Rat

CHILDHOOD

Despite being born a twin, Arthur's childhood was almost entirely unremarkable. While his energy and the encouragement of his sister, Catherine, often led him to trouble, it was never anything serious. His parents paid little attention to the trouble the twins got into, resulting in Cat and Arthur becoming very reliant on one another, and their older sister Nat. Unlike the twins, Nat received all the attention from their parents, leading to Arthur developing a deep jealousy of his older sister, wanting to prove himself just as worthy for their love.

Things changed when a fourth sibling was born, a sister named Batya. For a time, the four of them managed to look out for one another, to provide for each other where their parents could not.

Unfortunately, as all things do, it came to an end.

Nat left the three of them to go to college, leaving Cat and Arthur to take care of Bat. The two twins were determined to not let Bat face the same neglect they did from their parents, growing incredibly close with their younger sister. Instead of resenting Nat for leaving them behind, Arthur saw her absence as his chance to finally prove himself.

THE FAE

Craving the escapism it brought, Arthur grew to have an incredible fascination with fairy tales. He envied the children featured in the stories, even the ones that ended poorly, believing he was smart enough to figure out how to overcome the hurdles that knocked them down. His unearned confidence led the curious child into designing a fairy trap of his own, an attempt to prove once and for all that fairies were real to his disbelieving siblings.

With the trap set up in the woods behind their house, all the boy had to do now was wait.

When his trap did ensnare something, Arthur was more than eager to find what he'd trapped. To his delight, it looked like he'd caught an actual fairy, wings and all. The fairy managed to trick their way out of Arthur's trap, fleeing deeper into the forest. Unable to accept his defeat, he chased after them into the woods. In his haste, however, he didn't look where he was going and his foot caught on a root, sending him rolling into a ditch.

With a twisted ankle and completely lost, Arthur did the one thing he was taught to do if he found himself in a situation like this; he called out for help.

The fairy seemingly took pity on the boy, turning around and appearing before him. Arthur, mystified and desperate for help, did the one thing none of the other children in his stories did- he gave the fae his name. Instead of helping, like he hoped, the fairy disappeared in a flash, taking his name with them.

Stricken with the inability to recognize "Arthur" as his name, the boy's sense of identity crumbled around him. Even when he was eventually found by his family, the boy could not understand why they called him "Arthur."

SCHOOL

His encounter with the fairy left the boy with an insatiable hunger for knowledge on the supernatural- if not to reclaim his identity, then to simply know. He fell into studying whatever he could, pushing himself for more and more knowledge. If he couldn't understand himself, then he could understand everything else.

The boy secluded himself from everyone, including the siblings he was once incredibly close to. He neglected everything that didn't bring him closer to his goal, including his appearance. It was no wonder when the other kids at school began to tease him, giving him the nickname of "Rat" in reference to his ratty hair.

Despite the derogatory nature of it, he clung to any sense of identity he could. What had been meant to bring him down instead became an attempt to reclaim an identity for himself.

Rat's determination to know all there was allowed him to speed through two years of school, unintentionally leaving behind Catherine. The sudden change to no longer being in classes with his twin only pushed him further away from her and Batya.

As years went on, being called a name that wasn't his own slowly wore away at Rat. He began to resent everyone who called him Arthur, including his own family. They simply couldn't understand, in his eyes.

Rat's original goal of proving himself to his parents warped over time, eventually becoming a desire to make himself better than Nat. He became envious of her ability to just leave everything and everyone behind.

He pushed himself further and further, eventually graduating from high school early. When faced with a decision of where to go, Rat did not hesitate to move far away from his family, leaving them behind for what he believed to be for good. His desire for knowledge and fascination with the supernatural drew attention from various places, but the one that made itself known to him first was a branch of the government meant to study and contain supernatural entities. Seeing no other choice to reach his goals, Rat accepted their sponsorship of his education in biology.

CURRENT

Shortly after receiving his doctorate, Rat found himself in the small town of Pine Ridge, working within the town's hidden laboratory. The environment proved to be a place where he could theoretically thrive, his need to understand the supernatural finally fulfilled.

Mere weeks into his career as a scientist, the man realized he'd made an incredible mistake. He was free to study to his heart's content, but as soon as he'd accepted the sponsorship he'd condemned himself to a life continuously under the watchful eye of the government.

Eventually, Rat's desire for distance from his siblings changed into something new; a need to protect them from the supernatural. After seeing first hand just how truly dangerous it could be alongside his experience with the fae, he decided he would double down on his distance to keep all three of his siblings as far away from the supernatural and the government. He made an effort to erase all of his tracks, practically wiping himself off the face of the Earth. He would not allow his siblings to face the fear and isolation loosing his name had caused, no matter if they hated him in the process.

Rat's paranoia is strongest surrounding his boss, Ellen. He sees her as a personification of all his deepest fears, her nature terrifying the man into believing none of his secrets are safe.