Friday September 20th 2013
Lancaster, California, Friday afternoon
"do you have any patients by the name of Lucy Valentine here, we have a lead saying you might" asks Alexander Harris
"we have several Lucy's, three Lu-Lu's and four Lucinda's, all legally Lucy but no Lucy Valentine, we're pretty loose on preferred names here, it is a mental health facility, maybe you could describe her or maybe your source was wrong" says Top doctor Patrick Smith
"Patrick, do you really think I'd come here simply on a whim if I didn't trust my source" says Alexander
"describe her then, we don't allow physical changes unless its conducive to treatment so chances are her look wouldn't have changed since she was admitted, it's possible she was admitted under a different name to protect her, there are several agencies who bring kids here from LA or that area under assumed names" says Patrick
"she would have arrived with a cell phone, she's been talking to a former fellow student named Chase Mathews, her hair would have been dirty blonde, she would have been ten when she was admitted" says Alexander
"hmm cellphones are pretty restricted here, I can count on one hand how many girls have access to texting or calls, names that come up are Sarah, Val, Hannah and Trixie" says Patrick
"Cat what do you think, if she came under an assumed name, which would she be more likely to use" asks Alexander
"Hannah comes the closest, it was the name of her pet gerbil, she's hated the name ever since it died, doc which one likes Cat ears" says Cat
"none of them, the only neko loving ten year old that was admitted in the past few years and has restricted phone access is Lu-lu Sarah Venicia, we do not have an official last name, she's enamored with Venice dolphins so the doctors call her Lu-lu Vencia" says Patrick
"what does she eat" asks Cat
"Ravioli and oatmeal, she's not fond of the oatmeal, unfortunately we have to serve it as a puree type soup because patients have choked on regular run of the mill oatmeal, sometimes she eats it but mostly she won't and will wait till supper, she sleeps most of the day, only waking up when it's phone time, or mealtime" says Patrick
"why was she admitted and by who" asks Alexander as Cat waits expectantly
"an LA county officer from Malibu, Lu-Lu was a victim in their case against a PCA student but she hit her head and couldn't remember details all too well so they tried several mental health facilities in the area, all turned her down, except for us, over the past year her memory has gotten better but either she won't answer questions about family or anything to do with her PCA or she just couldn't remember anything related to what we were asking her about" says Patrick
"doc if she could talk about those things she would, my sister is ten times worse at answering questions than I am, by that I mean she will answer questions even if they are not even remotely aimed at her, there are only two things that would stop her from answering questions, number one is the answer would make a her a target, number two is she doesn't remember or doesn't know the answer, may we go see her" says Cat
"she's not fond of guests or doctors but I can certainly ask, though I must warn you, your sister might not be the same person you remember" says Patrick
"if you're talking about Paranoia, it's nothing new, she's always been sceptical of people, give her even the slightest reason not to trust you and she will be suspicious of you until you correct the 'mistake', such mistakes can be as simple as writing the date in the wrong order or telling her the store is out of ravioli and oatmeal, even if the store IS actually out of both items she won't believe you" says Cat
"ok yeah that definitely tracks, I'll go ask her if she wants to see her sister, I give no promises though" says Patrick as he heads to Lucy's room
"is she really paranoid" asks Alexander
"she was one years old when mom, dad and our brother died in that car crash, she barely survived and I was supposed to take care of her, me, at six years old was supposed to take care of my one year old sister, yes she's actually paranoid about people, when my aunt took us in Lucy was severely mistrustful of aunt Valerie, eventually she trusted her, she didn't trust her public school teachers so she was transferred to PCA the moment she was allowed to" says Cat
"PCA is grades six to twelve, how is that possible, how could she have attended PCA at ten" asks Alexander
"nine, she was nine when she started, she's gifted like Dustin Brooks is, they put her in sixth grade but even that was too easy for her so they quickly bumped her up to seventh, which was a little more challenging for her, but she still passed classes with ease, her and Dustin were actually pretty close, I'm pretty sure she likes him, or at least she did, I don't know how she feels about him now" says Cat as Patrick returns
"she's in a fussy mood today but she is willing to see you guys, on the condition that we release her into your care if you ask" says Patrick feeling uneasy about releasing Lucy
"if it is Cat's sister Lucy, yes we will be requesting she be released into Cat's care" says Alexander
"Cat, is your full name Catarina Sabrina Grace Valentine" asks Patrick
"it is, how do you know that" says Cat rolling her wheelchair back so she can look Patrick in the eye when he responds
"Lu-lu just told me, when I asked if there was a way to verify your claim to be her sister, she told me your full name, you'd be surprised how many full grown adults have tried to get her released into their care, they go along with it until they hear that she knows her family's full names, which by the way is the only time she mentions her family, anyway we should make our way over there, she was very excited that you were here, you caught her during her rest and self worth hour so she's in what you would call lingerie, in reality it's custom made undergarments" says Patrick as they follow him to Lucy's room
"I'm not comfortable with her wearing that stuff doc, those companies' prey upon the insecurities of girls" says Cat
"we don't buy off the shelf stuff Catarina, it's an in house company, Lucy's 'lingerie' is custom made to fit her and only her, we also make clothes for trans kids, many trans kids are sent here to be 'cured', we have never once claimed to cure our patients and we do not do conversion therapy here, what we DO do is we make patients feel safe, Lucy is a success story for us in a few ways, she is one of the first to work past trauma in less than a year even if she doesn't remember what caused it, she has become less argumentative and visibly calmer though she can be quite fussy" says Patrick as they stop outside Lucy's room
"if she's a success story why has nobody ever heard her name" asks Alexander
"we don't use our patients as funding tools Agent Harris, in the grand scheme of California Mental health care facilities we are a blip in time compared to the decades of the well known facilities, Lu-care was founded after a doctor from one of the other hospitals raped several female patients, we were founded on the belief of patient care being the most important job a doctor can do, we also believe in patient privacy, Lucy asked to be kept out of the news" says Patrick as he knocks
"one minute please" says Lucy as Cat begins crying at the sound of her sister's voice
"are those good tears or bad tears" asks Patrick
"I thought she was dead, she'd suddenly disappeared from school, my only friend gave me a note she'd written but I didn't read it, I was too scared to, her voice is so beautiful, I haven't heard it in over a year" says Cat wiping away her tears
"ok I'm ready" says Lucy as Patrick opens the door and Lucy runs up to Cat, memories flooding back
"it really is you Lucy, I'm so happy you're not dead" says Cat as she pulls Lucy up onto the wheelchair
"I wrote a note, didn't you read it" asks Lucy leaning on Cat
"I was too scared to, auntie did though, she was convinced you were not going to survive, she didn't believe you were still alive" says Cat
"good, I don't care if she thinks I'm dead, I hate her" says Lucy
"what do you mean, she's not evil" says Cat
"did you see how she made me dress, she made sure all my clothes had as little fabric as possible" says Lucy
"all due respect Lucy, that wasn't auntie, that was uncle, he altered your clothes not auntie, it wasn't her fault, our medication is so expensive, she didn't have the cash to keep buying you clothes, uncle is no longer in the picture" says Cat
"how do you know for sure it wasn't auntie Val" asks Lucy
"I caught him one day, cutting up my favourite dress to show more skin, I kicked him, asked if he did this to your clothes too, he said yes and I kicked him seven more times, took my dress and showed it to auntie Val, she wasn't happy, he's in jail now for emotionally abusing Alisa and Eric, his own kids" says Cat holding Lucy tight
"even if that is true, until we have a chat with Valerie about that whole ordeal Lucy is not to see her, Lucy go pack your stuff, you're leaving with your sister today" says Patrick as Lucy gets up to go pack, causing Cat to wince
"thank you Doctor" says Cat
"if you don't mind me asking what's up with your legs" asks Patrick
"she's a victim of the pot toxin thing, her edibles were tainted, the toxin targeted her legs, yesterday was the first day she's had feeling in them since last weekend, as you can imagine it targeted her muscles, so they're a little tender, I'll need a list of her medications to tell the pharmacist" says Alexander
"she's on two medications, she can show you the pills, I'm the head doctor, I don't deal with patients like Lucy directly, I just direct their care" says Patrick
"it should be four medications, what did you take her off of" says Cat
"the meds she was on were targeting her kidneys, the dose was way too high, her doctor started from scratch, looked at the list of original symptoms in her medical file and went from there, the symptoms were a direct match once we let her kidneys heal, paranoia, autistic traits and eczema" says Patrick
"so she's not paranoid anymore" asks Cat
"not exactly, it's definitely less but the dose required would cause more problems because of her age and size, we've been slowly upping the dose, creeping up slowly to manage the symptoms, right now we're at a plateau, the meds deal fairly well with the symptom severity right now, if you continue to work with us we can adjust her meds without having to send her to a doctor and the whole new patient thing, she doesn't like that, she made us promise to never let her go through that again" says Patrick
"if it makes her feel safe then we will work with you, I will tell my aunt to give you a call when she can, she's the LAPD police chief and there's a big trafficking case right now so she's working long hours, she might not be able to get to you during the day" says Cat
"our phones are open all day every day, she will just have to say her name when asked and say why she's calling, they will look up the file that I will put in today and they will ask her the questions, if she calls at night I will review the answers when I start my shift, if I'm ok with the answers I will give agent Harris a call and have him review the answers to which he can relay to Lucy, Lucy gets the final say, if she's comfortable with the answers then Valerie will be cleared to see Lucy but not a minute before" says Patrick
"I'm staying with a friend so she will be staying with me no matter what my aunt says, I have no problem keeping her away from my aunt, I'm not letting anyone get to her ever again" says Cat as Lucy comes back out with a huge bag
"Doc, is there any chance I can still get more of those things or is it only possible if I live here" asks Lucy sitting on Cat's lap
"that's up to your sister, Cat, what do you think" says Patrick
"if they are as you say designed for her and with her mental health in mind, I suppose I could allow it but I must approve of the design, it must fall within age appropriate designs, if the design has lace frills I will approve but they must not be all lace if there is any lace" says Cat
"understood, now lets head to the front desk so the release papers can be signed" says Patrick
"I'm a minor still, I can't sign" says Cat as Alexander pushes them down the hall
"Agent Harris will be signing as the adult but you will be signing as her sister, basically to say 'I will be her guardian', its important that we know she's in the hands of family she can trust and not simply being pulled out of care for a federal investigation, she's on medication and we need to be assured that unless she has a sudden reaction to them that she will be allowed to continue to take them, for her safety" says Patrick
"oh ok" says Cat
Later that day at the Harris home as Andre returns home from school
"Cat you missed a funny performance today, you'd have loved it" says Andre
"SHHHHHH, she's sleeping" says Cat
"I thought you said your family all died in that car crash when you were six" asks Andre lowering his voice
"she was one years old, she barely survived, then when she was nine she attended PCA with me, Logan got to her, he made her date him, I didn't know that, then one day she disappeared, Chase had a letter from her, I thought it was a suicide letter as she did at times contemplate it so I never read the letter, when I said my family was dead I did actually believe she was also dead so as far as I knew it wasn't a lie" says Cat
"she's small like you, is she Dustin's age or Trisha's age" says Andre sitting down beside Cat
"in between, she's a prodigy like Dustin, they got along really well, my impression was he liked her" says Cat
"how'd Logan even get a hold of her, aren't the lower grades in a different part of the campus" asks Andre
"Logan tricked Dustin into luring Lucy to the guys dorm, Lucy definitely had feelings for Dustin so she ignored all the warning signs, Logan jumped her, put her in a corner and told her that if she didn't do everything he said he would tell the whole campus that she was planning to rape Dustin and that he saved him, the thing is because she's so smart, most classes were too easy, schools skipped her right past some grades entirely, she went from third grade to fifth, she was held back in fifth for a few years to even out her age with the other students then was vaulted to sixth where she was transferred to PCA, they vaulted her right to seventh, she never learned basic sex ed stuff and they neglected to teach her about stranger danger outright, as smart as she is they avoided teaching her the important stuff, every day after Logan jumped her she would go to the guys dorm where Logan would take her to his room, ensuring she missed the last class of the day, with her help your dad unlocked her folder, Logan had password protected it, though Lucy won't tell him exactly what Logan did with her in his room she has said it was bad touching but that's as far as she goes, I made your dad promise not to push her to answer, that it would make him as bad as Logan in her eyes, she needs to feel safe" says Cat
"did you tell her about me" asks Andre nervously
"yes, she's excited to meet you, she'll be staying with us from now on, you can't hug her unless she says it's ok, she has a thing about hugs, I have a suspicion that Logan convinced her that a guy hugging her means something different than it actually does" says Cat
"is there anything she needs from me" asks Andre
"she like likes Dustin, Chase asked Dustin if he knew what Logan was doing when he pulled her away that day, he insists he didn't, she wants to have Dustin visit over the weekend but your dad says no, is there any way you could convince him otherwise" says Cat
"if it has anything to do with the investigation nothing I say will make a difference" says Andre
"she doesn't trust your dad with the information Andre, she didn't trust the doctors up in Lancaster with the information either, she thinks that if adults know how someone exploited her naiveness that they will use the same exploitive behaviour against her, the only thing your dad, those doctors and Logan have in common is their authority over her, my aunt somewhat abused her power as 'mom' to dictate what Lucy ate, Logan undoubtedly used his power to abuse her, those doctors used their power to keep her safe though that's not how she saw it and your dad dictated to her that until she comes clean about what Logan did to her she's not to leave the house, not even to use the pool, do you see the problem" says Cat as Andre gets angry
"is my dad home" asks Andre
"yes he's in his office" says Cat as Andre heads to his dad's office
With Andre
"dad we need to talk" says Andre
"what about" asks Alexander
"about Lucy, you need to understand something, because you hold power over her she will not tell you how Logan gained control over her and made her do things, their aunt dictated what Lucy could eat, Logan probably used his age, size and money to sexually abuse her, those doctors likely kept her in that room in Lancaster for 'her protection' but I doubt she saw it that way and Cat tells me that you told her that until she tells you what Logan did she can't even use the pool, don't you see, the common thread is power over her, Cat says she didn't tell the doctors what Logan did because Lucy believes they'd exploit her the same way, face the facts dad, you're a former wrestler so you have big muscles, you're easily three times her size and you're a black man, you have NO IDEA what Logan managed to convince her of, for all we know he told her big black men will rape her if they get a chance, it is a stereotype people associate with us black people dad, she has feelings for Dustin, he might be the only chance you have of getting anything out of her, letting Dustin visit would show compromise, you get your information from Cat through me, why not her information through Dustin, Logan had constant physical access to Lucy, access he didn't readily have to the other girls, I can only imagine how important that information would be to your investigation dad, sometimes to catch big fish you have to make a few compromises, vet Dustin if you have to, let her know that anything she tells Dustin about what Logan did can't be kept secret, that Dustin can choose to omit some things but that if he cares about her that he should tell you what she said, make it clear that your intention is to get justice for her and his other victims" says Andre
"do you trust Dustin, he was involved in Logan's plot" asks Alexander
"let's imagine a scenario for a minute, say Dustin wanted to bring Lucy to his dorm for a movie, he's unsure of how to ask so he goes to logan for advice, who Cat says people tended to see as an advice and ladies man, logan then tells him how to ask Lucy out but doesn't tell Dustin about his real intentions, Dustin then does as Logan suggests only to then be stabbed in the back by Logan, Cat says many of the girls her age had heard rumors about what Logan did with the girls he'd take to his dorm room, in any case the information would be kept from the younger students like Dustin and Lucy as to not scare them, sure maybe Dustin is an accomplice but I doubt he was a willing one, just because Dustin was involved in getting Logan access to Lucy does not in any way mean he knew what the plan was when Lucy got to the dorm room, don't blame the kid without proof and don't punish Lucy for not feeling safe enough to tell you what Logan did, don't think I won't sue you for restricting Lucy's rights as a human being just because she is also a victim, she is not some obstruction in the way of a big payday, for all we know her story might be the hook, line and sinker in your case against Logan, when I wake up tomorrow I expect to hear 'Lucy's in the pool with Cat', restricting a victims rights has never led to them being honest and you know that" says Andre fuming
"she might have evidence on her clothes Andre, I never meant to restrict her rights" says Alexander
"the LA county chiefs office in Malibu would have that evidence dad, I looked it up, they had an investigation into Logan's conduct before Lucy went 'missing', after Lucy hit her head they cold cased the investigation against him, the website on their investigation into Logan is still up, it says 'lead witness suffered injury to head, we can no longer rely on her memory recall to provide crucial evidence against Logan Reese', I looked up the incident report on it, they'd taken Lucy to the entrance to PCA, she was hit in the head with a rogue basketball, Logan is the one that comes to retrieve the ball, he called her 'my sweet little princess', the police did nothing about it despite knowing it was Logan who said that and that it was Logan who was at the center of their investigation, if you ask me Logan paid the County police department in Malibu off, you might want to look into that" says Andre
"how's Lucy, she was barely there when I was talking to her, she would just stare into space right beside me, she would barely answer me" says Alexander
"Cat can be like that too, overthinking answers to questions, though in Lucy's case asking her questions about what Logan did might 'trap' her in her head, making her relive them, she's sleeping right now, leaning on Cat actually, she mentioned that Lucy's going to be living with us from now on, I thought you said she would be living with their aunt" says Andre
"I was hoping to have that be the plan but the doctors say that Valerie at this time is not to be trusted with Lucy's care, with Valerie running that big trafficking investigation it might be a while before things can be cleared up, the terms of release were that she live with Cat until either other living arrangements can be made or Lucy asks to stay, you have to understand why I told Lucy Dustin can't come, it's not that I have no trust in the boy, he's a current student at PCA and Logan leaked the girls pictures, despite Dean Rivers' explicit instructions that viewing those pictures was an illegal act they continue to be downloaded and I can't tell if Dustin was one of them, his big sister is a victim and I don't want him asking Lucy for her pictures or Zoey's" says Alexander
"I talked to Zoey today, all the girls are student at Hollywood arts now, she said their home was a pretty loose rule home, her and Dustin could wear as much or as little as they wanted, that they were encouraged to skinny dip before bed, Zoey said the skinny dipping did happen but that Dustin often chose to wear his shorts into the pool then take them off and that those late night swims always ended in water gun fights, Zoey said their parents intended it to be a body positivity thing, Dustin could 'admire' Zoey's body without it becoming weird or him getting the urge to touch her inappropriately, the same went for Zoey when it came to Dustin's body, she says things never got weird but the experience did give her the chance to fully understand how a guys body works in a way a sex ed teacher would never teach, she said she learned about the inside of the male reproductive system but never anything on the outside let alone how the emotions affected things, she says it never got creepy, she'd talk about what it's like to be a girl and Dustin would talk about what it's like to be a boy, it was purely educational, anyway I asked her if there were any other girls she knew that were targeted by Logan, she mentioned Lucy the fastest, said he targeted Lucy first, only targeting Trisha after Lucy disappeared" says Andre
"does Zoey say anything about Dustin's intentions" asks Alexander hoping to get some more information from Zoey
"he told her about how he felt about Lucy, that Logan had given him advice and that Logan said 'invite her over for a movie, you'll find out really quick if she likes you back', she said she scolded him for breaking the rules about girls in the boys dorm, she said the next day he told her 'Logan stole Lucy goose from me', she said he never got over that but that the hierarchy of the school meant he couldn't do anything and that it would be his word against Logan's and he could be expelled for 'lying', she says he still asks her about Lucy, that Chase says she's alive, that he wants to see her, that he needs to get the guilt off his chest" says Andre
"what kind of guilt" asks Alexander
"the kind of guilt that someone gets when you're betrayed by someone you trust, she said he feels like he should have been able to do something, she says he felt the moment Logan pulled her by her hair to his golf cart thing that she would have no choice but to kill him if Logan told her to, that she'd never trust him again, that he's just as guilty as Logan because Logan tricked him into bringing her there" says Andre
"I'll talk to the prosecutor Andre but she was pretty clear about keeping Lucy isolated from the school, if she says yes it might not happen until next weekend, Dean Rivers is trying to prevent more illegal activities from happening, he's completely isolated the girls and guys dorms, everyone is remote learning from their dorm room, every grade, no exceptions, nobody is supposed to be allowed off property" says Alexander
"is the isolation actually working or is it only going to make things worse when things go back to normal" asks Andre
"it's sort of helping, apparently Logan was encouraging other guys to entrap other girls, most seem to have went the Lucy exploitive route as opposed to the forcing to send pictures route, Chase, Michael and Dustin might be the only truly Innocent guys at that school" says Alexander
"wait they ALL exploited girls" asks Andre absolutely shocked
"no, some were like Dustin, tricked into luring their crushes for a date night only to not get the girl to their room in time, two days into isolation ten girls came out with abuse stories, some as young as sixth grade" says Alexander
"that's creepy, what's the percentage split grade wise of abused, exploited and abuser" asks Andre
"the bad boys are all grade nine and up, the exploited boys are the lower grades, the abused are in the full range of grades but it seems more concentrated on the younger girls, the younger girls took come convincing to come out with their stories, apparently they were told nobody would believe them" says Alexander
"dad if I were you I'd yank Dustin out of there, the school is to toxic for a boy his age, imagine if it were Dan in that school environment, I know you'd pull my little brother out of there without a second thought, the longer you leave Dustin in there the more exposure he has to that behaviour and the more likely he will be to believe it is ok, trust me the girls at that school will thank you for saving one of the good boys" says Andre
"I suppose you do have a point there son, I'll talk to Rivers, now go be with Cat, she's sleeping in the guest bedroom tonight with Lucy, no funny business, I don't want you traumatizing Lucy" says Alexander
"fulfill your end of the deal, no empty promises, I meant it when I said I want Lucy to have pool privileges, you really think I'd do anything to freak Lucy out, I'm not stupid dad, she's a kid, I'm well aware of the rules regarding children, geez dad" says Andre as he leaves