Free Banes by Tara Brown Page A

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