Yes

Lauren nods in approval.

"Hey dear, I need you for a sec." the man yelled with a raspy voice, calling for his wife.

"Yes, yes, send her in." said the woman who was now into a small alcove near the counter. The man let Lauren behind the counter to join his wife, while he went to order the shop a bit.

Lauren walked into the alcove who had a rustic wooden table with tea pots on it, and two ottomans on opposite sides of the table. The woman was already seated at the table, pouring what appeared to be tea. Lauren to a seat opposite of her. Before she could do anything, the woman handed her a notepad and a pencil.

"For good measure." the woman said with a smile on her face. "Tea, darling?" she said as she began pouring before Lauren could answer her.

Lauren handed her a message "I brought the costume. Now what?"

"Well, you might have noticed that you can't speak at all. How silly of me, why, you can't even drink the tea I poured you." the woman said. "You are now the physical representation of a voodoo doll. Oh sure, it has it's limitation, but it opens up a lot of possibilities."

"I don't want to be anyone's plaything." came a message from Lauren.

"You don't have to worry about that. It's not that kind of a costume. Well, it is, but you can only be controlled if you hand anyone the little heart shaped patch from the dress. Why, you must give it to them yourself, otherwise they can't control you." said the woman while taking a sip of tea. "You can do a bit of controlling yourself dear, if only you were to get a piece of cloth from the person you want to control. You could cause them pain, or fever or disease or even misfortune."

The woman took another sip of her tea. "You could also cause them lust. Why, you can make people head over heels for you or someone else. That's how I would use it." she said with a mischievous grin.

"What if I want to take it off?" wrote Lauren.

"Look" the woman said taking Lauren's hands in her palms, "You said you need a costume for a Halloween party. This is your costume now and it's a swell costume. You'll get the gist of it and you'll be able to take it off in no time. In the meantime, why don't you relax, maybe even have a bit of fun? It won't hurt you, no matter how creepy it looks, that I can promise you, dear." she comforted Lauren.

"Now, don't you have a party to go to?"

As Lauren's panic subsided after the woman spoke to her, she got up, nodded at the woman, and left the shop. She hurried back home, trying to attract as little attention to her as possible. As she entered her apartment, she noticed that there are a few hours left before the party.

Undecided just of yet if she should go, she sat demurely on the edge of the bed, trying to make a decision.