Getting Ready
“I’m not sure I can do this,” Paul said examining his face while he sat on a chair in front of his girlfriend’s vanity desk. He couldn’t believe how feminine he looked with just body paint but then again his girlfriend was an expert at the trade.


“Don’t back out on me now,” Julia said, with her voice muffled slightly by her fake beard. “I spent hours getting us ready so we’re going to that party.” She walked over to Paul with a wig cap in her hands. “Besides this whole headswap costume was your idea to begin with.”


“I know, I know…” Paul said as he took the wig cap off Julia and held it in his hands for a moment. “It’s just, I feel embarrassed looking like this… you know?”


“It’s Halloween, no one’s going to care how you look, besides it’s a lot better than makeup,” Julia countered his protests. “Besides you’re not the one who needs to wear an itchy beard.”


Paul looked up at Julia, surprised to see how much she currently looked like him, from the neck up anyway. He touched his bare face and remembered the amount of prep work that had gone into this costume, Paul had grown a full beard so that Julia could wear the fake one to mimic his appearance and then last night he had shaved his off completely. This was to help with the costume’s overall appearance and helped Julia look more masculine.


“You’re right, we’ve put too much effort into this for me to back out now,” Paul smiled nervously as he put the wig cap on.


“Good, because I’ve got one more surprise,” Julia informed him as she handed him a small box. Paul opened it quickly and excitedly but quickly dropped that enthusiasm when he saw two clip on earrings.


“No way am I wearing these!” He protested once more.


“Now hunny, remember the story of our costume, we were at a nightclub when a mad scientist drugged us and we woke up on each other’s bodies…” she said as she put her hands on his shoulders. “I don’t go to events and parties without wearing earrings, so if you’re going to be me from the neck up, you need to wear earrings.”


“Fine…” Paul gave in as he clipped the jewelry to his ears. Julia then passed him the straight blonde hair wig to put, finishing of his costume.


“You look wonderful,” Julia assured him as she kissed his cheek.

The Gate
Julia and Paul drove up to the estate’s large gate, left wide open for the party. However just because the gates were wide open, didn’t mean they were unguarded for anyone to crash the party. Paul pulled to a stop, joining the queue of cars in front of him.


“Wow, this party is even bigger than I thought,” Julia said with a smile. “When your boss goes full out, he goes FULL OUT.”


Paul looked over at Julia, barely able to recognise her. “Well he’s not exactly my boss, he’s my boss’s boss,” Paul corrected. “And I’m as surprised as you are with how many people are here. Hell I still can’t believe I got an invitation, I’m just a lowly office drone.”


“And with an attitude like that, that’s all you’ll be,” Julia said as she punched him in the arm to get his attention. “Think about Paul, you’re at your boss’s boss’s house. Think about all the other management team that might be here. If you rub elbows with the right people tonight, you could be looking at a promotion,” Julia said with excitement.


“Looking like this?” Paul once again pointed to his embarrassing costume. “Besides it looks like half the company is here, don’t you think they all have the same idea?”


“Hey, that costume shows that you’re fun and bold,” Julia said more firmly. “What’s the bet that everyone else with something safe or typical? With that costume you’re sure to impress them, it’s just your attitude you need to work on.”


Paul was about to say something when the car in front of him drove past the security checkpoint and now it was Paul’s turn. He drove up slowly to see a security guard dressed up as an ogre. Julia nudged Paul with her elbow. “Even the security guards are dressed up!” She whispered with a squeal of excitement. Paul just motioned for her to calm down as he opened the window.


“Invitation and ID.” The guard instructed.


Julia reached inside her handbag and passed Paul the black envelope. It had been handwritten and addressed to him so no one else could use it. ‘Probably why they’re also asking for ID,’ Paul thought as he pulled his driver's license from his wallet. ‘Being a costume party you don’t know who’s who.’


Paul handed the guard what he requested. “This is is my plus one,” I said gesturing to Julia, who waved at him politely. The guard just nodded before handing back the license but keeping the envelope.


“Have a nice night,” the guard said as he motioned them forward.


Paul followed the pitched signs, being held monstrous looking scarecrows and assumed they were leading him to where he was meant to park. He wasn’t 100% certain though as they said things like, ‘Beware!’, ‘Turn Back’ and ‘Last Warning’ as he approached the mansion.


Once they arrived two goblin valets instructed them to pull over in front of the mansion’s doors. One of them opened the door for Julia and helped her out of the car while paul got out themselves. Like the guard they were very professional and made no mention of the costumes at all. The wrote down Paul’s details and took his keys and drove the car somewhere out of the way.


“Enjoy your evening,” the remaining valet said as they walked inside the open doors.


The party
Julia and Paul walked into the foyer and were astounded not only by the the interior of the mansion but by all the people in costume as well. There were all sorts of things ranging from witches to werewolves, zombies and vampires then there were the more amazing costumes like medusa, a centaur and the headless horseman as well as your standard sexy cats, zombies and werewolves.. Suddenly Julia self conscious about the work she had put into her’s and Paul’s costumes.


She took in the sight for a moment before spotting a familiar face amongst all the crazy characters. “Hey there’s Valery,” Julia yelled at Paul to break through the noise. “At least I think that’s her…. Anyway I’m going to say hi.” She was about to walk off before she paused and turned around. “You go find one of your bosses and introduce yourself!” She instructed before reaching up to kiss him on the cheek but stopped when she remembered the body paint.


With that, Julia disappeared into the crowds, leaving Paul on his own. He stood there nervously for a while as people shuffled past him. Finally he caught the glimpse of the CEO, dressed up as a wizard walking off to a side room. Knowing he’d get into trouble for not taking this opportunity Paul decided to follow him.


He approached the door the CEO had entered and heard some voices coming from the other side. “Is everything ready?” He heard a muffled voice ask.


“Almost. I guarantee you this will be a night to remember,” another voice replied.


Not wanting to interrupt the conversation Paul had waited until they had stopped talking before going to knock on the door. He paused when he saw the blonde threads from his wig in the corner of his eye. ‘I don’t care what Julia said,’ he thought as he stood there for a moment, ‘I can’t introduce myself looking like this.’ So Paul turned away and headed upstairs to find a bathroom instead.


Unknown to Paul, Julia had been keeping an eye on him while she was talking to Valery, who was dressed as a mermaid. She was impressed when she saw him follow the person dressed up as a wizard but sighed when he went up the stairs a minute later. “Sorry Val, I need to go talk some sense into Paul…” she moaned as she left her friend and followed Paul up the stairs.


The Change
Paul found a bathroom fairly quick and entered. At the moment it was empty, which suited him just fine. He walked over to the mirror, once again seeing his reflection. ‘Julia did an amazing job’ he thought, as he admired  ‘It’s so life like.’


He felt guilty for what he was about to do next, but he wanted to make a good first impression on his boss and couldn’t do that looking as he did now, at least he could keep the stitches effect and say he was a severed head that got reattached so he would still have a costume.


Paul reached up to take the earrings off when the door opened up behind him. “What do you think you’re doing?” Julia demanded as she entered the room.


“I… um…” Paul began to think of something but before he could a shockwave pushed Julia forward into his arms and knocking them both against the shower door. The light above them exploded, leaving them in total darkness. Though by that time they had already blacked out.


Paul awoke to the sound of screams and yelling and saw nothing but a green hue of moonlight piercing through a tiny rectangle window. He gently moved Julia off him as he sat there in shock and confusion. His neck hurt like hell and he could feel warm drops of blood dripping down his neck.


“Oh shit, oh shit!” He said in a high pitched voice as he reached up to his neck, feeling stitches and drops of blood. “What the Fuu.. ah!” Paul stopped as the pain in his neck became too great. “This can’t be real…” Paul stopped as he heard Julia’s voice, though she was still unconscious. “Julia?” Paul asked as he tried to shake her awake but paused again when he heard her voice. “Holy Shit!” Paul whispered in shock as he reached up to his face, realising what must’ve happened. The pain in his neck, the feminine voice and the fact he was no longer wearing face paint made it all too clear, he had become his costume. To further confirm this he pulled at his wig and felt pain on his scalp as it didn’t shift or budge.


“Julia!” Paul suddenly cried out, causing pain once again, as his attention returned to his girlfriend lying on the ground. This time he inspected her more closely and even under the pale moonlight he could tell she too had changed.


“Wha…” Julia began to stir, hearing her name for the second time in her own voice, even though she had been too dazed to talk. She felt sore all over, especially around the neck and her fake beard had become more irritable. She managed to sit up with the help of Paul, who hadn’t said anything yet.


“Julia, I know you must be freaking out right now… so am I” Julia heard her own voice say. “I don’t know maybe I’m dreaming and none of this is real…”


“Paul….” Julia suddenly realised he was speaking in her voice. “Why do you sound like me? Why do I sound like you?!” She suddenly realised the same thing Paul had realised.


“It would appear our costumes have become real…” Paul replied to Julia still in disbelief.


Julia then examined herself like Paul did, feeling the stitches and blood and confirming her face was no longer her own. “I must be dreaming….” she said.


More Changes
Julia and Paul sat there in silence for the longest time, hearing the screams on the other side of the door. Both of them were in denial that this was real and it was all a dream, believing the other person wasn’t really there. The blood draining from their necks, while slow, had drained them of their energy and they were both struggling to stay awake.


They could barely keep their eyes open by the time the bathroom door opened, revealing an ugly old hag in a witch’s costume enter. She quickly shut the door and held herself against it, clearly afraid of something, or someone. She jumped startled as she heard the wheezing breaths of Julia and Paul. “Oh my, you two don’t looks so good,” she said in a crackly voice as she approached the couple, forgetting all about the door. The lady inspected them more clearly and noticed that they were on the wrong bodies and had also lost a considerable amount of blood. “Let me fix that up for you,” the lady said as she pulled a stick from her side, which sparkled with green energy.


Julia and Paul felt their heads being pulled up from their bodies, breaking all the stitches as they rose. They remained stationary in the air for a moment, unable to feel their bodies anymore though they were still very much alive. They then rotated around each other and gently floated down to the other person’s body their necks then resealed themselves as the stitches and blood faded away. “There you go, good as new,” the lady smiled revealing her crooked rotting teeth.


They both sat there confused for a moment as their energy slowly returned. Paul was the first to move, feeling the difference in his new body. He reached up touching his new breasts, he had felt them many times before but not like this.


“What have you done to us!” Julia snapped at the lady as she got up off the ground. “Fix us immediately!”


The witch just stood there confused for a moment. “I’m sorry, I thought I just did.”


“You put us on the wrong bodies you dumb bitch!” Julia yelled.


“Hey when I entered the room you two were half dead on the wrong bodies, how was I supposed to know? Also speak to me like that again and I’ll turn you into a bitch,” the witch threatened, Julia, putting her in her place.


“I’m sorry… this is just too much…” she said to the witch before turning her attention to Paul. “Stop playing with my boobs!”


“Hey it’s all a dream anyway so I may as well enjoy it while I can,” Paul brushed Julia off as he went to pull down her dress. Julia then walked over to Paul and stopped him from going any further by grabbing his arms.


“I’m sorry about before, this is all too confusing and feels very real,” she said to the witch as she struggled with Paul, until he gave up. “But do you mind putting us in the correct bodies please?”


“It’s okay I understand, when I came to this party I didn’t expect to become an ugly old green hag but I did, though the upside is now I have magic. So I’ll swap your bodies.”


The witch then pulled out her wand once again, causing a wave of sparks, though as quickly as they emerged they faded once again as the witches skin went from wrinkly green to smooth and gold, reflecting to moon’s rays even more.


“Are you too alright?” A male’s voice said from behind the golden statue. “It looks like I managed to save you just in time.”


“Save us?” Julia asked angrily. “She was about to put us back into our correct bodies.”


The man looked puzzled for a moment as he inspected the two of them, one male, one female, perfectly human. “Wait you mean to tell me you both went as each other for this party? That would explain while you’re still human.”


“No, we went as head swapped experiments, our effects were too good and we were dying, that witch came in here and fixed us, or so she thought. Now we’re trapped in the wrong bodies.”


“Oh I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t know. I thought Mel had wicked intentions, I mean I saw her turn someone into a frog before. I’m just trying to save people from the dangerous costumes, like the zombies, werewolves and vampires. If I had known she meant you no harm I wouldn’t have turned her into gold.”


“How did you do that?” Paul finally spoke up. His desire to self explore was still great but he now realised Julia wouldn’t let him, perhaps it wasn’t a dream afterall.


“I dressed up as King Midas,” the man said casually before he became more sombre. “I know that I accidentally prevented you from returning to your true bodies but you have to help me, my wife’s head was cut off by the headless horseman I managed to contain the threat but I was unable to pick up her head and now she lies in the hallway vulnerable. Please save her, I beg of you.”


Dangers
Julia and Paul thought about the man’s request for a moment, as they realised they weren’t the only ones to suffer tonight’s events. “We’ll do it,” Julia said eventually. “Though you need to help us find someone who can switch us back to our original bodies.”


“Oh my boss can do that,” Paul interjected. “He was dressed up as a wizard so surely he’d know a way to switch us back.”


“It’s settled then, you two retrieve my wife and I’ll protect you from harm, we both go find this wizard so he can give my wife back her body and return you two to your own.”


Coming to an agreement they quickly headed, leaving the poor witch to her golden fate. Midas, lead the couple to the hallway where he last saw his wife and instructed them to go down it. “It’s a dead end,” he informed them. “I’ll stay up here and make sure we don’t get any nasty surprises. Perhaps one of you should stay with me.”


“Not a chance,” Julia protested, thinking of what Paul might do either alone or in front of another guy. “You keep us protected and we’ll find your wife together.”


Julia and Paul crawled on the floor as it was the safest way to trek the dark path. “I found her!” Paul exclaimed as he felt the long strands of hair. He pulled gently on it until he was holding the head in his hands. He felt around, much to the annoyance of the lady who he was now holding, though she was unable to speak without her neck. Paul noticed she was trying to say something frantically though, but he couldn’t figure out what.


“Don’t worry we’re with your husband,” Paul said trying to calm her down. “We’ll get you back to him,” he promised as he tried to stand up as crawling while holding her would be impossible. Though as he went to do that he stepped on his dress and tripped forward, making the head roll forward


“What…?” a voice said startled looking down at the head that came to a stop at her feet. Without meaning too she activated her glare, turning the head into stone.


“Fuck!” Julia exclaimed as she managed to turn away at the last moment. “Close your eyes Paul, it’s the woman who dressed up as Medusa!” She wasn’t sure if Paul was still with her or not.


“You think, you’re so clever?” The woman said as she approached the couple. “You don’t think I could force you to open your eyes?” She walked passed Paul and pulled Julia up to her feet with an inhuman strength. Her snake hair was now snapping at Julia’s face.


“Honey?” Midas said as he walked down the hall, “Are you done yet, I saw the flash.”


Julia and Paul now realised this was a trap and the lady they were searching for was just bait.


“I’m handling it…” she retorted as she loosened her grip on Julia. “Go back and… AHH!” the Medusa screamed in pain as Paul hit her in the back as hard as possible with Julia’s high heel shoes. Causing her to stumble forward. Julia reacted quickly to the situation and sidestepped her and tripped her sending her tumbling even further, into the arms of Midas. Once again without meaning too she activated her glare, turning Midas into stone though he had managed to grab her before that moment and in turn turned her into gold, leaving the both of them as statues.


“Let’s get out of here,” Julia said as they ran out of the hallway and into the moonlit foyer. There they could see the destruction for themselves. Barely anyone remained and those that did were either now stone or gold statues.


“I guess Midas did one thing right,” Paul said as they walked by a golden zombie with its face full of hunger. “This way, I saw my Boss come through here.”


Conclusion
Paul returned to the door, no longer caring that he looked like a woman, as he had a body of one too and tonight’s events had been so crazy he no longer cared about first impressions. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.


The door opened instantly and there he was, dressed as a wizard standing by an alter. “Well this is a surprise,” the Wizard said as he put down his book. “No one else bothered to knock, they just came here seeking refuge from the chaos.”


“I saw you enter here earlier,” Paul said nervously. “I was hoping you’d still be here.”


The wizard just nodded at the explanation as he gestured them to enter the room. They wasted no time in doing so and the doors closed after them. He then expected them further. “Where are your costumes?” He asked in a firm tone similar to that of a parent when they know their child has done wrong.


“We went as head swapped victims but a witch put our heads back on the body they belong too but now we’re on each other’s body,” Paul explained.


“That’s why we looked for you, Paul said that you were dressed as a wizard, so we were hoping you’d be able to put us back in the correct bodies,” Julia added.


“Why would I do that?” The wizard asked as soon as they had finished their sentence. “I created this party so that people could be different from what they are,” he explained. “To put you back in your original bodies would defeat that purpose, so no, you shall remain in each other’s bodies.” The door then flung open as a invisible force picked the couple up. “You’re lucky you told me that you swapped bodies, otherwise I would’ve had to find something else for you to become,” he informed them with a sly smile as he threw them out.


“Oh and I’ve got my eye on you two, so don’t try to find someone else to switch you back,” he warned as the door slammed shut.