Intro

Calum in this universe is, in some ways, closer to his true self than in the other universe. This universe is also much more sad for him, though, unfortunately. In this one, he makes shitty decisions with his heart being in the right place and he has to pay for them. Caleb also ends up suffering for Calum's mistakes.

History

Calum lived an unremarkable life. He had parents who had morals he didn't agree with and, him being him, the second he was old enough to, he flew the nest. Nothing much happened after that - with no friends that he was overly close with and no family to hold him back (even despite being family oriented - his anger at their opinions had won out over that) he was living his life as he wanted to, and though he was exhausted he was also very fulfilled.

And then he was kidnapped by someone claiming to be a vampire. Evidently, he actually was one because he drank Calum's blood and then turned him into a vampire as well. This didn't bode well for Calum, who was quite religious, as it shook his faith horribly to find out that something you only saw in movies was real. It nearly made him lose his faith as he tried to make it out of the house he was trapped in and failed. After a little while, another vampire showed up and killed his captor with a fury that at first scared him. But when the other vampire's expression softened upon seeing Calum there, cowering and alone, Calum relaxed ever so slightly. He didn't think the other was planning on hurting him.

And he wasn't - the vampire introduced himself as Caleb and helped Calum acclimate to the vampire life. With nothing to lose, he decided to move in with Caleb and his roommate. Not too long after this, Calum realized that Caleb had feelings for him and that he had feelings for Caleb as well. The two dated and the relationship was going well, up until Calum found a cause to fight for.

Calum felt as if God had called him to fight for vampires to be able to reveal themselves so they wouldn't have to hide. He felt his purpose was to help his people and Caleb didn't agree - he argued that vampires were fine as they were and revealing them to humans would only hurt them as humans would either slaughter them carelessly or find out about their healing properties and go after them for that.

Calum went anyway. He and Caleb parted on bad terms and Calum nearly instantly regretted it, but he joined up with the group who was trying to get vampires to reveal themselves anyway. He planned with them for a few months and tried to convert other vampires to their side. After that, he felt the need to go home. He realized that he didn't care anymore, he just wanted to be with Caleb.

But Caleb had moved on already - he'd found himself another boyfriend and Calum was devastated and angry. Why would any god have sent him on that mission if he'd done nothing but hurt himself and the one he loved in the end? Caleb hadn't only moved on, he refused to speak to him. Caleb's roommate Michael, who Calum had been friendly enough with, had even hesitated to interact with him and the full weight of what Calum had done hit him. Calum looked up at a starless night sky and questioned if a god had really asked him to do that and, if so, why. Then he asked for advice, a sign, anything and was met with silence. Calum knew, logically, that he couldn't see the stars because he was in a city, but to him it all felt very symbolic and so his faith was shattered and he became an atheist.

Calum knew he couldn't really justify leaving Caleb like that, but he's trying to at least make it up to him, which is hard when Caleb is constantly giving him the (admittedly deserved) cold shoulder.