(CW: Brief reference to violence, murder, and childhood trauma.)
“THEY CALLED ME MAD, AND I CALLED THEM MAD,
AND DAMN THEM, THEY OUTVOTED ME.” ― Nathaniel Lee
HISTORY
Remember when you were a little kid and you would play pretend? Well, it's not pretend. The green guy with the purple hair and the horns? Yeah, he's real. He's your 'imaginary' friend, Tom. That festival in the woods with the fae on Halloween? It happened. The shadow thing that watched you when you weren't looking, when your back was turned, when the covers were pulled up over your head, when you thought you were alone? It's real. It's called a mannafrayed and beyond being creepy as fuck, it's harmless; like the floating, fuzzballs with single red eyes (Peepers). The trolls, the mermaids, the elves, the snake tailed lion, the three faced witch, the imps, the portal in the closet, the banshee under the bed. All real.
The thing is, every kid runs into things like this. Every kid
sees a bit of the world in full with the nonsensical things included. Even if they can only
see it in their dreams. Then, the kid grows up. Around the time they stop believing in Santa Claus, they loose the ability to
see. They grow up into snarky teens buried so far into their phones that they can't see anything else. They become adults who can't see past bill payments and insurance plans. Sometimes they think they see something out of the corner of their eye, but it's 'just a trick of the light'. Or they have an outlandish dream that's vibrant and almost feels real, but it's 'just a dream'.
But not you, kid. Your imaginary friend never went away. You never stopped hearing the scratching at your closet door at night. You still hear the fae song and the dwarvian bell chime for another work shift. You've never lost the ability to
see. At first it was cool. It was like being in on a secret. It was like being special. In fact, the older you got, the stranger everyone else in that
other world thought you were. They started to call you Emory the Beholder: the human child who could
see beyond the usual years documented, or so the pixie files state. There are very few humans who do so. You're kind of part of their world, now, and they think that's pretty great.
Downside, though, is that not everyone thinks it's great. Especially when people die mysterious deaths that stump the officials, but you know why. You know who. The drugs on the streets are getting stronger, the people are getting more aggressive, there are more guns, there are more homicides, more terror, more chaos, more graves, and you know why. You know who.
Absolom. King of the demons. He's like a demonic mob boss with an army of bad, bad creatures. Some who turned their backs on good, and some who are and have always been evil. 'Demon' is a loose term in
the world. It's used for anyone or anything that wants to watch the world go up in flames. The entire world. Theirs and yours. Since Absolom stepped onto the scene, things have progressively gotten worse because they're organized, now. They've got plans and Absolom doesn't take kindly to anyone out to ruin his plans.
You went to the police about that series of mysterious deaths. Of course they didn't believe you when you told them that Absolom's vampire goons were responsible, but word got out to the big man himself. So, he sent some people knocking down your door and they forced you to watch them tear your mother limb from limb. They chewed on her, spat her out, and called her a nasty whore. They kicked you down and laughed while you screamed and cried. Then, they left because you were supposed to learn a lesson.
Now, you're alone. Lesson learned.
