This is my first Mentalist story. Hope you guys like it! :)
Warning: mature themes present in this story.
Disclaimer: If i owned the Mentalist i would not be sitting at my crappy laptop in the middle of the night writing stories ;)
Chapter 1: Broken Porcelain Doll
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She was broken like an abandoned, worn-out porcelain doll. He was the only one who could fix her. He was damaged, tainted by guilt and the memories of the family he once had. She was the only one who could help him forget.
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This is not a story about two people finding each other after overcoming a series of trials. It has no humble beginnings and no happy endings because let's face it, this is not a Disney movie.
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Teresa Lisbon was 13 years old when her world came crashing down. Her life changed in a minute when her mother passed away in a car crash. She was left to pick up the pieces. A little girl all alone in a big, scary world. Her father was a good man but good people have breaking points too. After the death of his wife, he broke and no one could fix him. He became an alcoholic, an abuser and often took his anger and frustration out on his children.
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Sometimes she wakes up, eyes red and puffy, lips quivering, and she morphs back into that helpless little girl who had to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. She'd go back to sleep convincing herself it was only a nightmare only to sink back into that closet in her family home, her father towering over her as she sat on the floor rocking back and forth, letting the harsh strokes of her father's anger taint her soul and bruise her body. Black and blue all over. Then suddenly a rush of red so violent and hateful.
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It doesn't take much for her to fall back into that horrible place on that faithful night, empty bottles of alcohol lying on the living room carpet. Glass on the floor from a broken bottle. Blood painting the once white walls red with fear and regret. She had swung at him. She couldn't take it anymore. How dare he put them through all that pain and misery. He was drunk, as always, but she never imagined what would happen next. Little Teresa Lisbon. A gun pointed to her head. Her father pulling the trigger.
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Her screams shattered the peaceful silence of the early morning and replaced it with haunting shrieks as she struggled to gasp for air. She stumbled out of her lonely, cold bed into the bathroom, her legs finally giving up on her, leaving her a shivering mess on the floor. She suddenly felt sick crawling to the toilet, arriving just in time not to make a mess. She decided to take a bath to calm herself down so she gently got up and took off her shorts and t-shirt, which were too big for her and made her look even more like a little girl. She couldn't help but look in the mirror as she was getting in the tub. Her dark brown hair disheveled from all her tossing and turning, her white skin, a sickly shade of green and the bones sticking out, tugging at her skin giving her a haggard look. Her ghastly expression spoke volumes for the exhaustion and fatigue she felt. She finally got in the tub, soaking in the warm water, washing the bad memories away.
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One could say that it was fate, others call it luck. He was too drunk to aim properly. Police were called after the neighbors heard the loud bang and she and her brothers got taken away and shipped to their aunt. People called her survival a miracle but what they didn't know and could never understand was that she was not afraid to die. It was a morbid thought but she figured that she would leave this wold of pain and misery and finally be reunited with her mother.
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After that life didn't get any easier. Depression, followed by extreme anxiety and a series of eating disorders. A couple of failed suicide attempts and by age 16 Teresa Lisbon was a ticking time bomb. She was finally put in a hospital and after accepting the help of countless doctors and psychologists she started building her life again. She slowly started getting better and better, started living again. Life for Teresa wasn't great but is was bearable which was good enough at the time.
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Nowadays she buries herself in her work and is dedicated to helping other people. With the help of her team she puts criminals behind bars. Yet, she is still broken. Triggers are all around her. Some cases are too much for her to handle and thankfully her team understands that and know better than to ask too many questions. Except Patrick Jane of course. Jane had gone through his fair share of tragedies, and on the outside he looked as if he had it all together, but Teresa knew that he was just another tormented soul trying to find solace and peace in the world and within himself after his only reason for living, his family was selfishly snatched away from him in a haunting and damning conclusion and in turn he understood that she was broken, a beautiful, troubled porcelain doll with a little tiny heart of gold that broke so young and bled so fast and who had to face the soul-less demons that lied inside of her, tormenting her every single day of her life.
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Thanks for reading!