Louder Than Thunder

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot!

Josie's POV: Drops of water softly patter against my window, dancing as they slide down the glass. The cold penetrating into the room, licking at my fingers and sinking into my bones. Music is softly playing in the background as I wrote something down in my journal.

My therapist told me that writing could help me remember. I'm actually upset that my handwriting capabilities have deteriorated over the years, becoming shaky and uneven. There was a time where it used to be pristine, something I took pride in.

At least I think I did.

There's holes in my memories lately. Things I should remember, but simply can't. Anything passed the age of fourteen is a tangled mess of faceless people and blank thoughts.

My speech is also impaired, stuttering when I'm frustrated, which only angers me more. My father also told me that I can't play the ukulele anymore, which is something I didn't even remember I could do.

I wasn't always like this.

At least that's what the doctors told me.

Dad lies to me, insisting that my brain injury came from the crash, but Lizzie swears that he pushed me into the kitchen counter, and I definitely trust my twin more, considering that she was the one who would often take the brunt of my beatings. Dad would often come home ill and crash on the couch. Lizzie said he's just been drinking too much, but how could drinking soda make you sick?

Something inside of him shifts when he sees me, as if he's seeing someone else entirely.

I try to be good, but any small mistakes result in severe punishment, and Lizzie would often step in, taking some of the pain for me.

On rare occasions that we weren't attached at the hip, I'm forced to endure everything by myself. Lizzie quickly became a master of concealer, helping me cover up discolored skin that my clothes wouldn't hide.

I like when dad is well.

When he doesn't come home sick, he's actually treats us with kindness. He'd take us to the movies, buy us gifts, or just spend time with us.

It makes me feel bad for wanting to tell someone about the circumstances.

Shutting my journal, I lay it to the side before freezing as a loud noise rattled the windows, causing me to jump out of bed and run from the room fearfully. I breathed heavily, bursting into the room in front of mine as someone quickly sat up in bed in alarm. "Jo? What are you still doing up, it's past one", Lizzie yawned, rubbing her eyes as I shifted on my feet, avoiding her eyes.

I gasped, looking around the room fearfully as another loud noise shook the room. Wasting no time, I rushed across the room and jumped on my sister's bed tearfully. "N-no...no more...no more", I whined as tears leaked from my eyes.

"Hey, it's okay. It's just a storm", she assured.

"Too...Too loud", I whimpered, before a bright light filled the room, causing me to scream as I jumped into her arms, burying my face into her chest as sobs shook my body.

I smiled, listening to my sister complain about the newest quarterback, Ethan, as we made our way toward the parking lot. "Wait, are you complaining because he's hot or because he took over your spot in tonight's game", I questioned, causing her to smack my arm.

"First of all, eww", she cringed, causing me to snicker. "And second of all, he's only been here for a week and he's already ruining my life", she huffed.

"And this has nothing to do with Hope scoring the winning touchdown tonight", I teased, causing her to send me a deadly look. "Lizzie, we won. We should be celebrating", I laughed.