❪ 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 ❫ ﮩـﮩﮩ٨ـ🫀ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ
𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 🥀 𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘
𝚓𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚐𝚊𝚍𝚘 × 𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚖𝚊𝚗

❝ FANGTASIA ❞

‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🩸⊹ ♡ JOSIE WAS UP WITH THE SUN, though she'd gotten dressed and trudged down the stairs as if she were a zombie. She hated the mornings after she got high, she always felt a little sluggish, like her arms and legs were a little bit heavier and harder to move.

She groaned, grimacing at the sunlight that peeked in the widows, making the already bright kitchen seem brighter. It all made her head throb, so she pulled her red, heart-shaped sunglasses over her eyes and poured herself a cup of coffee.

Sookie, who'd been up long before Josie had rolled out of bed, sat at the small table in the kitchen, her eyes on the tiny Sony TV that sat across the room.

Josie mixed in her favorite vanilla creamer and added just a bit of sugar, stirring it all up as she joined the blonde at the table. She got a small smile from the girl, to which she just grumbled before her tired, shaded eyes landed on the small screen.

It was split into three rectangles, in one was an older man in a suit and a balding head, in the middle was a woman with long black hair, and in the last rectangle was a blonde woman, well, vampire.

And the bottom of the screen read; Nan Flanagan, American Vampire League.

It seemed all the news segments were centered around vampires. While most seemed to be against the fact that vampires had basic human rights, there were a few that supported the AVL and their want to mainstream.

That Segment was definitely against the AVL, and vampires in general as the man took up the entire screen as he ranted, "We never should have given them the vote and legitimize their unholy existence. The American people need to know these are creatures of Satan. Demons, literally. They have no soul."

Josie rolled her eyes, "I hate that guy." She muttered, raising her mug to her lips.

"But Reverend Newlin," the mediator cut in, "-you just be aware of polls that show consistently growing support for vampire rights."

"Those polls are fixed!" The Reverend argued. "Do you know how much money these monsters have given to politicians of both parties? As well as corporate media?"

The vampire, Nan, spoke up, her voice calm "that's nonsense. Vampires don't seek to control human policy. It's of little interest to us. We simply want the same rights -"

"You can't trace any of it. It's all been laundered." The Reverend cut her off.

"I seriously wanna deck that guy," Josie mumbled.

Sookie chuckled a little, her eyes leaving the tv for a moment as she looked over at Josie, who had slouched down in her seat. She wore a large t-shirt that she was fairly certain had been Jason's back when he was in high school, it hung off her shoulder, leaving the skin bare as she had forgone a bra that morning.

Her shorts were cut-offs she'd cut herself after she'd ripped her favorite pair of jeans when she had fallen out a tree a couple summers before and her feet were bare. Her hair fell in messy waves, as if she hadn't even bothered to brush it yet, which she hadn't.

And, of course, those heart-shaped sunglasses rested on her nose as she sipped on her coffee.

"You're chipper," Sookie mused, a teasing smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Josie lifted her head a little, glaring at her best friend through the tinted lenses. Sookie chuckled a little before refocusing on the tv, but Josie blocked it out as she focused on her coffee and tried to push the pounding headache away.

Adele smiled at the two girls as she made her into the room, though Josie missed it, her eyes having closed to block out the too bright sun.

Sookie returned the smile, clicking the TV off as Adele stopped at the stove, "I don't think Jesus would mind if somebody was a vampire."

"I don't either, honey." The older woman nodded, turning towards the table with a pan of scrambled eggs.

"Me either," Josie added, her eyes still closed. "But people are stupid. Especially that Reverend Newliwn, using' God as his excuse to hate vampires for just existing." She ranted, then she took a breath. The second the wonderful smell hit her nose, her head shot up and her eyes snapped open. "Eggs?"

Adele chuckled at the girl, "here you go, sweetie." She placed some on the plate that sat in front of the girl on the table.

"Thanks, Gran." She mumbled, already scooping up her food as her stomach grumbled.

"Mmm." Sookie nearly moaned, her eyes closed as she chewed up her food. "Is this sausage different from what you usually make?"

"No."

"Huh. It tastes so much more complex than it usually does."

"Oh, dear, you think it's gone bad?" Adele asked, worried she'd fixed the girls bad sausage.

"Tastes fine to me," Josie mumbled, her cheeks full.

"No, it's delicious." Sookie smiled up at the older woman. "It's like I can close my eyes and i can see the farm the pig lived on, and feel the sun and the rain on my face, and even taste the earth that the herbs grow out of."

Josie raised an eyebrow at the blonde, lifting her mug to her lips, and she quickly searched through Sookie's head, despite having promised she wouldn't.

She shifted through a few thoughts, until she was hit with an image of Bill, specifically the vampire feeding Sookie his blood. The sight made Joise flinch, the coffee she just slurped up flying from her mouth as she coughed, trying to catch her breath as the warm liquid went down the wrong pipe.

"Joise, you okay, sweetie?" Adele asked, as the brunette caught her breath.

She nodded, her eyes meeting Sookie's curious gaze, "yeah, Gran, I'm alright. Just went down the wrong pipe, is all." She smiled, wiping the coffee from her lips. The she grabbed a paper towel and started cleaning up the table.

"You sure?" Sookie asked, clearly worried about the girl.

"Oh, yeah. Totally fine." She nodded, forcing a wide smile. She couldn't believe Sookie had let such a thing happen, though with the way she'd been nearly obsessive over the vampire since the other night, she figured she should've seen it coming.

And maybe she would have if she hadn't gotten stoned out of her mind the day before.

"I'll just go clean up," Josie mumbled as she pushed herself up just as the back door opened and Tara walked in. Joise waved, greeting the girl before she made her way up to her room - well, her temporary room. Her apartment had flooded and she was struggling to pay to get all the pipes fixed, and while her place wasn't livable, Adele had insisted that she stay with her and Sookie.

Josie chewed on her bottom lip, a nervous habit of hers, as she paced her room. She hadn't seen all of it, but Bill mostly definitely had fed Sookie his blood, and it did seem that she was willing. She hadn't searched much past that, the image just too shocking to proceed.

She shook the thought, knowing - hoping - Sookie knew what she was getting into. She ran a brush through her hair before twisting it into two braids, then she changed out of Jason's t-shirt and into a tank top, though this time she had put on a bra.

And before she even made it back down the stairs, her phone rang.

‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🩸⊹ ♡ IT WAS WELL AFTER SUNDOWN, but the heat still lingered in the air. The humidity had Josie wishing she hadn't spent so long straightening her hair, but it was too late as she slid out of Dawn's car, her red heels slightly scraping against the pavement. She tugged her maroon dress down, letting the soft, silky material fall into place as it clung to her curves - she'd gotten it at the thrift store and it fit like a glove.

Her whiskey colored eyes glanced around the parking lot, trying to figure out where exactly there were as Dawn had told her it was a surprise. That was when she saw the reg glow of the neon sign that read, Fangtasia.

Dawn rounded the car with a wide smile, her own dress tight and revealing as her heels clicked against the blacktop. Josie spun with wide eyes, her jaw hanging open, "a vampire bar?"

Dawn giggled and shrugged her shoulders, "come on, Josie." She latched onto her hand, pulling her towards the entrance where a line had formed. "Live a little."

"I called outta work for this?"

"Think of it as a me day." Dawn hummed, her curls bouncing with each step. "It'll be fun, I promise." She grinned, batting her eyelashes and Josie huffed, a smile tugging at her lips as she shook her head.

"Fine, but the next time we go out, I'm picking the place."

"Deal," Dawn nodded, holding her hand out and the two girls giggled as they shook on it. Dawn looped her arm around Josie's and pulled her towards the door, and a tall blonde in tight a leather outfit stopped them, a rather bored look on her face - though her lips did tilt upwards as her eyes drifted down Josie's body.

"I.D., please." She raised a brow and they both pulled them out, showing them to the blonde, but she only took Josie's, "Joanna," she spoke as if testing out the name. "You're new."

Josie flushed a little, "it's Josie."

"Hmm," the blonde handed the little card back, eyeing the shorter girl. "Enjoy," she waved her hand towards the door and Dawn quickly pulled Josie along, laughing at her still flushed cheeks.

"You good?" Dawn asked, leading her through the crowded space and towards the bar.

"That's what a vampire's supposed to look like," she mumbled. "But no, we get Bill fucking Compton."

Dawn tossed her head back in a laugh, and Josie chuckled along, before letting her eyes drift around the room. She'd never thought much about what a vampire bar would look like, but Fangtasia was exactly that.

The walls were dark red, with accents of black. The chairs and couches leather, though they seemed obsolete as humans and vampires alike danced to the thumping bass that spilled from the speakers. The lights were down low, but a red glow coated the room in warmth.

And just as Josie spotted the throne that sat upon the small stage, and the inhabitant of the chair - tall, blond, the very definition of sex on a stick - Dawn blocked her view with a wide smile as she held out a glass towards the shorter woman.

"Drink up, then we dance," Dawn winked before downing her drink and Josie giggled, following suit. Her nose scrunched a little, her eyes squeezed closed as the liquid burned her throat before warming her insides.

Dawn just laughed and pulled Josie with her into the mass of dancing people, both easily moving against each other to the rhythm of the song that boomed from the speakers.

The two easily attracted attention, and while Dawn was all for grinding against some random guy, Josie danced by herself. People had asked to dance with her, but she turned them all down - taking Dawn's me day comment seriously.

She moved to the music, a smile on her face, her eyes closed and her dress leaving her beautiful legs exposed. She danced like she didn't have a care in the world, or a single thought in her head - the music was too loud.

And she loved it.

As she moved, her hips in tune with music and her, now, messy hair flying all around her, several pairs of eyes followed her.

One pair of eyes so blue they resembled that of a glacier in the middle of the bluest arctic ocean.

He was mesmerized, and by a human of all things. The way she moved was hypnotic, every swish of her hips pulling him farther and farther under her spell. Intrigued wrapped around him, pulling him towards the beautiful creature that moved with ease.

He merely tilted his head, watching as she spun around, not once losing her balance. The maroon material of her dress rose up her thighs as she moved, and his eyes were helplessly drawn to smooth, tan legs - he'd never been so entrapped by a human before.

It was frustrating, honestly.

Even more frustratingly, the song had ended. Her moves slowed, not matching the beat of the next song as it started. Then she weaved her way through the crowd and his eyes followed her to the bar, where she ordered another drink as she lifted herself up into the tall chairs as she waited with her elbow on the bar and her chin in her hand.

And that oh so intoxicating smile on her face as she chatted up the man behind the bar as he fixed her drink.

He couldn't take it anymore, he had to know her name, had to hear her voice, had to be near that intriguing enigma of a woman.

Josie giggled, more tipsy than not as the bartender, who she learned was a vampire and that his name was Longshadow, stood before her, fixing her drink.

"See, now that's a vampire name." She giggled, "not Bill." She shook her head a little, her nose scrunched up - apparently she wasn't over that fact that Bill was their first vampire and not someone... hotter. "I like you," she hummed.

Logshadow chucked, his long black hair hanging down to his shoulders as his necklaces and rings glinting in the dim light. "Only because I've fixed you four drinks," he told her, sliding her a glass of bourbon.

"Five," she raised the glass, shaking it a little and the ice rattled.

"Longshadow," the voice came from over Josie's shoulder. Low and firm, with a steady surness of control. And it had a tingle running up Joise's spine as she turned, meeting the bluest of blue eyes as he peered down at her. A soft, barely there smirk resting on his lips. "Who's your friend?"

His eyes never once left the human, his gaze rested on hers as if he could read her. Like she was a book that he plucked from a shelf and flipped open.

It took a moment, and a sip or two of her drink for her brain to work properly as she blinked up at him, "J - Joise." Her voice shook a little and he raised an eyebrow, so she took a breath. "I'm Joise Delgado." She held her hand out, and he shook it, pleasantly surprised she'd done such a thing.

Humans rarely shook his hand, they usually dropped to their knees before him and begged to be bitten, or fucked. Sometimes both.

But a hand shake? Never.

"Josie Delgado," he repeated, simply trying the name out. Between that and the fact that he had yet to let go of her hand, her heart thumped in her chest, banging rapidly against her rib cage.

He smirked, his forefinger resting on her wrist, he could feel her racing pulse.

"Join me," he took a step back and merely waved his hand towards the stage and that throne he'd been perched upon. His hand letting hers fall to her lap.

It was then that Josie came back to herself, she shook her head a little and sat up straighter, "don't I get a name? At the very least, you could offer to buy me a drink."

Longshadow chuckled quietly, helping another customer as the blond vampire raised an amused brow - no one had ever spoken to him so bluntly before.

"Eric Northman." He conceded, still very intrigued by the woman before him, then he reached past her, invading her space as he tapped on the bar and she breathed him in. He smelt like her favorite bourbon with just a hint of vanilla, "bourbon, on the rocks. Top shelf."

Joise smirked, looking up at him through her lashes, "you know how to get a girl's attention." She tossed her hair to the side and crossed her legs, and it was then that he smelt it - it smelt like sunshine and honey and warmth.

His brows knitted together and he leaned in again, his eyes still on hers as she finished off her previous drink, "you smell... divine."

A wide, dazzling smile split her face and he simply hummed, watching as her eyes crinkled around the edges and a sound that seemed so foreign to him danced around him.

It seemed every part of that woman was utterly intoxicating. He'd never been so intrigued by a human, at least not for a number of years.

He couldn't describe, much less understand, the strange pull he felt towards her. But if he got a quick fuck out of it, he didn't see a problem with buying her a drink and letting her think she had the upper hand.

Only problem was, Josie didn't like not having the upper hand.

"Well," she hopped down from the chair, the drink he had ordered untouched on the bar. She batted her eyelashes as she looked up at him, having to tilt her head backwards because, even in heels, he towered over her - a fact that made her stomach churn and her pulse quicken. "I should head out," she absently reached out and patted his firm chest, letting her hand linger for a moment. "It was nice meeting you, Eric Northman."

She stepped around him, pulling her hand back only for him to grab her wrist, holding her in place with a firm grip.

They'd drawn a small audience, all watching to see what the great Eric Northman was gonna do with the small woman before him. He'd been known to not be so nice, especially to those he deemed unworthy of him and his time.

But Josie seemed to be anything but unworthy as she held the vampire's attention for longer than just a second or two.

Her eyes snapped to his, a fire raging as she readied herself for a fight, but before an insult could form on her tongue, he spoke, "please, finish your drink." he motioned to the glass. "I'd hate for top shelf to go to waste."

She held his gaze, neither flinching or backing down. Josie held her breath for a moment, trying to rein in her bourbon induced hormones - because that had to be the reason his large hand wrapped her wrist had her head spinning out of control.

It just had to be.

It was the only thing that made any sense at all. There was no other explanation as to why this blond, blue-eyed, mammoth of a vampire had her pulse racing when all he had done was talk while holding onto to her slim wrist.

No other reason, just a little too much to drink.

ﮩـﮩﮩ٨ـ🫀ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ nova speaks

eric, my love!

i just needed to have josie and eric meet sooner then episode four 'cause i'm impatient and i also feel like they're dynamic when sookie meets eric will be really fun, also bill trying to rein josie in but failing miserably would just be hilarious

also, if you've read my twilight series, i see josie and bill having a similar dynamic to cori and edward, where she does nothing but rag on him and he just takes it - which is always fun to write

this will be a fairly fast-burn. josie and eric will catch feelings quick, but both will be reluctant to actually admit that they have said feelings even as they grow closer and have sex quite often

anyways, i hope you're all enjoying this book! i've this idea for about a year, close to two years and i'm so excited to write it!

i appreciate grammar corrections, as long as you aren't mean about it! i'm only human and mistakes happen!

and a heads up, the next chapter will include smut!!

i'd love to hear what y'all think so far!! or any predictions that you may have!!