Arthur Preston

* Human
* Vampire

Arthur Preston was an infamous outlaw in the 1880s-1890s running with both the Gray Gang and later creating the Preston Gang, a now-known Supernatural gang that was later forcefully disbanded and documented - alongside various other Gangs and Groups - in 'The Supernatural West' by famous author Jesse Russ. In recent years, he is the leader of White Rose and a significant figure in the shaping of the near future.

## History

### Background

Arthur was born in 1865 to Johanna Preston and Angus Preston in a small out of the way town in an unknown state within America. The Preston family were the farthest from an image of wealth, in fact, Arthur spent his childhood in what could be classified as little more than a shack, with cracks in its windows and a constant draft. Unfortunately, this was not uncommon living conditions at the time, but they were certainly looked down on by most of the town, not only for their status but for what happened behind not so closed doors. In 1871, when Arthur was 6 years old his father left him and his mother for another woman, it wasn't the first time he'd committed the sin of adultery and it would not be the last, but it was the first and last time he'd walked out of the door and never come home. Aside from his unfaithful nature, Arthur's father had been almost a kind man, by certain low standards, and compared to Arthur's mother, he seemed like a puppy. Arthur's mother was abusive in nature, narcissistic and a chronic alcoholic, any money that she earned after her husband left went on the town's saloon rather than her own son who received scraps and harsh words in place of proper food. Some time down the line, in 1873, Arthur's mother abandoned him. He was forced to suddenly adapt to having no income, which was even worse than a poor income, and no-one to care for him (as little as his mother did). The shack that he'd lived in was taken away from him, and Arthur was left on the streets to fend for himself, which was practically a death sentence. Finding no sympathy in his home town, Arthur managed to hitch a ride on the back of a stagecoach and ended up in a larger city full of people to pickpocket and scam, and so his means of survival became thievery and crime.

By late 1877, Arthur had grown used to life as it was, at 12 years old he'd stolen more than he could count and earned money that disappeared almost as soon as it came for the price of food, which only increased over the years. He'd made mistakes before, pickpocketing the wrong people, but on a chilly day in early Winter his entire life would change. Backed into a corner, caught by a large, rough passerby that he'd attempted to lift a pocket watch from, Arthur came close enough to death to feel their cold embrace. Fortunately, two good samaritans caught sight of the scuffle and stepped in, killing Arthur's assailant in front of him. At first, Arthur was angry, scared and hesitant when the strangers offered to help him, but after being bribed with a hot meal and a warm bath, he couldn't turn it down. That was how he met Frederick Dane Gray and his partner in crime, August Miller.

From then on, although his life as an outlaw wasn't easy, it wasn't lonely or dirty - for the most part - anymore. He had a family. Dane and August taught him what they could, and what they couldn't other members of their family stepped in (Antonia Young, Samuel Glass, and Frances Gardner). For 5 years, up until 1882, it was them as a collective making up the infamous Gray Gang, although back then it wasn't quite so infamous as it was by the turn of the century, when Dane and August adopted another young boy. Alberich Haering, a young german migrant, only 13 years old, who had lost his family on the way over. In the beginning, Arthur wasn't very happy with the change, but soon learned to accommodate the child and even built a strong brotherly bond, becoming a positive male figure that Alberich had never had before. There was something drastically different about Alberich, however, and he became Arthur's first ever encounter with the Supernatural - as Alberich was something called an Icarian, winged people - which he really wasn't much bothered by. This would set the tone of his acceptance for years to come.

A year later, another boy was taken into the gang's circle. Jude Casey, a 13 year old Russian-American who'd lost his parents to death and suicide. Due to underlying reasons, Jude easily made several misunderstandings which caused a strained relationship between him and Arthur. Too many arguments and a language barrier made for a disaster and for the most part the two had to be kept separate. This did not stop Jude eventually coming to look up to Arthur, once he'd gained a better understanding of his world, seeing not him as a role model but the entire gang, and even as an adult you can still see the personality traits and habits he's picked off of all of them.

Over the course of 14 years the gang would see a lot of change, new faces and a climbing reputation within the states that they'd made their home. A few years prior to 1897, unbeknown to the gang a traitor joined their ranks, which would lead to disaster that year in the form of inner turmoil and death. In a world where Supernatural beings are an open secret, the gang had encountered surprisingly few people such as that, their only instance being Alberich who at a point everyone had become used to, so when a vampire joined their ranks their reactions were far from welcoming. Oliver Lowther, in an indescribable act of greed and violence, murdered Arthur in cold blood in front of the gang, taking Joseph Casey - Jude's son - hostage so to avoid being shot to death himself. The gang was thrown into fury and tears, Arthur was a staple part of them as their main source of food and cash, none more devastated than Dane, August and Arthur's brothers... Until Arthur got back up. In a turn of events, Joseph was freed and Oliver was murdered, drained of blood by Arthur in a crazed blood starved haze. After which, the gang's behaviour toward Arthur changed drastically, it took less than an hour for him to be driven away by their cold and fearful looks, able to hear every leap in their heartbeats in response to his presence.

#### Preston Gang Era

After being driven away from his old life, Arthur was on his own again as he had been when he was a child, but thankfully not for long. Over the course of the next few months, Arthur continued to meet other people - Supernaturals, such as Julius Parks, Frank Clements, and others - and slowly form his own group, a new gang, promptly named the Preston Gang, and Arthur its appointed leader. To say they were a gang was a bit of a stretch, though they committed crimes in the way of survival, it was a lot less frequent and a lot of their resources were home grown in the abandoned quarry that they'd made home, a few hours away from any other settlements. It was at some moment between the creation of his new family, and the turn into 1988, that Arthur also made good on vengeance and murdered Oliver Lowther after some time tracking him down, made easier by newfound vampiric abilities.

Between 1897 to 1899 the Preston gang thrived on life, living in supposed safety in numbers. One of the reasons that made the gang such a strong group was their shared inhuman race, bonding through the traumas and hardships of being something other than human. As if to punish them, however, nearing mid 1899 the Hunters found them. The Supernatural Hunting Society - 'The Hunters' as they were more simply known in the 1800s, was created by those in the know with significant knowledge of Supernatural beings and a hatred for them, with many deaths under their belts in the name of God or simple jealousy. After a vicious bloodbath, the Hunters slaughtered the majority of the Preston gang, forcing them to disband and scatter, lest they were willing to die.

#### Gray Gang Reunited

With nowhere else to go, Arthur made his way back to former father figure and mentor Dane Gray with the surviving members of the Preston gang in tow. Upon arrival he expected the same behaviour that had been exhibited those years ago when he left, but instead was welcomed with open arms and warmth, it was a nice surprise but only made it ten times harder for for the group to let their guard down. Arthur would later learn that upon his exit of the gang, a few hours later Alberich would arrive back only to discover what'd happened before giving Dane and August a thorough dressing down, not something anyone would've expected to be possible given their status within the gang and Dane's own pigheaded personality. It took time, but the Gray gang adapted and became as accepting as they could be, which was enough that, even though it did take some time, Arthur and his group felt safe there.

#### Arthur's 'Death'

In the early 1900s not too long after his return to the gang, Arthur was confronted by a figure from the past. Having moved camp up North due to police intervention and agents getting too close to their location, patience wore thin within the Gang and at some point there was a fight between Arthur and Dane over something trivial. The two tended to clash despite their close relationship, with Arthur inheriting Dane's stubbornness from growing up around him alone. To blow off some steam, Arthur rode out toward the lakes almost 3 hours away through the snow where he intended to relax for a bit before heading back. His plans were interrupted however by the reappearance of previously thought to be dead Oliver Lowther, who had somehow become a vampire after his murder to Arthur's hands. There was a horrific fight between the two which led to too much bloodshed and Oliver's overpowering of Arthur before stabbing him in the chest, as with any vampire's the only way to kill them is to stab them in the heart, and presumably that was what Oliver did. As tough as he his, not even Arthur could stop himself from succumbing his injuries, not before managing to kill Oliver a second time before going down.

It took a week and a half for someone to find his body and take it back to camp, where it was carefully wrapped and laid in his tent until he could be buried once the ground softened. Strangely enough, Jude Casey's constant denial and insistence that Arthur wasn't truly dead actually came true, and after a few days it was revealed that instead of being dead, Arthur had simply fallen into a magically induced coma to save himself. The blade that had 'stabbed him in the heart' had only nicked it, which was enough to force him to the brink, but not to actually kill him. Later Arthur would tell the gang that in his coma like state, he'd spoken to Jude, and a few other members, somehow, but neither Jude or those who were with him would confirm it.

#### Early Modern Day

Not much is clear between 1900 and 2023 of Arthur's whereabouts or actions, it is clear that he stayed with the Gang as long as he could before it disbanded due to a conflict of interests, of which it wasn't an aggressive disbandment but one left on good terms. Arthur will have stayed close to Dane, August and his brothers Jude and Alberich until their passings before leaving the state with his long time partner Gilbert Kelley. The most solid point of Arthur's history between 1900 and 2023 is that he participated in both World War 1 and World War 2 originally as a soldier in the British army before the US became involved and he became an American soldier. Around 2006, a couple years after the legalisation of gay marriage in the United States, Arthur and Gilbert married.

Nearing 2020 is when the duo settled down in San Francisco, which is also when they reunited with some familiar faces. In a turn of events, it turned out that some of their friends and family had in fact become Reincarnations with all of their memories in tact, thought the reason for their reincarnation would not be revealed for several years yet.

#### The Supernatural Revolution

2023 is when, to put it lightly, shit hit the fan. Casimir Stark, a powerful psychic, created a rebellion within the Supernatural community and raised demands with the government to instate laws to protect Supernaturals - such as a basic Supernatural Rights Act. Due to stubbornness the government did not comply and made the first violent move against the Supernaturals, which sparked the Revolution in full and eventually what was dubbed 'World War 3'. During this time period, the whereabouts of Arthur and the Reincarnates is spotty, but they did assist on the Supernaturals' side of the war, Arthur putting to use his experience as a soldier to help the fight that had moved to the main streets of San Francisco just as they had in many other major cities.

The war lasted 7 years, finally coming to an end in 2030 with Casimir's demands met and the installation of several laws aiding Supernaturals and introducing them finally, after several decades of secrecy, into society. In reality, the war didn't really end, not for Arthur.

#### White Rose Arc

in 2030 after the end of World War 3, Arthur and the other Reincarnates were inexplicably drawn deep into the Appalachian Mountains to a sacred shrine dedicated to the Goddesses of their Religion, where the reincarnates were approached personally by the deities. They were informed of their greater purpose, and a connection to something known as Project Akura. Even now, they're still unaware to what or who Akura actually is.
Brought together with a more meaningful purpose now, the reincarnates formed White Rose, beneath the leadership of Arthur Preston, and guidance from the Goddesses.