Marie and Sookie spent the rest of the afternoon buying furniture and other goods that were needed to fill a house. They even got a few new outfits and two smoothies. The drive back to Bon Temps was much friendlier and less awkward then the drive to Shreveport. The talked about their powers quite a bit. Some of the stories Sookie told of the things people thought had Marie snorting in her laughter. Marie told Sookie about Mutant High and some of her friends that were there. She left out some of her more dangerous encounters while under the Professor's roof.

Sookie also told her of the Vampire Bill Compton she had been seeing. Marie wasn't sure what to think of this at first, but decided that if her dear older sister was into necrophilia it wasn't any of her damn business. Besides, vampires were people once too if the romantic problems Sookie was having with Bill were any indication. It wasn't often you came across a romantically awkward vampire.

It was when Marie finally pulled into her driveway around five-thirty that Sookie decided to invite her to some sort of town event.

"Hey," she said as she moved her store bags to her car. "Why don't you come to the Community Building tonight with me? Gran's Descendants of the Glorious Dead is having Bill speak about how he fought in Civil War."

Marie wasn't exactly sure where to start. "Descendants of the Glorious Dead?" she asked.

Sookie had a laugh that sounded like bells in church. "It's sort of like a club for Civil War buffs."

Marie thought about it. She wasn't much of a group activity kind of person. But then again she was turning over a new leaf as Anna-Marie. She bit her lip as she debated with herself. The pro that she could wear her new outfit finally tipping the scales for her. "Sure, when is it?" she asked loading her own arms with bags.

Sookie looked down at her watch, surprise momentarily lighting up her features. "I didn't realize it was so late, it starts at seven-thirty."

Marie shut her back door. "How about I pick you up at your house and we can grab something to eat afterward?"

"Sounds good to me." She chirped and after saying their goodbyes, she hopped back into her car a drove away. She gave Marie a thumbs up when the awful grinding noise was no longer present.

XxX

Marie pulled up to the house at seven-ten and hoped out of the car. She was wearing her new expensive jeans that jubilee would never get her hands on and a lightweight purple wraparound top. Sookie ran out of the door before she could even get to the stairs. She was wearing a pretty blue sundress. She had discovered that her older sister was very fond of sundresses.

"Let's hurry, Gran wanted to introduce you to a few of her friends before everything started." She said.

Marie tried to repress her grimace and followed Sookie back to her car. Maybe it won't be so bad. The psyche of one Katharine Pryde decided to push a memory of hers to the forefront of Marie's mind. It was a memory of a Thanksgiving dinner when Kitty was eleven and was passed around from one overweight aunt to the next. No, this wouldn't be bad at all.

Before she knew it they were walking into the crowded building and people left and right were greeting Sookie and giving her odd looks. Finally they came across Adele talking to an ancient looking man who Sookie said was the Mayor.

"Sookie, Anna-Marie." Adele called and waved them over. "Anna-Marie, I'd like you to meet Mr. Sterling Norris, he's the Mayor of Bon Temps and a close family friend. He and your Grandfather had been friends since they were little."

The older man grabbed her gloved hand and shook it. "I sure am glad you came back safe." He said.

Marie didn't really know what to say. But as it turns out she wasn't required to say anything as Mr. Norris moved on to Sookie. "Is it true that this vampire is a friend of yours?"

"Yes sir." She said.

"In my time such a thing was a fairy tale."

Marie tuned out and looked around the room. Many people had turned out to hear Vampire Bill, as many had started calling him, speak. Had these people never seen a vampire before? In the mutant world Vampires and other Supernaturals were old news. There was a pack of were's that used the back forty acres of the Professor's land every full moon and in return they did a lot of business with the Professor without any questions.

One particular love struck pup and invited her to his father's garage several times where she had learned everything she knew about cars and motorcycles.

Finally it was time for Vampire Bill to speak and everyone took their seats. Sookie looked like someone had shoved a nightstick up her ass, she was sitting so ramrod straight in her fold-up-chair. Marie had learned that her and Bill were at odds since last night when they had had a sort of fight about her always asking him out and then getting mad when she didn't beg her to stay with him. It all sounded ridiculous to her but it was their relationship so she would just nod and smile.

A moment of silence signaled that Bill had taken the stage. Marie turned her attention from her new sister to the Vampire. As far as vampires went he was rather glum compared to most. Marie tried not to judge but he didn't look cute in the least. He looked like he had never cracked a smile, alive or dead. And then he started talking and Marie had to refrain from heaving a sigh.

The night seemed to drag on and on as he told of the horrors of the Civil War. It was more like a lecture then anything and Marie had to fight with every ounce of will not to fall asleep. Lectures given by Scott were more thrilling then this.

The sound of a thunderous applause signaled that this hell was finally over; apparently his retelling of his human life was a wondrous success. Marie knew she was being a bit overdramatic, but she had had to rein in a lot of sarcasm the last couple of days. It was probably just one more thing she would have to get used to, or maybe her new family could get used to it. It seemed only fair that they know the real her anyway.

After Vampire Bill finished speaking, it seemed that everyone wanted to talk to him one on one. So she and Sookie snuck out after telling Adele that they were going to grab a bite to eat. Sookie directed her to the Crawdad Diner and they had burgers and pie. Marie had a slice of pie too that Sookie looked at longingly but refused to take a bite.

They got back later then Marie because Sookie had insisted she spend the night till her furniture was delivered tomorrow morning. From the front yard they could see an upstairs light on, Sookie said it was Gran probably waiting up for them.

As soon as they entered in through the front door Marie knew something was wrong. One glance told her that Sookie knew it too. It was that coppery smell of blood.

"Sookie, stay here." She said and put her gloved hand on her sister's shoulder. Sookie looked ready to argue but Marie gave her a look that left no room for discussion.

She flipped the light on in the living room and gave it a cursory look around. The smell of blood was strong so whatever it was had to be close. She passed Sookie and went to the kitchen, the scent growing stronger still. Marie took a moment to ready herself and flipped on the light.

There she was on the floor in a pool of blood, the grandmother she had only known for two days. Marie didn't have to check her pulse to know, her blank eyes said it all. Adele Stackhouse was dead.

Marie took a deep breath before pulling her phone out to dial the police. It only took a second to explain the situation; the operator said someone was on the way. She slowly backed out of the kitchen and returned to Sookie who was fidgeting and looking around herself helplessly.

"Well?" she asked.

"Let's move out onto the front porch." Marie said and took Sookie by the shoulders and began leading her out.

Sookie turned notably paler and struggled in Marie's grasp. "Where's Gran? Her car is here and her light is on so where is she?" she demanded digging her feet into the old hard wood floor.

"Sookie, please." Marie started but Sookie wrenched herself free and ran to the kitchen.

Marie stood for a minute but followed shortly after Sookie began to scream. It was even worse than she imagined. Sookie stood in the middle of the kitchen screaming, tears running down her face. This is exactly what Marie wanted to avoid.

No longer giving her an option, Marie wrapped her arms around Sookie and pulled her out onto the front porch just as Vampire Bill showed up, fangs beard. He paused for a moment to take in the situation and retracted his fangs. Marie finally managed to set Sookie on the porch swing just as the sheriff's patrol car and another car came into sight.

"What happened?" Bill asked as he walked up on to the porch to sit next to Sookie.

There was some high pitched garbled response from Sookie; bill looked to Marie for an answer. "Someone killed our Grandmother." The word still felt awkward on her lips.

A small old man in a sheriff's hat moseyed on up to the porch followed by a middle aged man with a gut and a balding head. "Well who wants to tell me what happened here."

Marie decided it was best if Sookie had a moment to herself so she could calm down. She left Vampire Bill to console her sister because he did know her better than she did, and walked down to where the sheriff and what she assumed, his detective stood.

"I'm the one who called." She began but was cut off by the fat man.

"And who are you?" he interrupted rudely.

Marie held back the sharp look she intended to give him. "I'm Anna-Marie Darkholme." She said but paused. "Well, I guess I'm a Stackhouse."

"What the hell are you talking about?" the detective asked rudely.

"That's right; you're Corbett and Michelle's girl that went missing." The Sheriff said to which she just nodded her head. "All right so what happened here."

"Me and Sookie came back here and I found Adele in the kitchen then I called y'all." She explained, sending a glance down to Sookie. It appeared she had calmed down enough and was on the phone. From what she could hear, she was talking to Jason.

"Well, let's take a look Andy." He said and walked into the house.

Marie decided to ignore the suspicious look the detective gave her and walked back over to Sookie. She looked up as Marie stopped in front of her. "I called Jason; he was at Merlotte's. He's on his way." She said and gave a little sniffle.

The three of them sat in silence for a moment as they watched the medical examiners truck pull in. two minutes later Jason pulled in followed by Sam Merlotte. Both rushed up the porch to comfort Sookie. Sam looked a bit awkward with bill around. According to Sookie they were romantic rivals.

The Sheriff and Detective Andy came out after half an hour and motioned for Marie and Sookie to come to them. The Sheriff took Sookie to the other end of the porch while Detective Andy led Marie out into the yard.

"Tell me exactly what happened." He demanded gruffly with his notepad and pen out.

"Sookie invited me to stay the night until my furniture arrived tomorrow morning. But when we came in something was wrong. I realized I was smelling blood and told Sookie to wait by the door while I went to find out what happened." She said looking down to take a breath. "First I checked the living room and then the kitchen. After I found her I called the police."

Detective Andy finished writing in his notepad and looked back up at Marie. "How long had you known Mrs. Stackhouse?"

Marie didn't think knowing her for her first couple of months of life counted. "Two days I guess." She said, wishing she had gotten to know her grandmother better. Adele had seemed really excited to get to know her.

Detective Andy narrowed his eyes at her. "If she really was your Grandmother then you'd have known her longer than two days."

Marie was getting real tired of this asshole's attitude and the more he opened his mouth the closer she got to giving him a piece of her mind. "I was kidnapped when I was a baby." She said slowly, fixing the detective with a steady gaze. "I didn't even know about them till the woman who raised me sent me a letter on her death bed asking that I come here."

The detective made a noise in his throat. "So your kidnapper felt guilty before her death and sent you here?" clearly he didn't believe a word coming from her mouth.

"I doubt Irene's the one who took me, she was blind from birth." Marie muttered.

"I'll be needing your information so I can verify all this." He said. Marie tried really hard to not roll her eyes, but failed. She gave him her new address, her number and Irene's information.

"If that's all, I'd like to clean the kitchen up before Sookie goes back in." she said glancing over her shoulder at the house.

"That's another thing, why aren't you more upset about this whole mess?"

Marie turned back around to face Detective Andy with a look on her face that made him scowl. "I've only known Adele for two days." She said as though it were obvious because in fact it was. And with that she turned on her heel and left.

She walked past Sookie and the Sheriff and into the kitchen. Adele had been removed and there were bloody footprints all over the floor. With a sigh she went over to the sink and found a bucket in the cabinet underneath. She filled it with hot soapy water and threw a rag in it. She took her gloves of and placed it on the counter, rolled up her sleeves and started scrubbing.

Forty-five minutes later the kitchen was spotless and Marie was exhausted. She put everything away, put her gloves back on and went outside with everyone else. What she saw when she stepped out on the front porch did not impress her.

Jason was on the ground sobbing with Sam sitting next to him. Bill was standing between them and Sookie with his fangs bared. Sookie was standing back holding her cheek looking shocked and close to tears. And the Sheriff and the dumbass detective were making their way over to the whole confrontation. Marie heaved out a long suffering sigh and walked over to them all. It was time for everyone to leave.

She passed the two outstanding officers who didn't seem too concerned with breaking it all up. She grabbed Jason by the arm and hauled him to his feet, leading him to his truck; she shoved him in the driver's seat.

"Look, I know we just met." She said resisting the urge to smack him. "But you need to man the fuck up."

Jason stopped blubbering to stare at her hopelessly. "But Gran's dead." He sounded so pathetic that Marie didn't know if she should hug him or slap him.

"And now you're the head of this family." She said taking a gentler tone with him. "Go home and rest, come by tomorrow afternoon."

He nodded so Marie shut the door and watched him drive off. If this shit kept up the baby of the family would end up running it. Shaking her head she walked back over to where Sookie was trying her best not to cry, Bill was awkwardly trying to comfort her and Sam was talking to Detective Dumbass and the Sheriff. Sookie looked up when Marie finally made it over to her. "Thank you." She said her voice sounded like it might just break.

"Let's get you in bed." She said and pulled her away from everyone. She turned around and thanked everyone for their help, a clear dismissal, and led her older, brokenhearted sister, up the steps and into her house.

After finally getting Sookie into her bed, Marie was exhausted. She went through the house locking up the doors and windows and shutting off lights. When she was done with that, she went into the living room, kicked off her shoes and passed out. She had to be up in three hours to meet the delivery men at her house. Sookie wouldn't be up by then; she'd pick up some lunch for her and Jason after that.

Having a family was too much trouble.

A/N

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because I enjoyed writing it. I think I have a good idea of who I want to pair up with whom. Sorry but there will be no Rogue/Logan pairings. And while I do like his character I don't think I will be writing him into the story.