by Tara Brown
Her brain was full of dark alleys where money was made, dark places where souls were lost and sold, traded as a commodity. The young and innocent chose a full belly or vein depending on age and preference rather than remain innocent. She lived like a savage on the streets for six years. She remembered every one of them. She felt as the old her and new her melded into one person and everything changed. The world looked different.
“You're certain you wont come home with me child?” She spun seeing an old woman smiling at her, "You look cold honey. It can be just a night if you like. I can't leave you out here to freeze."
The old ladies voice apparently bothered her but the hunger in her guts and cold on her desert skin won over, she nodded at the old woman and walked toward her holding herself in a way no one had ever seen before because no one had ever met her before, not the new her.
She knew the old lady somehow, she had tried to talk to her months before but the new Ari had ignored her. She figured she was a social worker of some kind.
“My name is Lydia Crane.” She spoke softly turning her head to face Ari smiling in a curious way, “And you are, Ari. What's your last name Ari?”
Ari looked at her puzzled, what kind of game was this? “My name is just Ari.” She knew that wasn’t the right response but the new Ari seemed incredibly defensive about privacy.
She nodded her head slowly, “Just Ari, no last name.”
Ari sneered, “No family so no family name.” The tone of her voice had been so biting she nearly winced thinking about how she had spoken to the older woman who had done nothing but offer her kindness. She felt the jaded edges of herself sadly realizing just how sharp and cruel she had become.
“You can fight it, you know that right?”
Ari looked at her confusedly without speaking, her mind was screaming so many nasty things she thought it best to not let them escape through her mouth.
“The other Ari, she doesn’t have to be there if you don’t want her to. The old Ari is the better one anyway.”
She raised an eyebrow, “How do you know me?”
“I’ve watched you for a long time, I’ve seen you both ways and the sunny girl is the better way to live.” She pointed, “We are here.”
Ari looked around confused at how quickly they had suddenly appeared across town. The road turned onto a street that looked as if time hadn’t been around much to improve upon things. The other Ari had never been out this way before, she had heard an evil witch and a weird cult lived out this way. Even the pushers didn’t venture out this far to the East.
Ari felt a shiver as they stepped on Old Oak Way, the street the old lady was pointing to. She looked around wondering about the breeze she had felt but it was gone as quickly as it had come up.
“It’s the guards Ari.” Lydia spoke quietly, “They keep the bad out and the good in.”
Ari looked back wondering what the bad was if the old lady was letting her in, especially in her current state.
At the end of the old road stood a huge mansion, it was decrepit and ancient. It was a three story white gothic house with pitched roofs and a huge front porch. The house was frightening and inviting somehow. She imagined it felt as the witch's house would have in Hansel and Gretel. Huge willow trees and oaks lined the yard and long driveway.
Everything seemed to be as it would have been when the house was made no doubt hundreds of years earlier.
“This is my home.” She sounded proud.
Ari looked at the house closely feeling her special mixture of feelings inside herself. Her old self felt exhausted but her new self seemed accustomed to being tired and cold. Her skin seemed thicker.
“Come on Ari, you need to meet your new house mates.” She turned her head smiling.
Chapter Two- Hot, For a Psychopath
She could hear nothing but the creek of the old storm door as they entered the dark house. The front room was huge, with an old black iron bench and a real umbrella stand. Everything looked to be as old as the house.
“Kitchen is this way dear.”
Looking around taking it in she hadn’t noticed she stood in the front entry alone. She closed the door peeking behind her as she locked it, she always watched her six.
Intimidated by the long dark hall and the lack of housemates she started to wonder if the old bat was a ghost who lured her to the old haunted house.
Light filtered from the end of the massive hall. She watched nervously as the light flickered from people passing through it. At least if they could flicker a light and make a shadow the people weren’t ghosts, she hoped.
“Well I knew when I saw her last year but she wasn’t there yet. It’s hit now.” Lydia spoke defiantly.
“You had to bring her here?” A new voice joined the conversation, a female.
“I brought you here didn’t I? She's as alone in the world as we are, why not?”
Ari peaked around the doorway feeling new Ari getting angry at the lack of action.
“Well don’t stand in the hall dear, it’s rude.”
She took a breath and a step and walked into the light. The blond girl in the kitchen sucked her breath in seeing Ari for the first time. Flashes of what she looked like rolled through her mind as did the defensive voice of the other her.
She looked at the tiny kitchen feeling the walls closing in around her. She didn’t like small spaces, well the other girl inside her didn’t.
“Yes its cozy for such a huge mansion but in my day we didn’t need a large kitchen. Servants were accustomed to small quarters. They were lucky I never put the kitchen in the basement like everyone else.”
Ari frowned, “You built the house?”
Lydia nodded, “Yes and no. I never did the work but my husband at the time let me have some say in the planning.”
Ari raised her eyebrows, “How old is this place?” She had guessed at least two hundred years but obviously that couldn’t be.
“Oh old enough let me tell you, Ari this is Aimee James. She’s, well, different, like you.” She smiled brightly, “Until you get to know each other I wouldn’t go holding hands. Who knows what’ll happen.” She laughed to herself confusing Ari and pissing off the other girl.
Ari noticed how beautiful Aimee was, she was tall and thin with black pants and huge leather boots. Something about her, the pain in her eyes perhaps, frightened Ari. Her long blond hair sat in silky waves around her face and shoulders enhancing her gray blue eyes.
"Eat dear." Lydia put food at the table.
She nearly jumped at the chance to eat food. Ari sipped the soup from the bowl leaving the spoon on the table, she felt them watching her as she ate greedily. She couldn’t stop herself from shoveling the food down her throat. Living on the streets she had learned to eat when the food was available but growing up in a diner she knew she was eating like a savage.
"Ari dear do you understand what happened?"
She looked up from the bowl still sipping the hot liquid, she shook her head putting the bowl down and wiping her hands on her mouth and then her pants.
Aimee grimaced, "You eat like an animal."
Ari was off the chair before she could stop herself, diving at the girl. Aimee laughed and vanished from the spot she had been standing. Ari slammed into the counter and cupboards before she could stop the momentum.
Lydia shook her head, "Girls, this isn’t a fight you want to have."
Ari looked around confused, "How, h-how did she do that?" She looked around the kitchen stunned. She pushed her new feisty self back down and only let old Ari speak.
"Oh I have a few talents," Aimee walked back into the kitchen clicking her heels on the old wood floor, "One of which you don’t want to know about." Her grey blue eyes sparkled with mystery.
"Anyway girls, neither of you should use what you have on each other, until we know exactly what Ari does with those magical hands of hers."
Ari looked down at her hands fighting the tears that threatened her eyes, "My uncle…" She whisper
ed into the small kitchen, "He just left, like mist." The gold ring on her finger glistened in the kitchen light making the lump in her throat larger.
She felt her new self fighting to rage about the kitchen and run from the house but she quashed her thoughts before she could act. As odd as the old lady was, she seemed to have some clue as to what was going on.
Her legs gave out slumping her onto the floor with her back against the cupboards. She looked at her dirty hands, she didn't know them anymore, her skin was filthy but that was the least of her worries, "I'm not me anymore."
Aimee sat beside her on the floor of the kitchen, "I know how it feels."
Ari looked at her confused, "You do?"
She nodded, "Yeah." Her gray eyes misted almost, "My hands made someone disappear once too."
Ari watched as Aimee relived horrors inside herself. She wondered what had happened to Aimee to make her look so hollow.
Lydia sat on the old metal kitchen chair in front of them, "Ari you will need to control not only your new self but also the hunger."
Ari frowned, "The hunger?" She looked at her hands recalling the feeling when she had touched her uncle, it had been a hunger.
"We need you to be able to control it before we can let you out of the house again, we don’t know exactly what you do just yet."
Ari felt her rage building suddenly, she didn’t like to be trapped.
Aimee put a hand on her shoulder, "Not like a prison Ari, like a shelter. You're safe here."
Ari nodded, she needed to run. Her body needed to release the energy she had built up inside herself, "Can I run?"
Lydia laughed, "Where would you go?"
"I ran in the desert, eight miles a day."
Lydia laughed again, "Oh for sport, well you could run the back trail. It's protected as well, the trail is about five miles. It's a loop around the lake out back."
Ari looked at Aimee's' hand still on her shoulder, "You aren’t hurting me by touching me?"
Aimee shook her head, "I learned how to control it, took me a while but I've got it now." Aimee looked closer at Ari's face, "Besides something about those black eyes tells me I might not be able to hurt you."
Ari watched as Aimee frowned looking back at Lydia. The older woman smiled like a grandma about to pass you a muffin and tell you everything would work out.
Ari wanted to smile, she wanted to think about going back to her normal life but it was all so confusing. How would she ever get back to the desert? How would she find her uncle if her new mind had memories of him that didn’t make any sense?
Lydia put a hand out for Ari, "You need a shower and some sleep love, it's probably been the longest day of your life."
"Depends on which me you ask, new me has lived through some things I can't make myself think about." New her laughed like a crazy woman inside her head scaring her.
Ari took her hand without thinking but as the skin made contact she pulled it back quickly.
Lydia laughed, "You can't hurt me Ari."
Ari took her hand again and stood up. Lydia's' skin was warm and fleshy. She enjoyed the feeling of touching another person.
The upstairs of the house was grandeur to the extreme, the bathroom was fit for a princess. Her bedroom was massive with a huge four-post bed and giant windows.
She stood in her towel looking out at the night, her shower had taken considerably less time than she was accustomed to what with not having two feet of thick hair anymore. She crumpled onto the floor hugging her knees into herself and sobbed rubbing her hands over her baldhead. In the mirror it had been the least offensive thing about her appearance. Piercings and tattoos were livable but the unbelievable amount of scars was what scared her. Each one came with a flash of a memory before the other her shut down her mind.
More than the clean feeling she never realized she had or the unmarked skin Ari wanted her hair back, which seemed shallow but it was truly the only feature she had of her mother.
"I can make it come back Ari."
She jumped looking back at the dark doorway leading into her dark bedroom.
"What?" She sputtered ashamed Lydia was seeing her cry like a baby.
"Your hair, I can bring it back."
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
Ari pulled the towel around her and stood on her wobbly legs as if she were a newborn dear, "How?"
"You're not the only one with talents." Lydia walked toward her, "Sit on the chair and close your eyes."
Ari looked at the chair next to the window. She walked to it shivering from fear and the cool night air on her bare skin.
She sat down and closed her eyes. She was terrified inside, her new self trusted no one. Ari tried to reason with herself about nice old ladies but her new self had memories of nice old nuns that shocked her. She had to fight the memories to maintain her eyes being closed.
She heard Lydia take several steps, she felt the warmth of the old woman's hands brush against her head. The warmth became relaxing and tingly. Her whole body grew warm and comfortable as the feeling spread over her, through her.
Even with her eyes closed she could see the glow of whatever was happening through her eyelids. She wanted so badly to open her eyes but she fought the urge terrified she would be blinded.
"Why did you shave your head Ari?"
Tears rolled out of her eyes, "Juvie, they shaved my head. It would also seem that a shaved head is a safety feature on the streets. Men don’t find a bald girl attractive." The memories of the disgusting man who ran his hands through her hair several times, pulling it slightly gave her chills. A slight smile crept upon her lips as she remembered beating him unconscious. Her memories scared her but worse they made her feel happy. She could feel the rage building inside her again, she knew she would need a run before she interacted with anyone else.
The heat stopped, "You're safe now Ari, no one can hurt you. Sleep tonight and we will start on solving your little problem tomorrow."
Ari gulped as Lydia walked from the room as eerily as she had entered, "Thank you Lydia."
"Your hair will start to come back in tomorrow, every morning when you wake it will grow more and more. A few weeks and it should look like hers again love."
Ari sat in the chair confused and exhausted, how did Lydia know what her mother looked like?
Chapter Three- Little Bald Boy Blue?
She woke feeling rested in a way she had never before, she had slept without dreaming as far as she could tell. The room in the daylight was more beautiful than she could have imagined. The walls were a pale blue, the furniture was dark walnut and the bedding and curtains were white eyelet lace. The dark hardwood floor glistened in the morning light.
A woman's voice broke the silence, "Good morning mister."
Ari looked around but no one was in the room.
"I have laid out a change of clothes for you for this morning. It's in the washroom."
Ari closed her eyes squeezing tight and then opened her eyes again to the beautiful room, still empty.
"Who are you?" She asked into the air.
"Why I be Annabelle, Mrs. Crane's head staff. Your washroom has fresh water for you to clean and ready yourself, do you need assistance? I can send up Frederick."
"I can't see you." Ari felt a cool breeze fill the room,
"Why I be right here mister."
Ari squinted seeing a young girl in a white dress, she was definitely a ghost. She was completely see through.
Ari screamed clutching her bedding to her naked body.
The girl screamed matching Ari in volume and length of her scream. Ari finished still watching the girl and screamed again. The girl again copied her.
The bedroom door opened as Aimee came flying into the room, "Annabelle stop screaming."
Annabelle stuttered, "Well-well-well he be screaming at me for no god reason and I be just tryin to help tis all."
Aimee laughed, "Ari this is Annabelle. She died during, well a witch hunt a while ago. She was
Lydia's maid at the time. She still works here instead of moving on despite all of Lydia's attempts at helping her on."
Ari tried to get her breath under control as she nodded frowning, "Nice to meet you." She didn’t know what else to say, the house was growing more and more unbelievable.
"Annabelle this is Ari, she is a girl firstly, she is also our new family member."
Ari cocked her head at the word family, Aimee seemed to notice nothing in the word family but Ari hadn’t heard it except as a prayer on the lips of orphans.
"I be sorry Miss Ari, your head was all that was poking out and it seemed to be a boys head what with no hair being there. You gots all that stuff in ya face I couldn’t see ya as a girl." She curtsied, "I will change the clothes to a dress."
Ari put a hand out of the covers trying not to be completely offended, "No thanks, dude clothes are probably better at this point."
She gave a frightened look at Aimee who nodded and smiled, "Yeah she tried the whole ancient frilly dress crap on me too."
Annabelle vanished, not with a poof but just gone in an instant.
"Did you sleep well?"
Ari nodded, "Creepy well, it was weird I never dreamt. I always dream."
Aimee smiled, "No dreams at Lydia's is a good thing. She probably helped you out with that."
"What is she?"
Aimee shrugged, "A witch. What are you?"
Ari shook her head, "I don’t know." She tilted her head, "What are you?"
Aimee pressed her lips together, "Death."
Ari frowned, "Huh?"
"Death Ari, I am death. Grim reaper, death deity, black angel of doom, death."
"How?"
Aimee raised an eyebrow, "Never trust a demon Ari, no matter what." She walked out of the room leaving Ari confused.
"Lydia I know you don’t want to hear it but she's trouble, I know who she is."
Ari stopped on the stairs panicked by the voice she heard, it was a mans' voice talking about her. She had gone through it before, foster homes and attempts at jobs, she'd heard it many different ways. She sighed quietly knowing it was the end. At least she'd gotten a good meal and a night of sleep out of it. She turned to go back up the stairs to put on as many clothes as she could find. She would need the warmth with it being October.
