maybe this is why he has never been discovered.”

“Whoa, I’m not behind this. I would never…”

“Where did you get the case from, Mike?” Derrick asked, feeling as though they were heading toward a solution he hadn’t thought of yet.

“It was in my files from the APD. I don’t think there’s anything strange about it.”

“But it’s not a normal case we would have worked on. How did you come about it?” Victoria pressed.

“Ah, well, a guy came in, he used to frequent this camp as a kid. He said he remembered hearing stories about how this was a hot spot for Bigfoot enthusiasts. He believed the hikers who had been killed were not the victims of a bear.”

“Wait, some guy randomly came in to speak with a detective about the deaths at this camp believing they were because of some mythical creature?” Derrick repeated. “And you just decided to investigate it?”

“Basically, yeah,” Mike shrugged. “It happens more than you think; civilians thinking they have the definitive, case-solving evidence or want you to investigate something they find suspicious.”

“Or they want to get back at an ex, old friend, neighbor, etc. and try to get you to do their dirty work,” Victoria added.

“Or some concerned citizen genuinely feels something is off and wants help. But yeah, we get street cases all the time. I mean, isn’t that how you met Victoria?” Derrick quieted a moment, thinking back to their first encounter with a sigh as Mike continued. “Anyway, I didn’t put much stock into it then but I was a numbskull who didn’t know my partner was a witch.”

“Well, to be fair, I didn’t know I was a witch then either,” Victoria said with a smile.

“So, yeah, of course I’m just gonna roll my eyes at this weirdo believing a bloodthirsty Sasquatch was brutalizing unsuspecting campers,” Mike continued.

“Ok, well it might be a place to start at the very least. We should track this guy down and properly interview him,” Victoria proposed, glancing over at Derrick who was staring at her anxiously. “What?” she asked, seeing the apprehension on his face.

“It’s just—this is the longest you’ve survived and I’m honestly scared to move from this spot.”

“Well, look on the bright side, at least now we have a direction; a plan to focus on to hopefully figure this thing out. If I bite it again, we can just start from there.”

“Yeah, but the problem usually starts in the morning and having to prove that I’m telling you the truth. With your suspicious detective mind, you don’t seem to want to believe that ‘Groundhog Day’ is happening in real life.” Victoria laughed and Derrick sighed. “What?”

“Did I say that? That sounds like something I would have said.”

“Yes. You said it was one of your favorite Bill Murray movies.”

“‘I’m living the same day—over and over,’” Victoria quoted and laughed again. “Gosh, I do love that movie. And, I see your point. But hey, at least this time you have a video, right?” she replied, clapping her hand on the back of her neck. “Ouch!”

“What? What was that?” Derrick asked, watching her pull her hand away from her neck.

“A bee,” Victoria said, looking at the tiny insect in her hand. “But, it’s fine. I’m not allergic to…” Before she could get the words out, Victoria began shuddering and clutching at her throat as she found it more and more difficult to breathe.

“OH SHIT!” Mike exclaimed, watching his friend collapse to the ground. “Do something! How do we stop this?” Victoria’s tongue and throat began to swell, her pulse skyrocketed and she went into cardiac arrest.

Derrick squeezed her hand in his as he watched the life drain from her. Closing his eyes, he waited for the day to reset, vowing to himself it would be for the last time. 

Victoria stretched as she rolled to her side. Derrick was seated in the chair across from her and she smiled as their eyes met. “Hey you!”

With a sigh, he leaned forward and began explaining to her what had been happening, offering the video as proof. He didn’t expect her to believe him—she never did. But he needed to get it out of the way first. “Are you serious, Derrick?”

“As a heart attack, which, is how you just died by the way.”

“I had a heart attack?”

“Well, anaphylaxis; it was an allergic reaction to a bee sting.”

“But I’m not allergic to…”

“You are. And should probably start carrying an EpiPen,” he replied humorlessly with the same haunted expression on his face.

“Ok,” Victoria breathed and hopped up from the bed. Grabbing a pair of jeans and a shirt from her dresser, she moved in front of Derrick and took his hand. “What do we do next?”

“Wait, you believe me?”

“Derrick, you have a look on your face that I’ve never seen before; utter defeat. For as long as I’ve known you, you have never been one to give up. If you are this discouraged, something is definitely wrong. I’ll follow your lead.” With that, Derrick jumped to his feet, bringing Victoria into his arms.

“Oh God, thank you. I can’t tell you how hearing that makes me feel. I simply cannot watch you die again. I need this fucking day to end.”

“Well, let’s get to work. What do I need to do?” 

“Mike’s downstairs. It was suggested we start from the beginning; finding the person who brought him this case.”

Doing a quick search, Victoria located an address for Glenn Barrett. And after calling to ensure he’d be at home, the trio started over. “I really hope this guy isn’t a nutjob, tinfoil hat wearing whacko,” Mike said as they stepped onto the man’s front porch. “The last thing we need is to deal with conspiracy theories on top of whatever is happening with Victoria.”

“Mike,” Victoria laughed, clapping her hand on his shoulder, “This entire case of yours is a conspiracy theory.”

“Yeah, but, it’s an accepted myth.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that we’re already riding the crazy train.”

Reaching out, Mike was moment’s away from ringing the bell when the door swung open. “Hey,” Glenn Barrett smiled as he welcomed his visitors. “I’m so glad someone finally reached out. Please, come inside.” Mike exchanged a glance with Victoria who smiled in return before stepping first inside Glenn’s home.

He led them back to his office. Inside, there were maps, books and news clippings on random attacks in and around the campsite dating back hundreds of years. Victoria held in a laugh as she noticed her partner take an appraising look at their surroundings. The strings leading through each of Glenn Barrett’s thoughts on the scenarios expressed in the numerous articles painted a clear picture of the type of person they were dealing with.

“So, you were a camper at Odyssey?” Victoria asked, opening the interview with a softball question.

“Yes,” Glenn replied with a smile. “I went every year with my scouts’ troop as a kid up until my teens. The stories I could tell you.”

“About the Bigfoot?” Mike asked, turning his back to the string theories and conspiracy boards.

“And the UFOs,” Glenn replied solemnly. “But I know you’re here to talk about the attack that led to the camp closure.”

“Were you there that day?” Victoria asked.

“I was. It was the day before our last scheduled day to leave, in fact. Everything started as normal but…” Glenn shook his head and peered down at his feet as he relived the memory of that day. “I tried to tell the camp counselors, but no one would listen. I mean why would anyone believe a kid telling them they saw Bigfoot attack someone in the woods?”

“Can you take us through the day, starting with when you woke up, leading up to the attack?” Mike asked, pulling out a notepad to dictate.

“Certainly. Uh, like I said the day started normally. My troop was supposed to do some archery in the morning. After breakfast we all headed down to the range to get started. As we were waiting for the instructor to arrive, me and a few of my friends, Rick and Bobby, wandered off into the woods for a bit. I was or am a huge collector of rocks and gemstones. There is a little-known opal deposit near the lake. I wanted to show them.”

“While we walked, I had my head down searching for other rocks and stones along the trail and we somehow ended up getting separated. I went back to the last place I remembered seeing them but they weren’t there. I figured they’d gone ahead to the falls and quickly tried to catch up. On the way to the lake, I heard something in the woods and turned in time to see this large creature stalking a group of hikers.”

“Before I had a chance to warn them, it pounced. That thing shredded two of them before the third even knew what was happening. They screamed,” he said, looking down again this time with his eyes closed in anguish. “I will never forget those screams for as long as I live.” He shook his head to trying to erase the memories.

“And, it’s your belief, what you saw that day…” Mike prodded.

“It wasn’t a bear. It wasn’t anything that you would normally find living in the wilderness. This…creature moved quick as a flash; almost as if it was gliding through the air. It had unusually large claws and several rows of razor-sharp teeth. And its face,” he swallowed hard. “It was the stuff of nightmares. I know the park rangers and law enforcement did their best to explain what they think I saw, but they had no idea. No one does. But what I know for certain is it…wasn’t…a bear,” he repeated with emphasis.

“Well, thank you for your time, Glenn. We are heading to the camp now to do some investigation. We’ll let you know if anything pans out.”

“I appreciate you guys taking me seriously. I tell you I was close to losing my mind over this thing,” he said as he led them toward the door. “It’s weird,” Glenn said as the group prepared to leave.

“What’s that?” Victoria asked, stopping just outside the door.

“Every day since the incident I’ve tried recalling exactly what happened and what I saw. And it was always kind of a blur; like my mind was trying to rationalize and compartmentalize what really happened. The moments played on repeat in my head but they never fully completed like I remembered. Sort of like my mind was stuck in this awful version of…”

“Groundhog’s Day,” Derrick finished the man’s sentence.

“Exactly,” Glenn nodded with an approving smile before handing them a drawing he made of the creature.

Mike took a good look before passing it to Victoria who sighed and shook her head. “I can’t believe this.”

“I know it sounds crazy,” Glenn said. “It’s why it took me so long before I finally worked up the courage to make an official police report. But I know what I saw.”

“That’s not what I mean. I believe you, Glenn, the three of us do,” Victoria said, motioning toward her company. “I just—I’ve seen this thing before…”