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THE NIGHTMARE
Four decades ago, the Manning bloodline established Cellar Institute. Hidden deep in the woods of Western Washington, it's sole purpose is to corner the black market with high-end female sex slaves. The facility uses carefully formulated brainwashing tactics to keep its product naïve, compliant, and dependent on their purchasers for survival.
Acquired near the end of their toddler years, students undergo intense indoctrination for obedience and submission. This begins in a classroom setting and is enforced with strict routine, constrained schedules, censored exposure to children's toys, TV, books, and movies. They are given a simple knowledge base to keep them conversational but great care is taken to withhold information on basic human rights and life skills that would allow them to survive on their own. Students are not touched by males until they are at least 16. Around the age of 20, they are graduated to the purchasing sector, where they can be bought through the black market.
Proctors
These are the women who manage the students. Proctors are responsible for their appointed students from intake to sale. They teach classes, assign punishment for minor misbehavior, and regulate student interaction. In the event of repeated insubordination or major conduct infraction, Proctors are required to immediately report it to the Mannings. Most are former students who have not seen the outside world since their admission. To mitigate the risk of exposure, proctors are forbidden from leaving campus.
Skill Trainers & Handlers
Male teens responsible for the students' physical sexual education. They are overseen by handlers who create skill curricula, and monitor the progress and behavior of both students and trainers. Each trainer has to 3 assigned students, who they work with individually several times a week. The typical bedroom curriculum takes 10 to 14 months to complete, depending on the student's ability and willingness to learn. This part of the brainwashing process is the most delicate, so the trainer's age is kept as close to the student's as possible for the first year. Advanced sexual practices are not physically taught until years 3 and 4.
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The origins of trainer handlers is unknown.
Students
THE SHATTERED
The Shattered Lives Chronicles follows 3 main characters, as it weaves their lives into an intricate web of sex, loyalty, and violence.
Corbin Manning
Sole heir to the late William Manning. After his father was gunned down, Corbin inherited Manning, Inc. and Cellar Institute, a place that nearly blew his life apart years ago. His womanizing is a highly publicized contradiction to his reclusive lifestyle. Born into wealth and power, he has paid an exorbitant cost through his family's cruelty.
CEO of Manning, Inc.
Chase Tiburon
Lured into becoming a skill trainer for Cellar Institute at 16. His intelligence, intuitiveness, and levelheaded nature landed him as Corbin's personal bodyguard 3 years later. Chase was promoted to head of staff following William's murder. He carries the burden of being Corbin's only friend, as well as his most trusted employee and adviser.
Manning Head of Staff
Tylar Daislea
Abandoned at the age of 4, she was raised at the mercy of the Institute. She has secrets in her past not even she knows about. Haunted by recurring dreams, coveted by her trainers and despised by her assigned proctor, Tylar fights to survive the hell she was forsaken to.
Victim of Human Trafficking
THE BREAKERS
Shattered Lives will unveil the extent of the horrors the Manning bloodline's inhumanity has wrought. Decades' worth of carefully concealed brutality, madness, and corruption will finally be exposed.
William Manning
Founder of Manning, Inc.
Former Patriarch
Reluctant founder of Manning, Inc. After his father died and his younger brother moved to Texas, he became obsessed with the Institute. He abandoned all his legal endeavors and neglected the formulated upbringing of his heir. In the years leading up to his death, he became irrationally paranoid. He surrounded himself with guards, built a concrete wall around Manning Estate, and armed it to the hilt with advanced security equipment. His murder remains unsolved.
Kyle Manning
CEO of Manning Enterprises
Current Manning Patriarch
William's younger brother, Kyle is the oldest surviving member of the family. He lives in Pearland, Texas, where he runs the family's Houston-based oil business. He has been fully indoctrinated with the bloodline's cruel belief system and follows the Manning code of conduct with near perfection. Since Michael's death, Kyle has chosen to ignore Corbin, which is abnormal behavior for a patriarch.
Michael Manning
Former CEO of Manning Enterprises, Former Patriarch
Father of William and Kyle. It is known within the bloodline that Michael killed his father for the position of patriarch. He then moved his family to Washington, where he established Cellar Institute. When he was alive, he maintained control over his sons and their families by requiring that they live under his roof. As patriarch, his duty was to ensure his heirs were performing adequately in business and raising their sons in strict accordance with the bloodline's brutal parenting methods. Michael died when Corbin was 8 years old.