Chapter 1: Sookie, Rouge, and Anna-Marie make three.

Sookie stared at herself in the mirror, her brown roots now longer showing through her bleached blonde hair. Bleaching her hair was a chore, one she did not enjoy. She bared her teeth in the mirror, her whitened teeth nearly glinting. She had been back in Bon Temps for nearly 3 years and she still woke-up and thought she was still at the manor at times...

It had been hard to reinvent herself. But, she was glad that during the time she had been away she looked different. Her skin had gotten paler, the lack of exposure to the sun helping her for once. Her once clear green eyes had turned dark brown, a side effect from all the people in her head (or so the Professor said) and she had grown a rack. All that with bottle blonde hair made her seem like a completely different person. And even if people did remember little Anna-Marie Stackhouse and not Sookie, some of the Professors borrowed power took care of that.

Sometimes she missed being Anna-Marie. The sweet brunette who everyone liked and who had never been troubled by anything until she kissed a boy she loved and was never normal after. Because something called a mutation (another word for different, for wrong, for freak) had kicked in, and put him into a coma. A little girl who ran away from her Gran, and brother because for a few moments they looked at like she was a monster. Sookie shook her head. She was not Anna-Marie. She had faced too much to go back to bein' that innocent kid.

But Sookie wished she was Rogue again mostly. Rogue was strong, and had rose from the ashes of the for-mentioned Marie. Sometimes if she closed her eyes she could still imagine she was flying. She had beautiful in a way she had never been before, in a way that displayed her power and strength. Or, she was until she was stuck in the arm with a needle that contained a cure. Then Rogue was no more, and only Marie (poor little Anna-Marie, the freak of Bon Temps) was left. Marie had run and left a Team and a Swamp Rat behind because really, it was better (read: easier) that way, wasn't it? Even if she kept some of the powers she absorbed, the terror that she it would come back and hurt any of them, hurt Remy or Logan was a chance she wouldn't take. So, she left in the dead of night without so much as a goodbye.

But, she was right to leave. Her powers came back a week after she left, stronger and deadlier than ever. However, there was a silver lining to the bastardous curse that was her skin. She could control it now. Turn it off and off with a flick of her fucking wrist. Apparently, there was something in the cure that had lowered her walls, made it easier. She wanted to laugh at the irony that only after she had left her family had her powers become controllable.

Sookie felt wetness on her cheek and with a curse hurriedly wiped it away. She shook her head, ridding herself of her thoughts. It was no good to have an identity crisis. Marie and Rogue were remnants of the past. Tonight, she was simply Sookie. She straightened her dress in the mirror. She was going to Fangtasia with Bill and meeting the Sheriff. Hopefully, all would go well. She could find out who was killing people. But if anyone dared mess with hers, she'd brush her hand against theirs and protect what she had claimed.

A/N: Hey! I'd love to know what you thought of this. I think I'll consider adding to it (anyone want to see a Canadian with adamantium claws?) but only if you guys want me to. Let me know.

I am, therefore I spread,

Pain