Disclaimer: I do not own True Blood, only Emily.
AN: This is my first fan fiction, so please review and tell me what you think.
Ey Joey!" I yelled from the living room of my apartment. I tried maneuvering my way around the stacks of boxes, but was only causing a lot of self damage in the process. My roommate Joey jogged out from his bedroom at the end of the hallway and looked at me curiously.
"What?' he asked, as if he really didn't notice my situation.
"I thought you were going to move these boxes this morning?" I couldn't help but be slightly annoyed, since Joey did have a tendency to be obnoxiously lazy.
"Emily, you know you can't rush me." He told me evenly.
"Just get them done by the time I get back." I yelled over my shoulder as I turned around and tried moving over a set of taped fed ex boxes.
"Why do you want them moved so badly? It's not like you ever bring a guy over here." He told me jokingly.
"Ouch. But what if I come home tonight with a guy you like, and you are unable to seduce him like you do to all of my other straight boyfriends, because the place is a mess and it kills the mood?" Joey had a hobby of seducing straight guys, and then dumping them the next day, just to show me that he could do it. Frankly, I didn't care if he was gay or not, or if he could get any guy he wanted.
"Okay, fine, I get the point. It'll be semi decent by the time you get back." He promised.
"It had better be, because if I have to clean up your mess one more time I might kill you." I threatened, finally reaching the door and opening it. The sun was just setting, and the combination of orange and yellow clouds made the sky look like it was on fire. I let a small smile form on my face from the sight.
"Hey, when are you moving out?" he shouted as I turned to close the door.
"When I get my paycheck tomorrow, I'm going to talk to Sam Merlotte. I should be out by the end of next week, if everything goes to plan. But don't think that just because I'm moving out that I'll let you destroy your apartment. I'll move in right next to you if I have to." I threatened.
"Wouldn't that be defeating the purpose of kicking you out?" he questioned as he picked up a box and headed into his room.
"I love you too ass hole!" I shouted before closing the door. I waved to Arlene across the lot who was glaring at me, obviously disapproving of my word choice. I jogged to my car since I knew I was already late, and fumbled around in my purse for my keys. The white paint on my car was chipped and wearing off, and it sometimes stalled in reverse, but it got me places. I would have bought a new one if I hadn't been saving up for the apartment.
I got paid well at my job, but I had been working for a short amount of time. I was sure that in the not so distant future I wouldn't have to worry about money anymore, but I wasn't there yet. Arlene glared at me as me and my monstrous car as I rolled out of the lot and down the road, out of Bon temps.
I walked into the supermarket twenty minutes later, grabbing a red basket by the door. Joey had a party the other night, and every crumb of food we had was gone. I made him give me fifty bucks for food, which he gave up reluctantly, and in turn led me to this location. I walked slowly, in no rush to return the messy confinements of my shared apartment. I grabbed some lettuce and cucumbers, a few tomatoes and carrots, suddenly in the mood for some fresh salad. I threw some pasta boxes into the basket, and then headed over to the frozen food isles. The store was practically empty at the late hour. I knew I shouldn't have waited until night to go shopping, because it was dangerous, especially for me since I wasn't completely human.
But all I had to do was get some pizza and milk, and I would be on my way. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't going to be that easy. I got a box of pepperoni, soft crust pizza for tonight, since I was in no mood to cook anything, and then walked to the freezers in the way back. It was chilly, and goose bumps rose on my bear arms.
I opened one of the doors, and the rush of cool air felt nice against my face. I looked through the shelves. At the top was the true blood, of all different flavors, and the bottom held the milk. There had been huge controversy about putting these two drinks in the same freezer, which I didn't understand. The cartons weren't even touching each other. So I reached down and grasped the cardboard container, just as a body came to a halt next to me. I looked up as the person reached above me for the top shelve, their pale arms standing out against their black shirt. I stepped away with my milk and looked into the face of the vampire. Any moment now he was going to smell the difference in my scent, and turn to look at me, fangs extended. That was the reaction most vampires gave me anyways.
His hair was dark, and he looked young, too young to be turned into a vampire. It sent a pain through my heart for some reason. I had never felt bad for a vampire before, why now? I could see tattoos peaking out of the color of his dark shirt, and couldn't look away from them, even as the vampire turned to look at me. His face was not what I expected. It wasn't hungry, but curious. His fangs weren't even out. He held the case of true blood at his side, and finally, remembering common courtesy, I looked up into his face.
The first thing I noticed was how dark blue his eyes were. They were so soft for a vampire. His face was strong and angular, and absolutely beautiful. I couldn't look away from his breathtaking beauty, and my mouth even hung open slightly. I knew I looked like a complete idiot, but I couldn't help the sudden attraction I had to him, even though it was incredibly dangerous.
"Hello." He said finally in a soft, quiet voice.
"Hi." I managed to squeak out. And then remembering my manners, "Sorry for staring." Silence followed, and I swore I saw the corner of his mouth twitch.
"If you'll excuse me." He said after a while, smiling kindly.
"Oh yah, of course, sorry." I stammered out, thanking whatever god there was that he didn't ask any questions, didn't try to glamour me, or didn't threaten me. He just eased by me with grace and ease, and walked to the checkout lanes, me following shortly. Seven was the only one open, with its green sign lighted up. I walked over there to stand behind the vampire who seemed to be arguing with the cashier.
"We don't except no fangers money here." The kid said, and I saw he was no older than eighteen, with acne all over his face.
"I understand that, sir, but you seem to be the only store open at this hour. All I want is to take this bottle of tru blood. I have money." The vampire said calmly, not affected at all by the rude cashier. I, however, was furious that any sane human would talk to someone like that.
"You heard me, vampire. I'm asking you to leave the store now, before I call the officials." The boy threatened, and he had the guts to try and look intimidating against the vampire. That was where I lost it, unable to hold my tongue any longer.
"Excuse me." I interjected, stepping forward and reading his name tag. "Mark, right?" I asked him kindly.
"Yah." He said dumbly, looking my body up and down. I tried not to shiver underneath his gaze, but I didn't like him.
"Aright then, Mark. I was just wondering why you wouldn't except the kind mans money." I asked, my voice holding that sweet tone, but it was stony and cold at the same time. I set my basket down and clasped my hands in front of me.
"Well, he's a fanger, ma'am. We don't except their money here." He told me after a pause where he had to think over the answer.
"Are you sure it's the store that doesn't accept the money, or is it just you?" I asked.
"Now hold on a second—" he started, but I held up my hand.
"This store sells cartons of tru blood. When I was over there not a moment ago, you had some missing, which then leads me to believe that people have bought tru blood from this location. Now why don't you explain to me why a store that doesn't like vampires would sell a drink only meant for vampires?" I stumped him, because his mouth hung open as he tried to think of an answer. "First of all, I suggest you close your mouth, cuz you might swallow a fly. And second, take this man's money." I made my voice as threatening as possible, but I knew I didn't look to intimidating. My features were too soft, so some people said, to be threatening to anyone
It wasn't normal for me to stand up like this to total strangers, but I could only imagine how I would be treated if my own secret got out. And I didn't like how this cashier associated this vampire with all of the murderous, disgusting creeps out there. From what I saw, the vampire looking at me curiously right at this moment, drilling holes into the side of my head, was different from all of the others.
"Ma'am—" he started again, his face becoming serious as he struggled to come up with a bull shit comeback.
"Is you manager working tonight?" I asked, and I took his silence as a yes. "Well then, why don't we just bring him down here, and tell him about this situation. I'm sure the man who ordered the tru blood in hopes to achieve vampire customers will understand why you won't accept the vampires money." I place my hands on my hip and waited for him to answer.
"That won't be necessary." He said finally.
"I didn't think so. Now open that cash register of yours, and take his money. In fact, take half off, to pay for the man's trouble." I added as a second thought. The vampire tried to interject then, making the first sounds since I started this little fight, but I put my hand up, right in front of his face since we were so close, and he stayed silent. The kid didn't move and I sighed. "Well?"
And finally his hand was held out, and he accepted the ten dollar bill, giving the vampire back more change than was needed since he was taking half off.
"Er, I'm pretty sure that's only about ten percent, kid." I told him, watching the screen above the conveyer belt that showed the price due and the change given.
"No, that's half off." The kid argued.
"Dude, do you think I look stupid? A three year old can tell that when you pay $9.98 for something, and only get one dollar back, it's not half." I sat on my hip with my eyebrows raised, waiting while he grumbled some stuff about me and grabbed the rest of the money, handing it into the pale, outstretched hand.
"Thank you." I said kindly, putting my own stuff on the conveyer and paid. After a moment, I looked over to see the vampire had disappeared. I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, but I guess I should have been grateful he didn't stick around. I knew I smelt good to vampires, which always put me in constant danger. The cashier put my things in a bag, and I took it with another thank you, wishing him a good night, and getting more grumbled curses in return.
I walked outside, into the fully dark night. The parking lot was deserted besides about five or so cars, and I ehaded over to my piece of junk one. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up suddenly, like someone was watching me, and I picked up my pace, feeling my heart beat race. I got to my car and unlocked it, throwing open the door. Only then did the person watching me make his appearance, suddenly appearing right behind me.
"Excuse me." He said quietly, and I tried not to jump a food in the air. I took a deep breath, throwing the bags into the open door and turning to face him.
"Yes?" I asked politely, since I was raised to do so.
"I wanted to thank you." He told me quietly, and I found myself relaxing just by the sound of his voice.
"For what, making sure the kid did his job?" I asked, my voice breaking a little. He smiled a little sadly, and I felt like I wanted to reach out and touch his face, take the sadness away from his eyes.
"I'm not going to hurt you." He told me calmly, and for some odd reason I believed that this vampire wouldn't. "My name is Godric." He introduced himself.
"Emily." I said kindly, although telling him my name was against my better judgment. He had such an odd name, a dead giveaway that he was a lot older than he looked. "Why didnt you just glamour the kid into letting you get the drinks?" I asked him suddenly, and instantly regretted it. How rude it was to ask something like that. But he laughed lightly, not offended at all.
"If he didn't want me buying the drinks, I wasn't going to buy them. Glamoring him is just like taking it by force, and I wish not to take advantage of that gift." He told me calmly with a slight smile.
"Oh." I said lamely.
"Why did you do it?" he asked after a long and awkward silence. Awkward for me, at least. He didn't seem uncomfortable in the least while he continued to stare at me.
"I don't like prejudice." I said instantly, hoping he believed it since that was half true. He tilted his head slightly, looking deep into my eyes like he was trying to find something. Finally I couldn't take it any longer, and I lowered my own eyes, staring at my shoes.
"It was nice meeting you and all, but I think I should get going." I said, inching towards my car.
"Yes, of course." He said quickly, smiling at me kindly as I sat in my seat. "Thank you once again, Emily." My heart skipped a beat at the sound of my name in his voice, and I prayed that he hadn't noticed.
"You're welcome, Godric." I said quietly, starting the roar of my engine and pulling out of the parking lot. I watched in the rearview mirror as he disappeared into the night behind me. I didn't realize there was a slight smile on my lips until I dropped the groceries off at the unclean apartment before heading to work.
I was an interior decorator, and I loved my job. It took so long for me to get the business started, but now that I had, I was doing great. I did a lot of houses, but I had done small business already, like Merlotte's bar in Bon Temps. Usually I would consult with the client, and then go to my team and pitch my idea. We'd d the next week or so (we tried to take no longer than six days) designing interiors of houses or buildings. And it was a lot of fun and allowed me to show my artistic side.
The job I had tonight was in Shreveport, and I fished the address out of the pockets of my skinny jeans. They insisted on seeing me at night, but some of my clients were odd like that. I had this one guy who would not see me on a Tuesday because he said it was bad luck. Another client refused to have any color, object, or shape that started with a p in their living room, and once I finished, I was forced to stand in the middle of the room while she scanned everything to check that I was accurate.
So I thought this was just going to be another one of those clients, until I got to my destination. I triple checked the address, and once I was sure of it, I bashed my head against my steering wheel with a groan. I parked my car on the side of the building with the glowing sign that read Fangtasia. Shreveport's famous vampire bar. Just my god damn luck. I thought about turning around and leaving, but thought better of it. I was going to get a huge chunk of money tonight. I always took half of the amount the designing was going to cost before I started, and these people were paying big. It was going to finalize my moving plans.
So I checked my make up in my mirror, and stepped out of the car. I was wearing black skinny jeans and black flats with a dark blue blouse that hugged my curves too much for my liking. I wouldn't have minded on any other occasion, but when I was around vampire, things got a little dangerous.
I opened the front door and stepped into the bar. Everything was black, with the exception of a splash of dark blue or red here or there. It was boring, and definitely not my taste. I actually felt excited to start, since it was such a wide open space, sort of like a blank canvas.
I was given a moment before a tall, beautiful woman appeared in front of me. I didn't flinch or scream, and my heart beat stayed the same which I was thankful for. I merrily just looked into the face of the blonde headed, red lipped vampire.
"Well aren't you just adorable." She drawled in a thick southern accent, and let her fangs extend a little.
"I'm the interior decorator." I introduced myself, and she frowned, turning on her heal and walking away.
"This way." She called over her shoulder when she found I wasn't following her. I walked forward, feeling extremely loud from my footsteps. She moved silently, even in three inch heels, and I wondered how she did. She led me to the back of the bar where I was shown an open door. Inside was a small office with a desk and a couch. Behind the desk was the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. His hair was blonde, his eyes blue, his muscles rippling and his face flawless. I was dumbfounded, but didn't show it.
Instead I walked in and sat in the chair in front of his desk, crossing my legs and holding a clip board in my lap. His head was bent over some papers, and he didn't look up for the longest time. I stayed quiet, and tried not to show how uncomfortable I was. Finally he looked up, and seemed shocked by what he found, because his eyes widened and then he smiled a wide, shit eating grin.
"Well hello." He said in a seductive purr that made me want to melt in a puddle right then and there.
"Hi, I'm Emily, the interior decorator." I introduced myself with a smile, making sure he knew this was just business.
"Yes, it seems you are." He eyed the clip board and the looked back up at my face, his eyes lingering on my cleavage. "What did you think of the bar?" he asked me, eyebrows raised in a silent warning.
"I think it has great space that when filled correctly could bring in even more customers. But I wanted to add a little color, because it looks a little dark." I said, itching behind my ear even though it didn't itch.
"Isn't dark and depressing what vampires are all about to you humans?" he asked me curiously, lacing his fingers together.
"I guess so, but I was just thinking about splashes off red, like drapes on the walls, or a red couch. Nothing like hot pink or lime green because like you said, this is a vampire bar, not Disney land." I waited for his response, but he only nodded slowly, looking off into the distance. He tilted his head to the side as if he heard something, and then smiled.
"Ah, Sookie." He said, right before the door opened and a beautiful blonde walked in.
"Alright, Eric, I'm here. Now what did you want?" she asked him, resting and hand on her hip. I liked her instantly, and more importantly, I liked the dress she wore. It was dark blue, with bright red flowers scattered around. It was tight against her body until her hips, were it flew out in a flowing skirt.
"Actually, I want it to look exactly like her dress." I noted, turning back to Eric who was looking at me comically. "Well, not exactly, but with the same colors. Just image the blue is black. The black could be the dark, dominating side of the vampire, but then the bright red could be the seductive side because red is sexy, isn't it?" I asked, looking between Eric and Sookie, waiting for any confirmation that I was right or wrong.
"Sookie." Eric invited, moving his hand in my direction. She sighed, and walked up to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. I looked up at her nervously, unsure what was going on, but she smiled at me reassuringly.
"It's alright, don't be afraid, just relax." She told me, and I tried my best since I really needed this job and this was obviously some sort of test.
"What do you want to know?" she asked Eric.
"Does she have any intention of harming my business?" he asked simply, and instantly I felt a sort of tugging in my head, and it hurt a little. I flinched away from her grasp, and looked up at her in question. She was staring down at me with wide, curios, and intrigued eyes. Somehow I understood that the private thoughts that belonged only in my head, the secrets I kept there and told no one about, had just been revealed to this woman. Her mouth was open slightly, and her hand was in the air, as if still grasping my shoulder.
Shit, she knew. Somehow, someway, she knew. And now she was going to tell Eric, who was going to kill me, or drain me, or taste my blood, or turn me. Something bad, since nothing good could come out of it. Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have walked into the bar.
I still felt the tugging on my mind, and her face changed to concern before she quickly covered it up into a bright smile that left me curious and slightly concerned as to her mental health. Just as quickly as the moment came, it passed. It lasted only a second, no more.
"Nope, she just wants her business to expand, and she hopes that if she does well here, more people will know about her and want her business." Sookie said, looking at Eric with that bright smile. I turned my head slowly to look at Eric, who was looking at Sookie, and then he looked at me. He looked back to Sookie, and raised his eyebrows. "What?" Sookie asked.
"What are you two hiding?" he asked. How he caught that little moment was beyond me, but vampires had excellent eyes sight so who knew?
"Eric, I'm late for work. Goodbye. It was nice meeting you, Emily." She smiled at me, a question apparent in her eyes. I doubted this would be last time I saw her.
"Nice meeting you too." I said, and I knew I would be forever grateful or her for keeping my secret, even though it meant keeping it from a vampire. And just like that, I was left alone in the office with a curious vampire.
"You don't smell like a normal human." He noted, and I knew then that he suspected I wasn't completely normal. "But you don't smell completely like Sookie, either. Yet you are mouth watering. Hm, what are you?" he asked me.
"I'm Emily?" I asked, trying to make my voice innocent and questionable, like I had no idea what he was talking about. He smiled then, or grimaced, I wasn't really sure, showing off his fangs.
"Alright then. If you try to hurt my business in any way, you will not like the consequences." He told me seriously, his face losing the smile and his eyes turning to stone. I nodded my head and just as quickly his smile returned. "Let's get down to business then." He said, and I let out a breath I hadn't know I was holding.