It takes a few days, but after asking around, you find a stag that had been resurrected from the human world. He tells you how to reject and load tapes in the simplest way as he can. After you describe how you found the cassette itself, he doesn’t seem inclined to outright show you with the actual tape player.

You wonder why this is.

Holding the cassette gingerly in your mouth, you return to the sight of the tape player...

Looking it over, you notice that the speck of blood on the corner of it's slick surface has grown significantly in size.

There's a sickly rotting stench wafting from it.

With a jolt of added fear, you notice that the tape that you had listened to some days ago is missing.

Following the instructions of the stag, you manage to load the new cassette into the empty deck, careful to line up the two notches into the tapes equally spaced holes.

Closing the compartment, you look over the buttons and find the one with an arrow indentation.

Reluctantly, with a quick glance over your shoulder, you press it.








...








ZZZZzzzZzzzZZZzzzz....








"In a way, I suppose it's a good thing that it took Jacob... I was seriously considering the possibility of getting us both some mental help, even if we both ran the risk of being committed."









The voice is certainly less frantic now. It's almost unfeeling, completely indifferent. You really start listening to his voice now... he sounds relatively young.









"... I don't have that many more blank cassettes to work with now. I need to stop rambling... Though I'm wondering if I should call the police... what would I tell them? That some faceless..."









There's another long pause. Obviously he's getting his bearings. You hear the faint sounds of rustling paper.









"My name is Douglas Morris. The most recent... victim... is my younger brother, Jacob Morris. The date is May 21 2011 with a time of 7:30 PM. I am twenty one years old, my brother was eighteen. I don't mean to be cliché, but if you're listening to this right now, I'm either missing or dead."









A faint, strained chuckle.









"... I'm making this tape, not only to comfort myself, but to warn whoever or whatever may be over that long line of trees about a quarter of a mile off from my current location. I'm not gonna dwell on how unnatural that is... quite frankly, I can accept anything right now."









Another pause. You notice that the tape is getting more static and feedback now, but it's still clear enough to interpret.









"If there's anyone over that wall. People especially, I implore you to, above all else, hide your children. It goes after children like a moth to a campfire. I would know... it' been stalking Jacob since he was seven years old... We've been dealing with this goddamn thing for eleven years. Until now, we've both sanitized ourselves to being constantly followed. Our parents never knew. It was always hidden in such a way that only we could see him."










A shaky sigh










"At first we didn't pay it that much mind. I mean, it looked normal. It looks... like a tall guy in a black suit with a white undershirt... It's arms and legs are gangly... much longer than normal... It doesn’t have a face... or ears... or hair... We didn't notice that until a few years later when it started getting closer..."









At this point, the audio starts to become warped at some points.









"It wasn't until much later that we started carrying around tape recorders so that we could ramble and makCGHHHHHHHHzzzzzzzzz.... stalkkkkkkk.... zzzZZZZZzzzzzzkckckckckkkk... ssssssss....HIDE THE CHILDRENENENEN....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..."









...









*click*










Terrified, you look behind you once more, the fur on the back of your neck rising.






You see a lone stag sitting a long distance off, staring back at you, his face shrouded by the shadows of the upper canopy.






Breathing a sigh of relief, you walk towards him, noticing how ironic it is that he has a black and white pelt.






You stop when you notice that his antlers appear to be moving. Long, thin tines that seem to pulsate.






His face is as smooth as polished marble.






You watch, quite literally as a deer in the headlights, but he does nothing.






He simply watches you.






Always watching you.








zzzZZZZzzzz