Michael woke up with a ringing headache. He struggled to get up from his bed, his mind not just groggy from whatever he did last night but feeling like there was some sort of weight on it. He rubbed his head to try and soothe the aching but he came across something stuck on top: antlers. 

Michael felt a strange headband on his head with antlers attached. He tried to take it off but it was stuck on somehow. He was about to say “what the fuck,” but he just noticed that his mouth was being filled with some sort of gag. He was already panicking but then he started noticing his surroundings and it got worse. 

He was stuck in some sort of stable, getting up from a bed of hay with bare wood walls save for a mirror on the inside of his stall door. He confirmed he was wearing some metal antlers on his head with a blinking light above his right ear and one of those gags he’s seen horses wear in his mouth. Stranger than that he saw he was wearing a brown latex catsuit with white spots like a deer decorating it. He reached for the back of his neck for a zipper to take it off however all he felt was the collar around his neck which had a little sleigh bell dangling from the front, jingling and mocking him as he tried futility to rip the suit off. 

Michael could hear the frustrated and confused moans of other people from the other stalls. He took a little bit of solace knowing that he wasn’t alone in this weird situation but also grew concerned thinking about who would be weird enough to do a mass kidnapping like this. As if responding to all the commotion from all the stalls, a gentle chime echoed through the stable and the light on Michael’s headband changed from red to green. 

“Attention herd,” a voice over a PA system sweetly cooed into the stable, “it is time for you to leave your stalls. When the doors open please exit calmly and await further instructions at the front gates.” Micheal’s stall opened and he marched out and lined up single file alongside a dozen other deers just like him, antlers and rubber alike. 

They all stood like mildly fidgety statues in the middle of the stable pointed at the exit. Micheal looked around for anyone he recognized but no such luck. All he saw were a bunch of confused and frightened deer like him… he was confused himself why he was calling the other deer “deer” in his head. He knew they weren’t deer but he couldn’t actually acknowledge what they were besides that. 

He also had a hard time entertaining the idea of escape. There was an instinct to run away from here as far as he could, but he couldn’t actually bring himself to take any action that would further that goal. He was told to wait so he had to. That’s the only conclusion he came to whenever the idea of “ESCAPE” popped up in his mind. What were these antlers doing to a deer like him?… “Fuck” Michael thought upon realizing what he just did. 

Suddenly the gate opened and Michael thought of running out… he thought really hard… he thought about how it would be a great opportunity to bolt out the door and get help for him and the others… he wasn’t supposed to leave though he had to wait for instructions. He could tell the rest of his herd were having similar conflicts in their heads too based on their expressions… his here?

The chime echoed again and softly directed them, “Thank you for waiting so patiently, the game will begin shortly. Please step outside and await the instructor for further directions.” Michael felt relief as he obeyed the directions. He was outside now, that's what he wanted… shit wait no there were other steps after that but he had to wait for the game instructor now damnit. 

His herd lined up in a horizontal line outside the gate and found themselves in a vast heavily wooded forest, dense trees as far as any of the deer could see. There was nowhere to go except back into the stables or a dirt road that led up a hill to some sort of building that no one could get a clear view of. “This is like some indie horror game except it’s obviously someone’s fetish,” Michael thought, taking a break from trying to brute force his brain to use its fight or flight functions. 

Suddenly two large vans came down the road and parked in front of the herd. Out stepped the hunters for the game. Michael’s confusion of how natural it was to think that quickly gave way to panic over the prospect of being hunted. There were a little over a dozen hunters all dressed in some sort of rubber fetish gear; there was one in a camo-colored catsuit with tactical gear, another cosplaying as a latex lumberjack and two drones in full gasmasks standing at attention with their hive master (how the hell did Micheal know what any of that meant???). One of the hunters, a kind of handsome guy in a black and orange catsuit with a leash hooked up to his utility belt winked at Michael, causing him to blush. 

A third car, a pickup truck, pulled up with a bunch of hounds, all dressed in pitch black rubber catsuits with numbers imprinted on them and dark pup hoods highlighting the piercing and determined stare of each hound. They were let out of the truck with a ramp and assigned to each of the hunters (the drone trio only got one), leashes getting clipped to each one. Upon their assignment the hounds’ hoods would slide a small visor over their eyes and they all peered over towards the herd. Michael hoped this was some creepy coincidence. 

Someone wearing a rubber park ranger uniform, the instructor (how did Michael know that too???), stepped out of the truck last and took his place between the hunters and the herd. He welcomed everyone to the game and laid out the instructions: Michael and his herd were to have an hour head start to run into the forest and get as far as they could. When the hour was up, the hunters would begin pursuit and hunt until every member of the herd was either shot with one of their paint guns (a small relief to Michael knowing he wouldn’t be shot dead) or incapacitated by a hound. Whoever came back with the most deer in tow was the winner, although the instructor emphasized that beyond bragging rights and the privilege of being allowed to “play” with the deer there wasn’t a prize for this competition so everyone should just have fun with it. 

Michael couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he was being hunted for sport (and probably the right to fuck him) by some weird rich kinky fucks in the middle of nowhere. What concerned Michael more was the realization that he still couldn’t fathom the possibility of just ditching these creeps and trying to get out of these hunting grounds. He kept looping back around needing to wait until the instructor told him it was okay to run. He caught another glimpse of that one hunter in orange and black, petting his hound gently while keeping a firm grip on its leash, Michael confounding himself even more by being a bit envious of that puppy. 

The instructor turned to the herd and commanded them to ready themselves for the hunt, Michael standing at attention in protest against his own mind. “On your marks!” The instructor announced. “Get set… GO!” Michael ran as fast as he could in his hooved feet, making a beeline directly ahead of himself into the woods hearing two others of his heard racing alongside him in the same direction. 

The trio made a pretty decent team getting through the denser part of the forest, helping each other scale a large fallen tree and picking each other up if they tripped, until they ran into a vast clearing. They could see other members of their herd to the right and left of them in the distance, everyone seemed to be taking a breather to consider their options. The blonde-haired deer in Michael’s squad gestured towards the distance they were already running, to which Michael gave an exasperated shrug since there wasn’t any guarantee that there was a true escape in that direction; there was just more forest where the clearing ended. 

The other deer, who had a blue hair-dye job, did his best to gesture that they should go back and find a spot to hide. Before anyone in this mute committee could reach a conclusion they all heard a sound. It was a chime similar to the one in the stable. A really soothing noise like the wind whistling with a peaceful bird chirping. It got the anxious and sweaty trio to drop their guards for a minute as they took it in. 

Just then a paintball came out of the trees behind them and hit the blonde-haired deer in the ass. The trio were taken out of their relaxed state as the camo-colored hunter came out of the woods, putting away their gun and dangling a spare leash walking towards them with his hound. Michale also noticed the other herd members in the distance either running from or being caught by the hunters. 

The blue-haired deer urged his companions to run and Micheal took a few steps with him before they noticed their blonde friend standing still with his back turned to them facing the hunter. Michael ran back and tugged at his arm but he saw a vacant expression with a gaze fixed upon his captor. Michael picked up real quickly based on his own experience that there was no way his friend could think about anything else but waiting to get captured now that his ass was covered in green paint. Michael ran back and gestured for the blue-haired deer to keep running too, while the hunter ordered his hound to pursue the two so he can claim his prize. 

The duo made it to the end of the clearing but they weren’t safe yet, the hound still in hot pursuit. They had enough of a lead to try and climb a tall tree to get away from the human canine barking ferociously at them. Michael and the blue deer made it high enough to stay out of the beast’s range but suddenly a branch the blue deer was standing on cracked and broke, leaving Michael’s companion dangling within reach. The hound reached up with its paws and grabbed a hold of blue deer’s hoof, yanking him down into the pet’s arms. 

Michael looked down in panic wondering if he could do something but he saw the hound flash some sort of light from its visor directly into blue deer’s vision and his herdmate went slack. The hound put him down gently on his feet and walked back to its hunter in the clearing, the blue deer marching close behind like a zombie. Michael couldn’t believe his luck. His chances at getting out of here seemed nearly impossible now that he had no help and it became clear that if he was caught, he wouldn’t get another chance to escape. 

He climbed a bit higher into the tree and waited for the hunter and his hound to come after him since there was no way they didn’t know he was here. He saw them and his former friends, leashed up to the hunter’s hip and marching in perfect rhythm behind him, staring underneath him… never looking up for a second. Just walking deeper into the woods… weird. Michael decided to take advantage of this small bit of fortune and climb down carefully to find an escape from this sick game. 

He figured everyone would be going in the same direction away from the hunters deeper into the woods so he decided to go perpendicular to that until he got to a fence or a river or a road back to civilization or anything that resembled freedom. He tried not to think about himself getting caught and turned into a prey-zombie like his herdmates. He did spend a little time worried about how natural parts of this seemed to him and wondered if he, and the rest of his herd, were brainwashed or something. He wondered if he could find a way to get these antlers off, or perhaps the jingling collar since they made it hard to find anywhere to hide. But he dismissed those notions since he needed to wear them… he didn’t know why he needed to, and he was once again freaked out by how quickly his mind came to that conclusion, but he didn’t waste time trying to argue with himself. 

He ran into another deer by a creek who was staring at his own reflection in the water. Michael couldn’t tell if he was staring in horror or admiring himself, but before he could get his attention they both heard that soothing chime again. They both stood up straight and let the sound fill their heads with its tranquility… except Michael remembered the image of his friend getting blasted with paint and it shook him out of his peaceful state enough to realize he was in danger. He tried to shake the other deer out of it and nearly succeeded but the chime went off again and they seemed to sink deeper into a happy stance. Michael could only try to focus on his own resistance listening to the repeating noises, so he opted to hide behind a dense rock nearby and block it out. 

He knelt down and put his hands over his ears. The chime still came through and he fought the urge hard to stop resisting it’s siren call and just accept that everything was fine, and that he should stand still and wait like a good docile deer. He fought himself hard pointing out how weird it was. How good that sounded and holy shit it sounded amazing. He hoped he would get caught by that one sexy hunter… SEXY HUNTER WHAT DID HE MEAN???

The chime stopped and instead Michael herd some rapid beeping. He peered around the corner of the rock hoping to god his antlers wouldn’t give him away and he saw the drone squad leashing up the other deer. He failed to be as stealthy as he had hoped as one of the drones noticed him and began to approach. 

Michael considered his options but suddenly he heard that chime again coming from the drone. It was too close and he wasn’t prepared for it this time. All Michael could do was keep himself sitting down instead of standing upright, hoping with what little resistance he could muster that somehow the rubber clad robot thing wouldn’t look down. This was obviously delusional and desperate of Michael to think because the drone turned the corner and definitely looked down, pointing its paint gun at him. 

But the drone noticed the bell on his collar and jingled it with the end of its gun. It gave what Michael could only assume was a disappointed beep and walked off, the whole squad heading back towards the center of the forest, leaving Michael alone and really damn puzzled. He was practically in the drone’s crosshairs. Why did it spare him?

He got up once the weird mix of relief and bafflement of having survived that encounter wore off and kept heading in the same direction. He wasn’t sure what the hell he was doing anymore; he just had to find an end to this madness however he could. He had to be the lone survivor of this weird fetishy animal-themed hunting game one way or another. 

He heard a voice echoing through the woods calling his name. It sounded familiar yet… not. Like he couldn’t place the voice to the person in his mind. He chalked it up to another weird quirk of his brainwashing and kept striving into the woods while looking out for the source of the voice. 

It was getting closer and a bit more playful. He was being toyed with by someone who knew him. He tried to think of the people he knew in his life and who he possibly could have pissed off enough to have them do this to him. Not that he wasn’t having fun being chased so deep into the dark woods like this, exhausted with his captor so inevitably close… Where the hell did that arousal come from? Was he getting turned on by this?

I mean why wouldn’t he? He was curious about fearplay and wanted to try roleplaying something with his boyf- no wait what hold on why was he thinking of all this now he was being hunted! He had to escape so he could get caught- FIND HELP and get back to his… wait he had a boyfriend? Was he cute like that one Hunter? WHY WAS HE SO OBSESSED WITH THAT ONE HUNTER???

His trainwreck of thought was interrupted by a distant bark. He began to run trying his best not to rustle the leaves on the ground and holding his jingling bell still with one hand so it wasn’t a dead giveaway. He was being hunted. He had to focus on that. Being hunted like the prey he was. He had to make it a good hunt for his hunter, good prey run as long as they can for their hunt- STOP IT STOP IT JUST RUN!!!

Michael kept running as fast as he could, eventually just letting go of his bell and letting it jingle so he could run with both arms free. It wasn’t like he could afford to be stealthy at this point. He could tell he was being pursued too closely to try and hide. So close to the hunt being over, he needed to prolong it for a few more seconds for his hunterrrrrr aaaa he wished he would stop doing that. 

He could hear the fast steps of the hound close behind him, accented by the squeaking of both of their rubber suits adding a layer of tragic comedy to this tense chase. Michael couldn’t believe how long this forest went on. He felt like he had been running forever. He felt like he could run forever, be chased forever for his hunter. Running as long as he could until-

He felt an impact on his chest. He slowed down and noticed an orange blob of paint in the dead center of his suit. He stopped running. He had been caught and the game was over. He felt a sense of calm wash over him as he stood at attention with the hound waiting beside him, both animals waiting for their master. 

The hunter came to meet Michael. His hunter. He felt relieved that he was caught by him even if he couldn’t understand it. The slim hunk in his sleek rubber outfit just smirked as he reached for the bell on Michael’s collar and gave it a playful ring. 

Hunter undid Michael’s gag and called him “good prey.” 

“I gave you a good hunt, master?” Michael asked in an eager yet sleepy voice, only half-aware of what he was asking. 

“You certainly did cutie.” Hunter said in a smug yet reassuring voice. “Now let’s head back to the compound and have some fun.” 

Michael couldn’t think of anything he wanted more. He had been a good prey for his hunter and he was going to be rewarded for his job well done by being a good fucktoy for him as well.

Later that night Michael woke up next to his boyfriend, still in his favorite black and orange latex catsuit looking as sexy as the day he accidentally stumbled onto him putting it on. As Michael stirred awake he looked at himself still wearing the deer catsuit with an orange stain and everything that had just happened to him came into focus, like he had just woken up from the best dream ever. But it wasn’t a dream, he realized, and the rush of being hunted hit him all at once, so fast and so quick he nearly came a third time that night from the thrill. He was blushing with embarrassment he tried to hide from Jacob while making the cutest happy squeal having one of his silliest fantasies fulfilled. 

“Ya almost sound like a real deer making that noise, cutie.” Jacob teased.

“Aaaaa shut the fuck up I’m having a moment heheh,” Michael giggled. 

“I know.” Jacob replied, “That was a lot you just went through there. I hope it was everything you wanted.”

“Oh fuck yes it was it so was.” Michael confirmed excitedly. “It felt so real. I felt like I was really in danger but it was so exciting! And I remember thinking it was weird too but I wasn’t able to figure out why and that just added to it and also I couldn’t get the antlers off it really felt like it was glued to my head, the conditioning the staff put on me really worked and and and-“

“Hey breathe,” Jacob interrupted. “Breathe babe. I know you’re excited but you need to pace yourself. I’m glad this was worth the money.”

“Oh like you didn’t have fun.” Michael quipped after catching his breath. 

“Yeah I did. It was worth paying the extra fee to have that bell put on you, I couldn’t bear to see you get hauled away by anyone else but me~”

“Mmmm you know I love it when you get possessive.”

“Of course. You’re my prey after all~”

Michael shuddered, hearing that word he could’ve sworn he was still wearing the antlers. He hugged his partner so much tighter. “Thank you so much for this, who else would’ve gone to this length for their boyfriend’s weird hunting fantasy?”

“You’re with it 100% Michael.” Jacob reassured him, “I know it wasn’t exactly like you envisioned it but-“

“It was better than I envisioned it. Yeah I would’ve preferred you as a wolf but I never could’ve imagined we’d get an opportunity like this ever. This feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“Well the staff did tell me if we sign up for a membership we could get a discount on our next ‘experience’.” 

“… don’t tempt me Jake.”

Jacob chuckled, “Yeah let’s worry about that later. Is there anything I can get you now?”

“Just stay here with me until my legs stop aching… and maybe put on some streaming show for us to fall asleep to.” Michael’s boyfriend complied and the two rested in the suite of the compound, recovering from a truly wonderful hunt.