Unlike traditional werewolves, those of the castle were permanently in their hybrid forms. Though they still possessed the power of the curse to change others into more of their kind.
Nate felt an annoying push in his backside, and without a second thought tore off his pants and boxers followed by the rest of his clothing, leaving the brown and gray werewolf naked and free with nothing to bind him to his old life sans the color of his eyes. Nate gave a satisfied grunt at seeing his tail swish freely.
If Nate was still human, he might have been embarrassed or ashamed, but he was a beast, concepts like right and wrong no matter processed in his brain. Every thought and idea was in service to his instincts instead of the other way around, and he was driven by the desire of a lone werewolf to create a pack.
There was still Sarah, Mickey, and Cody. He had a sense that if they already belonged in the castle before he found them, they he wasn't to make them part of the pack, this was as much a part of his instinct as the NEED to increase his pack's size to something more practical.
The castle was pleased that Nate embraced what he had become so readily.
The castle knew it had to balance things. On the one hand, missing people reports were good for a strong and proper haunted place, but times had changed, and this often brought police, reporters, and countless other things that made being a proper haunted castle much more frustratingly difficult. Monster hunters were par-the-course, but these days you got FBI, CIA, Scotland Yard, Men in Black, and other annoying government agencies who wanted obliterate haunted places, or turn them to their own uses.
Oh it intended to transform every last human who entered, and lure as many children, men and women as possible into it as it took on this enchanted endless night (not anyone would notice it was endless within the castle) to refill its roster... but at the same time, some distortions to reality to retcon some of the victims so they had always been the way they were after changing was also in order to balance things out as to not draw TOO MUCH attention, but enough so people once again became scared of the old castle.
Four humans was a good start. It had been hoping for trick or treaters first so their imagination and costumes could give strength to their new home given their true lack of fear and willing to embrace the strange and scary. Teenagers usually ended up as victims, but still, four was still a very good start! And very much better than nothing. And they would hardly be the last.
The castle itself could not perfectly predict how each change would turn out, it knew Nate would become the first new werewolf of the castle, but every person changed by the castle, mostly, was unique even if turned into the same type of creatures (as always with magic like this, there were always exceptions).
Still... all four had been lured into four separate parts of the castles. And while it wanted to get the 'big ones' out of the way first, there was some surprises to find.
Mickey wandered into a room ... well, there were small wooden selves everywhere... and small wooden tables, and glass display cases... Oh right... Mickey remembered... this used to be the 'doll room' of the castle, one of the last additions before the castle became a relic. But the dolls that had been in the castle had been sold off ages ago. Leaving the room empty. There had been a lot of protests... in fact, Mickey had once signed a petition to get the doll collection back to the castle as part of the museum movement... but it had never gotten off the ground.
There must have been a draft in the castle, because the door slammed shut behind him. Mickey ironically didn't pay it any mind.
He couldn't help but think of all the little dolls and dresses that had once inhabited here. A beautiful collection from around the world for visitors to the castle to see... now sold off and held in private collections many just locked away and never seen by anyone, and never played with by children either (as toys were meant to be).
He laid his hands on the smooth wooden table, and gave a gasp as he pricked his hand on a sewing needled left innocent on the table.
He looked at his hand, but found it wasn't bleeding. But he felt his body was going more stiff and he skin was growing more pale and shinny and smooth as he watched.
Mickey turned around to get help from his friends and tripped and fell on his own pants, he kicked them off and reached for the door knob that seemed higher than before and closed his hand around and pulled. It wouldn't give, he kept pulling.
As he did so... his underwear fell next as he continued to shrink, his body losing detail. Nipples, belly button, hair, all vanished. And between his legs... was just smooth plastic, for that was what he was becoming. His rear end sealed up. His toes and fingers fused together, and simple join like appeared on his shoulder and hips while mold lines formed around his body. Soon he was the size of a toddler... and his figure was somewhat older, being female now... she felt her entire body turn hollow, her spirit dwelling within. Her hair turned bright red and put itself into long pig tails. her feature became frozen in a simple smile, and her eyes painted on.
She kicked off and climbed out of the pile of clothes, leaving her a naked plastic doll. The Doll reached up, and picked up the needle, more like a short sword to her size now. The Doll's clothes vanished into nothing. The Doll climbed into the table, and stood perfectly still. The Doll would restore the castle's doll collection, by hook or by crook, she would have her sisters. The Haunted Doll was an excellent addition to the haunted castle.