Early Life

Michael Berkley was born to two wealthy parents in London, England. They'd been trying for many years to have a son, an heir to the family name, but instead, they had a daughter and weren't able to have more children. So, to remedy this, Michael was publicly raised as a boy instead, only referred to as a girl in private by his parents. He just happened to not be a girl, and while ‘boy’ doesn’t fully suit him, it's infinitely more correct than ‘girl’ to him, anyway.

Because of him being the sole heir, he grew up under extreme pressure by his parents to be perfect. Every little mistake he was chastised or berated for until they didn't have to anymore because he would do it himself. He held himself up to a near-impossible standard and was incredibly anxious about making mistakes or not being good enough.

At around age eleven, Michael accidentally witnessed his closest and only friend, Ryan, get killed by a vampire. He didn't know, at the time, what he had seen, other than the fact that his friend was murdered, and he never really got over what he had seen.

When he was fifteen, his parents decided to pack up and move to America. There was, apparently, the opportunity for them to acquire more wealth there, and they were very keen to do so. Michael didn't, and still doesn't, understand the fuss, since they already had more than enough money to be comfortable, but he didn't have a choice. It wasn't like he had any friends in London anymore, anyway. He had never been good at making them, despite his best efforts, and his social skills certainly didn't get better after what had happened to Ryan.

Adulthood

He adjusted Alright in America, though he still didn't have many friends, and none of the ones he did have were very close. He graduated high school just fine and went on to attend college. He was supposed to become a doctor, but dropped out in order to pursue photography since he had struggled with the course and could no longer continue(A careful lie he constructed to fool his parents, and his first real act of rebellion. He did just fine in his classes, he just didn't want to be forced into a job he wouldn't be happy in.)

At a dinner party hosted by Michael's parents, he met the son of another rich family in the city, Adonis. He had known(secretly) that he'd liked men since he was younger, and had crushes before, but it didn't fully click until then. He had fallen head over heels very quickly, and eventually started dating Adonis. Their relationship was kept a secret, of course, or else both of them could have gotten in serious trouble. They could only meet at night, with Adonis sneaking up to Michael's balcony or vice versa late at night. Unbeknownst to Michael, their relationship being a secret wasn't the only reason they could only meet at night. Adonis was a vampire, a Toreador, to be specific, so he wasn't able to safely visit during the day.

This went on for two years before Michael's parents had caught the two together. They were shocked and angry, disowning Michael immediately. They would rather have no son, and no heir, than to have one that would ruin their reputation. This devastated him, and to make things worse, Adonis had broken up with him afterward to avoid getting himself into any trouble, or Michael into further trouble. Michael tried to convince Adonis to run away with him, but was sadly unsuccessful. The two of them broke off their relationship, and haven’t spoken since.

Michael then stole a good portion of his parents’ money, enough to live off of for years, and ran away. He couldn't stay there, his parents didn't even consider themselves his parents anymore(not that they had ever been such towards him, anyway), and it wasn't like he could even be seen around Adonis anymore, let alone live with him. He didn't have a plan and for the first time in his life, he was on his own.

He hopped a wagon heading out of the city, eventually getting off when it had stopped and just deciding to walk until he found the next town. This turned out to be not one of his brightest ideas, as the sun began to set before he even got close. Luckily enough, he came across a small farm ran by a nice couple who let him stay in their barn for the night once he’d explained his situation, that he was traveling and didn’t realize how far it would be and needed someplace to stay.

There he met their son, Damian, who was around the same age as him and somehow even shyer, who hung out in the barn with Michael and talked until it was time for them both to sleep. The plan was for Michael to leave the next morning, but the couple had insisted he should at least stay for a few days, and Michael reluctantly obliged. He helped Damian out with some of the daily chores, doing more watching and learning than actually participating, since he didn’t really know what he was doing.

Not wanting to overstay his welcome, Michael left after just a few days (leaving behind some money as thanks for letting him stay so long) to head into the next town, planning on trying to get a train ticket to travel further away. He’d grown oddly fond of Damian(he was very cute) in his short time at the farm, but the hurt from what had happened with Adonis was far too fresh to really consider the possibility of anything coming of that. He was pretty useless when it came to being on a farm, anyway, and it was too close to his family’s home for comfort.

He didn’t get to see his plan through, though. His first night in town he met a (attractive) man who seemed to be very nice, winning Michael over easily with compliments and charm. He was a little strange, sure, but he seemed trustworthy enough, and Michael was unfortunately weak towards anyone who gave him a second-glance, let alone someone who seemed genuinely interested.

Of course, Michael was blissfully unaware that this man was a vampire, a Malkavian, to be more specific.

Post-Embrace

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