Skill Shapers - Part Two

Heaving up from his chair a little, the man reaches out towards me. His hand trembles slightly as he struggles to hold the jostling pink vial, his fingers lacking much in the way of dexterity as he tries his best to extend the offering out without dropping it to the floor.

With a quivering hand I reach up, taking the sweat slickened vial with a wince. It's hard to tell if the thing is warm thanks to the shimmering pink liquid inside or from the layer of foul sweat that clings to the glass thanks to the grasp of the flabby man across from me.

"Well..." he asks, nodding towards the vial. "If you want to accept your new role go right ahead, otherwise I think were done here tod..."

"No no..." I blurt out, reaching for the label only for it to fall off thanks to the sweat soaking through it. I choke out a faint smile, trying my best to look happy with the situation. I slowly open the lid of the vial, the liquid inside shifting as if reacting to the fresh air slowly streaming inside. As the lid slides off I slowly bring the glass to my mouth, my free hand reaching down to turn the label over.

With the top of the bottle only an inch or two from my lips I slowly squeak out. "I'm more than happy to trying being a... Travel & Entertainment?" I wheeze in confusion, squinting a little as I try to piece together just what the label means in my mind.

Suddenly, I feel something leap onto my lips as a warm prickling sensation soon begins to slip into my mouth. I can barely let out a gasp of surprise before the alien entity quickly slides inside my mouth, a dozen probing and prodding strands reaching out as I soon find my sinuses painfully filled with the popping sensation.

"Travel and Entertainment..." the man begins to explain, apparently not noticing my terrified and gagging state. "It can cover all sorts of things, it... um..." the man stammers, a hint of uncertainty slipping through in his voice as he struggles to even think of a single example of what he had seen assigned after one of these meetings.

My hands dart up to my mouth, my fingers slipping inside as they are bathed in a faint pink glow. As if sensing my desperation the entity quickly slides down the back of my throat, my eyes welling up with tears as I feel the damn thing lodge tightly in my chest while in continues to hang from my invaded sinuses.

"Well like... you know... travel... stuff" the man huffs, waving a hand around as if trying to conjure the thoughts to him. "Tours guides and tourist... jobs" he continues, his bloated sickly form becoming a blur as I feel the invader slide its tendrils up behind my eyes.

Suddenly, my heart skips a beat as something warm brushes against it, The rapid hammers begins to grow to a strangled and pained thumping as something begins to wrap itself around the vital organ and worm its way inside. Despite the sharp and mounting pain in my chest my head soon begins to grow foggy and unfocused, the warmth spreading up into my skull as my thoughts rapidly grow muddled and erratic.

"And entertainment!" the man bellows with a chuckle, slapping the table in a mixture of amusement and frustration at his lack of any concrete examples. "That would be... well... Acting!" he shouts, making up an answer that sounded more right than anything else. "Or Music! Dancing too I... guess"

I feel the tendrils of the tiny pink blob quickly wriggle out into my arms and legs before tugging back towards itself, my limbs jerking painfully as I try to fight for control. My bones creak and muscles pop and joints are pulled from their sockets. Soon, my head begins to follow suit as I feel myself being drawn in closer and closer to my own chest.

With a sudden snap and a wet squelch I feel myself collapse inwards, a bright flash of pink consuming my vision as I feel as though my whole body is crushed to a singular point.

My world, despite being collapsed in on itself, seems to invert. I feel my body lurch around, my head rising in the opposite direction as my arms and legs snap back out with a painful crack. The glow and the sound of my breaking bones and snapping tendons are the only sensations I feel for a moment, the terrifying experiencing quickly coming to an end as a wall of darkness and noise quickly overtakes me.

Thudding bass music rumbles around me, the poorly tuned subwoofers crackling and pounding as the actual music is lost to heavy lower end filling the room. The force of it rattles my bones for a moment, the reverberations sending my flesh jostling in a foreign and concerning manner. The scent of artificial smoke and heady liquors blend with that of thick and heady plumes of nicotine laden smog, the mixture leaving me light headed as I stagger slightly with an set of loud set of clicks and clomps.

My feet are pinched painfully into something, my heels raised painfully high into the air as some plastic platform lifts me up and strains at my calves. I wobble in place for a moment, stretching out my arms for a second as I try to keep my balance despite the severe sense of disorientation.

Through the hazy vision something shifts into view, a short squeak of shock slipping from my lips as I stagger back. Strands of hair, far longer than that I had mere moments ago, dangle in front of me as they partially filter out the bright multi colored light that burns into my eyes. Purples, greens, and reds dance around in my vision as they blend around a solid shaft of some warm and targeted spotlight.

Sweat clings to my skin as I pant and wobble in my platform shoes, the heavy light and smokey room doing little to relieve the muggy and disgusting sensation. Despite the cloying sweat and damp heat I feel practically naked, with only a few strips of cloth and cotton holding tightly to my body and clinging to my flesh.

"Don't forget to show your appreciation folks!" calls out a voice over a loud speaker, a cry of hooting and hollering soon following as I feel a barrage of fluttering notes gently glide against my legs. Blinking rapidly I glance around, my vision slowly turning from a bright and painful haze to a mere blur as I stare out into the otherwise dimly lit room.

Red felt and leather seats surround a set of small narrow stages, some adorned with metal polls while others mere appear bare for the seats around them. Along the back wall booths and more secretive isolated seating, to the right sit various doors leading to private rooms for patrons to utilize as required. A large long bar sits along the back wall to the left of the alcove seating, the long series of dimly illuminated shelves behind the counter housing dozens upon dozens of bottles of high priced liquor.

"It's not just here folks! Don't forget to support our little Angel... I mean Daisy Daze has a new video, and I'm sure she'd love the attention from all of you" the voice calls out again, only to be followed by a second series of horned up shouting.

Staggering back I find myself pressing up against a cold metal pipe, the whole thing spinning slightly at its base as I lean into it. As I flinch at the contact I spy something else jumping in my peripheral vision, my head wiping around as I stare in confusion at the sight of the wall length mirror beside the right most stage.

I stare slack jawed at the young woman in the reflection, easily barely nineteen if that. My eyes quickly shift over her...