Sarah and her boyfriend entered The Occult Stop, a gothic store not too far away from her house. She shopped there frequently for things like arcane memorabilia, her favorite death metal music, and of course, clothes. In fact, it was clothes that she came for today. But not for herself ... for her boyfriend.
An older woman (perhaps in her thirties - Sarah never asked) dressed somewhat like a witch looked up from behind the checkout counter and smiled when she saw Sarah. "Is this him? Biff?" asked Scarlet Anderson, owner of the store.
"Yes. It is," Sarah said. "Can you do anything for him?"
"Definitely. But it looks like you already got started."
Back at her house, Sarah applied some of her make-up to Biff, giving him black eyeliner, black lipstick, and black fingernail polish.
"Just helping out," Sarah said.
"Come with me," Scarlet told Biff. And soon, both of them were gone, back behind the curtain at the back of the store.
While she waited, Sarah looked through the selection of metal band CD's. As it was most of the time, she seemed to be the only customer at the moment.
"Now, take a look at yourself in the mirror," Scarlet said some time later.
Biff turned and looked. "Shock" would be an appropriate word for his reaction. Was he supposed to wear this? He'd be an even bigger freak than Sarah. A nylon shirt underneath a black leather under-bust corset, a long black leather skirt, black boots, and around his neck two spiked collars, one with small spikes and the other with long ones.
Suddenly, he was rethinking his relationship.
"So, what do you think?" Scarlet asked.
What was he supposed to say? He felt like he was backed into a corner. He wanted to please Sarah, but this might have been taking it way too far. What was next? Tattoos over half his body? Piercings everywhere where he could be pierced? No thank you. He just wanted to date her, not change his whole life.
"I ... uh ..."
"You don't like it," she said.
"Well ..."
"Hey, you're not the first guy to say that. I went a little extreme, that's all. But I think it'll grow on you."
Biff turned around and looked at her. "I don't think so."
Scarlet looked into his eyes. "You'll learn to love wearing clothes like these. Trust me."
Biff felt strange suddenly. Her eyes ... they were so ... pretty. "I ... I can learn to like these clothes."
"Yes, that's right," she said, smiling.
"I love these clothes. They make me look like a Goth. I want to be a Goth."
"Uh huh."
"I like being a Goth."
"Biff," she said and he blinked.
"Yeah?"
"What do you think? About the outfit, I mean."
Biff turned back around and looked at his reflection. "I look so fucking gothic. I love it."
Nothing wrong with a little hypnotic suggestion to make a sale.
"Good," Scarlet said, moving to her left to go find clothes similar to these. A person needed more than one outfit, of course. But when she did, she got the most peculiar vibe off of Biff. Like there was something ... special about him. She shook her head, thinking it was just her imagination, then continued on.
"Wow. You look so fucking fantastic," Sarah said, seeing her boyfriend emerge from behind the curtain.
"I love this outfit. I want to wear it everywhere," he said.
They went to the checkout counter where Biff paid for everything, then turned to leave with his girlfriend.
On their way out, Biff said "I wish ..."
