The Vampire Ambassador
Chapter 6

I woke up to the gentle hum of a lawnmower going next door. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up in bed, stretching out my arms. I looked at the small clock on the bedside table and was shocked to see that I had slept nearly 17 hours; it was eight in the morning.

I got up and went into the living room to find a duffel bag full of clothes. I grabbed a pair of Nike shorts and a tee shirt since the weather was beginning to warm up. I fixed myself a piece of toast while I ran the shower to warm it up.

The hot water was heavenly; when I showered the other night I was apparently too drunk to appreciate the warmth of the shower. I took my time to wash my hair and lather up, washing the dirt away from the past few weeks.

I made sure to shave my legs and every other area of my body that might have hair, since that luxury wasn't given to me at Johnathan's. I stepped out of the steamy shower and decided that I would let my hair dry in the sun.

I got dressed and stepped outside, looking around for a good secluded spot to bask in the sun. There was a little patch of grass behind the apartment so I took myself there and laid down. I had grabbed a towel from the bathroom so I had laid it out to avoid grass from getting all over my clean skin.

I wasn't sure how long I was there before my phone chimed. I sat up and looked at the message from Maya.

Rex and I will be at the party, for sure. We are planning 2 get there early in case u do. Just txt me when ur on ur way.

I smiled at the thought of having my friends back. Even if Erik and I couldn't make amends, at least I had them.

K, sounds good. I'll b with uncle Harry and aunt Sonya. I'll txt when we leave here.

I set the phone to the side and shut my mind off, enjoying the sound of nature and the lawnmower running a few houses down.

I had sat in the sun for nearly 3 hours when my stomach growled. I collected my towel and went back into the apartment to find there was a Styrofoam container on the counter with a note from Sonya.

I noticed you were enjoying some alone time, but I fixed this for lunch. Thought you would enjoy a home-cooked meal.

Call if you need anything.

-Sonya

The kind gesture was enough to send the tears flowing over my cheeks. These people were really true to their word on taking care of me, and I was forever grateful for them.

I opened the container to find fresh chicken salad, some pita bread, and fruit. I began to eat and nearly melted when the food hit my taste buds. I finished it quickly, savoring every bite. I threw the container in the trash before I grabbed a coke and decided to turn on a movie in the living room.

I was smack in the middle of dying from laughter as I watched a Madea movie when a knock came from the door. I paused the movie and cautiously went to the door, peeking through the peep hole.

I opened the door with a smile as uncle Harry stood in the doorway.

"Hey," I said, "Everything okay?"

"Just wanted to check on you," he answered, "And make sure you didn't need anything."

"I'm great," I replied, "Thank you again for everything. And the lunch Sonya brought was delicious."

"She thought you might enjoy that," he said with a chuckle, "I wanted to invite you to dinner. It will just be us, and we would love the company."

"Of course," I replied, "What time?"

"Should be ready in about an hour," he answered, looking at his watch, "If that's okay with you."

"Perfect with me," I said, "It's not fancy or anything, is it?"

"No," he answered with a smile, "Just a casual dinner." I smiled and nodded. "Great, I'll be there."

"Alright," he said before he walked away. I shut the door and went over to the duffel bag, digging through the clothes to find something to wear. I finally found some skinny jeans and a semi-nice shirt, so I put those on. I pulled my hair up into a neat bun and slipped on some tennis shoes that Sonya had let me borrow.

I went out the front door and walked up the stone driveway to the front of the house. I rang the doorbell and smiled when Sonya opened the door.

"I'm so glad you came," she said excitedly, wrapping me in a hug, "I made beef wellington and sides."

"Sounds delicious," I said as we walked into the large entryway. The walls were all original and wooden, but the house was huge. There was a large staircase to the right leading upstairs, with a hallway beside it and to the left. We went through the hallway beside the staircase to a grand dining area off of the kitchen. Uncle Harry was at one end of the table reading the newspaper while I sat in the chair closest to me.

After I sat down Sonya brought out the main course and sides all scattered on the table. I waited for her to sit down and begin fixing her plate before I started on mine. Uncle Harry put his newspaper down and began to fix his when I took my first bite.

Man this woman can cook.

"This is amazing," I said in-between bites, "It's the best I've ever tasted!"

"Well thank you," Sonya said as she chuckled. I kept eating until I literally could not fit another bite into my body. I set my silverware across my plate and sat back in the chair some as I tried to get the food to move through my stomach.

"You ready for round three?" Uncle Harry laughed. I smiled and shook my head. "No thank you, I don't think I could eat another bite."

"Well," he said, sitting up as he wiped his mouth with a napkin, "I have some news for you. Your Uncle Johnathan will be there tomorrow night. I want you to know the whole council will be there to back you up if he tries something stupid."

"Doesn't the council think I took the crown?" I asked, sipping the wine Sonya had poured for me earlier. Uncle Harry nodded. "They do. But it will look odd that you will be there considering he made a statement to apologize on your behalf that you would not be at your first public outing due to not feeling well."

"Oh," was all I could manage to say as I swirled the wine in my glass.

"If he approaches you," uncle Harry continued, "Just be yourself. If it feels like the appropriate time to make a statement about what really happened, the council will back you on whatever you chose to do."

"I am going to try to keep a discreet profile," I replied, "My only mission at this party is to get to Erik and explain to him the truth."

"Should be easy enough," Sonya said, "Considering it is a masquerade ball."

"True," uncle Harry replied, "But I'm afraid those eyes will give her away." He looked at me with a warm smile and I nervously bit my lip.

"Yeah," I chuckled, "That is how most people recognize me."

We continued the rest of the conversation with small talk, mainly about my parents and how close they really were to them.

I was helping Sonya clean up dishes when uncle Harry walked over with a whiskey drink and leaned against the counter.

"Come to my study," he said, nodding his head toward a small room off of the living room. I dried my hands and followed him into a small room with a desk, bookshelf, a small chair in the corner, and filing cabinets. He walked over to his desk and began to dig through a drawer while I stared at a picture on a table of him, Sonya, my mother, and my father.

"Little did your mother know," uncle Harry said as he set a manila folder on his desk, "She was pregnant with you in that picture."

"You were all so young," I chuckled, looking at my dad without a speck of gray hair and my mother without a single wrinkle.

"We were," he replied as he walked over to me, "I think late twenties, if I'm not mistaken." He handed me the folder and smiled. "I've been doing some research on you. I figured you might want this copy to learn more about your great-great grandmother, Iris."

Iris?

"You mean Queen Iris?" I asked in astonishment. He nodded. "Yes, the most powerful vampire to set foot on this earth." I took the folder in my hands and sat down in the small chair. I started to open the folder but decided I wanted to look at it on my own. I sighed as I closed the clasp on the back.

"Can I tell you something?" I asked as I looked up at uncle Harry, "And it has to stay between only us."

"Of course," he answered, "What is it?"

"You know I died, right?" I said, "That night I killed Malachi. I actually died for a little while." I took a deep breath before I began the story. "I woke up after I died in this most beautiful place; I guess like heaven for humans. My mom and dad were there, and all of the ancient vampires. Including Queen Iris.

"We made a connection and that's where I have been fueling my powers from. I already had the powers, obviously, but after my connection with Iris they increased. Like they went into supercharge mode. When she took me through the portal, I woke back up like nothing had happened and I was just asleep or something.

"But what she told me before she sent me back was that my job was to unite the kingdoms like before. I'm still figuring that part out, but I know with time I can do it."

I took another deep breath as I watched uncle Harry's eyes grew bigger. "And Iris told me that soulmates are real."

"Of course they are," uncle Harry said, "I know because I am one."

"Really?" I asked, "So...can the bond be broken? Because ever since Johnathan kidnapped me or whatever Erik will not respond to me. I know he has been bringing all kinds of women home and drinking himself to death, so I figured after he slept with someone else that broke the bond."

"It is nearly physically impossible for someone to sleep with someone else who is not their soulmate," he said, squatting down to me, "Whatever Johnathan did to you, he must have done to Erik. Or maybe even some type of memory eraser."

"But I saw another woman with him the night I escaped," I replied, tears beginning to stream down my face as I tore my gaze from him, "It felt like someone pulled my heart out of my body that night. I can't seem to fill the void that is there; it's just a big knot of hate right now. I figured that if Erik saw me maybe he would realize how strong our bond was and everything would be okay."

"If he slept with someone else," he said, "One of you would nearly die. Like I said, it's almost impossible for it to happen. It's almost as if the physical touch is like a reverse magnet. I promise you once he feels your presence in the room tomorrow night everything will change."

He stood up and looked at me. "What I don't understand is why you didn't get away from Johnathan sooner, if you have those powers from Queen Iris."

"I don't want anyone to know what I can really do," I said at almost a whisper, "Only Erik knows how strong I really am, and I would like to keep it that way as long as I can. I feel like it would maybe be an advantage to possible enemies; they don't know what I can do so they basically run in with blind eyes."

"Spoken like a true queen," he said, nearly beaming with pride, "So I take it you didn't want the crown because you didn't want to leave Erik?"

"Exactly," I said, wiping my eyes.

Uncle Harry handed me a tissue as I stood up. "Don't you worry about anything. My lips are sealed with your secret, Mel. The one thing your father always told me is that if anything ever happened to him or your mother that I would always take care of you, and I plan to stick to that promise to the best of my abilities." He wrapped his arms around me, squeezing my shoulders.

"Thank you so much," I whispered as the tears began to trickle out again.

"You are very welcome," he replied as we stepped away from each other, "Now go and get some rest; it's late." I looked at the clock and noticed it was nearly midnight, so I went to the kitchen and told Sonya my goodbyes before retreating back to the apartment.

I tried to sleep but my mind kept racing with questions. If Erik couldn't break the bond, why was he ignoring me? Surely if he heard me at least one of those lonesome nights he would reach out.

I finally stopped looking at the clock around three in the morning when my tear-stained eyes couldn't stay open anymore and I drifted to sleep.

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