Chapter One: A New Reality
When Josh woke up, everything was dead silent. He didn't know how long he had been asleep or what happened. The last thing he could remember is that he started reading the book aloud to his friends before he apparently passed out.
It was only now that Josh noticed all his friends passed out around the table as well. He immediately stood up and rushed over to Sam, and shook him. No response.
At first Josh thought this was some kind of a joke well orchestrated by his friends so he waited for several minutes. Still they didn't move so Josh went around shaking all of them to get some kind of response he knew at least one of them would have just given up by now. Still they remained still almost dead, and that's when Josh called the hospital.
Sam opened his eyes and was starring at the sky. He felt heavy as he stood up onto his feet. His head was still spinning when he asked, "What happened?"
Only after he asked that question did Sam begin to realize the abnormality of his situation. The last thing Sam could remember was that he was at Josh's house with every one. They were starting a campaign hidden inside this strange book Josh bought.
Then Sam's head started pounding as the final moments of that strange event rushed back to him. He remembered Josh reading from the book aloud when all of these strange events began happening. First the book started to glow a blue light as Josh read further into it but he seemed to take no notice as he continued reading. Everyone screamed at him but Josh seemed to be possessed by the book and would not stop reading from it. Finally the last thing Sam could remember was the light from the book shining so bright that he became completely blinded and now just waking up starring at the sky.
"What's going on?" An unusual voice asked from behind Sam.
Sam turned around and saw first a man with short brown hair, wearing a blue tinted robe and holding a long wooden staff. Around the man he saw others beginning to stand up, not all of them were human either. One of them looked like a man who was partially goat, and partially demon. He had long pointy ears, brown skin with a light shade of gray, and long curved horns on his forehead.
Next to this strange subhuman creature was a woman who also had pointy ears but hers were more like a felines. She had long straight and very light blonde hair, she wore a green tunic that looked to be woven out of silk and ivy the same went for her pants. Her eyes had a very deep green tint to them, and her skin looked beautifully fare.
Finally next to her was a large man with golden blonde hair, clad fully in a heavy set of iron armor. He had a medium broad sword in his right hand and round shield around his left hand. As all of them stood up and looked at one another they slowly began to back away from each other and began raising there weapons and arms in defense until Sam walked up to the man with the blue and white robes and asked, "Shaun? Shaun it's me Sam"
Everyone immediately stopped backing away and lowered there defenses as they looked closer at each other. Of course none of them could have known who the others characters had looked liked because they had yet to describe their characters. The only thing they knew about the others characters was their race and class.
Everyone looked at themselves and their new environment. They were in the middle of some plains; near them was a dirt road that led up a large hill in one direction or towards a forest in the other direction. The sky was cloudless and there was a light breeze it wasn't cold or warm it could have been spring wherever they were.
Then after they had all taken in their surroundings everyone took one last long look at those around them until they confirmed to themselves these were indeed their friends. However they have all some how mysteriously transformed into the characters they had created. After some time of awkward silence Sam finally took notice to his own changed features, he seemed to resemble a darker and male version of Ella. He also noticed that his eye sight seems to have increased. Sam pulled an arrow out from his quill, loaded it up in his bow and took aim at some of the leaves falling from the distant trees. After a steady moment of concentration Sam released his grip on the arrow as it soared through the air splitting a leaf in half almost instantly after he let go.
Everyone watched this incredible feat as Sam jumped up in cheer and shouted "this is so awesome!" Soon all the others were playing around with their new found abilities testing out their characters skills either at a safe distance from the others or by wrestling around with each other.
The friends had been too busy enjoying themselves that they didn't notice how much time had gone by until it was almost completely dark, or how hungry they were from not eating for a full day while expending all of their energy. They all grouped up back together and argued about what they should do about their current situation, eventually they unanimously decided that it was best or them to rest several feet from the trail under the cover of night and to either hunt for food when they wake or to find a village where they could eat. Fortunately for them it was a warm enough night for them to rest without needing any extra cover and once they had removed their armor and put their weapons out of way so they don't harm themselves while asleep they huddled around in small pack and fell into a deep peaceful sleep.
Josh woke up with his head pounding and his eye sight very blurry. "How long was I out?" Josh asked. No response though. Josh's sight returned to him as he was about to repeat his question when he saw all his friends passed out around the table. At first Josh thought it was some highly elaborate prank on him and they were all in on it so he waited for several minutes expecting them to get bored and just get up or twitch because they couldn't sit still for so long. However nothing happened they just lay there lifeless, now Josh was panicking. Something was very wrong they shouldn't be this still prank or not this had gone too far.
Josh Rushed over to Dan to pick up his arm then let it go. It simply just dropped back onto the table he was either out cold or dead. Josh grabbed Dan's wrist again and felt a pulse after a moment of fearful waiting. Josh didn't bother checking the others, what ever happened to his friends could be fatal so he rushed up stairs, grabbed the house phone and dialed 911.
Josh's parents returned home from work just as five ambulances pulled up to their house and paramedics rushed inside. Both his parents rushed over to their son who was standing on the lawn out of the paramedic's way with sorrow and fear all over his face. Josh's parents rushed over to their son to hug him and ask "Josh what's going on?" Josh's eyes had filled with tears, no longer able to bear the overwhelming sorrow contained inside him as he said to them, "I don't know suddenly we all passed out and when I woke up the others were still sleeping. I thought it was some kind of joke but they weren't budging at all so I called 911" Before Josh's parents could respond or ask him what they were even doing the paramedics came out carrying his friends on stretchers and he rushed over to them demanding to know if his friends would be alright. But the paramedics all said the same thing as they got his friends into the ambulances and drove off; "I don't know kid."
A police officer calmly walked up to Josh after the ambulance's had left. "I know you're in serious distress right now young man." The officer said calmly and professionally like he had handled people in a panic before. "However at this time there is nothing you can do for them and I'm sure in a few hours after the hospital has done some tests to see what's wrong with them you can go see them; however I would like for you to come with me to the station to answer some questions." Josh's dad stepped between him and the officer angry that the man dared to make any form of accusation against his son at such a tragic moment. His mom stood next to him with her hand on Josh's shoulder, "are you accusing my son of something?" She demanded to know.
The officer let out a sigh and said, "Of course not ma'am however it's merely protocol that in this situation we get all the information we can on what's happened. Regardless of how, I do have five other teenagers in a current state of comma and only one witness all I'm going to do is take him to the station get his story and talk to the hospital about the children's situations."
Josh's parents were displeased with their son being treated like a criminal but they had no other choice but to go along with what the officer said. Then Josh walked towards the cop's car and without looking back said to his parents, "It's alright Mom, Dad. I will meet with you at the station."
The officer was impressed by the boy's maturity at the situation and now that he had a chance to breath Josh had calmed down severely, he knew that right now the only thing he could do was wait for the hospital to try anything and he still had some time to kill before they would even let him see them so it was best to tell the cop what had happened now and then go to see his friends. As josh walked to the officer's car for the backseat the cop surprisingly opened the front door to the passenger side. It was a wonderful gesture to Josh at the time it made him feel less like a criminal sitting in the front instead of the back.
Josh wanted to tell the officer his story as soon as they got to his desk but both of them knew he legally couldn't speak to the officer without parent permission under the age of 18 so they both waited patiently until his parents arrived. It was only five minutes later until Josh's parents arrived at the station. As soon as they sat down Josh started telling the officer what had happened before everyone passed out. He started with their plan to meet up on this day and how they had been meeting up like this to play a campaign of dungeons and dragons for years now. He gave the officer every detail of the event except for some reason Josh felt it was best not to tell him about the campaign coming from the book instead he lied and said he made up the story for their campaign himself as he often did.
The officer listened quietly to Josh's story and waited until the very end to ask, "Have any of you ever done any kind of drugs or took some kind of funny medicine?"
The officer already knew the answer was "no" but protocol dictated that he asked anyways. And after Josh confirmed that none of them were on any medications or have ever used drugs the officer gave out a light smile. "Alright well you honestly sound like a great kid and I believe your story too. So I'm going to call the hospital right now and see what your friends situation is, can you hold on for a few minutes while I do this?"
Josh nodded his forehead a little surprised at the officer's generosity; then again Josh was in a state of panic as well so the officer didn't have many ways to approach him. This officer though seemed very kind and probably somehow felt pity for Josh. He had just been going about his daily routines he and his friends had done for years they were all playing their games as they have so many times before and suddenly the boy's world was turned upside down all his friends mysteriously passing out, the boy unaware as to why he woke up when they didn't or if they even would at all. At least that's how Josh imagined the officer's perspective on things.
The officer hung up the phone after about 20 minutes, half of which he was on hold. "Well I have some good news and some bad news, so far your friends are all alive and their vitals are normal, as well they are doing some drug tests to make sure something didn't get introduced into them. Now this could be from anything they could have been walking by a plant when it let out some kind of harmful chemicals which they unknowingly absorbed or from some contaminated water they drank we won't know until the tests results get in. The bad news however is so far they don't have any reaction from them. Right now they are in the coma ward while we the doctors try to figure out the reason behind the sudden collapse. You can see them tomorrow but the doctors want you to go pay a visit to the hospital so they can run some tests on you as well."
As soon as the officer was done talking Josh got up with his parents and they drove down to the hospital. Though Josh's parents were relieved to hear Josh wasn't in any trouble Josh was still extremely distressed and hadn't spoken a word the whole drive down to the hospital. When they arrived there Josh walked up to the counter immediately, telling the clerk that some Dr. wanted to see him and run some tests. He gave the clerk his name and a few moments later a "Dr. Webber" was paged. When the Dr. arrived Josh's parents offered to go with him for the tests but he said he didn't want them there so they sat in the lobby waiting for him to return.
As Josh and Dr. Webber walked down the hospital Dr. Webber told Josh that they would take a blood sample and run some tests on that, then run a "cat "scan on him, and were going to keep him over night just in case something happened while they checked to make sure he was going to be alright. The only thing Josh said while he went to the "cat" scan room was "alright then".
After Josh had finished the "cat" scan, and they got a blood sample from him a nurse led him to his room while she said, "Your parents have been informed that you are going to be staying overnight. We won't have the test results back until tomorrow so get some rest." But before the nurse could leave Josh immediately asked, "What about my friends can I see them?" The nurse sighed before saying, "We're not sure right now their in the coma ward as the doctors do everything they can to figure out what's wrong with them. Their brain activity shows fine and it doesn't seem like anything was introduced to them but were still waiting on those test results like with you, so get some rest and we'll know more in the morning."
Then the nurse was gone and Josh was in his own room all alone, wondering how his friends were doing. After about 10 minutes of silent wondering and worry Josh had decided he had enough of sitting around he knew he wouldn't even be able to attempt sleep until he at least got to see his friends. So Josh stood up and wandered around the hospital until he eventually found the coma ward.
When Josh arrived at the coma ward it was an unbelievable sight that he beheld. Seeing all his beloved friends sitting in beds near lifeless with tubes stuffed up their nostrils to breathe, and more tubes in their arms pumping IV into them. As painful as it was to see even more so was the ominous feeling of guilt that Josh had felt.
Josh slowly walked up to his friends one by one grabbing their hands as he looked at them more closely. They looked peaceful in this rest of theirs but somehow he couldn't stop his tears from falling, Josh wasn't a strong character he knew that and he never really had to face to many changes in life to test it, up until now that is. These friends were his life, they had known each other since they were all about 7 and despite Josh's flaws in his character he always had one of them to support him, when his grandparents passed away they were all there when his parents were too stricken with grief or work to really care about him. When he couldn't get a pet because his parents couldn't afford it, it was Ella who let Josh come over as much as he wanted to play with her new dog. They were the best friends anyone could ever hope for and now they were lost to him, the fact they may never wake up at all is what Josh feared the most.
After Josh made his way around the room to each of his friends remembering the best of times they had together he found a seat at the back next to an empty bed. He sat there as the good memories with his friends, which sometimes were the worst passed through his mind letting his tears fall. Eventually after a couple hours he was done crying and walked back to his empty hospital room, crawled into the bed, closed his eyes and went to sleep.
Ella was the first one to wake up just as the sun was starting to rise over the horizon. It was good she woke up first too because she had to relive herself and didn't want any of the boys sneaking a peek, not that they would but she felt awkward knowing she would have to go into the woods to do so.
Sam woke up to a clear sky the sun was risen but still had away to climb and the morning air was fresh and enjoyable. He got up quietly so not to disturb the others as he went to where all of their gear sat and got suited up in his armor and prepared his bow. Sam was determined to go hunting today and bring back some food for everyone so when they woke up they would all have a tasty meal.
As Sam prepared to go into the woods hunting he saw a small white rabbit hopping up to his friends and for a moment Sam thought the rabbit was just stupid for coming near them. Then he thought to himself "whatever an easy breakfast is breakfast all the same." Sam pulled an arrow out of his quiver and began to take aim at the rabbit carefully so he wouldn't hit one of his friends with it fast approaching them, when he noticed something alarming. Ella wasn't among them. Sam didn't even think twice about scarring off the rabbit as he dropped his bow and arrow and ran over to his friends.
Sam didn't see her as he got up to them and then yelled "Ella!" no response Sam yelled again as he started shaking everyone awake. Everyone stirred at first but then immediately thought they were in some kind of trouble to be woken up so abruptly. They all jumped to their feet and looked at Sam and glanced over to their gear to make sure it was still there in case of a fight.
Sam knew already that they would wonder if they were in some kind of danger so before they had the chance to overwhelm Sam with their questions he said, "Ella is missing I called out for her but no answer." Everyone calmed down a bit after the sudden panic but they were still alarmed. "Ella!" Dan shouted his voice booming over the plains and possibly into the woods. They all started gearing up as fast as they could. There was no way Ella couldn't have heard Dan shouting something was terribly wrong.
Once everyone was almost fully geared up Sam started barking orders, "alright Shaun, Dan you two will check out the forest for any sign of her, Andy you're with me on the trail we'll head up the hill and see what we can spot." "Hold on a second Sam that won't be Necessary. Everyone calm down I know where Ella is." They all froze in place and turned to look at Andy who was holding the same rabbit Sam almost shot for breakfast. "Well where?" Sam Demanded.
Andy smiled mischievously or perhaps just happy, with his new form no one could tell anymore when he smiled. His teeth were always sharp looking and yellow. "She's right in front of all of you of course." Andy said while he held his eerie smile. They all looked Andy up and down and looked past him but they didn't see Ella at all.
"There's no one but you Andy now stop wasting time" Sam said.
"You seem to be oblivious to my new companion here."
They all looked at the rabbit he was holding and then back to Andy but before they could speak he continued, "Now why oh why would a rabbit be as bold as too come up to a group of scary travelers such as ourselves. On top of that why has Ella suddenly disappeared on us, I wonder what her and this adorable rabbit could have in common?"
They all stood there starring at Andy dumbfounded. Shaun was the first to speak up after a long moment of silence. "Ella?" he asked curiously. Andy smiled and the rabbit began to talk, "Finally" it said. "I was wondering if you guys were ever going to notice, and you Sam. Just what the hell do you think you are doing pointing an arrow at me like that? Luckily Andy here was the only one who has any brains otherwise you guys would probably trampled me to death back there."
Everyone stood there in amazement the rabbit was not only talking but it sounded just like Ella. "I'm afraid our poor Ella here has somehow transformed into a rabbit." Andy said. "And she can't seem to turn back to her original form."
"Wait a minute." Sam interrupted Andy before he could continue any further. "If this Rabbit is indeed Ella then how come you were the only one of us to notice Andy?"
"Isn't it obvious I did tell you before it were strange a rabbit would come up to a group of people in any circumstance? After I got dressed I saw our little Rabbit Ella here waving her adorable paws in the air at us. Curious I went over to the rabbit and that's when she told me about what happened to her. While you were all finishing gearing up and Sam was barking orders I was listening to her tale. Apparently Ella woke up first and went into the woods to go to the bathroom, afterwards a small rabbit hopped up to her. She pet it and it ran off but next thing she knew after that she was shrinking and her clothes became too big for her. Then after a little while of running around she soon discovered she somehow transformed herself into a rabbit similar to the one she was petting. After that she came back to us to help but instead all of you ran around like a bunch of oaths."
They looked to the rabbit Ella. "Is this true?" Dan asked.
"Yes and I don't know how to change back either."
"Perhaps if you concentrate on your form before you changed, imagining yourself turning back to what you were before you became a rabbit." Shaun said.
Everyone was quite for a few minutes then Ella said, "It's worth a shot."
Andy set Ella down on the grass as they backed away from her so she could concentrate. At first nothing happened and everyone thought that it wasn't going to work until Ella started to grow larger and change shape at the same time. If they hadn't seen it for their own eyes they wouldn't believe what happened. Now Ella was back to her elf form. Everyone starred at her with amazement for a moment then they all started blushing because Ella may have been back to her normal form but she didn't have any cloths. Ella stood up and everyone looked away out of respect.
"It worked" thanks Shaun" Ella said as she ran up to hug Shaun. Shaun's cheeks grew even redder as she wrapped her arms around him. Shaun cleared his throat a little loud and Ella let go of him. She saw how Shaun was looking away from her and then finally noticed why. Ella shrieked and ran into the forest to grab her clothes.
When Ella came out of the forest dressed Sam and Dan were arguing about something that Ella couldn't make out while Shaun and Andy just stood by and watched. When she got closer she asked "what's up you guys what's the problem?"
"Dan here thinks we should go follow that dirt road up the hill until we reach a town of some sort." Sam said. "I thought we should stay around here for another night to get more acquainted to our new bodies and test out what sort of abilities we have."
"an excellent idea of course but all I'm saying is we don't know what's out here were sitting on the edge of a forest we don't know what sort of creatures may attack us tonight or the night after that. It would be much safer for us to go find a town and rest up at an Inn." Dan responded.
Sam retorted. "With what money, Inn's do charge for the night and if you haven't noticed we haven't a clue of what sort of currency there might even be wherever we are or that we have any of it to spend."
"If currency's an issue Shaun has a sack of coins hidden in a small pocket in his sleeve" Ella said.
Sam and Dan stopped yelling at each other to look at Ella then Shaun. Shaun only smiled lightly and reached into his sleeve pulling out a small sack which he bounced a couple times so everyone could hear the coins in there rattling. Sam and Dan both sighed at the same time then Ella said, "Well at the least let's follow this trail and see where it takes us." They all agreed and set out following the trail away from the forest.
Once the sun was beginning to set they were vastly approaching the first town they saw. The dirt road they followed curved a little bit but after about a days walk they made an easy path to this town. Andy threw up the hood that was part of his cloak he wore. With it on you could barley see Andy's face at all only a dark form inside. Only if you got right up into his face you could see a little more but unless the sun was beaming directly on him it would be more shadows that you saw with some red eyes.
"Why did you throw your hood on Andy?" Ella asked.
Shaun was the one to answer for Andy. "Were not sure what sort of people we are going to encounter ahead in this town. You and Sam may get some glances but Andy's form could be troublesome it's best that he hides it for the time being so we don't cause trouble."
"Wow that's smart thinking."
"Well some of us are going to need it if were to survive in this unknown world. We have yet to encounter any problems so far but we also have yet to encounter any life aside from some mild nature animals."
Everyone was silent after that as they strolled into town. People would occasionally glance at them and stare for a couple seconds sometimes but other than that they fit in rather well. The plan was to ask some of the townspeople about the area they were in but after much thought while walking down the road they all decided that it was best to keep too themselves and to learn as much as they could about the world on their own so they don't seem like total strangers. Which they were but if people started getting suspicious of them it would be nice to bluff that they at least knew something instead of looking like total outcasts until they could learn more. That and the only thing on their minds was how hungry they all were.
Just as the Sun was setting and the few stragglers of the late day were lingering around in the streets did they find the Inn. They got inside and stood around taking in the environment of the place while Shaun purchased them some rooms and a large meal. The Inn was exactly what you might expect from some sort of storybook world as was the town. It was very old-fashioned and almost medieval.
Once there rooms were paid for and there meal was cooking they sat around a table with all their stomachs growling waiting for their meal to come. They were so hungry they didn't care what they were going to have to eat they felt like they could stomach anything. "What did you order anyways Shaun?" Ella asked.
"Mostly Chicken and some lamb meat. I also ordered some vegetables and a few pieces of fruit for you just in case your elf body rejects meat."
Ella smiled at Shaun, she hadn't thought about how her new body would like to eat either. Then again they weren't really thinking at all if it weren't for Shaun and Andy everyone there might be in trouble by now, she could still be a rabbit, and Shaun would probably be the only one who was good enough with what little coins they had to ration it out as best they can until they can learn more of their situation, so far this first couple of days were alright but who knows what may lay ahead of them. Ella started to lose herself in these thoughts until a pain in her stomach grew so much that she couldn't think straight anymore. It was then when she realized their food had gotten there and everyone but her was digging in.
Ella devoured all of the fruits put in front of her as well as any of the fruit the others had gotten. Though the smell of the meats weren't repulsive they weren't appealing to her either. After they had finished eating everyone went upstairs to their rooms. Shaun had paired them up with the exception of Ella to save money so they would only need three rooms. Though they were tired there was still commotion that Ella could hear from the guys as they argued about who was getting the bed or how they should sleep. She snickered a little then it turned into an abrupt laughter. "No matter what situations were in boys will be boys" she thought to herself.
Finally after everything calmed down the Inn keepers blew out the candles and went to bed as everyone was settling into there own, somewhere between sleep and awake they all heard a voice echoing in there heads. "Sam? Andy? Shaun? Ella? Dan?" They all got up immediately and asked at the same time, "Josh!?"