"There is an elegant mahogany desk in front of a pair of large arched windows draped in pale grey curtains. And on either side of the desk is a clay, white pot holding a blooming, tropical fern. And at the desk is seated..."

Oren opened his eyes, heavy and wet as if he had been crying. He was in a small, dim room, and just as the voice had described, in front of him was a desk, two plants, two windows, and...

A man.

A deer.

Behind the desk was the body of a man in a fine black tux with a red tie, and sprouting from its human neck was a deer's head, with large curved antlers. A copper nameplate stood proudly at the corner of the desk. "The Deer" the nameplate read, as nameplates are meant to do.

"Good evening, Loren. How are you today?" The Deer asked, opening and closing its mouth, but not articulating with its tongue or lips.

"Where am I?" Oren asked, panicked. "And d-don't call me that." he snapped, gripping at the small, wooden chair he had awoken in.

"Oh, that's right." The Deer sighed, lifting a packet of paper off his desk and skimming through it. "The name is Oren now, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Oren answered bitterly.

"Seems like your parents were off by just a letter, huh? Too bad." The Deer spoke coolly. Coolly? No. It was as if he were trying to speak warmly, to be comforting, but as if it had learned to do so from observation, as if it had never experienced it first hand.

"How are you feeling?" The Deer asked.

"You haven't answered my question yet," Oren mumbled.

"If I do, will you answer mine?" The Deer asked, smirking. "Seems like a fair deal, right?"

Oren nodded hesitantly.

"This is my office." The Deer explained, peering about the room.

"What are you supposed to be? A therapist?" Oren asked.

The Deer shook its animal head and wagged its human finger. "It is your turn to answer the question, Mr. Cleverfield."

"...I feel fine, I guess?" Oren answered, holding himself. "I don't like being here."

"Good, now I shall answer your question." The Deer said, seemingly pleased. "I don't like the word "therapist". I am a teacher. I teach people how to get from point A to point B, from struggle to content, from chaos to understanding."

"I'm actually doing pretty well right now-" Oren began, trying to lift from his seat but finding himself unable.

"Are you, Loren?" The Deer asked.

"It's Oren." he snarled.

"To me, it seems like you've gone off the rails. First, you crash the family car, then you run off with some strange girl-"

"She's not-she's just a little...different," Oren said angrily.

"Your parents miss you." The Deer said in a more serious tone.

"No, they don't," Oren said slowly, emphasizing every word. Oren's head throbbed painfully, sending an ache down his neck and into his shoulders.

"I think our introduction is just about over." The Deer sighed.

"Introduction?" Oren asked, wincing through the pain.

"Oh," the Deer chuckled. "This is only the beginning."

. . .

"Oren?"

"Oren?"

"Oren!" Jackie's voice called through the darkness. Oren stirred, gently lifting himself off the ground. His head felt heavy, still filled with dreams. As his eyes adjusted, the familiarity of the van brought him slight comfort. Jackie was sitting across from him with a worried expression.

"You were having a nightmare," she explained.

"It's ok...I'm ok now." Oren said with little energy left to make it sound convincing. "Thank you for waking me up."

"Your clothes are dry," Jackie said with a small smile, handing over a neat, folded bundle. While Jackie had been smart enough to bring extra clothing for the journey and easily switched into a baggy sweater and shorts after her dress was soaked by the rain, Oren had not been so lucky. Jackie waited patiently outside the van, watching the sky curiously while Oren changed inside. Mist fell gently from the clouds, fog rolling in from the woods.

After Oren had pulled on his collared shirt and sun-stained jeans, they shared a breakfast of stale potato chips and half-melted candy bars. By the early afternoon, they were back on the road. Jackie stared at the scenery, the strange buildings sprouting up from the fields.

"Maybe it's a ghost town?" Oren suggested, catching her gaze.

"What kinda ghost town has houses built in the middle of nowhere, and yet so far apart from each other?" Jackie asked.

"Maybe...they were planning on putting a town here, but something went wrong? That would explain why it doesn't have a name." Oren said. "We've been driving for several days now, we have to reach something soon-a turn-another town-something.

"Several days...?" Jackie murmured. Oren turned toward her, watching her as she thought. "It's weird to say but-I know the sun keeps setting, and we fall asleep, but don't you get the feeling like something is wrong? Almost like time isn't passing normally?"

Oren couldn't disagree with her, he had felt as if no matter how far they drove, or how many hours passed, they weren't making any progress. But telling her would confirm his feelings, and that terrified him most of all. So, instead, he simply pressed down a little more on the gas, tightening his fingers around the steering wheel.

"Oren, answer me," Jackie ordered, her usually happy-go-lucky voice strained and serious. "Please, Oren! I'm not crazy, right? This place is weird!" she yelled desperately. He pressed on the gas harder, the van jolting forward at full thrust. Suddenly, a figure emerged in front of him.

A man.

A deer.

It was The Deer, smirking with a face that shouldn't have been able to smirk. His foot slammed against the breaks and the van came to a sudden halt. While Jackie clung to the door, her seatbelt pulling her back, Oren was unprepared for the impact, his head slamming against the dash. Blood oozed out of this nose and down his lip, gushing like a thick, crimson waterfall.

"What is wrong with you!?" Jackie snapped, clinging to the door.

"Didn't you see the...?" Oren gestured to the road only to find it empty. The words lingered on his lips until finally, he shut them firmly. He dropped his head to his chest, wiping the blood from his nose onto his shirt.

"Maybe we should go back." he sighed.

"What?" Jackie asked, her voice diminished to a whisper.

"Something is wrong with this place! We're not getting anywhere!" Oren barked.

"I won't go back!" Jackie screamed, Oren shrinking. "I know you have a big house and a rich family waiting for you, but back in the city there is no one waiting for me to come back." she said sternly, thick tears spilling from her narrowed eyes. Oren went to speak, but the words came out broken. Jackie pushed open the door feverishly and scrambled out of the car. Oren blindly chased after her but was slow and clumsy, his head throbbing, blood blurring his vision. They raced across the pale field, the earth soft and wet from the rain. The further they ran, the more decrypted the buildings became. Some buildings resembled skyscrapers, tall and corporate, chunks completely missing from their sides, like giant bite marks. There was a heaviness in the air, a thick humidity. Like ash, some black specks floated from the sky. In the distance, Oren could hear the debris collapsing, concrete shattering, and metal groaning as it bent.

"Jackie!" Oren called out, his voice echoing through the field. Suddenly, his foot sunk into the ground, becoming encased in rich mud. The mud pulled at his leg, climbing up his thigh. He knelt, tugging on the leg, desperately trying to break free to no avail. "Jack-" The mud burst from the ground, wrapping itself around his entire body. Every time he managed to get a hand or footloose, it would simply become slowly encased again. It reminded Oren of being underwater, floating weightless, pressure pushing on all sides of himself.

Just when he thought he would suffocate, something grabbed hold of his hand and began to pull him back upward. He broke through the surface, coughing violently, taking in as much air as he could, basking in the taste of it. Jackie was next to him, panting, on her knees. The ground by her feet began to shift like it was boiling, bubbles of air rising from below. She hurriedly got to her feet and scurried a few feet away, a long string of mud falling off her.

"We have to get back to the van," she said, grabbing Oren's hand and getting him to his feet. They ran, every few feet, the mud grabbing at them, attempting to pull them down.

"Look!" Oren called out, suddenly stopping.

"Why did you stop, it'll-" Jackie began, her words trailing off as she noticed what he was pointing at.

A clear line divided the calm, coarse earth, and the bubbling mud beyond. "It's almost like...a barrier," Oren said in terrified awe.

"What do you mean?" Jackie asked.

"The other side seems to be the same way," Oren explained, peering over his shoulder, at the long straight road, and the field beyond. "Whatever this place is, it seems like it's trying to keep us going straight forward. The buildings are strange and disconnected from the road, and now there's this barrier keeping us from going too far into the fields."

"And if we go back?" Jackie asked, her voice wilted.

Oren's eyes narrowed, glaring at the mud, at the dark sky, at the cruel landscape around him.

"We're not going back," he said, gripping his fist at his side.