Warning: This prologue contains brief, forced sexual contact.

Piper Mckay had never needed anyone. Her mother, a teenage prostitute turned junkie, had brought her seven-year-old daughter to an intimidating, white two-story house in the western neighborhood of Forks where many of the town's budding politicians lived. The home belonged to Piper's father, Jonathon Holmes, who was running for city council at the time and soon found himself saddled with the young girl once her mother had run off.

Of course, with the election coming up, Jonathon needed to keep his reputation spotless and if the tiny, gossip mongering town of Forks found out he had fathered an illegitimate child, let alone the child of a teenaged heroin whore, he would be blacklisted.

So he spun the web of lies carefully. A niece, he told people. His sister back East had fallen ill and left the child in his care. It explained the resemblance between them and no one questioned it when the years passed and the mother didn't return. Oh, a turn for the worse he would say. A special hospital up North. Terminal.

When it came time for the election, after nearly a year of prolonging his imaginary sister's illness, he killed her off. People ate the story up. Jonathon Holmes the saint. The man who cared for his troubled niece, despite his own ambitions.

Behind closed doors, Piper never stood a chance. She became a replacement for her mother. Jonathon tolerated her, true enough, but when he took to drinking his nightly glass of whiskey, he turned mean.

She hid the bruises and scars with long sleeves and baggy clothes and held her tongue until one day, Jonathon went too far. She was only eleven.

Piper lay on the closet floor, huddled against the cold floorboards and struggling to contain her harsh breathing, knowing he would hear. He had ordered her to bed an hour ago after she had spilled his whiskey refill on the pristine white rug in the den. The feel of his fist connecting with her jaw was enough to make her head pound painfully. The heavy, pronounced thud of his footsteps against the hardwood floor outside the door sent chills down her spine and she immediately froze in terror, a terrified whimper escaping her dry throat.

The bright light from the hall fell upon her tear-streaked face and matted red hair, revealing a shirtless Jonathon grasping the neck of a beer bottle as he sneered down at his young daughter. "Get your ass up, you look shameful down there sniveling."

Slowly and gracelessly, Piper clambered to her feet, tugging her faded, old sweatshirt down over her hands nervously. Her hair hung in greasy, tangled waves over her face and it only infuriated him more. His large hand reached down and she flinched away on instinct, only to cry out in pain as his fingers grip her hair, tugging at her scalp. "P-Please!"

"Stop your whining...sound just like your good for nothing mother." His fist held her hair firmly as he dragged her out of the small linen closet she was hiding in. She cried out softly, trying not to anger him any further as she struggled to get her footing, trying in vain to stop the sharp pain in her head as her small body bumped against the doorway to his bedroom. He lifted her easily, still in great shape for a man nearing 40, and tossed her carelessly on his bed, ruffling his smooth, grey bedding. "Just like your useless whore of a mother..."

Piper curled up into the fetal position, trying to shield herself from the inevitable hits as she sobbed quietly against the mattress. "Please, sir, please..."

"Shut up." His hand gripped her delicate throat, pinning her head to the bed as he knelt beside her, slamming his bottle of beer onto the nightstand. "You're going to grow up and be a whore just like her...You think you can act all innocent...walking around here like you deserve this house..."

"I-I don't..." She murmurs, her voice shaking before he tightens his hand around her throat, putting pressure on her windpipe and jerking a harsh gasp from her throat as he leaned over her, his thick, reddish blonde hair tussled and lending him an unruly look to match the unhinged, glassy look in his eyes.

"Damn right, you don't. If it weren't for me you'd be out on the streets with nothing..." His eyes raked across her slim body, a small smirk forming on his lips. "And I think I know how you can repay me for all of my kindness..."

"W-what?" The young girl gasped, shrinking into the soft mattress in fear, hot tears creating fresh tracks down her cheeks as she stared up at her caretaker. "No...No!"

His hand tightened on her throat, restricting her breathing completely as he snarled, "You don't get to tell me no!"

She could smell the strong odor of alcohol on his breath and the bile rose from her stomach as she struggled beneath him, her vision darkening around the edges as he held her delicate throat in his strong grip. "P...lease.."

Just before her vision faded completely, he let go and moved off of her. She rolled onto her stomach in an effort to get away from him, coughing against the silk sheets as she panted desperately for the air he had deprived her of. She missed the sound of his belt buckle being undone and his pants falling to the floor, but she stiffened as soon as she felt his weight pressing down against her back, something warm and thick brushing against her lower back. "Your mom was nothing but a whore...Just like you are now..." His words slurred, ending with a grunt as he tugged on her jeans, ignoring her weak kicks as though they were nothing but the breeze and yanking the thick denim to her knees.

Piper buried her face in the pillow, shrieking and squirming against his powerful grip as he thrust his hips against her white panty covered butt. "Please, Jonathon, please stop!"

The older man ignored her pleas and sobs, thrusting firmly against her panties as he wound one arm around her waist, holding her tightly and rendering her immobile with her arms trapped against her body. "Shut up."

"Daddy!" It was the one thing she had never called him. She was forbidden from giving any sign that they were anything but uncle and niece, and at home, she was supposed to call him sir. It was a sign of respect, he told her. "Daddy, please don't hurt me..."

He froze in his movements, staring down at the betrayed, terrified face of the young girl beneath him, her dark, soulful eyes peering over her shoulder and shining with unshed tears. With a grunt, he sat back and shook his head, tucking himself back into his underwear and muttering, "Go to bed." When she didn't move, he barked loudly, "I said go! Are you deaf now too?"

Piper needed no more encouragement. She darted off the bed, holding her jeans up as she ran down the hallway and back to her bedroom in the back of the house, leaving him to stew in his own emotions.

From that day onward, the night was never mentioned. Jonathon began giving her a weekly allowance on the promise that she didn't do anything to jeopardize his political chances. She joined every after-school activity possible- drama, art club, the debate team, the chess team, the yearbook committee. Anything that would keep her out of the house and make her look like the prodigal niece Jonathon wanted her to portray.

She managed to maintain the image of the popular overachiever until the day before her seventeenth birthday when she met him.

Hello! This story is going to be a lot darker than my other Twilight story, How Do You Want It?, and I hope no one is offended by the events of this prologue. I put warnings at the beginning for a reason.

The title is taken from the song Duality by Slipknot, which I do not own.

Please review and tell me what you think, I hope to have another update for this story and HDYWI sometime this weekend and I'd love some feedback!