Read Aloud the Text Content
This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.
Text Content or SSML code:
Something about that store gave Blake the creeps. He worked just a few buildings away from it, so he had been walking by the place twice a day for nearly a year now. At first It had been interesting to see the surprisingly realistic looking costumes that were visible through The Second Identity’s windows as he had walked by, but after a while something about the costume shop had begun to unnerve him. Even though it made no sense to him, every time he walked by the store he felt as if he was being watched. Whenever he checked, though, no one inside the store seemed to be paying any attention to him. The only things inside usually were the old man who ran the place and the costumes themselves. The paranoia simply got worse as time went on, until it got so bad that Blake started to consider taking a longer route through town just so he could avoid the place. That night was no different. Blake sighed and pulled his hoodie over his head as the store came into sight. It was almost certain that he was just imagining all of this, so there was no legitimate reason for him to go out of his way to avoid the place. All he wanted was to get home as quickly as possible. The Second Identity’s ground level windows were dark, suggesting that it had already closed for the night. However, Blake still got goosebumps as he approached. Once again, he felt like something was watching him, and he tried to tell himself that it was just his imagination. A loud crash from within the costume shop made Blake jump and let out a yelp so loud that it would have embarrassed him if anyone else had been nearby. He turned towards the building to see what had caused the noise, and saw racks of costumes being violently knocked over. As one final rack was thrown aside, he saw a huge black and white shape with golden glowing eyes moving towards him. Blake screamed in terror and bolted down the street as fast as he could. Another thunderous noise came from the shop as Blake ran, but he didn’t turn around to see what caused it. He ran several blocks, then ducked down an alley and through a nearby park. Blake didn’t stop running until his legs and his lungs burnt so much that he felt like he would collapse. “What… the heck… was that?!” He asked no one in particular. The shop had been so dark that he had not been able to get a clear view of whatever that thing was. Those eyes though… they were definitely inhuman, and they had been looking right at him. Whatever it was, he hadn’t noticed any signs that it was following him. There weren’t many lights in this park, but at least the moon was bright enough that he felt like he would be able to see such a large creature coming from a good distance. Just when he was starting to feel safe, Blake felt those goosebumps again. Freezing in his tracks, he looked around in a panic to see if the creature had found him. However, he didn’t see any signs of movement in the moonlight wherever he looked. It was not until he heard the flapping of wings that blake realized he needed to look up. He could just barely make out the huge winged creature in the moonlight. Its body seemed roughly human sized, but it's wingspan must have been nearly four meters wide. At first Blake thought it was some sort of giant bat or demon, but as it flew by a lamppost he caught sight of what the creature really looked like. It was clearly a reptilian creature with black scales, a long neck, a tail which ended in a spade, and a frill that ran along its spine. Its underbelly scales and wing membranes were white. It had horns and two legs, but no arms aside from the wings themselves. Forgetting his terror for a moment, Blake froze as he realized that the monster was clearly a wyvern, but that should have been impossible. Ever since his childhood he had been fascinated with dragons, but he specifically loved this type of draconic creature nearly to the point of obsession. However, despite how much he had wished otherwise, he knew well enough that dragons didn’t exist. The idea that he was seeing one now seemed almost like a dream come true, except for the little detail that it seemed to be hunting him. The wyvern had noticed Blake’s hesitation and taken the opportunity to dive at him. Fresh panic sent Blake running for cover in an attempt to save himself. However, he had yet to recover from his previous sprint, and the creature easily caught up with him. When the wyvern crashed into him, Blake was immediately surprised by how light and soft the creature felt. Instead of feeling like he had been run over by a dragon, it was like someone had thrown a heavy tarp at him. The impact was still strong enough to knock Blake face first onto the grass, however. Blake was still reeling from the fall when the creature lifted him up with its wings and pulled his back against its chest. Once again, the wyvern’s body felt far softer than it should have. Its scales felt somewhat rubbery, almost artificial, and he could swear that the creature didn’t have any bones. This observation was quickly confirmed when he felt himself sink into the creature’s chest! The wyvern’s white belly scales closed around Blake’s torso and tightened around it. Even though he didn’t understand what was happening and still had not full recovered from his fall, Blake renewed his struggle and kicked at the wyvern to try and get free. In response, the creature’s previously solid legs suddenly opened up and engulfed Blake’s own legs. Within moments both his chest and lower body were trapped within the creature, cutting off any possibility of escape. Somehow, the entire creature felt like some sort of empty skin. As he wondered how this could even be possible, Blake recalled that the thing had come from the Second Identity costume shop. The wyvern was a living costume! Blake looked down at his trapped body in awe, and wondered what that meant was going to happen if the thing fully encased him. A strange aching sensation spreading through the trapped parts of his body made him fear that it wouldn’t be good. Only his head and arms had not been pulled inside the costume yet, but it didn’t appear that they would stay that way for long. Starting at his shoulders, a moving seam flowed over his arms and pulled them into the suit’s waiting wing sleeves. Its wings were far larger than his arms however, so when he was fully encased his hands barely reached the wyvern’s elbows. It slowly unfurled its wings from around their body, and Blake’s arms helplessly moved along with them. Another seam opened up behind Blake’s head, threatening to swallow up the last free part of him into the wyvern’s neck. He renewed his struggles and fought against the confines of the rubbery suit, but found that it barely budged. Once the opening became large enough, the scales that were covering Blake’s chest tightened and pulled him fully inside. The last remaining seam quickly closed up afterwards. The inside of the costume was dark and cramped. His arms were trapped, and his feet were only just barely able to touch the ground with the way the oversized suit was holding him up. That dull ache was now going through his entire body, and he felt some force pulling at his limbs. Blake was thankful to find that he wasn’t having much trouble breathing, so at least it didn’t seem like he was going to suffocate. The wyvern costume shifted around him. He felt its legs bend, and he was forced to crouch down with it. Then suddenly, it straightened their legs with a great force and began flapping its wings. Blake was both amazed and horrified when he realized that the costume was flying off with him inside of it! Being inside a living, flying costume felt incredibly bizarre. Blake found himself lying face down into the costume’s chest as it flapped its powerful wings with his arms inside of them. A hundred confused thoughts ran through his mind as he tried to comprehend the situation that he was in. Despite the terror that he was feeling, he couldn’t help but start wishing that he could see from the wyvern’s perspective, so he could see the world falling away from beneath them as they ascended. The aches that were going though his body were quickly growing stronger, and a strange feeling which seemed similar to static rippled across Blake’s skin. Then, he gasped as he suddenly felt his limbs begun pushing deeper into the wyvern suit. The bottoms of his shoes seemed to touch the wyvern’s paws for the first time and his arms began extending further into the costume’s wings. Blake’s chest began to thicken and become more reptilian, and his neck began extending upwards. The suit seemed to let out some sort of pleased-sounding growl, leveled off its flight, and began gliding so that its passenger’s transformation wouldn’t cause them both to fall. Blake could hardly believe what was happening to him. The idea that he was transforming to fill in this living suit seemed insane. However, so many crazy things had already happened in such a short period of time that he didn’t even know what to think anymore. There was really nothing he could do at the moment but wait in stunned awe for the transformation to finish, anyway. At some point during the process his clothes had seemingly dissolved around him, leaving Blake clothed only in the living costume itself. His body quickly grew within it, filling out its insides. His chest was the first to finish growing outwards, and as it finished he felt a reptilian tail begin extending from his tailbone. Next was his neck, and Blake gasped when he saw the view from the suit’s mouth. The lights of sunrise valley seemed so far away that they must have been thousands of meters in the air! As his face met the suit’s mask, he felt his skull crack and elongate. Blake’s jaw pushed forward into a more draconic shape, and he found his eyes lining up with the costume’s transparent reptilian eyes.