Chapter Text
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Coffee does not need to be this bitter, Patty thinks. It tastes like dirt water mixed with dog poo. However, she could never be one of those people who put all those flavorings and syrups in their drinks. She’d be drinking straight sugar at seven in the morning, which she really does not need.. any time of the day, actually. She wishes there were pop-up tea shops that were as popular as all those coffee shops she passes by on her drive to work.
The sun is up before her today. Patty enjoys the warmer months. Although rain coats the sidewalks of the suburbs she calls home, some days she and her neighbors are lucky, and whatever deity cares enough to spare them from clouds parts them for the day. It’s nice. She makes herself remember this is nice.
Patty sips her coffee slowly as she drives, blinking sleepily as the red light clicks to green. It’s monotonous, and the mundane pop music playing on the radio doesn’t help the trance that suburbia has Patty’s whole town under. It’s dull, and it’s the same everyday, pretending it isn’t. Some days she’ll go out to dinner with a friend, or she’ll treat herself to a shopping trip, or her boss will drop off french toast in the break room for the morning shift employees, but every other day blurs together in the grand scheme of things.
Her car’s horn slams down, and Patty blinks awake. She shouldn’t have gone to bed so late last night. She does not want to get pulled over on her way to work, especially considering where that is.
Patty pulls into the parking lot of the gray and uninteresting building that she calls her work place. The paint is chipping off the sides of the exterior walls, and it smells of mildew, Patty assumes is due to the constant rain. It’s gross, but she doesn’t need to plug her nose as she walks inside this time. The simple things, she reminds herself.
The bells someone hung on the door jingle, and Patty sighs as she makes herself walk to her desk. When she sets her bag down on the floor, she melts into the chair waiting for her and lays her head on the desk, closing her eyes.
It’s too early to do anything productive, Patty decides. She’ll stay here and nap until the sun is all the way up in the sky, because it’s not like anyone else is all the way up either. Okay, well, maybe some of her insane coworkers-
“Dechamps.”
Patty instantly picks her head up and turns to face the source of the disgruntled and gravelly voice. The speaker stares down at her with a sort of emotion Patty can’t read very well.
“Yes?” Her voice is quieter than she meant it to be. Be sure of yourself, she reminds herself, but, god- it’s a lot easier on paper than in practice, especially in terms of interacting with her boss.
“My office.”
Patty forces her face to bear a small smile, and she offers a nod to hopefully please her boss. His expression only grows firmer as he turns his body to start walking in the direction of his office. Once he’s out of earshot, Patty allows herself to let out the breath she’d been unknowingly holding onto.
Oh dear. She’s getting fired, isn’t she?
Patty stands back up, letting the desk support her weight as she feels her knees start to buckle. She cannot get fired right now. She’s in a tiny apartment she can hardly afford on her own, and things are only getting more expensive nowadays. Her car is starting to break down, her health’s not been the greatest, and the other forces of the universe seem to be conspiring against her to make her life as sucky as possible.
Still, however, as much as she really does not want to walk to her boss’ office, her flats click against the tile floor as she makes short strides to the door that separates her from her and the impending doom that concentrates into sweat beading on the back of her neck. She raises her hand to knock on the door, but before her fist can meet the wood, she hears the words “You can come in.” echo from the inside.
Patty carefully opens the door, and her boss is sitting at his desk, writing something down on a sticky note. He gestures for Patty to sit down, and she softly shuts the door behind her, smoothing out the wrinkles that line her shirt. The other chair that rests in front of his desk is ever so slightly uncomfortable and firm. It mirrors how she feels in the current moment.
“So,” Patty chuckles anxiously. “Yew don’t suh-pose this is about my, uh, performance.. lately?” Patty fidgets with her hands as her boss continues to write on the sticky note. “I’m nawt doin dat bad, am I, Cas-”
“Captain.” He corrects. “Yew call me Captain. We ain’t on no first name bay-sis,” He scoffs.
“Sorry, cap’n.” Patty mumbles.
“Dis ain’t about yewr performance, P,” Captain grumbles as he rips off the sticky note and sticks it to his computer monitor. “Dis is for yew.”
He opens a drawer on his desk and pulls out a plain white envelope. When he places it on the table, Patty can read her full name written on the front in neat handwriting. He slides the envelope over to her, and she stares at it for a few moments before picking it up and ripping open the top of it.
Inside is a letter addressed to her. Patty briefly scans the letter’s contents before glancing back up at Captain, confusion the only emotion readable on her face. “I’m bein summoned ‘ta Milldread?”
Captain nods. “Dey want yew to work on dat case dat’s been open for a few decades,” He laughs hollowly. “Not sure why dey’re still worried about’t.”
“What case?” Patty asks, curiously.
Captain glances at her, and looks down at the letter. “I think I know da one.” He slowly stands and walks over to a file cabinet, and after pulling open one of the drawers, he browses the selection slowly before taking a file from the very back of the drawer’s contents. Blowing off dust from the inside contents, he hands Patty the file.
When Patty opens the file, she’s confused with the inside contents. She didn’t have many expectations as to what she could be investigating, but the contents of the case report divert every one of them.
[ Name: Abigail Gardner
Age: 26
Gender: F
Sex: M
Status: MISSING ]
“Huh.” Patty mumbles. “She’s purty,” She comments, glancing at the polaroid paperclipped to the case report. “Been missin’ for.. wow, 33 years to da day? Dat’s sad.”
“Dey’re try’na clear out some space so dey can move more cases over to da database,” Captain explains. “Dis is one of dem physical cases dey want solved.”
“Wait, but.. dis is for Milldread. Isn’t dat town hours away? Why’s it with us?” Patty asks, reading the case report closer.
“We gots da extra space ‘n men to do da work,” Captain quickly answers. Patty, confused, looks back up at Captain. He almost seems anxious himself. Maybe he cares a lot about finding this girl too.
“Okay..” Patty mumbles, closing the case file. “Milldread’s far from here, ain’t it? How do yew want me to get down dere every day?” She asks. She does not have the gas money to make the multiple-hour drive every single day.
“We have someone down dere who’d be willin’ to house yew.” Captain grumbles. “Vib.”
Patty’s face lights up. “Really?”
“Yeah. He’s down dere for somethin’ else and he wanted yew dere.”
Patty can’t help the grin on her face as she nods and takes the envelope and case file. She loved working with Vibiano. He’d been the one to train her when she first started her job, and she’d grown close to him over the course of the years she’d worked in her position. She hasn’t seen him in a few months, so she’s more than glad to get to stay with him while on her first solo case.
However, before Patty can get up and take the documents, Captain grabs onto her wrist. “Hey, er, P? Don’t feel like ‘ya need ‘ta do allat, ‘kay? I’m sure da family don’t care no more and just wants ‘ya ‘ta close da case.”
Patty frowns, but she still gives her boss a nod. Why would he say something like that? If a family was missing their loved one for 33 years, wouldn’t they want closure on what happened? The lack of respect he put on this woman’s name gives Patty a shiver down her spine. Surely, though, she’s just being dramatic, and it’s nothing. Surely.
Milldread is hot, Patty realizes as she drives through the town’s main road. It was a dry heat, which only made the whole ordeal worse. Luckily, Patty won’t be here for that long, hopefully a few days at most. She’d find what she needed to find to help solve this case, and she’d be back home.
She didn’t really know how to say it, but she was excited she was finally able to work on a case by herself. She’d been employed for a few years, but she’d never gotten to go out into the field on her own to solve mysteries. This was a big step up from boring logistics work she’d been stuck doing for the past few years. It was liberating, almost, being able to be on her own, and not having her boss breathing down her neck.
Patty drives further outside of the town, into residential areas that surround downtown Milldread. She glances down at the GPS in her car, that’s set to the address she was provided. She.. doesn’t know why Vibiano is even in Milldread, but she can only assume it’s his own case that he’s working on himself. Any excuse to spend time with her friend is a good excuse, she thinks.
Patty pulls into the driveway of the household. It was pretty small, and Vibiano’s car already sat in front of the house. She looks around, and notices few neighbors lining the streets. Odd. She assumed kids would be outside playing, or people would be on walks, but there were only a few people out and about. It is pretty hot out, she thinks. Maybe people are inside trying to beat the heat. Not important.
She unbuckles her seatbelt and turns her car off. As Patty gets up and out of the car, she’s hit with a wave of heat. Oh, god, she’s going to have to get used to this. The sun beats down on her as she shuts the car door to open the trunk, taking out her suitcase of clothes. She didn’t think to bring much.
Patty drags the suitcase out and sets it on the ground, feeling sweat drip down her forehead, and closes the trunk of the car. She turns to the front door, and makes her way to the porch in just a few quick steps. Knocking on the door a few times, it doesn’t take long for it to click open, and Patty can feel herself being pulled into a hug.
“Paaaattyyy!!” Vibiano exclaims, tightly wrapping his arms around her.
“Vibi!” Patty laughs, reciprocating his gesture. “How are yew?”
“Ugh, hard at werk,” He sighs dramatically. “Tryin’ to get ready for dis party.”
Patty blinks. “Wait, what?”
“Come in, come in!” Vibiano insists. “I’ll explain in da AC.”
Patty pulls her suitcase through the door and shuts it behind her. The inside of the house was cozy- illuminated by the sunlight previously giving Patty a headache. Spread on the countertop in the kitchen were various papers and documents Patty assumes are related to the case he’s here working on, but Vibiano leads her past the kitchen and into a bedroom.
Vibiano sits down on the bed and pats the spot next to him. Patty goes to sit down next to him on the bed, and gets a chance to look around at the room. It was small, yes, but the photos on the walls were filled with beautiful paintings of, presumably, the fauna Milldread harbored. Patty knows why Vibiano took her here.
“So.. I figured yew’d want dis room,” Vibiano says softly as Patty looks around.
“I wonder why,” Patty rolls her eyes, laughing. “I love it.”
“Well, ya bettah!” Vibiano huffs. “Dere ain’t no way I’m changin’ rooms again.”
Patty laughs again. “I should get da rest of my stuff out of da car,” She figures.
“Okay, well, wait a second, miss!” Vibiano asks. “I told yew about dis party I’m goin tew, roight?”
Patty shakes her head. “Yew mentioned it a couple moments ago,” She remembers.
“Yah. It’s dis bonfire some of da Milldreadians host every year, and apparently dere’s some cute fellas who show up sometimes! Yew wanna come with?” Vibiano nudges Patty’s arm softly. “Maybe yew’ll meet someone..”
“Oh, I dunno..” Patty mumbles. “I dunno if anyone here’s.. Well..”
“I’m sure dere are some girls who swing yer way, Patty.” Vibiano rolls his eyes.
“Well, I guess, but I’m nawt really lookin’ for a relationship, Vib.” Patty sighs. “I got otha things tew worry about. Like- like- like why I’m even here! I got my first case!”
“It took yew dis long? Sheesh, I didn’t think the bawsses hated you dis much,” Vibiano grimaces. “But yew don’t gotta worry about it every night you’re here, Patty. I don’t, and I’m doin’ jus fine.”
Patty rolls her eyes. “Okay, well, even if I wanted tew go, I don’t got anythin’ to wear.”
“It’s nawt a red carpet.” Vibiano reminds her. “Jus wear somethin fun! I moight have some stuff yew can borrow.”
Patty thinks about it. She.. knows she should seriously be focusing her energy on working at her case, but.. just one night spent on herself can’t be that bad, right?
Patty hopes she dressed right for the bonfire, because she can’t tell if she’s too casual, or too formal. She looks to her right, and she sees Vibiano in a short dress that Patty wonders where he even got in a place like Milldread. However, she looks to her right, and someone looks as if they just came from working the ground, as every Milldreadian seems to at least have some experience with.
Patty thinks about her own outfit. It’s not too plain, and the flower embroidery that decorated the ends of her pants legs felt fitting to wear to an event like this. Her hair tied back with a ribbon Vibiano lent her, she fidgets with her hands, waiting for something, anything to happen.
She feels Vibiano wrap an arm around hers, and all of a sudden, she’s being led towards people she doesn’t know. This is happening now? Okay, okay, Patty, you can handle this.
“Dis is who I mentioned!” Vibiano laughs softly. “Patty, dese are some friends of mine who live here.”
Patty waves awkwardly towards the two figures standing in front of her. “Hello.”
“I tried ‘ta convince Saul to be here,” One of them pouts. “But he said he was busy. ‘Doin what? It’za weekend, for god’s sake!”
“Goody, you do know ith a thaturday, right?” The other figure asks. “Church ith tomorrow.”
“Oh, yeah, I guess.” The other replies.
“Dis is Goody, and dis is Bayker. Met ‘em a few months ago. Yew’ve gawt to try some of Bayker’s pastries. Hey, we should go tomorrow!” Vibiano suggests.
“Maybe,” Patty nods, trying to be polite. “Hello! It’s nice to meet yew both. I’m Patty.”
“Nice to meet ya, Patty!” Goody offers her a hand, and when Patty takes it, her firm grip leads the two into a handshake.
“So, er..” Patty mumbles. “Dis seems like a weird place for a bonfire. Right by da woods?”
“All the tall grath,” Bayker pipes in. “Don’t want to thart a big fire,”
“Oh. Figures.” Patty mumbles. “But, still, da woods seem like a weird place.”
“What, are ‘ya scared of The Lady?” Goody teases. Patty, however, does not get the joke. The Lady?? Huh??
“Who?” Patty asks cautiously.
“Oh, have ‘ya not heard about her?” Goody asks. “Man, she’s, like- everyone knows who she is!”
“Da girl’s been in Milldread for a few hours,” Vibiano reminds her. “She ain’t gonna know every little bit of da gossip here.”
“Everyone’s at least heard of her, ‘naw?” Goody looks around and back at Patty, who continues to wear the same confused expression. “Oh, what? Here, lemme tell ‘ya about ‘er. It started, like, a few decades ago. People kept sayin’ there was somethin’ in those woods. Somethin’ that ain’t ‘posed to be there. Apparently, everyone had ‘tha same story. Somethin’ in them woods would take ‘em and try to drink their blood. Sometimes people’ll swear they can see ‘er lurkin’ at the ends of ‘tha forests, ‘n all that jazz. It’s real creepy, if ‘ya ask me. They all call ‘er The Lady of The Leaves, cause she’s ‘posed to be made of ‘em and stuff, not like any real animal that exists.” Goody explains.
“Huh.” Patty says. “Interesting.”
“The ithn’t real, Goody.” Bayker sighs. “Ith’s juth an old wiveth tale, tho kidth don’t go running around in the wooth at night.”
“Whatever.” Goody sticks her tongue out at them. “She’s real in my heart.” Goody dramatically puts her hand to her heart.
“It’s a silly thing.” Vibiano rolls his eyes, and glances back at Patty. “Yew don’t gotta care about it.”
“I think it’s kewl,” Patty smiles. “It’s like.. uh.. it’s like Bigfoot!”
“Suit yewrself,” Vibiano shrugs. “Come on. Let’s go get somethin’ to drink.”
Patty swallows anxiously. She didn’t expect herself to be drinking tonight.. she does need to drive home.. but just one drink can’t hurt, right?
The moonlight forces itself through the gaps in the trees, illuminating the woods in a mythical and almost hauntingly beautiful glow. A gentle breeze rustles the leaves on the trees, a music uncapturable to any kind of typical instrument. The forest is alive tonight, yet activity is slim. The creatures that make up its population head to bed, and its nocturnal dwellers lay patient in the dark the forest provides.
Patty finds herself blinking awake, unsure of where she is. She… she was at the bonfire, wasn’t she? Why is she in the woods..?
All of a sudden, she feels her head begin to pound. Oh.. she remembers, at least.. she thinks. One drink turned into two, turned into three, and all of a sudden.. she’s..
She doesn’t remember much of what happened after that, but she’s wishing whatever’s happening now is something that’ll be forgotten once her hangover wears off. She needs to get out of here.
As Patty tries to stand, she feels the blood rush away from her head, and instantly feels herself get dizzy. Lowering herself back into the seated position she woke up in, she realizes.. she passed out lying against a tree? That.. doesn’t seem right.
There’s a half-empty water bottle sitting neatly next to her on her right, cradled by the weeds that pillow the bottle and its contents. Patty’s phone sits next to it, as if the two lay waiting for Patty when she’d eventually awaken.
Someone put those there. There’s no way Patty could have had her phone sitting that neatly next to a water bottle. But the most important question going through Patty’s mind is, simply, who?
Patty grabs her phone, and groans audibly when she realizes it’s dead. Perfect. She has no way to know what time it is, where exactly she is.. And has no way to call for help.
Okay, Patty, guess you’re on your own. Have fun trying to navigate the woods.. In the middle of the night.. All by yourself.. You can do this! You’ve done.. Harder stuff before..
Patty can’t shake an odd feeling off of her. Something she doesn’t know how to explain. Something that’s crawling under her, and waiting to be released. The feeling blankets her in a soft, yet noticeable emotion Patty can’t find the words to in her dizzy and confused state.
She turns her head back to where it was before, and leans her head against the tree she’s lying against, sighing softly. She’ll figure this out.
When Patty lifts her head again, though, she sees something in between two trees that’s unmistakably there, and not a figment of her imagination.
Two hollowed eyes stare back at her.
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Notes:
Your classic grey fic end note.. go drink water go pet your pets tell someone you love them!! Take care of yourself, reader :))
A LOT IS HAPPENING!! HEY!! HI!! HELLO!! Patty's fine btw. She's gotta toughen up somehow..
Chapter 2: Cross your heart, won’t tell no other
Notes:
MY APOLOCHEESE FOR THE GAP IN BETWEEN CHAPTERS! Alas, finals week is rough but I am luckily now free from hell so here I am with more chapters of my fun au,, SMILES
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
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The set of eyes don’t blink, don’t twitch, don’t move at all as Patty looks into them. They’re strange.. unmoving, unbothered by the breeze blowing through the woods, rustling the leaves of the trees. Normally, the music is a soft piano in the background of the forest’s usual activity, but in this very moment, the crescendo leading it to a fortissimo forces its way into Patty’s ears and keeps her feet grounded to the floor of the forest.
It’s an odd feeling. Patty would expect, at least, in a situation like this, to feel threatened. To be fearful for herself and the things around her. But, in this strange instance, she’s not filled with anxiety. It’s.. intriguing, almost. As if a voice in the back of her head is telling her that the owner of the eyes is safe.
Patty wills her legs to stand up, hands feeling against the bark of the tree behind her as she rises to her feet slowly. She doesn’t break her gaze with the eyes and their owner, and, once at her feet, she takes a careful step toward the pair of eyes.
When she approaches closer- even just a step- she gets a clearer picture of what exactly is in the woods along with her. It isn’t much, considering whatever the eyes belong too backs up, concealing its identity using the shadows around it. Patty continues to harbor this strange feeling of.. confidence isn’t the word.. but.. curiosity might be.
“I’m nawt gonna hurt yew,” Patty calls out into the forest, hoping that whatever lays waiting can understand English, or, at least, tell Patty is a peaceful person.
The owner of the eyes continues to stare at Patty, before leaves begin to rustle. Patty hears noise coming from whatever is in the woods with her, and, suddenly, she’s walking towards the tree she woke up leaning against, backing away from the figure in front of her as it parts the shadows with its huge form.
It’s… a… deer?
It was a strange kind of deer, at that. It didn’t seem to be made of fur, like any kind of deer that Patty had ever seen in her life. Its form seemed to consist of leaves, strewn together in the shape of a body. Its limbs were unusually long, and shadows seeped up its limbs from the bottom of its hooves. The deer’s neck matched this pattern, and more leaves seemed to wrap around where the deer’s neck met the rest of its body. From the base of its neck, though, the leaves became fur cloaked in shadows, leading up to its head that was dark from the lack of light in the woods. The antlers it bore on its head were outstretched like the branches, and the way the deer stared down at Patty only emphasized its hollowed-out eyes.
Patty took in a deep breath as she came face to face with the creature. The two stayed motionless as their shared gaze remained fixed. Not wanting to hold her pose for longer, Patty lets out her breath and puts down the hands she didn’t know she was holding up defensively in front of her body.
“Yew’re..” Patty mumbles. “Interesting.”
The deer stamps one of its front legs in front of Patty, and snorts, raising its head protectively.
“Wait, wait-“ Patty takes in the deer’s strange appearance. It’s made up of.. fauna.. flowers, leaves, weeds.. not normal deer-things that Patty associated with the species.
Was this.. who Goody was telling her about?
“Are yew dat Lady?” Patty calls out into the night, feeling regret wash over her body as soon as she says it. She’s talking to a deer, for crying out loud-
The deer tilts its head in recognition. It raises its head and starts sniffing the air, slowly moving towards Patty.
“O-oh! Oh my, um, I-I’m sorry, um, miss- madam- lady- miss-“ Patty stammers anxiously, backing into the tree. Her hands warn her she’s far too close to keep walking, but the signal doesn’t reach her brain in time, causing her to hit her head against the tree before she could stop walking in time.
Patty sinks to the forest floor, holding the back of her head in her hands. It throbs in pain, shooting it throughout her skull. “Ow…” She mumbles.
The deer lowers its head and glances down at Patty, before letting out another snort. It’s not a territorial noise, like the one before. It’s soft. Playful, almost.
“Don’t mawck me,” Patty scoffs, picking herself back up from the ground. She stares back at the deer, and finds herself questioning why she’s even trying to talk to it.
“I don’t know what I’m ‘doin.” Patty mumbles. “I don’t know why I’m talking to yew. I’m ‘losin it.”
The deer glances at Patty- somehow, a soft expression present in its eyes. It lowers its head and makes its way towards where Patty’s phone and the water bottle sit on the ground. It stamps its hoof against the dirt, and it alerts Patty.
Her eyes widen when she sees where the deer’s found itself. The deer looks back into Patty’s eyes, and it lowers its head back down to the water bottle. The gears start to turn in Patty’s mind as she reaches for her phone, and takes the water bottle with her.
“Did.. yew put deese here?” Patty whispers, looking towards the deer for any kind of response.
Moments pass without any kind of change. Patty’s beginning to accept that she might be losing it, but before she can start to formulate an actual reason why she’s talking to deer..
The deer looks back up at Patty and nods its head.
“Oh.” Patty smiles. “Thank yew.” She looks back down at the water bottle in her hand. The fact someone thought of her and thought of what she might need means a lot to her, and-
Wait, wait, wait- WHAT?
No, no, that deer just nodded!
Patty looks up, and sees the deer starting to walk away, back into the woods. She quickly stands up, and starts frantically following behind the deer, desperately trying to stay quiet enough so she won’t cause it to run away.
“Yew- yew nodded just now,” Patty stammers. “What are yew?”
The deer simply looks behind itself and back down at Patty, before turning its head back fowards and walking onwards.
“Don’t ignore me,” Patty snarks. “I know yew’re ignoring me.”
The deer snorts again, before walking in between two trees and into a bush. Patty picks up her pace and hurriedly attempts to push herself through the bush and back to the tail end of this odd deer.
However, before she can follow behind it, she finds herself back where she was just a few hours before. The.. bonfire? Why did that deer come here of all places?
Patty starts carefully glancing around the remnants of the celebration. The fire in question is merely a few logs, and the ashes of other firestarters added to keep the flame strong throughout the night. Strewn around it are the tables of abandoned food from the celebration. Bags of chips half-emptied, plates of crumbled pastries, crushed up cans of beer, and other wasteful items litter the ground, and Patty’s heart hurts seeing all this trash everywhere. People can’t just clean up after themselves for once?
She finds herself reaching for a glass bottle left on the ground. Her face wearing a frown, she sets the bottle on one of the plastic tables still remaining among the rest of the waste. “Just awful.” She mumbles.
She hears the sound of leaves rustling behind her. She finds herself turning her head, expecting to see that same strange deer, but in it’s place is- a person?
Well, a ‘person’ isn’t the best word for what.. or who Patty finds herself sharing the space with. Its limbs still seem stretched out past their normal length, and shadows claim the ends of each limb. Their legs bend back unnaturally for a human being, resembling the hind legs on some sort of animal, and instead of feet, Patty can make out hooves in the shadows. A short tail swishes gently behind them. Their hands only have four fingers on each, and, Patty thinks they resemble claws- extended past normal, and the shadows that claim their palms don’t move even in the light. Their neck shares the same qualities as the deer’s, but their head looks an awful like a human’s. The eyes belonging to this deer-person-thing are glued to the prize in the person’s claws, and thick brown hair swoops over their forehead and curls unnaturally at the tips. The same antlers from before lay on top of their head, arching out every which way.
Patty carefully approaches the deer person, moving slowly to show she doesn’t mean any harm. In their claws, Patty can see something glimmer in the moonlight. It resembles glass. The person moves their claws around the object, and the label of the object becomes visible to Patty.
{ Freshly Prepared Every Day }
~~ Locally Grown Milldreadberry Jam ~~
Patty’s eyes widen. It’s jam. Patty isn’t a veterinarian, but she’s pretty sure deer don’t normally eat stuff like that.
The deer person scratches at its prize, trying its hardest to access the contents of the sweet nectar trapped behind the glass. Patty can’t help them watch and try to pry the lid of the jar open with its claws, and stare at the red substance inside aimlessly. The deer person longingly gazes at the jar for a few moments before they open their wide jaws, and starts to put the whole jar itself into its mouth.
Patty suddenly feels the urge to do something- stop this deer person into, presumably, biting into glass- and holds out a hand out of sheer panic. “Here!” She blurts, and the deer person looks down at her.
The grip around the deer person’s jar of jam tightens, and they hold it close to them, letting out a deep grunt.
“I’m nawt going to take it.” Patty sighs, raising an eyebrow. “I’m nawt stupid.”
The deer person fixes their line of vision onto Patty’s palm before tentatively handing over the jar of jam to Patty. It’s bigger than Patty thought it originally was- it looked a lot smaller in the deer person’s claws- but Patty is easily able to twist the jar of jam open.
“Here yew g-“ She starts to offer back the jar of jam, and the deer person swipes it from her hands as soon as it can see it again. They walk off, Patty watching them settle on top of a log not too far from where the two were previously. Patty follows close behind, curious as to what they’re going to do with the jar.
Patty sits down on the log next to them, and she watches the deer person dip its claw gently into the jar, scooping out the jam. They lick the jam off of their fingers slowly, as if savoring the flavor. Once all the jam from their claw is gone, they go back in, scooping out more of the red substance. It’s an interesting process, Patty finds.
“So,” Patty mumbles. “Yew’re.. da Lady of Da Leaves?”
The deer person turns their head to look down at Patty, before.. shrugging.
Patty, flustered seeing the such human-like gesture come from someone so non-human, stammers softly “Yew don’t seem too confident in yewrself, huh?”
The deer person stops licking their fingers to really look down at Patty, as if they were analyzing every fibre of her being. The deer person blinks a couple times before going back to their jam. Confused is the best word to explain how Patty feels right about now.
“Sorry, um, Miss.. Madam.. Miss.” Patty mumbles.
The deer person snorts softly when Patty lists off the only honorifics she can remember at the top of her head, tilting their head to the side, as if they’re.. pleased.
“Yew are a lady, huh?” Patty smiles.
The deer person quickly nods as soon as she says the words. Patty, albeit, a little surprised at the sudden response, makes a mental note. “Okay. Sounds gewd, Miss.. Madam.. what dew I even call yew?”
The deer person nods again, going back to her jam.
“Miss Madam, huh?” Patty giggles. “I’m Patty. It’sa pleasure to meet yew.”
The deer person looks up from her jam. She sees another outstretched hand, but instead of it being assertive, it’s friendly. The hand’s owner wears a soft smile on her face. She doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do.
Patty can see Miss Madam carefully crane her neck down, sniffing Patty’s hand slowly, investigating if it’s something safe and can be trusted. After a few moments of inspection, Patty watches Miss Madam gently lick her hand, and she can’t help but let out a laugh. “Yew’re an odd one.”
Miss Madam continues to look at Patty, and eventually lifts her neck again. She digs her claw into the jam jar again, attempting to scoop out the remainder of the jam inside. Sadly, for her, the claws in which she has are too large to fit in between the circumference of the jar’s opening.
Setting the jar down, Miss Madam glances over at the remainder of the goodies left behind by the bonfire’s attendees. She carefully studies the available items, but doesn’t get up to go after any of the food there.
Patty finds herself staring at Miss Madam’s neck. It’s odd how it’s dark like her limbs, she finds. Upon a closer look, though, she notices strange scarring along her neck. It’s as if something was once there, something now left behind. It’s not clear if it’s for the good or the worse.
Patty reaches a hand up towards her neck, but Miss Madam notices what she’s doing in the corner of her eye, and immediately backs away. Patty stops moving instantly, moving her hand back to her side. Miss Madam looks back down at Patty with an odd expression. It’s as if she’s scared.
“I should have asked,” Patty mumbles, looking down at the grass. She toys with a rock under her boot. “Sawry.”
Miss Madam picks up one of her own hands and gently places it to her neck, staring blankly as she feels around her own neck and shoulders. She.. somehow.. knows something’s up too. Something is off.
“Here.” Patty thinks. She reaches for her hair, and she feels for the orange ribbon that Vibiano used to tie up her hair into a bun for the bonfire. Tugging at it gently, her hair comes cascading down the back of her neck, and tickles her shoulders softly. She shakes her head and runs her fingers through her hair. Straightening out the ribbon, Patty beckons Miss Madam closer to her.
Patty softly wraps the ribbon around Miss Madam’s neck and fashions it into a bow. She fluffs up the loops of the bow, and curls the remainder of the ribbon around her finger before pulling at it, watching it bounce back up.
“Dat’s nice,” Patty smiles. “Do yew like it?”
Miss Madam.. well.. can’t really see the bow itself very well, but she lifts a claw and feels for the bow gently. It’s smooth against her fingers. She nods slowly.
Patty’s smile only grows. “Well, den, dat’s just swell!” Patty remarks.
Miss Madam stands from the log, and glances back at Patty before turning for the woods once again. Patty.. knows that she should get home. She doesn’t know the time, or where she is in an unfamiliar town, but she finds herself wanting to follow behind Miss Madam.
So, she looks back at the road in front of her one last time, before turning to run after this strange deer.. person.. thing.
Patty pushes through the bushes again to catch up to Miss Madam, but finds that the deer-person is gone, and all that remains in her place is that same deer as before that Patty first encountered. She walks up close behind it, and makes sure she’s quiet as to not scare her away.
“If yew don’t mind my asking,” Patty starts. “Why are yew.. here? In da woods?”
Miss Madam peers down at Patty down below, and she slowly turns in a different direction from where she was originally walking. Patty follows close behind, trying to remember where exactly Miss Madam is taking her.
The walk is silent, except for the occasional noises that emanate from the forest. The breeze flowing through the woods starts to thicken, and Patty’s wishing she was in more than a simple tank top all of a sudden. Nonetheless, she keeps walking, letting Miss Madam lead the way.
Eventually, the two make it to where the woods seemingly end. Patty’s confused. She wasn’t necessarily expecting.. the end, but her eyes land on a sign put up on the outside of the trees, leading into the forest.
[ STAY CAREFUL!
SOON-TO-BE ACTIVE CONSTRUCTION SITE!
ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTIVE GEAR WHEN ENTERING ACTIVE SITE! ]
“Oh no.” Patty mumbles. “Are dey building stuff here?” She whispers, as if speaking louder is going to will it into existence.
Miss Madam nods her head slowly, snorting.
“Oh dear.” She looks up at Miss Madam. “Dat’s awful. Is dere nothing to.. well.. be done?”
Miss Madam waits a few moments before responding, and Patty doesn’t know what to make of her answer. Why would anyone want to take down these woods? From what Patty knows, they’ve been in Milldread longer than the town itself! It’s an integral part of the town and it’s community, and people are trying to destroy that?
Patty might not be a Milldreadian at all, but, clearly, something needs to be done about this. Someone needs to step up and say something for all the people affected by the developments soon to plague this small town.
Patty looks back up at Miss Madam, the light of the moon glimmering in her eyes. “What if I say I come back, and bring yew some more jam sometime?”
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Notes:
Soooooo what do we think of our fun deer friend :)
Go drink water, go get some fresh air! Thank you for reading this chapter!! :D
Chapter 3: And though I can't recall your face
Notes:
My apolocheese once again for such a long gap in between chapters.. I can't promise anything better for chapter 4 but things will DEFINITELY pick up once we get in the second half of the fic!! Creative block plus school being a pain in my ass will do that to a guy..
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
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Every time Patty’s tried to close her eyes and get some sleep the past few days, something stops her. Someone. As soon as she finally thinks she’s drifting off to sleep, she sees her face flash in her memory. Her hollowed out eyes stare into Patty, as if looking directly through her and into her soul. While she doesn’t know if she’s being judged or not, the feeling of her eyes on Patty makes her feel something she doesn’t have the words for right now. Maybe she would if she actually was able to get some sleep.
She probably shouldn’t be operating a moving vehicle at the moment, considering her lack of rest, but she’d put the hours she should have spent asleep to research. Not only the missing persons case she’s here in Milldread for, but the other stuff she’d learned.
Patty had learned in the past few days that there was a lot of construction in Milldread. Considering the things she’d heard about the town and assumed as she’d grown up, she knew Milldread to be a small and traditional town. While a lot of those traditional values seemed to linger in the neighborhoods and residents of Milldread, the buildings seemed nicer than she would have imagined the town to harbor. Construction littered the streets as she drove through the tiny town, and it led her towards her first destination in her investigation: Milldread’s one, tiny, K-12 school.
According to her research, Milldread used to have more than one school, but over the course of the past few decades, the schools had all but dwindled, until the one she found herself driving to became the remaining source of education for all of Milldread’s next generations. Patty found the whole thing strange- these schools were the first things torn down back in the day, not old buildings that the town didn’t use- but it’s not like she grew up in a richer town herself. She’s not in a place to judge. Maybe the schools just lacked funding and were costing the town too much money to keep running.
As she pulls into the school’s parking lot, she’s starting to think she should have come outside of school hours. Checking the time in her car, she’s hoping most of these kids are at lunch. The last time she had to interact with a school-age kid she didn’t know.. she doesn’t want to think about it. She needs to get herself together, though- a woman in her late twenties losing an argument to middle schoolers is prime entertainment to anyone who may be watching.
Patty parks her car and takes a deep breath in before opening the door and stepping out. She’s here for a reason- figure out where the woman Patty’s in Milldread for went. She’ll figure this out.. eventually. Can’t be too difficult.
She steps out of her car and makes her way towards the school’s main entrance, and once she pushes the door open and walks inside, her flats click against the smooth tile as she finds the front desk. She feels in her pocket for her badge, just in case she needs to use it, but she really hopes she doesn’t have to.
“Hello,” She says to the desk attendant. “I’m here on, um,” She stammers. “Official matters, and I was wondering if I could ask some questions about dis school’s histury, and.. Yeah.”
Patty’s hitting herself internally. And yeah??? Fortunately, though, the desk attendant doesn’t say much about her mannerisms- they pull over the microphone for the intercom system and press a button. “Can Mr. Virelli come to the front desk? You have a visitor.”
Patty doesn’t know how she feels about the lack of verification that the desk attendant asked for, but she’s grateful she doesn’t need to talk more. She finds herself sitting in an armchair not far from the desk, and she tries to imagine who exactly she could be meeting with shortly. Is he the principal? The district superintendent? The mayor?
The person who walks in from one of the school’s connecting hallways is not who she was expecting.
The man is tall- his platform sandals only adding to his height- and despite his older age, he dresses like someone Patty could imagine seeing while on a walk throughout her own hometown. The long skirt on the lower half of his body compliments the ochre sweater vest he has on, a bright yellow tie decorated in flowers tucked in neatly. His wavy hair tied back by a matching headband, he pushes it back and out of his face as he turns to see Patty sitting in her chair.
“Hello! I assume you’re my visitor, friend.” He starts, a warm smile on his face. “Theodore, but call me Theo.” He offers Patty a hand, and Patty picks herself up off of the chair to shake it.
“Patty. Er.. yew’re.. Mr. Virelli?” She asks, an eyebrow raised.
“That I am!” He replies. “How can I help ‘ya?”
“Well,” Patty twirls her hands. “I’m here for some other things, but I wanted to learn more about da history of, well, dis school.”
“You’re with the right guy,” Theo gestures for Patty to follow him, and he starts to make his way down the same hallway he came from. “I’ve been teaching here since the first graduating year!”
“Huh,” Patty remarks. “Dat’s kewl. What do yew teach?”
“These days, whatever they don’t have enough teachers for,” Theo frowns. “But my love will always be for the arts!” He exclaims, his hands outstretched.
“Kewl.” Patty nods. He is.. eccentric, Patty thinks. He talks a bit more as the two continue to walk through the halls, eventually stopping by a door that he unlocks and holds open for Patty to walk through.
“Like I said, I keep a lot of the school’s old documents in here, but sometimes they’re just to fun to look at, you know?” Theo continues. “But a lot of the time this is just my office- acoustics are real groovy whenever I’m in here-” He stops himself, noticing papers on his desk. “Well, these certainly weren’t here before I left..”
As he goes to pick the papers up off of his desk, Patty can’t help but look around at the walls of the office. Photos of students in elaborate costumes in front of colorful sets line the walls, and a few include Theo himself. As she walks further along the wall, the photos start to lessen in quality, and look older and older. These must be plays the school’s put on, she thinks. She cannot see herself doing any kind of performing arts. She isn’t.. out there enough. It always surprises her to see people acting, or singing, or playing an instrument. The people behind it are always crazy talented. She’d love to know someone who did that sort of stuff.
“So,” Theo says hastily as he quickly picks up the papers and shoves them into his desk. “What’s gotcha interested in our history, my friend?”
“I was looking into da construction stuff happening here in Milldread,” Patty begins, finding herself sitting in one of the chairs by Theo’s desk. “I found it real odd it started with dem schools instead of somethin’ else.”
“Ah,” Theo’s expression softens. “Life is strange sometimes, but I’ve gotta admit, that decision was strange as well. Folks say it’s ‘cause the town couldn’t afford to have all those schools running at the same time. Nonetheless, people were jazzed about the whole thing. Especially them teachers.”
“Really?” Patty asks. “Why.. why da teachers?”
“I can tell you,” Theo sighs. “It ain’t fun seeing the students you’ve been ‘teachin get their learning opportunities taken from them. It was a bummer, watching more and more families pull their little ones out of school, since it was costing more and more just to send ‘em to public school. We were not happy.”
“You were one of dem teachers? Wow.” Patty mumbles. “What.. what did yew guys do?”
“Well,” Theo bends down to open a drawer in his desk. “We spoke our minds. Town meetings, protests, you name it.” He pulls out an old yearbook, and opens it up in front of Patty. On the inside are cutouts from newspaper articles, old photographs and polaroids, and other documents. The papers all spill out onto the desk, and Patty starts sifting through them all curiously, picking up a newspaper article that reads ‘Local teachers revolt over closing of elementary school’ on the front cover. Attached is a blurry image of one of the protests, and Patty begins to dig through the pile of photos again to find the matching image. Eventually, she finds the same image, and she holds the photo closer.
In the photo, she can spot a much younger Theo holding a sign along with another woman she doesn’t know the name of, but as soon as she looks at her face, Patty feels like she’s seen her before. She doesn’t know where she saw her face- it clearly wasn’t like this, otherwise she’d know her name- but something about it is like nothing she’s ever felt before. Despite her never meeting this woman, she feels like she.. knows her.
These were teachers, right? Patty grabs the yearbook off of the desk and flips to the pages with the teacher’s names and photos, and after a few moments of going through the photos with her finger, reading off all of the names, her finger lands on a photo of a woman. The same woman holding the sign with Theo.
She reads off her name slowly. “Ms.. Gardner.”
The gears start to turn in Patty’s head. “Theo,” She pipes up. “Did you know a Ms. Gardner?”
Theo’s eyes widen in recognition. He hasn’t heard that last name in many a year. “Abby?”
“So it is her!” Patty exclaims, looking back at the photo. She holds up the photograph of the protests next to the photo in the yearbook. “Dis is.. Dis is the same woman, isn’t it?”
Theo gestures for her to hand over the photograph, and he studies it carefully. “Abby.” He repeats. “She.. she was another teacher. She was at the front of the protests. She organized a lot of them, too.”
“Did yew know her?” Patty asks carefully.
“She was one of my best friends,” Theo says slowly, setting the photo down.
“So you know about her..” Patty trails off.
“No one saw her after they tore the school down.” Theo explains, pulling the yearbook towards him. “It’s real strange. She loved her students. She loved teaching. I don’t get why she didn’t just.. stay, and teach at the other schools, like we all did.”
“I’m sure dere’s a reason,” Patty offers, trying to console him. “People don’t just go missing like dat. Even if dey did, it’s even weirder it’s her, considering everything I’m hearing about her.”
Patty begins to look back in the pile of photos, trying to find more about this woman. So.. Ms. Abigail Gardner was a teacher, huh? She makes a mental note to add this to her case file when she gets back home. Like she just said, it’s out of the ordinary for a person to run away from the life they knew entirely. It’s even more out of the ordinary knowing now the state of her town, and her work life. Patty has a feeling there are more variables involved in solving this case, but she has absolutely no idea where to begin.
She picks up a piece of paper, but realizes it’s not related to the rest of the photos that came from the yearbook. “Oh Partner Mine?”
Theo’s eyes widen and he grabs the paper quickly from Patty’s hands, babbling incoherently as his face begins to get redder and redder. “‘S nothing! Just a.. Um.. project! I’m working on with Calvin- Mr. Collins! Yes! My work partner!”
Patty decides not to point out how red his face looks. Theo’s been nothing but helpful to her today, and she’s got lots of information to take back with her- not only about everything happening in Milldread, but her missing woman she’s here for. Before she leaves, though..
“Hey, Theo? Just curious, er..” Patty taps her fingers together. “Yew wouldn’t know da best place that sells dat, er.. Milldreadberry jam, no?”
Walking into the woods on her own felt like a bad idea. The sun was setting and casting shadows not only on herself, but onto the surrounding trees that slowly became the only thing she’d see around her. Glass jars clinking in her bag made her feel like she was in high school again- sneaking out on a Friday night to promise her friends a taste of her parents’ liquor collection. Obviously, that’s not what she’s here for, but considering who she’s going to see makes her uphold the same level of secrecy.
Patty steps on a twig, and she jumps at the sound it makes. She sucks in a breath through her teeth, and forces herself to take another step forwards. Bushes bristle past her legs as the path begins to narrow. The direction the path leads is something she is attempting to figure out, but her head begins to spin as she keeps walking.
She doesn’t even know if she’s real. Her mind comes up with strange things when it’s running behind. Her hangover was a little easier to get through this time around, but she doesn’t know if it’s because she got lots of rest, or she was in fact rescued by a mysterious deer.. woman.. thing. She wants to believe it was the first, but, here she was, trudging through the woods, in the dark, with a heavy bag slung around her shoulder.
As she walks, Patty keeps looking around for any sign of her. She’s starting to slowly believe that she did, in fact, imagine the whole experience, but she still looks around every time she hears another noise in the woods that doesn’t come from her. It feels almost belittling to Patty. She comes into her woods, bearing gifts, and yet she’s letting herself be stood up by this deer woman? Patty has more dignity than that. She’s better than that-
Patty turns her head to see something through one of the bushes. She can make out.. a pair of eyes. The same eyes that monitored her the first time she found herself in these woods in the dark of the night. They watch her as she steps toward the bush carefully, and Patty holds her hands up by her side cautiously, trying to show she doesn’t mean harm.
The owner of the eyes slowly leaves the bush, and she towers over Patty, staring down at her as if she’s a misbehaving child. Patty lowers her hands as she cranes her head up to look at the woman studying her carefully, her hands reaching for her bag instinctually.
“I have,” Patty starts. “I have something for yew, Miss.”
Miss Madam looks down at where Patty’s hands have found themselves, and she bends down to look at the bag closer. She sniffs it once, trying to pick up whatever’s inside- her eyes eventually inching towards Patty’s hands instead. She looks back up at Patty, as if asking her to reveal her gift with her eyes.
“Um,” She laughs. “Okay, here.”
Patty opens the bag, and she slowly takes out the jars of jam that she’d been carrying with her. She holds one jar in her hands, holding it up to Miss Madam with shaky palms. “I think dis is da right kind.. if it ain’t, I can always go back and get more-“
Miss Madam takes the jar of jam from Patty’s hands quickly, reading the label and sniffing the jar carefully. She stands back up and turns away from Patty, starting to walk off with her gift. Patty stands still for a few moments, unsure of what just happened, before she starts to hurry behind her.
“Hey,” Patty scoffs. “I spent my hard earned money on dat. At least give me da time of day.”
Miss Madam stops in her path, and turns her head to look back at Patty, her.. eyes wide. She almost seems.. surprised. She doesn’t move for a few moments, almost holding her breath- waiting for Patty to move. Patty doesn’t.
Miss Madam turns back to the jar of jam, her claw firmly wrapped around it. She lowers her other, and gestures for Patty to follow her. The gesture stuns Patty, but she quickly follows after her quickly, walking by her side. Patty can’t help but look up at Miss Madam, marveling at her jar of jam, and feel a little happy. She seems to really-
Miss Madam wraps her claws tightly around Patty’s arm and pulls her to the side as she keeps walking. Patty, surprised by the sudden gesture, turns back to look at where she was walking- her path had led her straight into a tree, and she wasn’t looking where she was going. If Miss Madam hadn’t pulled her away just now, she would have had to deal with splinters in her face, and probably a nasty headache.
“T-thank you,” Patty stammers, still being led along by Miss Madam’s grip on her arm. “Yew can.. um.. let go now.”
Miss Madam turns back to look at her, but this time, a glare accompanies her turning head. Patty nods knowingly, lowering her head as the two continue to walk onwards. These are her woods, Patty remembers. She clearly knows them better than someone who’s only been in Milldread for a few days.
After a couple minutes of silent walking, Miss Madam pulls Patty through a bush. Patty’s about to open her mouth and say something about being more gentle towards someone who just brought her a bunch of jam, but she stops when she realizes where they are. The trees that make up the forest stop in a small clearing, in which flowers sprout from the greenest grass Patty thinks she’s ever seen, climbing up the trees and rocks in the area.
Miss Madam sits on a fallen log close to the clearing, attempting to open her jar of jam with her teeth. Patty goes to help her, but as her jaw stretches to fit the jar’s lid in her mouth, she’s able to twist the jar open- and Patty watches in confusion as she begins her ritual with the red nectar inside the glass.
“That works too.” Patty murmurs, but her eyes catch the flowers in the clearing. She begins to realize what they are as she finds her feet moving, approaching the clearing- picking up speed slowly.
“Hey,” Patty realizes. “Deese are.. deese are oxeye daisies!” She starts running towards the clearing to marvel at the flowers. “I’ve never seen dis many before.. dey’re pretty invasive.. specially in deese parts.. but dere’s something ‘bout dem that’s real pretty.”
She carefully takes a few flowers out of the ground. “Yew can tell dey’re the right kind cause of dere long roots and long stems,” She explains, walking back to Miss Madam slowly. She sits down next to her on the log, the flowers still in her hands.
Patty hands one of the flowers to Miss Madam, who takes it with a claw not covered in jam. She looks down at the flower, swirling it with her claws gently. She seems confused on what to do with it.
“Hey, wait, I just noticed,” Patty says. “Yew’ve still gawt yewr bow.”
Miss Madam looks down at her neck, taking note of the orange ribbon still tied around it. She feels it with her free hand, looking back at Patty- as if she was asking if she should give it back. Patty’s expression softens.
“Yew can keep it!” Patty insists. “It looks nice on yew!”
Miss Madam glances back at the flower in her claws, and she gives it back to Patty quickly.
“Yew can keep dis too,” Patty laughs. “Okay, wait. Come here.” She beckons for Miss Madam to lower her head, and when she does, Patty carefully places the flower in her hair, above her ear. She gently tucks the stem in with the rest of her hair, and leans back to look at her whole face. Patty can’t help but smile.
“Cute.” She grins. “Do yew like it?”
Miss Madam feels the flower in her hair, and she gestures to the other flowers in Patty’s hands. Patty picks another flower up from her collection and puts it in her own hair carefully, mirroring the flower in Miss Madam’s.
“There, we can match now!” Patty laughs. “Amazing.”
Miss Madam nods, and Patty can very faintly see a smile on her face. She didn’t really know deer women could smile, or the fact that they were cute. Maybe that’s just a Miss Madam thing.
Patty looks past her and spots the setting sun through the clearing. “Hey, um. It’s starting tew get sorta late, and I should probably get ‘goin.” Patty frowns. She opens up her bag once again and sets the additional jars of jam in front of Miss Madam. “I got yew deese as well. Don’t eat it all too fast, ok?”
Miss Madam nods, taking the jars as Patty hands them to her. She seems.. sad. Sad that Patty’s leaving. Patty isn’t sure if it’s the low light or her own feelings, but what she is sure about is that she should probably come back sooner rather than later.
“I’ll come visit again,” Patty promises. “With more jam!”
Miss Madam nods hastily. Patty laughs. She didn’t realize she’d enjoy spending time with her this much. “Yew’re funny.”
Miss Madam’s eyes widen, and she gestures to herself. “Yes, yew!” Patty giggles.
Miss Madam pushes hair away from her face bashfully. She sets her claws back in her lap before offering one to Patty. Patty stares at Miss Madam’s claw before taking it, shaking it softly.
“Retry from last time, huh?” Patty asks. Miss Madam’s eyes land on the ground.
“Well, I’ll be seeing yew later, my friend.” Patty smiles as she stands up.
Miss Madam stares at Patty as she stands once she utters the last word. Her eyes are wide, and she hastily follows after Patty as she begins to leave. She takes Patty’s arm again- this time, a lot gentler than before- and begins to lead her through the woods. Patty lets her guide the way, as it’s only starting to get darker out, and she probably won’t be able to find her way out, back to her car on her own.
“Thank yew,” Patty tells her as they walk. Miss Madam doesn’t respond, but she grabs a tree branch and pushes it out of the way as Patty follows close behind her.
Once the two get to the edge of the forest, Patty spots her car, and instinctively begins to walk towards it. However, once she catches what she’s doing, she turns around to say goodbye to Miss Madam, but-
She’s gone. Patty stares in the direction of where she would have been if Miss Madam waited for her. But, she’s gone, and Patty can’t see her in the distance, like she first found her.
Patty feels.. sad, almost. She wants to go back into the woods, and find Miss Madam again. She wants to go back to that flowery clearing and pick more daisies to take home with her. She must have dropped the ones she was holding onto, since they’re not in her hands anymore. She wants to go back to the log, and sit with Miss Madam, and look at her cute smile-
What’s happening to Patty? She was here to find out what happened to a missing woman.. not getting to know a mysterious one. She needs to get back to work.
..but it’s not like Captain will care if she takes a little longer to solve her case, right?
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Notes:
New faces!! New friends!! New.. relationships? What's Patty gotten herself into now?? 👀👀
Your reminder to take care of yourself!! Drink that water!! Pet that animal!! And, once again, thank you for reading <3