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"Honey, I- well- the thing is- I am Tyler. I am also not- but I am-"

The buzzing of the low battery warning became more pronounced and I could feel the hard light membrane growing thin. I'd forgotten to swap the battery last night and then in the rush to get the kids prepared for school I hadn't noticed the light vibration before driving them. Given the pattern it was now projecting I had less than two minutes before it failed completely. Heather’s face vaccilated between confused and hurt as I stammered on:

"I really didn't want you to find out this way- I did want to tell you it just- never seemed right."

"Tell me what?"

Anger and pain were winning the battle for her face.

"That I- well- I'm not just not Tyler- I- I am, from the day I've met you I've always been the same person I'm just- Tyler isn't my name."

"And what is- that!"

She grabbed her butter knife and held it forward as the hard light around my arm dissipated revealing the blue skin beneath.

"Thats what I actually look like."

I said, holding out a hand with six fingers in a placating manner.

"What the fuu-"

The rest of my disguise fell away. I wasn't that far off from what humans looked like, I mean my skin was a different shade, and my eyes may be a touch larger, ok and I didn't have the right number of fingers, and my ears were pointed, oh and I didn't have the same configuration of teeth, but in my defense I'm not... human.

"Yea- so- my name is Yuhtip'frur, but you can still call me Tyler."

""That- explains alot."

She put down the butter knife and pulled out a slip of paper before continuing:

"Ryan stopped a vending machine from falling on his friend Liam yesterday. According to the other children he just caught it with one hand and then pushed it back upright. The teachers didn't believe it until they saw the finger marks embedded in the metal."

"Ah, that's- not exactly what I was expecting you to say, but I'm glad Liam is ok, he's a very nice boy."

"So- why didn’t you tell me this at any point, like I don't know before we got married or, had three children- wait how did we... have children are they- i mean ligers are all um?"

"Infertile?"

"Yea."

This seemed to hurt her more than my deception and tears began to well in her eyes.

"No, no they'll be perfectly capable, I know you've always wanted a big family. I made sure of that when- I-."

She narrowed her eyes.

"When you what?"

"I want to preface this by saying its perfectly normal where I come from. I edited their genes so that they would look fully human, and so that they wouldn't suffer any of the potentially deleterious effects of having parents- as different as we are."

"You mean different species."

"That is actually a matter of some debate, and one of the reasons I came here."

I could see her scientist side warring with the side of her that very much wanted to berate me for hiding my origin from her for so long. Thankfully, the scientist seemed to win out as her expression turned to curiosity.

"So we have a common ancestor? How far away is your home planet? Are there more- well i guess cousin civilizations or sibling civilizations? For that matter how did you get here? "Is faster than light travel actually possible or did you use a cryopod or something else? Have you been to other planets too or just earth and- oh what is your planet called? How did you learn English? Do you have a-"

"Can I start answering before you ask more?"

She nodded emphatically, and her expression reminded me of the young woman I met at a planetarium all those years ago. That expression of utter joy in seeing the stars laid out before her, not just reveling in their beauty but in the possibility of uncovering their secrets. Not for the first time I wondered if she could have fallen for me without the disguise and not for the first time I was certain she would have.

Really shouldn't have kept it secret yah espeicially not for the first time certain she would have

"Where's my husband Tyler?"

I was surprised by the question, but then fear rose in my Emilia's face. I looked to my hands, which had returned to the ichorous green that my body normally showed. "Wh-who-who are you?" Emilia screeched at me, her anxiety kicking in to overdrive. I gently placed my hands on hers, as my disguise fell further.

This was going to be a long conversation, as I flashed back to a different time a decade ago.

/. /. /. /. /. /.

The blood-stained head of my best friend, Tyler, was serene compared to the rest of his scattered body. He's just taken a Holy Hand Grenade for me - and whilst the holy water contained within didn't harm him, the explosive and nails most certainly did. His grip tightened on my taloned hand, before slackening.

"Hey, Lexa, take care of my family for me." The cold clarity within his very mortal voice made me certain that he wasn't coming back this time. His summer blue eyes glazed over as his body finally gave up, blood leaking from all of his body parts across the room.

Being a literal Hell's Angel is hard - luckily, I gathered some skin and clippings.

/. /. /. /. /. /

My face streamed tears, as I realised what this meant. It was finally over. "I can't.....I can't....I won't..." I hesitated, and that was enough. Her face crumbled, and she, oddly, sought comfort in the nearest warm, adult body. Mine.

Touch is the most powerful sense for the humanoid, and to seek comfort is one of the most potent things a person like that can offer. I took it, and we shared our pain.

I don't know how long it lasted, but then it was gone. Her tear-ruined makeup, what little of it there was, showed me her pain writ forever upon my own mind. I couldn't speak, just sobbing salt how I'd torn this family apart with a secret.

"Do you want me to tell you how he....?" I trailed off, looking outside at the day that had moved to a dusky twilight. She nodded, tears threatening again, and not trusting herself to speak.

"He died saving me. We worked together on more...esoteric electrical engineering projects, as well as artefact recovery from dangerous places.

"We were working on a job, and there was some wiring that had gone wrong, and we were testing the electrical circuitry. But something had been connected to an explosive by mistake. He took the explosion so that I didn't."

Not the whole truth, for that would be too much; but enough of it that it would make sense. I continued.

"His last words were to ask me to take care of his family. So I did, the best way I could - but it wasn't forever, as you can see." I gestured to myself, in my natural Mimic body, complete with a mouth and teeth in my abdomen.

Emilia wailed then, just.....gone, sunk completely into her grief. "How long ago was this?" She spoke, completely tonelessly.

"11 years in September." I breathed, tears rising again. "He died a hero, to me. And this, was the least I could do to honour him - to provide for his loved ones."

She asked me to leave.

I wasn't surprised, but it hurt anyway.

"Where's my husband Tyler?" She accused menacingly with her eyes.

"He's gone. "

"What do you mean gone?" Her face was stone, but a creeping fear was manifest in her eyes.

"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything."

"What have YOU DONE TO HIM?! "

The mask had been set aside.

I let go. Lost in oblivion. Dark and silent and complete. I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom.

"Stop trying to control everything and just let it go. He's gone. "

" Please... I can't.. not without him..."

" Hitting bottom isn’t a weekend retreat. It’s not a goddamn seminar. Stop trying to control everything and just let go! LET GO!"

She was an irreconcilable mess on the floor. Sobbing like a dirty wretch. There's no time to waste here.

I had to go.

Project MAYHEM is waiting.

[removed]

Twenty years of love.

Twenty years of lies.

Till death do us part was a bold statement that assumed death was the natural end to all things. But that was a phrase that came about long after my kind had been forgotten.

My unwilling wife was a beautiful woman full of grace and poise, but the last year of our relationship had been bumpy at best. She was always headstrong and independent, challenging my thoughts and perceptions, but now, she challenged me as an individual, as a person.

When she said, "We need to talk," I felt my heart drop. I had treated her well, better than I had treated any other in any other form. But something was wrong. With her? With us? With me?

She was wearing high-waisted pale blue jeans with a light, airy plaid shirt over a white tanktop. She sat across from me at the table in our kitchen. It was a bright day outside, despite the mounting dread I felt.

As soon as I took my seat across from her, she placed her folded hands on the table. She looked me in the eyes, and the room fell quiet. Everything faded away. The alarm of the car outside going off didn't matter, nor did the cawing of the crows in the distance. I could hear her heart racing, but it wasn't like I had heard before. It was anxious, it was angry. She asked me but four words: "Where's my husband Tyler?"

I sat there, stunned. Tyler. I knew who Tyler was. I had consumed Tyler long ago, to be precise, twenty years ago. He entered my domain looking for his wedding band, and I rewarded him with infinite life through me. I took his shape, I took his ring, and emerged to find his wife before me. This man had loved his wife like no other, and over the twenty years we were together, I came to incorporate that love into myself. "Jessica..."

She repeated, getting increasingly upset, "Where's my husband Tyler?" My hand reflexively reached out for hers, but she recoiled. "Don't touch me."

The pain I hurt was magnified; it was his, and it was mine. To see her, feel her, reject me so obviously when I had given her everything, given my everything for her. "He's here. He's right here."

"For how long have you been pretending to be Tyler?" Her hands shook and she unlaced her fingers, balling her hands into fists.

"Listen to me, Jessica..."

She stood up and reached across the table, grabbing me by my shirt and scrunched her nose in utter disgust. "WHERE IS MY HUSBAND TYLER YOU FAKE?!"

"... do you want to be with him?" I asked calmly. This was the only way to save her, to save our love.

"Is he dead?"

"Not exactly."

"... yes. I want to be with Tyler. I married him and love him and want to be with him forever."

I loved her so much. I felt myself salivating. It had been such a long time...

Yes

Very well done! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this piece. Well thought-out, intriguing and revealing just enough to keep me very interested as the story unfolded.

Nicely written! I like how intimate the scene is, how much emotion you poured into this conversation between two people who truly care for each other, despite a devastating secret being revealed.

A good, short scene. Seems like there's a lot that this could be fleshed out into. Still, well-written and concise.

Wow! Very nicely done! I didn't expect the dark turn this story took when I started reading it, but the horror was laced throughout it. The conversation is very realistic, well-written and believable. I can sense Jessica's anger and frustration, almost palpably. And, the ending! *chef's kiss* Thank you for writing this!

Try googling the lines by the narrator 🙂