The rest of the week passed without incident. I didn't see Mal again. Maybe he took my words about avoiding corruption seriously. My life slowly fell back into normalcy. Or at least that's what I wanted it to do.

"So let's all give a big Happy Birthday to Venus!" Father Andrew said.

The congregation resounded with the cheers of "happy birthday." I was shocked. It was at that moment I realized an entire service had passed and I didn't remember any of it. What had I been doing this whole time? I only thought about Mal for a second, or at least I thought I did. With the final prayer and amen, the congregation began to leave. I stayed in the pew.

I was twenty today. It was October 30th and the town would be filled with pranksters, sinners, and parties. Maybe a good time to start experiencing the real world. Father Andrew walked over to me and smiled.

"Happy birthday, Dear. Now, I'm thinking since it's a special occasion I'll prepare something special for dinner tonight and come over to your cottage around 8 with it and your cake. Does that sound good?"

I looked away nervously. "A-actually, Father, I was thinking that maybe I would go out tonight."

"Oh." His voice was flat but I could hear the disappointment in it. "You have plans?"

"Not really. It's just... Well, we talked about going out and experiencing the world, and I thought since it's my birthday and there's always so many parties around town..."

"Right, of course."

Silence filled the air. I didn't need to see his face to know the disappointment that was there. "How about we do cake earlier?" I asked. "Maybe in a couple hours? I'll go out after."

"Alright then." He said, his voice cheering up a little. "I'll try to wrap things up here and be by soon."

I smiled and nodded. I was glad I could make him feel a little better. But what exactly was I going to do tonight? Did I need a costume? Did adults wear those to parties? And what about the parties? I didn't really know any of the people my age well enough to invite myself over, and going uninvited seemed rude. I heard people talk about hopping from party to party, but I don't know if that was really me either.

I sighed as I left the church. I didn't even know where to begin. Maybe the real world just wasn't for me.

"Come on, you have to go!"

I looked to see a couple of guys from mass, Bill and Eric, talking by the entrance.

"I dunno. I was just thinking about staying at home and doing something tomorrow." Eric said.

"It's The Tavern's Halloween party! Drinking, dancing, games, girls in slutty costumes! What more do you need?" Bill asked.

Eric nudged him and nodded over in my direction. Bill blushed when he saw me and gave a weak wave before they both walked off. I was used to this. No one was comfortable talking about these things around the priest's daughter.

I'd heard of The Tavern before. It was a popular bar in the old part of town. I knew about it but never went there. Maybe today would be a good reason to. Like they said: drinking, dancing, games, slutty costumes. If there was ever a place to jump into the deep end of sin, then I guess this was it.

What would I even wear? I looked through my closet. I had a couple old costumes from when the church passed out candy on Halloween, but none of them were really "slutty." I knew I didn't have to dress that way, but I felt like it might be good for getting out of my comfort zone. I thought about altering one of my outfits but still wasn't sure how sexy it would come off. Sexy Virgin Mary? No. Sexy nun? I hope not. I saw an old angel costume pressed against the back wall. There had been plenty of sexy angels over the years, maybe it would work.

I pulled out the dress and looked at it. It was a white dress with a rope belt, wings, and a halo. I tried it on and put on some sandals to go with it. There was nothing really sexy about it. It reached my ankles, it was shapeless and fully covered my chest. I thought about some girls I'd seen over the years in their costumes. I would need to change all those things if I wanted to be anything near to "sexy."

A sudden knock at the door made me jump.

"C-come in!" I sputtered rushing to the door.

Father Andrew entered holding a small cake. He smiled when he saw me.

"What a nice costume!" He said. "An angel spreading the word of God on the Devil's night. How wonderful."

I blushed, I felt a little guilty knowing I would be altering this costume into something far from God's messenger. He sat at the table and pulled out some candles.

"Venus, get some matches."

I laughed. "Father, is this really necessary? I'm twenty."

"And I only have ten candles, so just count each of them as two years. Now, where are those matches?"

He lit the candles and insisted on singing Happy Birthday to me.

"Now make a wish!"

Before it had never been a problem. All I ever wished for was to join the convent. This year I had no clue what I wanted. Mal flashed through my mind. I wished I could talk to him one more time, to say goodbye and get closure if nothing else. I closed my eyes and blew out the candles.

Father Andrew clapped and started to cut some cake. He always insisted on making my cake himself. This is why I asked for vanilla. As kind and loving as Father Andrew was, he was a terrible baker. Any time he baked he got distracted. If it's chocolate he ends up burning it without noticing. At least with vanilla, he could see it was getting too dark. It was dry, it was falling apart, but it was made with love and that made it the best cake in the world to me.

"Father, I still have to finish getting ready." I said when we finished.

"Right. Well, have fun, and may the Lord help to guide you on this unholy night." He said. He went to the door and paused briefly. "Happy birthday, Venus."

He closed the door gently on his way out. I still felt a twinge of guilt about the costume, but not enough to stop me. I grabbed some scissors and tried to figure out what to do. Mirrors were vanity so I only had a hand mirror to check small things. When I saw other girls their costumes never reached below their knees, their chests were usually partially exposed, if not more, and the fabric hugged their bodies in a way that left little to the imagination. The first two I could probably do, but I didn't sew much, so the belt would have to pick up some slack from the dress. It took about an hour, and the end result... wasn't great.

Apparently, I forgot to account for my breasts and butt when cutting and instead of to my knees the fabric went up to mid-thigh. Same problem with the chest, my miscalculation showed a lot more cleavage than I intended to. I was usually more focused on the function of my clothes than the fashion, so this was the first time I really became aware of how shapely my body was. I couldn't really see the full result because of how small my mirror was, not that it mattered. This costume was the best I had so I had to deal with it.

I peeked out my window. There was nothing wrong with wanting to try skimpy clothes, but I still didn't want Father Andrew to see me in it. I crept through the garden until I reached the road. The night was cool and I wasn't sure if my shivers were from the cold or my nerves. I took a deep breath and started walking to the old part of town.

I heard The Tavern before I saw it. Laughing, screaming, and loud music all echoed down the streets. It was an old stone building with a large wooden door. They were very committed to keeping the old-time aesthetic. As I walked in a couple of tables actually stopped their conversations to stare at me. Most wore costumes, but I could recognize some of them as congregation members. They whispered to each other but kept their eyes on me. I felt out of place.

I quickly shuffled myself to the back of the room hoping to just blend into the crowd. It wasn't that easy though. Many people already had their social circles set. They talked with friends in one group then moved to friends in another. It seemed impossible to suddenly insert myself into their groups. I found an empty table and sat there a minute trying to collect my thoughts.

Suddenly, a man stumbled over and sat down next to me.

"Ayou," he slurred at me, "I know you. Yer the priest's kid, ya?"

I just nodded.

"Well, I dunno you wassa real angel. Wanna show me to heaven?" He said putting his hand on my leg.

"Heaven can be found through Christ our savior!" I blurted out jumping away from him. "Seek love in God and he will show you the path."

"Umnot trying to make love to God, sweetcheeks!"

A group near us laughed, a couple rolled their eyes at me. I blushed. I didn't belong here. This was a mistake. I pushed my way to the front and walked out into the empty streets. Everyone was somewhere. Everyone belonged somewhere tonight except me. I never cared this day was my birthday. I never felt isolated or alone because I had the church, but tonight I was alone. Was Sacred Heart really the only place I would ever belong?

"Angel?" A raspy voice called from the dark.

I turned to see Mal. His arms over the shoulders of a couple girls dressed like cats, if cats wore fuzzy bikinis. I didn't know why, but it made me angry. I turned away and started walking back toward the church.

Glad to see he was enjoying his night. Maybe staying away from him was a good idea. I didn't realize we had so many whores in town. Well, good luck to him. Maybe, I'd pray he didn't get an STD. Maybe. I heard footsteps quickly following behind me.

"Hey, Angel, where are you going?" Mal asked.

"Home."

"Why? The night's still young, come back to the party."

"Sorry, that's not really my scene."

He rushed in front of me and cut off my path. "Alright. Well, then I'll hang out at your scene."

I looked around but the girls he was with were gone. "I think you lost your cats."

He laughed. "Nah, I told them to fuck off. I can chase pussy any night of the week. Not every day I get to see an angel though." He paused and looked me over, smiling. "Especially not one that looks like this. Didn't realize you had a body like that under those stuffy church clothes."

I crossed my arms over my chest, suddenly aware of how exposed I was. He laughed when I did. I blushed. I think I'd had enough of him tonight.

"Don't talk to me anymore." I said, moving around him.

He put out his arm to block me. "Aw, Angel, don't be that way. You know I'm just joking."

"I don't mean now, I mean ever." I said angrily. "You're rude, you're vulgar, you're sinful, and an all-around bad influence. Father Andrew says you have bad intentions and I should stay away from you, and after tonight I think I agree with him. So stay away from me. I pray someday you might find your way to being a decent person."

I reached to push his arm out of the way, but he grabbed my wrist and dragged me over to the side of a house. Why were all the men in this town so strong? He grabbed my arms and pressed me into the wall. His face was just inches from mine.

"I don't think we're done talking yet, Angel."

Fear and excitement fought each other in my body, but both of them had the same question. What was going to happen next?