Deer in the Headlights

November 4, 2023

Datr - [Begin Frequency]

Datr - [He sloppily puts a hand out towards the dark and feels it land onto a smooth surface. Furrowing his brow he moves his hand over to find his phone. On picking up his phone and bringing it above him while he's laying down, he promptly loses grip on the sides of the phone as it falls painfully onto his face and tumbles onto the pillow his head rests on. He grumbles while putting his hand to the bridge of his nose, "...I can't...ughh..."]

Elar - Hello?

Datr - [Chester slowly sits up and wipes away a crust from his eyes. He tosses the blanket off himself and turns to hang his legs off the bed. He sounds groggy as he mumbles to himself "...this fucking early? Really?" ]

Elar - Oh hey, long time no see Chester. It's Elara

Datr - [Chester yawns, "Yeah hey uh... its my day off. Can you atleast wait till the sun's up?" Chester suddenly tilts his head some on noticing a strange sensation, "...what the?"]

Elar - Heh? Something feeling weird?

Datr - ["Yeah my foot's cold but m-" Chester pauses as he looks down. He can see one paw hanging off the bed as it should. The other however, is nowhere to be seen. He pulls his leg up to find the entire foot is completely gone. There's no scars or cuts on his leg either as if the foot was never there from birth. He stays quiet in shock and attempts to understand what's happening.]

Elar - ... what the fuck? That doesn't make any sense. How the hell does a foot just magically disappear??

Datr - ["I-I don't know??? I just got back from work an-" Chester looks up to gesture at the door as he's left in a state of confusion again. Half of his room is sectioned off with a large blue curtain from the ceiling to the floor.]

Elar - ????? What in the hell. Are you backstage at some play, and you never told us? Obviously I'm joking but what's with the curtain?

Datr - [Chester speaks in a hushed tone in fear of anything unknown hearing him, "Backstage??? This is my bedroom. What the hell is happening???" Chester quietly gets up and reaches behind the bed frame to drag out a single crutch. The crutch is old and worn, with pink tape keeping the cushioning in place. ]

Elar - Wait hang on, I'm confused. How do you just so happen to have a crutch? I remember something about a leg injury ages ago... wait hang on, what the hell is happening? The beginning of this conversation is the same as the first time?

Datr - ["I just keep a crutch, its not important." He adjusts the crutch to a better height before positioning it under his arm. He takes his time to quietly move next to the curtain. He carefully reaches out a hand to move the curtain]

Elar - idk man, sounds important that you just so happen to have a crutch the moment your foot goes poof. Anyway, what's with the curtain?

Datr - ["About to find out," Chester whispers and shoves the curtain aside. The other end of his room now seems like a nearly empty parking lot at night. Chester stands on the cold concrete with the crutch. Above him is a concrete overhang that stretches out along the concrete. A few street lights illuminate spots in the parking lot. The air that rushes around him is cold and stale like the rest of the city. Chester freezes in place again. ]

Elar - ...what the hell? Are you dreaming!? Am I dreaming??? First deja vu now a nightmare.

So... this is Cherrywood probably? Are there any signs you can see in the area?

Datr - ["N-no this is... Haze Borough?" Chester starts to seem a bit nervous as he keeps an eye around the cars for any people. He calls out, "Is anyone there?" ]

Elar - Haze Borough? Wait weren't you still with that Terminal guy? You said he wouldn't dare let you out because of the Illuminati. Just be careful please Chester?

Datr - ["Terminal? No, I'm back at home... well... was?" Chester trails off as he hears something like fabric moving in the dark. He turns his head towards the dark parking lot, in the direction of the sound. ]

Elar - Fabric? Maybe someone with a cloak or similar. I'm not a fan of that. Do you have a flashlight on your phone, maybe we can see what's out there?

Datr - [ "Right-" Chester uses one hand to pat down his pockets before cursing silently to himself, "I left it on the bed." ]

Elar - Do you have anything to defend yourself with? I mean yeah you have the crutch, just in case.

Datr - [Chester jokes, "Sure, ill use the crutch and fight hopping on one foot like a low budget pirate!" Something in the dark moves forwards. The end of their face is barely illuminated. It seems to be Term with a gray nonferal goat face, headband, and black hair. Term smiles at Chester from the dark.]

Elar - ...what the fuck is HE doing here!? Ewwww. I don't like the wording Datrs is giving me. Be careful.

Datr - [Chester grumbles, "Probably being a fucking prick..." Chester speaks up and begins walking towards Term, "Hey tin head. Where the hell is my foot?"]

Elar - Why would he know that? There's no scarring or anything that would suggest an amputation.

Datr - [Chester goes to speak again but Term speaks first. His voice sounds much more calm and elegant than before, "You have me mistaken deary." Term gives another polite smile before backing away into the dark. Chester pauses in place at hearing the different tone.]

Elar - Excuuuuse me?? If that's not Terminal then who the fuck is that?

Spid - ...

Elar - Oh hey Spi, long time no see.

Spid - ..yeah, hi

Datr - ["Uhhh... Term?" Chester calls out as he hesitantly continues to walk forward. He can hear Term speak as they move further away, "You can call me Sage for now." Chester gives a concerned expression]

Elar - His middle name?

Spid - dont follow him, speaking the obvious here i know but this isnt right

Elar - Yeah??

Datr - [Chester stops walking and squints at the darkness. Sage moves through the spot light of a street light. Rather than seeing someone walking away, Chester see's a snake like body suspended in the air with Terminal's face on one end. It slides backwards into the dark. Chester scoffs, "...Ok yeah to hell with that shit." Chester turns around to start walking back to the sidewalk.]

Elar - ...Spi, is this also par for the course?

Spid - kinda

Elar - Fun.

Spid - try living with it

Elar - Living!? What the heck does that mean? Probably best we get back to the sidewalk or beyond the curtain. This has all kinds of bad vibes.

Datr - [Chester looks up. He freezes in place again but much more still. Ahead of him, standing on the sidewalk is a nonferal deer. She has fuzzy white ears, brown eyes, and a flurry of white freckles across her face and arms. She wears a down jacket along with a sweet smile towards Chester.]

Elar - Wait wait wait, isn't that what Chester thought I looked like? Is that... who you lost?

Datr - [Chester stays quiet as his grip on the crutch tightens. The deer steps down from the sidewalk and moves towards Chester. Her hooves quietly click on the pavement. Meanwhile Sage speaks from the dark, "Take a gander little dove, no one takes breaks while you blink." ]

Elar - The hell??? What the fuck is Sage going on about? You need to get out of there before something bad happens.

Datr - [Chester stutters some to himself, "But- I-" The woman stands inches from Chester. She holds out a soft hand to him. Chester reaches out but in the same moment, he takes a breath in. He suddenly jolts awake.]

Datr - [Chester jolts awake while laying on the ground. He instantly brings both hands up to his nose and gags. He curls some while making gagging sounds.]

Elar - ...so that was a dream. So much for Datrs not connecting while you're sleeping, fucks sake. You should ask Term or his distant cousin for some water. Helps a lot with that.

Datr - [Chester clasps his hands around his muzzle while fighting it back. His eyes water some while they are shut tight. He can't speak.]

Elar - Ugh. Do you have a bucket or a toilet nearby to let it out in? If not uh... just let it out in the corner or something. I've been there a lot myself, it's not fun. Poor guy :(

Datr - [Chester continues to struggle while avoiding breathing in any air. He can hear Term's voice as he's heading down the stairs calmly, "The whore wants to know if you're allergic to peanuts. Has so-" Chester hears Term pause as he reaches the end of the steps. Suddenly Term sprints to another part of the room. ]

Elar - What the hell? I mean part of me doesn't blame Term for not wanting to be a part of that, but at the same time, I can only imagine how his distant cousin will react to this.

Datr - [Chester's vision is starting to blur slightly as he continues. He doesn't even notice other sounds around him before Term is forcibly moving Chesters hands away from his face. Chester gasps and gags even more. Term glances up as if looking at someone else in the room with worry.]

Elar - Eh? What is Term seeing? Chester, I know you're sick, but uh can you please look where Term's looking..I'm getting really bad feelings about all of this

Datr - [Chester doesn't even react to the messages being sent. Soon Term reaches out and grabs something from someone's hand. Term grabs Chester's muzzle, prying it open and tossing in some salt. As Term lets go, he gets up and takes a few steps back. Chester's face contorts from the harsh taste but the gaging slows to a stop. He has a violent chill. ]

Elar - Chester? Chester! Are you okay?

Datr - [Chester is now taking some deep breaths as he lays on the ground. He tiredly gives a thumbs up. Term sighs in relief.]

Elar - Oh thank god the salt worked. I didn't even know that worked for gag reflexes. Thank god for Term

Datr - [Chester puts his hands on his head while calming down. He hears someone to his right quickly leave the room with the sound of boots hitting the ground and climbing up the stairs rather swiftly. ]

Elar - Ah, that must've been the cousin. I wonder who they are

Spid - ...It would certainly make my life a lot easier if we knew

Elar - Your life?

Spid - Chester you alright?

Datr - [Chester sounds out of breath, "I'm ok." Term gets up and offers a hand to Chester. Chester takes it and Term helps him up. Term asks, "What even was that?"]

Elar - I assume that was a really fucked up nightmare. I mean Term was a snake and what I assume to be your girlfriend or wife was there too.

Datr - [Chester subtly moves a foot behind himself while pretending he's still calming down, "I d-don't know it just happened." Term leans over slightly to get a better view of Chester's face, "Could be a kind of panic attack? What all happened?" ]

Spid - Be careful Chester

Elar - Why are you pretending?

Spid - I assume he's trying to escape, see how he's got his foot?

Elar - Ah!

Datr - [Chester mumbles under his breath, "As careful as a bull in a china shop." Term leans in closer and tilts his head some, "Pardon?" Chester throws his arm out, shoving Term off to the side. He lunges forwards and straight for the staircase. Term loses his balance and falls over.]

Elar - Hell yeah! Go go go!

Datr - [Term yells from behind Chester, "CLOSE THE DOOR!" Chester bolts up the wooden stairs. He runs into a wood cutting shop with stairs that head even further up. He jumps over a table in the way as Term makes his way up the first set of stairs. Chester bolts up the next set of stairs while Term quickly weaves between the tables. As Chester reaches the top of the stairs, he's face to face with Term's cousin. His cousin is holding a plate of bacon, with one partly hanging out of their mouth. They both have stopped in their tracks to stare at each other for a moment. The cousin nods her head towards the front door and Chester runs for it without question. He tramples past a kitchen and living room before swinging open the front door. He hears Term scramble up the stairs and run into something followed by boisterous laughter from his cousin.]

Spid - Get the address then keep going

Datr - [Chester gets outside to see a small lawn of dead grass with a lopsided plastic flamingo. He gives a confused look before running down the yard and to a small street. He looks back at the mailbox before booking it down the road towards town. Now at a good distance he glances back to see Term by the mailbox and heads back inside, giving up. Chester laughs, "HA HA HA fucking goat, who's laughing now?"]

Spid - ..I'm gonna let you off with that considering he did kidnap you. Did you get the address? Cause it didn't say what it was

Datr - [Chester continues running down the road, "I got it but I'm going straight to the fucking police station."]

Spid - ..of course you are. At least tell me it first

Elar - Nah, I'm pretty sure his safety comes first Spi. And why would you want the address of some goat conspiracy lunatic?

Spid - That's none of your business. I just do and that's all you need to know

Datr - [Chester slows to a jog as he starts to question a few things, "...That does sound creepy as hell. And I'm telling the police anyways so I don't see anything else you could be doing with that info."]

Spid - ...

Elar - He's got you there Spi.

Spid - Piss off

Elar - Nah

Spid - I'm serious Elara

Elar - My goal right now is to see to it that Chester is safe... wait. Are you that Spider person?

Spid - ..took you long enough

Elar - Your name on here says "Spi"

Datr - [Chester sounds confused, "You say Spider person like I should know their middle name or something."]

Elar - Oh no no, I saw their full name in one of the Datrs logs. They went to Term's house some time ago. There was a case study, like a packet of notes, about you there

Datr - [Chester slows to a walk now, "A case study?... with me?"]

Elar - Like it had your real name, some of your behaviors, the fact that you're a, quote unquote, "neat freak", and that he wanted to interrogate you about something. In fact, that's probably why he drugged you with sedatives.

Datr - [Chester pauses on the sidewalk. He stares ahead at the police station with in view. He lets out a heavy sigh before turning to a different street, "I fucking knew he was too nosy."]

Elar - Wait, are you not going to report it? Maybe he had positive intentions in doing it this way?

Spid - Knowing him? In his head, probably, but I think this is because Chester doesn't want to explain it

Elar - Eh I don't blame him.

Datr - ["If he's looking into me for the reasons I think he is, I'm better keeping my nose out and skipping town."]

Elar - Skipping town? I thought Term was just a conspiracy nut. I mean... What do you think Term's looking into this for? Loonism? Or does this have to do with that doe in your dream

Datr - [Chester goes to speak but instead gags slightly. He mumbles, "Dont."]

Elar - Oh.. uh my apologies. But I dunno, the fact that Term is basically spying on you, that he was a snake in your dream, and then this other person just so happens to appear, I can't help but connect dots. I'm sorry

Datr - [After awhile he grumbles some under his breath, "Don't ever again, to anyone."]

Elar - Understood. Sorry Chester. -end frequency

Datr - [End Frequency]