You stumble out of the Bone Hallway, feeling unusually warm. Strangely, it feels like you’re wearing a costume, even though you weren’t. You reach up to wipe your brow, only to be greeted by what feels like rubber, unnerving you. Even more disturbingly, as you look down at your hands, you notice they seem different somehow, like gloves almost. You shake your head. That’s impossible, you think; the haunted mansion must just be getting to you. Still, it feels unnerving, and your skin feels unusually itchy.
Finally reaching the end of the hall, still a bit nervous, you’re surprised as you see a mirror hanging on the wall. Hopefully that would assuage your fears, right? There was still a sense of trepidation as you walked up to it. You weren’t sure you wanted to see, but you took a peek anyway.
For a few minutes, you thought you looked normal, and were relieved. Then you took a closer look. Your skin looked paler somehow, and rubbery. And your eyes seemed wider somehow. In fact, you thought there was something underneath them. Cautiously, you reach up, and pick at the dark space, only to feel it peel away from your face. Not off your ‘face’ itself, but apart from something underneath, and your breath tightened. The skin on your face was like a mask, a mask that you had slowly begun peeling off. You stared in disbelief as your finger pulled at the hole where your eye socket was, before suddenly it ripped, peeling down the side of your mask-like old face, revealing something else beneath; reddish scales where your skin should’ve been. You backed away in a panic, before hearing another tear from your side.
A nail jutted from the wall beside you, which seemed to have gotten hooked on your clothes. In fact, upon closer inspection, it dug into your flesh, or what was your flesh, peeling back what used to be your skin, exposing monstrous, reptilian scales. You stared, horrified as you pulled at the fabric, exposing more of what was underneath. You ripped off the skin across your stomach, causing a bloated, reptilian belly to bulge out, somewhat like a crocodile’s. What was happening to you?! Your skin was now a costume! Even your hands were gloves, which sharp nails quickly jutted out the fingertips. You took one last glance into the mirror, seeing the remains of your old face hanging limply around some beast’s. You couldn’t believe it, but it looked like you were a monster.
You heard a tutting from off to the side, and turned to look, seeing another unbelievable sight. A large, green skinned man, with horns jutting from his bald head. He didn’t look human, and it didn’t look like he was wearing a costume either. He was like an orc, fat, green, and disgustingly slimy, with lumpy skin, varicose veins, and oozing sores, wearing a surprisingly dapper, if ill-fitting suit. He smelled awful, like sewage. The fat monster approached from the shadows as you backed away in fear, unable to process what was going on. He suddenly spoke, with a bone-chillingly deep, gravely voice, “Well, well, seems you accidentally tore your human skin.”, he sounded vaguely sympathetic as he grabbed the tattered remains of your old skin and clothing, and ripped it off your torso, showing off more of your new scales as he looked at it. You could only gawk at him before finally blurting out, “W-Who are you…? What’s going on? What’s happening?”
The monster stopped, “Don’t worry boy, my name is Costington. I’m here to help.”, “Help…?” You muttered, afraid of what ‘help’ was. “Yep, your old human skin was getting a bit worn out boy. Judging by the smell, it’s a bit past it’s expiration date.” He disgustingly took a few sniffs of it, before recoiling, “How long have you had this?”, “Er, my whole life?” You said, confused, causing Costington’s eyes to widen, “Well, it’s definitely in need of replacing then.” You watched, horrified and repulsed as Costington suddenly ate the skin and clothing he held in his hands, slurping it up into his large, fanged mouth, letting out a large BURRRRRP as he was finished, and wiped away saliva with his sleeve. “Well, no worries. I’ve got just the thing. Follow me.” The fat monster grabbed your scaly hand and pulled you down a second corridor, despite your reluctance. Soon, you found yourself outside what looked like a costume shop? In the middle of a haunted house?
Costington gestured proudly, “Costington’s Costumes, fitting monsters of all sizes into any disguises.” You stared in disbelief. “W-Wait, monsters? What’s going on. Just a second ago, I was human. Then I came here and… this place…. And my skin.” Costington chuckled, “You must be confused. Well, you can drop the act. You’re among your own kind now.” He laughed, “We’ve been disguising ourselves as humans for the longest time. But inevitably these disguises can wear down, particularly one of such cheap quality like your own, and inevitably they eventually just rip apart. I’m surprised it didn’t do it sooner honestly, but you needn’t worry, I’ll get you a new one.” He peeled a piece of your old ‘skin’ off your scaly face and ate it, chuckling again, while you were still struggling to wrap your mind around it.
Costington dragged you into the store, where you could see what initially looked like other humans, before you noticed they were all standing completely still on top of platforms, and you realized they were probably just mannequins dressed up like humans. The clothing racks all had skins hanging on wires, and there were packages lined up, like Halloween costumes, except showing off rather mundane individuals. It even smelled like cheap rubber costumes in a Halloween store (apart from the uncomfortable stench Costington was giving off that is). Costington just smiled, barring a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth that made you cringe, “Welcome.” He said, practically bouncing over to one of the racks and motioning you to follow him, “I think you’ll be delighted in our wide selection of human disguises. We fit all kinds. And our skins have been very well preserved, of course, we get new arrivals daily, freshly peeled.” You didn’t think you wanted to think over that last part as you stumbled around, disturbed at the sight of human skin on hooks around the lair. Costington held up a few from a rack that he observed, “Of course, your old one has been out of production for a while, dunno when we’ll see it again, but hey, we got plenty of other good ones. They’re much less restrictive too.”, “Less restrictive?” You asked.
Costington poked your new chubby belly, “Well of course. We plus sized monsters need some special care after all. Even if you want one that’s skinny, if it’s not roomy enough, it’ll feel too constriction, leading to discomfort, and probably rip too.” He laughed, “But don’t worry, if you still want a ‘slim’ look, I think I can accommodate. Of course, we’ll have to see what I have in stock. There’s been an increasing demand for big-fitting skins lately, so no promises.” Costington rambled as you stood, uncomfortably. You weren’t sure what had happened, or what you should be doing now. You weren’t even sure you trusted him. Costington grabbed a few more off the rack, “Hmm…” He said, “Well, let’s see what we can scourge up. I’m certain there’s something here you’ll like. Give me a moment to set up a few models, and I’ll be back.” He chuckled as he darted off to a back room with the skins, leaving you standing in the costume shop, uncertain about everything going on. This wasn’t right though; you knew you weren’t a monster. But what should you do about your current predicament?
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