felix was born to belgian nobility, to johannes de balliet and lucie de balliet, living in chateau de latour, not far from virton in wallonia. felix was always a little different when he was young, but as he started to get older, he grew worse and worse. although always quiet and shy, eventually it would get to the point where it was impossible to get a word out of him, despite the fact that he spoke two languages. eventually, his tutors informed his parents that there was no further point teaching him if he was going to be unresponsive. johannes was ashamed that felix was acting out in this manner, while lucie was more worried, and tried to find a solution. the best felix could offer was to tell her talking made him uncomfortable, and that he didn't want to do it anymore.

felix continued to isolate himself, preferring to only spend time with his mother as his father grew more angry with him. that didn't stop johannes from finding times to express his anger and disappointment in felix all the same. as far as he was concerned, the son of a noble should know how to mingle, and johannes and lucie shouldn't have to make excuses for the fact that their son isn't in attendance at important events. all the same, felix had essentially given up speaking at this point, and whenever his father would shout at him, all he could do to express his own frustration was dig his nails into his arms and scratch at his skin.

although felix wouldn't travel for events, his family was religious, and his mother still insisted that he go to church every week. although he hadn't completely minded church when he was young, being around so many people made him antsy now, and the sudden shouting that could come from passionate sermons sometimes startled him. it was because of behavior like this that people in the church started to believe that felix was disturbed -- and eventually, the local priest approached johannes and suggested the possibility that his son was possessed by a demon.

although initially johannes found this absurd, as he learned the symptoms, he started to believe it was a possibility. demons tended to snuff out their hosts personality and replace it with their own, and perhaps that was why felix had become so much more subdued as of late. demons tried to hurt their host, and this could result in felix hurting himself, which would have explained the scratches that were so often littered across his son's arms. they could choke and strangle their host so they felt like they couldn't breathe, and he had seen instances of felix seeming to struggle to breathe and gasp for breath for, as far as he could tell, no reason--plus, maybe it explained why his son felt like it was painful to speak. they didn't like their hosts to be touched, especially by those who were close to the lord, and felix hated to be touched by anyone, with the occasional exception of his mother. and of course, demons could not calmly sit still and listen to the word of god, which explained his behavior in church. without confirming his new beliefs with his wife, johannes decided to allow the priest to begin performing exorcisms on felix.

demons were a very serious business, and as such, the church wasn't going to hesitate when there was one afoot in wallonia. johannes hardly had the chance to inform his family of what was occurring before felix was taking part in his first exorcism. lucie had demanded to be present in order to protect her son, and johannes decided to stay as well, more to the side lines in order to watch. the first exorcism was fairly harmless--after all, it was an exorcism of a noble, with his family present. lucie held felix when he squirmed or struggled, but the exorcism primarily was hours of prayer, with the priest trying to reach out to the demon who was living inside felix. when they had no luck with the initial exorcism and felix remained the same as always, if not somewhat more traumatized, they did not feel deterred. they were still certain of demonic possession--however, they clearly needed to begin more serious methods.

the methods by which felix was exorcised did gradually change. rather than lucie restraining him, his wrists and ankles were tied to bed posts. he would be shouted at as the priests demanded the demons answer or leave, holy water would be thrown on him, sage and other incense would be burned until it was hard to breathe, and felix would be covered in a white sheet that he struggled to breathe through while all the rest went on. between nearly every session, lucie pleaded with her husband to put an end to the exorcisms, but johannes had only become more and more convinced of the need for them, and refused.

all the while, the town around them started to become more aware that felix was possessed by a demon, and the longer that went unresolved, the more upset the townspeople got. even the family moving from their estate to a smaller villa in the countryside didn't seem to change the relationship the town had with them, rather the townsfolk just seemed to think they were moving the demon to protect him. as johannes became more obsessed with what lucie saw as simply torturing their son, and the son continued to put pressure on their family to resolve the issue, lucie began to consider alternative solutions. felix only seemed to grow worse and weaker every time another exorcism ended, and he'd already needed medical attention from them before as things slowly edged closer to violence. afraid that they were going to kill her son, lucie sought out darker means of ensuring his survival.

ironically, the solution seemed to be a collection of rather shady militia men who many believed were cursed by the devil themselves, and lucie had to go through great lengths even just to meet with them. they told her it would be a high price to guarantee that the church couldn't kill felix, but she agreed to pay any price. she led them back to their home in the country, and the men treated felix. although she had expected that they were dabbling with black magic, she had no idea exactly what they were doing to her son--but once the process began, there was nothing she could do to stop it. the militia men turned out to be vampires, and their solution to help felix was to turn him into a vampire, as well. although it wasn't what lucie expected, she was just happy that her son was safe. that said, she knew that the town, and her husband, would only demonize felix more if they knew what had happened to him. with that in mind, she packed any essentials she could think of and fled the estate with her son during the night. not long after, the townsfolk burned down their home. johannes survived, but believed his wife and son had perished in the blaze. the church believed that fire was purifying, and that the demon was gone, and lucie and felix would be accepted into heaven.

lucie and felix fled belgium, and lucie had to learn how to take care of a vampire, both of them learning the hard way that felix couldn't travel or be out during sunny days. rather than hunt, lucie chose to let felix drink from her. the two carried on like that for many years, as lucie grew older and felix stayed the same. former nobility rented whatever lodging they could afford for the night, or sometimes stayed in barns or other relatively abandoned buildings if necessary. lucie would go out for some time during the day in order to get food for herself, but otherwise, they slept during the day and traveled during the night, in search of a place where they would be safe.

felix learned about his powers primarily through his mother--when she was away from him, he could still reach out to her and feel connected to her. his powers developed slowly, and he learned how to watch from inside his mother's eyes when she was away. he could do it when she was close as well, but he didn't like to. he didn't like seeing himself from her eyes, and hearing her think about him. when lucie learned about his powers, it became an extra safety measure and some small way of communication. he learned how to show her what he was seeing and send her flashes of his own feelings, so she knew he was safe.

one day, lucie didn't come back when she went out in the morning for food. having been asleep when she left, as he often was, felix hadn't been watching her, but when he reached out to try to connect to her, he couldn't find her either. feeling lost, he didn't know what more he could do but simply wait for her to return. felix waited for as many days and nights as he could stand to go without blood, but eventually, he realized he couldn't survive waiting any longer. he had no idea if something had happened to her or if she'd just gotten tired of taking care of him her whole life. eventually, he had to begin to travel alone--and learn to hunt.

alone for a few decades maybe? depends on the timeline.......... but yeah eventually bennet finds him and takes him in. felix doesn't have a way to tell bennet his name, and he isn't sure if he wants him to know it anyway. bennet calls him rook until they can learn what his name is, and the more rook falls in love with bennet, the less he wants to be felix again if he can keep being bennet's rook.

old from this point on

rook, as he's been named, was not one of bennet's sired, but a solitary vampire that bennet encountered while trying to build his coven. initially, bennet tried to chase off rook in order to try to claim territory (while trying to decide between being nomadic and finally settling somewhere before deciding again to travel), however he quickly found himself intrigued by the young looking vampire. the relationship became closer to a human trying to domesticate a stray, with bennet easing into a less threatening attitude each time they met in order to lure the man into comfort. eventually, the vampire showed bennet his power, mind sharing, and bennet offered him a place in his coven.

the man was mute, although the coven has no idea if he is actually incapable of speech or selectively mute. although he allowed bennet to briefly see his power, simply for the sake of explaining it without words, he would never reveal any personal information about himself to any of the coven, including bennet. his name, age, ethnicity--everything about his past is completely unknown to everyone around him, and some wonder if rook even remembers anymore. rather than never having a name to refer to the boy with, bennet named him rook, for his new position within the coven.

though rook is quiet and generally avoids people and eye contact, when he cannot avoid people, he spends a fair amount of time by bennet's side, in bennet's bed, and in bennet's head. although he's never said or implied as much to bennet, rook is very much in love with bennet, and thanks to sharing the man's mind, feelings, and thoughts so often, in love with aurelius by extension. he is also very aware that bennet doesn't love him, and refrains from sharing his mind during sex, preferring to feign ignorance to the lack of romance the man feels in the process. though he isn't in love with him, bennet does care deeply for rook, and considers him an invaluable part of his coven. other members of the coven see rook as something like bennet's pet, but rook prefers to stay out of their thoughts as well.

rook's ability, mind sharing, is something like telepathy. primarily, it allows rook to see through another's perspective--however, perspective doesnt simply mean see what they see. as well as sight, rook sees, hears, smells, and to an extent, feels what's going on around him. more than physically feeling it, rook thinks the other's thoughts almost as if they are his own, and feels their feelings as if they are his own as well. he doesn't use his power very often, as it can become very disorientating to become so much of another person, even briefly.

along with taking on another perspective, rook can cast some amount of thought into another's mind, allowing wordless communication (at least on his side). this takes more mental fortitude for him than seeing through someone else's eyes, as it is manipulating someone else's thoughts rather than simply viewing them. rook only does this with bennet, and only when he sees it as absolutely necessary. in the same way, rook can allow another to experience mind sharing, letting them see through his eyes, however they experience it to a much smaller degree than himself, only really experiencing sight rather than overall transfer.

though rook can stand in place and essentially mind lurk without any obvious sign of it on the outside, he is technically vulnerable while he is doing so, as his consciousness is completely within whoever's perspective he has taken on. he cannot talk, respond, walk, etc. when he is sharing, much less defend himself, and as such, he typically will only do so when he knows its safe. in the coven, hell usually only do it in his room, or at least when hes seated. since he is always quiet and always off on his own, those who know of rook's powers often assume he's creeping around in their thoughts.

although it is very clear to the other party when rook is manipulating their thoughts, it is undetectable to others when rook sees through their perspective. as such, rook often watches the world through bennet's perspective, and because of this, many of bennet's feelings about others linger when rook goes back to himself.

typically, mind sharing is entirely voluntary, but in bennets case, its become closer to a bad habit like biting your nails. regardless of whether or not rook means to or plans to do it, he often finds himself in bennet's mind--and once he's there, he isn't usually in a rush to leave. mind sharing tends to be close range; in most cases, the target needs to be within rook's eyesight (although rook does not need to be in their eyesight). with a mind he is incredibly familiar with, rook's sight can stretch for incredible distances, still able to see through bennet's mind in other countries, even. although he rarely goes, rook also watches most meetings and council proceedings through bennet's eyes, despite how far away he may be.