Chapter I

The fuzzy feeling of swimming back to consciousness was the first thing that told me something wasn't right. The next was the dull, full-body ache that reminded me of the day after my free session with a personal trainer because I joined a gym.

I still couldn't believe I'd let Emily talk me into that.

The third thing was the unfamiliar male voice ranting nearby. "No! This isn't right!" The angry voice ranted, the accent was vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it, "This isn't right at all!"

I cracked my eyes open to see the blurry image of a man in black walking across my field of vision. He was backlit but lots of small, flickering lights that made my head pound with pain. I scrunched my eyes back shut in an attempt to lessen the pain.

The fourth thing was the smell. It smelled like rancid meat, trees, and rain. Which was wrong, I should be in my nice, warm apartment in my bed.

"Where did it go wrong?!" The man continued ranting. He was pacing back and forth next to where I was laying when I cracked an eye open to look at him again. My sight was still blurry, but it was starting to clear up.

He walked out of my line of sight then and I let my eyes slide back shut. I didn't want him to know I was awake, I wanted to let my head and eye sight clear a little bit first. I must have been kidnapped by some lunatic and I needed to get away.

The sound of papers shuffling nearby caused me to crack and eye open again. He was at a slab of stone a few feet away that appeared to be a make-shift desk. It was covered with books and papers and… Is that a bloody skull?

My vision was clearing up at least, though a blood covered skull was not something I was expecting or wanted to see. I couldn't take my eyes off of it as fear rushed through my veins. What did this man plan to do to me?

I had to get away.

I had to run.

I had to hide.

And I had to do it soon.

I looked around without moving anything but my eyes. Now that my vision had cleared up, I could get a better look around. There were tall rocks spaced around the outside of well-traveled ground with a path leading away into the darkness. Candles set on the stones prevented me from seeing any further away, though my main focus was on the path. That path was where I needed to go. We were clearly outsides, I could see part of a tree and there was some grass at the bases of the stones. That would make getting away easier.

If I was outside, there would be more places to hide.

I was so focused on planning my escape, that I wasn't paying any attention to what the man in black was doing until he leaning into my field of vision. "Well, well… Awake are we?"

If his voice hadn't been scary enough before, the sinister tone made it even scarier. The candlelight threw his face into sharp shadows and harsh highlights, revealing the face of someone from nightmares. His face was all harsh lines and angles, alien to anyone I had ever seen in my entire life but that wasn't the worst part.

The worst part was his blood red eyes.

Thought flew straight out the window as I screamed in fear and scrambled to get away. I whirled to the side and lunged for the path leading away from the nightmare man. I heard angry words from the man as I practically flew down the path.

Something hot passed by my side and I shied away from the almost painful heat. He's shooting at me! But then I realized I hadn't heard the tell-tale bang that always accompanied a gunshot. I had a gut feeling something was very, very wrong but I didn't have time to dwell on it as I continued running.

The path was short and I skidded on half-buried stones that appeared to be the pavement for a road, scrabbling to find purchase on the rocks. I scrambled and managed to get my feet back under me just as the nightmare man appeared on my right. I whirled away the opposite direction and raced down the road in fear.

I had to get away. I had to.

After just a few strides, I noticed something was very, very wrong. I wasn't running on two feet, I was running on four.

I stumbled then, knowing I should be on two feet instead of four but I was somehow making four feet work. Lightning flashed in the sky then, briefly illuminating a rough paved road stretched out in front of me so I kept running. I kept my feet somehow and kept running down the road, half blind from the darkness after the lightning had briefly blinded me. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I had to get away from the nightmare man.

I hadn't run what felt like very far, when there was suddenly a huge freaking rock directly in my path. I put on the brakes in an attempt to stop, but I could already tell from my momentum that I wasn't going to stop in time. So I tried dodging the rock instead.

I avoided the rock, but the road I was on suddenly wasn't under my feet anymore and I found myself running head-long through the forest around me.

Tree limbs slapped at me and I could barely see to make out where to put my feet. I stumbled over some smaller rocks, almost falling before I regained my footing and almost ran smack into another tree. I avoided the tree and found myself going up a small hill which slowed down my flight enough that when another freakishly huge rock appeared right in my face, I managed to stop before I ran into it

I stood there panting a moment before I starting moving again, jogging along beside the big rock to go around it. The ground was uneven, I slipped and almost fell more than once as I picked my pace back up to a run.

I had to make sure I got away from the nightmare man. Far away.

The hill abruptly sloped downward and I stumbled again. I probably would have regained my footing if a bunch of smaller rocks hadn't suddenly appeared under my feet. I finally tripped, tumbling head first down the rest of the little hill.

I landed in a heap and could only lay stunned, gasping for breath. Lightning chose that moment to skate across the sky, briefly illuminating the forest around me. I'd landed in a small clearing that seemed to be the only flat spot on the side of a hill surrounded by rocks and trees.

That was all I managed to glimpse in the brief lightning flash as I laid on the cold ground, wanting to cry.

Thunder rumbled just before another flash of lightning skated across the sky. I shivered in a cold wind that suddenly picked up, missing my warm house immensely. I needed to find somewhere to wait out this storm and hide from the nightmare man. I was trying to look around in the dark when another flash of lightning illuminated the clearing again, giving me a another glance around.

There was some kind of cave or opening almost right beside me.

I couldn't believe my luck as I staggered to the opening and inside just as the first rain drops began pelting down. I found a corner and stood there shivering as I watched the rain pour down when the flashes of lightning lit up the night sky. I jumped and started more than once when the thunder cracked sharply.

I was so afraid the nightmare man would appear any moment.

I didn't know where I was or even what I was. All I wanted right now was to go home and curl up in my nice warm bed. I was pretty sure that the nightmare man had kidnapped me, which meant he could probably send me home.

I hoped.

When the nightmare man didn't show up immediately, I tried to get a look at myself during the flashes of lightning. I couldn't see much. I could tell I really was standing on four feet. Four hooved feet, which was even weirder. I turned in a circle in the middle of the room, trying to get a better look at myself when the lightning flashed but I wasn't having much luck.

It was just so weird how I somehow just knew how to move. I tried not to think about how I was walking around and that made it easier for some reason. If I didn't think about how I was supposed to be walking I seemed to have less trouble. It was when I thought about how I was supposed to be walking on two feet instead of four that I had trouble and went all wobbly.

It was scary and wrong and I hated it!

I wanted to go home!

I wanted to be human!

Let this be a dream. Let this please, please be a dream. I scrunched my eyes closed as I wished/prayed, When I open my eyes, I'm going to be home, I'm going to be in my bed, and I'm going to be human again. I held my breath as I wished/prayed, There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home.

I shut out the sounds, smells, and feeling around me as I wished/prayed, then cracked open an eye to see if it worked…

It didn't.

I opened both eyes with a sigh and looked outside at what little I could see, which wasn't really much, while trying desperately not to cry.

This wasn't fair. These kinds of things weren't supposed to happen to real people. This was the kind of thing that was only supposed to happen in books or movies. Not real life.

Plus when people fell into other worlds in books and movies, they're supposed to stay themselves! They're not supposed to turn into animals and wake up on scary, nightmare men's tables in a forest surrounded by bloody skulls and candles!

Well, I only saw one bloody skull, but where there was one there surely had to be more!

I sniffled, but the sound came out funny. I squeezed my eyes shut to hold back the tears, wondering if whatever I was even could cry. A loud crash of thunder jerked me out of my breakdown and caused me to start in surprise.

I was so tired, I wanted to lay down and sleep, but I was so scared the nightmare man would suddenly appear. I paced around the small space of the little cave, watching the doorway in an attempt to keep myself awake. I knew if I laid down that I'd be asleep instantly.

Eventually the rain lessened from the downpour it had been to a gentler version.

I sighed, deciding then that if the nightmare man hadn't found me yet he probably wasn't going to. I decided I could probably safely go to sleep now at least. Now I just needed to figure out how to lay down… The knowledge just appeared in my head almost as soon as I thought about laying down.

I just suddenly knew.

I picked the driest corner and carefully dropped first my knees on my front legs to the ground then lowered my heels and rump to the ground with a grunt. It took some wiggling to get comfortable, but I finally found a position that worked despite the cold, hard ground.

Laying my head on the ground I turned my head to stare out the door and felt my eyes drift closed as sleep claimed me almost instantly.

/

I woke with a gasp, jerking my head up, to birdsong and sunlight streaming though the doorway. I laid there panting as I stared out the door to cheerier version of the forest I had run through last night. I had dreamed the nightmare man was chasing me through the woods and I couldn't get away no matter how fast I ran. I sighed as I realized it had only been a dream.

I wished everything else had been a dream.

I glanced to the side at myself… No such luck. I was still a… whatever I was.

Sighing again and trying not to think too hard about it, I stood up. I didn't have too much of a problem, other than being a little stiff and sore. That was likely a result from my mad dash through the woods and my tumble. That part I did remember.

The last thing I remembered before I woke up on nightmare man's table was laying down to go to bed for the night. I was supposed to be at work this morning! What would my co-workers think? It wasn't like I was anybody important, but I needed that job! What would my parents think when I didn't show up at their place for supper?

They would never believe I had been changed into a… I still didn't know what I was.

I desperately wanted to.

Looking back at myself I was pleased to note that I could still see in color, though different things stood out that didn't. Things seemed… Sharper, clearer, more than they used to. It was weird. Focusing back on what I looked like, I discovered my fur was a sort of red-brown that was pretty close to what color my hair had been.

… Is that a tail?

It was. I had a tail. I was able to wiggle said tail just by thinking about it a little bit. It faded to a dark brown at the tip and reminded me vaguely of the white tailed deer I frequently almost hit with my car. I flicked my tail again, giggling at the absurdity of it.

Except my giggle didn't sound like my giggle. It came out as a sort of snort I would expect a horse to make. Uh-oh… This couldn't be good.

I tried to say my name then.

"Morgan!" I tried.

It came out resembling a mix between a donkey's bray and sheep's bleat.

I couldn't talk.

I wouldn't be able to tell anyone what happened to me or ask for help.

I was screwed.

I groaned and closed my eyes. What was I going to do? How was I going to accomplish anything? How could I accomplish anything?

I might as well go back to the nightmare man and let him have me.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! What am I thinking!? I can't go back to the nightmare man!

I had to figure out where I was.

I had to figure out some way to communicate with people.

I had to find a way home.

Nodding with the certainty of that decision, I opened my eyes. I was going ask someone… Wait, first I needed to actually find someone, then I needed to figure out how to talk to them so they understood me, then I needed to figure out if they even could help me.

But first, I really needed to figure out what I was.

I giggled at myself, only twitching a little bit as my giggle came out as an amused sounding snort. That was definitely going to take some getting used to, but then, I figured probably everything was going to take some getting used to.

Sighing, I went back to looking over myself. Okay, so red-brown fur and a fluffy deer-like tail. Blinking, I looked down at my hands, well front feet, and discovered a pair of cloven hooves. I also discovered that I had a very fluffy, cream colored ruff on the underside of my neck.

I was some sort of deer apparently. I tried to look up to see if I had any horns, antlers, or whatever they were growing out of my head. I couldn't manage to get a good look, but I could hear the air swishing around something up there. So I must have horns of some kind.

I knew what I was now, kinda-sorta, my next step was finding people besides the nightmare man.

Time to go outside.

Before I went outside though, I took a minute to look around at the cave I had slept in.

It turned out not to be a cave at all, but something man-made, a very old man-made thing by the smooth look of the stones and the moss growing on them. The whole thing was made out of the same kind of stone blocks, from the walls to the arched ceiling. It had two doors leading outside and openings that were windows, but they didn't have any glass in them. There was a third door that was a metal grate that looked like something I'd expect to see in a prison with steps leading down with another door at the bottom. That just made me uncomfortable. I looked around a little more, the side I had slept on was partly caved in, but in a settled sort of way that looked like it had done so a long time ago.

It was a little creepy, but nothing had bothered me through the night so I was firmly making myself believe there was nothing wrong with it.

The new set of 'how things work' in my head compelled me to look at the floor and I instantly noticed that there weren't any tracks there besides mine. I also now knew that meant that there hadn't been anyone or anything in or out of here in a long time. That was weird. Useful and helpful certainly, but weird. Very, very weird. I wasn't sure if I liked the little helpful not-quite-a-voice in the back of my head. It made me nervous.

I fidgeted where I stood, knowing I should go outside and start looking for people that could help me but not wanting to leave my safe heaven. I stared out the door for several long moments before sighing, there was no point in prolonging the inevitable.

I swallowed nervously as I stepped toward the entrance. I didn't want to do this. I wanted to stay right here where I felt pretty safe at the moment, but I knew I couldn't do that. I had to find a way home. Bracing myself, I stepped cautiously towards the door and peeked outside.

The rain had washed away the evidence of my tumble last night. That was one blessing at least, the nightmare man wouldn't be able to follow me. Though he would if he found my tracks leaving here… I almost wanted to stay. Almost, but wanted to get home more than I wanted to stay in a musty cave thing.

I stepped outside, looking all around for any sign of danger. A rustle to my right made me twitch and swing my head towards the sound. Chattering drew my eyes midway up a pine tree of some kind to a squirrel arguing with another squirrel over a pine cone. I sighed in relief and continued outside, still looking warily around.

I needed to memorize this place so I could find it again, a safe place to sleep and hide would be useful.

I made note of everything, the trees the rocks, how my odd safe-haven looked from the outside. It looked even more ominous from the outside than it had from the inside. The weathered stones were covered with so much moss that the whole thing almost blended in with the forest around it. That was a good thing, that might mean few people knew about it. The fact that it was in disrepair certainly meant that few people ever came here. It was set in the side of a mountain, that was good, I could use the mountain as a landmark.

The little not-quite-a-voice at the back of my head chose that moment to speak up again, I knew right then that I was facing south and that my shelter was on the north side of the mountain I was looking at… Another useful thing to know.

But now, I really needed to get going and find some people.

I needed to find that road I was on last night. A road meant people, people meant I might be able to find someone to help me, someone that could help me meant that I could go home, the sooner I got home, the sooner I could forget about this God-awful nightmare I had woke up in.

Glancing around, in the direction the not-quite-a-voice identified as north I could see part of the road. Squaring my shoulders, or at least pretending to as best I could, I walked towards the road happily, but then stopped almost as quickly.

I didn't want to just walk down the middle of the road. Since I was a deer, I felt like that would be similar to hanging a sign around my neck that read 'Here I am! Eat me!' And I really didn't want to end up as somebody's dinner.

Would it count as cannibalism if people ate me if I was a deer even if I was really a human?

There was an odd, disturbing thought, I quickly shoved it to the back of my mind and focused on my task at hand: Finding out where I was.

I decided to walk close enough to the road that I could kinda see it, but far enough away that I felt like I could run away and hide if I saw somebody who didn't look friendly that saw me. I really didn't want to chance being dinner.

It was rocky, hilly ground. I had to focus a lot on where I was putting my feet, without thinking about how I was walking, and while keeping an eye on the road. It was annoying and tiring. My stomach was soon growling and I desperately wanted something to drink.

I was on a fairly decent rise, which would have provided a fantastic view of the surrounding area if the whole place hadn't been blanketed with fog. It wasn't so much that I noticed it close by, but the further from my immediate surroundings I looked the hazier it got. At this rate, I wouldn't see someone until they were close.

I sighed in annoyance as my priorities switched from finding people to finding water, then finding food. I just realized that I hadn't eaten anything since before I woke up.

I kept walking, keeping an eye out for water, food, or people.

That was when the not-quite-a-voice spoke up and the red flowers at my feet sudden smelled delicious. I froze, startled, as more information flowed through my head. Looking at the world around me with fresh eyes, I spied several appetizing plants around.

They weren't appealing to the human part of me, but my deer stomach had no qualms with eating plants.

I hesitated a moment before my stomach overruled my brain and I dropped my head down to take a bite of the nearest appealing plant. The flowers were sweet with a touch of spice wrapped up in a taste that reminded me of apple cider with a hint of cherry to it.

It was good though.

I munched my way through the whole patch of flowers, then licked my lips when I was done. I wasn't full by a long shot, but I felt better hunger wise. Now my goal was to find some water.

I started walking again, staying on the ridge of the hill so I could keep an eye on the road when I wasn't watching my feet. There were rocks in perfect places to trip me where there weren't trees or huge rocks for me to run into.

Between watching my feet and watching the road, I was keeping pretty busy.

The ground started sloping downward and all of my attention turned to keeping my feet underneath me and not falling down the steep-ish hill. I swore under my breath more than once, but the words came out as irritated animal sounds.

When the ground leveled back out, there were two lovely patches of red flowers that my stomach rumbled hungrily over. Without a second thought, I lowered my head and ate both patches in what was probably record time. I liked the hint of spice that came with the sweet taste they had I determined as I licked my lips free of any bits.

I took a couple steps forward and found myself at the top of the highest cliff I'd ever been on.

I swallowed nervously as I leaned forward just enough to peer down and see if the road came this way. I found it easily enough, it was further away on the other side of a hollow in the ground that made me feel like I was standing on the high side of a lop-sided canyon. What really caught my interest though, was the shady pool of water I could see at the bottom of the sort-of canyon.

Licking my lips as my thirst rushed back, I began hunting for a way down.

Going right first, a glance told me that I would simply end up in the road at another semi-dead end to getting down to the water. Back up the hill I went to the top of what I now recognized as a bluff. I continued on to the left of where I had been standing and found the way much more passable.

A steep hill decent and a walk through some trees and bushes later I found myself at a path that seemed to lead straight towards the pool. It was a stop for travelers off the road I supposed. I should be quick getting a drink in case anybody came by.

I walked swiftly forward towards the shady pool for my drink when a flash of red out of my eye caught my attention. I stopped and whipped my head around to look, afraid that someone I hadn't noticed before was standing there or that it was the nightmare man with his horrible red eyes.

What I saw was worse, I'd know it anywhere as many times as I'd gone through it…

The Black Door.

This was probably a little odd to read wasn't it? I knew this would probably be a bit odd when I started writing it but the idea just wouldn't leave me alone! This is based on a handful of recurring dreams I keep having, which is the main reason this is in first person even though the dreams were in third person(also weird, I know). This probably won't be most peoples' idea of something they want to read and that is totally okay. I wrote this for myself since I couldn't let go of the idea and it was something fun for me when I was having a hard time with life. I was also tired of Dragonborn centered fanfics and wanted to try something different.

I would be happy to hear what people think of this very random idea!

There will be more and thanks for reading!

~Zee