Page 10 of Married to the All Hallows' Eve Alien

“We need to go to the police,” she says firmly. Her blue eyes are fierce.

I shake my head, the tears falling down my cheeks. “And say what? I went on a date with my boyfriend, and he raped me?”

“It’s a crime, Ivy.”

“It’ll be his word against mine. I should never have gone back to his house. It’s my own fault.”

“It’s not your fault,” Scarlett says, undoing her seatbelt and opening her car door.

“Where are you going?” I ask Scarlett as she undoes her seatbelt and exits the car.

“If you’re not going to press charges, I’m going to at least mace this guy.”

“No, Scarlett, he has a video on his door. Then you’ll be arrested.”

“Stay in the car, Ivy, then I’m going to at least give this poor excuse of a man a piece of my mind.”

I watch as Scarlett approaches Scott’s door and rings the bell. As she’s waiting, she puts her long blonde hair in a quick ponytail. She’s been learning karate since she was three years old because her mother always wanted her to be able to protect herself. She doesn’t even need her mace.

I roll down the window and hear Scarlett accuse Scott of raping me.

“Is that what she told you? She wanted it. All you women are all the same,” I hear Scott say condescendingly.

I know that last sentence is a trigger for Scarlett, ‘All you women are the same.’ Sure enough, like clockwork, Scarlett punches Scott without a word and kicks him hard for good measure.

When he’s doubled over in pain, she says, “If I ever see you near Ivy again, I’ll make sure something is broken.”

Scarlett walks back to the car and gives me a look of concern. “Are you sure you don’t want to press charges? I’ll stay with you the entire time.”

“I’m sure. You know nothing will come of it, and people will call me a liar. I can’t go through that. Not now, not with everything else that’s happened lately…” I trail off. Everything that’s happened with my mother. She died a few years ago from cancer, and then my father was so heartbroken he committed suicide half a year ago. I was their only child. I hear people whispering that I wasn’t there for my father, so he took his own life. “I can’t take any more hospitals or talk to the police.”

Scarlett squeezes my hand. “It’s okay. Come and stay with me tonight. I don’t want you to be alone. Maybe you’ll feel differently tomorrow.”

I nod in silent agreement.

Scarlett puts her car into gear and takes off faster than the speed limit. Having a friend who acts as angry as I feel feels good.

Seven

October 29, 2023

Sem

“You could be a sexy wolf?” Ash says to me across the room. His long black hair has fallen halfway out of his usually tidy braid, but it’s been a long day.

I lean over and look at the picture of the costume. “I’m not wearing a hood with grey furry ears. It’s too cute for a man looking for a wife. This is something a human woman would dress a pet in.”

“There’s not much choice for Halloween costumes if we go without our Dulu holos,” Ash says. Our Dulu holos around our necks allow us to look human. “And human women like cute animals that are fluffy. I think this would work well for you.”

“No woman is going to take me seriously with false wolf ears and grey sweatpants,” I say, trying to imagine how Ivy would perceive me in this sexy wolf costume. The only thing it has going for it is that my chest would be exposed. I consider my upper body as one of my most attractive features. But still, I don’t want Ivy to meet me again dressed as an animal. There’s just something not right about that.

“If you met a woman dressed like this,” he says, showing me a picture of a woman in a costume with a red cape, “She’d be your Halloween other half.” We purposely avoid saying ‘Ivy’ or her friend ‘Scarlett’s’ name because tracking them as we’ve been doing is forbidden.

Ivy is my true other half. I believe in the goddesses but won’t leave everything up to fate. From our research, we know they plan on going as fairytale characters with other female friends at one of their favorite establishments in New Orleans. It’s the perfect opportunity for me to meet Ivy again with my real skin color. I don’t want to lie to her about my appearance or identity. I’m hoping she’ll see me and recognize me as her true other half immediately; as far-fetched as that is, I can’t help but hope.

Ash has brought up a woman dressed in a very revealing dress with a red cape carrying a basket on the computer.

“What are you talking about? My Halloween other half?” I ask, looking at the picture. I must rely on Ash’s research on the American tradition of Halloween as I’ve been working a lot lately and haven’t had time to do much reading myself.

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