Tom let out a yawn before reaching over and taking a sip of his coffee. He knew that he shouldn’t be drinking more coffee after what his doctor had told him, but frankly, he had no other options at this point. How else was he supposed to stay awake during such a long drive? As much as he would love to pull off into the nearest town, rent a room in a hotel, and sleep his cares away, that wasn’t an option right now. His publicist would tear him a new one if he was late.
The young man glanced at the GPS app he had pulled up on his phone. Six more hours of driving before he could finally rest, even if it would only be for a couple of hours before he needed to go to the meeting. He glanced over at the neatly kept binder sitting in his passenger seat and sighed. “It’ll all be worth it in the end,” he said to himself.
In truth, he’d been telling himself that for the past few years. It was his way of convincing himself that he hadn’t made a stupid decision in trying to follow his childhood dream. The lack of support from others around him didn’t make it any easier.
A bright red notification suddenly appeared on his phone screen, catching Tom’s eye. The young man took a glance before letting out a sigh of frustration. Of course, it would be just his luck that there was no cell signal out here. He would just have to keep driving and pray that he would get a signal again before his next exit. The last thing he needed right now was to add more time to his already long drive.
Tom was so engrossed with his GPS troubles that he almost didn’t notice the sudden change in the air around him. The air had suddenly started to thrum, making every hair on his body stand on end. The man shuddered, his grip on the steering wheel tightening. Was it another one of his episodes? Had the combination of stress and a lack of sleep caused him to have another one?
Before Tom could question what was happening, a foreign sensation suddenly washed over him, almost making him swerve off the road. He wasn’t entirely sure how to explain it, but it felt as if something had suddenly passed right through him. Whatever it was, Tom took it as a sign. He needed to get off the road before he ended up in an accident.
Looking around, the young man spotted an exit not far from where he was. Gently pushing his brakes, Tom steered his car toward the exit. He had no idea where he was going, but that was a problem for later. A minute or two later, Tom saw exactly where the road had led him.
In front of him was a small, picturesque town that looked straight out of a storybook, or even a postcard. Despite it being dark, Tom could make out the large mountains and lake that surrounded the town, and even a cluster of buildings just beyond the treetops. The houses were all built in either a Victorian or turn-of-the-century style, really adding to the atmosphere of a picture-perfect town that one would see in one of those cheap Christmas romcoms. Tom glanced out his window and noticed a large sign that read “Welcome to Claw Valley” in gold letters. On one of the brick pillars that held up the sign, there was a large plaque with a pawprint that read “Claw Valley University”.
Not too long after pulling into the town did Tom notice a small bed and breakfast. He didn’t really have much of an option as to where to spend the night, so he parked his car in the little parking lot next to it. As he got out of the car, he grabbed his binder from the passenger seat and his suitcase from the backseat before making his way towards the front door. As he walked up onto the porch, he read the sign above the door: “The Fox Den”.
Tom walked inside, where he was greeted with the sight of a man that looked to be around his age standing behind the reception desk. The man had shaggy brown hair and a clean-shaven face, with a lean yet muscular build. He wore a red flannel button-up that was slightly unbuttoned, revealing a white undershirt, and a pair of well-worn jeans. Looking at the man, Tom’s first impression was “lean lumberjack” and not “bed and breakfast owner”.
The man looked up as Tom entered, and for a split second, Tom could have sworn he saw a distressed look on the man’s face. Whether it was just his eyes playing tricks on him or not, the man had a polite smile on his face when Tom approached the desk.
“Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting anyone to come in this late at night,” the man said. “I thought the school made sure to tell the parents to leave before 10 PM.”
“School? Parents?” Tom asked, giving the man a confused look.
“Oh, you’re not one of the parents of the new freshmen at the university?” the man asked.
“No, I was just driving on the highway when I just suddenly realized I needed to stop for the night,” Tom explained. “I just need a room to stay in for the night, and then I’ll be out first thing in the morning.”
The man looked at the clock on the wall, then back to Tom before shrugging. “Well, there isn’t anywhere you can go now, so I suppose you made the right call. Let me get you checked in.” The man reached down and pulled out a large book. He flipped it open a few pages before stopping on one that was mostly blank, save for a few names. “Can I get your name for the registry?”
“Tom Dover,” Tom replied. The man nodded. “Nice to meet you, Tom. I’m Stephen.” Stephen looked down and wrote down his name in the book. As Tom watched Stephen, his vision started to go fuzzy. For a split second, he could’ve sworn he saw something resembling horns sticking out of the man’s head. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, only to see no sign of horns.
“Must be more tired than I thought,” Tom commented as he rubbed his eyes again. “Could’ve sworn I saw something weird for a second there.”
“Like what?” Stephen asked as he closed the book and tucked it away.
Tom shook his head and chuckled slightly. “You’re going to think I’m crazy or something,” he said. “But for a split second, it looked like you had horns. Like, really big and slender horns.” Tom tried to mimic horns on the top of his head with his hands as he spoke.
Stephen chuckled, and Tom couldn’t help but notice how nervous he sounded. “Yeah…I definitely think you need a bit of sleep there, Tom,” he said. “First you think I have antlers, next you’re gonna think I have a tail or something.”
Tom gave yet another confused look to Stephen. Antlers? When had he said antlers? Was he mishearing things? “Sorry…I think I really need to get to bed. What do I owe you?”
After sorting out the payment, Stephen turned around and grabbed a key from a small cabinet behind him. While his back was turned, Tom found himself looking the man up and down, admiring his well-built physique, though he quickly stopped himself. Stephen turned around and held up a key. “Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”
Stephen walked out from behind the desk, and Tom did a double take once he got a good look at his legs. Instead of normal, human legs, they were covered in brown fur with hooves at the end instead of feet. Tom’s jaw dropped as he stared down at Stephen’s legs for a few seconds before rubbing his eyes again. This was just his sleep-deprived brain playing tricks on him again! There was nothing strange going on here!
He removed his hands and took another look, only to find that Stephen’s legs still had hooves instead of feet. However, to his shock, that wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Instead of the man who had greeted him just a few minutes prior, an anthropomorphic deer was standing in front of him, complete with a rather magnificent set of antlers on his head.
“Wh-What the fuck?!” Tom shouted, pointing at Stephen in horror.
The deer gave Tom a confused look before looking down at himself, his eyes widening. “Aw shit, this is awful timing…” He looked back up at Tom and gave the man a nervous smile. “So…uh…looks like the illusion has worn off…”
Tom stumbled backward, finding himself unable to stand as his vision darkened and he fainted from shock.