Bane (The Devil's Roses 2)

She shook her head feeling silly, "No. It was perfect." She ducked her head confused. She wanted to run, both of her wanted to run, not from him but from the embarrassment until he did something neither of them expected.

He bent kissing her cheek and wiping away her tear, "Sweet Ari."

She kissed him, she pulled at him nearly toppling them both. He steadied himself lifting her off the ground. She felt her back against the wall, she felt his hands cupping her ass and she wanted to freeze but she couldn’t make herself. Her body was responding to him, sliding against his and writhing in the passion she could feel herself getting lost in. Still holding her in the air with one hand his other hand gripped her hair pulling her into the kiss. The slightest bit of pain shocked her back into reality and like any abuse victim she froze. His hands still tried to work their magic pulling her head to him. He didn’t realize for the first few seconds Ari had frozen, she had stopped moving and was letting him roam her mouth and face. She felt the anger welling inside, it scared her. She shook with building rage working out a plan in her mind. He placed her on the ground carefully and stepped back seeing the look on her face.

"Where did you just go?"

The anger was gone as his words hit her, "It wasn’t me, it’s the other me. Someone liked to pull her hair. He liked to hurt her." She winced twitching feeling lost inside herself.

"Ari I would never hurt you. Never. I, well I would kill…"

"No." She cut him off, "I know you wouldn’t hurt me but I can't do this. I'm broken Lucas. Even if the scars aren’t mine my mind remembers their pain." She trembled with fear and desperate sadness but maintained her composure long enough to leave the room.

He tried to reach for her but he stopped himself knowing her reaction would be horrid. She wanted to turn around, she wanted to fix it but New Ari was sobbing inside of her, screaming about the pain she wouldn’t let her see. New Ari kept her secrets locked behind a door that only when it opened for the briefest of seconds did Ari get a glance of how horrible it truly was for her new self.

She walked to her room and closed the door sighing, safety. She liked she had her own room and it felt like a sanctuary finally. She walked to look at herself in the huge mirror. She had started to look like her old self, her thick dark brown hair was long with the slightest curl to it. It was shiny and healthy looking again. Her dark brown eyes and long eyelashes shone with the glistening tears. Her nose, lip and eyebrow barely showed any signs of scarring from the piercings Lucas had removed for her. She lifted a long thin finger to her lips remembering the feeling of his touching them. The softness and the sensuality had been a first for both of her. She cringed remembering the flash she'd seen during the kiss.

"Why Miss Ari you looks a wreck, you wants I should pour you a bath?"

She glanced up at Annabelle and smiled, "Yes please." She knew she wasn’t dirty but she couldn’t help feel it.

She looked back at herself seeing the tattoos she hated poking out of her clothes in random places.

"Well I be's concerned for ya Miss Ari. You looks some awful upset. What be troubling you?"

She stood still watching her own mouth move in the reflection, "My soul is split into two people Annabelle and I can't seem to keep the bad one of me out of my mind."

"Well I know Momma Elsie could help ya's wit dat. She be a magic lady who helps Lydia sometimes. I seen her do some amazing things. Ask Lydia to takes ya there. Now I pour ya bath." She vanished.

Ari walked from the room quickly looking for Lydia. She was scared to run into Lucas but she needed to know about Momma Elsie. Lydia was in her reading room looking over a huge book.

"Whose Momma Elsie?"

Lydia sighed looking at her, "Annabelle is going to get it. No one you need to be concerning yourself with. Ari we need to learn abut your other side before we just dispel her. We don’t know a lot about you and your gifts. I know you're having a hard time with it kiddo and I know you want a normal life but you need to remember if we dispel one of you it could be old you who gets removed. Then what? You'll be in a dark place kiddo."

Ari nodded and walked back upstairs for her bath. A very large part of her didn’t want to wash off Lucas's touch and kisses but she couldn’t help associate them with the bad man in New Ari's memories.

Chapter Nine- The Cop and The Killer

Aimee

He stared at her, "You're so beautiful Aimee. I think I almost forgot how beautiful."

She looked at him with an evil grin and flashed them into his bathroom.

He shivered with motion sickness, "Aimee Jesus that is awful."

She squeezed his hand stepping into his shower, "How's my dad?"

"He's broken. He's so sad he can't eat, he sleeps all the time. He barely leaves his house."

She looked at him feeling her face tightening, "What can I do?"

"Aimee you need to see him."

She shook her head, "I can't let him see me like this."

"I can't tell a difference in you, you look the same. If I can't see it and believe me I am looking for it, he won't either." He gripped her hand, "Lets drive over though k?"

She laughed, "Okay." Her stomach was in her throat. She didn’t know what she was about to do but she knew she couldn’t leave her father the way he was. She needed to fix things with him and she knew she was probably safe enough to see him without hurting him.

They showered quickly and changed into clothes. The thought of her father had killed her ideas of how the shower was going to go.

Aimee laughed as they walked up to his big truck, "You know I miss riding in this truck."

She climbed in and closed the door remembering how sick she had been when she rode in the truck the last time.

Her nerves didn’t improve as they drove but Shane nattering on made her smile, "Yeah so anyway I got lucky with my job. I can come home a lot and if I need to help my mom I can be here pretty fast. So my dad is marrying that girl hey."

Aimee raised an eyebrow at him.

He nodded as he drove, "Yeah, I got an invitation. I'm not even kidding. You wanna be my date?"

She smirked, "You're going to the wedding?"

"I have to Aimee, my sister is going too. Dad has spent a lot of time trying to make up for it all. I don’t like Hilary but she makes him happy and he has been trying."

"Hilary, it just sounds like mean girl home wrecker."

"Still a nerd at heart."

She laughed, "Yup. Speaking of which how's my sister and Blake doing?"

His face went hard. He parked in her driveway turning his bright blue eyes on her, "Aims Blake is evil. I'm pretty sure he beats your sister. She had bruises all over her arms last time I saw her and she seemed really skinny and weird, like shy and unsure of herself. Anyway they live in Boston now. They just moved. He's going to MIT."

Aimee rolled her eyes, "Shane I know you hate him and I have to admit I'm not a fan anymore. Not since that night but lets be honest it's Blake. He's a giant nerd not beating my sister. Alise is probably on drugs and he's probably trying to help her." She sighed, "Maybe Boston will be good for her. MIT huh. Wow talk about a dream come true for him."

She looked at the house and cringed as she opened the door. She hopped out feeling over dressed in her skinny jeans and high-heeled boots and cashmere sweater. Her dad would be suspicious of her clothes.

Shane bounded the stairs to the front door like he was family, she smiled knowing he was. She was more than grateful for the attention and care he had given her father over the past year and a half.

He opened the door without knocking making her feel like the outsider at her own home.

Her father sat in the living room watching TV on a huge big screen TV. She looked at it curiously. He was watching the nature channel, at least that hadn’t changed.

"Look who is feeling like her old self and able to finally leave the medical center?"

Her father turned to see her. Tears poured from his eyes as he leapt off the couch, "Aimee. Oh my sweet Aimee. You're okay? What are you wearing?" He held her hands making her nervous. She looked at Shane who smiled and nodded at her. She kept her hands in check. She looked at her fathers face sickened by how thin he'd gotten but also how old.

"Daddy." She whispered gripping his weathered skin.

He pulled her in gripping her tightly sobbing.

She felt the tears streaming down her face as she nestled into his thin frame smelling his old worn sweater.

His muscles trembled with the sobbing as he gripped her too tight but her new body didn’t flinch under the strain and pressure.

She glanced at Shane and mouthed, "Thank you."

He nodded fighting the tears sitting in his eyes.

Her hands tingled for a half a second but her love for the two men in the room saved her, it was stronger than anything that lived inside of her.

After her father gained his composure they sat at the bar while he made omelets. Aimee dreaded eating in front of him, she hadn’t gotten the hang of swallowing after going for such an insane amount of time not eating.

"So anyway when Blake got into MIT he asked Alise to go with him. We are all so proud of him. After everything that’s happened around here everyone is still trying to put the pieces back together." His voice cracked slightly as he whisked the eggs.

Aimee smiled, "How's Giselle?"

Her dad smiled, "She is doing amazingly. She is in Seattle now going to journalism school. She wants to be a fashion journalist." He shrugged.

"I'm glad she's feeling better. That liver transplant was a miracle."

"Yeah but its taken her as long as its taken you to recover. She was just lucky to be able to do it here, at home."

Aimee looked at Shane and smiled, "Thank god for small and large miracles. I will have to look her up next time I'm in Seattle."

"Yes we will. Aimee and I are back together. Not that we were broken up but the distance and the isolation, well you know."