#I realized halfway through that I'd been using just she/her pronouns for Chair but I made it work because this takes place in the 80s

[thechairanon]

It took me so long to post this dear god.

ANYWAY part two of sona lore! Takes place a week after the first part, and Chair is feeling the effects of the tapes pretty hard.

I don't know what warnings I should put for this, but there is a bit of... push for [Redacted] to get a partner from her family throughout this. They're not exactly nice to her about that. Another warning is that there's a bit of violence near the end, but it's not explicit.

[Redacted] was sitting in her grandfather’s chair at the family reunion, looking out the window, her back to the tv.

She could still hear it.

The static. The voices. The horror on the tapes.

She had watched all of them and then some within a week.

She flinched when someone put their hand on her arm.

“Are you all right, dear?” Her mother asked. “You’ve been sitting there for a while.”

[Redacted] tore her eyes away from watching the outside world. “What?”

Her mother sighed. “I’m worried about you, [Redacted]. Your brother told me you’ve been acting like this all week. Tell me what’s wrong.”

[Redacted] shrugged. “I’m fine, mom. Promise. I’m just… tired.”

Her mother sighed. “Can you at least join me in the kitchen? Your Grandma hasn’t seen you since Grandpa passed away. She wants to talk to you.”

“Yeah, I’ll- uh. I’ll be in soon.” [Redacted] turned back to the window. She blinked when she saw her two little cousins and {Missing} playing together in her front yard.

When did they get there?

[Redacted] sighed. She got up, grabbed her chair, and made her way to the kitchen.

“Hey, Puppet Girl!” Her uncle greeted when she walked into the kitchen. “How’ve you been, kiddo?”

“Oh, --Unavailable--,” [Redacted]’s mother scolded. “Don’t you think she’s a little too old for that nickname?”

“Of course not!” (Removed) piped up. “I’ve been calling her Chair all week and she hasn’t said a thing about it!”

Everyone but [Redacted] laughed.

“How’s business?” Aunt /Censored/ asked.

“It’s been okay. I haven't…” [Redacted] glanced over at her brother. “I’ve… I think I’ve been working on a new project.”

(Removed) nodded. “It looks good! It’s definitely a new and interesting style, but it looks good.”

“[Redacted], you look tired,” [Redacted]’s Grandma \Effaced\ said kindly. “Have you been getting enough sleep?”

“Hmmm…” Had she? Every night this week, [Redacted] had eaten dinner, waited until her brother and {Missing} had gone to bed, and listened to a tape or two. Or three.

Okay, maybe [Redacted] hadn’t gotten the best sleep this week.

It was those damn tapes fault. They drew her in like quicksand and now she was trapped.

She couldn’t(wouldn’t?) stop watching them.

“-you going to propose to that girl?” \Effaced\ asked (Removed).

[Redacted] blinked. How much of this new conversation had she missed?

(Removed) glanced away. “Jeez, Grandma, we’re not ready for that kind of commitment yet.”

“At least you’re engaged,” \Effaced\ said snipishly, “little miss independent here hasn’t even looked for a man. When am I going to get grandchildren if you’re too cowardly to propose and [Redacted] refuses to look for a good man to take care of her!?”

[Redacted] took a sharp breath in. God damn it, not this again. She could hear the tapes in their box in the hallway closet rattling with anger.

[Redacted] couldn’t agree with them more.

[Redacted] stood quickly, bolted out the kitchen and out the back door. She slowed to a stop at the edge of the woods in her backyard.

The anger had knocked all sense of exhaustion out of her body. She trembled with rage.

“Chair! Hold up.” (Removed) yelled. He joined his sister in the backyard. “Where are you going?”

“For a walk,” [Redacted] answered coldly. “I’m going to go chop some wood.”

“Cool, I’m joining you.”

[Redacted] trudged into the woods with (Removed) following close behind.

They walked on a path that [Redacted] had carved into the ground from years of going back and forth between the stump she used to chop her wood and her house.

It was a nice spot in the woods right next to a creek. The previous owners of the house had built a shed there to keep gardening supplies, but [Redacted] used it to keep her logs dry and her ax from rusting.

Within moments, [Redacted] was bringing down her ax on some poor unsuspecting log of wood, completely splitting it in half. Krrk-thunk.

[Redacted] liked the sound of chopping wood. The crack of the ax splitting the log and then hitting then hitting the stump underneath was a familiar, comforting sound.

Krrk-thunk.

“I just don’t understand why she refuses to let it go,” [Redacted] snarled as she replaced her previous log with a new one.

“I’m sure she means only the best,” (Removed) said.

“She brought it up at Grandpa’s FUNERAL, (Removed)!” Krrk-thunk.

(Removed) hissed through his teeth. “Yeah, not the best time to bring that up. But you have to admit, she has a point.”

Krrk-thunk.

[Redacted] paused mid-swing. “What?”

“Well- think about it this way. You know I’m providing for {Missing}, right? What happens if you can’t provide for yourself anymore?”

Krrk-thunk.

“You’ll need someone to take care of you if your chair-making business doesn’t work out for you financially.”

Krrk-thunk.

“Chair- [Redacted], talk to me.”

Krrk-THUNK.

Static sung in [Redacted]’s ears, building up behind her drooping eyes. She could hear the tapes in their box, begging to be let out.

They didn’t like all this nagging, and neither did she.

(Removed) sighed. “I have a buddy who I think you’ll like if you give him-”

“JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!” [Redacted] spun to face her brother and swung.

The noise that came next did not sound like it came from an ax hitting wood. In fact, it sounded like an ax hitting something much, much different.

Part 1 / Part 3