#statement given

bark

Statement of Gibby regarding a…strange deer sighting on her way back to her apartment. Statement given November 13, 2023

Statement begins:

It was late at night…I already hate driving late at night. You see, my cars headlights are extremely dimmed, to the point that even my brights aren’t enough to cut through the darkness. So I drive slower at night. Especially in the country roads. I’m not stupid. I know there are a lot of deer this late into the season. So I drive slow, acknowledge every deer and animal I see on the sides of the road, in the fields and forest to my sides.

It was after I saw the two coyotes that I came upon it. I was just starting to get to the more familiar part of the country roads, starting to relax a bit more and take a breath, I could see the towns lights up ahead. And then all I saw was a deer. A buck as long as my car wide and much taller than my car. So large that I knew if I hit it, it would be walking away and I wouldn’t.

I honked at it. I can’t say why I did. I knew it wouldn’t do anything, maybe I was just hoping the sound would scare it enough that it would jump off the road, out of my way. The sound did nothing. The thing didn’t even look my way, luckily there was room enough and no other cars on the road that I could swerve into the other lane around it. But the rest of the car ride home, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched-followed even. I still can’t.

As a lot of others do, I own a dash cam and so i decided to do my own follow up. After I got back I took it off and wanted to replay and see the thing for myself. But when I plugged it in, I noticed the quality of the video greatly decreased from what it normally provides…and where the moment I should have seen the deer there was…nothing-not nothing. But the video was distorted beyond anything recognizable and ended. Just cut off. There was nothing left recorded after I should have seen the deer…but it just wasn’t there..nothing was but that distorted footage

I didn't used to be scared of caves. Maybe the whole obsessive reading thing is keeping me safe, because I'm terrified of 'em now.

Anyways all this is to say do you think I'm being tormented by the Buried because I feel like if I were I'd be more directly trapped in caves or something right? Maybe this is some weird Eye thing.

A very interesting case. This is definitely a manifestation of the Eye, though a strangely specific one.

-sincerely a very tired desolation

Do you think that was caused by one of The Powers? And any idea which one it might have been??

I would’ve been like 9 maybe 10 at the time?

Anyways my friend’s house had a crawlspace, the sort that’s completely unfinished, maybe 3 feet tall, with bare concrete walls and rocks on the floor. my friend seemed pretty ambivalent towards it; I, on the other hand was riveted. We spent all of winter break hanging out down there “exploring”.

And here’s the thing: there was cardboard on most of the walls down there. And we actually did find two sections of the crawlspace they didnt know about.

So we brought lamps in with extension cords, cleaned up all the cigarette butts, put old christmas paper up on the walls as decoration, and made up ghost stories about the kid that was there before (a real guy who presumably used it as his hideout and place to smoke without his parents knowing back when he used to live there, he left some stuff there so we knew his name. it was Isaac.) anyways contrary to what I’m sure are the real facts, we were convinced Isaac was dead in some horrible way so we’d play Charlie Charlie but with Isaac Isaac while we were down there so we could communicate with him.

Anyways my friend’s mom then decided it was too dusty down there and we were gonna damage our lungs so she banned us from going in there again. Then that friend moved away when i was like twelve and i haven’t seen her since.

Hi Cave Person,

Well, this certainly explains Cave Time. From your statement, it seems likely that your friend's house was a place of power for the Buried. If your friend hadn't moved out, it's likely the Buried's influence over you would have only gotten stronger (think: Jane Prentiss Wasp Nest In My Attic).

However, this little encounter in your youth left you with a connection to the Buried, which the Eye now exploits in a process known to you as Cave Time. Your fear is extra sweet because it comes with a personal connection to the Buried without making you an avatar.

The other possibility is that it was not the house that held the power of the Buried, but your friend. Perhaps there's a reason you haven't heard from her since you were twelve. Perhaps it's best not to go looking.