David leaned forward into the hole of rusted wirebars. Within the darkness, a moldy building stood there at the peak of a hill. The skink let his blue tongue out. He was all alone. 


No stupid security guard chasing him out. No animals patrolling the area. And especially none of his friends were tailing after him. 


For the past few months, he had been eyeing on this house. Sure, it wasn’t exactly in peak condition but imagine if he could seize control over it. He would have his own hideout all to himself. His own private place of solace. Like those billionaires with their penthouse except his was smaller and creepier at night. 


Yet his friends were holding him back, claiming that it was haunted. Owned by some Vietnamese water puppet company, spirits now lived on within the puppets. Pfft, what nonsense were they saying? And just to prove them completely wrong, he was going to sneak in and record a video at night. After all that was when all the ‘creepy’ stuff came out,  wasn't it? 


Wagging his tail, he stepped forward onto the wet soil. Alright, guess that needed some work there. He scanned the place one last time. Brad better not follow him this time. Once the coast was clear, he climbed up the hill, reaching the premises of the building. 


He creaked open the door. Cobwebs in every corner of the room while dust piled against the wall. David took out his flash light, shining against the empty large room. Steps echoed through the room. David leaned against the wall, trying to find the light switch. Huh, strange. Where was that? 


No matter. He was here to explore this place. His new hideout all to himself. Probably needed to install some switches here and there, clean up the place and it would be good like a brand new house! 


Stepping on the creaky stairs, he explored the layers of the building. Sure, it was creepy but aren’t most abandoned buildings? Something about their ‘liminal’ aesthetic he remembered hearing about when talking to Brad. A certain sense of nostalgia if you will.


Now on the second level as he stood on concrete, he spotted multiple empty rooms. The occasional roach crawled past him while he scanned the area. Chills came down his spine. He glanced through the window, seeing the full moon, the only other source of light aside from his flashlight.


Oh right, he was supposed to record this stuff. Just to rub it in their face. Flicking his camera up, he switched over to the video function before pressing record. With one of his hands holding the flashlight and the other holding his phone, he cleared his throat. 


“Soooo after all of that talk of saying this place is haunted,” He said in his most jockish tone as he turned around, heading back to the stairs, “I decided to see it for myself! And this video will be proof that all of you guys are wimps! It’s a fucking house for crying out loud, what do you think will happen here? Some sort of gh-” 


A crash interrupted his speech. What was that? He looked down on the first floor. Goosebumps spawning on his skin. What could even drop on this floor? He didn’t even see anything there. Or was he hearing things?  


He flipped the camera back to himself, his blue tongue occasionally flicking out, “Well seems like I’m not the only one here. I just heard a crash. You guys think some hobo is living here?” 


Cautiously, he crawled down back to where he started. Should he go now? That thought quietly asked him. Go? Why would he go now? He was here to prove that there was nothing to be scared of. How could he run away when some stupid thing crashed? 


That’s it. He was going to find where the hell was that hobo and kick him out. He was going to be the new owner of this house after all, might as well, kick out all of these unwanted tenants. 


A cold breeze brushed past his tail. He continued talking into the phone, “So just to calm your nerves down, I will be personally chasing this hobo out. What is he going to do with his scrawny ass? Fight me?” He chuckled, sweat dripping down his neck. Exploring deeper into the first level, a gust of wind pushed the door, banging it shut. 


“Wow, seems like this place really wants me,” He continued investigating the empty hallway. Mold grew on the walls as rats scurried past him. It was more like an unfinished building than some company place. There was nothing there. Absolutely nothing. Like nobody had even existed here. 


His ears twitched. Tilting his head to the left, his hands shivered while holding onto the phone. He must have been hearing this, right? Was it his phone? Softening his voice, he asked, “Wait… do you guys hear that music?” His gut churned. The hell was this? A hobo actively playing music within this place? Was he calling out for others to come? Or maybe it was something else… something that his friends had warned him? 


David shook his head. Stop thinking all of these thoughts. Ghosts weren’t real. And this place was definitely not haunted. But this music was strangely encharming, like some sort of festive mood. 


Curiosity got the better of him as he was spurred to continue finding the source of this music. Maybe he could let this hobo stay if he didn’t pose a threat to him… Taking a left turn, he noticed light emanating through a pair of wooden doors that headed down. 


“Guys, look at this!” He leaned closer to the door, “Now time to reveal our culprit of these ‘haunting’.” Flinging the door open, a flight of stairs emerged. A dim orange light glowing out from the place. Large enough for people to enter but it was definitely tight. 


The skink had second thoughts here. This was probably such a bad idea, especially with how narrow the entrance was. But… he wanted to see it through. Plus, his friends would all be mocking him after he had dismissed their concerns. Gritting through his teeth, he narrowly squeezed through this entrance.


The door shut immediately once his body was completely inside. A shiver ran down his spine. Was he trapped here? He shook his head. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t planning to leave until he had finished exploring this basement. 


But one thing was sure, the music was getting louder. With each step, his heart thumped to the beat of the song. Some Asian song that he couldn’t decipher the meaning of. Whatever, it at least sounded good. 


He flicked his flashlight off, noticing how bright the place was compared to upstairs. It was pleasant to say the least. His phone however was glitching a little, probably due to the weak reception down here. 


Looking down, he noticed that the basement was actually submerged in water. Water with that glow. He chuckled into his phone, “Damn, seems like I need a plumber down here.”


Wait… where was the light coming from? This place had no electricity nor were there any candles floating around here. Yet, it was so warm and welcome, he couldn’t help but step deeper. Once his feet stepped foot on the basement, he spotted a dragon puppet, waving at him with his tail awkwardly. 


“Well, that’s interesting?” He raised an eyebrow, noticing the small stage around it. A flimsy curtain behind the puppet. Curiously, he leaned forward. Something about how stiff its movements was honestly charming in its own way. Wait… his movements weren’t as awkward as he had thought. The dragon twirled its head, purring like a cat. 


“You guys see this? This hobo might have been wack but he does have a cute puppet thin-” Suddenly, fireworks and sparkles came from its paper body, causing the skink to cover his eyes, “Oh wow, settle down lil bud.” 


It had other plans as it splashed water. The water sprayed all over David’s face and particularly his hands. As he tried to wipe away the water using his hand, he felt more stiff around his joints like there was a force causing him to slow his movements. Through this interaction, it bumped against his phone. 


The video was immediately uploaded onto his friend’s group while it landed into the water, submerging it. He reacted accordingly, taking a breath before diving into the water and grabbing it into the basement. But the water resistance was seemingly pulling him afloat, causing his phone to short circuit and die out. 


“No!” He screamed, not noticing the changes that were coming. His tail had started to shrink inch by inch as his scales began to smoothen out. No more rough edges but mere wooden planks. 


As he drank more of the water by mistake, he glared at the dragon puppet. Its eyes curved like it was laughing at him. Oh that thing better not be laughing at him! David, with all of his adrenaline pushed through the resistance and grabbed the puppet’s throat, “Why you little!” 


Yet, it slipped through his fingers, jumping out of that only to swirl in circles. Its movement now was akin to a ferret, quick and agile, “Reveal yourself! Repay me back my phone that your shitty puppet had ruined!” 


Beneath the curtains, a silhouette shifted awkwardly. In a deep voice, it asked, “Shitty…puppet…?” 


“Yes!” David tried to stretch his arms, only to realize how his scales were morphing into wooden planks, “Also what the hell is this? Why am I changin-” 


The music started once again as if it was trying to blanket his complaints. He covered his ears. It was as if he was in front of a metal concert with how loud the music was. While covering, the dragon puppet’s eyes glowed red and it crept its way up to his larger hand. 


“Get it off me!” He felt its own scales, hyperrealistic to a fault, pulling his whole body down. And it was working. He scanned the area. Right the exit. He had to get away now. 


Grabbing onto the stair handle, the dragon puppet bit into his hand, making his left arm go limp. His eyes widened. And that was when he was dragged into the water. 


Water was rushing through his throat now. His thoughts were in a frenzy, his right arm splashed around the water with his head occasionally going above the water to breathe in air. Why couldn’t his feet touch the ground now? Has the water risen? 


In actuality, he had already lost a couple inches of height. His once proud muscles were shrinking at around the same rate. From his strong pecs and biceps, they were now smoother and smaller. After all, a puppet didn’t need such proportions. 


The more water he drank, the more he noticed his body changing. His clothes dissolved inside the water, revealing more parts of him as wooden. The dragon puppet was still grinning, before letting go of his grip. 


Panting, David immediately made a beeline to the exit, only to spot the puppet swirling around him like a shark. As he pushed forward to the stairs, it yanked him back like a chain before swirling around his groins. 


“Why… don’t… I… show…” David turned around, trying to find the culprit of this place but this time no shadow was there, “you... a… fun… time…?” 


“Fuck off! I want out of this shitty puppet place!” 


“Afraid… you… don’t… have… a… choice… servant…” The music now died down, allowing David to get his thoughts back, “You… will… serve… me…” 


Within this creepy monologue, adrenaline rushed through what remained of his veins. He wasn’t going to be some stupid hobo’s slave, not this night, not in any universe! Yet… the word servant. It had a ring to it. Like he should be honored to do such a deed, shouldn’t he? 


The dragon slithered in front of him, blocking his path. Now, David was barely larger than the puppet as he dragged his feet towards the door, “Get out!” He shouted. 


The puppet instead swam towards him. David covered his eyes, afraid of its wrath. It had been dragging him to the mud for so many times. Unexpectedly, it used its tail to coil around his groins. From there, it started to stroke against it. 


With how fluid its movements were, it was comparable to those handjobs he had dreamt of getting. The skink started to moan, feeling weak by his knees. The fear and adrenaline was now morphing into a deep sense of yearning. An urge to cum all over its head. Like it was his master. 


He wanted to serve it where the memories were coming in and forth. With his blushing face, he shook his head. No! What the hell was happening to him? Why was he having such thoughts? He glanced at his own body, now realizing his joints were locking in place. Strings soon formed behind him. 


Yet it felt so good. He could feel the pressure building up within his tiny penis. Cum. He wanted to release it all out! 


“So how do you feel?” The voice was crystal clear now, “My little puppet.” 


“I…I…” 


“Come on say it.” 


“Please…” His mouth went dry as his blue tongue merged into the wooden base of his mouth, “C…Cum…” 


The puppet coiled around his cock one last time, giving it a good squeeze. There, David’s cum squirted onto the water, knots of it dripping out of his shrinking penis; his expression now fixed in stone as a neutral face. It morphed back into the magical yellowish water. The joints around his body clicked, leaving his entire body limp, floating on the water. As he floated, he glanced back behind the curtain, seeing multiple silhouettes behind there. Yet… he couldn’t deduce if they were human or mere props. 


His prominent features - his color, his body shape and his eye color - were relatively preserved in the puppet that he became. His mind however, blacked out, leaving him with no thoughts behind. As he floated in the water, the dragon tugged his strings with its mouth behind the curtain. 


Soon the days became a blur for David. Everyday, he just found himself, dancing to Vietnamese songs. He tried to fight it but his body just wouldn’t listen to him. While his mind was kept hostage to the basement, it slowly deteriorated from the lack of contact. 


His only relief was the dragon puppet who seemingly moved fluidly. Sometimes, it would splash water at David while other times, he would swirl around him like a shark and overtower the puppet with its height. 


Slowly, memories of his past were replaced with the monotony of life. The only thrill other than dancing was obeying the dragon puppet’s lead. And he soon found himself craving for its attention, regardless of the cost. 
________________




Weeks passed by and Brad was getting nervous. 


He wasn’t one to care about David, that skink always had his stints of leaving town to go clubbing in other states. But this was different. He had not returned to campus for the past few weeks, especially when the lectures were starting. 


Scrolling through their group chats, he spotted the last message David had sent. A video of sorts. As he played it, he let out an exasperated sigh. He actually returned to that haunted place? What was wrong with that stubborn bastard? 


Most of his other friends were laughing and joking at how he dropped his phone at the last part, calling him stupid enough to do so. But this was his only lead to find him so Brad had to at least investigate it. It was only right of him. 


On a weekend morning, he traced the steps back to the haunted place. Chills went down his spine. What did David even see in this place? That it was spacious? This place was sprawling with pests and mold… At least the sun helped to relieve the creep factor.


Upon entering the premises, he could hear the faint drums coming from the basement. The same place where David had filmed himself going into… He pinched against his eyes. Really, was he going to go down the same path as that idiot? 


But… What if he was there? Stuck or something. After all, his phone was dead and the basement door might be locked from inside so… Brad still had to try and save that jackass. 


Following in his footsteps, he found himself staring against the wooden planks. The door sealed shut with music and a dim glow radiating from the gaps. He didn’t like this. Not one bit. He took a deep breath. 


Open it. Rescue his dumbass friend. Leave. That’s it. 


Mustering his strength, he tried to pull against the door. The door broke off its hinges easily causing him to tumble onto the ground. The songs were still playing, the faint splashing of water in there accompanied the music. 


He crawled into the basement, spotting the disgusting water. By the 3rd step in, his instincts were screaming to escape while he could. But he shook his head, he had to save his friend here. 


Once his feet touched the ground, the entrance magically shut itself again, trapping Brad in there. There, he found the stage with deafening music. Swiftly, both the dragon puppet and David himself showed themselves, dancing without any help. Their movements, awkward and clumsy. 


Brad pointed at David, covering his mouth. Was that him? Why was he now a puppet? Wait, he had to get out of here then. 


“Welc…welcome… t…o…the sho…show…” David’s mouth moved, yet its voice was distinctly more sinister. Both of the puppet’s eyes glowed red, their gaze locked onto Brad, “A…ne…new p…puppet…?” 


Brad immediately turned around, frantically sprinting up the stairs, only to find his feet knocking onto some cracked glass. He glanced down. It was David’s phone. Cracked. 


But that moment of hesitation was his undoing as the puppets binded him down into the water.


And from that day on… nobody ever saw the duo again.