#narrativefm

For Gabriel, the first sip of morning coffee was always the most delectable. It was a staple of his diet, never starting the day without it, and he always enjoyed it best with a plate of eggs, sausage, and buttery toast. It wasn’t everyday that he took breakfast at Carol’s, but since his patients wouldn’t be attending surgery until the afternoon, he thought he’d do things a little differently.

As he began to eat, Gabriel put on his glasses and flicked through the local newspaper at a leisurely pace. There was a story about the fair last weekend raising almost $3000 for repairs across town, something about a lost dog, and the usual adverts for businesses nearby. Nothing particularly exciting, but for Gabriel catching up on current events in Holy Cross was important. He was the one taking care of them after all.

Not long later, once the paper had been scanned and breakfast had been eaten, Gabriel took his last swig of coffee. He didn’t feel like moving. Despite the consumption of caffeine, he could have easily fallen asleep especially if he wasn’t startled back into reality by a sudden cheery voice.

— 𝑯𝑬𝒀 , 𝒀𝑶𝑼 , 𝑴𝑬𝑫𝑰𝑪𝑰𝑵𝑬 𝑴𝑨𝑵 ; 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑲𝑵𝑶𝑾 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑹𝑶𝑲𝑬𝑵 𝑵𝑬𝑬𝑫

FULL NAME: Gabriel Bevan Crowe

NICKNAME(S): Gabe (only by those closest to him) ; Doc (by everyone)

FACECLAIM: Daniel Day-Lewis

BIRTHDATE: 29th April 1966 (age 55)

BIRTHPLACE: Holy Cross, Kentucky, USA

GROUP: Cultist/Local

OCCUPATION: Doctor (specialising in psychiatry) ; Mortician

TALENTS & SKILLS: Ambidextrous ; playing the violin & piano ; knows a little too much about Shakespeare ; extensive knowledge of psychiatric disorders

HOBBIES: Reading ; amateur dramatics (runs a society that meets at least once a week) ; psychological research ; art history

GENDER ORIENTATION: Cis Male

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Heterosexual

HAIR COLOUR: Dark brown but now mostly gray

EYE COLOUR: Green-gray

HEIGHT: 6ft 1inch

BUILD: Tall ; lanky

FASHION: Smart ; practical ; old-fashioned

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Has two thin band tattoos on his left forearm

OTHER: Requires reading glasses ; is a stress smoker

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single ; divorced

FAMILY MEMBERS:

— FATHER: Jeremiah Crowe

— MOTHER: Sylvia Crowe (née Ashley)

— YOUNGER SISTER: Annabelle Crowe

— EX-WIFE: Jean Crowe (subject to change)

FAMILY DYNAMICS:

— FATHER: Jeremiah was Gabriel’s idol growing up. He wanted to be exactly like his father: a first-class doctor who was admired by everybody. Even before heading off to med school, Gabriel studied his father and his father’s textbooks to learn all he could about medicine and about being respectable. It was during this process he became interested in the human mind and how it functioned. Gabriel and Jeremiah see each other at least once a week to have lunch, catch up up, and play chess.

— MOTHER: Gabriel loved his mother and knew she loved him, but knew that she loved Annabelle more. He accepted this and found a mentor in his father, but he’d always be there for Sylvia whenever she needed him. He was quick to defend her feelings when Annabelle decided to stay in Connecticut and made sure to be the most perfect son to turn the tables on his sister. Like Jeremiah, Gabriel sees Sylvia at least once a week in which they go on walks, have tea and cakes, and when she pecks Gabriel’s head about finding a new wife.

— SISTER: Gabriel had a very close bond with Annabelle (who is two years younger than him) up until she decided to stay in Connecticut after finishing med school. It broke their mother’s heart and Gabriel couldn’t stand to see Sylvia so distraught and did everything he could to make her happy. He rarely speaks to her at all, but they call each other on their birthdays and on Christmas. Gabriel is far more traditional and set in his ways in comparison in Annabelle who, in his opinion, is far too much of a reckless free spirit.

— EX-WIFE: Once upon a time, she and Gabriel were madly in love. But as time went on they drifted apart; lethal secrets were revealed so a divorce was the only thing on the cards for them. They went about it in a civilised manner so things could be finalised as quickly as possible and once they were she left only to then return five years later, just after Pastor North’s disappearance investigation had been called off. She brought their secrets back with her and Gabriel had no choice but to play along or risk his almighty downfall.

EDUCATION: MD from Columbia University, NY (highest qualification)

ILLNESSES AND DISABILITIES: N/A

PERSONALITY STRENGTHS: Intelligent ; generous ; confident ; organised ; dutiful

PERSONALITY WEAKNESSES: Stubborn ; manipulative ; cunning ; meticulous ; reserved

SOCIAL STANDING IN TOWN/REPUTATION: With his position as the town’s doctor, Gabriel is an important pillar of the community. Even though his divorce was messy and caused the people of Holy Cross to take sides, people still respect and admire him for both his strong personality and his work. He was never a believer in religion of any kind, but still attended church to keep up appearances and then became more involved after his divorce.

GENERAL HISTORY: Gabriel was born into one of the more well-off families in Holy Cross with his father being a doctor and his mother a lawyer. He had a comfortable childhood, had plenty of friends, and excelled in his schoolwork. He had been a hard-worker his whole life, especially in med school where he strived to achieve top grades and an upstanding reputation.

He returned to Holy Cross after graduation and worked alongside his father until his retirement when Gabriel was 39. It was then that he singularly took over the practice and made it more efficient. He devoted the majority of his time to working and spent the rest researching and submitting papers to submit to medical journals and leading the local amateur dramatics society.

Gabriel saw his first spirit as a young boy and was convinced, despite his parents saying otherwise, that it wasn’t a dream or a fluke. He knew deep down in his own soul that what he’d seen was real. Only his parents knew of this incident and never told anyone else, out of fear of what people would do or say. It remained in the back of Gabriel’s head for the next four decades until he began to see more and more spirits…

𝑯 𝑬 𝑨 𝑫 𝑪 𝑨 𝑵 𝑵 𝑶 𝑵 𝑺

— As a child, it was Gabriel’s grandmother who encouraged both him and his sister to pursue a musical hobby. Gabriel took up violin and piano whilst Annabelle chose flute and vocals. Each Christmas they’d do a recital for their family, but mainly Gabriel playing carols on the piano and Annabelle singing along.

— Gabriel has a secret sweet tooth. He loves cola and apple flavoured confectionery the most and eats hard boiled sweets whenever he writes an article to help him concentrate.

— Before becoming interested in medicine, Gabriel went through a brief period of time where he had his heart set on being a writer/journalist. His parents were supportive of the idea, knowing he was a very inquisitive and creative young boy. It was only when Gabriel stumbled upon one of his father’s medical textbooks he gained an interest in become a doctor, proceeding to ask Jeremiah questions about all the anatomical diagrams and memorising them.

— He has a library in his home and everything is arranged alphabetically by subject. His medical and English literature sections are the largest. His favourite book is Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles; he also loves Macbeth, Henry IV, Jekyll & Hyde, Dracula, and poetry from the Romantic period.

— Don’t let his grey hair fool you: Gabriel is actually very tech-savvy. Although he still wears his father wristwatch that was gifted to him when he graduated medical school.

— Gabriel surprised everyone when he told them that he enrolled in acting classes when he was at med school. He’d loved theatre his whole life (predominately Shakespeare) and wanted to engage with it as his downtime from studying. Upon returning to Holy Cross and working part-time at his father’s practice for a while, Gabriel set up and amateur dramatics society and encouraged people of all ages and abilities to come and join.

— Gabriel never wanted children, which was one reason his ex-wife was so keen to divorce him. He just couldn’t see himself in that kind of role despite being caretaker to a whole town.

— He’s been published in several medical journals across the world and had lectured at different universities, including his alma mater Columbia. Although he doesn’t really do it now, he does miss it and those times created some of his fondest memories as a doctor.

— Gabriel got his tattoo one drunken night out during his third year of medical school. He couldn’t regret it when he was finally sober because he actually liked his tattoo and knew it could have been far worse.

— Gabriel goes out with his retired parents at least once a week, usually on Saturdays. He plays chess with his father and walks around the park with his mother after helping her with the shopping. His schedule is never too busy to spend time with them, but they avoid the topic of Gabriel’s sister Annabelle as her decision to stay in Connecticut is still painful for their mother in particular.

𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 , 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊'𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆…

Why were there so many? Why did they appear now? Four decades is a long time for silence, but like any dormant volcano the voices were waiting to erupt and cause carnage.

3am was unusually dark and unusually loud. Gabriel had been jolted awake by a groaning noise that sounded like the unstable steel girders of a derelict building. Then there was the scuffling of feet against the floorboards. Then a shrill scream that sent his heart racing and almost leaping out of his chest.

As Gabriel sat bolt upright, his breathing shallow and his knuckles white from the death grip on his duvet, he knew then what he was hearing wasn’t a dream.

It was more like a living nightmare.

He imagined trying to explain what had happened to others, who would in turn ridicule him, laugh at him, and never speak to him again. The Mad Doctor, he’d be branded. The Mad Doctor has the Devil in him. Then Gabriel imagined not telling them: people would ask what was wrong, why was he looking so uncharacteristically tired, and he was he sick? Still… he couldn’t tell a soul. That was final. His was his burden and his alone.

Elliott’s office was hardly something to behold. It was one of two rooms in a former shop on that busiest street in Holy Cross. It housed his large oak desk, sofa, laptop, cork board, and more pens and post-it notes than a stationary shop. The other room was where he kept most of his files and literature related to work as well as a kettle and a hoard of biscuits. If one were to step into the office during one of Elliott’s busier periods then one might themselves thinking it was a crime scene of its own.

Elliot had spent the morning trying his best to clean up, but had given up half way through and was now lying back on the sofa and scrolling through his emails. He hated emails. Most of them were just advertisements or junk and he’d find himself obsessively refreshing the page to see if there was new mail from a potential client. Unfortunately for Elliott he was not currently in a busy period.

Just as he closed down his emails with a defeated sigh, there was a knock on the door that almost frightened the life out of him.

It wasn’t rare for Elliott to wake up with a headache. He had grown so accustomed to it now; it was a good sign that he hadn’t drank himself into oblivion and was still alive. Sure, it was no way to live, but some days were worse than others and responsibilities would just pile up and crush him under their weight.

And like every morning, Elliott was out walking his dog: four year old German Shepherd Maximus. He was Elliott’s best friend, bought by his mother to keep him company and for something positive to focus on. Begrudgingly, Elliott had took the puppy from his mother, never expecting to grow so fond of Maximus. The two was now practically inseparable. Maximus even went to work with Elliott some days and greeted potential clients. Unfortunately not all of them were pleased with an overly friendly dog jumping up at them.

Elliott had took Maximus to the park that mid-June morning to burn off the energy he wished he had. The coffee hadn’t worked, so he hoped a change of scenery would ease his headache, but not five minutes into his walk Elliott’s pain was worsened with Maximus’s incessant barking directed at another dog he’d spotted across the field. It was then he bolted, leaving Elliott behind.

“Max!” He shouted, reluctant to run after his dog but having no choice. “Max! Come back here!”

— 𝑴𝑬 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑫𝑬𝑽𝑰𝑳 𝑾𝑨𝑳𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑺𝑰𝑫𝑬 𝑩𝒀 𝑺𝑰𝑫𝑬

FULL NAME: Elliott James Mallory

ALIAS: Callahan Scarborough

NICKNAME(S): El (by those closest to him) ; EJ (by his friends); Mal (by his friends) ; Detective (by everyone)

FACECLAIM: Ethan Hawke

BIRTHDATE: 6th November 1979 (age 42)

BIRTHPLACE: Holy Cross, Kentucky, USA

GROUP: Local

OCCUPATION: Private detective ; former contract killer

TALENTS & SKILLS: Sharpshooter ; ambidextrous ; knows ASL ; slight of hand tricks

HOBBIES: Reading ; watching films ; playing the piano

GENDER ORIENTATION: Cis Male

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Heterosexual

HAIR COLOUR: Brown - flecked grey at his temples

EYE COLOUR: Blue

HEIGHT: 5ft 10inch

BUILD: Lean ; muscular

FASHION: Smart-casual ; practical

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: His back is covered in scars

OTHER: Has a four year old male German Shepherd named Maximus ; is a smoker

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single

FAMILY MEMBERS:

— FATHER: Lucan Mallory (deceased)

— MOTHER: Florence Mallory (née Donovan)

FAMILY DYNAMICS:

— FATHER: Elliott never had a good relationship with his father. Even though he was young at the time, Elliott was resentful of him for uprooting their family and moving to Atlanta and felt this way until Lucan died. In a way he was relieved his father was dead, knowing now he wouldn’t have to be bullied into doing certain things and only doing them to impress others. Lucan was never what Elliott would consider a dad anyway and avoided using the term at all costs, even going as far as to pretend Lucan was dead when he was very much alive. But that doesn’t mean Elliott isn’t interested in the fact that his father’s premature departure from the world might not have been an accident after all.

— MOTHER: Elliott is very close to his mother, and even more so when she falls sick and needs him to help take care of her. He cooks and cleans for her as well as taking her on trips out to take her mind off things. Florence is well aware of his drinking problem and tries to help, afraid of losing her only child, but Elliott insists it’s not him she should be worrying about. He loves his mother and can’t bare to see her so sick; he never wants to see the day in which he will never see her again, but knows it will be inevitable.

EDUCATION: High school graduate (highest qualification)

ILLNESSES AND DISABILITIES: Borderline alcoholism brought on by PTSD

PERSONALITY STRENGTHS: Courageous ; determined ; intelligent ; inquisitive ; caring

PERSONALITY WEAKNESSES: Stubborn ; blunt ; reserved ; temperamental ; secretive

SOCIAL STANDING IN TOWN/REPUTATION: Elliott is a respectable and amiable man who is more than willing to help people out in any situation, especially those who come seeking his services as a private detective. He can cause arguments and fights when he’s in a drunken stupor, but people can see there’s something not quite right with his state of mind, not that he’d admit anything out loud and not even to any kind of medical professional. Elliott tries not to let it happen, yet sometimes he can’t help but fall off the wagon. People pity him and he immediately changes the conversation if anyone brings the subject up.

GENERAL HISTORY: Elliott was an only child so grew up pretty lonely. His father was a workaholic and his mother found it stressful to raise a child by herself especially when they moved to a new place. With no one to tell him right from wrong, Elliott followed the wrong crowd and began to cause trouble at school and with the neighbours. He hated the life his father wanted to give him and even more so when he realised that Lucan wanted his son to be a carbon copy of him, so decided to forge one for himself.

At age 18, Elliott eventually (after trying to steal his wallet) crossed paths with a man he knew only as Hades: a man who solely existed in the criminal underworld. He became a mentor to Elliott, teaching him the best ways to steal, lie, cheat, and kill. His influence and knowledge set Elliott on the path of destruction, inspiring him to be a killer for hire which would earn him more money than his father ever earned as a shady lawyer. He became known as Callahan Scarborough and established a fearsome reputation.

Elliott would have stayed in Atlanta but his mother had retired back to Holy Cross and not long after his 40th birthday she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. So he decided to leave his criminal life behind and move back home where he could look after her and set up a new life as a private detective, implementing everything he learned from Hades into his new profession. But disappearing wasn’t as easy as Elliott initially thought it was, not when his past tries to resurface…