Hunting and haunted

"Have you ever seen a ghost? Would you like to?"

• Information
• Calendar
• Star
• Question
• Heart

Elias is technically the oldest child in his family, born 2 minutes before his twin, Elliot. In spite of this, he spent most of his life living in the shadow of said twin, who from a young age showed an aptitude for technology. With his twin exceeding in classes, and garnering more than enough attention for the both of them, Elias was content to simply float by in his classes, doing just enough to not fail. Plenty smart, he simply chose to not apply himself, finding no real interest in the subjects the school offered.For the first seven years of his life Elias never felt any animosity for his family, content to have his parents' attention split between Elliot and himself. He had two best friends to spend his days with, with whom he found a second family in. Days were spent running around town, in the treehouse on a friend's property in later years, and some nights even were spent sneaking out to watch movies long past curfew. Memories were captured on polaroid pictures, hung on the walls of their treehouse, and burned into his memory with the bright sun.Not long after the birth of his little sister Aubry, Elias’ father passed away suddenly. For the most part Elias handled it well enough, the grief seemingly passing right over him as he continued on. His twin doubled down on their schoolwork, his mother busied herself with raising her youngest. Which left Elias to slip through the cracks in his family, spending even more time with his friends when he could. Other times, he simply had to occupy himself while left alone more and more. During this time he bought a book on haunted locations, sharing it with his friends as a passing interest before he tucked the book away in his closet to gather dust.By the time he was nine, resentment was slowly forming. His mother was gone most days, his twin as well, leaving Elias to take care of his younger sister alone. He took well to being an older brother, bragging to his friends how he was Very Dependable now, and genuinely didn’t mind having to look after her. At least until his mother and twin would be gone for days at a time, off in a nearby city for special camps and activities for his twin to participate in. From time to time he would have to either skip out on playing with his friends, or simply take his baby sister with them.Not that he ever shared this issue with his friends, deciding that his family's problems were his to deal with. Besides, the last thing he wanted was to weigh down the other two, or even worse, have them try to intervene. By the time he was eleven, things only went downhill more. Elias felt like he was being left to raise himself and Aubry alone, where days would pass before he would see the other two members of his family. His grades were doing worse and worse, and he spent less time in the ever empty house, unless he was inviting his friends over to spend time with him. Sometimes, he contemplated that when he was old enough for college, he would take Aubry with him when he left. Still, he kept up a bright outlook, for both his sister's sake and for general appearances.At thirteen, it all fell apart. He lost track of time one day, busy spending precious time with his friends in their treehouse, and was late to pick his sister up from school. By the time he arrived almost an hour later, his sister was gone. No one had seen her leave, and yet no one knew where she was. She became a missing person, and Elias was quick to put the blame on himself. He spent the following weeks putting up posters and asking questions, biking around town to try and find any kind of answers to what had happened. His mother and twin were back in his life again, and yet the divide between them was deeper than ever, years of resentment and loneliness and buried bitterness keeping them apart.A year came and went with no answers or clues, and not long after Elias’ fourteenth birthday, he was awoken in the dead of night by his mother. She told him to pack his bags, and took both him and his twin on a nighttime train. Not that Elias went quietly, practically hissing and spitting the entire time, unwilling to leave the only home he had ever known. In the end, he still left, not able to give a single goodbye to the two people who mattered most to him.Settling into a seaside city, his family seemingly just… moved on. His twin thrived in the city's education system, and his mother was quick to get a job as a college professor. Elias meanwhile, was stuck in place. He couldn’t find a foothold in the bustle of the city, was unable and unwilling to make friends with the overly curious city children, and was still searching for the missing piece in his life where his sister used to be.He wrote letters to his two friends weekly, giving them to his mother to mail out on her way to work. He would eagerly await a response, missing the both of them terribly. His only spot of brightness was the idea of hearing from them again. As time went on, he kept their letters in an ever growing stack, reading through them to get himself through the worst of his teen years.Even with the letters from his friends, Elias eventually had to bury himself in hobbies and schoolwork in order to continue on. As time went on it became easier and easier to fall back onto old habits, grinning and joking his way through school. While still in the shadow of his twin, he lets his grades remain high enough to pass, rather than just give up.After graduation, he decides to pay a visit to his hometown.He returns to his childhood home for a single day, hoping to finally get some form of closure. Instead, his visit simply makes the ache in his chest for what once was even worse. In the train station, there still hangs an old and faded missing poster for his sister. A case left forever cold.Leaving home the second time hurts just as much as the first, but Elias pushes on. He attends college, and yet again picks up hobby after hobby, eventually pulling out his old book on haunted locations. The simple memory of his childhood it brings him is enough to catch and hold his interest. Soon after comes an interest in the occult, the idea of ghosts remaining ever present in his mind.From here, Elias drops everything. He leaves behind college, any stability, and sets off to pursue a life of ghost hunting. Here, he convinces himself, he can find his sister. In ghost hunting, he believes himself to have found his answer.The next nine years of his life are spent dedicated to searching for ghosts, researching, and forming his own ideas and concepts on the very existence of ghosts. He sends articles into occult magazines, writes letters to newspaper editors, and investigates anywhere with even the slightest inkling of being haunted.He gravates to large events that encourage the unknown, the strange, the occult, anywhere that will give him a platform to share his own theories, and in the final few minutes, to advertise for any information out there on a long cold missing persons case. So of course, Freakfest has been on his radar. Especially after the 93 incident. He applied for a speaker spot, more than thrilled to be approved and receive his badge. He hopes Freakfest can further his search for answers. For ghosts. For closure.

CHEERFUL + THOUGHTFUL + CARING
CURIOUS /OPEN-MINDED / OUTSPOKEN
CLOSED OFF - STUBBORN -IMPULSIVEEver since he was young, Elias has always had an impulsive streak a mile long. Be it sneaking out at night to watch movies with his friends, jumping from the treehouse ladder because ‘Yes, he can totally land this jump’, to quitting college to pursue ghost hunting instead. He tends to act as soon as the thought pops in his head, preferring to act in the moment than be bogged down with thinking over his issues.He’s extremely thoughtful when it comes to others, toning himself down when it’s obvious that his usual bright,cheerful and loud nature is a bit much for someone. While he tries to be nice to just about anyone, it especially shines through with the people he considers closest, giving them more thought and care than anything else. For his friends, nothing is too much to give.Dealing with ghosts and the occult, Elias tries to stay on the bright side of things. Surely the reports of demonic hauntings from this location can’t be that bad right? Maybe this ghost will be friendly! Spirits feed off of negative emotions, so surely staying positive will keep things from going off the rails during his hunts! Positivity was something he used to get through the rough parts of his life, and it has yet to fail him.A curious soul, he’s always been interested in this and that, switching from hobby to hobby, interest to interest. With this curiosity comes an open mind, more than ready to accept this and that as within the realm of believability. Nothing is too outlandish for him, and he easily accepts things people tell him, at least until he forms his own opinion on the matter.And with those opinions, comes his outspokenness. Elias will speak his mind when it hits him, making comments about this and that with no real care for if those opinions go against the grain or not. In fact, once he sets his mind on something, be it an idea or an activity, he will not back down. Stubborn to an almost fault, he will dig his heels into the dirt and have to be dragged away from whatever it is he’s set his sights on. The only times he ever backs down are if his friends coax him away from his ideals, and even then he may just double down instead.While for all Elias seems like he wears his heart on his sleeve for the world to see, he’s actually very closed off. He directs any conversation about himself to another subject, or simply avoids the question entirely. Any information about himself he keeps under lock and key, even from those closest to him. After all, no need to weigh down himself or anyone else with any negativity!

The BeachA Sea. The bad kind. The water is black and thick, the waves crash against the ground with loud deafening roars. It stands out from everything else, a sore thumb. If you get too close it tries to grab at you. You could drown. The easiest route away from it is-The ForestA sea. The good kind, filled with pine and cedar, the occasional redwood. They go on endlessly, dark and beckoning. Sometimes there is movement in the depths, calling you deeper and deeper. Missing posters, faded and torn, layered on top of each other, are stapled on them. There is something- someone- just out of reach. Just off the path. It’s cold, the further in you go. There are worn paths, footprints barely visible in the dirt and foliage on the ground. So long as you stay there, you will be granted safe passage. All the roads eventually loop back around, to the edge, and -The HouseVictorian in design, every bit the home you recall from your childhood- and even now, the key belongs to you, after all. The door is locked, no matter how many times you leave it unlocked when you leave. The lights are on, a warm and inviting glow that hides the shadows under the eves. The stairs creak ominously, and you can see that not a soul exists within the house. If you open the door and step-InsideIt’s dusty. Untouched. The people living here last simply vanished- just look at the plates on the dining table, the glass in the living room. It’s hard to breathe here, the windows won’t open. Like a tomb. A chair at the kitchen table creaks, and the sound of newspaper shuffles as your back is turned. But no one sits there. No one has taken that seat in years. From upstairs you can hear footsteps, the ghost of childish laughter. A whisper of a voice asks you what is for breakfast. You don’t go upstairs. But you stop at-The stairway.Pictures line the walls. They watch you. Some of the frames are shattered and broken, the pictures torn out. Every time you pass another is gone. Only a handful remain, but even those have cracks on their surface. They are watching.UpstairsIt’s dark its dark its dark its dark its dark. It reaches out for you and clings, it tries to drag you up the stairs and into its embrace. You’ve fought against it time and time again. You win, sometimes. It lets you win. You hurry back down the steps, but its still there. It brushes against you. You can’t escape it.The treehouse.Right at the edge of the treeline, back behind the house, resides the treehouse, high up and reachable by a rickety ladder. It’s warm inside, lit by a hanging lantern. The walls are covered in drawing and photos, pillows and blankets scattered about. You are safe here. Untouchable by everything else. If you close your eyes here, you can imagine the ghost of someone else by your side.