When you stare into the mirror, you find yourself staring at a very realistic looking tigers head, complete with whiskers, pointed ears, and fur that moves in the slightest breeze coming down the hallway. If it wasn't for your blue human eyes starting out of the holes where yellow slitted ones should be, you wouldn't know that you were wearing a mask.
Looking down, you see a clear cocktail in your hands. Remembering the guests from earlier, you bring the glass up to the tiger's maw atop your head and and haphazardly pour the bitter concoction down it. You are suprised to taste the dry alcohol hitting your tongue a few moments later without a single drop spilled. You assume the mask must have some kind of tube in it.
You finally emerge from the hallway, staring around the room at others dressed like you. You finish off your martini and grab another just as a waiter in a horse mask breezes by. The band finishes it's set and heads into a room behind the stage. Looking over at a nearby corner, you see a couple, the deer and cat from earlier, making out on a sofa. Their masks are still on, however, so the man's long muzzle is awkwardly hitting the woman's short one. You shiver and turn back to the dance floor.
Just then, someone grabs your shoulder and spins you around, grabbing your hands and pulling you close. Looking down, you see a woman in a green dress with a golden retriever mask with her head on your chest. "Uh...nice to meet youuuu." You mumble, catching yourself as you try to clear your throat but are unsuccessful. "Hi." She says, looking up at you. "Name's Rachel. I just saw you across the room and I thought WOW, I need to meet that guy." She says through the unmoving muzzle of her mask. "Uh...well, I'm glad youuuu did thaat. Nice maaask." You mumble again. "Shhhh, let's just dance for a while." She says, leading you to the center of the floor.
An hour later, you and Rachel have made great chemistry. You find yourself pulling her closer on each dance, and oddly finding the dog mask on her more and more cute than creepy as you thought earlier. Eventually, she drags you over to a couch and lays you down. "Don't move. I'll be right back." She says, before disappearing into the crowd.
You are absentmindedly sipping at your cocktail when you realize something. Was the muzzle on Rachel's mask moving when she was speaking? You could have sworn. You wrack your brain but can't remember really anything from that moment. You shrug your shoulders and snap back to reality only to find yourself lapping at the bottom of your cocktail glass with a tongue that feels much larger, flatter, and rougher than you remember.
Just then...