Jared

> You focus too much on yourself, try to find out who you really are…you’re just looking at the bad decisions. You look for a greater good, a cause…you’ll find it a whole lot easier.
>
> Jared, in Volume II - "Affliction"

## Jared Demetrius Thompson

### Race

Vampyre (Talented)

Jared was a Protestant pastor, primary school teacher, former drug dealer, and highly respected member of Kara's Counsel. The circumstances surrounding Jared's presence in Aerael were highly unique, as Jared wasn't the intended recipient for Alice's visit on the day of his conversion. Although he wasn't a planned member of Aerael's citizens - let alone a member of the Counsel - Jared's sense of goodwill, kindheartedness, and keen eye for potential dangers made him as much a part of the "family" as anyone else. Until the events of *Despair*, Jared was the most recent individual considered to be a member of the Counsel.

His time in Aerael gave him the opportunity to "correct past misdeeds" as he made every effort to rectify his life (as he described) in the eyes of God and for his family. He consistently acted with the highest level of decorum and respect possible, although his humility came after a humorous reality check from Val and several lengthy discussions with Kara regarding his place in her world. Kara, fascinated with Jared to the confusion of the rest of the Counsel, immediately placed a great deal of trust and faith in Jared, which was repaid through his many acts of community service, hard work, and volunteerism for any occasion.

Jared's behavior, mindset, and influence became something that Valterius believed filled a "gap" in himself, which he considered the pinnacle of a "good person." This was proved true even into his darkest hour, when he agreed to pursue Kilkovf in *Sorrow* with the intent of finally ending the Vampyre War.

## History

Jared grew up in a small, low-income apartment in Kensington, a neighborhood in the Lower Northeast of Philadelphia. Dubbed the "Walmart of Heroin" by the New York Times, Kensington has long been known for its heavy influence by the narcotics industry, and the influence of its struggling population fed organized crime well into the mid-1980s with the drug of choice being methamphetamine. After the collapse of the K&A Gang, a vacuum of power was created for those looking to make easy money and the birth of fledgling gangs cropped up in no small number. As Jared attended elementary school under the caring hand of his parents, his father was killed in a failed robbery that left six people dead. With only his mother to rely on, who had become pregnant only two months prior to the death of her husband, their lifestyle was in graver danger than ever before.

Although Jared's mother worked two full-time jobs to support her children, growing costs for both living expenses and "protection fees" from the multifaceted criminal kingdom in Kensington led to a significant risk of homelessness as Jared entered middle school. In eighth grade, he was offered a "job" from one of his friends, promised to pay enough that he could help support his mother and with little risk mentioned. Seeing the opportunity to save his family from the fates of many other disadvantaged families, Jared took the opportunity to deliver an unknown package to someone in his neighborhood, which turned out to be a delivery of heroin to an undercover police officer. The officer questioned Jared, but seeing his genuine innocence and lack of understanding, released him without charges. Unfortunately, the "friend" that hired him placed the blame for the loss of product squarely on Jared's shoulders and he became indebted to a small but ruthless group of narcotics traffickers. Under threats of harm to his family, he dropped out of school and became a "runner" for their organization.

Within two years, Jared was "promoted" and began handling larger deals to those moving drugs throughout the East Coast. Although he despised the fact that he became a part of the system he most wanted to avoid, his life revolved around their world moreso than his own family's. Realizing that he wouldn't be free until they were safe, Jared dove headfirst into the criminal world to amass enough money that his mother and brother could move out of the city, relocating somewhere safe and anonymous. Although he knew it meant never seeing them again, being unable to tell anyone where his family lived was safer than the alternative.

As heroin, prescription narcotics, fentanyl, and cocaine became more popular, the organization grew far beyond Jared's knowledge, although his duties stayed relatively consistent. Most of his "pay" came in the form of paltry cash or promises of protection, but no guarantees of leaving safely were made. With the growing influence of the drug trade, Jared feared leaving on his own, as his betrayal would spread to other cities and towns. Finally, an odd delivery gave rise to several burning questions regarding the physical size of the order, as he was normally in charge of backpacks and grocery bags rather than the cargo truck he was given one fateful day. Hearing a chorus of pleading voices from the back once Jared took over as the driver, his moral compass forced his hand, and he delivered the truck directly to the Philadelphia Metro police station (avoiding local police due to prolific bribery). The truck, filled with two dozen girls under the age of 18, were placed under police protection while Jared received the same treatment in exchange for his cooperation.

As someone who had a decade of experience, he was able to give the police names and locations for a score of lucrative criminals across the state, and was primed for placement into the Federal Witness Security Program because of the RICO-scale federal case against the individuals he was able to identify. During transportation from a local hotel to a contingent of Federal Marshals, Jared was caught in an ambush by several of his former colleagues who discovered that he had turned on them. Their vehicle was decimated by rifle fire and small-arms fire before the gunmen scattered and left the situation to play out on its own. Having seen Jared's blood on the windows of the vehicle, they believed him to be dead while the Federal Marshals arrived to discover otherwise.

He was evacuated under exceptional protection to a hospital in Philadelphia, where Alice was meeting with several of her Vampyre colleagues running research experiments on the Vampyre Virus. Alice was the onsite neurologist at the time, and met with Jared as he gained consciousness. During Alice's diagnostic-oriented questions, Jared broke down several times and emotionally conveyed that he had just been trying to do the right thing. Seeing that his brain function was declining, she contacted Kara, who agreed to meet with Jared to discuss a potential conversion. Upon Kara's arrival, Jared was nonverbal, but was able to indicate "yes" or "no" by blinking. After an explanation of what Kara was offering, Jared accepted without any contemplation and was transported to Aerael once he had stabilized. Alice remained behind to delete his treatment records and remove her credentials from the hospital's employee database.

Kara and Alice's decision was questioned thoroughly by the Counsel, having little to no reasoning behind the conversion and adoption of a former drug dealer and alleged human trafficker as opposed to their normal selection of desperate families under tragic happenstance. Alice and Kara both vouched for Jared heavily, having heard the full version of his story, and the Counsel - with the exception of Val - agreed that having someone with an understanding of the criminal world while maintaining a strong moral compass would be a great gift to their organization. Valterius, on the other hand, was under the assumption that Jared had merely been trying to save his own life and was lying about the circumstances of his injuries. Aside from Jared's word, no one could prove one way or another how Jared had come to be in his position, as the news didn't cover much of the incident and the Federal Marshals suppressed the fact that someone had been assassinated by street thugs while in their care, as they believed.

Val kept Jared at a distance for the first week after his arrival, although Jared had made several attempts to befriend the man that seemed to be most like himself. Finally, believing that Val's behavior was either due to racism or his heavy involvement in creating a religious center within Aerael, Jared confronted Valterius physically and was knocked unconscious within seconds. Believing that Valterius had proven his point, he spoke with Jared after waking up under Alice's care, and the misunderstanding was clearly rectified. An embarrassed Valterius bought Jared several drinks, and they remained close friends from that day forward.

Jared was also instrumental in helping "raise" Violet, as the two seemed to be a perfect pair of misfits and of a similar age. Both lacked the proper social skills expected of individuals their age, were educationally behind from a hostile environment during their formative years, and had both dealt with their fair share of trauma. Kara, with no one else being aware, "assigned" Jared to be Violet's friend, even allowing him to introduce Violet to her own apartment once she was allowed to move from a spare Counsel room to the residential end of the city. Having proven to be fair, ethical, righteous, and kind to her own daughter and the only individual in Aerael to have a visible disability, Kara unilaterally appointed Jared as a member of the counsel, offering no explanation to him or the other members. While no one contested her decision or assumed reasoning, Jared always questioned why Kara had selected him for such a vital role.

Jared's quick adoption of Aerael's norms coupled with a desire for personal growth, friendship, and a united city made him many friends and provided him with the family he always wished he had. Taking some degree of influence from the people around him, Jared found himself enjoying lap dances at Archangel (sometimes from the same women keeping Krystal company) as much as he did teaching Sunday school or binging *Star Wars* with Eric and Violet.

## Personality & Beliefs

Jared's origins forged a unique take on life and the human race that many fail to see, and this was again enlightened during his conversion after Alice rescued him from death. While he knew that there would always be those who "just had to survive," there was a line drawn between necessary evils or morally grey actions and those that couldn't be excused as anything other than horrendous acts of terror for the sake of selfish greed. His report to law enforcement regarding his friends' human trafficking business was the start of a road that turned his moral compass on its head and created a hope for life without evils. Although he was nearly killed because of his actions, he has never regretted his past nor has he wished he had done anything differently.

Jared was raised Lutheran, but as spiritual figures are rare in Aerael, he holds services for multiple Christian denominations and private sessions for those of other faiths in need of guidance or discussion. While Jared believes in the teachings of the Bible and a Christian God, he is also understanding of the fact that any of His creations are flawed (to include their conclusions on belief). While contradictory, he believes this argument is what separates someone from blind faith rather than true spiritual devotion. Jared enthusiastically supports the celebration and recognition of culture, religion, race, and sexual orientation/preference, and finds his most difficult duties dealing with humans who have not yet accepted that the sanctity and value of life vastly outweighs the harmless specifics of that life.

## Description

Jared is just over six feet and three inches tall with either short, cropped hair or a head shaved bald out of mere convenience. His brown eyes closely resemble the darkness of Violet's, leading the pair to joke that they were distant cousins. Jared was known to be unpredictable in appearance, sometimes wearing pastoral attire (habit) prior to a Sunday mass and other times showing up to a sermon at the last second wearing the tank top and basketball shorts used in a 1v1 basketball game against Valterius in minutes prior. While his muscular build at nearly 220 pounds of lean muscle is enough to intimidate most, he walks with a sense of ease and calm that spreads to those nearby.

## Titles

### *None*

Jared's timing as a member of the Counsel coincided with a heated disagreement about Kara's methodologies within and without Aerael, leading the Counsel to abandon their codenames and titles to garner favor with the city's people through transparency. This means that Jared is the only member of the Counsel to not have been given a title or codename, although he jokingly references himself in *Sorrow* as "The only Black man on the Counsel."

### *Father*

Although by no means a title denoted, given, or used by the Counsel in any way other than as a means of showing respect during times of worship or organized mass, many citizens in Aerael that had deep roots in Christianity would refer to Jared as "Father" or "Father Thompson," although the latter was extremely rare due to Jared's dislike of his own surname.

## Relationships

Jared had several short-term relationships (less than six months), but found hardship in finding women who could relate to both his history and his goals. Not many had undergone the same spiritual transformation Jared had (in fact, many Vampyres began to lose their religion as they lived in Aerael for extended periods of time). An agreeable and, arguably annoyingly amenable, Jared found differences between him and his partners less significant in nature than the existence of a higher purpose. While he often struggled with a sharp definition of his own, he knew his higher calling was present and constantly sought to find it. Those he courted that seemed to be content without striving for greatness created an inner turmoil about his own situation and would occasionally drive him away from a partner. Sometime in 2013, Jared recognized the rising tide of war and distanced himself from the idea of romantic relationships until such a time as the conflict would end.