Chapter seven

Citrus…and a tiny bit of blood

Zoe

If anyone asked me what I thought was the weirdest part about being a vampire, I would say that it was never sleeping. I was used to going to bed as soon as the sky turned dark. Now, I just continued to stay up. It had only been a week since I started living with these people. They were nice and caring, but it was hard to trust them. It was hard to trust anyone. Well, anyone but Seth. I don't know why I cared about him so much, or why he cared about me, but it was just so easy to be around him. Unlike the other shifters, his scent didn't bother me. I barely smelled the "wet dog" that I was immediately hit with when I approached the others (though according to them, I didn't exactly smell delightful either). Instead, Seth smelled like Pine and the ocean. It was an unusual combination, but one that I found myself attached to. I did wonder what I smelled like to him, but of course talking was a challenge. Now, instead of having trouble talking, my words came out fast and jumbled. Even the vampires had trouble understanding me. So, I stuck to silence.

"Zoe, you need to get dressed," Alice called. I rolled my eyes. I was already dressed. Why did I have to dress again? "Come on, it's good to wear something new every day. Besides, Carlisle wants to start working with you soon." I must've looked confused, because Rose elaborated.

"He wants to help you learn." She said. I knew what she meant. They were trying to get my autism cured. I wished them good luck. Being a vampire couldn't cure everything. At least, I don't think so. But I was willing to give it a shot. After being a Barbie doll for Alice, I went to Carlisle's study. He wasn't there just yet. As I waited, I started to feel nervous. What did "curing autism" entail. A minute later, I began to smell wet dog. A wolf was here. Carlisle came in. Behind him was Rosalie, and Leah. I remembered Leah. She was the one who gave me my first iPad. I loved that thing. I thought about what happened, and was silently grateful Edward wasn't in the room.

"Hey," Leah said with a smile. "So, your name is Zoe?" I nodded. "It's a nice name." She turned to Carlisle, who was holding a box. I stared at it intently, making Rose and Leah laugh.

"Relax Zoe, it's not going anywhere." Carlisle opened the box, and pulled out an iPad. I couldn't help the wide grin that spread across my face. I reached out, but Carlisle held it back.

"Unfortunately, with your strength, you may accidentally crush it. Until we're on hundred percent sure you have control over your strength, Rosalie and Leah will take turns holding it, and supervising it, and keeping an eye on your progress. Now, I had this set up with an app that will help you. It's like what Leah had for you. All I want you to do is work on the app for an hour every day. When you're done, Seth will come over to hang out for awhile. Sound good?" I nodded. Carlisle smiled, and handed the device to Rose. She took it, and led me down stairs.

"Tell you what Zoe, each time you beat a level, we'll install another game on here. Deal?" I nodded, and sat next to her. She opened the app, and let me work on the games. I was only on level one, and they were difficult. Not impossible, but they were challenging. At least Rose was there. Whenever I began to get really frustrated, she would rub my back soothingly. I was just beginning a really frustrating game when the timer went off.

"Hey, you're done," Rose said. I sighed in relief. A minute later, Seth showed up in his wolf form. Using his head, he motioned for me to climb on. I did so, and he took off. We stopped at a water fall. Once I was off, he ran into the woods, and came back in shorts a minute later. He sat down by me, and wrapped his arms around my small frame. He took a deep breath, and exhaled happily.

"What?" I asked. I focused hard on the word. It didn't sound perfect, but he knew what I said.

"It's your scent." My curiosity won out, and I cocked my said to signal the question.

"It's citrus," He said. "And maybe a little bit of blood." I stared at him for a split second, before pointing to the trees and water. He smiled, and hugged me even more.