Once they were inside the house, and Cecilia was as calm as one could be in her situation, Tobias decided it would be as good a time as any to talk to her.

"I am sorry," was the first thing he said.

"I should have been more careful, but I have never had to take care of a newborn vampire before, so I don't know what I am doing. It feels like I am trying my best, but I am still not helping you out. The best thing I can do now is trying to help you control your thirst, your instincts." He said.

Cecilia couldn't help but wonder if he could read her mind. Although that sounded like an excellent idea, she still wasn't sure if she could trust him. The only thing she knew about the vampire world was what he told her, so the information could have been corrupted. Still, she didn't want to harm another living being ever again.

"The taste was delicious, so fresh and satisfying," she thought to herself making her thirst flare up once more.

Quickly, she shook her head trying to shake off those kinds of thoughts and to focus on something else. Instead of thinking about feeding, she started thinking about Tobias, trying to decipher him, to decide whether she could trust him or not.

After a long look into the depths of his calming eyes, she decided that at that point, she had nothing to lose by letting him help her control her vampire side.

"Okay, fine." She said.

"But if I feel like you are not being honest with me, or if I feel that I am in danger, I will leave. I don't want to hurt any living beings, but I don't have to stay here to avoid doing that.

For some reason, I seem to trust you. If you betray my trust, I will not only leave but also make you regret that you ever tried to trick me. Do we understand each other? "She said.

"Yes, perfectly." He said with a small smile.

He loved the fact that she was so strong and determined.

"I can promise you that I will not betray your trust. After all, I just want to help you." Tobias added.

"Okay, so what do we do to help me control my thirst, which by the way keeps flaring up even after I fed on the bagged blood and the poor rabbit?" She asked.

Tobias explained that the thirst of the new vampires was much greater than the one of older vampires, so before he started teaching her anything, he had to give her some more blood to drink.

It occurred to him that she could also feed on him, but he dismissed the idea since he thought it would make her disgusted. Also, it would require a huge amount of explaining since she seemed to have very strange ideas of vampires, mostly what she saw in those terrible vampire movies that humans keep making.

Instead, he went to his fridge and got four more bags of blood deciding that would have to be enough since his supplies were being quickly dilapidated. He didn't expect a newborn would need so much blood, but it was something he should have anticipated.

She finished drinking the blood in a matter of seconds, but at least, made less of a mess than the first time she drank blood.

Once her thirst was satiated, Tobias decided to start helping her learn how to control her thirst because that was the most important thing if she were to mingle among humans.

The problem was that controlling one's hunger was an individual thing. Every individual had a different way of dealing with it, so he started her off with some basics.

He told her about the way thirst worked, how it was an instantaneous reaction, an overwhelming need that was difficult to control.

"Different vampires have different techniques that they use to control their thirst, but all of them have one thing in common, breaking the focus on thirst. Once we are fixated on feeding, it is very difficult to snap us out of it. "

"Some vampires use distractions. They try to divert their eyes from their prey, thus losing the single-minded focus on feeding and regaining some sense of control. That is quite a challenge because no matter who your target is, you don't want to stop yourself from feeding. Even if it is someone you know, a family member or a friend all you can focus on is the scent of blood and your thirst. That is why this method sometimes doesn't work and the majority of vampires use a technique that seems strange but is surprisingly effective." he said.

"What technique is that? " Cecilia asked, more curious than she would ever admit.

"It's a combination of meditation, visualization, and self-control." He said ignoring her quiet snickering.

Then he went on to explain.

"The most important thing is the focus, if we manage to change it, we can do anything. The best way to do that is through meditation, where you clear your head from all the clutter because let's face it, a vampire's mind is too active for its good."

"After you have managed to achieve that, the next step would be to try to sense your aura, to understand yourself better if you want to be able to control your impulses. We never truly know ourselves but that is especially true for you now because you are trying to reconcile who you were with who you are now. "

"You must face the fact that, although some original traits of your personality are still there, you are by no means the same person you were when you were alive. You must understand and accept that and the best way to do it is to reacquaint yourself with you. Once you can feel your aura, you will be in better control of yourself. Another reason is to allow yourself to feed not only on blood but also on the surrounding energy. Sometimes that is the only way and it's also a safer way that satisfies the need temporarily. It is called Psy feeding." Tobias said.

"Sounds weird." she interrupted.

"Well, it is in a way, but it is also very useful, especially when there is no safe option to feed and you need enough energy to keep you going until you reach the food source. It's difficult to explain all the details, but the main thing is that once you can sense your aura you will be able to sense other people's auras, and in that way you can feed on the excess energy some people have and avoid the ones with the lack of energy.

That way, you can avoid hurting anyone and you can still fulfill your own needs. I am here to teach you the basics but it is your own choice how you decide to feed, I can't influence that. Even if you choose to hurt humans, I wouldn't be able to change your decision, I am just here to tell you all the options. Another available option is feeding on someone like you, a vampire." He said, shifting uncomfortably.

"That is possible?" was her reply.

"Yes, it is but it is different for everyone. Some people say it is not as satisfying, while others yet claim that it is much better since it fulfills both their need for the feel of the hunt and the craving for blood. The side effect, so to call it, is that sometimes that creates a deeper connection between two vampires so it is not widely practiced. " Tobias said.

"Have you ever done that?" Cecilia asked.

The sentence came out of her mouth before she had the chance to stop it, although she had a feeling that it was a very personal question to ask. He seemed surprised by the questions but still answered.

"No, I haven't. I had never felt the need to do so." He said.

They spent the next few hours trying to make some progress in her self-control, but she felt as if there was no progress.

"Don't be so frustrated with yourself. You are doing an amazing job having in mind you were turned recently. I think I am pushing you too hard but I saw what your slip up did to you, emotionally, and I want to give you enough tools to stop that from happening again. The fact that I had pricked my finger a while ago and you hadn't jumped to feed off me, tells me that you are doing much better than you think." He said.

Only then did she notice the scent of blood permeating the room being focused as she was on dealing with her aura. Even with the heightened senses, she couldn't focus on both her aura and the outside stimuli which she thought was a good thing since it helped her avoid embarrassing herself in front of Tobias.

"How embarrassing it would have been if I had jumped on him and tried to feed off his blood. He would have thought I was an uncontrollable child. Although I am sure his blood is so delicious, she thought as her fangs slid out.

"Focus!" Tobias snapped her out of her thoughts just before she had the chance to sink her fangs into his bleeding finger.

"Oops!" she said sheepishly.

"Oops, indeed," he said chuckling.

That was when they were interrupted by the buzzing of the intercom; someone was at the gate. Not expecting anyone and not knowing if they were human or not, Tobias asked Cecilia to practice sensing her aura and cautiously went to check who it was. What awaited him was an unpleasant surprise in the given circumstances.