Disclaimer; Not Stephenie Meyer, therefore I do not own her characters.
Summary: The story of a girl, who was kept in isolation, who's the daughter of both a coward and a hothead. She knows the story of the werewolves and imprinting, and the vampires and just about every other demon.. But what happens when she's in this reality where love is not as it seems? Where imprinting is a constant living in the depth's of hell? Paul's daughter's story.
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Joelle's POV
Beep. Beep. Beep. The heart monitor's droned out, completely in sink with each other. I sighed. It usually wasn't like this. Wait, back that up, it usually wasn't like this for my dad. I growled in satisfaction. Good. The bastard deserved to be in here. I sighed again before stamping my left foot and turning to the right. I tried feverishly to whip the recollections that imprinted in my head of how both of my parents landed into this dingy hospital. Ha, imprint. Good for nothing piece of sh-
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"Hey, What are you doing?" I looked towards my father's newspaper covered face, a corner bending as he stared at me with a smirk on his face.
"Reading, sweetie. There's pancakes on the counter for you" Huh, daddy never makes breakfast. I guess it was one of his spur moments. Once every blue moon would those pop up. Not that I'm complaining though, something good always comes out of it. Then it turns bad...
I spied glances at my father while slowly eating the pancakes he managed to not screw up. The chomping of my teeth and the crumple of the newspaper turning different pages, filled the silence. I so badly wished this awkwardness would go away. I couldn't do it though cause I had nothing to say to the man. The most words, that were actually conversational that I've ever said to him, were the words I've said this morning, and every other morning. The rest were fightin' words. Never a conversation, and never filled with any good feeling at all.
Momma thankfully graced us, not even five minutes after. Her crumpled nightdress screamed she had a restless night. Well, nothing new there! Her nose was bright red, and her eyes were bloodshot as they focused on pouring a cup of hot coffee, frightened to waste any from her shaking hands. I studied and chewed. Chewed and studied. Mom being tensional, ignoring dad, and being as quiet as a mouse as she quickly moved her feet across the kitchen. Dad just sat, his shoulders stood straight and pushed backed, as if he were the king. Probably thought he was.
As dad sat upon his highness chair, momma sat beside me, patted my head with a quiet greeting and blew swiftly at her coffee. I looked back at my food and realized that mommas presence, even if she was meek and brief, never lifted the cramped atmosphere that slowly but swiftly started to take my oxygen away and making the corners of my vision go black. I swallowed the last bit of my food and took a deep breathe. Then I realized something.
There was a never ending cycle that struck me so violently, that I had to grip the inside of the kitchen table. A never ending cycle that made, even hell, seem fine. A never ending cycle that was going to kill someone in this house. And it sure as hell wasn't going to be me.
This was the calm before the storm.
xx
"Sue!" I walked into the kitchen while taking off my coat, in search of my missing guardian, of whom wasn't in either of the bedrooms, the living room, or the kitchen. But there was a note.
Joelle,
Gone to Charlie's for dinner.
There's dinner in the microwave.
See you tonight!
-Sue
Great. Stuck by myself.. again. I opened the microwave door and looked inside. Oven roasted seasoned potatoes.
I smiled. Although Sue wasn't here long enough to fully take care of me, she knew what my likes of food were! She was the greatest.
After warming my food, I sat at the kitchen table and after licking the entire dish clean, went into the living room and watched some t.v. I flipped through all the channels about 10 times before giving up and decided to do some homework. It seemed weird to call it that because I had been home schooled for my whole life. It was one benefit of being an unplanned, half regretted child. Aka, Paul Jones daughter.
Hmm, Paul Jones you say? Why yes, he's the Quileute werewolf with a temper as quick as a candle wick and the strength to match a bomb. Momma had once said that he was a smooth charmer that had her whisked off her feet "just like that." (She would snap her fingers.) Then, when she finally did say something, I was on the verge of being born and he was nearly beating her to the brim for "interrupting"
When I was finally born, all hell (if hell could get any worse) had broken loose. Dad didn't want a little baby girl, so that's when he started verbally shouting at me as an infant of only nine months old, which scared me, almost to death (which resulted in a LOT of hospital visits) but by the time I was two, I was use to it. I would stare blankly at him as his words went through me. Not even shaking my small body anymore. When he realized..well.. Let's just say I'm not recognizable on the rez. I'm like a ghost. Nobody sees me..ever. The only reason Sue knows about me is because my mother, through her tears and shakes, told her about me one day. She made Sue not to tell anyone she told her. Then she made Sue promise she would keep me a secret, in fear. Fear that Sue never knew about.
So that's my life in a nutshell, ladies and gents. Oh, no need for tears and pities. I'm perfectly fine on my own. Promise.
I went upstairs to the last door at the end of the hall. I dragged my feet into my bedroom, tossing my books to the far side of the corner and landing on my bed with a thud. I instantly went into a fetal position, curling my toes and hearing a satisfying crack. I was in a stage of sleep where reality and dreams met halfway, when I heard a knock on the door. Of course, it became part of my dream. Someone was building something in the distance, although I couldn't see them because of the blinding light of the yellow sun beaming down on me.
"Jo-elllee" A sing song voice came from the birds up above. They sang so beautifully.
"Joelle" This time, I had no idea where it came from. It almost seemed to be God calling out to me. But, in a woman's voice? Was God a woman?
"Joelle!" The voice jolted me out of my confused slumber. My eyes ached and refused to open until I had rubbed them a few times. That's when I noticed the bright light.
My night lamp had been turned on, and right next to it stood and smiling Sue. Oh, the beautiful voice of God. My eyes were still slightly shut and apparently so was my brain. The words had left my mouth before I could even think. "Are you God?"
The answering chuckle told me that I had gone crazy. Well, tired crazy, technically. "Just wanted to make sure you got your work done, but it seems that you do, soo..." Her voice trailed off and her legs slowly started turning towards my door. Her eyes still locked with my figure and the straight line in her forehead told me that she was trying to figure something out. Great. She wanted to talk.
I smiled as she ever so slowly made her way to the door and when she got there, and sighed. I rolled my eyes at her obviousness. I wasn't going to talk on her account, she should know that.
After her head finally left the door, I took a deep breathe before my tired eyes closed. I lay in my fetal position under my blankets and fell to sleep.
The next morning I woke to the sounds of loud laughing. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. I quietly made my way to the bathroom and quietly made my way back when I was done. If any secret service ninja corporation were hiring, I'd totally go in for it. Experience? They'd ask. I've been doing it my whole life, I'd say.
As I shut my bedroom door, I couldn't help but listen. Gee, they were loud enough. The smell of eggs and bacon and toast and pancakes and just about every other breakfast food travelled heavily through the air. My stomach took the time to rumble with its essence.
"Hey boy's! Knock it off! Breakfast is ready" Sue's voice broke through. A chorus of 'Sorries' tumbled with a parade of running elephants. I swear the house shook. The clattering of plates and forks made me wince.
I heard slipper cladded steps on the stairs and I made a b-line for my bed in a gasp. I through the covers over my head and tried to catch my breathe. I wasn't in fear of getting caught. I would just be slightly embarrassed. Then Sue would have probably made me go downstairs and eat with them, then she would have made me introduce myself which is not a feat of mine.
My bedroom door opened and through the blanket, I could see Sue's head popping in with a tray of food in her hand.
"Here you are sweetie" She smiled. I unwrapped the blanket from my head and acted like the morning light hurt my eyes.
"God made some eggs and bacon" She chuckled. I smiled but ducked my head in embarrassment from last night. "Thanks" I mumbled before she went back to her chores downstairs.
I quietly ate my breakfast inside of the almost bare bedroom. I need to do something with these walls. Maybe add a little color. Or some posters. But then again, this wasn't my house. I had a feeling I wouldn't be here much longer. Not that Sue was going to kick me out, It's just that I'll be done my schooling the day before my 18th birthday next month and I want to try and make a living of my own. Maybe work at a diner nearby and get my own apartment on the outskirts of La Push, away from society and closer to nature.
The more I thought about it, the more I wanted it. And then the more it became a dream rather then reality. The cons of the situation would be that I don't get the job and have to move to the city of Forks next door, and have to deal with pesky neighbours. Also, if I do get the job, I may not even get enough to make the living I want. Sadly, I couldn't go to college on the fact that my father hated me and my mother was to afraid to go against him. He said I would be in a public place, and public places are places I shouldn't put. Yeah, way to go Paulie, you should be put in the books for children tongue twisters.
I put my ear against my bedroom door and waited for any noises downstairs. All seemed quiet, so I went downstairs, making sure to not make the steps squeak and after looking around the kitchen, threw my dishes in the sink and took the stairs two at a time before closing my door. I took slow deep breathes to calm my heart.
After showering and grabbing my books, while making noises less then possible to hear, I went downstairs to a napping Sue on the couch. I waited patiently on the other couch. She was my new teacher now. I started on the assignments that I would be assigned to today. I had one more course before completing my school life.
One hour later and 2 assignments done, Sue finally woke up. She said her greetings before running to the ringing phone.
"What? Are you sure? Okay, okay, we'll be there" She hung up the phone and turned to me. "There are some complications are the hospital. We have to get over there now" I dropped my books and put my jacket on.
Arriving in the hospital, Sue nearly ran down the hall to my parents room. I, however, could give a rat's ass.
I sat in the chair just outside my parents room while Sue spoke with the doctor. The door opened and Sue stepped out, pain etched in her face and she was on the verge of tearing up.
"Honey, your father, well, to be quiet frank, he never made it. He's dead sweetheart." Sue broke down and cried in my arms.
Story of my life.