Mermaid costume (Halloween Special)

Jason swung the front door wide open with a broad grin and stepped loudly into the house, where music blared and neon lights flashed in a mesmerizing display. The effect was stunning—not only because of his dramatic entrance. His mermaid costume drew loud laughter and even a few rounds of applause. A green tail hung off his back, strapped to his belt, along with a ridiculous scaly skirt that looked like a vintage swimsuit from an old comedy, and a short plastic shell bra barely covering his chest. He held a beer can confidently in one hand, sipping from it while making exaggerated faces at everyone around him.

— Greetings from Ariel, motherf*ckers! — he yelled mockingly, sparking another round of laughter among his friends.

— Jason, this is epic! — Mike chuckled, reaching out for a fist bump. — What’s with the outfit? — he burst out laughing, giving Jason a friendly punch on the shoulder. Jason replied with a raspy laugh, straightening up and dramatically adjusting the long strands of his wig, as if trying to make an even grander impression on the crowd.

Just then, Monica—his girlfriend—stepped up behind him, smiling slightly but with a raised eyebrow.

— This is my costume, Mike, — she said with her lips pursed but a clear sparkle of amusement in her eyes. — We had a little argument, and this fool decided to prove something to someone.

— Well, who the “fool” is, that’s still up for debate, — he shot back, giving Monica a defiant look before turning to Mike. — Can you believe it? She was dead set on coming here in a mermaid costume! A mermaid, Mike! — Jason complained, looking at his friend as if Mike would fully share his disbelief. — Like we’re at some kindergarten play, not a Halloween party!

Mike tried to stifle a laugh but couldn’t hold back and clapped Jason on the shoulder, still cracking up.

— So that means… — he looked Jason up and down, — you sacrificed yourself to save her from…let’s say, a questionable choice?

— Tonight, I’m the queen of the party! — Jason declared with mock grandeur, throwing one hand up flirtatiously, embodying the queenly mermaid persona.

The crowd around them laughed even louder, and his friends kept cheering him on. Jason felt like the center of attention, and he was clearly loving it. He winked at Monica, downing the rest of his beer in one gulp, and smirked as he glanced around at everyone.

Jason kept sipping his beer, his smug smile never fading as he watched his friends’ wild reactions. Everything was going exactly as planned: he’d proven that he could turn even a ridiculous costume into something cool and funny. Monica just shook her head, sticking out her tongue but then reminded him.

— Just, please, be careful with that costume, — she said, pressing her lips together a little, though there was still a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. — It’s not just old, it’s basically a family heirloom.

Jason snorted, brushing off an invisible speck from his plastic shell bra.

— Oh, come on, “heirloom,” — he scoffed with sarcasm, waving her off slightly. — Grandma’s costume isn’t going to get any more dangerous just because no one’s touched it in a hundred years.

Monica snickered but didn’t say another word, letting him bask in the attention. Jason squared his shoulders with pride, enjoying the success of his antics, winking at his friends and pulling ridiculous faces. He loved all of it—the attention, the way people were reacting to his stunt. Alternating between chugging his beer and tossing out more sarcastic quips, he raised his can amidst his friends' laughter, ready to make another joke:

— To mermaids! Here’s to more like me! You wouldn’t believe how bad I wish join my sisters in the ocean!

This got another wave of laughter and cheers. But just as he took the last sip, a strange feeling pricked at him from the inside. The wig, which had been heavy and awkward, suddenly felt perfectly snug, with the strands seeming softer and almost real. Jason tensed up for a moment but shrugged off the odd feeling, figuring he was just a little “buzzed” from the drinks. He took another step, but then felt the bra, which had been loose and dangling, now snug against his chest, filled with… something that was no longer part of the costume.

Jason looked down. Beneath the shells was… a real tits. Small but fully noticeable curves that gave the bra an entirely new look.

— Shit, I'm totally tripping, — he muttered, feeling around his chest. His vision blurred, and the buzzing party around him suddenly seemed distant and unreal. “Maybe it’s time to lay off the beer,” he thought. He ran his hands over his chest, expecting to feel just the hard plastic shells, but instead, he felt… something soft, alive, warm. And with each second, that “something” was growing larger and… heavier.

— Ohhh, Jason, now you’re a real Ariel! — Mike shouted mockingly, catching the confused look on Jason’s face. The whole table of friends burst into laughter, but Jason wasn’t laughing. A strange, painful sensation was spreading in his chest, like he was being inflated from the inside. The plastic shell bra was now digging into his skin, causing noticeable discomfort.

— What the hell… — Jason frowned and stepped forward, but his legs suddenly buckled. He fell, catching himself on one arm, and in the next moment felt as though his feet were glued together.

— Ow! — Jason shouted, nearly spilling his beer but managing to keep hold of it. He tried to pull one foot away from the other, but they moved as a single unit. A strange sensation, as if his legs were being covered by something, made him glance down to see what he’d never expected to see in his life: his legs, which had looked normal just a minute ago, were now being covered, right before his eyes, in real green scales. They were merging together and forming something like a single, seamless shape.

Laughter and chatter still buzzed around him, but Jason could barely hear it, too focused on the insane changes happening to his body.

— Mike, something… something’s not right… — he started, but his voice came out strangely high-pitched and melodic, unnaturally feminine. Jason gulped, frantically trying to move his legs, but they didn’t feel like legs anymore. Instead, he sensed something strange—cold, flexible, and fin-like—that stretched from his hips all the way down to the floor. Jason tried to stand up, but the tail was useless on land, and he only managed to slide clumsily forward, like a snake slipping across the wet floor.

— What the… hell… is this?! — he groaned, trying to grab the belt that had once held the fake tail in place, but the belt didn’t feel separate anymore. His hands distinctly felt a smooth edge where his familiar skin gave way to cold, slick scales. He ran his fingers down, realizing that his body seemed to merge into this new covering as if the tail had always been a part of him. Jason frantically tried to find some seam or fastener, but there was nothing—only a seamless transition from his waist to this strange, fish-like skin that stretched down the full length of his tail.

— Holy shit… — he whispered, his voice unnaturally high and bright, like it didn’t belong to him. Trying to grasp what was happening, he touched his chest, which was now straining painfully against the plastic shell bra.

A few of his equally drunk buddies had gathered around, clueless as to what was happening, laughing and tossing out jokes at the sight of his embarrassed, shocked expression.

— Damn, you’re really getting into character! — one of them laughed, sure this was all some kind of performance.

— Hey, let’s get this mermaid into the water! She’ll feel right at home there! — shouted another, laughing.

— Are you guys out of your f*cking minds?! — Jason shouted. He was dead sober now, like he hadn’t had a single drink, and his friends looked to him like a pack of drunken idiots. He tried to back away from them, but it was hopeless—he couldn’t just stand up, and his tail only managed a helpless skid across the floor, making him fall over onto his side. Jason thrashed, desperately trying to push his friends away, but every clumsy swipe of his tail was weak and practically useless.

— What the… hell, are you all insane?! — he yelled, his voice coming out in that same high, almost girlish pitch that earned zero respect from his half-drunk friends.

— Ah, come on, girl! You gotta get in the water, can’t you see? — one of the guys said with drunk determination, gripping him by the shoulders and hauling him toward the back door, where the yard and pool lay waiting. Jason tried to dig himself into the floor, shivers running through his whole body at the mere thought of the cold water. But his buddies, only more amused by his “performance,” were fired up by his struggle.

— No! Stop, I’m serious! This isn’t a joke, get off me! — he screamed, looking over at Monica, who was standing nearby, looking confused and uneasy. — Monica, can you even see what’s happening to me?!

Monica’s glass slipped from her hands, her eyes wide, frozen in shock as she watched the crowd of drunken guys toss Jason right into the pool.

A light splash, and a cold current embraced his whole body, filling every inch with icy freshness that sent shivers down his spine. For a moment, panic overwhelmed him, but then his body, as if waking up, instinctively began to move—his tail drifted lazily, flowing into slow yet precise motions.

His body, heavy and awkward on land, suddenly felt alive and agile in the water. Breathing turned out to be unexpectedly simple—his lungs filled with air without even needing to rise to the surface, and for a moment, the panic was replaced by wonder. Jason looked around, feeling an unfamiliar, thin, high pulse beat in his ears. The tight shell-bra that had been pressing on his chest was gone, and it was as if the pain dissolved; in the water, all discomfort in his body seemed to melt away.

He raised his head, looking up at the surface, where his friends and Monica were crowded at the edge of the pool. Their faces were distorted by the water, but Jason could hear them clearly: loud laughter, shouts, and mocking comments.

—Hey, Jason, how’re you even breathing down there?—one of the guys shouted, and a few others joined in with laughter. It seemed none of them realized what was actually happening.

Jason tried to shout something back, but instead, the water seemed to gently pull him back into silence. He instinctively took a deep breath right underwater and realized he could breathe. Air flowed freely into his lungs. The absurdity of the situation finally hit him, and Jason looked down in horror at his tail, slowly swaying beneath him.

'No... this has to be a dream,' he trying whispered into the empty water, desperately hoping he would wake up any second. 'This can’t be real.'

…

Monica’s grandmother hadn’t hidden this costume without reason—there was a secret behind it that no one in the family fully understood. She loved telling so-called fairytales about her journeys at sea and the strange creatures she met, and people often said she herself was “a little different,” considering her odd. Though, probably anyone would seem strange if they spent half their life as a mermaid and then suddenly ended up on land.

Once, in her youth, she had made a deal with a sea witch to take on human form, but the price was leaving behind her tail and her life in the ocean forever. That tail ended up looking more like a carnival costume. But Monica’s grandmother couldn’t part with it—it held too many memories. She hid it away, hoping no one would uncover that part of her past. She had no idea that the witch had thought of everything down to the last detail.

One of the hidden clauses of the contract stated that if she ever broke the terms and wished to return to the sea, all she had to do was put it on again and speak her desire to return to the ocean aloud, and ancient magic would restore her mermaid form—but not without a price. Anyone who wore the tail would be forever bound to the witch’s will, becoming her obedient servant.

Monica’s grandmother knew this but hadn’t seen all the traps in the contract until the end. Becoming human, she had accepted the terms, deciding she’d never give in to the temptation to return to the sea. And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of the tail, leaving it more as a keepsake...