"Just a second, guys! I want to check this out." Patrick went to the door he had been listening at and pushed it further open. His first impression was another dusty, empty room, but that same ghostly view also told him this was a boy's bedroom with three sets of bunk beds, and clothing and toys scattered over the floor. A blonde-haired boy of about 6 was playing with some toy cars in the middle of the room, another shadowy shape. He was making the car noises, and when the door opened he looke dup and gave Patrick a gap-toothed grin. "Hi! Come play with me!"
Patrick went inside a few steps, but stopped when he saw that the boy was wearing a kid-sized version of the clothes he had on, complete with the snot stains. Jason pushed past and squatted down by the boy. "So, what's your name?"
The boy held out a toy car to Jason. "Play with me!" Jason took the toy and smiled. "Nice! I bet this is worth something as an antique." The boy grabbed another toy car and rolled it across the floor. "Let's race! Vrooom!"
Jason chuckled and shoved his car so it rolled after the other boy's. "Zoom!" Bu then he felt dizzy and fell forward to his hands and knees.
"Jason!" He heard Patrick shout and was then yanked up and dragged out of the room. Patrick let go as soon as they were in the hall and pulled the door shut. "Oh, shit, man!"
Jason's arm hurt where he had been jerked, and he scrambled up, starting to get angry. "What the hell, Patrick? That hurt..." His voice trailed off as he realized that he was standing and still looking up at Patrick, and that the voice coming out of his mouth was too high pitched. His eyes went wide when he looked down to see that his clothing had changed completely. He was wearing footy pajamas decorated with cartoon cowboys! Jason ran over to the mirror and gasped. Where Patrick just looked like a Brady Bunch version of himself, Jason was a different boy completely! Maybe 12 years old, he had white-blonde hair cut short and a splatter of freckles over a pug nose. Bright blue eyes stared back at him, and the open mouth had large, slightly crooked teeth. He felt something around his bottom, and discovered he was wearing training pants under the pajamas.
"Oh, man!" Shane gaped at him. "Is that you, Jason?"
Jason nodded. "What happened? Why am I wearing little kid's pajamas?" He did not want to mention the training pants.
Patrick sighed. "And I thought I had it bad! You started getting younger really fast, and your clothes changed as soon as you pushed that toy car. I think you would have turned into a little kid if I'd left you in there. Something to fit those pajamas."
Shane's eyes widened and he backed away. "Something else is happening!"
Sure enough, the pajamas began to change - in seconds, Jason was wearing slacks, a button-down long-sleeve shirt, and polished brown leather shoes. He was relieved to find that the training pants had changed to boy's briefs. But he was still the same strange 12 year-old.
Patrick grinned. "Looks like the clothes changed to fit. At least I got a T-shirt."
"I can't go home like this!" Jason felt his face. "You look the same, just a haircut and no piercings. My mom would either shut the door in my face or call social services."
"We'll figure something out. But we need to stick together. No telling what this place can do." Shane sounded more confident than he felt, though he was the only one still the same as when they came in.