Finding Forever (53 page)

The panoramic view from the lookout atop the dusty Santa Rosa Mountains down to the Coachella Valley floor was stunningly brilliant. The flickering streetlights of Palm Springs and the rest of the desert valley stretched east, and the flat ranchlands of Thermal and the expanse of the Salton Sea, where Taylor had uncomfortably bathed with Peter, stretched west. This was her first trip outside the compound since that visit to the lake, and just as it did then, this trip brought with it much more fear than any sense of freedom.

The orange glow ringing the jagged peaks of the mountains reminded Taylor of the beauty that she hoped still waited for her after completing the Program. Back to acting. Back to family time. Back to having fun with Simone. Back to feeling normal. All the things she used to complain about—the paparazzi, the studio execs, the over-zealous fans—now seemed so trivial. She wanted her life back.

“Just look at that!” Peter stepped abruptly between Evan and Taylor, slinging his arms around both in an awkward group hug. “A perfect night for flying off a cliff, wouldn't you say?”

Taylor and Evan exchanged glances.

“Don't worry, not literally.” Peter laughed. “You'll just be
simulating
a jump in our last shot. Tomorrow we'll be green-screening your leap. But first . . .”

Peter turned back to the crew of four, which consisted of George, a security guard, a lighting guy, and a camera operator, Louie. “Let's set up the last shot,
pronto
, and be ready to roll at nine sharp,” he ordered Louie.

Taylor and Evan stepped up to the metal railing separating them from the canyon that angled down several hundred feet
below. The chasm between them seemed just as wide.

Ever since they had reunited at the clinic last week, Taylor had been looking for signs of the charismatic guy with the boyish smile and charming personality she had fallen for just six months earlier. Even when he kissed her for the video today, Evan had seemed completely absent. He was still physically attractive, yes. But his spirit had turned hollow. And Taylor feared that, in time, the same thing might happen to her.

“So have you have picked your Program name yet?” she asked Evan. “You know, your
Peter Pan
name.”

“I've given it some thought,” he replied.

“Please do share. I could use some inspiration.”

“You might not like what I've chosen.”

“Why's that?”

“Because maybe it's a name you wanted.”

“Try me.”

Evan's eyes lit up. “Tinkerbell.”

“Oh my god. You're kidding, right?” She giggled. “Please tell me you're kidding.”

Evan let out a short laugh. “Of course I am! I was thinking ‘Hook.' You know, like the captain.”

“You had me worried there. For you—not me. I think I already have mine anyway, thank you very much. I'm probably going with ‘Pixie.'”

“Oooh, the magical dust—excellent choice.” Evan grinned. “‘All the world is made of faith, and trust, and—'”

“‘Pixie dust.' I've always been good at memorizing lines.”

For several seconds, neither spoke. Then Taylor broke the silence. “That's the first time I've seen the old Evan in a long time.”

Evan turned his neck and scanned the parking lot. “You know, maybe I'm not as out of it as I've let on.”

Taylor stared into his eyes, which suddenly didn't seem so vacant.

“Everything's going to be okay,” he whispered. “Just have faith.”

“And trust?”

“That too.”

Further along the edge of the cliff, Peter clapped his hands. “Okay, my children! Let's block out this scene.”

Evan and Taylor made their way to where the camera was set up. Taylor stepped cautiously to the edge, leaning forward and looking down at the steep drop-off.

“This is the final dramatic ending,” Peter said. “All this to the final lyrics.”

He sang in a pitifully out-of-tune pitch:

       
It's a belief that can't only be sung

       
Fly or die, he said, gripping her hand

       
Lovers willing to die to achieve the state of being Forever Young!

Taylor thought the song was corny, but she didn't dare say so.

“You will take her hand, kiss each other passionately, then turn, and begin what looks like the start of a leap off the cliff. We'll shoot several angles until we get all our shots,” Peter said.

George ran over to Peter, an iPad tucked under his armpit like a football. “It's that reporter girl, the one with the blog.”

George handed Peter the tablet. Peter fixed his eyes on the screen for several seconds. Veins bulging across his temples, he glared at Evan. “You disloyal little brat!”

 

DEADLINE DIARIES EXCLUSIVE: TAYLOR PRINCE KIDNAPPED BY SECRET ANTI-AGING CULT LEADER WITH TIES TO HIGHEST LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT AND HOLLYWOOD

by Brooklyn Brant | Fri., Aug 15 | 8:45 PM PDT

A
Deadline Diaries
investigation reveals the disturbing truth behind the recent disappearance of actress Taylor Prince on her sixteenth birthday.

Contrary to reports that Prince had been admitted to a rehab to undergo treatment for substance abuse,
Deadline Diaries
has confirmed with multiple sources that, in fact, Prince was taken against her will by members of a secret anti-aging cult who, working with the help of various law enforcement and government officials, have been forcibly recruiting celebrity members through an illegal blackmail operation in order to intimidate their high-profile recruits into joining the fringe group. The alleged rehab center has been operating under the guise of a California-based non-profit known as Kensington Solutions.

Sources reveal that after apparently being drugged and taken from her home (see exclusive security video of her kidnapping
here
), Prince was transported via an SUV to Kensington Solutions' remote desert compound in Thermal, California, where
Deadline Diaries
has learned the actress has been confined and subjected to a grueling hazing and
education ritual, possibly including electroshock therapy, which sources say is aimed at gaining the unconditional loyalty of new members.

At least one celebrity recruit has stepped forward to blow the whistle on Kensington Solutions' far-reaching conspiracy. In an exclusive interview with
Deadline Diaries,
actor Evan Ryan, widely reported to have been admitted into an undisclosed rehab earlier this year, reveals that he instead had been forced to join the Kensington group. “They call it a rehab, but it is a cult that worships youth,” Ryan says. “Its goal is for its members—through a series of drug, lifestyle, and other therapies—to achieve, ultimately, what they believe is immortality. It's a twisted group that wants to sell its program to the masses. I'm lucky to still be alive.”

According to Ryan, the group will typically amass negative, illegal, and damaging background information on a celebrity, often times fabricating it, and promise the celebrity they will clear their record in exchange for their dedication and lifelong enrollment in its program.

The founder and spiritual leader of the cult is Dr. Peter Kensington. Despite repeated attempts to allow him to confirm or deny any of the allegations contained in this report,
Deadline Diaries
has been unable to reach Mr. Kensington. However, our investigation has uncovered the portrait of a man with a checkered background that could shed light into his possible motivation to start his youth-obsessed celebrity cult.

           
•
   
Peter Kensington's birth name is Oliver Franks, but the former child actor had it changed legally at age
18, two years after the cancellation of his sitcom,
All About Oliver,
in 1986. Media reports cited the reason for the cancellation as a precipitous drop in ratings, due in part to Kensington going through a late puberty transformation that changed his appearance.

           
•
   
Kensington then attended the University of California, majoring in biology and going on to earn a PhD. He is credited with discovering in his post-doctoral research the non-lethal toxin that is the active ingredient in the popular wrinkle-erasing injectable Lovoxin, for which he holds the patent and has amassed a nearly billion-dollar fortune.

           
•
   
Kensington is a major investor in scores of Hollywood business ventures, including several film production funds, a major talent agency, a public relations firm, and a TV production studio.

           
•
   
Kensington Solutions holds or has applied for patents and trademarks on dozens of anti-aging products and inventions, including a bio-engineered fruit called “Mito-Melon” and a host of injectable hormones and various vitamin therapies. A source confirms that most of these products are part of a larger anti-aging lifestyle brand dubbed “the Program™.”

           
•
   
In what appears to be a troubling act of inhumane branding, Ryan claims that Mr. Kensington had a permanent tattoo put on both his and Taylor Prince's ankles, each with the following designs:
and
Explains Ryan, “He had us marked as the first two members of a newly formed elite group of celebrity
recruits. She is the second, and I was the first. The infinity sign symbolized our lifetime commitment.”