ABEL

Appearance

Abel is a young male with fair and freckled skin, curly ginger hair, and green eyes. He is often mistaken as younger than he is, having a "baby face", as well as a shorter than average height. He has many scars on his arms and legs due to compulsive skin picking, which he covers with bandages. He often wears a loose fitting shirt, along with gym shorts. He always wears a cross neclace that he recieved from his father during his childhood.

Childhood (0-12)

Abel was borne in a rural area, and grew up in a trailer with his mother and father. His father was a pastor in a church close by, which was one of the last remaining churches for many miles away. Due to the discovery of cyber-immortality, the concept of religion or an afterlife has slowly died off, yet some communities remained and protested the new man made "heaven". Abels parents were part of such community, his father being at the forefront- leading his small town and spreading his teachings on missionary trips. Due to this, Abel grew up very secluded from the "outside world", as his parents rejected technology and he was ignorant to any current affairs or any people outside of his town.

Abels parents were very traditional, with his father out working most of the time and his mother left with household duties. His relationship with his father was complicated, as his father was very distant and even cold towards him and his mother. Despite this, he admired his father greatly, and sought to become just like him when he was older. He had a great interest in anything his father did, reading all the books he read and practicing sermons he watched him do at the church. As for his mother, he cared for her a lot, but his fathers criticisms of her had rubbed off on him in a way. His father would always yell at her for being "lazy" with the household chores, and not being a good enough housewife. Abel was fast to take the side of his father in every argument, not realizing the extent of his mothers deteriorating mental health. Abels mother had always dealt with emotional instability, at times being sweet, caring, and hardworking, and other times was bound to her bed in depressive episodes. During her "down" days, his father would get very angry at her "laziness". This would cause major fights throughout his chldhood.

Abel attended a private school in his small town, which was K-12 and consisted of less than 50 students overall. He was aways relatively quiet at school, and did not have any interest in socialization amongst his peers, as he was much more interested in his studies in hopes of becoming much like his father. Due the this he did not have many friends during his childhood, aside from his neighbor, Edith. Edith was a year older than him and had lived in a trailer next to him for his entire life. She did not attend school, or even go outside due to her parents anxiety around her albinism possibly putting her at risk for skin cancer, from any kind of sun exposure. Edith was mostly blind and also did not speak, and due to the communities overall seclusion from the outside world, she had never seen a doctor or recieved any type of speech therapy for her underdevelopment as a young child. Abel would often visit Edith in her home and share scripture with her, and act much like his father does while he is preaching at the church. Abel is very fascinated by Edith, and enjoys spending time around her, though this is mostly due to her being a "good listener", feeling as if she is the other one that cares about what he has to say without interuption.

When Abel is 10 years old, his mothers mental heath seems to plummet. She seems to get nothing done around the house, which leads to many fights amongst his parents. One night, while his father is away on a week long mission trip, his mother breaks down in front of him, stating that she is going to hell. Abel comforts her, saying that she has done nothing wrong. This seems to work in Abels eyes, as his mother suddenly becomes near hysterical in joy and relief. She rambles on about stuff Abel does not understand, as she is mumbling constantly under her breathe in what sounds like gibberish.

Once Abels father returns home the next day, his mother is still in this erratic state. She tell his father that she is carrying a "miracle child", which confuses and angers his father. After taking a pregnancy test as proof of this statement, Abel sees his father angrier than he had ever seen him before. He commands that his mother leaves the house and never comes back, and to take Abel with her as well, as he "carries the blood of such a demonic woman". This terrifies Abel, who is now also hysterical, crying and refusing to leave his father. In the end, him and his mother are forced out of the house, and exilied from the church as well.

After this feud, the two go a few hour away to live with Abels aunt, in a house in another small town. His aunt is not religious like his parents, which causes much conflict between her and his mother. During this time, Abel is never enrolled in school again, and remains at his home most of the time. His aunt lives much differenly than he is used to, as he is now exposed to modern technology, like a computer and television. His mother continues to state that her pregnancy is a miracle and a gift from God, self-proclaiming herself as the next "Virgin Mary", despite having given birth to Abel prior to this pregnancy. Abel aunt is unable to help his mother despite her efforts to get her to seek profressional help.

By the time Abel is 11 years old, his sister Emilia is born. Despite her mother calling her a "miracle baby", she does not help much in the upbringing of her new child, as Abels aunt seems to be the primary caretaker of the newborn. Abel helps at times, but still holds the opinion of childcare being a "womans job", and usually leaves it to his aunt.

When he was nearing 12 years old, he was out running errands with his mother. He does not feel comfortable around people, do to his seclusion, thus he stays in the car for and waits for his mom to finish shopping. One day, while his mother was in the grocery store. he noticed an old man place a carboard box on the sidewalk, which seemed to have been moving. After the man left, Abel curiously got out of the car to inspect the box, to which he found a baby bunny, seemingly anxious and confused. Abel took in the bunny, after much begging to his mother, and named him Chip, due to a noticable chipped front tooth. Abel cared for Chip to the best of his ability, letting him run around in his room at all hours due to him always being in there with him. Chip soon became Abels one and only friend during his childhood.

Teenage Years (13-18)

When Abel was 16 years old, he began to pick up a lot of slack from his aunt, who was sick of him always being at home and "not contributing anything to society". His aunt was obviously worn down from having to care for everyone in the household. Abel soon began to just wander around the town aimlessly, just to get away from the environment. He soon began to work as a dishwasher at a nearby restaurant. Since he did not have a car, he would at times have his mother or aunt drive him, but other times he walked the nearly hour long distance. He would occasionally stop by a gas station close to his workplace, where he soon met Gwen. Immediately, he was infatuated with her, for seemingly no reason. She was quiet. even a bit cold at times, which is what intrigued Abel the most. The two never really talked all that much, but Abel became nearly obsessed with her, and began only walking to work so he could stop by to just see her.

Abel had soon had enough of his families toxicity, and began looking for places to move once he turned 18, as he was making enough money now that he could probably afford a cheap apartment. He walked and looked at the few complexes in the area, and near his workplace, until seeing a small apartment complex closeby the gas station. He noticed Gwen walking into one of the doors, and assumed she must have lived there. Across from her apartment was another with a "For Rent" sign. Abel quickly applied for it, in hopes of possibly getting closer to Gwen. and also due to it being the cheapest in the area by far. By this time, he was nearly 18, and go approved to move in a month from then, when he became an adult.

Adulthood {18-25)

Abel moved into his new apartment as soon as he turned 18. He did not have many belongings with him- a few pairs of clothing, a mattress, his computer, and Chip. His apartment was very small, and not very upkept as well, as immediatly he has issues with roaches amd other bugs, along with various outlets in the unit not being functional. He was still optimistic, though, as he now lived very close to Gwen.

Soon after living on his own, he began daydreaming about ways to strike up conversation with Abel. He was extremely anxious around any and all people, so he did not have to ability to just go up and talk to her, even though he saw her frequently at the gas station.