By: Jizzabelle Lovejoy, CU Cheerleader and CU Columnist
((TRIGGER WARNING: Nudity and graphic depictions of sexual assault.))
History didn’t repeat itself, but it sure did rhyme as we, the CU Cheer team, found ourselves in a life-or-death situation on our way to the Spirit of the South National Cheer competition in Atlanta, for the second year in a row.
Escorted by newly minted CUPD captain Cyrus Kharg-Felwood, our itinerary consisted of a bus to Laveau, a ferry from the port there to New Orleans, and then a commercial flight to Georgia. But we wouldn’t even finish the first leg of the journey, as the streets in Laveau had other ideas. The streets, represented by a mob in white surrounded us as we approached the ferry terminal and attacked.
The encounter would end with several hospitalized and one cheerleader missing for several days afterwards. We also lost all our photos of the ride over AND the damn attackers. So we’ve had to dramatize our own poses using the Art Studio and Greenscreen (because we’re girl bosses and look awesome so thought you should see it). If you want to imagine the attackers; think typical ‘Wicker Man’ trash mob.
You Think You Have a Bad Boss?
Among the white-clad attackers, I spotted my (now former) employer, Salena Salvi, of the Serpent’s Den. Before detailing the encounter itself, it’s worth elaborating on my own (now severed) connections with her and the club.
I came to know Salena from wandering into the strip club almost a year ago looking for a job. Back then, the Den was owned by a petite Madame who answered to ‘Honey,’ and Salena was a manager. Hence, like so many trafficking survivors, I drifted back into sex work for a time, as it came quite naturally.
It had been a few months since I’d put in a shift there, as I’ve been busy with my new roles, both heading up Sigma Theta Noir, studying and writing. In that time, I heard that Salena had now taken over the place and moved up from manager. She’d also remodelled the place.
Anyway, so a few weeks prior to the incident, I stopped in to have a look and congratulate her as we were still on good terms at the time. The new layout was every bit as stylish as I’d heard. Of course, I was also looking to get back into dancing for occasional shifts for a little extra cash. We managed to speak only briefly before business pulled her aside.
It should be noted that several CU cheerleaders and sorority sisters at Sigma Theta Noir are current or former dancers on her roster, and often, new pledges arrive at looking for work. Some want to strip, and who could blame them for wanting to graduate without debt.
Hence, not wanting to send Sigma sisters and cheerleaders to the black mould risk that is the storied but decrepit Titty Twister in Hathian, I was even hoping to set up referrals. Not any more, as you will see…
Fighting the (Good) Fight
“At first, it was just a few women dressed in white… then more people started showing up. Some of them were wearing masks. All of them had weapons. Knives. Bats. Even a cane… They were surrounding us… Then the shouting started… One of them yelled at us to ‘get out of their town.’ I snapped back before I could think. ‘No one wants your town, asshole! We’re trying to leave it!’ After that, everything blurred.”
CU Cheerleader Haizley Harlow’s retells the start of the encounter with the mob
When the fighting started, some of us fled in several directions, while others stood their ground. I started looking for weapons to support those fighting. So I hopped the fence into an adjacent parking lot, and ducked into a taco truck. Whether it was merely unattended and unlocked, or outright abandoned, I don’t know. But inside there were still knives and bottles aplenty.
Cheer captain Isabis hopped the fence as well, with a female in hot pursuit. I intercepted the attacker to help. We looked to be holding our own, but that’s when a large male in white and what looked like a deer skull mask came over the fence to assist her. We couldn’t prevail against two.
Now, I’ve coordinated a surround on an assailant at the sorority house before, but with so many attackers around, this was a different situation entirely. I had to drop the weapons I had intended to distribute, and my path back to those fighting was effectively blocked.
While they subdued Isa and held her at knifepoint, the mob allowed me to escape relatively unscathed, apparently because I am of value to Salena and the Serpent’s Den.
Even the best laid plans fall apart when one’s team is scattered and broken, and there’s only a handful of fighters among you. I had utterly failed to save Isa. So, at that point, my only recourse was to escape and link up with another smaller portion of the team that was making their exit in a different direction.
Cheerleaders Fight In Anything
As I would later find out, Isa had quite the chase after that.
“…I heard Jizz calling for help. So, I rushed over to her and got into it with some madwoman and this really big guy, but we ended up running away. That crazed woman sliced my clothes with her knife and then chased me, but I lost her in the woods. Luckily, I found this woodcutter’s shack where I managed to grab an axe. I snuck my way back into town, pretty much naked by this point, but the bus had already gone.”
Cheer Captain Isabis’ account, from fleeing a hopeless fight to her eventual rescue
While all of that went on, the fighting at the intersection continued. Ulric Merlin, Sunday Soule, Denise Whitaker and others bravely held on, putting their lives on the line so that others might escape. Both would be surrounded by multiple attackers.
Cheerleaders Sunday Soule and Ulric Merlin bore the brunt of the mob’s assault as they bravely covered the rest of the group’s escape. Meanwhile, CU Medic Deke and CUPD Captain Cyrus Kharg-Felwood escorted much of the team to safety. Among that party were Emma McGregor, Rayna Halley, and Calliope Kharg-Felwood, who despite being pregnant, was still a cheerleader and thus traveling with the Cheerios for moral support.
“I had to make a choice between staying there or running to safety. Sunday yelled at me to run. I hesitated for a moment because leaving someone behind while they’re literally fighting off a masked lunatic feels like the worst thing in the world. But he screamed again for me to go, so I ran. I still feel incredibly guilty about that considering the condition Sunday is in now.”
Cheerleader Emma McGregor recounts fleeing the scene as Sunday Soule covered the group’s escape.
Pinballing in Retreat
While that main contingent of the group would try and escape, I would link up with another, which included Kara Summers. As I reached them, I found Kara squaring off with another large male, wielding a bat wrapped in barbed wire. I tried to assist, and she aimed a brick at his groin. The attacker would then seemingly break her leg and toss her into some bushes. After that, I found those who had escaped approaching the bus.
As we neared the bus, we could come across another large, bearded figure, also clad in white. He was next to a police SUV. Was their law enforcement one of them? He said something about folks getting wound up about the equinox, as if that were routine there.
Thus, my efforts to save two of my fellow cheerleaders failed. We had to leave six behind; Kara, Isa, Haizley, Ulric, Sunday, and Lilith. Emma, I understand how you feel. The survivor’s guilt is real.
Search and Rescue
As soon as we arrived back at campus, that guilt would have me put in a call to FDH Lt. Rog Messmer, who assisted with his personal vehicle, paramedic skills and a first aid kit. Hence, four hours after the initial encounter, Rog and I arrived back at the scene to rescue as many as we could.
There, we found Ulric, Sunday, and Haizley. They were being helped by a kind stranger who arranged for their transportation back to Hathian General Hospital. Ulric was badly beaten and Sunday was bleeding and unconscious. Rog managed to stabilize him before they headed out.
Ulric suffered severe injuries, including some to his spine and head. Sunday’s injuries were severe as well, as he even flatlined for a time that night His chest was opened for surgery as well. When I visited later that weekend, both Ulric and Sunday were in serious but stable condition, with a good prognoses looking forward.
But as Ulric, Sunday, and Haze were on their way to safety, three more were still unaccounted for. This was when Isa found Rog and I. She had only minor cuts and bruises, and was still carrying the axe she found. That made four of six, with Kara Summers and Lilith Rose Grey still missing.
I had my suspicions regarding Lilith, as Salena was among the attackers. Before the fighting started, she had openly mentioned abducting girls to work for her at the Den. So as Rog and I continued our rescue, I sent my former employer a text message.
The exchange that followed is copied below:
ME: what the fuck was that?
ME: answer. what the hell was that?
SALENA: watch yo fucking mouth. laveau tradition. that’s what.
ME: and here I was gonna see if some girls would want to dance at the den. you know, willingly. but you have to run with those psychos.
ME: did you take anyone?
SALENA: psychos? i’d pick yo words carefully, shawty. i’m not in the fucking mood.
SALENA: what if i did? you gonna save em?
ME: clearly in a mood… whacked out on who knows what with the rest of those religious psychos. To think I worked for you.
ME: well, I was gonna ask for ’em back, but clearly there’s not a lot of goodwill in this Laveau tradition. I’ll remember that.
SALENA: i’m not a fucking junkie. watch yo mouth, jizzy. i won’t tell you again. consider yo self lucky and go about yo day.
And so, our horrid Friday the 13th ended with four hospitalized and two girls missing, one of which was likely trafficked. Knowing that made my heart sink; with my own history with trafficking and connection with the likeliest suspect, the anger, sorrow, and guilt felt orders of magnitude worse.
Finding the Missing
Fortunately, we would later find Lilith on campus… but not before Salena and an accomplice had put her through a terrible ordeal, confirming my suspicions.
“They cornered me in the club and forced me upstairs, where they restrained me, and proceeded to torture and sexually assault me. They beat me, choked me, humiliated me, cut me, forced me to do sexual acts on one of them and penetrated me with a knife. Fortunately the knife was sheathed and they mainly used the hilt, but this has still caused me some injuries. After several hours they seemed to be satisfied, and Salena locked me in a crate, like a dog cage type of thing all night. In the morning one of the bouncers actually unlocked it and I ran the fuck out of there, I honestly don’t even know how I got back to CU but I made it…”
Lilith recounts her sexual assault at the hands of Salena, Serpent’s Den owner
For the record, Lilith expressed her desire that it be known what she went through, with names and photo included. I applaud her bravery and candor.
Kara, on the other hand, was missing for several days following the incident, but was eventually rescued the following Tuesday. Finally, everyone was alive and safe.
Aftermath
First off, I have the deepest respect for all who fought on our behalf, and wish a speedy recovery for those who were hospitalized; you all have my infinite gratitude for your heroism.
However, criticism has been levied at Captain Cyrus for his handling of the incident. After all, he did agree to provide protection. It was observed that he focused on protecting his pregnant wife above all others. While wholly understandable, it still falls short of the duty he had taken upon himself to protect the entire cheer team. Lilith, in particular, had a harsh critique.
“The woman with the knife (Salena) managed to grab my hair and drag me across the street with her. One of the other students tried to help me by swinging her bag at the woman, but this made her hold the knife to my throat instead. The CUPD captain spotted us too, his firearm drawn but not aimed at the woman. He did NOT do anything to help me at that point. He actually told me to stay calm and comply with the woman’s demands. Mind you, he had A GUN and basically told me to just chill and let this madwoman take me, doing nothing to stop her. The woman managed to drag me in to an alleyway, where she forced me to undress and proceeded to.. eh.. inspect me..”
-Lilith Rose Grey’s recounting of CUPD captain Cyrus’ actions during the incident
In his defense, The CUPD Captain was one of only two defending the cheer team with guns; the other being Denise Whitaker. There’s only so much that one man with a firearm can do when his charges all scatter in different directions. From a security perspective, this incident has given all of us a long, painful list of failures to learn from; not just Cyrus.
Clearly, any further cheer team forays into Laveau will require more heavily armed escort, and enough discipline on the part of the cheer team to stay together.
Finally, there’s my severed connection with the Serpent’s Den to consider. As Sigma Theta Noir president I have officially blacklisted the Den among the sorority. No doubt, Isa as captain will follow suit with the cheerleaders. Furthermore, any strip club patron with a shred of conscience would do well to avoid the place.
It’s ironic. Salena could have seen the Den staffed with plenty of beautiful young college girls, working in a stylish, remodeled club. But then this happened, revealing the rot beneath the shine.
Salena, Laveau…your traditions…are bad for business.
The Observer’s Editor wishes it to be known that JB has informed us that those featured in a state of undress agreed to be so featured. While Isabis, a known performer can hardly be expected not to get topless, it’s a brave place to be for Lilith.
There are many groups in Laveau. There are gangs, there are individual solos, there are corrupt officials that make our Bobby Boxer look like a saint. Sadly, without photo and video of the attackers and only a very few specifically identified by JB, it looks like any ‘controlling mind’ will get away with this; but then again perhaps really for one night Laveau had put away titles and assumed the mask of the equinox and well, silly students (sorry JB) travelling to Laveau en-masse, you don’t need to be the Observer’s editor to say that’s a bit stupid. You just need to be one of our readers. Since when did Laveau go well for CU? Hmm. Best wishes to everyone’s recovery. – Daiyu
