The Vampire Kings Emerald Sunrise

“Ok, I need to head home.  I need to get some studying done before I go to work later.  I’ll come over Saturday.”  I tell Dad.

“Sounds good, princess.  Remember, there are a few people coming over for a small bar-b-que.  Gwen is going to be there as well.”  Dad replies.

“I know, dad. I already told you I like Gwen.  I think she is good for you and I am glad you are happy with her.”  I comment.

Dad pulls me into his arms, giving me one of his killer hugs.  Dad and I are close.  Mom died when I was five.  She was a very successful businesswoman who had gone somewhere in Europe for a few meetings.  There was some accident, and Mom was killed instantly in it.  Dad tried for almost a year to acquire the details of the accident and how Mom died, but he kept running into walls.  What made it so damn tricky was that Mom’s accident happened on foreign soil.  Dad fought the red tape with everything he had, and so did his law firm.  I am unsure if he gave up or found out enough information that he was happy with, but in the end, we accepted that Mom was gone.  Neither Dad nor I had ever met any of Mom’s family.  We knew she was from Sicily, but none of her family visited, and we never went there.  Mom and Dad had met three years before I was born when Dad went over there to attend the wedding of his business partner.  Dad is a very well-respected and well-known lawyer.  He is well-known in both the human and supernatural worlds.  He is one of a hand full of humans that have studied human and supernatural laws.  Many of his clients are from the supernatural world.  For the most part, humans and the supernatural cohabitate well.  There are exceptions, as one would expect.  Hunters are a problem for the supernatural.  There aren’t many, and they tend to keep to themselves.  I know of at least three guilds in the United States and four others scattered around Europe.  Dad has told me about them and what they do.  They sound like terrible people.  It would be fine if they hunted only the bad supernaturals, but they don’t discriminate.  They kill any supernatural they come across.

“Well how is dad?”  Whitney asks.

“He’s good.  He is going to have a small bar-b-que this weekend.  I think he is trying to win some potential clients.  You, Lainey, and Avalon are welcome to come.  I know he won’t care.  He loves the three of you.”  I answer.

“We would love to, but Lainey and I have to attend some pack function that dad is having.  Believe me; I would rather go to the bar-b-que than this function.”  Whitney replies.

Whitney is the daughter of Alpha Preston.  His pack, Dark Coastal Forest, is the sole pack in Southern Florida.  Basically, everything from Orlando down was his territory.  Alpha Preston’s cousin Alpha Rosalynn has all of Northern Florida.  I love Rosalynn; she is a tough bitch and will gladly put any man, of any species, in his place if he thinks a woman can’t be Alpha or in charge.  Her pack respects her, and I know Alpha Preston has her back no matter what.  I let Whitney know I understand, and she says I am welcome to come with them as well.  I have been to their pack before, and everyone was more than welcoming.  I tell her I might pop in after the bar-b-que.

“Where is Avalon?”  I ask.

“Remember she had to go home this weekend.  It was her younger twin sister’s birthday, and her parents wanted her home.  Avalon was going to go home anyways.  There is no way she would have missed their birthday.”  Lainey replies.

“Damn, I forgot about their birthday.  I should have gotten them something.”  I comment.

We had become extremely close since I started here at 16.  I graduated high school just two months before I turned 16.  When I was in grade school, everyone thought I was slow, but it turned out I was bored, and the lessons were too slow for me.  The school asked Dad if they could test me, and I guess the test revealed that I was advanced.  When I turned 10, they had me take an IQ test which showed I had an IQ of 150.  It turns out that Dad has an IQ of 150 as well.  I must have inherited my brains from him.  They quickly moved me up several grades, and I found myself in high school when I was 12.  Most of the kids were nice, but I know a few felt intimidated, so I tended to keep to myself.  I met Whitney, Lainey, and Avalon during freshman orientation here on campus.  They were shocked to learn how young and intelligent I was.  They decided to look out for me, and we became inseparable.  Avalon is a vampire; her parents are two of the king's highest advisers.  I have met them a few times and others from the coven; they have all been lovely.  Dad has worked with the king, but I have never met him.  

“Well, ladies, I am going to go study and then head to work.”  I tell them.

They both nod at me and return to the show they are watching.  I shake my head and walk into my room.  The four of us share a sizeable six-bedroom house.  Whitney and Avalon’s fathers didn’t want them living in the dorms, so they went in together and bought this house for them.  I moved in with them within the first week of school.  I open my books and read a few pages.  I really don’t need to study that much.  Besides being so damn smart, I also have a photographic memory.  I lay back on my bed and relaxed.  I am double majoring in art history and art.  I have been drawing and painting since I could hold a pencil or paintbrush.  I have even sold a few of my paintings.  I currently work as a tattoo artist.  Yes, I have a couple; they are my original drawings.  One is on my right thigh and is a tribute to my mother.  The largest is my back piece.  It is of a large castle high in the mountains.  I have recurring dreams of this castle and a few people, but I can’t ever see the people clearly.  I stand up and stretch and get ready for work.  My shop is open till midnight, so I start at two in the afternoon.  I primarily work Friday, Saturday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Tuesday and Wednesday, I don’t have classes till the afternoon because I can work later on those days.  I love my job.  I grab my hoodie and bag and head out for work.

I let out a quiet groan.  I wonder how much longer this professor can drone on and on about this shit.  Don’t get me wrong, I love all of my classes, and my professors are excellent, but this one is boring.  His monotone voice can put everyone in this lecture hall to sleep.  I almost laughed as I looked around and noticed a few students were asleep.  Thankfully this is my last class of the day.  I begin to put my stuff away and leave as soon as this class ends.  I stand up and walk out.  I am going to my favorite cafe.  I found it a couple of months after I started my freshman year.  It is not far from our house and close to campus.  There are quite a few students who are regulars here.  I sit at my usual table, taking out everything I need to finish my work.

“Here you go Sienna.”  Lydia says.

“Thanks, Lydia.”  I reply.

Lydia and Harlod own this cafe.  They make the best coffee and food.  Lydia placed my large iced vanilla blackberry mocha with oat milk down in front of me, along with the chicken salad sandwich I ordered.  Everyone cringes at me when I order my coffee, but I love the combination of vanilla, blackberry, and mocha.  Please, everything goes with chocolate.  It was found that I was extremely lactose intolerant when I was born.  After mom tried to breastfeed me,  but I got sick, they tried a bottle that had the same result.  The doctor immediately realized that it must be the milk in the formula.  They had to put me on lactose-free formula.  Dad said Mom was upset that she couldn’t breastfeed me, but Dad told her it wasn’t her fault.  I guess several members of Dad’s family are lactose intolerant.  Not as bad as I am, but close.

Slip my earbuds in and start looking at what I need to do.  I have been in the cafe for about an hour when I feel the weight of someone's eyes on me.  I look up and into the most fantastic pair of golden eyes, I have ever seen.  They remind me of fire.  They are golden with flecks of red within them.  I look at who they are attached to.  I have never seen him in here before.  He is tall, probably around 6’6”, with long dark brownish blond hair and those amazing golden eyes.  I can tell he is a vampire but isn’t as pale as most vampires I have seen.  I guess the best way to describe his skin tone is sun-kissed.  Shaking my head, I tare my eyes away from the gorgeous man.  I need to focus.  I have never had a boyfriend.  Considering I was much younger when I started high school and college, most guys feared me because of my age.  Honestly, I never really cared that much about dating.  I can hear him talking with the two guys that he is with.  There are two things that no one knows about me.  One is I have extremely good hearing.  I can hear someone talking even if they are whispering.  The other is that I am stronger and faster than I look.  I might only be 5’4”, but I have taken down a guy three times my size.  I must control how fast I move, or it freaks people out.  Dad doesn’t even know about those things.  I look back up, but the guy is gone.  I sit there for another hour and then decide to walk back home.  As I walk home, I feel that I am being watched.  I discreetly look around, but I don’t see anyone.  I can feel someone watching me.  I look around one last time before walking into the house, but again no one is there.

“Was the cafe busy?”  Avalon asks.

“Not really, just a typical Monday afternoon.  How was the birthday party?  If I would have known I would have gotten them something.”  I tell Avalon.

“The party was fun, and don’t worry about it.  They got tons of presents.  The king even got them a few presents.  Those two are spoiled.”  Avalon comments.

The two of us laugh.  Her younger sisters just turned 13, and they are a handful.  They like to come here and hang out with us.  I have drawn and painted a couple of pictures for both of them, and they love them.  I am pretty sure they have shown them to all of their friends. 

“Your show is this weekend right?”  Lainey asks.

“Yeah.  It is on Saturday from noon till 4pm.”  I tell them.

I always attend my shows but as a guest.  I want people to appreciate my art and buy it because they love it.  Considering I just turned 19 a month ago, I don’t think anyone would believe that a 19-year-old girl could produce are like that.  Everyone thinks I am crazy, but this is how I want it.  I know a few were irritated because they didn’t get to meet me, but this is how I want it.  Maybe I will present myself to the world in a few years, but this is how it will be.  I step into the shower in my ensuite and let the hot water warm me up and relax my muscles.  I still see those golden eyes every time I close mine.  I have no idea who that guy was.  All I know is that he is way out of my league.  I could tell he was someone important.  I pull on a pair of pajama pants and a light long-sleeved shirt.  We might live in Miami, but it was cooling down and was overcast with a light rain today.  I sat down on my bed and picked up my sketchbook.  Before I knew it, I was looking at the guy from the cafe.  I look up when my door creeks open to reveal Lainey standing there.  She comes over and lays down beside me.  Out of the three girls, I am closest to Lainey.  We just clicked when we met. 

“Who is that?”  She asks.

“I don’t know, just some guy that I saw at the cafe today.”  I tell her.

“He must have made an impression on you since you are drawing him.  He looks very sexy.”  She comments.

“He was and had the most gorgeous golden eyes I have ever seen.”  I add.

I describe his eyes to her, and she is amazed.  She says she has never heard of anyone with eyes that color before.  I tell her that I have never seen eyes that color before.  She does tell me that he reminds her of someone, but she can’t tell me who that is.  I tell her not to worry about it.  I don’t expect to see him again.  I might if he happens to be a regular at the cafe, but I don’t think he is.  This was the first time I had seen him there.  I close my sketchbook and lay it on the table by my bed.  I had drawn another two pictures of him, one a close-up of his stunning golden eyes. 

“Why can’t I get him out of my mind?”  I mumble to myself.

I have never had a guy affect me like this.  I have no idea why he is.  The house is quiet, letting me know that the others are asleep.  I can hear Whitney mumbling something in her sleep.  I continue to lie there in the quiet of my room.  I turn over and close my eyes as they become heavy.  Those golden eyes flash in my head as I drift into dreamland, where I see that guy.