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Generational Trauma

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 *Trigger warning - this blog talks about hypothetical trauma, abuse, and trauma carried through generations. Here's a hypothetical situation:  A woman in the middle ages is repeatedly mistreated by a man (it may or may not be her husband).    She's so traumatized by this that she vows to protect herself and her future children.  She is constantly tense, can never relax, and is in a constant state of hyper-vigilance and anxiety.  She goes on to have multiple children -  both boys and girls.  The girls pick up on her tenseness and begin to copy it in themselves; they also believe men are bad and try to protect themselves as well.  Her sons do as well, but they are also treated poorly because of their mother's belief that all men are inherently bad.  As a result, they go on to mistreat women because they feel they need to retaliate for the way their mother treated them.  The girls assume all men are bad and carry their mother's burden.  These children may know why; their
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Camila

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 Camila is a hypnotized empath with no feelings of her own.  She's also a teacher at Encantado Elementary.  She's almost completely blank and does the bidding of those in control of her.  However, she can feel and manipulate emotions. She tries this numerous times on Ricky.  She isn't successful, and she's later punished for letting him escape.  The Twins work through her when she is in a semi hypnotic state when Laura and her team search the warehouse.
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Jose

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  Jose is Ricky's former best friend.  He was also Laura's friend at one point.  But after a botched brainwashing (discovered later in the book), when he sees new recruits going through some sort of initiation, he becomes angry, manipulative, and fixates on Laura being a witch.  The "bad guys" let him believe that he saw a witch's ritual, and that Laura was one of the ones he saw since it works to their advantage.  He later kills Ricky's father in an attempt to kill Laura.  He is going through intense deprogramming to undo the botched brainwashing and to get any information about the other agency to help Laura and the others find the rest of the missing children. 
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The Twins

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  No one knows much about the Twins, except they have ill intent and are mediaries between their boss and the other "recruits."  They are telepathic and finish each other's sentences in a way that confuses their victims so they can be controlled.  This acts as a start to the brain-washing process that most of the recruits appear to undergo.  They can also cause those in a certain hypnotic state to speak their words for them. 
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Dax

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  Dax is Laura's partner. He has an extremely keen sense of hearing and only wears a wire so that others can hear him.  He has a crush on Laura but keeps it under wraps.  Ricky and Laura are the only ones that know.  He respects Laura's relationship with Ricky.  He's later compromised by The Twins and nearly kills Laura as a result.  Murphy is able to undo the mind control, and while he's able to return to his duties and help them find compromised children, he still feels bad about himself for allowing The Twins to get to him.  
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Steven

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Steven is not an agent. His loyalties lie with Murphy and Murphy alone.  Laura and Ricky are not sure what his connection to Murphy is, but it's clear that Steven would die for Murphy if needed. He also has a unique set of abilities that are unlike anything Laura has seen.  Murphy tells her that Steven has unique training that the others do not have. Steven has a witty sense of humor and remains calm and collected in all situations.  
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Ricardo "Ricky" Santistevan Jr

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Ricardo "Ricky" Santistevan, Jr is the head counselor for Encantado Schools.  He is the son Ricardo Santistevan, Sr who owns the bus company.  He was driving the bus when he dated Laura when she was a teenager.  To those who don't know him, he is calm, cool, and collected.  But to those who do, they know he has a temper and is often impetuous.  He also has an unnatural ability to read body language and the intentions behind them.  When reflecting on a past scenario, he can recall actions, intentions, etc, that he may not have been able to pick up on in the moment.  There are other aspects of his abilities that have not come to full fruition yet.  He thought he had this ability well hidden, but Laura was able to figure it out, as were the "bad guys." Murphy knew of Ricky's ability long ago when he posed as one of Ricky's psychology professors in college.  Without Ricky truly realizing it, Murphy had helped him sharpen his ability, knowing he would need Ri
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