A/N: SVU doesn't belong to me, neither do any of the characters featured on the show at present or past. This story and the characters I have created are mine :) Now all that's out the way, I hope you guys enjoy this story. It's something new I've not tried before; before you read this you should know there will be some violence of a sexual nature, and there may be some trigger moments. I have been working on my book and various other pieces of writing – I also have wifi at my house (FINALLY!) so updates should be more regular. Thanks for the support with my other stories. Please review and let me know what you think.
"Here you will learn the way of the Lord. You will learn the right way to live your life, and you will be trained to be a good person. The devil will take on many forms and faces, and right now you are the devil! And he will no longer live within you, today we will make the change. Today, you will start your lives on the right path, you will forget your disgusting gay ways and live pure. Being a homosexual is to live as a disgrace, you've all been sent here because you need to learn. You have a choice, pick God!"
Richard Hues, a stocky man born and raised in New York stood tall in front of his three new camp members. He'd finished his welcome speech and was keen to start teaching the two girls and young boy the right way to live their lives.
"Welcome to Camp Refuge." Richard smiled at the girls, "Ladies follow me, you'll be staying in cabin thirty seven."
Brook Sharp and Holly Atherton followed Richard to their cabin, they went in and put their bags down.
"So, who sent you here?" Brook asked.
"My parents, what about you?" Holly replied.
"My dad. He's a jerk, I'm a straight A student, head cheerleader, even had the most popular guy as my boyfriend. Apparently my cover story wasn't as well thought out as I thought it was." Brook laughed, "I'm Brook by the way."
"Holly. I didn't think popular girls were gay." she blushed.
"I told my dad that being gay isn't a choice, but according to him, and God of course, it is."
Brook sat down on her bunk and kicked off her shoes. "I'm not going to let these people change who I am, the world has evolved, technology has and the people in it have too. If God is all knowing and loving, then he would have evolved too. So this is all bullshit."
Holly sat on her bunk opposite Brook, "I've heard some bad things about this place, they starve you and beat you."
"Hey, don't worry about all of that. If they beat us it's because they know they have lost all control, anyway, I'll look after you. We're cabin buddies now, got to stick together right?"
Holly smiled, "Thanks. So are you from around here?"
"Technically I'm English, born in London but when my mom died we moved to Manhattan. What about you?"
"I'm from Arizona, this is my first time away from home."
"Really? That's insane, if I couldn't travel I'd die. There's a big world out there waiting to be explored and as soon as I turn eighteen I'm out of my dads house free to kiss and love whoever the hell I want." Brooke laughed.
The door to the cabin flew open, a young plump woman stood in front of the girls. "These are your uniforms, you will wear them everyday you're here without fail. You are not to change them in anyway what so ever. If you do, you will be put in the pen for punishment. Introduction meeting is in five minutes in the hall. Be there, on time."
"Well she's pleasant." Brook said taking off her shirt and sliding the grey, long sleeve shirt over her head.
"I think that's Miss Rite."
"How'd you know so much about this place? This isn't your first time at the party is it?" Brook winked.
"No, I looked it up on the internet. When my parents said I had to come here, I freaked out, went straight online." Holly said picking up her uniform. Holly was a shy girl with long chocolate brown hair. She had pale skin and bright green eyes that caught everyone's attention.
"You don't have to be worried about changing in front of me, I'm a lesbian, not a pervert." Brook smiled, "Anyway, we'll be sharing a cabin until we're cured so this won't be the first or last time you see me semi naked."
Holly blushed again, "Sorry, I just haven't found my feet yet. I'm a bit scared to be honest."
Brook took Holly by the shoulders, "You don't have to be scared, and if you are, come find me. O.K?"
Holly nodded and continued getting changed, both girls headed to their introduction meeting in the great hall. They sat down in the hall, there was only them and seven other people in the hall. The same woman who had given the girls their uniforms walked on to centre stage.
"My name is Miss Rite, I will be one of your teachers during your time here. You will obey all your teachers, all the instructions given to you. All tasks given to you, you will undertake immediately. You will not answer back. You are here to learn, and that is what you will do. Breakfast is at eight A.M sharp. If you miss breakfast, that's your loss. Lunch is at twelve and dinner is at six. You will all be attending classes, and exercises throughout the day, once a week you will have a meeting with Richard Hues who will teach you one on one. Any rule breaking will be punishable by any means we see fit. Today you will unpack, have lunch and memorise your schedules. Tomorrow you will start classes. Am I understood? Good. You may leave now."
Brook walked with an unbreakable confidence, with the rules pack and her schedule in her hands she walked with Holly back to their cabin. Brook laid on the bed and started reading the rules.
"Oh God, have you see some of these rules? Rule one, 'Never close your cabin door'." Brook stood up and swung the door wide open. "Number three is a good one too, 'There will be no physical contact between cabin mates'." Brook laughed out loud, "'No magazines, videos or any other kind media should be used for personal satisfaction or pleasure'."
Holly laughed and picked up her rules pack so she could read along with Brook.
"This one has to be the most disgusting one yet, rule ten, 'All laundry will be packed into a bag at the end of the day ready for inspection and washing.' Like seriously is some creeper going to start sniffing my underwear or something? That's gross."
"That's horrible, if they were that concerned they wouldn't put two girls together."
"That's true! I mean, we're lesbians, that means we have to fancy everyone of the same sex. It would just be improper if we didn't want to fuck every girl in the world."
"What classes are you in?" Holly asked looking at her schedule.
"Um, I've got Miss Rite's class for two hours after breakfast on the Lord's will. Then I have outdoor exercise for two hours, lunch and then Mr Green's lesson on good health. Oh and I have sex ed with Rose Wilson. How about you?"
"We're in the same classes. What's the free time hour?"
"I think it's where you get to write home and study. I mean it's not like it's actually going to be free, you know these people are going to be reading our letters and watching us."
"Do you mind if we sit together? I get really shy around new people, and you're the only person I know."
"Of course. We're all in the same boat, you know what's weird? We're the new kids right, well all the other people here are hidden away. I saw a girl earlier and she literally ran away."
Holly shrugged, "I have no idea, but there's only nine new people here. The others must have cabins somewhere else so they don't mix with the new people. Incase we undo all the hard work they've done."
"The brain washing you mean."
"That too." Holly said.
"So you going to write home to your parents? Or your girlfriend?"
"I don't have a girlfriend, I never have. And I don't think I'm going to write home to them, they're the reason I'm here."
"Wait, you've never had a girlfriend and yet you're in a straight camp... what's that all about? A preemptive strike?"
"Something like that, my parents are church goers; I told them I didn't want to go to church because I had feelings God didn't approve of and I needed to work on them. Then, this happened."
"So are you gay or not?"
"I am, I had a crush on one of my teachers. And I was interested in a friend of mine, we sort of started dating. Then her parents found out when they caught us kissing, and things just seemed to go from bad to worse in sixty seconds."
"That's how I got caught, I was with this girl. We were hanging out for a while, turned out she was hired by my dad to prove I was gay and the boyfriend thing was a cover story."
"Damn, that's cold."
"Harsh right? I thought she was my first love until I found out it was a complete lie." Brook sighed heavily.
"Are you O.K?" Holly asked looking over to Brook who was still laying down.
"I'll be fine, got to stay here for two months and act like I'm reformed, then I'm going to finish school and get the hell out of here."
"Where do you want to go?"
"Italy, I love Rome and Venice. Hey, when we get out of here, I'll take you with me."
"Really?" Holly smiled brightly at the thought of leaving Arizona.
"Yeah, we'll travel the world and do our own thing."
"Brook, do you believe in God?"
Brook sat up and swung her legs over the edge of her bunk. "I think I do, I mean, I love the idea of a destiny and a path planned out for us. Having a higher power watching over us, it's comforting. But, I don't like the idea of a man who created us, not loving us for something that isn't a choice. We get shunned for being in love. It's not like I'd curse out a straight person for being in love, so why do I have to be?"
"I understand. Like you said, if we evolved and the world around us has, then surely God evolved too."
"Yeah, well, that's how I like to think of it. There's only one other thing that crosses my mind though."
"What's that?"
"Sometimes I wonder if God stays in heaven because he lives in fear of what he created."
"That's deep." Holly said, "What's Italy like?"
Brook threw herself back down so she was laying down, "It's beautiful, the people are friendly and welcoming and the food is amazing. The sun is shining casting the most amazing shadows over the buildings. It's where my heart was truly captured."
"It sounds beautiful."
"It really is." Brook replied.
"We should go for lunch." Holly said standing up and straightening her uniform.
Brook and Holly both headed out their cabin and towards the hall for their lunch. Outside were two lines of people, the new arrivals and the other campers.
"They all look washed out." Brook said staring at the line of grey faces.
"That's because of the therapy."
"What therapy?" Brook said turning to her left seeing a new arrival talking to her.
"They use electroshock therapy to stop you from having gay thoughts."
"Shit!"
"I'm Harley by the way." the teen said.
"I'm Brook and this is Holly. How'd you know about the therapy?"
"My older brother was sent here last year, he told me all about it when he got home. He said he was cured just so he could leave, but when he got home he packed his bag and left with the guy he met here. He still calls me and emails when he can, but my parents think this place will fix me, even though it didn't fix him." Harley said air quoting the word fix.
"Sit with us." Brook said as they got lead into the hall, Harley sat between Holly and Brook.
"How old are you girls?"
"I'm sixteen." Brook said as her eyes darted around the room.
"I'm fifteen." Holly said feeling uncomfortable. "How long have you been here?"
"I've been here a week, they started taking in new arrivals last week. Next week there will be a few more of us, then the doors are closed for the next two months."
"Have you been punished?"
"Yeah, I got put in the pen two days ago. It's a hell hole."
Brook turned her attention back to Harley, "Why? What is this place? Some sort of gay Nazi camp?"
"You could say that. The pen is a completely sound proofed room at the back of the cabins. It's pitch black, there's nothing in it. They say if you stay in there too long you'll go mad because there's no light and no sound. Well, there's no sound until they play a tape recording of Miss Rite reading from the bible for seven hours. If my hair didn't look this good, I'd have pulled it out."
Holly cracked a small smile, "Why did you get put in there?"
"Oh because during the outside exercise I wouldn't take part."
Brook looked at Harley, "Wait, what is the exercise? Like volley ball? Swimming?"
"Oh God no! You think these extremists would let us see each other hot and sweaty? No, no, no, the exercise is everyone learning about each other, intimately."
Brook shot a look at Holly, "That's vile! They're making us sexual abusers. There has to be a way out of this."
"We're on lock down after next week, if you can get out before then, then do it." Harley said.
"I've got no proof, who's gonna believe me?" Brook said her mind running a thousand miles an hour.
"Go to SVU if you ever get out. They're the ones who help people who have been raped and abused." Harley said. "Close your eyes, it's time to say Grace.