—Kendra—

This morning differed from all the others. Kendra had picked up a frantic man being hunted down by an abomination that burrowed its way into its victims to use them as its puppets. She had prayed for something different, a change in her life. It seemed that whatever had listened to her was a passive aggressive jackass.

Maybe it was her fault for not being specific?

"Dear," Miss Della's voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"Oh, yes?" She asked when her boss raised a brow at her.

"Kendra, do you think you'll be able to handle things today? You might not have seen nearly as much as Travis, but-"

"Considering I'd have to drive back through where it happened, I think staying here is the better idea, at least until the sun is up." The two stood in silence. A stalemate. Yet that did nothing to spare her the soul-piercing glare of her boss, watching for even the slightest waiver in her conviction.

"I want it that way." The most recent song to play over the speakers seemed to reaffirm Kendra's stance.

A hand went to Miss Della's hip as she raised her free arm in a shrug. "If that's what you want." She chuckled when her working smile returned. "Well, if you're feeling alright to work, why don't you grab that empty plate off the guest's table?" Her head tilted in Travis's direction.

"On it, Miss." Kendra turned back to the booths and noticed Travis had slumped over the table. "Travis?" Worry hit her at the sight. Did he pass out? Was it alright to let him sleep after the crash? She made her way to his table. As she bridged the space between them, she watched as his back rose and fell gently. Despite his arms shielding his face from view, he looked peaceful.

The polar opposite of when they first met.

Her worry eased as she grabbed the plate off the table, a task that she would do dozens if not a hundred times on a normal day. The feeling fled as quickly as it came. She looked at the sleeping man again.

"Ain't nothing but a mistake."

Had it been a mistake to stop for him? Had she just crossed the divider and sped past him, would she be going about her day in blissful ignorance of what was out there? Would Travis have escaped the forest on his own? Or would he have become a part of it?

No... She'd made the right choice.

He would have died out there.

A chime sounded from the front door as a man entered the diner.

"Hello, Dear." Miss Della said, her standard greeting for passer-throughs. Her regulars, the locals, got something as dressed up as she was.

The man took a seat at the bar, and the boss brought him a menu. The man seemed calm like his drive through the area had been uneventful.

"Cause I want it that way."

The song reached its end when a familiar voice came on. "So... Have any of you ever had one of those weird... Like something is off mornings?" Seemed the feeling was mutual. "I swear it's been such a quiet day caller-wise... Gonna hope someone picks up on the hint to call the station. Other than that, we got some ads before the next song plays."

The diner normally had its first few patrons about thirty minutes after opening. Despite being open for an hour, only Travis and the random man were in the dining room. Of the missing regulars was an older woman named Jasmine, or, as Tif referred to her 'Jazzy'. Kendra thought back about what the pothead radio personality said in her haze. That Jazzy didn't call into the station for morning mingling. She would always have some stories of growing up in Oklahoma decades ago.

She thought back on some stories Jazzy had shared with all the listeners, how she grew up on a ranch, working with her family... Kendra felt her heart drop when she recalled the story Jazzy had shared the day before. A story about how she used to gaze at the starry night skies, the countless little dots of light that she could see from being away from the hustle and bustle of the city. How moving from the wide-open prairie back home to a cabin nestled in the woods had traded her stars for darkness under the canopy of the forest.

The very forest Kendra had driven through this morning.

She wanted answers. With the plate in hand, she made her way to the kitchen and left the plate for Casey. She glanced out the window to see her boss bringing the only conscious customer a mug of coffee as she took his order. With her distracted, she made her way to the backroom and pulled her phone from her backpack.

Her fingers moved frantically as she typed occasionally, looking to see if anyone was coming. Miss Della's rule said emergencies only; otherwise keep it out of sight.

|Kendra:

-Tif, have you gotten any weird calls today?

-Anything about deer, or the forests?

-Did Jazzy ever call in?

She stared at her screen, waiting for a reply, when a voice startled her.

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"Dear, why are you on the phone?" Kendra jerked her hand to her chest. "You know the rule." Her shock turned to annoyance when she realized it wasn't her boss but a certain kitchen hand doing a half-assed impression of them.

"Casey!" she said, her fist raised in annoyance and on the verge of connecting with the grin on his face. He chuckled when she shook her head.

"What? You know the rules." Sure, he was right, but the shit-eating grin and his sarcastic shrug were wearing on her frayed nerves. The only thing sparing him from a shoulder punch was her need for a useful idiot.

Her face shifted back to her default for customers. "Can you do me a favor?" she asked, her tone suddenly sweeter.

"Depends." He had it said it in a way he always did when he wanted a favor in return.

Kendra's smile strained like it did many times when she had to deal with the church Karens of the Sunday morning rush. "What do you want?"

His smile beamed. "Help me with the trash later this morning?" He leaned forward with his perfectly punchable face in range.

She gave a nod. "Fine, just tell Miss Della I needed a minute and I'll be right back. It's dead out there, so we should be fine." He nodded back at her order.

"Got it. I'll let you know when I need that help." He turned away from her and moved to the dining room. "Thanks again." His voice sing-song as Kendra rolled her eyes at the transactional bastard.

Crossing through the kitchen, she reached the employee restroom. Her gaze went back to her phone to see a set of replies.

|Tif

-Which standard of weird? Mine or yours?

-I mean... I was listening to Rusty's police radio earlier while the ads were playing, and that was something.

-Umm...

-Why specifically deer???

-Cause the radio mentioned something about rabid deer.

-Wait...

-You so know something don't you?

-BITCH YOU BETTER SPILL THE TEA!!

-And nah Jazzy has been quiet... Maybe she got drunk last night and is sleeping it off?

-I know that was me a few nights ago.

Kendra felt her heart sink at the messages. Perhaps it was her mind protecting her or maybe hopeful delusion, but a thought crossed her mind.

What if there's more than one creature out there?

|Kendra:

-What can you tell me about the rabid animals?

-TLDR but this morning I picked up a guy off the road who hit a deer and, according to him, the thing chopped itself up and stitched itself together into some kind of spider deer thing.

Dots appeared on the screen.

|Tif:

-Dannnng

-Spider deer sounds kind of cute tho

-Can you ask him what he's smoking cause I want to try that shit

Kendra groaned at her friend's replies. A moment later, she sent a photo.

|Kendra:

-Yeah, so it attacked my jeep, the thing uses needles!!

-We think it's controlling what it stitches up... but we're kind of just guessing.

-I mean the guy I picked up is a mortician so I think I can trust his knowledge of dead things.

Kendra watched her phone when there was no response.

|Kendra:

-Tif?

The message sat there as she waited for the delivered note to appear under it only to see a red marker and message appear.

Message Failed To Send!

She glanced at the top corner of her screen to see a lack of bars.

"What?" she asked in disbelief. Kendra had used this room to text plenty of times and never had an issue. What had her friend heard? She had to know!

Pocketing her phone, she made her way out of the bathroom. If her phone was a brick, maybe the landline would work? Nearly out of the kitchen, she stopped from the sound of heels clacking when the door she needed to pass through opened.

"Dear, are you alright?" Kendra met her question with one of her own.

"Does your phone have a signal? Mine just stopped working suddenly." She paused from ratting herself out. "I really need to use the landline, is that alright?" Curiosity filled Miss Della's stare.

"Is this an emergency?" she asked, her rules being hinted at.

Kendra gave a nod. "Yeah, it's important."

Her boss gave a nod. "I'll allow it, dear, but mind your words; we have that customer at the counter. After that, we can talk." With her plan in motion, the iron grip of anxiety eased as the two made their way behind the counter. Kendra reached the phone while Miss Della went to the far end of the counter.

She grabbed the corded phone and dug through her cell phone with her other hand. Once she had Tif's number, she punched it in when she noticed something. She raised the phone to her ear to hear silence.

The line was dead.

As she made her way over, the older woman spoke in a hush to herself. "How peculiar. My phone is without a signal, too." Miss Della turned to see her employees saddened face. "I take it the landline is out as well?" Kendra put the phone back on the hook.

"It is." Kendra's right hand gripped her left wrist as she gave it a squeeze. "This entire morning is feeling off ever since I found Travis on the roadside. Everything just feels... like I'm just waiting for something bad to happen."

The older woman nodded. "It is strange." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "By now, we usually have a few of the regulars in, but nothing yet." Her words made a question float to the top of Kendra's head.

"Miss Della, you know a lot about the town and the regulars, right?" Her voice faltered as she gave a nervous smile.

She raised her cat-eye glasses to her forehead."Dear, what have I said about beating around the bush on questions?" Her hand went to the counter as her fingers tapped on it.

"Right. Do you know if any of the regulars live on the outskirts of town? By the forest?" Her boss paused a moment in her thought.

"Well, I know Wyatt is right on the forest's edge. Marsha and Hayden aren't too far away from the forest either, but it's odd that Sheriff Parker hasn't come in yet. He's within walking distance of this place." Kendra's eyes went off towards the kitchen window.

"Dear, mind sharing what you know with the class?" Her gaze returned to her boss.

"Sorry, I was texting Tif. She said that the police are dealing with rabid deer. Considering what Travis and I went through..." Despite her silence, Miss Della had an answer.

Della let out a sigh. "Well, for now, Andrea should be in for her shift soon. If she comes in, we can see if she knows anything. Otherwise, we can hope the sheriff comes in soon to see if he can do more than help sleeping beauty with his car troubles." She tilted her head towards the sleeping man in the booth. "For now, let's just try to stay calm and figure things out."

"Diner Gal? You listening?" The voice on the radio caught her attention. "Look, my phone's not working and I don't even know if this thing is working, but I'll see you in a few more hours... alright? Otherwise, everyone else can enjoy the next requested song!"

Despite having no way to reach out to her, Kendra knew she could only bide her time and put on a front like she did every day in this garish diner. Her friend would eventually make her way to the diner.

Hopefully...