Elias Ortega

Resident Full Name: Elias Ortega
Resident Date of Birth: April 7, 1995
Resident Age: 16
Resident Gender: Male
Current Address: 456 Chester Street
City/Town: Leeds
County/State: West Yorkshire County
Country: England

Resident Hair Colour: Brown
Resident Eye Colour: Hazel
Resident Height: 5'8"
Resident Weight: 148 lbs.
Distinguishing Marks: Self-inflicted scars on my arms, scars on my back and my chest from childhood abuse

Representative: Thank you for meeting with me today. We will now begin the recorded interview. I will ask you a series of standard questions. Please try to answer them to the best of your ability. So, firstly, how are you feeling today?

Resident: Um, okay. I guess. N-not worse than normal.

Patient Observation: Elias slouches in his seat and tries not to make eye contact. He picks at the bandages on his wrists, peeling the adhesive off and then sticking it back on. He seems indifferent to the proceedings thus far.

Representative: And what circumstances have led you to apply for residency at the Highgrove Home for Children?

Resident: After I got b-back from the hospital, I s-started cutting again. My stepmom, um...I g-guess she didn't know what to do. She called this place.

Representative: Do you have any medical conditions we should be aware of? If so, please explain.

Resident: N-no, not really.

Representative: Have you ever been diagnosed with a psychiatric illness? If yes, have you ever been hospitalised or sent to a special care facility for these illnesses?

Resident: I've b-been diagnosed with M-Major Depressive Disorder. Yeah, I've been t-to the hospital. Three times. N-no, four times. Once before t-trial, once after my f-first suicide attempt, once after the s-second one, and once b-because my teachers said I seemed s-suididal. I don't even c-care anymore. It was the s-same every time.

Patient Observation: Elias seems less and less inclined to look up from the floor. He has not ceased fiddling with the bandages on his arms, which is not a sign we find promising. From what little interaction there has been, it can be inferred that Elias most likely suffers from a psychogenic stutter; it makes him appear nervous. However, his general demeanor remains one of apathy, and he does not seem at all agitated. It is likely that he has ceased to notice his speech impediment.

Representative: How does your current state of mind affect your day to day life? Are there any incidences of note which you feel are a direct result of your state of mind, such as suicide attempts, arrests, hospitalisations, et cetera?

Resident: My...s-state of m-mind....um, well, I'm depressed a lot. I g-guess. I t-tried to kill myself twice. Once by c-cutting, once by hanging. My brother w-walked in on me b-bleeding out and saved my life. C-can't say I'm grateful. The second time, I t-tried to hang myself in the c-closet...my stepmom opened it and cut me d-down. I can't even k-kill myself right. Everyone t-tries to make a big deal out of it, but it's really n-not. Sometimes it's just easier to g-give up. I don't really know what else you w-want me to say...

Representative: Have you ever harmed yourself, others, or animals? If yes, please explain.

Resident: Patient Observation: Elias extends his arms and shrugs, obviously referring to the bandages which cover recent self-inflicted wounds. He looks up for the first time.

Yes.

Patient Observation: When encouraged to elaborate, Elias sighs and goes back to looking at the floor.

I c-cut myself. That's all. I d-don't kill animals or anything; that's sick. What is there to explain? It m-makes me feel better for a minute.

Representative: We understand you are having trouble at your current place of residence. Could you please describe the problems you are having, and the results or repercussions that have come about because of them?

Resident: I'm n-not really complaining...there are worse p-places to live. B-but there are better ones t-too. I've only lived there for three years, b-but my s-stepmom doesn't want me there anymore. She n-never really liked me; I kept b-breaking her china. On accident. She says she c-can't sit around all day and watch me to m-make sure I don't try to kill myself, and she can't s-send me to the hospital again. I d-don't want her to sit around and watch m-me all day...I just w-want her to leave me alone. I w-want everyone to leave me alone.

Representative: What five words would you use to best describe yourself?

Resident: Um. I don't know. Awkward. Stupid. S-sad. Ugly. Loser.

Patient Observation: Elias is becoming visibly irritated. He repeatedly runs his hands through his hair and mumbles a few sentences to himself. He does not respond to inquiries after whether he is alright or not. The interview resumes.

Representative: Do you have many friends? Could you describe your relationships and where you met these friends?

Resident: I d-don't have any friends except for my b-brother.

Representative: How would you describe your relationship with your biological family? Did you spend much time with them? Do you have any siblings?

Resident: My parents are both d-dead. My mom k-killed herself when I was five. I don't remember her or anything, b-but I guess she had MDD too. W-we moved to England after she died; C-Carmela thinks dad killed her and m-moved to get away, but I d-don't know. I-I have a half brother; his name's Diego.

Patient Observation: Elias doesn't respond when asked about the death of his father. He is then asked to elaborate on his relationship with his brother.

Diego and m-me spent a lot of time together when we were k-kids. We had to. H-he taught me pretty m-much everything I know, w-which isn't a lot. We're pretty close.

Representative: Are you sexually active? If yes, are you aware of any sexual
preferences regarding gender or situation?

Resident: W-what the hell does that have to do with anything? No, I'm n-not, and I like g-girls.

Representative: Where did you grow up, and what was it like there? How do you feel about where you grew up?

Resident: I d-don't want to talk about this anymore. Can I go n-now?

Patient Observation: Elias stands up as if to leave, but is patiently told to sit back down and answer the question to the best of his ability. After another moment of pacing, he sits back down but does not appear to be any calmer. His stutter becomes notably worse.

I w-was born in V-Valencia, in Spain, b-but I mostly g-grew up in Leeds. M-my dad was f-fucking crazy. He used t-to b-beat the shit out of us, and w-when that f-failed to amuse, he would make us b-beat the sh-shit out of each other. He n-never let us leave the h-house. Whenever I c-cried he p-put his g-gun to my head and asked if I w-wanted to d-die. I sh-sh-shot him. That's what y-you w-wanted to hear, r-right? That I shot him? He was g-going to f-fucking kill Diego, he was h-hitting him over and over, so I j-just g-got the g-gun and shot him. I w-was thirteen years old. That's m-my f-fucking childhood.

Patient Observation: Elias puts his head in his hands and will not respond to prompts for a full two minutes, after which he is distant and unresponsive

Representative: How is school? What are your grades like, and do you enjoy it? Do you participate in any after-school activities?

Resident: S-school sucks. When I w-was a kid, I c-couldn't concentrate long enough to d-do anything. N-now I just don't c-care.

Representative: What do you hope to find at the Highgrove Home, and how do you feel about potentially becoming a resident there?

Resident: Carmela keeps s-saying that it will be a g-good change of scenery, and that I really d-dont have anywhere else to go. I g-guess I don't.

Representative: Lastly, how do you feel about what you have done so far with you life, looking back on it. If you have done unacceptable things, how do you now feel about those?

Resident: Can I g-go now?


Is there anything your character isn't telling us? Do you have more information to add about your character that they would not tell the representative about? Please explain below:

Elias was born in Valencia, Spain to Francisca and Eddie Ortega, who was a podiatrist by trade and a sociopath by definition. Eddie already had a son, Diego, older by two years, born to him by an ex-wife that no-one had heard from since their divorce. Francisca, who suffered from Major Depressive Disorder, also suffered daily beatings and humiliations at the hands of her husband. When Elias was five, she "killed herself"; there is now speculation that she may have been murdered by her husband, but little evidence has been found to back this claim. After her death, Eddie moved his sons to Leeds, England to "begin anew". He opened a podiatry practice and bought a new house. He was a respected member of the community by the time he had lived there for a year.

The rest of Elias' childhood was spent trying to learn English and being neglected and abused by his father, who was devious and intelligent enough to know how to hurt a child without leaving any marks. He was largely raised by Diego, and the two half-brothers became nearly inseparable. As they aged, the punishments their father inflicted upon them became worse. He often threatened them with his gun, which he kept in his nightstand, and would occasionally make them fight each other at gunpoint. Elias retreated into himself while Diego became violent towards other children at school. Eddie credited their unruly behavior to the mistreatment of the boys by their mother in early childhood -- a woman he invented to gain the sympathy of teachers.

As Diego grew older, he grew more rebellious toward his father and therefore incurred his wrath more often. Eddie often beat him severely enough to crack ribs; this made Elias feel extremely helpless, as he was too afraid of his father and too physically small to step in. One day, when it appeared that Eddie had finally snapped and was going to beat Diego to death, Elias went upstairs, got his father's gun, and shot him in the back of the head three times. He feels bad about having killed someone, but not necessarily about having killed his father.

He was acquitted of murder on a "extreme mental distress" argument and the testimony of Carmela, Eddie's first wife and Diego's mother, who was brought from Spain by the defense. After the trial, Carmela stayed in Leeds to take care of the boys. She found this a harder task than she had anticipated. Elias began to cut himself that year, and after eleven months there tried to kill himself by slashing his wrists. Diego walked in on his brother bleeding to death and called an ambulance. Elias was hospitalized. He began to see a therapist, who diagnosed him with MDD. Eight months after he got out of the hospital, he tried to hang himself, but was discovered by Carmela before he died. He was hospitalized again. He continued to self-harm, and was hospitalized again after his teachers noticed his cuts. Exasperated and unsure of what to do, Carmela decided that she needed to try something else. Thus, Highgrove.

Elias is an introverted person, and does not interact well with others. He has a hard time forming trust relationships, and is often picked on by other children because of his stutter and his shyness. He prefers to keep to himself and write rambling entries in his journal. Underneath it all, he's a nice kid, but it's unlikely that you'll ever see it. Elias had to learn to be defensive to survive.


Character Playby: David Archuleta
Player Nickname: Spring
Chatango Username: Springrollz
Preferred Chore Assignment Group: Household Chores

Resident Full Name: Elias Ortega
Resident Age: 16
Resident Gender: Male
Known Diagnoses: Major Depressive Disorder

Dormitory Number: 1
Bunk Number:02 Top
Assigned Chores Group: Livestock Chores
Assigned Therapist: Dr. G. Bjorgen

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