Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Jonny Quest or Evanescence, but I wish I did. JQ and company are owned by Hanna-Barbara, and the song Tourniquet is owned by Evanescence. I only own the plot, and the characters of Vize and Synikal.
Tourniquet
djvize2k
Prologue
I tried to kill the pain But only brought more...
Jessie stared bleakly out the bay window. The small girl was huddled in a bench that was built into the frame of the window, and she had a blanket wrapped around the lower half of her body. Her right arm was draped across her torso, loosely holding a book in her hand. It was an overcast day...The clouds were threatening to release their burden of rain that they carried. The cold damp air of autumn seemed to weigh everything down, and the leaves of the trees had shed their festive colors of the season for a dull brown-The same shade as the grass.
The young woman sighed softly...Everything was dying, just like she felt she was.
It was strange how life could be sometimes. Everybody thought she was so lucky-She was beautiful, talented, smart...
But if all these things were true, then how come Jessie didn't feel that way? She didn't really feel beautiful-Didn't see the looks that men gave her as she passed them by, or the jealousy that other women harbored for her receiving such attention. All she saw when she looked in the mirror was a gawky tomboy staring back at her. She didn't notice the exotic features that were the result of her Colombian-Irish heritage, or the mystical appearance that was granted by her fiery hair and emerald eyes. Didn't see how years of physical training and conditioning had given her a sleek, toned figure.
All this without even mentioning a few assets that her mother had endowed her with; besides her intelligence.
No-All that Jessie saw was a girl that was turning eighteen the next day and hadn't even been asked on a date. Nevermind that any potential boyfriend material either had a well-founded fear of her father, or thought that she was simply un-obtainable. And the ones that weren't frightened off by her father were intimidated by her...She was extremely intelligent, and seemed to excel at everything that she attempted. They didn't know that she had a fear of failure that drove her to succeed, or that she was afraid to reveal any emotions or qualities that could be seen as a weakness.
She had been extremely depressed recently, and had been doing everything in her power not to let it show...After all, that would be a weakness. And her father frowned at anything that was weak, so, she tried even harder to act normal around him.
It was taking its toll on her.
Three days without sleep and very little to eat had left her exhausted; but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to hold down food and her thoughts kept her up at night. On this particular day, she had finally given up on sleep; instead she had gone downstairs to read at about three in the morning. But her weary body had betrayed her and she found herself unable to concentrate, leading Jessie to her current state of spacing out and gazing out the window.
This was how her father found her when he came downstairs at 7:30.