Bring Allie Back

It might have been because it was the right thing to do. It might have been self-preservation. It might have been both.

Aaron pulled out his soul - a brightly glowing mass of white-pink light - and laid it out on the kitchen counter. It didn't move, and Aaron wondered what part of the soul perceived the world around it and decided when and where to wriggle around. The other souls appeared to act on instinct, but looking at "himself" it was as if his spirit knew what he was about to try.

Using the red tweezers, Aaron found that he was able to reach for specific memories or personality traits and pull them out, at the same time feeling the element being lifted out of himself like a spoonful of pudding. It left him feeling slightly hollow, but then the rest of him just flowed into the empty spot and he was whole again - just smaller.

He started with the easy stuff first. Allie's name, original body and sense of gender identity merged together into a red blob that formed a core Aaron was able to move finer details into. Piece by piece, Aaron was able to take out of himself everything that defined Allie as a person, until only the raw **** of her will remained.

Aaron hesitated. Allie was basically a liability now: As soon as she got her body back, she might bolt straight for the door. People might not believe the truth, but they'd definitely at least investigate claims of **** and ****. On top of that, he wasn't sure exactly how sluggish he would become if he gave up the willpower he has stolen from her. He was much worse off than Emily had been that morning, and had been on the verge of being devoured like Natalie had.