TRIGGER WARNING: ABUSE, TORTURE In 1690, thirteen years after the birth of one James Portnoy, a surprise pregnancy resulted in the birth of Caleb Portnoy to a small Jewish family in Erasmus Cross. Unfortunately, this also resulted in the death of the mother of the two boys. The boys were raised by their father for a good 11 years before their father too died. So the 21 year old James took care of his 9 year old brother to the best of his ability, supported by the very small Jewish community in Erasmus Cross. Caleb grew up, almost idolizing his big brother the whole time. James could be controlling and bossy and had a large temper, but Caleb knew he was just doing his best to care for him. At some point during the next 10 years, James discovered the supernatural community in Erasmus Cross. And on Caleb's 21st birthday in 1711, James returned home after being away for a few days with a surprise. He had convinced someone to turn him into a vampire, and now he wanted to turn Caleb. Caleb was reluctant and frightened, but his brother wheedled and persuaded. This way, neither of them would ever have to die and leave the other. Yes, it would require drinking blood, but it wouldn't require killing. There were people in the city who could help them manage it. Halacha and religion were less important than staying together. Besides, James had already gone through with it. He asked if Caleb wanted to leave him alone. Caleb finally agreed. James drained him fully of blood then fed the younger man some of his own blood. The next hours were agony as Caleb slipped between living and dead and undying, but his brother held him and stroked his hair and provided a flask of blood when the hunger finally set in. The change took full effect. The Portnoy brothers reinvented themselves, moving to a different part of the city, near some other vampires who taught them the ropes. The brothers went by the surname Coburn, with James now calling himself Richard and Caleb calling himself Thomas, and avoided any who might recognize them. When the "Coburns" were taught about the Codes of Conduct, "Richard" became very interested in the idea of Oaths. He spent weeks hinting about it to "Thomas", then discussing it outright. He wanted them to swear an oath that they would never abandon each other. "Thomas" agreed fairly quickly. He took his brother's hand and said, "I swear to never abandon you. I will stay with you for as long as we still exist." Richard hugged him with tears in his eyes. Somehow in the aftermath, Richard never swore such an oath in return. At that time, the Exchange was also starting to police and protect the supernatural community in Erasmus Cross. The brothers were generally flying under the radar now that they had the basics of vampirism down, so Richard joined, pretending to be human, and became a well-respected senior agent very quickly. People saw him as kind but able to do what needs to be done, a good leader and a trusted teammate. Thomas trailed after him, taking up a role less on the front lines, helping deal with paperwork. He was always "Richard's brother," to the other agents, and he appeared happy to stay in his brother's shadow. After a time, the brothers had to withdraw from the Exchange and take on new identities lest someone realize they weren't aging. Some years later, after the revolution in America, Richard decided that the Coburns should go to the ex-colonies. Thomas followed after like always. They took up residence in New York City under the Coburn surname once more and quickly took up new roles within the Exchange cohort based there, still pretending to be human. Their reputations stayed much the same as they were in Erasmus Cross. Richard as the charismatic trustworthy compassionate leader and Thomas as the quiet bookkeeper who trailed after him. Richard made lots of friends and connections. Thomas never really made any of his own. Instead he haunted the edges of Richard's social circle. The Coburns stayed quite securely in New York up to the present day, occasionally changing their aliases and moving around within the boroughs as needed. They joined the Exchange when they could do so without risking suspicion. Around the time of western expansion, the restrictions about supernatural member in the Exchange eased. From that point onward, the two kept the names Richard and Thomas Coburn when dealing with the Exchange and the supernatural community, although they still changed aliases and residences as needed regarding the mundane world. They never used their original names again, and basically no one would know them. Most recently they have cycled back around to going as Richard and Thomas Coburn to the mundane world as well. This is what is what those who know the Coburns know about their past. But it is not the full picture. Caleb struggled with the changes to their lives in the wake of their death and rebirth. While James quickly shed any attachment to his life as a Jew, Caleb longed to stay connected to their religion and history. He did what he could, but he could no longer be part of the community he grew up in and holy things were uncomfortable to be around. He followed what laws he could and quietly prayed for forgiveness for those he couldn't. James/Richard urged him to leave all that behind. He wouldn't allow any ceremonial or religious items in the home. No mezuzah, no prayer book, no candleholders for Shabbos. Sometimes Caleb/Thomas would obey, wanting to make his brother happy. But sometimes the longing for home would grow too great and he would try to sneak something in. He knew Richard was just trying to protect him, but he didn't want to give up this piece of his past. This would be a source of conflict between the two from then until the present day. The other matter that no one knew about was how Richard acted behind closed doors. Over time, his controlling tendencies grew worse, and his anger grew more violent. Thomas did his best to keep his brother happy and berated himself for not being good enough when Richard lashed out at him. He did not recognize the abuse, even as it grew worse and worse. The seeds had always been there in Richard's overprotectiveness and anger when disobeyed. He was manipulative and charismatic and could get Thomas to agree to nearly anything, regardless of Thomas's own beliefs. Because their bodies were now immortal, and because Caleb had sworn never to leave James, James gradually stopped restraining himself when the urge came to tear Caleb down. Small barbs turned to vicious insults turned to physical violencel. The odd punch or slap grew more severe until the abuse reached the stage of full-on torture. When the Coburns moved to America, Richard constructed a room in their new home that was empty save for a bolted-down chair with metal cuffs. The same room was set up in each residence they stayed in throughout the years. When he needed to let off steam or when Thomas pissed him off, he'd tell Thomas to get in the chair. Thomas would obey, and then Richard would hurt Thomas in whatever violent or inventive ways he could think of. When the elder brother was done, he'd release the restraints and leave Thomas alone in the room save for a blood bag or two to help him recover. Thomas would lie on the floor until he was healed and then go wash blood off of himself and clean the Room. All the while, he would wonder what was wrong with him to make his brother treat him this way. Richard never treated anyone else like that. He was a good person, and everyone said so. And therefore, the problem had to rest in Thomas, or so he thought. Thomas believed this for several hundred years. A few times throughout this period, he'd try to run away, either in self-loathing or self-preservation, but his oath would burn him until he returned. The pain of the oath was soul-deep and in some inscrutable way far worse than Richard's most inventive tortures. So Thomas would return. The change happened within the past year. Thomas met a sheyd half-blood by the name of Naomi Gartner through the Exchange. She wasn't an agent or employee but she would stop by on occasion or help out. The discomfort he felt around her magen david told him that she did believe, and some research on sheydim told him that they generally followed Jewish law. After a few visits, when his brother was out on a mission, Thomas talked to Naomi. He admitted his Jewish past and they ended up friends by the end of the conversation, swapping phone numbers. They ended up talking often, either at the Exchange office or via text. She helped him remember more about being Jewish and they discussed how he could best follow the Jewish laws given his state of being. He told her more about himself as she shared her own past. He never mentioned the Room in his house, but some of what he said about his brother concerned her. She began gently trying to delve into that matter deeper and said things that made him doubt what he had believed for centuries. Then, Richard looked at Thomas' phone. He read the texts and flew into a rage. He ordered Thomas to the Room. Thomas obeyed. After Richard was done with him, as he was leaving, he said, "You belong with me. You belong to me. No one else. You let Naomi Gartner start to take you away from me. So she's dead. Today I'll realize that she's a danger to those around her and to the secrecy of the supernatural community and I will remove the problem. Think about this the next time you think about spending time with someone else." Thomas was too hurt to stop Richard as he left. And that day Richard Coburn did kill Naomi Gartner under the pretense that she was a danger to the supernatural community. But as Thomas lay in his own blood and slowly healed, he thought. And things became clear. Naomi had done nothing to deserve being killed. And if Richard was willing to kill her when she had done nothing wrong, then Thomas wasn't an anomaly. He wasn't some vile thing that solely deserved to be hurt. Richard was wrong. And Thomas refused to let his brother hurt him any more, or to hurt anyone on his behalf. He had to leave. When Richard returned home, he expected Thomas to grovel and apologize as he usually did. But Thomas was waiting with a very sharp machete behind the door. In a surge of adrenaline, Thomas tackled his brother and stabbed him to keep him in place for a while. Richard was too stunned to fight back before he was immobilized. Thomas rested the machete on Richard's neck. Having beaten his brother in single combat, according to the codes of conduct, he demanded a favor. To release him from his oath. Once that was granted, Thomas stabbed Richard a few more times to keep him down for longer. He then cleaned himself of the blood, dressed in clean clothes, and went to the back door where he had placed a bag with money and supplies. And then he left and finally shed the name Thomas Coburn. Now the vampire is going by his original name again, Caleb Portnoy. He got himself new clothes and a new phone back in NYC then took the train up to Boston. From there, he headed to Easthaven. Naomi had told him once during a face-to-face talk she'd grown up there. Now he's on his own for the first time in his life, death, and unlife and the question comes: what next?