She nodded at the feisty older woman's livid face, "Sorry Lydia." She whispered. She felt like her old self again.
"I think you might be right about seeing Elsie though. The not so good Ari is actually trying to kill you both."
Ari shook her head, "No she wants to save the orphans. She doesn’t want me, uh us dead."
She watched Lydia's face tighten, "We leave in an hour. When you're warmed up."
"Who is Ben?"
Her eyes gleamed with humor, "Lucas's brother, older brother. He's been in New York and Boston working."
"Thanks for sending him. Was that his pet wolf?"
Lydia chuckled, "I never sent him, he found you himself and yes, I guess it is his wolf."
Ari smiled remembering the animal helping her, "He's lucky, wish I had a wolf."
Lydia burst out laughing, "I think you’ve got a couple Ari the question is what ever will you do with them." She laughed walking out of the room.
Ari frowned, "Old woman is losing her mind."
Ari walked down the stairs limping slightly. Her muscles seemed to be mending quickly. She felt herself brighten seeing Lydia standing waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs with Ben.
He watched her as if waiting to be certain she made it down the stairs.
"Hey can I see your wolf Ben?" She asked softly as she left the last stair.
He smiled looking confused, "Uh sure."
"Lydia and I are going to see some voodoo lady but when we get back? I used to work at a shelter, I love animals. I was so amazed how tame he was when he was helping me out of the woods."
Lydia laughed, "Honey the wolf…"
Ben interrupted her, "Yeah it's no problem. I would be more than happy to let you pet him."
"BENJAMIN."
Ari frowned at Lydia shouting at him making him flinch.
"Ari we need to get going." Lydia frowned again at the two of them talking. Ari felt like she was missing a huge piece of the puzzle.
Ben smiled at Ari, "Well when you get back just let me know."
"Okay great. I can't wait to see him. If I hadn’t been so tired and injured it would have been fun going through the woods with him."
He nodded blushing, "Maybe we'll just stay in the yard though hey?"
She laughed, "I'm so sorry. Sometimes uh I don’t choose the best options for myself. I didn’t mean to make you carry me all the way back. I used to run marathons and do iron man competitions. I've grown soft I guess."
"Well let's go." Lydia grabbed her arm and dragged her from the house. She looked back at Ben smiling still.
"What about Lucas?" Lydia asked her as they got into Lydia's old car.
Ari frowned, "What do you mean?"
"You and Lucas have something Ari don’t try to deny it."
Ari shrugged, "I don’t know. I can't be with him until I fix what's wrong with me." She felt a little sick about how she'd flirted with his brother.
"Well you might want to keep your pants on until then."
Ari shot a look at Lydia, "What?"
"I saw you flirting with Ben. He's a handsome young man and he's a good person, I'd hate for him to get the wrong idea."
She blushed, "Lydia it isn’t like that. He saved me, I was being polite. I like wolves he has one. I feel like I can trust him."
"Well it wasn’t too long ago Lucas saved you and that earned him a tongue lashing."
Ari thought about it and nodded, something about Lucas scared her but in a way that made her feel like she couldn’t trust herself with him. She sensed Ben was a player just from being around him, like a jock in high school. She knew she would never love someone like that, she was safe from him and that mean safe with him.
"Well Lucas was mean to me when he saved me, Ben was sweet. Lucas makes me crazy. He's so brooding and full of angst. Ben is cheerful and kind. He seems easy to be around. God what's with me and all the saving? I'm lame."
Lydia put a hand on hers, "No dear you're getting used to your powers. It's very common. The first year is the hardest. We don’t even know if you're immortal or if you have other gifts. I think I know what you are between the intensity of your power but also the fact you heal quickly but the final tests will be complete shortly. That run should have you in bed still and you're barely limping."
Ari smirked, "Muscle memory."
Lydia rolled her eyes.
"Why are the tests taking so long Lydia?"
She shrugged, "Well its not like there is any one like you to compare to. You're different, different takes a while. I'm glad your with us though, when you leave for Roses I will miss you."
Ari smiled, she loved how Lydia made her feel something new Ari had never felt, acceptance. She loved the older woman like a mother.
"Well here we are." Lydia pulled into the driveway of a modern apartment building.
She glanced up at it thinking ski resort condominium maybe but house where creepy old witch lived, maybe not.
"Just because she practices voodoo and hoodoo doesn’t mean she has to live in a swamp Ari."
Ari laughed, "Hey if I don’t say it out loud you're not allowed to criticize."
They walked up to the fancy front door where a video screen was with buttons. Lydia pushed the buttons and spoke softly to the screen. Ari could barely make out the face of a woman.
The large wooden door made a soft noise and Lydia opened it.
Ari followed behind Lydia to the elevator. She was nervous, what if the lady couldn’t help her and she was stuck as a duel personality?
The doors to the condos were spaced slightly larger than a hotel. She had stayed at one once with her uncle in Phoenix when he took her there to do prom dress shopping. Lydia walked up to a door and knocked.
The door opened to a woman with black hair cut very short and styled very modern and funky. She raised an eyebrow at Ari and then smiled revealing the whitest teeth and brightest smile. She was stunning, her bright blue eyes contrasted with her black hair and sun kissed skin amazingly. She was tall and fit with classy rings and necklaces.
"Elsie this is Ari." Lydia pointed to the door. Ari walked into the apartment seeing the desert everywhere. She had a very adobe New Mexico theme throughout her home. The walls looked like a desert sunset with a soft burnt orange, the couches were a cactus green and the kitchen was a sandy yellow. Cacti were the only plants in the house and pictures of desert scenes.
Ari walked through like she was home, many of her friends had houses decorated this way.
"Your home is beautiful." Ari spoke softly mesmerized, she could feel the heat of the gas fireplace pumping out heat making the apartment hot like the desert.
"Thank you Ari, I just love the desert. I usually don’t come back to Washington for the winters, I love Arizona and New Mexico this time of year."
"Thanks for coming back." Lydia hugged the other woman. They were a contrast and a half. Lydia looked like an old woman who practiced magic where as Elsie looked like she'd married a millionaire and enjoyed a jet setting life style.
"How could I resist. I've never seen one of her before."
Lydia laughed, "It's fairly interesting watching her in action." Ari felt funny listening to them. She started to doubt their intentions. She reminded herself how much she trusted Lydia.
Elsie walked toward Ari and smiled softly, "I brought someone I think you can help, he needs to have some redirection I think that you're exactly the solution to the problem."
Ari looked at Lydia who smiled and nodded.
"Will you try for me? It will give me a better understanding."
"Okay."
Elsie smiled brightly and walked from the room. She brought a man into the room in a wheelchair. He looked old and wrinkled but something about him made Ari think he wasn’t nearly as old as he looked. She felt her hands heating up as she let the guards down and let her instincts take over. She rubbed her fingers together making sparks between her fingertips.
He was asleep in the chair but Ari didn’t mind. She just wanted to let her hands have him, she wanted to push the heat from herself. She held on to the control she'd been working on. She never let the heat leave her fingers. She felt her legs stepping toward him, her body wanted to touch him. She reached with her fingers feeling his warm skin brush against hers. Like a lover she caressed him softly trying not to push it too fast. She wanted control. Her body struggled with her, it wanted to push as fast as it could but she held it back. Slowly her energy licked at his thin arm. She shivered with delight as she pushed into him. She saw the picture form for her as they shook like always.
He was walking down a street looking at his watch but there was a homeless man beside him. He dropped some money in the mans tin and smiled at him. He looked at his watch again. He was late for something. He started to run worried. It was a bus, he ran after a bus but it was too late. He dropped the briefcase he carried and instead went into a building where he saw a woman sitting at a bar. He ordered a drink. He and the woman exchanged glances and then they were having sex in a room. Ari watched as they finished and she left him there alone. He got sicker and sicker and soon he was in the wheelchair. Ari felt the push burst through her and he was back on his way to the bus stop. He didn’t stop and give the homeless man money, he ran from the start instead of walking thinking he had plenty of time. He caught the bus.
Suddenly he was in a very nice suit, he was talking on the phone. A sexy woman came into his office. She tried to kiss him as she ripped open her soft silk blouse but he pushed her back. Her high heel slipped on the floor as she flew back. She lost her footing and smashed her head on the desk. A red pool spread on the black tiles making a puddle under her perfectly still face. He knelt over her sobbing when they came and took him in handcuffs. He vanished from the wheelchair reappearing in a cell and Ari collapsed onto the floor sobbing. His life hadn’t improved. He was in jail for something that wasn’t his fault, it was Ari's.