Free Aris Returns by Devin Morgan

minutes.”
    “Okay, so what is all this crap?”
    “Carlos, I honestly don’t know. I know that your subconscious is talking to us through
     your session. If you believe in past lives, it can be a past life that is surfacing.
     If you don’t, it’s just pictures from your subconscious. Either way, it’s a step toward
     your healing. If we can just find where your anger stems from, we can make it so much
     easier for you to calm it.”
    “Stems from? Hell, it stems from my old man beating the crap out of me and my whole
     family. Haven’t you read the file that follows me everywhere I go?” His eyes were
     angry as he answered her.
    “Yes, I read the file. It’s more than that.” Her voice had a soothing effect on him.
     “In past life regression work we find the place where the intense emotion originates
     and we work on it from that place. If we can change the outcome of that experiencein your subconscious mind with hypnosis, then the uncontrollable emotion will be released.
     You will no longer be driven by it.” She leaned in to him. “What do you experience
     when you begin to lose control?”
    He sat quietly, his dark eyes staring down at his boots. Finally, he spoke. “Like
     I need to kill something to just keep breathing.” He whispered the words so softly
     she almost missed their meaning.
    “Kill something? Do you mean someone?”
    “Yes.”
    “Does it frighten you to feel like that?”
    It took him more than a minute to answer. “No, it makes me feel powerful.” He raised
     his head, looking straight into her eyes. “It makes me feel strong.” He smiled a long,
     slow smile. “When I feel like that, I am invincible.”

CHAPTER 9
    “L ook Colleen, I just can’t see him anymore. I don’t think this is what he needs.”
    “What the hell are you talking about Sarah? You told me you thought it was a good
     thing. Now you want to dump him just like everyone else. What the hell happened?”
    “I can’t discuss it.” She chewed on the end of her pen while she talked. His file
     was lying on her desk. She kept opening it and closing it. “It’s client, therapist
     stuff. I wish I could talk about it, but I just can’t.
    “What the hell? Is he a murderer or something?” Colleen’s voice became anxious.
    “I don’t know.” She heard her friend gasp on the other end of the line. “No, no. Not
     in this life anyway. I honestly don’t know what he is. Or what he was. I just think
     I’m way out of my element here.”
    Colleen tried to ease the tension with a sigh and a little laugh. ”Well, if he hasn’t
     committed murder in this life, what are you so worried about?”
    “Look C, I don’t want to dump him. I just don’t want to damage him anymore. He’s had
     just about all he can take and I don’t want to push him.” She closed the file a final
     time. She put it in herdrawer. “I just cannot see him anymore.”
    “I swear to God Sarah, what the hell is the matter with you?” Her harsh words matched
     her tone of voice. “You always said you wanted to do more than work on weight issues
     and self-esteem and claustrophobia. I bring you someone you can really help, you start,
     then back off. Just what the hell do you expect me to tell him, that he’s just too
     scary for your lily white hands?”
    Sarah was stunned. She never expected her friend to come down on her with such force.
     She had never seen Colleen angry before.
    “Well, say something. What should I tell him?”
    Sarah felt ashamed of her cowardice. It was a step backward. She was in control of
     their sessions and she didn’t need Bonnie to tell her she had the ability to help
     Carlos. She gave a long sigh, “You’re right, C. Don’t tell him anything. I’ll see
     him as planned on Friday. And calm down. You didn’t have to ream me out.”
    “Hon, if you think that was me reaming you out, you haven’t seen anything yet. I’ll
     tell him you’re on for Friday.”
    #
    The afternoon sunlight shined