Page 31 of The Alien I Fell in Love with on Walpurgis Night

“No,” I reply. “You’re here on the Hio. We are on our way back to the Empire, remember?”

“I remember, but I don’t know…”

“Ren, is she free to leave now?”

“Yes. Madame Georgiana, please refrain from eating for the next day. You may have water. I’ve alleviated your allergic symptoms. But I can’t be entirely sure I’ve identified them all. I’m adding this to your record and you’ll be evaluated again when you reach the Empire.”

I help Georgiana up and don’t let go of her hand as we start walking. She gives me a questioning look.

“Can a man not help his wife?”

Georgiana tries to let go of my hand, but I won’t let her.

“I can walk on my own, Husband.”

I stop. All kinds of emotions course through my body, guilt, fear, possessiveness, and lust. I let go of her hand, only to take her wrists and gently push her body against the corridor wall, my large body looming over hers. I gaze into her surprised brown eyes and kiss her. My tongue enters her mouth and my fingers hold her hands in place. I’m simultaneously asking for forgiveness, for allowing this to happen to her, and I want forgiveness. To know that I’m still worthy of the title ‘husband.’ She’s not resisting me. I whisper in her ear, “I almost lost you.”

She says nothing but urges me to kiss her again by bringing her lips closer to mine.

As I close in on her mouth, my IC begins chiming with notifications for fines for public display of affection from the High Council, but I don’t care. I need to prove to myself that she’s still alive after my carelessness. She’s a human among aliens and she almost died from a food allergy on this substandard ship I brought her on. I am responsible for her wellbeing and must be more attentive.

“What’s that sound?”

“Nothing.”

“It’s something.”

“We should go back to our quarters,” I say and I lift her into my arms and carry her.

Her cheeks are red, but not from exercise. “I can walk.”

“Let me have this, Georgiana. You scared me,” I admit. My IC has stopped emitting notices of fines from the High Council and I suspect Captain Ace has turned off the feed to the Empire to give us some privacy. A kindness he will undoubtedly expect a tip for.

“The look on everyone’s face when I had an allergic reaction, and the way you all were naming off foods that I’d never heard of made me wonder if you all have been stuck in this game for years. Is that why you told the hotel a year? Have you been stuck here for a year or more?”

My mood suddenly drops. She still thinks this is a game. “No.”

We reach our quarters. I don’t want to let go of her. So I sit down in the small chair, while still holding Georgiana. She doesn’t try to squirm away. I have the irrational thought that if I hold her long enough, she’ll realize this is not a game.

“Am I stuck here too?” she asks breaking the silence. “Why did you choose me?”

“You are with me until I can put you on another ship back to Earth if that’s what you want. As for the choosing… I had been on Earth for a few weeks. I had been looking for a woman to help me get past the Alliance Force. I prayed to the goddess of home every day. I heard about the Walpurgisnacht festival and went looking for a bride. And the goddess of home presented you, dressed in her own color, hair braided in the traditional way, and music signifying you were the one.”

“What music?”

“The women singing around the fire were singing, ‘the Earth, the wind, the fire, the water, return, return return…’”

“You really believe that?”

I touch her chest where her heart would be and imagine the invisible string that connects us and trace it back to my heart. “When I first met you, I only felt a tingling, a faint movement. But every minute we are together, this sensation of connection intensifies. You are my destiny, Georgiana. And, as I have always told you, this is real. I’m an alien in your eyes. Please will you accept that.”

I search her brown eyes for any sign of clarity.

She cups a hand to my face. “You need mental help, Axl. They’ve had you all stuck in the game for so long, you believe it’s real. We must escape together.”

“Georgiana, this is real.” I’m concerned she’s going to try and jump out of an airlock now. I don’t want to have to restrain her to the bed but I will if I must. “You need to stay onboard this ship. I promise you we will reach the Empire in two days. Then you will see.”

She looks away and stares at the blank wall.

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