You have no time for self-pity as a sudden knock comes from the door.
“Cuz? Is that you?”
Jess’s voice causes your tail to puff up in surprise as you realize how fucked you are. You can't let her see you like this! You contemplate where you should respond or not but decide keeping quiet would only come off as more suspicious.
“Yeah,” you respond.
“What’re you doing in there?”
“Uh… nothing?” Shit. Why did you have to say it like that? There was no way your cousin wasn’t going to be suspicious now.
“John, is everything alright?” your cousin asks with a concerned tone in her voice.
Yep. She definitely knew something was wrong. Oh well, you guess you had to tell your uncle and cousin at some point.
“Can you go get Uncle Jack? I… kinda messed up.”
“Sure. Be right back.”
You hear her footsteps fade off in the distance as you let out another long sigh. Uncle Jack was definitely not going to be happy. But you would have to deal with that later; for now, you should probably get dressed.
----
“John, I heard you needed me. What’s going on?”
You had just finished changing back into the outfit you had been wearing earlier when you heard your uncle’s voice. Taking a deep breath, you unlock the door and open it slowly, revealing your new body to your uncle and cousin.
“No way!” Jess says, her mouth wide open in amusement. Your uncle seems to have the opposite reaction, his mouth formed into a deep frown.
“Listen, Uncle Jack, I just wanted to-”
“John, did you wear another costume?” your uncle interrupts.
“Yeah, I did. But-”
“What was it?”
“A cat fursuit, I think?”
Your uncle closes his eyes and strokes his beard, clearly thinking deeply about something. After a few seconds, his eyes jolt open, and he rushes up the stairs before running back downstairs with something enclosed in his hand. Stopping in front of you, he opens his hand, revealing a golden bell.
“John, put this on your collar.”
Obeying his command, you instantly grab the bell and bring it to your neck, where it magically attaches to your collar, as if magnetic.
You stare at the bell in surprise and confusion. “Wh-what is this thing?” you ask him.
“It’s an illusion bell.”
“Illusion bell?”
“It's kind of similar to a hologram. The illusion bell projects an image over you, meaning anyone who sees you will see something else in your place,” your uncle explains. “I set the bell with an illusion of your original self, so anybody who sees you should see that.”
“Does that also mean you?”
“Nope.” He shakes his head. “The only flaw to the illusion bell is that anyone who knows the true appearance of the wearer before donning the bell will be able to see through the illusion. Don’t worry though, that only means you, me, and your cousin can see you as you actually are. Anyone else will just see how you originally used to look.”
You touch the bell and shake it, but surprisingly, no noise comes out of it.
“I took the clapper out of it before giving it to you. Thought it might become annoying if it was always ringing,” your uncle says with a grin on his face.
You glance at a nearby mirror hanging on the wall and realize you now look even more like a cat with the bell on your collar. You can only internally rage at this realization as you thank your uncle for the bell.
“John, wait behind the register. I need to talk to Jess real quick,” your uncle says. Instantly, you head to the counter, where you begin to wait while your uncle and cousin enter the back section to speak in private.
After a minute, you wonder what exactly the two of them are talking about. If only you could sneak over and eavesdrop on their conversation. Not like it was going to be possible when you couldn't disobey Uncle Jack.
Wait a second. What did he tell you exactly? “To wait behind the register?” By technicality, you had already just done that, and since he wasn't specific, maybe you could go ahead and move?
You walk out from behind the register and realize you were right. It seems that the orders your uncle gives you have a loophole: they can be open up to interpretation if they’re ambiguous.
You glance towards the back. Now, time to see what the two of them are talking about. Using your catlike stealth skills, you secretly make your way to the back section. Lying on the ground to hide yourself, you raise your ear instinctively, your keener sense of hearing easily able to make out what they’re saying.
It sounded as if your uncle was speaking at the moment. However, what is he saying?