Devil's house

[beautifulcoldstorm]

May, 1988

Two girls sit on a bench outside on a balcony looking up at the stars. They were brunettes of about early teenage years. "Do yu ever think that we'll find a home?" Christina Silver asks.

Leia Saber shrugged. "I have no idea. Being in Foster Care sucks, I admit, but you know that adults prefer those younger cuter kids. Usually the people who pick us up are scum bags."

Christina nodded. "I know. But-"

"Hey!" One of the guardians called. It was the chief guardian. "What are you two doing out there?"

"We were-" Christina began, but never finished as the guardian cut her off.

"Get back inside now! Before I send you to the fishing room." As he said that, he had a sly smile on his face. The two girls looked at each other, sighed then went back in. The guardian closed the door."

Two weeks later

Leia laid on the ground, dead as someone dug her grave. Her face was bloodied from the gun shot that had taken her life.

Every few years, a girl would wind up dead and buried. Then reported missing. Their cases resided in the cold room where dust collected.

May 2005

Lisa Hazelton sat on the balcony looking out. She hated her life here. It was worse than the constant heat in Florida. Much worse. She looked up when she heard someone coming. She knew it was one of the guardians; no one else came out here unless they felt the urge to get some air. She immediately headed for the railing. People were walking by, and that was good. Now, she could exploit what was going on, but she needed teh Cold Case Squad down here. They were the only people who would believe her in what was going on. Not to mention the fact that she held the answers to some of their colds.

"What the-" the guardian began when he saw Lisa standing on the railing.

"You want to force me in? Or do I jump?" Lisa asked. She saw one of the girls below her pick up her cell phone. Good, finally the secret will be out.

[beautifulcoldstorm]

Ch. 2

"Come on, kid," Stick said. "You don't want to go to the fishing room, do you?"

"You're not going to get away with what you've been doing. Someone's already called 911."Stick gasped and went right back inside. Now the world will know what's been going on in Golden Gates Valley Foster Care Center.

DH

Lilly Rush walked in to the office, looking at her phone messages. She was expecting a text from someone, but it still hadn't come. She sighed and put it away as she ran into Kat.

"Hey, Lil," she said.

"Hi, Kat," Lilly replied, putting on a smile. "Any new cases today?"

"Nope," Kat said shaking her head."Why?"

Lilly shrugged. "Just curious."

"How's Lisa doing?"

Lilly shrugged. "I saw her a couple of weeks ago, and she seemed fine."

"But..." Kat said, knowing that there was a 'but' coming in.

"But I think she's hiding something. Recently she's gotten really secretive and she's always looking over her shoulder whenever we talk."

"Have any idea why?"

Lilly shrugged. "I don't know. She's supposed to call or text me today, but I haven't recieved it yet."

"Maybe she's busy,"

"Maybe," Lilly agreed, although she highly doubted it. She sighed and shut her phone. She had to get to work.

DH

The cops were there ten minutes after the phone call was made. Lisa was in no mood to negotiate. She didn't really want to jump, but there was no way that she was going to stand this life any longer. It was either give her what she wanted, or no one was going to get her down. They finally sent up a negotiator. "Now, c'mon, kid," he said. "You know that you really don't want to do this."

Typical, Lisa thought. "Really?" She lifted her leg slightly. "Because it looks like from here that I do."

"What about your friends? Your family?"

Lisa laughed. "Does it look like that I have family? Either give me what I want or I jump." She lifted her leg a little higher, struggling tp keep her balance, but it seemed to have done the trick.

"Alright!" The negotiator said. "I'll give you what you want. Just talk with me."

Again, Lisa laughed. "First off, I don't want to talk to you," she said coldly. "I want to talk to Lilly Rush from Philly Homicide. And I want her here now, with her team."

DH

Lilly sighed as she finished a report that she was doing. Still nothing new on any of the old cases that needed to be solved. She looked up as Lieutenant Stillman came out of the office, talking on the phone. There was a grim look on his face. "Let's go," he called out to the team: Scotty Valens, Nick Vera, and Will Jeffries, as well as Lilly and Kat.

"What's going on?" Lilly asked.

"Kid threatening to commit suicide at Golden Gates Valley Foster Care Center. Says she specifically wants to talk to us, and no one else. Otherwise she jumps."

Kat caught up to Lilly. "Golden Gates Valley? Isn't that...""The Foster Care Center that Lisa is staying at," Lilly said, not bothering to hide the fear in her voice as she broke into a jog.

The detectives arrived in record time. "What's the situation?" John asked as he climbed out of his car. Lilly and Scotty were in another vehicle, while Jeffries, Vera, and Miller were in the third.

"Thirteen year old girl wants to jump," one of the officers said. "We're trying to get up there, or at least trying to get her down. But the minute someone enters that balcony, she lifts her leg up and threatens to jump if we take another step."

Lilly looked up at the balcony, shading her eyes from the sun, and recognized the girl instantly. "It's Lisa," she whispered to Scotty.

"What?" he asked. "The Hazelton kid from a few months ago?"

Lilly nodded and turned to Stillman. "Boss," she called. He looked at her. "It's Lisa."

"Oh great," he muttered. "Are you sure?" He didn't have to ask, and Lilly confirmed his fear by nodding. He sighed.

"Excuse me?" one of the officers asked. "Are you Lilly Rush?"

"Yes," Lilly replied.

"The girl demands that she speak with you."

Lilly looked at her boss, who sighed. "Take Scotty with you."

Lilly nodded and then started to head inside the large house, Scotty close behind her. "What's she doing this for?" Scotty asked. "The last time we saw her she was fine."

"Actually, Scotty," Lilly said, climbing up the staircase. "I saw her a couple of weeks ago. She seemed fine, but she was definitely hiding something."

"Like planning to commit suicide?"

Lilly stopped and turned toward. "She wasn't planning anything. If anything, she acted like she wanted to tell me something, but wouldn't." Without waiting for Scotty's reply, she continued on up the stairs. When she reached the balcony, she saw Lisa standing rigidly on the railing. A few cops were there at the door, but were hesitant to step through.

"We'll handle this, guys," Scotty said. They backed off and let them pass.

"Lisa?" Lilly called, stepping onto the balcony.

"Lilly," Lisa gasped jerking her head around, and nearly losing her balance. She managed to save herself as Lilly reached out to try and help her.

"Lisa," Lilly said again, "Will you get down so that we can talk?"

"No," Lisa replied. "No, I need to stay up here until someone listens to me."

"Lisa, I am listening."

"It's not that simple. Things are getting out of hand here. Get some search dogs and go out behind the stables. You'll find over a dozen graves there. Those are 'missing' girls from this place."

Lilly turned to look at Scotty who nodded and went out to tell Stillman. "Lisa," Lilly said, "will you please tell me what's going on?"

Lisa shook her head. "Not until you find the bodies."

Lilly sighed, this was going to be a difficult case.

DH

It took them less than an hour to find the first body. Scotty and Vera were overseeing what was going on. Kat went back to the office to find out about the missing girls. Turns out there were over twelve girls. All in their teens and there were all orphans in Foster Care. Kat returned to the house, noticing that most of the girls there were in one room near the balcony. They avoided the detective's eye, and Kat noticed that some of the girls had marks on them.

"Lilly," she said when she reached the balcony, trying to shake off what she just saw. Lilly turned to her from where she was on the balcony. "You need to come and see this."

Lilly nodded, turned to Lisa for a moment, then came inside. "What is it?"

"We just found seventeen girls' graves. All of them were said to be missing; the earliest one being 1988, Leia Sabers, followed by Christina Silver, and so on."

"Okay," Lilly said, looking at some of the photos with Kat. "So, someone's been killing girls from here since '88."

"Not only that, but they were all orphans with no family."

Lilly looked at Kat in shock.

"There's something else," Kat said. "As I was walking by the room by the balcony, I saw a lot of girls with marks on them. Not the typical bumping into things bruising; but, signs of abuse."

"What?"

"Last time you saw Lisa, was there anything on her face or arms?"

"No," Lilly replied. "Our visit was brief, but there was nothing out of the ordinary..."

Two weeks ago,

Lilly walked into the stable where Lisa kept her horses. She was just finishing Cobalt's- a black stallion- stall. "Hey, Lisa."

Lisa whirled around but relaxed when she saw it was only Lilly. "Oh, hi, Lilly," she said putting her hand to her chest. "Wasn't expecting to see you today."

"Thought I'd surprise you."

"You certainly did," Lisa said, turning to move the barrel out back. "Just give me a sec."

Lisa walked away. Lilly turned to Cobalt, who had walked toward her. She reaches up and gently strokes his forehead. "Looks like you've been enjoying your stay here," Lilly commented. Cobalt nodded and snorted; Lilly chuckled. Sapphire, Lisa's dog, came over also, and Lilly gave her a pat on the head.

"They seem to have warmed up to you," Lisa said coming back.

"Yes, they have," Lilly said. When she turned to look at Lisa, she could tell that something wasn't right. She started out by trying to ask a simple question. "Do you want to go out somewhere?"

Lisa looked away, scratching her arm distractedly. "Uh... actually, Lilly, we're not allowed to leave campus."

"What?" Lilly asked. "Why?"

"Uh... I-" Lisa began but not before one of the guardians, Whip- or, at least that's what the other girls called him- came out.

"Hey! Are you done yet?" Whip demanded. Then he looked up to see Lilly there, and put on the "charm". "Hello," he said sweetly, "is she bothering you?"

"No," Lilly said. "In fact, I'm here to see her."

"Well, if there's anything I can do for you, just let me know."

Lisa rolled her eyes, turned so that her back was toward Whip, and pointed at her throat, pretending to gag.

"Hey!" Whip yelled. Lisa cringed, but immediately straightened up. "I saw that. You need to get back to the mansion."

"Okay," Lisa said, walking toward Cobalt's stall. "Let me just take Cobalt out so that he can be with Star."

Saphire growled, as she followed her owner. Lisa deliberately led Cobalt close to Whip, as the large animal stepped on Whip's foot. Whip yowled out in pain. Lisa giggled before turning to Lilly."Look," she said in a low voice. "I'll call or text you sometimes in the next week or so. Okay?"

"After that, she left and so did I," Lilly finished.

"I think I may have found the reason why she was hiding something from you," Kat said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a few girls stick their heads out, and that was when Lilly saw the marks on them. "The girls."

[beautifulcoldstorm]

Ch. 3

Kat brought some of the girls with her, but no one was talking. Kat sighed and went to the back of the observation room. "Is it just me or are they hiding something?"

"What do you expect?" Scotty asked.

"That they know they're safe and they can tell us anything."

They looked at the girls for a few minutes. Finally one of the spoke. "We've got to tell them," a blond girl said.

"No!" A brunette replied firmly. "You know what will happen."

"Who's the blond?" Scotty asked.

"Silvia Langsford," Kat replied. "An orphan. No other family. The brunettes Leslie Hartsford. Also an orphan, but she has an aunt that doesn't want her."

"Leslie, maybe they can help us," Silvie pleaded.

"Do you want to go to the fishing room?"

Silvie froze. "N-no."

"Then keep your mouth shut and maybe we'll survive. You remember what happened to Jennifer when she tried to call Lisa's cop friend. Lisa is just lucky that the cop comes by every so often; because you know what happens to those who try to be courageous."

Silvie nodded.

Kat looked at Scotty. "Fishing Room?"

Scotty shrugged. "Obviously not something good. And what happened to Jennifer?"

Kat shrugged. "I'll look again at the bodies and see if one of them was a Jennifer. But I think it's time we split the girls up. I'll take Silvie, you take Leslie."

Kat brought Silvie into a different interrogation room.

"Okay," Kat said. "So, tell me, Silvie, what's giong on?"

"N-nothing's going on.." Silvie said, quietly.

"How old are you, Silvie?"

"Twelve."

Kat sighed. "You're young. It must be hard for you."

Silvie nodded.

"Are you friends with Lisa Hazelton?"

Silvie nodded. "She protects us-" realizing she was about to say too much, she clamped her mouth shut.

"Protects you? Protects you from what?"

"I... I can't say."

"Come on Silvie," Kat pleaded. "We're trying to figure out how to help Lisa. You do want to help her don't you?"

Silvie nodded hesitantly.

"Then tell me what's happening."

Silvie shook her head.

"Silvie, whatever it is you're afraid of, we can protect you."

Silvie looked up at Kat with defiance. "I'm not afraid of anything. Fear shows weakness."

"Who told you that?"

"Leslie."

"Well," Kat said, "Fear also shows someone that you care sometimes."

DH

"You must be pretty protective of Silvie," Scotty said as he walked around Leslie.

"I'm protective of all the younger girls," Leslie replied. "They shouldn't be seeing what they are at that place."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen. I'll be seventeen in June."

"So, you know all about what they do at the Foster Care Center?"

"I don't know who you've been talking to," Leslie said, "but the only thing that's going on, is teenager's screwin' around."

"That's not what I heard from Lisa or Silvie," Scotty retorted.

Leslie snorted. "Silvie is a kid who doesn't understand much; Lisa is a liar with friends in high places."

"You mean my partner, Detective Rush?"

"So that's her name. Lisa always called her Lilly. Probably just to protect her."

"Protect her from what?"

Leslie froze.

DH

"Silvie we can protect you," Kat said.

"No you can't!" Silvie cried. "Any person who's tried or has become rebellious has winded up dead. Lisa is the lucky one. She hasn't been hurt. Not like the rest of us. She hasn't been taken to the fishing room."

"What is the fishing room?"

"It's a place where bad things happen to bad girls..."

One week ago...

"Let me go!" Jennifer cried. Silvie was hiding in a closet as Jennifer brought into a blue room.

"You've been a bad girl, Jennifer," Whip said. "We know what you tried to do."

"You ain't got nothin' on me," Jennifer spat.

"Someone told us what you were doing," Stick replied.

"Then they lied."

"Oh, no they didn't..."

"I'm not sure what went on after that."

"Thanks, Silvie," Kat said, getting up to leave. She met Scotty outside. "What's up with yours?"

"Leslie's not talkin'," Scotty said. "She seems like she's the leader of them though. Controls every move."

"Then Lisa comes along," Kat said. "Silvie says she protects them."

"Yeah, but protects them from what?"

Kat shrugs. "Who knows?"

"Lisa might."

DH

Scotty went back to the mansion and took Vera's place. "Lil," he called to her.

Lilly turned to him, then came inside for a minute. "What's goin' on?"

"The girls aren't talkin'," he said. "When we left them alone, though, the oldest one mentioned the 'fishing room'. The only thing we know is that it's a place where 'bad things happen to bad girls.'"

"So, basically we have nothing," Lilly said.

"Do you think you can ask Lisa about it?" Scotty asked. "I mean, she's been here for awhile..."

Lilly sighed. "I don't know Scotty. Her mental behavior could go off-"

"But you're the only one who can talk to her," Scotty said softly. "I know you can do it."

Lilly gave him a small smile. "You think so?"

"Yeah."

Lilly sighed again, but nodded. "I can't guarantee much, but if I mention it, maybe she'll open up more."

Scotty hugged Lilly, then turned away. Her phone rang as she went out. "Rush."

"Hey, Lil'," Kat said. "A girl named Jennifer Langsfield was one of our victims, and the most recent."

"How long ago?"

"Coroner said that it was going to be difficult to say, but he estimates about a week. Maybe less."

"Okay, thanks Kat."

"Anytime."

Lilly hung up then turned to Lisa. "Who's Jennifer Langsfield?"

"My friend," Lisa said quietly.

Lilly sighed. "Lisa, some of the girls have marks on them."

Lisa laughed. "Are they telling you they ran into a door or something?"

"Actually, they're not telling us anything. And I think they're all covering for something. Including you."

Lisa sighed. "Of course they're not telling you anything."

"Lisa, are they hurting you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Lilly was starting to get annoyed. "Then why drag me out here?"

"So that you can see what they're doing to us."

Lilly studied Lisa for a moment. "Look at me."

"What?"

"Lisa, look at me."

"No," Lisa said firmly. Lilly could hear the fear in her voice which confused her for a minute. She knew it was time to play hard ball with her. "Lisa, either look at me or I go."

"You can't!"

"Lisa, I'm trying to help you. But I'm done playing your games. You got away with that last time."

There was a tense moment of silence between them. "Okay," Lilly said, turning to go back inside.

"Wait," Lisa said, turning slightly. "You can't leave me here."

"Then look at me." Lisa took a breath, then turned her head slightly toward Lilly. But she couldn't see the other side of Lisa's face. "All the way, Lisa." Lisa turned her head a little more, and Lilly could see a large bruise on her right cheek- as if someone hit her with their fists or a large blunt object. This is what Lilly had feared.

[beautifulcoldstorm]

Ch. 4

"Lisa, what happened to your face?" Lilly asked calmly, still shocked at what she was seeing. That bruise wasn't on her two weeks ago.

"This was the reason why I called you over here," Lisa said, a tear streaming down her face.

"Lisa," Lilly said gently, "Come on down so that we can talk about this. You know you can't stand up there for much longer." She pointed to Lisa's knees which were starting to tremble.

Lisa cursed under her breath before taking a moment to think about it. "Only if you promise not to leave me here."

"After what I've seen around here, Lisa, there's no way you're staying here."

Lisa slowly got down with the help of Lilly. Scotty waved everyone off, letting them know that everything was good. Lisa and Lilly found a spot on the balcony to talk. "At first," Lisa began, "I thought they were common injuries. After a week or two, I realized that this place was anything but paradise. I'd see girls taking into a 'fishing room' and then come out crying or with a fire in their eyes."

"What exactly is a fishing room?" Lilly asked.

"Somewhere the guardians- Whip, Stick, Fist, and Hook- would take you if you were being 'bad'."

"You said 'a' fishing room. Are there more than one."

Lisa nodded. "One in the attic, one on this floor, and one in the basement. They start you in the attic when you become of age; then move you down here to this floor. The basement is where they get the most fun. Most likely if you end up there, you'll get one heck of a beating- if not die."

"Girls have died in there before?"

"Only one that I know of back in the nineties. Crystal Livingston. Everyone else died of a bullet to the head."

"You would know this how?"

"Rumors from the other girls. I thought that was a joke at first. But then..."

"Jennifer died," Lilly finished.

Lisa nodded. "They don't know that I saw anything. But they suspect it. I was out taking Sapphire for a walk..."

One week ago

Lisa walked beside the mansion with her dog close beside her. Sapphire barked. "Sssh," Lisa said as she walked closer to the corner. She could hear voices on the other side.

"We warned you, Langsfield," Whip said. "Now, you are going to have to pay."

"I'm not afraid of you," Jennifer replied.

"No?" There was the sound of a gun cocking, and Lisa peered around the corner. Jennifer gasped. "How about now?"

"Please, don't..."

"Too late, Langsfield. Should've learned from the basement."

Whip pulled the trigger; Lisa gasped and hid behind the wall. She heard Whip calling someone, and footsteps headed her direction.

"I ran for it after that," Lisa finished. "I shouldn't have run. I should've stayed."

"Lisa," Lilly said, putting her arm around the girl's shoulder. "There was nothing you could've done. Jennifer was dead on impact."

"Still, I don't know who told them about what she did."

"What?" Lilly asked. "What did she do?"

"She borrowed my phone. She was trying to call you."

DH

"So wait, Lisa's friend was trying to call you?" Scotty asked after dropping Lisa off at Lilly's and walking back to headquarters. "That's a little farfetched."

"But you said that apparently all the girls knew that Lisa and I were friends," Lilly countered. "Doesn't seem that farfetched."

"Yeah, but the question is why call you? Why not just call the cops in general."

"Didn't you say that the girls were punished for being 'bad'?"

"Yeah."

"They didn't want anyone to know about what was going on there. They wanted that place to seem happy. I'm sure half of the girls there are wearing makeup. Call the cops, we shut them down. I'm almost positive that there's some form of prostitution going on in there."

Scotty nodded. "What if those other girls were trying to call for help too?"

Lilly stopped at the front of the building and crossed her arms. "Go on."

"If Jennifer was shot because she tried to call you, what if the others tried also."

"Wouldn't there be a phone record of those calls?"

Scotty shrugged. "Somewhere, I'm sure."

"Let's find out."

DH

"There were sixteen calls made from that place," Kat said the next morning. "Just days before their deaths."

"Why not seventeen?" Jeffries asked.

"Lisa said that Jennifer borrowed her phone and tried to call me," Lilly said.

"But Jennifer's a smart; she would know not to get caught," Scotty added. "So, who knew about what Jennifer was doing?"

"And who told?" Lilly asked.

"I knew," Lisa said, coming in.

"Lisa," Lilly said, walking over to meet her. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to see if you need help."

"How did you get here?"

"Bus."

Lilly sighed. "Come on," she said leading Lisa back to the others.

"How did you know what Jennifer was up to?" Scotty asked.

"She was my best friend there. We told each other everything. Not to mention she borrowed my cell."

"Who else knew?"

"No one," Lisa replied. "Just me. And before you go off on the theory that I snitched, let's not forget that I was a victim too."

"How did you get the bruise on your face?" Lilly asked.

"It was the day you came. Whip and fist gave me a good beating that time. Nothing serious. Fist forgot about my face though, so he kept hitting me until Whip stopped him. They could only go so far."

Leslie came out of one of the interrogation rooms to use the restroom. She glared at Lisa as she walked by; then continued the glare as she came out. However, Lisa met up with her the second time around. "You better not say anything about what's going on," Leslie said. "You know what's at stake."

"And you know who snitched," Lisa replied.

"Jennifer was one of the many examples made, Lisa; choose your side." Leslie continued back into the interrogation room after that.

"What was all that about?" Nick asked as Lisa started to head back.

"Leslie thinks she's the leader of everyone. She's the eldest in our area, I admit, but she's also bossy."

"Sounds like you two don't get along very well," Scotty commented.

Lisa snorted. "Not out in public. When we're allies against everyone else, we get along just fine."

"Allies?" Kat asked.

"Sometimes girls are taken to the fishing room for no reason. Just because the guardians feel an urge. I've been gathering evidence to hold against them. They all know about it, except the guardians."

"What kind of evidence?" Lilly asked.

"Videos. But I don't watch them. I just video and then I put them into a folder on my laptop. Lately I've been getting limited access to internet. I haven't been able to send them to anyone yet."

"The girls said that you haven't been hurt like the rest of them," Jeffries said. "Does that mean that you haven't been taken into this 'fishing room'?"

Lisa hesitated a moment. "Lisa?" Lilly asked gently.

"Actually," Lisa said. "I was forced in there once. I was within seconds of being raped, if it weren't for Lilly's call and some other call that came in."

"I thought they wouldn't touch you," Kat said.

"Someone tipped them off about me going up on the roof to call Lilly. No one goes up there."

"Who knew about it?" Lilly asked.

"Jennifer, this was about a day or so before she died. And Silvie-" she cut herself off and closed her eyes like she realized something. "Silvie. She tells Leslie... everything..."

"Lisa," Lilly said. "Lisa, what is it?"

"Oh my gosh, Leslie's the snitch."

"What?" Kat said.

"Silvie is loyal to Leslie. She practically worships her. She tells her pretty much everything, but no one else."

"But, Leslie didn't know about the conversation between the two of you," Scotty pointed out.

"It's not hard to eavesdrop," Lisa retaliated.

"But why would Leslie tell the guardians if she was also at risk for being harmed?" Kat asked.

"You'd have to ask her that."

DH

"Leslie, Leslie, Leslie," Scotty said as he walked around the table. "Things are not looking good for you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Leslie said with her arms crossed.

"Of course you don't," Lilly said. "I guess it means nothing to you that you have blood on your hands; a girl was killed while another was nearly raped because you told your guardians what they were up to."

Leslie laughed. "You've been talking to Lisa, haven't you?"

"I think we should be asking the questions, Leslie," Scotty said.

"Lisa doesn't know what's good for her; she knows what they're like, but she fights them. She tries to send e-mails, make secret phone calls on the roof-"

"How did you know about that?" Lilly asked.

"Know about what?"

"How did you know about the phone call made on the roof?"

"Lisa told me."

"Try again," Scotty said. "We know you two are on tense terms."

"But Silvie and Lisa aren't," Lilly said. "And Silvie tells you everything, right? About Lisa and Jennifer meeting in private; about phone calls and e-mails to me from the roof."

"Fine, Silvie told me those things."

"But there's something else," Lilly continued. "Lisa can't be touched. Not like you Leslie. Now why is that?"

"Because she has friends in high places."

"You mean because I come around."

"Yes."

"My question is though, why rat them out?" Scotty asked. "I mean, they hate the life as much as you did."

"And no one needs to know, once Silvie's told you," Lilly added.

"But instead, you tell the guardians. Why?"

"You have no idea what goes on inside those walls."

"We have a pretty good idea, Leslie," Lilly replied a little harshly. "The touch you where you don't want them to; they hit you no matter what- it never seems to stop does it."

Leslie wiped an arm arond her face, removing some makeup. It showed a slight bruise that was mostly healed. "You're right. That's what they do to us. They never stop doing it. It's a never ending cycle. But tell them what they want to know, they leave you alone for awhile."

"So, you'd rat out everyone else there just to be left alone?" Scotty asked.

"The girls there don't learn to mind and follow the rules, that's their fault."

"What if the girl was Silvie?" Scotty asked.

"From what we hear, Silvie looks up to you like a role-model," Lilly added. "What if she was breaking the rules and figured out you were snitching on them."

"Silvie is young, she has plenty of time to learn the ways of surviving that dump."

"How long have you been there?" Scotty asked.

Leslie looked at him. "Since I was five. They leave you alone at that age. Once you hit the age of eleven or so, you have to pray that it's not your day."

DH

"If we're going to charge them," Scotty said as they walked out. "We have to figure out where those 'fishing rooms' are."

"Good thing we have someone cooperating," Lilly said.

DH

Lisa led them to the fishing on the second floor. "This is the one I was taken to," Lisa said. The room had three doors- one each side of the room. "They keep us in there if someone's here and they don't want the visitor to hear."

Lilly walked further inside with Scotty in shock. "This is where they do their dirty business?" Scotty asked.

Lisa nodded. "No matter what they tell you, they're such liars. I'll get my laptop and show you what they really do in here." She turned to leave, but stopped when she saw the gang there. "Or not..."

Lilly turned, placing a hand on her weapon.

"You've been a bad girl, Lisa," Whip said.

"And you're being stupid, moron," Lisa retaliated. Whip slapped her on the bad side of her face, causing her to release a squeal.

"Hey!" Lilly said, hurrying to Lisa's side.

Scotty grabbed Whip. "You like hitting little girls, huh?"

"Scotty," Lilly warned. The last thing they needed was a police brutality report.

Scotty looked at Lilly and decided it wasn't worth it. Instead, he grabbed his cuffs and turned Whip around.

"How many girls are here, Lisa?" Lilly asked.

"Around my age? Twenty-four. I can't tell you how many there were before I came in, but, add in the one attempt, and that's jail for awhile, right?"

"Then add in animal-abuse, with child neglect," Scotty said.

"Why animal abuse?" Lilly asked.

"I'm sure when Lisa's not lookin' that he has some fun in hitting Lisa's animals."

"That's true," Lisa said. "When he thinks I'm not around, he likes to go around the horses with his whip; cracks it to purposely scare them. Sometimes even gets them leaving fresh marks on them. I don't know how long it's going to take to get them to trust again after that. Of course, we could always put down murder along with the molesting, rapes, and attempted, and I believe that's the needle, right ?"

Lilly nodded.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about for murder," Whip said. "That was Herman."

"Nice try, Lester," Lisa said. "But I saw you pull the trigger on Jennifer. Hook had nothing to do with it."

"I ain't confessin' to anythin'," Whip said.

"You don't have to," Lilly said. "We have footage of it."

Whip laughed. "If only those two weren't so headstrong, none of this would've happened."

"We warned you, Saber," Whip said. "Now, you are going to have to pay."

"Pay with what? I'm not afraid of you," Leia replied.

"No?" There was the sound of a gun cocking. Leia gasped. "How about now?"

"Please, don't... I'll be good from now on. I promise."

"Too late, Saber. Should've learned from the basement."

Whip pulled the trigger. Leia fell on the ground dead. Whip called up his buddies, and Hook stayed behind to bury the body.

DH

Scotty led Whip out of the building, Lisa and Lilly followed. Girls peered out from rooms all over to watch their tormentors put away.

At headquarters, Leslie was led away to booking for conspiracy. Lisa had arrived there just in time to see it; then joined another group of girls- including Silvie. Lilly looked at a corner, and seventeen girls were there, including: Leia Saber, Christina Silver, Crystal Livingston, and Jennifer Langsfield.

Lisa hugged Silvie, then looked up and followed Lilly's gaze; she saw Jennifer there, smiling and waving at her. Lisa smiled back. Then Jennifer faded into the distance.

[beautifulcoldstorm]

A/N: Okay, someone wrote a review asking about how Lilly knows Lisa, there was a prequel to this called fire and ice (probably not the best mystery story you've read I admit.) So, you guys will have to read that one to see how they know each other.

And yes, I am an L/S person. So I added a little bit of that in one of the chapters. Again, tried to make this as close to a CC episode as possible. I suck at endings, so any tipis on that pm me or something. Thanks guys!