Chapter 3
Zoe was enjoying the drive, farmland spread as far as she could see in the late afternoon sun. It only felt like a few minutes when Mrs. Hopps cleared her throat.
"So, Zoe, you died. Would it bother you to talk about it?"
Zoe really didn't feel like talking about it over and over again, but she owed Mrs. Hopps for taking her in, so she would come clean.
"It kinda does, but I'll tell you since you're being so nice to me. Before, my parents and I were taking a vacation. We were supposed to be going to Disney in Orlando Florida. But a drunk driver hit our car. I died almost instantly. I remember a place of bright light and then I woke up in your pumpkin patch."
Bonnie thought for a minute. Something didn't seem to quite match up.
"Zoe, if you died almost instantly, how did you know it was a drunk driver?"
"That's the other thing Mrs. Hopps. I've never been a normal girl. There were things I could do that my Human parents made me hide to try and keep me safe. I'll explain, and if they make you too nervous, you can take me back to the station and I'll go to the orphanage."
Bonnie wasn't sure what Zoe was talking about. She made it sound very serious and, combined with her white-on-white eyes, she already stood out.
"I doubt that I'll be taking you back. At least as long as what you can do doesn't hurt anybody."
"No, they don't." Zoe paused in order to gather her thoughts. "Do you believe in ghosts Mrs. Hopps?"
"Well, I've heard stories, but nothing has ever been proved."
"Same as where I come from. But I have to tell you that ghosts are real. I've met them, I've talked to them, and I've helped some of them move on."
"Okay" Bonnie said a little slowly. Now knowing about Entry's, she was a little more open minded about other things.
"I also know things sometimes, like the time I took all the stuff off the floor in my bedroom because I knew it was going to flood. Or the time my dad was looking for his car keys and I knew that he'd left them in his coat pocket. And the time I knew that Eric, the six-year-old next door neighbor, was forced to sit in the living room and watch TV while his sixteen-year-old babysitter was having sex with her boyfriend... on his bed."
Bonnie was quiet for a little bit before she asked, "What's it like?"
"Most of the time it's not bad. With all of the ghosts I've met, the more aware ones are usually quite nice and even informative. I remember talking to the ghost from one of the wars on my former planet. He gave me lots of information that I was able to put into an essay I was writing, I even got extra credit on it! Some ghosts are incoherent, they just scream and rage, but they can't hurt you. Those are the ones that are hard to get to cross over because you don't know why they're refusing to move on.
As for the other things, they'll just pop into my head. Sometimes I get so many that they become overwhelming, and I just want to put a pillow over my head until they go away. Sometimes I can touch things and be able to tell things about it. I know that I'm supposed to be here because I can do these things."
After Zoe finished her explanation, she waited for Mrs. Hopps to turn around and take her back to the station. After they'd driven for a few minutes with Mrs. Hopps keeping her eyes on the road, Zoe prompted her. "Mrs. Hopps?"
"Bonnie. Call me Bonnie dear. Or mom if you feel comfortable enough for that. You may have certain abilities, but you are still a 13-year-old girl that needs help and you're now a member of the Hopps clan."
Zoe felt tears running unbidden down her cheeks, soaking into her fur. So far fate had been kind to her. She hadn't been in this new reality for twelve hours yet and she'd already found a new family. She'd never forget her human parents, but this was her reality now and she had a new life to lead.
"Thanks... mom."
Bonnie smiled and sniffed happily at Zoe's acceptance. And if there were tears drying in her fur also, then that was okay. Bonnie and Zoe enjoyed the rest of the ride in silence. Bonnie turned down a dirt road and Zoe could see some small hills ahead lit by the last rays of the sun as it began to sink behind the mountains. The front of the largest hill had a large, two-story entrance built into the face with proportionately large double doors. Spaced around the sides, and probably the back, were smaller covered porches with entrances as well.
Bonnie pulled into the parking lot in front of the main entrance where many other vehicles were parked, all of them with the same logo on the doors. They got out, closed the doors, and started walking toward the hill when the double doors opened, and a troop of bunnies came out. That's the only word that Zoe could think of, there were at least 40 bunnies of all ages from adult to those that were being carried in the arms of the teenage bunnies. Leading them was a short, heavy-set bunny in his mid to late fourties wearing coveralls, a flannel shirt, and a baseball cap. Zoe assumed that this would be Mr. Hopps.
She looked, but she couldn't see Sam anywhere. As the two groups got closer, Zoe noticed that almost all seemed to slow down, if not stop, when they sighted her and noticed her eyes. She could understand that it would be hard to see her with her dark fur at night, but the eyes made her stand out. She could see that some looked at her warily, while some looked at her in fear, especially the younger bunnies. The majority though looked at her with curiosity.
When Bonnie and Zoe got close enough for polite conversation, Mr. Hopps was the first one to speak.
"Bon Bon? What's going on? Who is she and what is she doing here?" He said, pointing at Zoe.
"Stu, this is Zoe. She's the one that was in our pumpkin patch. She's an Entry and they were going to send her to the orphanage. I couldn't let that happen to her so I adopted her."
Zoe saw that several of the bunnies were shocked at that. But she was in her serene state, so she waited to see what was going to happen.
"But Bon Bon, are you sure that was the right thing to do? I mean, a complete stranger? And what's an Entry?"
"Stu," Bonnie began in a harsh voice "I'm sure and you will be too! Zoe is your new daughter. I'll explain about her being an Entry later."
Stu's face fell and he muttered meekly "Yes, Bon Bon."
Bonnie turned to the other bunnies and said "Zoe is your sister now. Help her out while she gets used to everything." She then looked to the left side of the crowd and said "Candace, show Zoe to a room she can use, at least for tonight."
The bunny she talked to was one of the older teenagers, probably about seventeen or eighteen. With the light fading fast it was hard to tell what color her fur was, but it was a light color as it was easier to be seen than others. It was also easier since she wore a cut top blouse that showed off her midriff, as well as some jogging shorts. Zoe could tell that she had her ear pierced as well as her nose because there was a tiny chain connecting the two. It looked kinda nice, but Zoe had no interest in doing the same thing to herself.
Candace motioned Zoe to follow her as she turned and re-entered the house, Zoe right on her heels. As they walked into the tunnel that served as a hallway, Candace asked "So you can see?"
Zoe nodded and said "Yes." She could see that Candace had fur in several shades of cream. Almost white on her belly and the inside of her ears, and darker the more it reached her back. She had pretty grey eyes as well.
"Wicked! Wish I had eyes like yours." This wasn't something that Zoe was expecting, someone being envious about her eyes.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yeah, they're really cool looking. Who wants to look like every other bunny out there? It's why I have my chain; I want to stand out from the crowd."
"Oh."
"Yep. So, which team do you play for? Or are you a switch hitter?"
Zoe was a bit confused. She had no idea what Candace was talking about. "I don't play sports."
Candace laughed "No silly, Are you into boys, girls, or both?"
Beginning to understand, Zoe asked "Into, as in sexually?" If it wasn't for her new demeanor, she wouldn't have been able to ask that question. It was super hard when she brought up the fact that she liked both boys and girls 'in that way' to her parents. She'd known she was attracted to both sexes since she was ten, it just took her that long to work up the courage to tell her parents. Thankfully, they'd been very supportive of her.
Still amused Candace answered "Yeah."
"Both."
Candace smiled and turned her head to look her up and down before facing forward again and saying "Well, if you ever find yourself lonely and wanting company, look me up, okay?"
"Um, okay?"
"You sound unsure. Don't tell me, the place you came from was sexually repressed, correct?"
Thankful for her being able to maintain a peaceful calmness around her, Zoe thought quickly. "You know about Entry's?"
Candace nodded "Did my Junior History Thesis on Entry's."
"Ah. Okay then. Yes, you'd be right. Things are getting better but there are still those that are against same sex anything."
"Pfffftt. Not here. Here, the most taboo thing is Inter-species relationships. If two male rhinos wanted to get married, no problem. But if a male wolf and a female leopard wanted to get married? Armageddon. Even a leopard/cougar mix is frowned upon."
"Sad."
"You said it. You can have this room here. Mary moved out last week and her room is empty." Zoe started to reach for the doorknob when she felt Candace's paw on her shoulder and felt herself turned around and pushed back against the wall. Zoe looked up into the taller bunny's eyes when Candace leaned down and placed her mouth next to Zoe's ear, their cheeks touching.
"Remember" Candace said in a low, sultry tone "if you get lonely, look me up. Anyone can tell you where my room is." She then slowly licked the edge of Zoe's ear from the base up to as far as she could reach. It made Zoe's breath hitch and her heart to start beating fast. Zoe's body was trembling, but not from nerves. Candace then pulled back and, with a smirk, winked before walking further down the hall, leaving Zoe breathing heavily and standing on shaky legs. If it wasn't for the wall, Zoe swore she would have fallen over. Zoe had never felt something so erotic before, even when she'd been exploring her body. She could feel the desire to try and follow Candace, but she was able to reign her emotions in. Her calm center had ceased to exist at Candace's flirtation and teasing.
Still wobbly, Zoe opened the door and practically fell into her new room. How could something so simple affect her so much? She took several deep breaths trying to get her libido under control and was finally able to succeed. She flipped the light switch to turn the overhead light on and then closed the door.
Now that she was more in control of herself, Zoe looked around the room. What looked like a double bed complete with pillows and a blanket. A side table with a lamp. A four-drawer vertical dresser. And a roll top desk with a small desk lamp as well. There didn't seem to be an ensuite. Crap! She needed a shower, even if she had to put the same clothes back on. She'd been laying in dirt. Plus, she was sure that, if she'd been wearing panties, they'd be wet right now.
Placing the stack of magazines and Sam's shirt on top of the dresser. Zoe headed back out into the hall and began looking for the bathroom. She ran across a rather nice younger bunny named Ariel that gave her directions to the bathroom and shower area. She found the door without too much trouble and entered.
There were about a dozen bathroom stalls on one side of the room with sinks and mirrors on the other side, just like a school bathroom. Through an arch on the far side of where she entered, she could see a small room with another arch further on leading into a communal shower area. Zoe figured that, with over 280 rabbits, most of them teenagers or older, that communal shower and bathrooms would be more logical than one in each bedroom.
What she did notice was that both male and female rabbits were using the bathrooms and the showers. Walking forward into the smaller room, she noticed that the left wall had shelves where people were putting their clothes and large carts that contained used towels underneath the bottom shelf. On the right were fresh towels folded and stacked on shelves, some of which were empty while other were partially so.
Zoe decided to use the bathroom before taking a shower. She was so glad that they weren't open stalls. Finishing, she went to the small room, stripped, and walked into the shower area. There were still some bunnies of both sexes there but no one, including her, seemed to be bothered by their nudity.
As she stepped under the shower head and turned on the water, she wondered why Sam was so worried about covering her up. While the water ran over her, soaking her fur, Zoe decided that it must be public nudity that was taboo. Here, among family, nudity was accepted. At least when showering.
Zoe was running her paws over her fur trying to get as clean as possible when she heard someone next to her say "Hey, are you Zoe?"
Zoe stepped away from the stream, opened her eyes, and turned to look at the owner of the voice. It was a young doe about her age with brown fur and eyes. The doe gave a small gasp at seeing Zoe's eyes, but it didn't bother her anymore, she had grown to expect it and had gotten used to it. "Yeah, I'm Zoe, your new sister I guess."
"Sweet! I'm Tessa, pleased to meet you sis!"
"Nice to meet you too Tessa. I'm surprised you know about me already."
"Yeah, well, you know, the Hopps news express 'The news you know about before it happens'. I see you don't have any fur cleaner. You can borrow mine if you'd like. It's my favorite, Furluxe."
Zoe was touched. The family she had found was so nice. She didn't expect everyone to be as nice but so far, her expectations had been exceeded. "That would be great please. I can pay you back when I get a chance. I had only expected to be able to rinse off."
Tessa smiled and handed the bottle to Zoe before she began to lather herself up. "Don't worry about it. We buy the stuff in bulk. With how many of us there are, it's cheaper that way."
Zoe squeezed a generous amount into the center of her paw before placing the bottle in a niche in the wall and lathering herself up as well. After her shower, Zoe thanked Tessa for her kindness as she walked out and grabbed a fresh towel to dry off with.
When she entered her room, Zoe noticed a few new things. One was a clothes basket at the foot of her bed. As well as a small, brown, paper bag. There were girl clothes separated on her bed, with the exception of underwear. Looking down at herself, Zoe could see she didn't really need a bra for support. At least she could see in the shower that it wasn't just her that seemed a little... undeveloped.
There were a couple of shorts, including some very tiny jean shorts. A few T-shirts, blouses, skirts, and dresses. There were even two large sleep shirts. She noticed a small note placed atop the clothes and picked it up to read it.
Zoe was very curious, but decided to put her new used clothes away, which didn't take long. She stripped out of her borrowed clothes and threw then into the dirty clothes basket and put on one of the sleep shirts. It was a simple blue and white striped one, but Zoe liked it.
Finally, being able to satisfy her curiosity about the bag, she delved in. She pulled out her very own bottle of Furluxe which made her smile. She also pulled out a nail file and a nail buffing block, a bottle of clear nail polish, and a fur brush. She also found a toothbrush and some toothpaste. It was the gold-colored box that she saw on the bottom of the bag that caught her attention. She reached in and pulled it out to read the writing on the box - Beastly condoms, Rabbit sized, ribbed for her pleasure. Zoe blinked several times in shock. I'm thirteen! They're expecting me to be having sex? Maybe it's a bunny thing?
One thing she didn't find that she had expected, was any pads or tampons. Condoms, but no tampons. I'll ask in the morning. Placing everything back into the bag for now, she set it on the floor before pulling back the blanket and climbing into bed. The bed was comfortable and seemed to remind her of another bed she had slept in once. Her last conscious memory was the look Candace had given her after licking her ear.