Trigger Warning: Attempted Sexual Assault of a sixteen-year-old girl by a man at a Hallowe'en party.


October 31st, 2009. Mardyke, Cork, Co. Cork, Ireland

Kitty O'Leary so cleverly chose to go to her first uni party dressed as an anime cat girl. An easy costume, cat ears and her school uniform, though she left her navy blazer at home and hemmed her second skirt to a length that meant she could never wear it to school again. Kitty would simply have to do laundry more often.

Anime was easy for another reason. No matter what Kitty dressed as, those who only knew her casually assumed she was anime character. When she dressed up as Hermione Granger last year, her boyfri-ex-boyfriend, Ian Darcy came to her with a comment "but Hermione's not Asian", to which Kitty explained she may have been adopted from Korea but her biological mother was Black to which Ian reminded her that Hermione wasn't that either.

In Kitty's mind Hermione was both. Kitty's adoptive parents and sister might have been your stereotypical Irish gingers yanks expected from American telly, but Kitty was a Black Korean girl, and despite identifying with two ethnic groups, she got representation from neither. Except for anime characters. Kitty's long brown curls looked awful when chopped short, she remembered, so Sailor Mercury from Sailor Mercury was out of the question too. Not that her school allowed for blue hair.

Where the bloody hell was Cecilia? Kitty paced around the green in front of the large dormitory house. Uni kids drank openly on the lawn in fancy dress and danced to the house-music that Kitty simply never got. She nervously wrung her hands together as she wondered where her best friend of eleven years had gotten to.

"Kitty-cat!" a voice whooped.

Kitty turned the source of the whooping and sighed with relief. Cecilia Hennessey waved frantically with a beaming smile. She worse a very short and tight black dress with spaghetti straps, go-go boots and wore her long gold hair loose with make-up done so perfectly that Kitty felt a twinge of jealousy. The wooden stake in her hand was the only indication of what her costume could possibly be, other than sexy.

"Buffy?" Kitty asked.

"Here for the slayage," Cecilia joked. "Mum didn't like the cat costume."

"Your mum didn't like the glorified lingerie you wore with the cat ears!" Kitty reminded her.

"And you're one to talk, Tokyo Mew Mew! That skirt's so short I can see your cervix!"

"The cervix isn't visible from outside the body, Cecie," she nervously pulled down her plaid skirt anyway. "And Ichigo's costume was much more revealing than this."

"Whatever," Cecilia rolled her blue eyes. "Let's go in! I haven't had a beer in ages and someone's turning sweet sixteen!"

"Which I'm to celebrate with the time-honoured Irish tradition of drinking away Ian's memory!" Kitty cheered, still uncertain. "Assuming they don't spot we're actually secondary students."

"The plaits and school uniform will definitely throw them off," she scoffed. "It doesn't matter. Asian girls look younger anyway, so they'll just assume that."

Kitty bit her tongue before saying something she'd regret. Cecilia was a tad temperamental, and her white friends didn't respond well to the 'R' word. Besides, she was used to it.

"Let's go find some college boys to fawn over us!" Cecilia linked her arm into Kitty's and all but skipped into the house.

"Cecie," Kitty squeaked looking at the packed party.

Everyone was packed shoulder to shoulder, Kitty never felt so small. Students in fancy dress danced suggestively with each other, many drank, and excited couples dashes up the stairs. Couples with girls present often involved giggling. Kitty wanted to forget Ian, but she shrank into Cecilia's side suddenly uncomfortable.

"Or girls," Cecilia sighed. "I'm accepting of your new found bisexuality. Ooh! Do you think college boys will find that sexy?"

"That's not-" Kitty shook her head furiously, but couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence.

Cecilia turned seventeen back in April and seemed so suave and cool in so many areas. So much more mature than the once chubby girl who also wrote fanfic for anime, books and supernatural television shows, including one called Supernatural. Something she'd 'grown out of' last year. Yet everything seemed to be about boys. Kitty wanted to tell her that her sexuality was a part of her, not a ploy to attract boys. If it was, it was a very bad one seeing as Ian ditched her the day she came out to him.

"Hey, Cecilia!" said Michael.

Michael was a broad shouldered rugby player and second year chem major with auburn hair and a pleasing, symmetrical face. Tonight he was dressed as Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Great, she thought, a couples costumes. Cecilia had been talking to him online for a while before they met each other in person last month. Kitty didn't know how far the two had gone, but she felt a strange mixture of jealousy, excitement and fear for her friend dating the mysterious uni boy in his twenties.

"Michael!" she swooned. "I was wondering when you'd show up!"

"I live here, love," he smirked. "It looks like you're the one who just got here!"

"I was making myself all pretty for you," she pouted. "I think you owe me a dance."

"Well," Michael adapted a terrible South London accent. "Let's go, Slayer!"

"Oh, Spike," Cecilia said in an equally horrendous American accent.

"Wait!" Kitty squeaked again. "Cecie," she whispered clinging to her best friend's arm. "Please don't leave me!"

"Oh, grow up, Catherine," she hissed. "It'll be fine. Go! Mingle! Make eyes with some cute boy or girl and make Ian sorry he's ever ditched you!"

"Ce-"

It was too late. Kitty couldn't even finish her sentence before vampire and Slayer disappeared somewhere on the dance floor. Kitty melted into the wall beside the keg. Watching the scores of people mingle, laugh and snog pained her heart. No one even acknowledged her existence. She felt like a frightened little girl. Alone and invisible.

Was this really what she wanted? Kitty had thought she did. She snuck out of the house pretending she was ill and risked grounding until she was forty. She skipped out on the birthday tradition of watching Buffy with her Mum and older sister, Catriona, while handing out sweets to trick-o'-treaters before her history professor father claimed the telly with Hallowe'en documentaries-which okay, Kitty also liked. Cecilia convinced her to come here when she refused to have 'another boring Hallowe'en' and when Kitty rose concerns Cecilia asked if she was going to let Ian win by having more fun while she wrote her 'sad Harry Potter slash fiction'. That stab to her pride brought her here.

How many of these have I had? Kitty thought looking into her dark draught. Her stomach churned and a pleasant buzzing filled her head. However many she had, it was working. Kitty felt a little less lonely, and a little less angry with Cecilia. As she drank the heady foam of this most recent cup she felt like glitter was exploding inside her. Suddenly, everything was just fab.

"Hello, nya!" a boy dressed as Inuyasha complete with cardboard sword greeted. "Are we someone in particular or are we a generic cat-girl?"

Under the shaggy white wig was dark brown skin and shining hazel eyes and he smiled. He must have been a first year, he towered over Kitty, who was very petite, but seemed young. Probably eighteen or seventeen. Kitty smiled, he had nice cheek bones and pretty eyes. He was also the first person to speak to her. And to Kitty's eyes, the only one dressed as an anime character.

"Generic cat girl," she shrugged. "Cheap, all I needed was my school uniform-erm-my old school uniform, I mean."

"Daibheid?" the boy asked. "I graduated from there last year. The classes are small in that school. Why haven't I seen you around?"

"Erm," she chuckled recoiling into the wall. "I-erm-I-"

"Is this ejit bothering ya?" said an older blond boy dressed as a zombie rugby player.

"N-no," she shook her head nervously.

"I'm leaving!" Inuyasha groaned, backing away from him. "I'm sure you can find me if you tire of the Neanderthal."

Kitty wouldn't find Inuyasha again. Mistake number one.

"First years are always so over zealous with the girls," he laughed. "Name's Brian, what's yours?"

"K-Kitty," she said quietly.

"Clever outfit," he smirked. It was a cute sideways smirk that put the newly buzzed Kitty at ease. "I'm just wearing my rugby uniform and grey make-up! Yours at least goes with your name. I'm a Philosophy major, second year. You?"

Lie! Quick! "Erm-I-I-I-erm-first year, psy-psychology," she laughed. Nice save, ejit!

"I'm sorry," he said. "I can't quite hear you, babe. Why don't we step outside?"

Kitty followed the boy out into the cool night air, still feeling overheated. They chatted as Kitty realised that she couldn't quite match Cecilia in holding her booze. She wavered on her feet, relying on the uni boy she'd just met to support her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Just a bit-erm-dizzy. I-I think I need to sit down."

"We can sit over there," Brian said picking her up. "By those trees."

Kitty didn't protest. Mistake number two.

He sat Kitty down by the trees and the two chatted. She held most of the conversation, though Kitty drank before, she had never been drunk before and she was rambling like a mad woman. She'd even blurted out, stupidly, that it was her sixteenth birthday and that her best friend forced her to come and ditched her, just like stupid Ian.

Brian listened patiently with a smile before brushing his knuckles against her cheek. "I thought you did look a bit young," he sighed. "But that Ian boy is stupid to leave a girl like you. I've just met you, Kitty, and I like you. You're very mature for your age, you know."

"Really?" Kitty squeaked in disbelief.

No one ever thought she was mature. She obsessed over children's books and T.V, she wanted to be a writer but never wrote a single original piece, even on the weekends, she dressed like a little school girl. No, Kitty might have had straight 'A's, worked part-time at her Mum's bookstore and did all her chores, but no one would accuse Kitty of being a grown up. A furious blush rose to her cheeks that someone thought she was.

"I can tell," he lifted her face to his.

The two kissed. Kitty had only ever kissed Ian, and she luxuriated in Brian's lips. He was much, much better at kissing, and she never felt so completely wanted before. She could have been kissing him forever, but that was all she was ready for. That wasn't the case for Brian, who slid his hand up her skirt.

"W-wait," she protested weakly. "I-I don't-"

"Oh, come on, Kitty," he breathed kissing her ear. "I can make you forget all about that Ian bloke."

"N-no," she shook her head. "I-I don't wa-want-"

"Then why'd you follow me out here?" he said.

"Y-you s-said that-erm-y-you wanted to g-go somewhere quiet," Kitty could now feel tears stinging her eyes. "T-to t-t-talk."

"Someone has some growing up to do," he rolled his eyes. "You believed me? You are an idiot. Come on, then."

He crawled on top of her and Kitty, barely half his size, younger and too drunk, Kitty had the sudden realisation that he might-but she said no. She did everything she was supposed to. Except get drunk, follow a random boy outside alone, and because Ian can't keep his trap shut people know you're not exactly a virgin either. I wonder if he'll kill me after...

Kitty was now sobbing uncontrollably, and loudly. She might have given a banshee a run for her money, but no one came to her rescue. Thankfully, no one needed to.

"Jay-sus!" Brian spat rising. "Fine! All you secondary school bitches are the bloody same. A word of advice, little girl: If you're not up to play, don't come to the party. I mean Christ Almighty, look at your skirt. You can hardly blame me! No wonder that Ian bloke ditched you."

Kitty found her ability to move. She wavered back and forth finding her way to the trees surrounding trails on the campus. She ran deep into the night, crying loudly. Perhaps, she should have went home, called her Mum or Cecilia, but none of them would understand. They would blame her too. Kitty ignored the desire to call her mum and ran even deeper into the trees.

Mistake number three.

Some one was with her. There was a rustling in the leaves and she saw movement.

"Wh-who's there?" she called to no answer.

Then everything went black.