HENDERSON, michelle olivia

autumn reeser; twenty-four; heterosexual; caulton asylum; unemployed

when michelle henderson was born, it seemed like she would lead a normal life. she was born in brandon, south dakota, to brad and whitney henderson. even the pregnancy was normal, from start to the day she came into the world, september 21st, 1988. she wasn't to be the only child, however, her brother cam coming along in the next year. from the time he was a year and older, they didn't like each other. michelle would hide all her toys from him and vice versa. their parents did what they could to get the two to like one another, but nothing worked. even as they got older, it didn't change.

three more years when little daniel came along, however, michelle adored him. who knows why she favored him over cam, but she did. she thought him the cutest, sweetest thing to ever walk the planet. their bond grew considerably with time, till they were nearly inseparable. by this time, they'd moved to nevada, due to her father's job. he was a consultant for a major company based out of washington d. c., so there was bound to be plenty of moving around in the future. at this point it was exciting and didn't effect the henderson children very much, since none were old enough to go to school, yet.

michelle was eight years old when her life changed from normal to anything but. she had just started 2nd grade, was doing well in school and was even well liked. she enjoyed it for the most part, though the fact that cam had started 1st grade and was attending the same school, was something she definitely didn't like. michelle ignored her brother as much as possible, and he did the same. they even went so far as to make sure they didn't have the same friends so that as little contact as possible could be made. the only times they really saw each other was at breakfast each morning, on the way to school, and then when their mother picked them up afterwards. it was on one of these days that it happened. mrs. henderson had just left the school, all three children with her, since daniel was only four and couldn't stay home alone, when a vehicle ran the red light and hit them at full speed. it made contact on the rear drivers side, right where daniel was seated. michelle had been in the middle, right next to him, with cam the farthest away.

michelle had blacked out shortly after impact and woke up in a hospital. her mother had a few broken bones, but nothing serious, and cam had had only some whiplash and minor cuts and bruises. when she found out that daniel had been killed on impact, however, she lost it. a sedative was given, and when she came out of that, everything felt different. she didn't know why she was in a hospital and had no memory of the accident. in fact, the last thing michelle remembered was getting in the car to go home. she couldn't even remember her own name. after waking up she heard someone calling a 'michelle' and soon realized they were talking to her. but her name wasn't michelle. it was alana. this was the start of her 'other' personalities.

school was a horror with her new change. under stressful situations she would 'switch', causing everyone, including the teachers, to refer to her as weird. it got to the point where she was failing her classes, so her parents took her out and decided to try homeschooling. the plan was effective, and her grades soon picked back up. plus, she was happier, despite the fact she didn't really have friends, aside from her brother. cam and michelle had started getting along better after the accident, though it wasn't always easy, especially with 'alana', who didn't like him at all.

the family made what would be their final move when she was fifteen and a year away from graduating. cam was more upset about the move than michelle was. in fact, she really wasn't upset at all and adjusted to georgia much quicker than her brother. at was here that she met her best friend, belle. she knew that michelle was weird, but didn't really care, once things were explained to her. they were the same age and perfectly suited friends.

she made no plans to go to college after graduation, since her parents didn't think her ready for that step, and she tended to agree with them. michelle's only real interest had been ballet, something she'd started at the age of five. she'd continued in it since it helped her to relax, plus she was pretty good.

as she got older, her symptoms only got worse. her memory lapses were much more frequent, and she started seeing things that weren't there. her parents became extremely worried and decided it was time for a psychiatrist. 'alana', however, was against the idea, and disliked every one they took her to. after several years of trying that route, they began looking for an asylum, michelle having progressed far beyond a stage they could handle. caulton asylum was one of their top picks and in the end they chose it.

she's been at the asylum for five months now and though it's comfortable enough, neither she or 'alana' like it.