—Kendra—
Kendra sat in her jeep, staring into the visor mirror as she completed the last step of her morning routine like she did day after day. With each gentle brush of lipstick, she moved in sync with the somber music playing over the radio.
"You know we've got to find a way."
The line made her hand pause. "Yeah, find a way out of here." Tired russet eyes stared into themselves. This had been her life from week to week until it became month to month—She'd lose her mind if it became year to year.
A sigh escaped her peachy lips as the song picked up and she resumed her task. With a last stroke, her image of being the 'Diner Gal' was complete.
Kendra's work uniform was something she never quite liked. All those years in college, internships, and graduating with honors... All to wear a work uniform from a bygone era.
At least she had a choice between hot pink and robin egg blue. Kendra opted for the latter. On her first day, she had gotten her uniform with her name stitched in red next to the right lapel of the top. Through some trial and error, she eventually found the perfect makeup to complement her morena skin and the tacky uniform.
"You know we've got to find-" The radio went silent as Kendra turned her key in the ignition. The roar of the engine gave way to the song. "...Some lovin' here today."
The early morning drive was always the same for Kendra: a time to prepare for another day of taking orders, running food, and having the same conversation about seven times throughout the day—of course, she always spaced it out so customers wouldn't overhear the same thing twice. She wouldn't want to ruin the image her regulars had painted of her.
They might cut back on their tips if they saw through the act.
Six days of the week would send Kendra down the same dark stretch of road. The cloudy weather concealed the summer's early twilight from the stretch of sky above the trees along the route.
At first, the drive would make her nervous. The many trees and complete darkness besides her headlights and the lack of other cars made her think of the setups to the many true crime podcasts she'd listen to at home.
After the twentieth drive, she had memorized all the usual markers and landmarks she'd pass by on each trip. The first of the road signs came into view.
SPEED
LIMIT
50
The song ended. A calm, sluggish voice spoke. "Wow... it's not even 5 AM yet... Weird how one hour can just fly by and the next just dragggggs."
Kendra's lips perked up. Tif got baked. She'd always wrap up her morning call segment 'Morning Mingling' with a Dutchie. The station would play some ads while the hostess got to a happy place. The ramblings that would follow as she played requests would make the drive a little easier.
"Okay, okay, we played Old Man Jim's request, now that we got my first ever regular set. Whose request should I play next? Oh, I know- no, wait..." A pause dragged on until her brain returned from its happy place. "Jazzy didn't call in this morning, so I can't play one of her favorites. Cause... Rules are-" The sky opened up, the sudden battering obscured the windshield and drowned out the radio.
With a flick of her hand, the wipers came on, restoring the view to the empty, familiar road. Turning up the volume, Tif's voice returned.
"So anyway, I think next up we're gonna play what my Diner Gal wanted." A slow laugh came through the radio. "Now I know you're running around rage applying to anything and everything out there, but..." Another pause left Kendra with only the rain lashing the windshield to break the silence.
"Damn, she's really out of it today," she said with a chuckle.
"I want you to know you're my favorite server at the diner... Hey wait... It's Friday! You know what that means! Once I'm off work, I'll see you at the diner." She said in glee. "You know what I always order so have it ready for me!" The words were sing-song.
Ambivalence grabbed at her heart. She wanted out of this boring routine, but not everything was unbearable in this dead-end job and town. Tiffany and a few others kept her sane in this monotonous routine, but she couldn't stay here forever.
She had goals dammit!
"Okay, okay, enough sentimental-" Tif's brain needed a moment to buffer. "Wait, almost said one of the seven... Yeah, Rusty is gonna be mad if I get us another fine, but to my favorite Diner Gal, I know you're listening and you're functional enough to know what I want to say. But seriously, thank god I have you as one of my callers for Morning Mingling. You and all the others make this job fun!" Music played in place of the hostess.
A smile formed on Kendra's face. The music kept her mood high and the next few minutes of the drive flew by. As the song reached its end, she monitored the side of the road when she spotted the next milestone marker in her trip.
DEER CROSSING
NEXT 5 MILES
She had entered the deepest section of the forested road. More often than not, she would see a few deer along the roadside or, in one case, the middle of the road that ended in a near collision. Since that day, she had always slowed down in this section, especially in the rain.
Yet oddly enough, she had seen no deer in the last week.
Perhaps something had scared them away from the road?
A short while later, she passed the next marker on the drive.
ENTERING
RED OAK VALLEY, PA
POP: 427
Seven miles to go until work. Once she passed the deer territory, the woods would thin until the homes on the outskirts of town would pop up as lights in the distance. Just like the singular light that appeared on the roadside pointing right at her jeep. It moved in a waving motion as if trying to get her attention.
"What the hell?" Kendra tapped the brakes. As she slowed down, the light moved about frantically. Closing the gap, a man soaked by the downpour came into view of her headlights as he ran onto the road.
Unease gripped at Kendra. In the past, she had seen another car or a herd of deer crossing the road, but she had never expected this. The man mis-stepped and stumbled into her jeep, making it shake. He steadied himself, then pounded on her window.
"Please let me in! There's a monster out here!" The drenched man begged. Strands of his dirty blonde hair stuck to his face as he stared her down with his panicked eyes. "Please!" he continued his desperate wails. Kendra merely watched him.
She had listened to enough true crime to have three theories on the mystery man.
The first, that he was indeed in trouble and something was after him. Her second thought was the man was on drugs and in his string of bad choices, wandered into the woods, encountered an animal, and then pissed it off. Or the last option.
He was a serial killer looking for a victim.
It was too dangerous to just let him in. She needed a plan.
Kendra switched off the radio and pointed to the other side of the car. "Passenger side," she said when the man gave a nod. With no hesitation, he sprinted for the passenger door as she undid her seatbelt. She then leaned and rolled down the passenger window half an inch as the man grabbed at and pulled on the door handle.
"Open the door!" His annoyance grew at her. Kendra only shook her head at him.
"License." Kendra pointed to the opened part of the window. "Drop your license in here first."
"What?" The man couldn't believe this, his stare asked 'How could you do this?' Kendra raised an eyebrow.
"Did I stutter?" With a tilt of her head and crossing of her arms, she only waited when something roared in the distance. Kendra nearly cracked her poker face when the man's anger melted into sheer terror.
"There's a fucking monster out here! Let me in." His hand slammed against the window again, then leaned on the door. "Please..." the man pleaded. Whatever was out there was hunting for him.
"You want in? Drop your license in the car." She said as she sat back and buckled back in. "Regarding whatever's out there; I feel my odds in a jeep are better than yours on foot." As callous as she sounded, it was better to be safe than end up in a shallow ditch on the roadside.
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Another roar sounded, this one closer than the last, as the man looked into the dark void behind him.
Time was running out.
"Ugh, fine!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet. A moment later, the plastic card she requested dropped onto the passenger seat. With no time to waste she grabbed the license and got his name.
Travis Boyle
She snatched her phone from the cupholder and held it to the license. A flash went off with the picture now ready to send. Her fingers moved in a frenzy as she typed up the message to her boss.
|Kendra:
- I should be at the diner in about ten minutes. This guy popped up and I'm gonna give him a lift to the diner. If I'm not there in ten minutes send this picture of his license to the sheriff and make sure he pays!
Kendra watched as the message tried to send, only to remember this was a dead zone.
But maybe this guy didn't know that.
Kendra leaned over the passenger seat and unlocked the door when it flew open and the soaking wet man hopped in. With all his panicked might, he shut the door and slammed the door lock down.
"Drive!" The man's desperate request to his rescuer resulted in an apprehensive stare.
"Don't tell me what to do, Travis." her tone even as she held the license when he took it back from her. "I sent my boss a text. If we aren't at my job in the next ten minutes, the sheriff gets a copy of your license and he will be happy to share it with your local precinct." He only watched in anxious terror as they sat still in the running jeep.
A third roar came from behind them and made her new companion place a white knuckled grip onto the seat.
"Got it?" She asked.
"Yes, now please drive!" She sighed, then shifted to drive. But she didn't take her foot off the break. She wanted to see what had him so panicked.
"What are you doing? GO!" he looked out the passenger side mirror. "It's gonna-" Travis went silent.
Kendra looked into the rearview mirror in the ruby red brake lights. She saw a deer's head sticking out from the roadside brush. It only stood in place as the head stared to the opposite side of the road.
The sudden feeling of hands on her arm made her jolt as her head jerked to the man. "For the love of god, drive! It's gonna kill us!" She narrowed her eyes at him before she could speak. Something hit the back of the jeep. Kendra glanced back at the mirror. The brush had still hidden all but the head.
Only now its eyes looked right at her through the mirror's reflection.
The brush moved about when something long and narrow rose from the foliage. The end had something that reflected off the light as the dark strand whipped around until another object hit the car.
It was attacking the jeep.
Kendra took her foot off the brake and floored the gas pedal.
Travis's eyes refused to leave the mirror. Kendra checked hers to only see darkness. A ping came from Kendra's phone.
Message Failed To Send!
"You have a signal out here?" His body shifted towards hers before he could see her phone screen. She grabbed it from the cupholder.
She was in a car with a mentally unstable man, freaking out about a deer trying to kill him. That would be the answer that made sense. That would be easy.
But something told her this would be far from easy.
He had no seatbelt on. If there was no other option, she could always drive the car into a tree and watch him fly out the windshield.
Better he died than her, if he tried anything.
She needed to stay calm, keep him calm. "Yeah, when you live out here, you pick a good carrier." She resent the message, then pocketed her phone. "So why were you in the middle of the road, Travis?" She asked as he looked over her work uniform.
"Kendra?" he asked. "Your name is Kendra?"
She gave a nod to acknowledge the inquiry. "Yeah, now back to you. Why are you out in this weather?"
He sat back and let out a groan. "Well, it's been a pretty shitty twenty-four hours for me." He went silent when an awkward snort came from him. "You want the story from the crash or what leads up to it, too?"
His answer caught her curiosity. "You were in a car crash?" A pang of guilt hit her. Had this man gotten a concussion, or was he seeing things if he hit his head?
"Yeah, I was driving home after my ex... oh you don't know her, but she's just wonderful. I drove nine damn hours to see her, only to get an eyeful of her riding some random guy, not me, her boyfriend who was gonna propose-" Kendra cut him off.
"Listen, it sounds like you need a therapist, bartender, or someone way more qualified to listen to that rant. Let's focus on the car crash." His head slouched down.
"Okay, yeah, that's my problem, not yours." He raised his head back up and stretched his neck. "Okay, so I'm driving on this road and then a pair of deer popped up. I lost control of the car trying to stop and drove me and the deer into a tree."
Kendra heard her phone ping again.
Message Failed To Send!
With another resend she hid the phone again. "Ok, so you had an awful crash. Did you hit your head? Or break anything? My boss just texted me to ask if you need an ambulance." Another lie, but if it kept her safe it was worth it.
He only shrugged. "I mean, my aching chest could mean I either bruised my ribs or broke one... let's hope it's the first. I can't afford the second option." He touched his chest and torso slightly when he winced and pulled his hand back. "Yeah, I need some recovery time."
Kendra's face softened. "Ok, but what exactly do you think was chasing you out there? I waited to see what it was, and I saw a deer." He remained silent as Kendra glanced at him to see him looking out the window. "You were running from a deer?"
The uncomfortable silence dragged on until a creak came from the passenger seat. "You promise not to call me crazy for everything I'm about to say?"
Kendra's eyes met his."I'll try, but let's hear it." Her reluctance did nothing to stop him.
"So it's technically a deer, well, two of them." He said, then went quiet to gauge her reaction.
"The ones you hit?" She asked.
"Yeah, them, but here's where it gets weird. Just as I was about to hit them, they stood up together." He watched her to see a lack of reaction.
"Ehh, deer standing up when they feel threatened is a last resort, but not that weird." She gave a shrug. "Anyway, what else was weird?"
"Right, so after the crash, I saw one deer lost its head, and it was sitting right on my windshield..." He gripped his wrist and tightened his hand. "If you hit a deer head-on and drove its body into a tree, you'd say the deer died from the accident, right?"
"Right..." Kendra slowed down as she reached a turn in the road.
Three minutes until they were out of the woods.
"Well, I got a good look at the head of the deer and its eyes had already clouded up." Kendra furrowed her brows.
"So?" she asked, not understanding the point he was trying to make.
"It takes about two hours after someone or something dies. On top of that, the blood was already dark like it had been dead for a while, similar to the bodies I've-" Kendra again cut him off.
"Okay, you know I'm thinking the serial killer concerns I had when I first saw you might be valid. Why exactly do you know all these things about corpses?" She watched him for any sudden movements. Had she just set him off?
Travis rolled his eyes. "Fourth generation in a family of morticians. We run a funeral home and prepare the bodies for service." Rather than meet her side eye, he pulled out his wallet and handed her a business card. The silver print reflected in the lights of the dashboard.
Boyle Funeral Home
Cremation & Funeral Services
"Okay, sorry for assuming." Her anxiety eased as they passed a boulder on the side of the road with a peace sign spray-painted on it.
The last marker before they were out of the forest.
"Thanks, but going off what I was saying, I think the deer might have already been dead. The one that lost its head must have died first, then found the other one a little while before I hit them." In her attempt to suspend disbelief, Kendra tried to follow his logic.
"How can you be so sure about that?" she asked.
"Well, the deer that kept its head had clear, glassy eyes..." His face lit up as he appeared to connect some dots in his head. "What if... the rotting deer had just caught the fresh one? Maybe that's why they were just standing on the road. Then when it took over, it made them both stand-" Travis pulled himself out of his thoughts to see Kendra's puzzled look.
He needed to give her more details first.
"I sound insane, don't I?" He asked.
Her stare eased. "A bit. What exactly is the 'it' in this?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, but it's some kind of dark, thread-like material. It joined the deer at the side. Whatever it was, it worked its way inside them and all over their bodies... It only got worse when needles popped out of the deer and then some of them turned into scissors." His talking sped up as his panic hit a peak. "They kept cutting and sewing into the deer as it split them apart then-" He paused when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
She needed to keep him calm as she pieced together what she saw. Thread-like material...Needles... is that what moved around the deer? What exactly was it trying to accomplish in attacking her jeep?
"Breathe, just breathe in, then out." Travis did as she said, "Now do that a few more times. After that, you can tell me more." He looked out the window again, only the sound of his breathing filled the car. With his final breath, he leaned forward in the seat and gripped his head.
"Sorry, it was a lot, and it was gonna kill me or do god knows what and I just want to get away from the forest and-" Kendra spoke to stop him from entering another panic spiral.
"Again breathe. we're just about out of the woods. After that, it's a mile and a half of rural farmland and the occasional house till we hit the town center." He looked through the windshield and watched as the trees thinned out and the claustrophobic feeling that had gripped him since entering them finally released its grip on him.
"Okay, I think I'm good." He took a final breath in and out, then resumed, "Whatever was in the deer started cutting them up and sewing the parts to the fresh deer. Maybe the thing in them decided the rotting deer was too beat up to use for anything besides spare parts?" He went quiet again as he worked it out in his mind.
Spare parts... The words made her uneasy.
"It cut the other deer up?" She asked.
"Yeah, and it sliced one leg off the fresh deer, then stitched them to its side and the legs came alive. It makes zero sense how it worked, but it wrapped them around the tree, then cut its lower body off to free itself."
Kendra tried to picture what he described and felt her stomach turn.
"Did you take a picture of this thing?" You were using your phone as a light when I found you, so did you-" He interrupted her this time.
"No..." He hit the side of his head. "Fuck, I held my phone right up to the thing to see it and I didn't even take a fucking picture." He hit himself again. "Great, so what do I do? Tell people I saw a goddamn spider deer out in the woods?" He scoffed at himself. "You probably think I'm crazy now, don't you?"
"No, I didn't get the best look, but I saw something moving around the deer. Besides, we can look over what it did to the car once we're at the diner." Travis agreed when her phone pinged again. A new message appeared.
|Miss Della:
- Kendra, have you lost your damn mind picking up a hitchhiker? Text me ASAP.
|Kendra:
-Almost there, but he was in an accident and something was out there with us. Tell you more once I'm there.
Miss Della would have an earful for her once she was in the diner. If Travis freaked out, she'd likely call the sheriff in on him.
"Look, I think if you can calmly explain what you saw to people, maybe they'd listen? My boss, Miss Della, has a good bullshit detector. If you can get her to believe you, she might just be able to help you." She said as he nodded along with her advice.
Whatever Travis had seen left him terrified. He had fled his crashed car. That would have some proof to corroborate his story...Hopefully.
"You just have to stay calm." With their plan set, the two sat in silence. Kendra glanced over occasionally to make sure Travis hadn't passed out to see him staring out the window.
God forbid he actually had a concussion and went comatose in her jeep.
The landscape changed. Street lights illuminated the corners and buildings had sprouted up around them. Stopping at the light, Kendra saw the teal neon sign that glowed on the top of the building.
Miss Della's Diner
Kendra had made it to work. This trip to work was the most memorable of the hundreds of them she had taken.
But would it be her last?