Valerie Spector

Valerie Spector - Journalistic Investigator

Leaves flew through the air of the countryside as the cold August wind shook the old trees which had stood for decades and centuries. A silver car made it's way down a narrow windy gravel road which connected the small town of Laxford to the Asylum several miles outside of town. Apart from deliveries to the facility and the occasional visitor the road was not traveled that often.

The driver of this silver car was none other than Valerie Spector an freelance investigative journalist originally from the city of Caligino. Growing up in a crime infested city like Caligino inspired the woman to confront crime and shed light to criminal activity to make her home a better place. She wanted to make the world a better and safer place as well. The young twenty-three year old woman ran a hand through her light blue dyed hair as she traveled down this road. A pile of folders lay on the passenger seat with odd reports about the Laxford Asylum which had been in operation since the late 1800s. Claims of missing people, kidnappings, and mistreatment of patients made the bulk of the paperwork. Ms. Spector knew there was a story there that had to be discovered but she was unsure just how deep a hole she would have to dig for herself.

After some time Valerie arrived at the institution which looked old and much like an asylum from a classic horror movie with large gates and a menacing mansion like structure. She parked her car in a small area for visitor vehicles and collecting the cluster of files and putting them back into her bag. The young woman then made her way to the facility entrance and walked inside. The lobby was ov average size with several benches to sit on and news papers to read. She walked right up to the front desk where a nurse sat at her post typing away.

"Excuse me mam. My name is Valerie Spector and I'm here for a meeting at one o'clock with the head of this institute." Valerie said calmly.

"Please have a seat. We will inform her of your arrival." The nurse said politely but with a slight tone of despair or discontent.

"Thank you." Valerie replied before taking a seat.

Valerie attempted to look at some of the news papers or magazines while she waited but the all appeared to be at least a few years old and out of date with one paper making reference to a Prime Minister who was long dead. After some time of waiting a woman in a dark blue outfit and blonde hair tied in a bun walked through a door and called out Valerie's name.

"Mrs. Spector" the woman said as she stood up right holding a clipboard in her hands.

Valerie stood with a smile and walked over to the woman just as she handed her clipboard to the nurse.

"Good day Mrs. Livingston" Valerie said as she shook the woman's hand.

"Yes good day to you too Mrs. Spector." Mrs. Livingston replied.

"It is Ms. Spector but please call me Valerie" the young blue haired woman said correcting the Head Master.

"Very well -- hall we begin?" Mrs. Livingston said as she motioned to a door.

The two women made their way deeper into the facility and to Mrs. Livingston's office which Valerie noted was locked.

"Do you always keep your office locked Mrs. Livingston? Valerie asked.

"Of course child- there are important documents in here and we can not allow just anyone to have access to them." Mrs. Livingston logically replied.

"Now what is it I can help you with today?" Mrs. Livingston asked as the both took seats with Mrs. Livingston sitting behind her desk.

"I am here to look into claims and reports filed over the years about missing persons and possible ethical violations made by members of this institution." Valerie bluntly stated.

"My dear they are just that -- claims. We have had local authorities look into these reports and have found very little evidence that anything of the sort has happened. Since I took over several years ago we haven't had any problems and my staff is very well trained in what they do." Mrs. Livingston responded.

"I have many files of what appears to be open cases that were never solved -- "Valerie started.

"And it is a shame that they were not solved but that does not mean that they are connected to myself, my staff, or this institution in any way." Mrs. Livingston retorted cutting the girl off in mid sentence.

"One of the reported filed was about a member of your staff that had gone missing -- a Emily Washington." Valerie questioned further.

"Yes nurse Washington was a bright young woman -- about your age I believe. One day she didn't arrive for her shift and we thought she may have simply quit without notice." Mrs. Livingston responded.

"You did not find that strange?" Valerie asked.

"My dear -- people come and go patient and worker alike. Some simply do not have the stomach to do the job and others find better options. That is they way of the world and especially a institution such as this." Mrs. Livingston calmly explained.

"Now if all you are here for is to question myself or my staff on various cases that the authorities have been unable to solve or connect to us in any appropriate manner I would like you to leave this property." Mrs. Livingston said.

"I will have one of our guards walk you back to the lobby." Mrs. Livingston said as she pressed a button under her desk.

Moments later a man in a white uniform walked into the office and escorted Valerie Spector back to the lobby and right out the front door of the facility. Valerie had no choice but to leave and head back into town. She had already booked a room for a few days not knowing how long her investigation may take. She returned to her hotel placing her bag of files onto her bed while she took a nice long and hot shower.

As the hot water of the shower cascaded down on to Valerie Spector's bare flesh the young blue haired woman thought about the Asylum and how the Head Master had reacted to her line of questioning. Once the water had washed off all of the soap Valerie stepped out of the shower and began to dry herself off with a near by towel. As Valerie dried herself she heard what she believed to be movement from outside her bathroom in the hotel room. She pushed open the door to see someone looking through the files she had left on the desk. Without thinking she lunged at the man from behind. The two began to scuffle around the hotel with the man in all black and Valerie only having the towel wrapped around her body. In a split second decision Valerie Spector removed her towel exposing herself and used it to choke the intruder knocking him out. She quickly checked the rest of the hotel room and locked the door before putting on some clothes. As she got dressed she heard the sound of a staticed voice coming from the unconscious man.

"Do you have the files?" the female voice asked through a radio on the man's body.

"Hurry up and destroy those files and get back to the van" the voice said.

Valerie then looked out of her window to see a plain black van parked across the street wit someone sitting in the driver's seat. She knew she had stumbled onto something and had to investigate further and decided to do it alone not knowing who could be involved. She made her way outside and over to the van covered by the shadows. She then opened the back doors and hopped inside.

"It's about time. You were taking far to lo-mmpphh" the driver said not looking back.

Valerie grabbed the driver muffling her cries with her hand as she pulled her in the back seat and subdued her. Once the woman was unconscious she stripped her of her uniform and put it on herself. She then used some of the rags in the van to bind and gag the woman to keep her quiet. Valerie then began to drive the van back to the Asylum in the hopes of busting the cold cases wide open.

Once at the Asylum Valerie parked the van leaving the nurse bound and gagged in the back of the vehicle. Now dressed in the woman's uniform the young journalist headed into the facility to investigate. She knew her blue hair would be a giveaway so she put on a hat she found in the truck to conceal her blue locks. With the keys from the nurse and the smaller night staff Valerie found it much easier to sneak around and see what was going on. She went floor by floor starting with the ground level and working her way up. As she moved through the facility she didn't find much out of the normal for this kind of institution. There were several rooms locked with patients inside for both the protection of the patient and the staff, break rooms, common areas, and other rooms that seemed rather normal. After over an hour Valerie didn't know what to do since nothing seemed suspicious. It was then as she got into an elevator she noticed an extra button for a basement level. She scanned the key card and pressed the button bringing the elevator to life slowly moving down.

The elevator doors opened to reveal a floor unlike the basement to and building Valerie had ever seen. Unlike the rest of the facility which had white walls and bright lights the walls here were darker and the lights were all red. She stepped out and read the sign before her with arrows pointing down different hallways. One sign said "show room" another said "holding" and a third said "training". Valerie snapped a picture with her camera and then headed down the hall for "training" what ever that meant.

After walking down the hall Valerie found a door leading to a large room. She opened the door and saw chains attached to walls and shelves of various tools. She snapped more pictures of the tools and toys that lined the walls and tables. There were restraints, gags, whips, and other items that were clearly not for patients. After snapping dozens of pictures she retreated back down the hall and made her way to the "holding" area.

As she walked down this hallway she saw cells similar to the ones in the Asylum but different. As she peered through the bars she saw chains on the walls and even saw some people inside chained up and gagged. She wanted to help but didn't know what was going on and wasn't sure if that was a smart move.

Lastly Valerie made her way to the "Show Room" which appeared to be empty but looked like it was some kind of auction center mixed with a strip club. She again took pictured and then snuck back to the elevator. As she stepped back in the elevator and pressed the button to the first floor so she could sneak back out of the building she looked through the pictures thinking about how wild this story had become and the name she could make for herself breaking this case open when the police couldn't.

The chime of the elevator sounded and the doors opened onto the first floor. Valerie looked up from her pictures to see Mrs. Livingston standing in front of her with a man on either side.

"Well hello Ms. Spector" Mrs. Livingston said calmly with a smile.

Before Valerie could react one of the men raised a tranquilizer pistol of some kind and fired two darts into her chest. Valerie was shocked and felt paralyzed before everything started to fade to black.

Valerie's eyes began to open and she blinked several times as her vision slowly started to come back to her with her memories. She felt rather weak and groggy and was trying to think of what had happened and where she was. She remembered her interview with Mrs. Livingston, then going back to her hotel where she was attacked, then breaking into the Asylum, the secret basement, and finally Mrs. Livingston's smile as a man shot her in the chest with a dart gun.

"How are you feeling?" Mrs. Livingston asked as she sat in a chair looking over at Valerie Spector.

"Mmmpphhh" Valerie replied unable to speak.

Valerie took another moment to collect herself and realized that she was tightly secured in a straight jacket and a muzzle was secured around her head gagging her.

"It is okay dear. You don't need to speak only listen" Mrs. Livingston said as she stood up from her chair and walked over to the restrained Valerie Spector.

Valerie looked at the woman with piercing eyes noticing for the first time that she was rather pretty with her hair down and without her glasses. Mrs. Livingston sat down next to Valerie and looked at her with a smile.

"You poor girl. You have no idea what you stumbled into." Mrs. Livingston said as she ran a finger through the captive's blue hair.

"Mmpph" Valerie grunted moving her head back but not getting anywhere.

"If only you had minded your own business. You could be back home or out living a normal life" Mrs. Livingston said as she began to run her hands over Valerie's straightjacket.

"Instead you had to go and try and make a name for yourself or play the hero -- whatever it is you wanted to do. And look at you now." Mrs. Livingston continued with a chuckle as she groped Valerie's breasts through the jacket.

"I'm sure you understand that we cant let you go knowing what you know." Mrs. Livingston whispered into the blue haired woman's ear.

"Mmmmpphhh" Ms. Spector grunted again as shivers went down her spine.

"You are a very pretty woman so I don't expect you to stay on our market long. I would give it no more than a week before someone places a nice bid on you." Mrs. Livingston says as she stands up and heads to the cell door.

"But until then I'm sure we can have some fun" Mrs. Livingston finishes before walking out of the cell and locking the door leaving Valerie Spector restrained and gagged alone in the dark awaiting her future.