“Welcome to the Redbird diner!” The cute, freckled redhead greets her new guests, a family of four seated around the retro aluminum table. “I’m Nancy, what can I getcha?”
She takes their drink orders, dutifully writing them down on a small pad. The young daughter looks up at Nancy with a shy smile. “I like your clothes” she says, gesturing to the waitress’s red and white striped skirt.
“Aw, thanks, sweetie!” Nancy chirps, swishing the light fabric around her thighs.
Looking around, the mother smiles and adds “And I love the decorations. You all did a wonderful job!”
Nancy also glances around at their surroundings. Pumpkins, plastic skeletons, fake cobwebs and orange string lights fill the interior of the diner as part of their Halloween decor.
“I’m glad you like them!” she bubbles. “It took a while to put them all up, but it was so worth it. I’ll be right back with your drinks!”
The waitress walks behind the counter and pours the beverages from the soda gun. She places them on a plastic tray and sashays back to the table, where she sets them down.
“Here ya go!” She bubbles. “I’ll give you a few more minutes with the menus.”
The family nods appreciatively. Nancy smiles and walks back towards the counter, then passes through a metal door with a nautical-style porthole. She finds herself in a narrow hallway, which she ventures into, her heels clacking on the linoleum tile.
She reaches a door with the sign “Employees Only”. Strangely, considering the casual establishment, a numbered keypad sits on the wall next to it. She punches in a four-digit code and the door clicks open.
The young woman steps inside and closes the door behind her. She lets out a tired sigh and glances around the room. It looks like a typical employee lounge, complete with a few couches, tables and a vending machine. A desktop computer sits on a desk in the corner, incongruous with the diner’s “50s” theme.
A girl with wavy blonde hair, wearing a uniform identical to the one Nancy wears, sits on one of the couches, scrolling on her phone. She looks up when the waitress enters and says “Oh, hey! I didn’t realize it was your break time already.”
Nancy shakes her head, causing her crimson pigtails to swing about. “It’s not. I just needed a few minutes. My feet are killing me!” She chuckles.
She bends over and slips off her heel, massaging the bottom of her foot.
Joyce, the girl on the sofa, laughs in return. “You’ll get used to it!” She hums, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
Nancy walks over and sits next to her on the couch. Oddly, she begins to knead her face with the tips of her fingers. “Plus” she says “I’m still not used to wearing this.”
She presses down a little harder, and as she rubs her cheek, it stretches unnaturally.
Joyce playfully swats Nancy’s hand, and her skin snaps back into place. “Don’t play with your mask!” She teases. “It’s still your first week. You’ll get used to that, too.”
Nancy nods. But, of course, her real name wasn’t Nancy. In fact, she wasn’t a girl at all.
Mike, the young man wearing Nancy’s lovely face and body, had just recently started working at the Redbird. It was the only diner in Springville, a small, 50s-themed amusement park run by the former business tycoon, Wilson Mills.
The park was Wilson’s long-time dream, and he ran every aspect of it with precision. That included, of course, the diner staff, for whom he had very particular requirements. All of the waitresses were to be perfect - perhaps exaggerated - models of the era’s elegant, graceful femininity.
Rather than search endlessly for young women fitting his demanding qualifications, he came up with another way to obtain his ideal staff. Through the magic of special effects prosthetics, he could transform any reasonably slender person into the perfect Redbird girl.
Nancy glances over at the tables on the opposite side of the room. What would typically frighten the average observer now looked perfectly normal to her.
A half-dozen hollow, gaping faces stare back at her with vacant eye sockets. She recognizes Beverly’s dark, curly mane and Sally’s red, pouty lips. Those “girls” had the night off, since their wearers were not on the evening’s schedule.
Deflated torsos hang on a neat clothing rack next to the masks. When put on, they’d give the wearer the feminine curves one would expect on an attractive, fit woman. The abdomens and thighs all appear greyish and plain, since they were always hidden behind the charming red and white uniforms. But, starting just under the breasts and extending all the way to the fingertips, they were painted to appear perfectly lifelike.
Nancy glances back to Joyce, whose nose is scrunched up adorably. “Still think it’s kinda creepy?”
The waitress nods. “Mhmm. Still haven’t quite gotten used to being Nancy.”
The other girl giggles. “It’s still strange for me, too. But I do enjoy being Joyce four times a week. She certainly has more going for her than I do” she sighs, gesturing to her body.
The disguised Mike shakes his head again. He’d only seen the girl beneath Joyce’s attractive exterior once, when she’d been getting dressed for her shift. He knew her name was Abigail, and he didn’t think her humble opinion of herself was justified. From the brief glance he’d had, she was fairly pretty, with brown, shoulder length hair and a pleasant face.
She had given him a quick smile before disappearing behind the room divider holding Joyce’s empty face and torso in her hands. Then, he’d heard some tugging and rubbery stretching sounds, and after a few minutes, Joyce had appeared.
“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself” Nancy replies. She looks down a bit awkwardly “I…I think you have plenty going for you.”
Joyce smiles sweetly. “Well, thanks.”
Mike finds himself blushing underneath Nancy’s pale prosthetic face. “Well, I should be getting back now” he says, in his soft, electronically altered voice.
A minute later, the fake girl dutifully slides the family’s dinner order across the metal shelf into the kitchen. “Order up!” She announces.
With less enthusiasm than she’d had serving the friendly family, she walks over to another one of her tables. Around this one are four young men, all wearing classic varsity jackets with patches signifying the fake local school. They all work at various other places in the park, and will occasionally come by to add a little authentic atmosphere to the diner.
“Hey, babe” a handsome-looking guy with slicked back, dark brown hair says “what time do you get out of here?”
Nancy gives him a lukewarm smile. “Um, ten o’clock” she replies, starting to grab their empty plates.
The young man doesn’t hide his long gaze at her swollen chest as she leans over the table. He continues “Well, we’re going to a Halloween party later. I’d love to see a cute little thing like you there.”
Discreetly, the guy strokes Nancy’s thigh under the table, giving it a playful pinch.
50s theme park complete with quintessential misogyny, the disguised Mike muses.
Nancy delicately brushes him off. “Um, thanks, but I can’t. I’m meeting my boyfriend” she replies, consistent with the fake waitress’s backstory. She’d been dating her completely fictitious boyfriend “Ricky” for almost two years.
She collects all of their plates and cutlery and walks them back to the kitchen. As she departs, she can overhear them make several degrading comments about her ass, and other parts. She just rolls her eyes.
The night continues on. Nancy serves a dozen or so more tables, occasionally gossiping with Joyce behind the counter about their customers, and some of the other staff members.
Finally, it’s closing time, and the two girls are the last waitresses left in the diner, after the others were sent home early. Joyce wipes down the last counter then huffs “Whew! Finally. Ready to head out?”
Nancy nods, and the two fake girls walk back into the employee “changing” room. Joyce grabs a handful of clothes from her locker and starts walking over to the room divider in the corner.
The disguised Mike opens his own locker and looks inside. He scowls, then curses “Shit! What the hell?”
Concerned, Joyce walks over and watches him pull out a t-shirt that looks to be soaked in some kind of brown liquid. “Oh no, what happened?” She asks, concern in her voice.
“Someone dumped a bottle of soda in my locker!” The fake Nancy replies angrily, in her cute feminine tone.
“That’s awful!” Joyce says. “It must have been one of those jerks in the kitchen, hazing the new guy.”
“Or maybe one of those asshole jocks, after I wouldn’t let him grope me under the table.”
Joyce nods knowingly. “I know, those guys are losers. They see a cute girl, and figure if she’s not really real, it’s okay to have a little fun with her.”
“Ugh!” Nancy rages. “I can’t wear these. Maybe I could find some clothing props in here that wouldn’t look too ridiculous…?”
Joyce frowns. “Unlikely, for a man” Then, she looks like she has an idea “Hey, why don’t we just wear our uniforms out of here?” She suggests, gesturing to herself.
The disguised Mike hesitates. “Hmm…I’m not sure. Couldn’t we get in trouble?”
The fake Joyce shakes her head. “Nah, as long as you bring it back tomorrow. I’ve done it before.”
“Really?”
Joyce looks away, embarrassed. “Yeah, you know, like I said. I enjoy being her. And sometimes…I just want to keep her on a little longer.”
“Oh, I see. I mean, I really don’t think you’re any less pretty than Joyce…I mean…that one time I saw you, you looked…nice” Nancy fumbles awkwardly.
Joyce gives a little smile. “Thanks. Well, come on, it’ll be fun!”
Reluctantly, Nancy nods and the two grab their belongings and exit the diner.
The walk to the parking lot is about fifteen minutes, so the fake girls start chatting about going back to their respective universities in the fall.
They reach a fork in the paved walkway and Joyce points to the left. “Let’s take the forest path, it’s a little faster!” She suggests.
Nancy looks a little wary. “Uhh, it’s kind of dark that way, isn’t it?” She frets. A dark path through the woods on Halloween, what could go wrong? The disguised Mike thinks.
Joyce giggles. “Only a little, but we’ll save a few minutes. You’re not scared are you?” She asks playfully.
“No…of course not” Nancy replies. “Let’s do it.”
Joyce reaches out and takes her hand, and Mike can feel himself redden underneath Nancy’s permanently pale and freckled face.
The pair continue to walk until they reach a small clearing, with scattered picnic tables and benches. Sure enough, the area is quite dark, and lit only by moonlight.
Nancy hears some voices off the path to their right. Turning, she can barely make out a small group of people huddled around what looks like some kind of light.
“What the hell?” Nancy asks. “Who would be out here this late?”
Joyce frowns. “I’m not sure. Come on, let’s go see.”
She begins to walk over, but Nancy pulls her back. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Abby” she says, addressing the fake waitress by her real name.
Joyce chuckles. “Not scared again, are we?” She teases. “Don’t worry, I’ve worked here for three seasons. I know everyone. Let’s go say hi, and then maybe once we get out of these uniforms, you and I can hang out?”
Mike blushes again. “Oh” he replies. “Y-yeah…that would be nice.”
Still holding his hand, the fake Joyce guides him over to the group. As they get closer, he can see that there are four girls standing in a semicircle around another figure, who he can’t really make out. Whoever it is appears to be a man, wearing very dark clothes. Oddly, he begins to recognize the girls as the other waitresses from the diner, still all wearing their uniforms too.
“Those are the girls from our shift” Nancy whispers to her friend. “Is this some kind of Halloween thing? Who’s the guy?”
Joyce just shrugs.
They approach the group, and the disguised Mike can now clearly see the three flickering lanterns giving off the soft amber glow illuminating the group. He can also see that the man is old, perhaps in his eighties, and is wearing a pair of black trousers and a black button-down dress shirt.
Nancy looks around at the other fake waitresses. Strangely, they are all just staring at the man in front of them with looks of pure contentment, almost reverence.
“Uhh…” Nancy begins nervously. “Hey guys. What’s going on here?”
The girls in the semicircle don’t appear to acknowledge her words at all, continuing to stare ahead blissfully.
Sensing something is definitely off about the situation, Nancy whispers “We should get out of here, Abby. This is super weird…Abby?”
Nancy notices her friend has left her side, and is now moving in between the brunette, "Linda" and another redhead, "Kathleen".
Joyce then adopts the same mindless, faraway gaze as she states softly “I’m here, Master. And I’ve brought Nancy, as instructed.”
Mike feels his heart thumping inside Nancy’s swollen chest. What the fuck is this?
“Excellent” the man acknowledges, in a low, gravely voice. Then, he looks directly into Nancy’s eyes with his piercing blue ones. “Welcome, my dear.”
“Wh…who are you? What is this?” Nancy squeaks.
The man smiles wickedly. “I am Wilson Mills, the owner of this park” he replies. He gestures to the five girls standing around him. “And this is our special gathering.”
Continuing to stare into Nancy’s wide eyes, he continues “I would love it if you joined us.”
Nancy stammers “U…Uh, no, I don’t think so. Abby, we should go. We were going to hang out, right?” She asks hopefully.
Wilson sneers. “Joyce cannot hear you right now, my dear. She’s nice and entranced. Aren’t you, sweetheart?”
Joyce monotones her reply, while gazing ahead blankly. “Yes, Master.”
Nancy stares in disbelief at her suddenly mesmerized friend.
“You see, my dear” Wilson continues. “The girls who waitress in my diner are very special to me. I take care of them, and they take care of me. Don’t you, girls?”
In creepy unison, the pretty young waitresses all reply obediently “Yes, Master.”
“It’s so easy to submit to my will, Nancy” the man continues. “You’ll be so happy, so peaceful. Come, join us…” He reaches a hand out invitingly.
“N...no” the fake Nancy whispers. “This can’t be real!”
The man’s smile widens. “Oh, I assure you, it is.” He looks over at the other girls and commands “Show Nancy here how a good waitress behaves for her Master, my dears.”
The girls all nod simultaneously. Then, in front of a shocked Nancy, they all unzip their frilly red-and-white striped uniforms, and tug them gracefully up and over their heads.
“Wh…what the fuck?” Nancy stammers. The revealed bodies of the five waitresses don’t look like the typical featureless torsos used in their “uniforms”. They appear perfectly lifelike, as if each girl was the real deal, and not just some elaborate costume.
The girls are all wearing a red, lacy set of matching underwear. The garments cling to their supple, feminine bodies, hugging their curves enticingly.
Then, at the same time, the fake waitresses all sink to their knees. Looking up at the man with looks of pure devotion, they murmur “We are ready to serve, Master.”
The disguised Mike’s mouth has fallen open at this point, and he stands paralyzed, looking at the scene in front of him with total disbelief.
He watches as the man approaches Joyce, cupping her chin gently in his hand. “So obedient” he whispers, while she gazes up at him with loving adoration. His hand slips to her shoulder, and he slides the bra strap off to the side. Dutifully, she reaches around her back and unsnaps the garment. She mindlessly lets it fall to the ground, and her bare, perky breasts spring free.
Mike finds himself taking a step backward, almost tripping in Nancy’s heels. He stares at Joyce, who is now naked from the waist up. Holy shit, what the fuck, he panics. This guys is insane. He dresses his workers up in these lifelike disguises and brainwashes them into being his fucking sex slaves?
True enough, the girls are all gorgeous. Kathleen looks up at her “Master” with sparkling green eyes, her enormous chest raising and falling in rhythm with her slow, steady breath.
Except Mike knew that "Kathleen" was really Tim, who now appeared to be completely under the fucked-up spell of a crazy person, while sealed inside the prosthetic body of a sensual young woman.
“Help Nancy understand, darling” Wilson says, still addressing Joyce.
Obediently, the girl nods and stands, approaching the terrified Nancy.
“Join us” she purrs, reaching her hand out and stroking the Nancy’s arm. “It’s so nice to be one of Master’s special girls. I just know you’ll enjoy it. Just relax and listen to his powerful voice, and soon you’ll be just like us…”
Mike can’t help but find his eyes drawn to the fake girl’s exposed chest. Apparently, she notices his interest, and she takes his disguised hand and places it gently on her breast.
She leans in and whispers “And then we can have fun together, too…”
Mike yanks his hand back and stumbles. “Holy fuck, this is crazy. I’m not letting you turn me into a fucking sex slave!” He yells at Wilson, hating the way his words come out in a high-pitched squeal.
Nancy kicks her heels off and turns, preparing to run, when the entire group surprisingly breaks out into laughter.
Nancy turns back to see Mr. Mills pointing at her, roaring in hilarity. “Did you see the look on his face?!”
Joyce, giggling, says to him “Gotcha! I’m sorry, Mike. We do it to all the newbies.”
His heart still hammering in his chest, Mike stammers “Wha…what?! This was all a joke?!”
Kathleen wipes a joyful tear from her eye and replies “Of course it was. You didn’t think Mr. Mills here was really hypnotizing us, did you?”
“Well, you sure made it look convincing!” The fake Nancy retorts heatedly. “And what about your…costumes?” She asks, pointing to their scantily-clad bodies.
Joyce giggles again. “Oh, we know the boys in the special effects department and had them liven up our disguises. They can do the same for you, if you want” she offers with a smile.
“Yeah, this chick is so hot” the fake Kathleen proclaims, lewdly squeezing her own impressive chest.
The other “girls” chuckle. “Tim just had to have them upgrade his suit to double-D’s” Linda jeers.
Kathleen smiles “Hey, these babies bring in some nice tips!”
By this time, Joyce has retrieved her bra, and now stands in her underwear like the others.
“And who…I mean, are you really…” Nancy says, pointing to the leering Wilson Mills.
He laughs. “No, not even close. I had the prosthetics fellas create ‘Mr. Mills’ here. I told them I wanted the creepiest old guy they could come up with” he replies with a big smile. “Hang on…”
The disguised Mike watches as the man slips his hand into the collar of his dress shirt. He had gotten good at putting on Nancy’s pretty face before each shift, but he’d yet to see anyone else don their disguises, or remove them.
The imposter lifts a wrinkled, skin-coloured flap and tugs it upwards. Wilson’s saggy chin crumples upwards, his withered lips pulling away. Mike watches his entire face distort grotesquely in front of him as his aging hands work their way underneath. Finally, with a loud squelch, the entire mask comes off in his hands, revealing the flushed face of an impish blonde.
She holds the flopping mask in her hands and says with a chuckle “Hi, I’m Harper. I don’t think we’ve met yet.”
Mike’s mouth had fallen open, Nancy’s pouty lips parted adorably. “Uh…hi, Harper. I’m Mike” he replies.
“I know!” She chirps. “I think you’ve met Tim before” she adds, pointing to the busty redhead. “And that’s Alice, Will and Jen” she finishes, pointing to Linda, then two cute brunettes.
The girls all wave at Nancy, and she returns the gesture hesitantly. “Hey…” she says awkwardly.
They all giggle. Kathleen approaches her and says cheerfully “You’re officially one of us now! And you did really well. Will over there booked it as soon as Mr. Mills opened his mouth during his orientation.”
The curly-haired brunette folds her arms across her barely-covered chest. “Yeah, yeah” she replies, rolling her eyes.
Laughing, Harper adds “Yeah, you did great. I hope I didn’t scare you too badly” she says, holding up the deflated face of Wilson Mills by it’s long, thinning grey hair.
Linda shudders. “Ugh, he really is so creepy! He would need to use mind control to get his own private harem” She jokes with a chuckle.
The disguised Mike turns to Joyce and says “Well done, Abby. You played me like a fiddle, getting me to take the ‘shortcut through the forest path’!”
Joyce laughs, then looks away “Yeah…about that. I’m afraid I relied on a little sleight of hand to make that work.”
The fake Nancy’s brow furrows. “What do you mean?” She asks.
Harper giggles, then reaches into a bag Mike hadn’t noticed up to that point. She pulls something out and tosses it to him. “Catch!”
A soft bundle of wavy brown hair and skin-coloured flesh falls into his open hands. Turning it over, he gasps when he recognizes Abigail’s pretty, elfin face. Her empty eyes stare up at him and her lips are crumpled together unnaturally.
“Wh…What?! Abby isn’t real…?” Mike stammers.
In all the shock, he hadn’t noticed Joyce’s hands working their way underneath her mask. Her fingers slide frighteningly underneath her pink cheeks, as her lips and nose scrunch upwards into her now-empty eye sockets. With a loud, rubbery squelch, the mask comes off, long blonde hair and all.
A young man smiles at Mike, caressing Joyce’s hollow, flopping face. “Sorry for the ruse! My real name’s Luke” he admits.
“Oh, great, another dude” Nancy mumbles, eliciting a laugh from the group.
“Hey, I’m a real girl under here!” Linda says, gesturing to her half-naked body.
“Me too!” The other brunette chimes in.
The disguised Mike sighs. “Good to know. So, what now?”
Harper smiles. “Now, I go put on my actual work costume. You might know me better as Sally. Then, we’re all doing to drive a few towns over and go out drinking. With these costumes, we won’t have to pay a dime!”
Nancy laughs. “Oh, I bet we won’t!”
“Uh huh!” Kathleen chirps. “Don’t worry, we’ll have some clothes for you to wear instead of that uniform, Nancy. And Luke has generously offered to wash your clothes.”
Mike glances back over at Luke and sees him already pulling the mask back down over his head. The face warps and stretches onto him until it finally settles, and Joyce has returned.
She giggles girlishly, spreading her arms wide. “Miss me?”
“No, not really” Harper jests. She tosses the empty mask of "Mr. Mills" into her bag, where it lands with a hollow thump. “Let’s go, girls!”
The group walks off into the night.