Paralyzed In Happiness

Part The Fourth

Summary
In which Sera goes home with Zoie, and a puppy is given a new home.

Part The Fourth

T

he entire house watched her leave. And she didn't look back once.
Tracey was asleep in the passenger seat when Sera made it back to the truck. Zoie was sitting on the hood, playing with her hands, and staring at the gravel driveway.
"Are you alright?" Zoie asked, looking up at Sera.
"Knuckles hurt a little, but aside from that, I'm fine." Sera replied
"Is he alright?"
"Broken jaw, shattered kneecap, but those will heal, I don't know about his pride though."
"Why did you attack him?"
"He was being a dick to my best friend, and... He insulted you."
Zoie's brow furrowed, and she said, "you were standing up for me?"
"Yeah." Sera replied
"Why? You just met me."
"I can't stand when people are assholes to other people for no reason, and besides..."
Tracey shifted in her sleep and drew Sera's attention to her.
"Well... Um... Nevermind, I need to get Tracey home, and call Misty, tell her she was right." Sera said, pulling her keys out of her pocket.
"Um... Actually, I... Well... I wanted to... Never... Nevermind." Zoie replied
Sera raised an eyebrow, which prompted Zoie to blurt out "I really want to keep talking to you, because I really like being with you, and I think you're the most honest person I've ever met."
"Oh... Okay... Um... Well, I guess, follow me in your car, I'm headed to Tracey's and then... Um... Wherever you want to go, I guess."
"Thank you."
Once they made it back into the city, Sera drove to Tracey's house and carried her inside to her room.
As she walked out, she saw a silver Volvo XC90 sitting behind her truck, with Zoie in the driver seat on the phone. Sera leaned against the side of the truck, and watched the artist get more and more excited, until finally she put the phone back in her pocket, and gripped the steering wheel, screaming. After several seconds of this, Sera had to walk over and knock on the tinted window to stop her.
"Hey, what's up? You okay?" Sera asked
"I'm better than okay! My parents are home, and they have a surprise for meeeeeeee." Zoie replied
"Oh, okay. I guess you need to get home then. I'll talk to you later."
"Wait! Come with me."
"What?"
"You said 'wherever I wanted to go,' besides, my parents will be overjoyed that I met someone who doesn't think I'm a freak or make fun of me."
"But... I... Zoie it's like one in the morning."
"Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaseeeeeeeee?"
"Alright, fine, but I can't stay long, I have to get home."
"Yessssssssss! Okay, follow me."
Sera shook her head but got back in the truck and watched the XC90 pull around her and speed off. They drove the entire length of Carron, which isn't saying much, but the small town seemed vaguely sinister in the dark. Dark shapes stood on either side of the road, not a single streetlight shone on the main road, and the little light that did shine came only intermittently, when the clouds parted for a few moments.

Finally, about two miles outside Carron, Zoie turned off the main road, and onto a gravel path, which went on for nearly another two miles. At the end of the path, Sera was met with an enormous house. It looked like it was once a plantation house, built around the late seventeen hundreds, which helped to explain the gargantuan grass fields that extended around it, but several modifications had been made.

Every single visible room was painted a different color, there were six solar panels on the roof, and the front balcony was cluttered with astronomy instruments. The front door was painted purple, and windows were everywhere, of every shape and size.

The two girls walked to the front door, and Zoie turned the knob. As she walked in, Sera was immediately met with an enormous, half-finished painting. The canvas was hanging on the wall above the main stairway, and was at least as tall as Sera, and about four feet across. The background was a black and purple starscape, with a red sun, burning in the center. The foreground seemed to be a pale goddess, stark naked, arms held out to her sides, and black hair, floating above her head.

The bottom half of the canvas was blank, still that creamy, beige-ish color, and Sera looked to Zoie with an eyebrow raised. Zoie just blushed and looked away. A moment later, a sharp little bark was heard from upstairs, and Zoie's eyes widened. She took a quick glance at Sera, and then darted up the stairway. Sera smiled, shook her head, and followed, a bit slower. She eventually found herself in front of an open door, looking into Zoie's room. Two of the walls were full landscape murals, one was a mountain landscape, beautiful blue, snowcapped mounds of earth, with a bright blue River running down middle of the wall, the other mural was of a 1920's ballroom, silver flapper dresses and classy black tuxedos  were abound, the third wall was empty, and the fourth wall, the one to the left of the doorway was the most interesting.

A black rose stood on a red field, grey clouds floated above, and bright blue plasma fell from the sky. It was strikingly uncharacteristic for Zoie, but Sera chose not to question it.

Sera took a small step into the room, and immediately felt like she was falling. She hadn't noticed before, but Zoie's floor was another starscape, bright purple nebulae, deep black space, and blue stars covered the seemingly Wooden floor. Sera's hand found the bedside table next to her, and she stumbled slightly, causing the family's eyes to dart towards her.

"S... sorry, sorry, just... Didn't expect the floor." Sera said, shaking her head

"Who are you?" Zoie's dad asked

"I'm... Just..."

"She's my friend, daddy." Zoie said, holding a tiny fuzzy thing above her head

The dark-haired man's brow furrowed, but he relented, and looked back down at his daughter, playing with her new pet.

"She's a Siberian husky puppy, my friend from CERN told me that his dog was having puppies, and I knew that you would love one, so I said I would absolutely take her off his hands. Maybe she can keep you some company when we aren't here." An angelic voice said, explaining the puppy to Zoie

"She's so cute, Momma. I think I'm gonna name her... Scarlett."

After several moments, Zoie's parents stood up, and said "well, we're gonna head to bed, Kiddo."

"No! Please, I haven't seen you in forever!" Zoie said

"I'm sorry, baby, I have to leave again in the morning." Zoie's mom said, her angelic voice ringing through the room

"At least stay and introduce yourself to Sera."

"Alright."

Zoie's mom turned around and held out her hand towards Sera. "Call me Abby." She said. Abby was gorgeous. Like her daughter, she was albino, with white skin, reddish eyes, and white, but unlike her daughter, she kept her hair pure white, and tied in a bun atop her head.

"I... Um... I'm Sera. Um... Sera Carr." Sera replied, stuttering slightly.

"Very nice to meet you. I'm glad you and my daughter are friends. You seem very nice." Abby said, before brushing past her, and down the hall.

Zoie's father crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at Sera suspiciously. He stood at least six foot four, wore a tweed jacket, dress pants and loafers. He was clean shaven, but seemed like if he grew a beard, it would be very classy, and dignified. He was slightly tanned, with bright blue eyes and reddish-brown hair. Without a single ounce of hesitation, he leaned down and whispered into Sera's ear, saying "If you hurt my daughter, I will end you, and any chance you have of leaving this town."

"Yes sir."

"Glad to hear it. Now, considering it is... Two A.M. stay here for the night, I can't let you drive home in this darkness."

"Um... Yes sir... I... Yes sir."

"Have a good night, Sera."

Zoie's dad left the room smiling, and shut the door

"Um... Wow." Sera said, looking at Zoie.

"What?" She asked, stroking the little grey fur ball

"Your dad is intense."

Zoie shrugged and said "he's a professor"

"Anyway... Um... If I'm gonna stay here tonight, do you mind if I borrow your shower, and... Some clothes?"

"Go ahead, panties are in the top drawer, shirts are in the second, then the other two are pants."

"Um... Do you mind if I just wear a shirt and panties to bed? That's usually what I wear anyways."

"No, that's fine."

"Thanks."

Sera took her time in the shower and didn't come out of Zoie's on suite for nearly twenty-five minutes. When she did, she came out wearing a pair of black, bikini cut panties, and a white t-shirt that was so small on her that it just barely covered her breasts and showed of the slight abdominal muscles that spoke of Sera's strength. Zoie had always pictured Sera as a beautiful woman, but with her strong muscles, and dripping wet hair, she was beginning to see her as a strong, sexy, beautiful woman.

"I think your shirt might be a little small on me." Sera said, smiling.

"I... Um... Think you're right." Zoie replied, maybe, possibly staring a little too obviously

Sera, clearly not noticing, just sat down on the bed, and asked "are you gonna take a shower before bed? Or do you take them in the mornings?"

"Uh... Um.... Yeah, I.... I'll take one." Zoie replied, shaking herself back into reality. She stood up, stroking Scarlett on the way, and quickly grabbed some pajamas out of her dresser, heading to the bathroom. When she shut the door, she saw Sera's clothes neatly folded and sitting on the sink, blue jeans at the bottom of the stack, then maroon panties, G N' R T-shirt on top of that, and finally her denim jacket with the sleeves cut off.

A thought hit Zoie just as she was pulling off her shirt. "She wasn't wearing a bra all night." And that stopped her in her tracks for a few moments. She had just stepped into the porcelain tub, when she heard Sera shouted from the bed room "Hey, Zo' I'm gonna go ahead and go to sleep."

Without thinking, Zoie burst out of the bathroom, completely naked, and shouting "No! Please! I need someone to talk to!"

Sera didn't react to the shouting, instead she furrowed her brow, and looked at Zoie's right, inner thigh, where she saw ten bright red scars. Silently she stood up from the bed, and walked to Zoie, whose heart was racing, and breathing shallow. Sera fell to her knees in front of the Albino artist, and softly touched the scars, whispering "why are these here?"

Zoie's heart stopped. Her body started shaking against her will, and her breathing got even shallower. Her hands clenched into fists, and her knees buckled. Sera just managed to catch her before she hit the floor and, recognizing a panic attack, pulled the artist closer to her, and stroked her hair.