Devils Roses 04 - Witch

slowly. The memories matched in her mind until she came to Lydia's two weeks ago. Nothing was the same. Sam was not in a single new memory.
    She started to panic. She looked at a new face, who her brain instantly recognized as Ben. He looked confused. He looked at Aleks. Lydia, Ari, Aimee, and Lucas sobbed. Ophelia looked at them all. Her stomach twisted into a knot. Her heartstrings tugged as she looked at Ben. He smiled and took a step toward her. She took a step back. Her body knew him, as did her mind but her reality was different. It was as if two people's lives lived inside of her. She bolted to the kitchen sink and retched over it. A meal she didn’t recognize for a moment shot into the sink. She hadn’t recalled eating corn and peas.
    "He's not dead. He's not." Aimee rocked back and forth.
    Lydia held her heart, "They all are. Little Sarah. Dawn. Danny."
    Ophelia threw up again.
    She sank against the counter.
    "I take it Ben and I missed out on the party?" Aleks stood like a massive statue in the middle of the kitchen with the sobbing people draping off of him. Ari let go of him and grabbed Ben. Her and Lucas held him tight against her.
    Ophelia looked at them all, "What happened? How did it happen?"
    Aleks looked confused, "You never even met him?"
    She started to sob as well, "I loved him." Her heart broke. Sweet Sam.
    Hanna came bursting through the door. Her eyes flashed on Ari, "You bring him back. You bring him back. You bring him back." She grabbed her by the throat and held her in the air. Hanna's skin shivered. Ophelia watched the redhead lose total control. She threw Ari through the wall of the house and out on the back lawn. She dove through at her. Lucas changed and lunged at Hanna. Hanna swiped with her hand and tossed the wolf across the grass.
    She screamed a sickening sound.
    Lydia ran out through the huge hole and stepped between them, "This solves nothing."
    Ari shook, she cried so hard. Hanna dropped to her knees and screamed into the sky.
    Ophelia gripped the cupboard to stop herself from passing out. The pain in her chest was unbearable.
    Hanna looked at her and started to sob again.
    Ophelia rushed her and wrapped her arms around her.
    "He loved you. He loved you Hanna."
    "I can't bear this." She glared at Ari, "How? How?"
    Ari shook her head, sobbing, "I don’t know. I don’t know what changed."
    Aimee staggered through the hole, "Blake. He helped them perfect the Hellfire bomb." She wrapped her arms around herself.
    She looked frighteningly fragile.
    Aleks put his arm around her, "What happened?"
    Ari sat on her knees, "I pushed Blake. Instead of betraying Aimes to Shane and chasing her out of the house, he found other supernaturals online."
    Aimee cringed, "His guild on the World of Warcraft. He helped me change. He came with me here. He convinced Dorian to help me."
    Aleks shook his head, "So the way it was before, you all remember?"
    Ophelia looked at him, "We got Giselle to use her compulsion to make sure we remembered."
    He nodded, "Like Andy did."
    "She's still in the hospital?" Aimee spoke looking confused.
    Lydia nodded, "Blake never took them to the blood bar. They never recruited him from MIT."
    Aimee looked at Lydia, "Alise is safe. She's at home with dad. They're safe. Shane." Her face flushed as she glanced up at Aleks. His handsome face turned red with hers.
    "You and Shane are together Aimes." He broke into a grin, "Were we together in that other place?"
    Ophelia watched as Aimee slowly shook her head.
    He stopped, "My dad?"
    She shook her head.
    He frowned, "I died?" He sounded completely mystified.
    Aimee swallowed hard, "You and Ben."
    Ben looked at her, "Me?" He looked at Lucas who wiped his eyes.
    Ari shook her head, "I can't seem to make it so we all are okay."
    Aimee wiped her face and walked to Aleks. She wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled into his chest.
    Ophelia couldn’t help but notice how amazingly attractive he was. She looked at Ben. He raised an eyebrow, "If I was dead, then you and I…?"
    She shook her head.
    He nodded slowly, "That’s explaining a few things."
    Lorri burst through the hole in the kitchen wall and stormed over to Ari. She lifted her off the ground.
    "I had him in my fucking hands. In my fucking hands Ari. For fucks sake. I said not to use it. I said no." She dropped her and paced the yard like a wild cat.
    Ari slumped on the grass again.
    Ophelia noticed the way Lucas walked to where Ari sat and put himself between Ari and