The Not-So Beautiful Tragedy of Dalilah Ashe (Part 1)
Feb 13, 2024 15:23:45 GMT -6
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Post by Dalilah Ashe on Feb 13, 2024 15:23:45 GMT -6
He switched on the digital video recorder. Speaking in a loud and clear voice he established the ID info for his notes the session:
“The following will be a recording and account of the mental wellness assessment of contracted EWC Talent: Lilah Anne Ashley, also known as Dalilah Ashe. This meeting is to assess the mental state of the patient and her ability to continue as a competitor in the Extreme Wrestling Corporation.”
Supervising Physician:
Doctor Laurence Fine / Channard Mental Science Institute for Research and Treatment
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Notes and summary on session with Lilah Anne Ashley AKA Dalilah Ashe are as follows:
After speaking with Miss Ashley it is the opinion of myself in my position as primary mental care provider that further independent investigation will be warranted to clarify certain aspects of this case.
I began by consulting a former colleague who is at current time employed at The Lennox Hills Sanitorium in the records and archives department about the commitment of Noel Ashley (Lilah’s older sister.) at Lennox Hills from 1999-2001. There was no record of a patient with that name undergoing treatment during that time period or at any time in a six year span surrounding those dates.
The closest patient matching the age and description of Noel Ashley was a young woman named Ashley Warren. This patient was admitted in October of 1999 for depression, behavioral disorders and narcotic dependency. In February of 2001 the patient was released back into her parents custody. She would be committed two more times with similar issues: For several months in 2005 and her final stay being in 2007 when she was found by the staff deceased in her room. Cause of death was ruled an apparent overdose and a possible suicide, however further investigation yielded no conclusive evidence to support the latter assertion.
During a short discussion with a staff member who was working during that time period the individual seemed to recall that the young lady in question was sometimes known to go by the nickname Noel.
Looking into Ashley Warren’s personal history it was discovered that she was the daughter of Richard and Shelly Warren from Portland, Oregon. The file listed a younger female sibling, one Annastasia (Anna) Warren. who was born some time in 1999.
(*It is interesting to note that the name Annastasia Warren can also be found in the records at Lennox Hills as a patient in 2018, the same time that Lilah Anne Ashley claims she spent time in an undisclosed institution.)
The Warren family is described in several regional newspaper articles as a wealthy family with important political affiliations and strong ties to influential social circles. By all accounts their daughter Ashley suffered from many difficult personal and psychological issues that caused her to act against the expectations of her parents. Records revealed that she was committed several times to various rehabilitation and mental health facilities between fifteen and twenty-two years of age with at least three of her stays taking place at the Lennox Hills facility.
Medical records indicate that at fifteen years of age the patient was diagnosed as pregnant. Further they indicate that the child was carried to term and was born in 1999, just after the mother’s sixteenth birthday, while the patient was still under in-patient care in the Lennox Hills medical wing. Records show that the family attorney arranged a closed adoption for the infant female after the mother was deemed unfit by the court due to her status as a minor and her ongoing mental health issues. No name or further information about the child could be found. The father’s name is not listed.
Based on the details of my session with Miss Ashe (Ashley) I feel confident in my original assertion that Ashley Warren is the Noel Ashley spoken about by the patient. Further I deduce that Lilah Anne Ashley is indeed an alias and that Miss Ashe is in fact Ashley Warren’s younger sibling Annastasia Warren.
As Supervising Therapist in this case I have recommended continued ongoing sessions with this patient as well as further research into establishing the validity of some of the information given by the patient in past sessions. Further Psychiatric consultation to establish a proper course of medication for probable undiagnosed bi-polar and possible dissociative personality disorders will be required.
Dr. Laurence Fine, M.D. & PsyD
The opulent home of Mister and Missus Richard Warren stood in stark contrast to the homeless encampments that Dr. Fine had passed on his trek through Portland. He had come here straight from the airport, having been told that he had only a short window in which he could speak to his patient’s Mother, as her Father was unavailable.
The case of Lilah Anne Ashley had weighed heavily on his mind of late. Rumors swirled about her assaulting a man brutally on live video and something had been said about the possibility of arson. So he had finally found the break in his schedule that he needed to follow up on her mysterious case in person.
He was met at the door by one of the Warren’s many employees and shown into a large sitting room where he was kept waiting for the wife’s arrival. Several pictures caught his eye. One was of a young woman holding a baby. There was something very similar about both their faces. He could only assume that this was Ashley Warren holding a young Annastasia, or the girl that now called herself Dalilah Ashe.
After what seemed like forever a richly dressed older woman swept into the room to greet him with a theatrical flourish.
“Doctor Fine. How nice it is to finally put a name to the face. I’m very glad to meet you, though I must admit that the purpose of your visit has left me intrigued.”
“Well Missus Warren…”
“Oh please, call me Shelly.” she said with a smile.
“Well… Shelly, as I told you on the phone I’m a Dr. of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Channard Mental Science Institute in Philadelphia. For some time now I have been treating a young woman named Lilah Anne Ashley, who I have reason to believe may very well be your younger daughter Annastasia.”
Missus Warren grew silent. Her eyes drifted to one of the many pictures on the mantle.
“Doctor Fine, you must understand that discussing my daughter is a very difficult subject for me. She was the light of my life before she chose to leave it. But despite our best efforts, she just wasn’t a happy girl.”
“Is that what precipitated her stay in the Lennox Hills Sanatorium? It’s my understanding that her sister Ashley was a patient there as well?”
Missus Warren stiffened at the mention of her biological older daughter.
“I’m afraid we don’t talk about our eldest daughter Doctor Fine. She was an unfortunate you understand, and her bad behavior proved to be scandalous for the family.”
He found her response to be chillingly revealing.
“And what about the name Noel? Isn’t that the nickname that Anna had for her sister?”
Shelly Warren was now visibly shaken.
“Anna was also a very disturbed little girl. She liked to make up stories. She was very young when her sister went away and she created fantasies to help her cope with the loss. Noel was one of those stories. She was always like that, our Anna. Very bright and imaginative. But also very disturbed.”
Dr. Fine looked confused and Missus Warren had become upset.
“She inherited her odd little quirks from her mother you see. It was an imperfection in the genes. When we adopted Anna we had hopes that she would be the daughter that Ashley wasn’t. But you just can’t predict bad genetics.”
It was then that the truth fell on him like a ton of bricks. Looking back at the pictures he wondered how he hadn’t realized it before.
“Anna wasn’t your daughter. She was your Granddaughter. Lilah was the daughter that Ashley had when she was committed to Lennox Hills in 1999.”
“Lilah. Little Lilah Anne. That’s what she called her. But to us she was always Annastasia.”
Laurence was appalled by this revelation.
“But how could you allow her to believe that Ashley was her sister? Even after she adopted her personality? Knowing the truth could have spared her years of psychological torment. I don’t think you can even imagine the damage that you’ve done to her.”
Shelly grew irate at the accusation.
“What WE’VE done! We gave that girl everything! She had anything she could ever ask for. We sent her to the best schools and she rewarded us by getting expelled from them all. She disgraced us. She was a monster, just like her ungrateful mother. And after we took her into our home. We should have let The State have her. We should have known that she’d be born flawed.”
Dr. Fine had heard enough. Suddenly so many things about Dalilah had been made abundantly clear and he felt a great sorrow for the girl. All he knew now was that he couldn’t allow himself to remain in this woman’s company for even another minute.
“Thank you for seeing me Missus Warren. You’ve been very helpful with my investigation. I’ll see myself out.”
Missus Warren grew sullenly silent.
“We tried our best to raise that girl right. We gave her every advantage. But you can’t fight bad genetics.”
Looking at Dalilah’s Grandmother with utter disdain Doctor Fine replied:
“No Madam. Clearly you cannot.”
Upon his return to Philadelphia Doctor Fine was torn on how exactly to proceed. On the one hand he felt that it was his moral obligation to inform Dalilah about what he’d discovered about her past. But his more professional side feared the result that information might have on her already obvious mental instability.
In the end in was his conscience that made the decision. Holding the phone to his ear he listened to it ring. He half hoped that she would screen the call and choose to ignore him.
“What’s up Doc?”
Dalilah laughed manically at her own humor. The Doctor waited for the sound to die down before he chose to proceed.
“Hello Dalilah. I’m doing well and I hope that you are the same.”
This time there was no humor in her voice when she spoke.
“Oh, I’m just peachy. I just lost another match at Wrestlefest. Of course you'd know that if you actually watched the show. So what was it you wanted?”
Dr. Fine took a moment to breathe.
“Dalilah, I’m afraid I have something serious to discuss with you. Could you meet with me in my office later today? Perhaps around seven o’clock?”
There was silence on the other end of the line. After a tense moment Dalilah finally answered.
“Gee Doc, you’re not dying are you? Or wait… am I dying?”
His was flustered a bit by the gravity of her reply.
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. I’ve just recently become a party to some important information pertaining to your case that I believe it is imperative that you hear in person.”
His formal tone made Dalilah chuckle on the other end of the line.
“Okay Doc. I’ll be there. After all, you know how much I love to party.”
That was the one fact that she’d been remotely right about. Noel Ashley… Ashley Warren (Whatever!) had died in the Lennox Hills Mental Health facility in 2007 just short of her 25th birthday. According to the file Dr. Fine had given her the nurses reported that she’d probably been cheeking her pills for weeks and had taken them all at once. Her Mother had killed herself when Lilah was almost 8 years old. Her Mommy had committed suicide instead of returning to take care of her little girl and had left young Lilah’s mind full of the imagined torments her beloved sister must have endured to keep her from coming home.
Dalilah had been so obsessed with understanding the horrors her sister had suffered that she’d even gotten herself checked into the same hospital. While there she was kept heavily medicated by the staff and was fed terrible tales of abuse every night by her roommate, an older woman named Clarice who claimed to have known Noel personally. When she was finally released after she turned 18 she was convinced that her older sister had been used sexually and murdered in the asylum and that everyone had conspired to cover it up. Furious with her parents for what she saw as their part in the conspiracy, she’d run away and never looked back.
Living on the streets and fighting for her life was where Annastasia Warren really became Lilah Anne Ashley and Lilah Anne turned into Dalilah Ashe after Lacey Savage found her and gave her a home. But now the truth had finally come to light and it had been left to Dalilah alone to put the torn pieces together to form a twisted picture. And so she sat in a run down, rent by the week apartment, drinking cheap vodka with a table full of pills screaming to be swallowed just a few inches away.
She smiled sadly with a bitter little chuckle. “Like Mother, like Daughter.”
“The following will be a recording and account of the mental wellness assessment of contracted EWC Talent: Lilah Anne Ashley, also known as Dalilah Ashe. This meeting is to assess the mental state of the patient and her ability to continue as a competitor in the Extreme Wrestling Corporation.”
Supervising Physician:
Doctor Laurence Fine / Channard Mental Science Institute for Research and Treatment
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Notes and summary on session with Lilah Anne Ashley AKA Dalilah Ashe are as follows:
After speaking with Miss Ashley it is the opinion of myself in my position as primary mental care provider that further independent investigation will be warranted to clarify certain aspects of this case.
I began by consulting a former colleague who is at current time employed at The Lennox Hills Sanitorium in the records and archives department about the commitment of Noel Ashley (Lilah’s older sister.) at Lennox Hills from 1999-2001. There was no record of a patient with that name undergoing treatment during that time period or at any time in a six year span surrounding those dates.
The closest patient matching the age and description of Noel Ashley was a young woman named Ashley Warren. This patient was admitted in October of 1999 for depression, behavioral disorders and narcotic dependency. In February of 2001 the patient was released back into her parents custody. She would be committed two more times with similar issues: For several months in 2005 and her final stay being in 2007 when she was found by the staff deceased in her room. Cause of death was ruled an apparent overdose and a possible suicide, however further investigation yielded no conclusive evidence to support the latter assertion.
During a short discussion with a staff member who was working during that time period the individual seemed to recall that the young lady in question was sometimes known to go by the nickname Noel.
Looking into Ashley Warren’s personal history it was discovered that she was the daughter of Richard and Shelly Warren from Portland, Oregon. The file listed a younger female sibling, one Annastasia (Anna) Warren. who was born some time in 1999.
(*It is interesting to note that the name Annastasia Warren can also be found in the records at Lennox Hills as a patient in 2018, the same time that Lilah Anne Ashley claims she spent time in an undisclosed institution.)
The Warren family is described in several regional newspaper articles as a wealthy family with important political affiliations and strong ties to influential social circles. By all accounts their daughter Ashley suffered from many difficult personal and psychological issues that caused her to act against the expectations of her parents. Records revealed that she was committed several times to various rehabilitation and mental health facilities between fifteen and twenty-two years of age with at least three of her stays taking place at the Lennox Hills facility.
Medical records indicate that at fifteen years of age the patient was diagnosed as pregnant. Further they indicate that the child was carried to term and was born in 1999, just after the mother’s sixteenth birthday, while the patient was still under in-patient care in the Lennox Hills medical wing. Records show that the family attorney arranged a closed adoption for the infant female after the mother was deemed unfit by the court due to her status as a minor and her ongoing mental health issues. No name or further information about the child could be found. The father’s name is not listed.
Based on the details of my session with Miss Ashe (Ashley) I feel confident in my original assertion that Ashley Warren is the Noel Ashley spoken about by the patient. Further I deduce that Lilah Anne Ashley is indeed an alias and that Miss Ashe is in fact Ashley Warren’s younger sibling Annastasia Warren.
As Supervising Therapist in this case I have recommended continued ongoing sessions with this patient as well as further research into establishing the validity of some of the information given by the patient in past sessions. Further Psychiatric consultation to establish a proper course of medication for probable undiagnosed bi-polar and possible dissociative personality disorders will be required.
Dr. Laurence Fine, M.D. & PsyD
***
The opulent home of Mister and Missus Richard Warren stood in stark contrast to the homeless encampments that Dr. Fine had passed on his trek through Portland. He had come here straight from the airport, having been told that he had only a short window in which he could speak to his patient’s Mother, as her Father was unavailable.
The case of Lilah Anne Ashley had weighed heavily on his mind of late. Rumors swirled about her assaulting a man brutally on live video and something had been said about the possibility of arson. So he had finally found the break in his schedule that he needed to follow up on her mysterious case in person.
He was met at the door by one of the Warren’s many employees and shown into a large sitting room where he was kept waiting for the wife’s arrival. Several pictures caught his eye. One was of a young woman holding a baby. There was something very similar about both their faces. He could only assume that this was Ashley Warren holding a young Annastasia, or the girl that now called herself Dalilah Ashe.
After what seemed like forever a richly dressed older woman swept into the room to greet him with a theatrical flourish.
“Doctor Fine. How nice it is to finally put a name to the face. I’m very glad to meet you, though I must admit that the purpose of your visit has left me intrigued.”
“Well Missus Warren…”
“Oh please, call me Shelly.” she said with a smile.
“Well… Shelly, as I told you on the phone I’m a Dr. of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Channard Mental Science Institute in Philadelphia. For some time now I have been treating a young woman named Lilah Anne Ashley, who I have reason to believe may very well be your younger daughter Annastasia.”
Missus Warren grew silent. Her eyes drifted to one of the many pictures on the mantle.
“Doctor Fine, you must understand that discussing my daughter is a very difficult subject for me. She was the light of my life before she chose to leave it. But despite our best efforts, she just wasn’t a happy girl.”
“Is that what precipitated her stay in the Lennox Hills Sanatorium? It’s my understanding that her sister Ashley was a patient there as well?”
Missus Warren stiffened at the mention of her biological older daughter.
“I’m afraid we don’t talk about our eldest daughter Doctor Fine. She was an unfortunate you understand, and her bad behavior proved to be scandalous for the family.”
He found her response to be chillingly revealing.
“And what about the name Noel? Isn’t that the nickname that Anna had for her sister?”
Shelly Warren was now visibly shaken.
“Anna was also a very disturbed little girl. She liked to make up stories. She was very young when her sister went away and she created fantasies to help her cope with the loss. Noel was one of those stories. She was always like that, our Anna. Very bright and imaginative. But also very disturbed.”
Dr. Fine looked confused and Missus Warren had become upset.
“She inherited her odd little quirks from her mother you see. It was an imperfection in the genes. When we adopted Anna we had hopes that she would be the daughter that Ashley wasn’t. But you just can’t predict bad genetics.”
It was then that the truth fell on him like a ton of bricks. Looking back at the pictures he wondered how he hadn’t realized it before.
“Anna wasn’t your daughter. She was your Granddaughter. Lilah was the daughter that Ashley had when she was committed to Lennox Hills in 1999.”
“Lilah. Little Lilah Anne. That’s what she called her. But to us she was always Annastasia.”
Laurence was appalled by this revelation.
“But how could you allow her to believe that Ashley was her sister? Even after she adopted her personality? Knowing the truth could have spared her years of psychological torment. I don’t think you can even imagine the damage that you’ve done to her.”
Shelly grew irate at the accusation.
“What WE’VE done! We gave that girl everything! She had anything she could ever ask for. We sent her to the best schools and she rewarded us by getting expelled from them all. She disgraced us. She was a monster, just like her ungrateful mother. And after we took her into our home. We should have let The State have her. We should have known that she’d be born flawed.”
Dr. Fine had heard enough. Suddenly so many things about Dalilah had been made abundantly clear and he felt a great sorrow for the girl. All he knew now was that he couldn’t allow himself to remain in this woman’s company for even another minute.
“Thank you for seeing me Missus Warren. You’ve been very helpful with my investigation. I’ll see myself out.”
Missus Warren grew sullenly silent.
“We tried our best to raise that girl right. We gave her every advantage. But you can’t fight bad genetics.”
Looking at Dalilah’s Grandmother with utter disdain Doctor Fine replied:
“No Madam. Clearly you cannot.”
***
Upon his return to Philadelphia Doctor Fine was torn on how exactly to proceed. On the one hand he felt that it was his moral obligation to inform Dalilah about what he’d discovered about her past. But his more professional side feared the result that information might have on her already obvious mental instability.
In the end in was his conscience that made the decision. Holding the phone to his ear he listened to it ring. He half hoped that she would screen the call and choose to ignore him.
“What’s up Doc?”
Dalilah laughed manically at her own humor. The Doctor waited for the sound to die down before he chose to proceed.
“Hello Dalilah. I’m doing well and I hope that you are the same.”
This time there was no humor in her voice when she spoke.
“Oh, I’m just peachy. I just lost another match at Wrestlefest. Of course you'd know that if you actually watched the show. So what was it you wanted?”
Dr. Fine took a moment to breathe.
“Dalilah, I’m afraid I have something serious to discuss with you. Could you meet with me in my office later today? Perhaps around seven o’clock?”
There was silence on the other end of the line. After a tense moment Dalilah finally answered.
“Gee Doc, you’re not dying are you? Or wait… am I dying?”
His was flustered a bit by the gravity of her reply.
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. I’ve just recently become a party to some important information pertaining to your case that I believe it is imperative that you hear in person.”
His formal tone made Dalilah chuckle on the other end of the line.
“Okay Doc. I’ll be there. After all, you know how much I love to party.”
***
She entered the small economy apartment and slammed the door behind her, setting the paper and plastic bags down on the round table in the little kitchenette. She dumped the contents of the paper pharmacy bag onto the table top, watching the orange bottles roll around on the cheap, aged formica that had chipped in several spots to reveal the pressed wood hidden beneath. Just another pathetic attempt to hide the truth beneath the veneer of a shiny surface she thought. Just more damn dishonesty.
Digging into the big, black plastic sack she pulled out one of the two gallon jugs of bottom shelf 100 proof vodka that she’d purchased from the package store on the corner while she was waiting for the pharmacy to fill her prescriptions. Twisting the red cap she cracked the bottle open and tipped her head back, taking a huge gulp of the strong spirits. Choking and coughing, she sat on one of the rickety chairs only managing to get part of the straight liquor down her throat, half spitting and half puking the rest back up onto the front of her shirt.
“This was one of your favorites.” She whispered as she vacantly tried to rub the mess off of the cracked and faded design of a crucified and bleeding female figure that was printed on her big sister’s old Distillers t-shirt.
“Sister.” She whispered, laughing without humor. “My sister? Guess not.”
Doctor Fine’s great revelation pounded like a hammer in her head. Her parents that she had hated and resented for ruining her life were really her Grandparents and the Sister that she’d loved so much had been her… Mother? Her real Mother.
Wiping her chin on the back of her hand she took another swig of swill, taking it slow this time so she could keep it all down. Her whole life… everything that she’d remembered and believed had turned out to be a lie. Noel was not even her real name. Her name was Ashley. Noel was just a nickname conjured up from the confused memory of a child. Just like Dalilah wasn’t really Lilah Anne. That had been her real Mother’s name for her.
Her Grandparents had called her Annastasia after they adopted her to cover up the shame of her birth. Annastasia Warren, that was her legal name, but it wasn’t who she was. She was Dalilah. She was her sister’s Lilah Anne. Her sister, who had loved her, was the mother who’d given birth to her in an asylum when she was barely 16 and had abandoned her when she’d chosen to go die in that same Hell.
Her Grandparents had called her Annastasia after they adopted her to cover up the shame of her birth. Annastasia Warren, that was her legal name, but it wasn’t who she was. She was Dalilah. She was her sister’s Lilah Anne. Her sister, who had loved her, was the mother who’d given birth to her in an asylum when she was barely 16 and had abandoned her when she’d chosen to go die in that same Hell.
That was the one fact that she’d been remotely right about. Noel Ashley… Ashley Warren (Whatever!) had died in the Lennox Hills Mental Health facility in 2007 just short of her 25th birthday. According to the file Dr. Fine had given her the nurses reported that she’d probably been cheeking her pills for weeks and had taken them all at once. Her Mother had killed herself when Lilah was almost 8 years old. Her Mommy had committed suicide instead of returning to take care of her little girl and had left young Lilah’s mind full of the imagined torments her beloved sister must have endured to keep her from coming home.
Dalilah had been so obsessed with understanding the horrors her sister had suffered that she’d even gotten herself checked into the same hospital. While there she was kept heavily medicated by the staff and was fed terrible tales of abuse every night by her roommate, an older woman named Clarice who claimed to have known Noel personally. When she was finally released after she turned 18 she was convinced that her older sister had been used sexually and murdered in the asylum and that everyone had conspired to cover it up. Furious with her parents for what she saw as their part in the conspiracy, she’d run away and never looked back.
Living on the streets and fighting for her life was where Annastasia Warren really became Lilah Anne Ashley and Lilah Anne turned into Dalilah Ashe after Lacey Savage found her and gave her a home. But now the truth had finally come to light and it had been left to Dalilah alone to put the torn pieces together to form a twisted picture. And so she sat in a run down, rent by the week apartment, drinking cheap vodka with a table full of pills screaming to be swallowed just a few inches away.
She smiled sadly with a bitter little chuckle. “Like Mother, like Daughter.”
End Part 1
