“So, I bought a nanny cam for Tally's hospital room, and while I waited for Todd to be Todd, I searched until I found a local domestic violence support group.
"I told the group about Tally's situation, about Todd's police connections, and was given some great advice. After, a woman named Marsha approached and told me about Vanguard.
“She gave me just enough information about how it worked for me to know it was the only chance Tally had, because even if I got proof of him in the act of abusing her, Tally wasn't going to get justice.
"I went back and talked to Tally; I told her she could be safe, that there were people out there who would help her. She was so scared, in so much pain, but she said she would go.
“While I was out packing her things at the dorm, Todd came back to the hospital with flowers and in stunning detail, told Tally what he'd do to her if she ever even thought about leaving him. It would make what he'd done to her for being stupid enough to sit by another man for a school picture, feel like a pleasant memory.
“She must have thought I told Todd she was leaving, because when Marsha and I showed up to get Tally out, it was just in time to see the doctor pull a sheet up over her body. She'd used a syringe one of the nurses accidentally left behind to give herself a shot of air.”
The grief of knowing that was the only way Tally thought she could truly be safe, to this day, had the power to make Dillon's throat constrict and burn.
“I stood at the grave site a few days later, at the funeral Todd and his family arranged, watching that piece of shit cry as he dropped rose petals onto her casket, and I couldn't let Todd have the satisfaction of going on living his life free of the consequences.
“Video in hand, I went to visit one of the computer geeks I knew had a crush on Tally, and I asked him to make sure it got to a local news channel.
“Randy was a great guy, and he wasn't satisfied with the simplicity of my plan. Knowing the risks, he took it upon himself to hack into the school's email list and sent the video of Todd confessing to the rape and to having put Tally in the hospital to every single student, faculty member, and alumni of UV.
“There was also a clip of the two cops who came to question Tally, basically telling her they didn't believe her, that her testimony wouldn't go anywhere or result in any arrests, that she should probably just forget about pressing charges, and be more careful of what she wore out in public.”
Nasa gave a humorless chuckle, stabbing a little harder than was necessary at arrows on the keyboard.
“Never underestimate the power of a computer geek with a crush or a vendetta.” As he glanced her way, Dillon did her best to pretend Nasa hadn't just implied he had a crush on her. “I gather the outcome from then on wasn't favorable for Todd or his father?”
Dillon smirked, remembering the satisfaction she'd felt walking around campus hearing people talking about Todd everywhere she went.
“The videos from Tally's hospital room were out by the end of that day, and after it made the news that the Charlottesville police department was closing ranks around one of their own to cover up the incident, the state police showed up to arrest Todd based on his video confession.
“His dad retired almost immediately, and the two cops who told Tally it was pointless to file charges were fired. A few weeks after everything died down, I went back to the support group, to Marsha, and I asked to be part of Vanguard in whatever way I could.
“At first it was being on call to deliver go-bags to random locations, and for about a year, my dorm room was stocked with empty backpacks from Goodwill and neatly labeled bins with travel size toiletry kits, feminine supplies, makeup, sunglasses, hats, shoes, clothes, hair-dye in every shade possible, along with clothes and stuff for kids.
“The people in my dorm thought I was hoarding shit until I started asking them to donate their old clothes and any extra backpacks or duffles they had.
"Once word spread a teacher got involved, it became a school project for extra credit. I had told her I was volunteering for a women’s domestic violence program.
"That teacher was the one to get me the interview with the city, which got me on board as a translator for the police department.
“At first, I'd been using whatever extra cash I had to shop at thrift stores, getting donations of expired makeup and toiletries from drug stores.
"A local hotel with expired hand soaps and little shampoos even pitched in, but once Vanguard realized I was dedicated to the cause, I got a monthly stipend of about two hundred bucks.
“I went from churning out five fully stocked bug-out-bags a month to twenty, and they all got used. Marsha would call me with a list and the sizes she needed; I'd pack it all up and drop the bag where she told me to.
“As time went on, I told Marsha I didn't feel like I was doing enough. Not long later, she asked me to come with her on a pickup.
"I brought one of my bug-out-bags, rode with her to some shitty motel about two hours away, and handed the bag to a woman who reminded me so much of Tally I nearly broke down crying.”
Dillon would never forget the way that motel room smelled like stale cigarettes, mold, and terror.
“The woman wanted to get on the road as soon as possible, but Marsha insisted on helping her change out of the scrubs she'd gotten at the hospital.
"I waited, peeking through the disgusting curtains for any signs we were being followed,
