Disclaimer: The show Victorious its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.

Start from Scratch

Chapter 32 – Cat & Barbie Part 1: AKA, Paradise lost

By popular demand, I have written what happens with Cat and Barbie in the back of the truck as they drive from Boston to New York. As a lot happens, I will have to break up the ride into two chapters. I also must warn the readers that there is some serious subject matter here and possible trigger warnings. This one gets a bit intense.

As soon as Tori and Jade left the truck I flipped on the battery operated Coleman lantern that I had shoved in the back corner of the van. I did so just in time to see the door's close and hear them lock.

That done, I ran over and stuffed the gag back into Cat's mouth. "Sorry, I'll have to keep this in your mouth until we're on the highway. Can't have someone next to us at a red light hearing you scream for help."

Cat's response was a rather cute, but hateful glare.

It was then heard the engine roar to life and moment later we were on our way. As we pulled out I took a look at my surroundings.

I was in the back of a medium sized delivery van, in a space that was van 23' long and about 7 and a half feet wide. My friend who borrowed it to my told me they usually delivered furniture and appliances with it. However at the moment the only contents were me, Cat, a large pile of those blankets they use to cover furniture when they move stuff, a bucket with a board over it in one corner, a picnic cooler in another corner, a battery operated lantern, a duffle bag, a small iPod dock/radio and two folding chairs.

I looked to Cat who was obviously silent but giving me the evil eye.

"Ok, some basic housekeeping matters to attend to first. I am Barbie McKee, originally from Pierce Corner, Alabama. A tiny town that consists largely of a Baptist church, a Laundromat and 3 parked cars. To alleviate your fears, you will not be harmed. We are taking you to New York city to have you deprogrammed as Rev Mike and his cult-o-fun has got you messed up good. And for the record, this has been done with the blessing of your parents."

Referring to her church as a cult-o-fun, earned me a particularly scornful look, but I continued unabated.

"Your friend Annie is safe. She is currently asleep and on a bus headed toward her hometown of Portland, Maine. Her parents are waiting at the bus station there and they will take her home, where her friends and family are going to stage an intervention. It will take us about 4 hours to get to New York and we are locked in the back of this truck. As you can see, the door cannot be opened from the inside, so escape is not possible and once on the highway, no one will be able to hear you. So screaming is pointless. You're phone and purse are up front with Jade and Tori. Even if you get my phone, you won't be able to unlock it. Understand."

Surprisingly she nodded.

"Good, if you have to relieve yourself, I have a bucket in the corner, there's roll of toilet paper inside. If you get hungry or thirsty, I have in the cooler, some sodas, water and juice pouches. I'm told you were fond of them, I got the pacific cooler. Besides the Bibble which was used to lure you into this trap, I have some sandwiches, I bought from the little deli at the bus station. Feel free to help yourself. When I untie you, please don't try to overpower me, besides being a waitress as a nudie bar, I teach aerobics, platies and self-defense courses during the day at a health club. Got to keep my body that won't quit, in shape, can't keep my ladies happy without it. I am a lesbian for what it's worth. So don't waste your time, trying to fight me, cause you'll lose. I've been trying to get Jade to join my health club, but seem to like the hole in the wall she's at now. So as soon as we're on the highway, I'll untie you and then you can make yourself comfortable. Use the blankets or the folding chair. You got all that."

Again Cat nodded, but still didn't look very happy about it.

I then turned on the ipod to the special playlist I had devised for the trip. It was lots of slow, relaxing and low key ballads. A lot of them are love songs. I want to use the music to help calm her down and possibly loosen her up. The first of which was Nights in White Satin by the Moody Blues.

I then sat down and waited until the starts and stops from the red lights in city traffic ended indicated we had finally gotten on the highway.

It only then I got up, untied her and yanked the gag from her mouth.

"Jezebel!"

Was the very first word out of her mouth, said with fury and passion.

I couldn't help but smile in response. "Oh my, I just knew you'd call me that. How can we forget the ultimate Bible party girl? She sounds more fun than a barrel of monkeys, don't you think? Man do I have you pegged. "

I then put my finger to my chin, with an amused look. "Now how does it go…Hmmm?"

"Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols."

I then dropped the amused look with one of seriousness. "Revelations, 2:20. Don't think for a second I haven't been called that before. Heck, my own mother called me that once, so you calling me that, won't bother me in the slightest. You can dig in and call me a harlot or unclean woman, do your worst. You got to Tori, you won't get to me."

Hearing me rattle off the appropriate Jezebel bible verse, like it was my phone number,seems to have rattled her. She for several seconds stared at me, as my skin had suddenly turned blue.

"You a bit confused now don't you. But as the verse goes, For god is not a god of confusion, but of peace, First Corinthians, 14:33"

Cat slowly walked around me. "You seem to know your bible."

"Better than you, a lot better than you. This stuff was pounded into my head a long time ago."

"And for turning your back on God, you will burn in hellfire." Snarled Cat.

Laughing I walked over and took out a bottle of water. "You're going to have to do better than that. Besides, says who?"

"Reverend Mike says, that all who lay with another of the same sex shall burn, including you."

I took a swig of water and closely watched her body language. She was very angry and tense, like a cobra ready to strike. But she also seemed to know that striking would be pointless, she looked horribly frustrated. I held all the cards and she knew it.

I stepped forward, dropped into my Alabama accent and spread my arms wide, like my granddaddy did when he preached on Sunday. "Of course we come to the dear Reverend Mike, the man with the plan, the man the answers, the man with the DIRECT LINE TO GOD HIMSELF, CAN I HAVE A HALLELUJAH!"

Cat seemed to burn in with fury and raised a fist. "DON'T MOCK HIM! HE'S A GREAT MAN! YOU SHALL BURN FOR THAT!"

I then smiled and scratched my head. "I'm sorry, am I supposed to burn for turning my back on god, laying with another woman or mocking your precious reverend Mike. I'm just a bit confused as I'm just a poor country girl."

Before she could respond I dropped my Alabama accent and again turned serous. "I'll mock who I please, besides, what was your initial response. You raised a fist in anger. Don't you know your good book?"

Then I hit her with another bible verse.

"Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil."

"That'd be Psalms 37:8 or alternately. "Anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering."

Looking briefly puzzled Cat seemed search her mind. "That's not from the Bible."

"No that's actually Jedi Master Yoda. Patience you must have, my young padawan. I'll let you in on a secret, I'm a bit of a geek."

Me paralleling the Bible and Star Wars, I think nearly caused the poor girl's head to explode.

Like an angry spoiled child who'd just had their favorite toy taken away, she stormed over to the wall of the truck and pounded in pure frustration. After that, started what I call round one.

She with a near uncontrollable rage, paced back and forth, while she ranted and tossed out Bible verse after Bible verse saying how evil I, Jade, Tori and other homosexuals were. I just sat in my chair, drank my water and casually deflected each one with a counter verse. I'll have to admit they really must have pounded this into her head. Though she mainly was regurgitating what she'd been told to say, it was a little like debating a computer. Lots of rote memorization, with little overall understanding. But I'll have to admit I actually kind of enjoyed this part. Not to mention this little cutie actually looked a lot cuter when really angry. But I had to push my libido aside for the moment and concentrate on winning.

We kept it up for nearly an hour, until she let out a final blood curdling scream, sat down in the corner and pouted.

I can't say I really won round one, as my personal objective is to crack her defenses. I knew I had no chance of totally deprogramming her, but I could bust up her defenses and get inside her head a bit. From what I've been told she used to be a very sweet girl and I find myself wanting to get to know that girl. She's buried in Cat's head somewhere and maybe just maybe I can get to her.

In our competition, I had learned that Reverend Mikes teachings consisted of mostly anti-gay, anti-government, apocalyptical end times, hate thy neighbor unless they belong to our church, bullshit. It was a demented, paranoid, hate-filled, twisted and distorted version of Christianity, with Reverend Mike being the only pure and good person on the planet. He sounded like a power hungry, megalomaniacal, asshole.

For the moment she remained content to sit in the corner and pout. So I pulled out a book, Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. It's a vampire story that pre-dates Dracula and is about a woman who has gained the attention of a female vampire. I'm giant fan of the YouTube web series of the same name, so I thought I'd read the book.

An hour must have past, in which I read quietly, Cat sat in the corner pouting and the only sound we could hear was the soft music from my ipod and the wheels below us. However a tense stillness hung in the air.

It was broken by the chime of my phone, indicating I got an email. I read it quickly and said happily.

"Good news. You're friend Annie is safe at home in her own bed, soon to be surrounded by friends, family and other people that love her. They even say her ex-boyfriend is driving all the way from Pittsburg to help to free her from the influence of Rev Mike. Such a very nice gesture."

I then passed on the message to Tori, whom I know would be glad to know this.

Cat looked at me briefly and then just lowered her head, a morose expression on her face. I let a few more tense minutes pass, before I hit her with the next phase of my plan; aka round 2. This was the part I was really dreading.

I haven't prayed in years, but in this one case I said a small two word prayer. "Forgive me."

I exhaled loudly to get her attention. "Reverend Mike, hardly is the first man to say he's got a direct line to God. You're a god fearing woman, let me play you a sermon. Listen."

I it a clip on my ipod which I had gotten from the library and soon a man's voice seemed to boom out of the speakers. It was a powerful voice and the sermon was full of fire and brimstone. Cat seemed to ignore it at first but soon started to listen, seemingly caught up in the sheer power of the man's voice. Eventually she listened more and more, finally by the point she reached this part, he had her full attention.

"If! If by any chance you would make a mistake to try to come in and take any one of us, we will not let you, you will die. You will have to take any one of us over all our dead bodies. Love is the only weapon." Shit! Bullshit! Martin Luther King died with love! Kennedy died talking about something he couldn't even understand, some kind of generalized love, and he never even backed it up. He was shot down. Bullshit! "Love is the only weapon with which I've got to fight." I've got a hell of a lot of weapons to fight! I've got my claws. I've got cutlasses. I've got guns. I've got dynamite. I've got a hell of a lot to fight! I'll fight! I'll fight!"

I then turned it off, partially as I couldn't stand listen to him anymore and I think I had made my point anyway.

"Who was he?" Cat replied in a cautious, but interested voice.

"You looked a bit mesmerized didn't you? That was Jim Jones."

"The Rapper?"

I scoffed, "Hardly, that was the very voice of none other than the Reverend Jim Jones."

"Who was he?"

"A bit before our time, so I can't blame you for not hearing of him, besides, I doubt your reverend would make mention of him. He was a fire and brimstone preacher, lead a church called the Peoples Temple in California, back in the 70's. He was very popular for a time, they fed the poor, preached the word of God. People were very loyal to him, some loved him, some even saw him as the massiah. A lot of the church's members were poor. There were accusations of him fooling around with and taking advantage of women in the church, but the accusations were ignored or went nowhere. He was a very charismatic guy, even met the 1st lady once.."

"What happened, where is he?"

She was really paying attention, which was very good. "He didn't like society and wanted to form his own perfect paradise, for him and his members; away from the world. So they formed a big agricultural settlement in Guyana, South America. He told them they would be safe when the world ended or something like that. They followed him, hundreds of people left and went there, to start anew."

I took a drink of water to make a dramatic pause, to keep her on edge, waiting for the next part of my story.

"But soon complaints started to filter out. People were made to work for hours and hours in the hot sun, families separated and other allegations of human rights abuses. It was his little kingdom and increasingly his tightened his grip on the people who lived in it. They lived by his will and his will alone. though he told them it was all God's will, of course. So in 1978, a congressman and some news people went down to see the conditions and while Jones showed them a happy place full of happy people, some wanted to leave. In reality some were very unhappy."

I sighed uncontrollably. "It was his kingdom and in his mind, god had given it to him. Now people wanted to leave. His world had started to collapse. So when the congressmen and the others left, they were ambushed at the nearby airstrip. A bunch of people got killed, including the congressman."

Cat was still hanging on every word and I had her.

"When the authorities reached Jonestown a day later. You know what they found?'

"What?"

I reached in my bag and began to lay down photograph after photograph in front of Cat. It showed a compound in the jungle, with buildings here and there. But what made the photos stand out, were the bodies.

In each photo all you could see were bodies of men, women, children, all laying on the ground, there were dozens of bodies, dozens of dozens of bodies. Some were aerial photographs where you could see bodies from one end of the compound to the other. It was a grotesque sight indeed.

Cat sort of numbly looked at each one, as I lay it down in front of her.

"That's what they found, bodies. Hundreds of bodies, men, women, children, babies all dead. Jones had told them to kill themselves in an act of revolutionary suicide. They drank Kool aid laced with cyanide. Hundreds of them drank it, told their children to drink it. They have a recording made of that day as a tape player was running. The few that refused, were restrained and had it injected."

"NO!" Cat said, shaking their head, as her eye lingered on the foot of what could only be a child that could be seen in the corner of one of the photos.

Though only part of a leg could be seen, I could see, it was starting to really upset her. Tears were now forming in her eyes. Jade had told me Cat was very sensitive about certain things, people being hurt was one of them. So to be honest, I exploited that weakness, if you want to call it that. I guess the question is, am I any better?

"The babies had it squirted in their mouths and in the end Jones, shot himself. This supposed man of God, a supposed man peace, is responsible for the deaths of 909 men, women, children and babies. Only a handful managed to escape by running into the jungle."

Getting upset, Cat averted her eyes, "No, he's different. He's a good man!"

She looked like a very nice girl and I found myself hating to have to do this but one must do what one must do. I began to shout and tilted her head down so once again, she could see the bodies. How hidiously ironic, that I use one horrible cult leader to destroy the image of another horrible cult leader.

"LOOK AT THE PHOTOGRAPHS. THEY THOUGHT JONES WAS A GOOD MAN TOO, LOOK AT THEM NOW! THEY'RE ALL DEAD!"

It was only when I finished my statement that I realized that I had automatically dropped into my Alabama accent. In addition, I also realized to my shock, that I had also begun to unconsciously imitate, my grandfather's preaching style. Until I was 14, when he died, I went to church every Sunday and listend to him preach. He like Jones, was a fire and brimstone type preacher, but my grandfather was actually rather nice. I wasn't talking anymore, I unintentionally had begun to preach. How strange, that after all these years I just fell back into it. I had let my self get carried away and though it seemed to be effective, it was scary as fuck!

Cat now had begun to sob, tears flowing down her face like the Nile river.

"Is he different, can you be sure? Jones was certain he had the line to god too, he told them he spoke for God, that it was he and he alone. He fucked with their minds, used their faith against them and destroyed them. He wasn't a man of God at all; he was a evil, sick and demented man. Reverend Mike is doing the same thing, using your faith in god, to lead you away from the light! Follow him and he'll lead you down that gilded road that leads to the enteral fires of hell!"

"NO! HE'S NOT EVIL!" Cat wailed back.

Then I hit her with the good book, in an fire and brimstone oratory that I know would make my dead granddaddy proud. I however was not.

"2nd Corinthians, chapter 11, verses 12 to 15. For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve."

Now I was really getting carried away and had begun to speak almost in a maniacal fashion. "Cat, can you be sure, he's not a false apostle, CAN YOU? HE'S FULL OF HATE, FULL OF DARKNESS, FULL OF CONTEMPT FOR HIS FELLOW MAN, HE'S EVIL AND WILL LEAD YOU INTO ETERNAL DAMNATION!"

"HE'S NOT, HE'S NOT, HE'S NOT.. HE CAN'T BE, HE CAN'T BE, HE CAN'T BE..NO…PLEASE NO…HE CAN'T BE…." Said the sobbing girl, as she completely broke down.

What I had just done, this act of verbal brutality which is utterly against my nature, is working. I feel like an utter shit for doing it, I really do, but when she switched from, he's not, to he can't be, I knew she had just expressed doubt about him.

She had begun to crack….

The story Barbie relates about Jonestown tragedy is true. The words from the sermon that plays are indeed his words, exactly as he said them. There are of course various conspiracy theory's regarding the 1978 Jonestown cult suicide, but I do not prescribe to them. I believe it was a sick, evil, madman, who led a lot of good people down the wrong path and ultimately destroyed them, along with himself. Reverend Mike may only be a character in a story but, sadly there are real people, very much like him in the world.

If you want to hear that speech, you could try to listen to the song, Jonestown, by Concrete blonde. The audio of that speech is at the beginning of the song.

The congressman who was killed, was Leo Ryan of California's 11th district.

To the best of my knowledge the bible verses that are quoted, are correct.

There will be a part 2 detailing the rest of the ride.

I think it was an intense chapter. So tell me, do you agree with Barbie's methods? She was playing it, half preacher, half interrogator, but ultimately got Cat to begin to doubt Reverend Mike. It is worth noting that she derived no pleasure from it. Much like the theme in the last chapter, Barbie would tell you that she is simply doing what she thinks is right.