In LA the next day
"why hello Victoria, I'm surprised to see you here" says Isabella
"I bring Sofía, she's wanting to be here as opposed to travelling with us on tour, the usual reason why" says Tori
"what's going on with Cat, she seems off" asks David
"we were at the trial this morning, Cat was testifying, the prosecutor had her identify who did the things to her, she pointed at him and looked at him, then all of a sudden her eyes glazed over and she slumped over, the judge saw that and had me immediately take her out of the court room and that they were done for the day" says Tori
"that's out of character for that judge, anything else" says David
"the Court had only been in session for HALF an hour and she's still not fully back with us almost an hour after it happened" says Tori visibly shaken
"David dear, you did tell Victoria about mental magic right" asks Isabella
"I tried, she doesn't believe in it" says David
"is that so Victoria, you don't believe in mental magic" asks Isabella
"no I don't, it's just a story" says Tori
"no it's not, you've heard of hypnosis right" asks Isabella
"yeah so, what's this got to do with Cat, Ally and I are worried about her" says Tori beginning to freak out
"it's a very powerful form of mental magic, in the wrong hands it can be used to create obedient slaves if the person is versed enough in the deep history of hypnosis and how to use it" says Isabella
"but from what I've read about it there are verbal triggers, uncle creepy hadn't even said a single word in the trial mom, it's not possible that he triggered something" says Tori
"there's more to it than that, triggers can include smells or even looks, I can pull her out of this but you NEED to make sure she gets 'deprogrammed' or it will happen again, especially if his control over her is scent based, now lay her down on the couch" says Isabella as Tori unintentionally ragdolls Cat onto the couch
"see what I mean, it's like she's not here or even alive, I'd fear she's dead if it weren't for the fact that she's blinking and has a heartbeat, which by the way is the only response you'll get from her, I don't know how you plan to fix this but I hope you can" says Tori as Brenda arrives
"Brenda, thank God you're here, do you have any information about how he unconscious'd Cat at the trial" asks Isabella
"gibberish mostly, he's an extreme occultist, the least loved of the Valenti family, he believed he could control those closest to him, if he is the cause of Cat's current state the Italian military will shoot him on sight the moment he returns for the trial there, the only thing I could make out is 'if you want to see them alive you will douse them in gasoline, light them on fire and drown them, for my scent lives within them', he knows I'd never hurt Catarina or Cassandra, he clearly wants to make me kill them" says Brenda
"baptism by fire it is then" says Isabella
"I don't understand, doing what he says will KILL Catarina, surely you can't be suggesting we do as he asks" says Brenda
"he suggested it KNOWING you'd rather leave them in this state than lay a hand on them Breni, if you quoted him word for word then he's referencing thermal shock, David honey, go get my thermal suite" says Isabella as David does so
"you're sure she will be fine, no memory or further mental instability" asks Allison fearing they're about to roast Cat alive
"by her nature Cat's body is a few degrees below normal, to be exact, eight degrees if I remember the discussion I had with her doctor a few years back, however it wasn't always that way, in fact it used to be above normal by three degrees, it plummeted when she began puberty and started getting periods, her body can take the heat if done right" says Brenda as David returns with the thermal suit
"Tori put Cat in the suit" says Isabella as Tori obliges
"ok what's next" asks Tori
"cover her mouth and exhale from your nose into hers, do that a few times then pinch her nose until her eyes slowly close then take her outside" says Isabella as Tori again obliges as Cat's eyes immediately begin to close
"what's next" asks Allison as Tori carries Cat outside to the backyard
"Brenda do you have a lighter" asks Isabella as they follow Tori
"you're actually going to set her on fire" asks Brenda handing a lighter to Isabella
"the suit protects her body from hotspots, I only need a liquid starter, aka the butane within the lighter, the suit has fibers that will burn evenly, slowly raising her body temperature over three minutes, by the end she will only just reach normal temperature, which for her would be fever territory, the suit will maintain the temperature, after five minutes we spray the suit with the hose, the temperature difference will be the temperature shock we need, this isn't your prized lighter is it Breni" says Isabella
"nah my prized lighter hasn't been used in years, it's in a frame at home, this is a poor replica, if you need to destroy it go ahead but Catarina better survive this" says Brenda as Isabella breaks the lighter and pours the butane onto the suit and lights it on fire
"ok so it's started, my only question is why have me exhale into her nose, it doesn't make sense to me" asks Tori
"your hygiene is among the highest he's ever known your dad says, Breni said Christian said 'for MY scent lives within them', through the 'burning' process your exhaled breath will permeate her lungs and as a result her blood, effectively removing the 'scent' he spoke of, meaning as long as the scent remains, it will no longer cause this, however if he's smart enough to do this with the centuries of knowledge about hypnosis then he's smart enough to have made other doors into her mind, this ritual only closes this one" says Isabella
"this mental magic is nuts" says Allison
"in the hands of the evil I'm inclined to agree Allison, only a few more minutes left Victoria, were lucky that it's burning evenly on this relatively windy day" says Isabella
"will this ritual cause any changes in her mentally or physically" asks Tori
"it could readjust her body temperature closer to normal but likely won't be ever normal, it's also possible it could loosen his hold on her, meaning she could be calmer or more energetic, especially in a sexual nature, she will likely feel more comfortable in her body and more sure of her choices but that would be about the extent of the effect of this ritual cleansing" says Isabella
"how much longer, I'm getting kind of nervous about her hair being so close to the heat, it's been very dry as of late, dry and frizz prone" says Tori
"just less than two minutes" says Isabella
"how can you tell, I haven't noticed any difference in the heat coming off the suit" asks Tori
"you're focusing too much on the heat and not enough on the color of the burn, it was orange very quickly when I lit the suit, it's now a vibrant blue, with hints of purple and pink, it will dull out a very dull blue before extinguishing itself" says Isabella
"ah there it goes its dulling in hue" says David
"so when do I douse her with the hose, if she comes to she's going to be quite angry about being soaked with water" says Tori
"any second now, believe me if her mind is clearer she will forgive you" says Isabella
"ok Tori now" says David as Tori gladly drenches Cat in water as Cat suddenly comes to life
"OW OW, stop, that's cold" says Cat suddenly sitting up
"Mom is it ok for me to stop" asks Tori temporarily diverting the water
"she's awake and talking, yes turn off the water, Catarina I have to ask, were you aware of what was happening after you looked at Sir creepo Christian" says Isabella as Tori turns off the water
"yes, I could tell what was happening but I was unable to say or do anything voluntarily, as was his creepy design" says Cat
"explain" says Isabella
"his ultimate plan for Cassandra and I was to be involuntary sex workers indebted to him, he currently HAS two barely legal involuntary indebted workers in Rome as we speak, under his spell as I was, the only difference was I wasn't given a command, those poor young ladies aren't able to get themselves out of the state, until they're given a release command or forced out like you did to me they are literally at the whim of their 'clients', they have no outwardly visible free will, though it will look and sound like they're consenting to sexual acts, believe me they aren't, it's a terrible existence Miss Gonzalez" says Cat
"do you know the phrase to release them, could you release them while you're in Rome later this year" asks Isabella
"le tue prestazioni sono peggiorate, I tuoi servizi non sono richiesti, ora ti possiedo, that's the phrase, it has to be in Italian, unfortunately the last words in it is 'I now own you', when he programmed me, one thing he made clear was that our usefulness is tied to our sexual performance, that once the clients lose interest we literally become his property, we lose any chance of being free, he'd have said that to all of them, some got out of the programming by force of the police, by locking them up so they couldn't 'return home' they'd then be sent to a psych hospital, usually in Spain or France, basically anywhere outside of his control" says Cat
"but I thought he basically owned the Roman police force and the government in Rome" asks Tori as Brenda is also interested
"there's a secret code, public acceptance, private rebellion, he did own most of the Rome police force but he doesn't own the Italian military, not in the slightest, by all means Cassandra absolutely should have been in the obedience state, the fact that she wasn't shows that the military got involved, mandated her freedom from complete control on his part, Creepo may love his guns but the military will ALWAYS be the better shot and he knows that" says Cat
"did you know he was under FBI and CIA surveillance" asks Brenda
"no, he donated heavily to the campaigns of the few red states Governors, mainly Florida and Texas, California is maybe the only state in this lower part of the USA that refused his donations on all levels, Nevada refused donations on Governor and all house and senate positions but Congressional candidates for D.C representation gladly accepted his money, three such candidates won their elections, so long story short no I didn't expect the government to take his threat seriously, I'm glad someone did" says Cat
"glad I could help, it's clear you make Victoria happy, Allison too it seems, my word of advice, don't lose sight of that, Victoria may not always show it because she gets lost in the moment, she'll either say she loves you WAY too much or barely at all, she's like me that way unfortunately" says Isabella
"h-h-how'd you know my name, I've been missing for six years until recently" asks Allison confused
"oh honey your father, Brenda and I went to the same college, we were umm shall I say very close" says Isabella
"how close exactly" asks Allison, worried Tori is family
"you have a sister that neither you nor Jade know about, I can tell you're afraid it's Tori, it's not, last I heard she was somewhere in Spain" says Isabella
"her name doesn't happen to be Sabrína or Andréa is it, because that would make Cassandra very uncomfortable" asks Cat
"her name when she was born was Annà Selena Gonzalez, I last spoke to her two years ago, the day she turned twenty-four, she cursed me out, told me I was a terrible mother, that she wished I was dead, that having a bio mom who's in jail is embarrassing and my death can't come soon enough, also that naming her a princess name like Annà was a hate crime to her, which is rich because the Gonzalez's are a part of the Spanish royal family, literally the current prince is my nephew though Anna has a right to the throne as the oldest then Manuel then you or Sofía, the youngest contestant for the throne is Jorge, the last thing she said was she's interested in this Italian girl and that her history with me was over and she was changing her name and would never talk to me again, it was a hard call to take knowing it would be the last time I'd ever hear her voice, that could sweet talk a pig into dancing with her, the calls with anyone were only supposed to be ten minutes, she'd sweet talk the prison guard into half an hour, even when she was little, I'm going to miss her" says Isabella
"I'll talk to her if I can find her mom, for now keep Sofí safe, I'm trusting her to be taken care of by you guys, if I hear anything less than positive remarks when I come back I will be very angry and dad you know full well what it's like to be the target of my anger" says Tori
"yeah we don't need a 'you nearly ripping Trina's hair out' scenario again, she knows she was self absorbed back then, in all honesty that situation showed her just how self-important she'd become, it also showed us that while you play by the rules, you do have a mean self defense side when you need to use it, Isabella and I won't let you down if we can help it" says David
"good now I have to get back home, we leave for Spain on Monday, things were significantly moved up because of demand, there was no demand in England or Germany but that's changed so more stops were added, two concerts per stop on the tour" says Tori
"please don't anger her, she's easily set off" says Isabella
"damn that does sound like Cassandra's girlfriend, I hope Cassie's ok with that" says Cat
