Books, Boys, and Basketball: Junior Year

DR. HADLEY

I was stripped bare the first day, hosed down, and thrown into what we call the icebox. The second day, with my hair soaking wet, my body freezing, and my teeth chattering, a group of girls fearful of the staff at Candor beat the crap out of me. Now, on top of being cold, I'm bruised, battered, and physically broken. Forced to relive a nightmare, I was hoping I would never have to relive again. But I refuse to mentally break. Collette and Abigail trust me with their lives, and I promised myself I would prove worthy of that trust.

The following week when my family and friends try visiting me, they're told I'm not feeling well. Dr. Hadley backs them up a week later when my family comes back with my mother demanding to see me.

It couldn't be further from the truth...

I was getting the crap beat out of me daily, and I the bruises all over my body to prove it. That probably wouldn't go over very well with my family, so they took away visitation and gave my parents one excuse after another that my father ate up because it's easier than the unsettling truth my mom is slowly starting to dread.

The next time my parents try to see me, they're told they have revoked my visitation for behavioral reasons. And when my mom insisted on seeing me anyway, they held her off by making her feel as if she would hinder my rehabilitation by doing so. They even told her if she interfered my rehabilitation would be on her dime, and my father being the cheap bastard he is, he convinced her not to interfere. Her motherly instincts were quickly silenced.

I received tons of letters from Quincy begging me to respond and I did, but it was obvious he wasn't getting any of my letters. I received letters from my mom apologizing for not believing me and begging me to write to her to let her know I was okay, and I did for her sake. I made sure I left out anything Candor might want to hide because I didn't want her to worry.

Whenever she worried, she wouldn't eat or drink, and she would lose more weight than she could afford to. And as much as I feared for my situation, I feared losing her more. I refuse to let this place break her the way they're trying to break me.

Besides, now that my treatment here is under scrutiny, I know it's only a matter of time before the Isaacs are backed into a corner. And that's when they're the most unpredictable.

I was forced to write and sign a letter stating that I was fine and that I didn't want to see my family because they had turned their backs on me. I then had to write a letter to Quincy and Drew, convincing them I wanted nothing else to do with them. That I didn't want to see them anymore. And I hoped they could see through my letters. I hoped they knew that these weren't my words I was writing, but the carefully crafted words of my captors.

Sadly, all the visits and the letters stopped after that. I was completely at the mercy of Candor. And when Marianne left after her shift one day, she never came back. Slowly, I lost hope. A week later I learned they fired her after allegations surfaced that she mishandled one of the girls who beat me regularly.

I'm pretty sure they set her up...

With her gone, my torture is increased daily. Eventually, both Collette and Abigail broke, pinning everything on me. But I don't blame them. I'm on the verge of breaking myself. Not a day goes by without me shedding blood. The other girls are afraid to talk to me out of fear that they'll be targeted by association.

The Isaacs are smart enough to never touch me themselves so they can claim ignorance if my abuse is ever found out, but I documented everything I could in a journal I hid in my room below a decoy I got from Abigail. Even though they were watching me, they never knew I had more than one.