Chapter 36: Halloween
It had been some time since Paige and Sheldon visited Alex's lab.
Today, Alex stood in his bedroom, looking at himself in the mirror. He was very pleased with the costume he had made himself.
If you had to describe it, it was a Shinigami outfit inspired by the anime Bleach.
Since today was Halloween, Alex was excited to experience the event.
In Brazil, Halloween isn't celebrated the way it is in the United States. Whenever he watched Halloween in movies, he wished Brazil celebrated it that way too.
Today, he was going out to trick-or-treat with other children.
Although his mindset was still that of an adult from his previous life, he was slowly accepting that now, he was just a child again.
Alex remembered how often, after coming home exhausted from work, he'd long to return to his childhood—when his only concerns were eating, sleeping, and playing.
After heading downstairs, Alex's mom took one look at him from head to toe.
"You look great, but what costume is that?"
Melinda didn't recognize it—she'd never seen anything like it before—so she asked curiously.
"Mom, I'm dressed as a Shinigami from Japanese culture."
"It looks nice. Just be careful when you go out, alright? You heard me?"
Melinda advised with a serious look.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Alright, Mommy has to go now—I'm helping at the church's haunted house tonight."
With those words, Melinda left.
Alex watched his mom walk away, then headed to the garage to grab the sword he'd made to go with his Bankai costume.
He remembered Georgie had been spending time with Veronica, and if things played out the way they should, she'd be converted tonight.
Alex wanted to see that moment, but it was at a place that kids their age weren't allowed to enter.
After grabbing his fake sword, Alex strapped it to his back and headed out to join Sheldon and the others.
...
When he arrived, Alex saw five people chatting outside Sheldon's house.
It was Sheldon, Missy, Tam, Billy, and Mia.
To Alex's surprise, Mia was there with Missy.
After Mia started using the perfume Alex had given her, her first friend ended up being Missy—which surprised Alex when he found out.
Noticing Alex, Mia was the first to shout, "Alex, over here!"
Alex picked up his pace as soon as he heard her call.
Seeing Mia in a Snow White dress, Alex thought she looked beautiful—truly like someone from royalty.
"Mia, you look so pretty as Snow White."
Hearing that compliment from the boy she secretly liked, Mia blushed.
"Thank you so much! What costume are you wearing?" she asked, after thanking him.
"I'm a god of death," said Alex.
"And am I pretty?" Missy jumped into the conversation.
Looking at Missy, Alex replied, "Very beautiful."
"I know," said Missy, proudly.
Alex turned to Tam and Sheldon.
"So, what are we going to do now?"
"Alex, can I see that sword?"
Tam had noticed Alex and was curious about the black sword on his back.
"Of course, go ahead."
Alex handed him the sword, and Tam started playing around with it.
"Sheldon, aren't you dressing up?"
Alex knew Sheldon was dressed as Carl Sagan, but liked teasing him sometimes.
Just as he expected, Sheldon rolled his eyes.
"I'm Carl Sagan."
"I told you, no one would recognize this Carl Sagan guy," Missy commented.
"I'm Superman!"
At that moment, Billy—who had been totally ignored until now—spoke up.
"Really? I didn't even notice," Alex joked.
"What's it made of? It's super light," Tam said, still playing with the sword.
"Can I see?" Sheldon was curious too.
"It's made of a special alloy—many times harder than steel and as light as aluminum," Alex explained.
"Can I hold it too?" Missy asked.
Alex nodded. He wasn't worried about anyone getting hurt since he didn't sharpen the blade.
But if someone used the sword to knock someone out, it could still cause injury.
After everyone got a look at it, Alex strapped it to his back again, and they all headed out to ask for candy.
"Alex, Sheldon said your lab is really cool. Can you show me?"
Missy asked.
Alex didn't know why, but Mia and Missy had both been walking beside him—one on his left, the other on his right.
"I want to see it too—can you show me?"
This time it was Mia asking.
To Alex, there was no reason to say no. It was nothing too serious.
"Sure, if there's time, I can show you both today after we're done trick-or-treating."
All along the way, Mia and Missy kept chatting with Alex about all kinds of things, and he answered everything he could.