Disclaimer: I don't own, the Southern Vampire Mysteries belong to Charlaine Harris

"No! Sookie please don't do this!" He cried as I sat on his stomach, staring down into his cold, dead eyes. I felt strangely calm as I grabbed the stake tightly in my hands, unfeeling almost. His arms were trapped under my shins at his wrist, unable to get leverage to move them even if I hadn't already crushed most of the bones in his hands.

No! Oh god no! Please! I can't die! I can't die! The same mantra kept running through his head like a broken record on repeat, and it brought a sick flicker of a smile to my lips; almost a snarl as I showed off my teeth.

I stared straight into his lifeless brown eyes; even now I didn't see emotion in them. It was just like looking into a puddle of mud. Slowly, I moved my hands to push the tip of the sharpened wood exactly over his heart before I paused to take a deep breath. I wanted to savour the moment I got the revenge for everything he had dealt me over the past couple of years.

"Goodbye Bill," I said quietly and pushed the stake into his chest with as much force as I could muster. His eyes widened startlingly while a low, strangled scream erupted from his lips. The stake finally passed through his body until it hit the wooden floor below him. I heard every little passage; the snap of his ribs cracking to allow the wood to pass and the grinding as fragments were sheared off his sternum. Blood sprang forth from the wound quickly, spreading out between my fingers and covering my lap within a couple of seconds. I still couldn't move though; I was transfixed with watching him die.

He began to disintegrate then; first his extremities melted down into a gooey, bloody residue. My legs connected with the floor and then I felt the few muscles he'd actually possessed turning soft underneath me as his organs turned to liquid and bone began to liquefy. As his features merged into one, surprisingly he was still conscious, his brain surviving enough to feel pain. Huh, apparently it took the final death for his eyes to show anything. It wasn't long, maybe only a second more, before they too were gone and I felt my smile grow bigger with satisfaction. I would never have to look into them ever again. He wouldn't even have the satisfaction of haunting my dreams. The cry died on his lips as his throat collapsed in on itself, as more blood pooled out from everywhere. Every orifice and every pore leaked blood at a rate that made it unbelievable to think that such a small man could hold so very much blood. Finally, he died. I felt it, in my head, the lack of anything going on in his skull. He was gone, leaving me sitting in a puddle of his remnants on the floor.

"Good riddance," I muttered as I stood up, still clutching the stake in my hands. "Guess I won't be needing that," I added as I flung it to the ground. I felt freer than I had in a long time, as though a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Glancing down at myself I found that I was completely covered in blood; it had soaked into my jeans so that they clung nastily to my legs, my arms were caked and my shirt was splattered. I walked confidently from the room, shutting the door behind me.

I took a deep breath, savouring the taste of the air from a world without Bill in it and, by golly, it was good. Anyone who had seen me would say that I had a spring in my step, but I wouldn't go quite that far. Going outside I went straight to the tap there with its little hose attachment to dose my hands with the cold water. I watched, transfixed as the water ran first a deep crimson before turning pink and finally running clear. Next I stripped off my clothing; not caring if anyone saw me, since the house was nestled in a little private woods, it was really unlikely that anyone would stumble across me. Then I turned the hose on my legs and chest, to get rid of every little remnant of him.

"Better," I mumbled quietly and turned the water off after throwing my clothes through an open window. Clambering down, I grabbed a bag that I kept in my personal escape room, the one that used to be the coal storage unit under the house, but hadn't been used for such purposes in years. The only issue with it was that I'd had to keep my bag wrapped up in an extra plastic bag to protect it from the soot. I didn't care though, it just meant I had to toss that into the house too before I could get a change of clothes out.

Once I was fully dressed I grabbed the most important items out; a small can of gasoline and a match, or two. It didn't take me very long to walk around the perimeter, spilling the gas as I went. The inside had been well and truly dosed just before Bill got home. I didn't bother with another goodbye; he didn't deserve it and God knows I really didn't care about the house enough to save any of it. I already had all of my possessions that I wanted inside my bag.

Pfft, the match struck alight in one go and I simply tossed it on the front porch at the end nearest to where the remains laid. It took only a minute or two for the entire thing to be engulfed. I didn't even bother to stay and watch the flames light up the night sky. Instead, I grabbed my bag and walked towards the woods. It would be a good while before anyone would realise there were flames flickering above the trees; everyone within a mile radius was already asleep and I'm sure everyone else was. There would be nothing left at all by the time the emergency crews got here, at least there would be nothing of any significance left.

I paused as I got to the tree line, backpack secured and even fastened around my waist. The bitter scent of the smoke hit my nostrils and I took a deep breath, just to let it stay with me for awhile, a good reminder of everything that I was leaving behind. I don't think I'd ever smiled as widely as I disappeared into the night.

So here it is, the prologue to one of my new stories :) What do you think? This one has been a hell of a long time in the making, in fact, I think I even sent it to a previous beta before I had my major hiatus. It's been tweeked and I've continued writing it too.

Updates won't be on any schedule as my schedule is changing weekly so I'm just doing what I can, when I can. I've had lots of exciting things happen in the break, including getting a trip abroad at Easter, solo surgeries and applying for more charity work.

I just want to say a massive thank-you to my wonderful beta, whodat2010!