Childhood
Born Edward Adams in Rochester, New York to a well to do, upper middle class family, Edward was almost handed the world on a silver platter, having all the potential in the world. Living in the suburbs, he moved around the age of six to the outlying suburbs of Chicago, his father following a job. Edward attended a private school as he grew up into a promising young man, bright, cheerful, good natured, but things do not always last.
When he reached the age of twelve, he was given a vaccination against lycanthropy, but it was a bad batch, he broke out in the shifter fever, and in a shifter clinic later that month, he shifted with his first full moon into a black panther. His parents were upset, and hired a high priced lawyer, and with many other people who had children that changed because of the bad batch, filed a class action lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company who produced the vaccine. However, the family's luck turned from bad to worse.
Fall to Darkness
It wasn't more than a few months later, a dark snowy night, the moon was new, the world dark, a fire roaring in the fireplace of their suburban home, and they were all relaxing cuddled together beneath a thick blanket, being a family, a prefect serene scene, that was soon to be shattered. Through the night stalked a predator, it knew its prey. Darkness fell over the room, the weight of the vampires mind settling over the family, and it struck, the first sound was the scream of the father as the vampire ripped into his throat, followed by the scream of the mother and child as they woke to realize what was happening, but it was too late then. The father was left bleeding out, his neck snapped, the young boy shifted out of pure terror, and in that time the vampire was on the mother, swift, deadly, its fangs sunk into her throat, drinking her lifeblood. Despite being the strongest of them, Edward tried to flee, too young to know how to fight, but before he made it across the room, the vampire dropped the mother, who twitched a few times, its eyes focused on the fleeing cub, who froze in his tracks.
The vampire's call was too strong to resist, even through such terror, Edward was frozen in fear. The mother was left, the true prize of this hunt was the child, a wicked grin twisting his lips. The vampire approached the young panther, the cub turning to face it, and the final fatal mistake was finally made, it met the vampires gaze, and the vampire's strength rushed into the young, unformed mind, filling it even as the vampire closed, sinking its fangs into the young cub's neck, claiming him.
Police found the scene in the morning, but the boy was never found.
Intermission
The only surviving member of the family was the boy's grandmother, who exhausted every avenue to try and find the boy, believing him alive. Years would pass slowly, but there was hope, sightings, but by the time authorities arrived, there was no one there.
Almost five years later, a lawyer contacted the aging woman, the lawsuit from so many years before had finally been settled, several million dollars paid to each of the affected families, and she was the only surviving beneficiary of the family now, the only one who could be located atleast. Now suddenly with resources, she renewed the hunt, she put out a several hundred thousand dollar reward for the death of the vampire who took Edward, and the safe return of the boy.
Suffering
The boy suffered those years, the vampire moved almost constantly, but Edward was used in horrible ways, as a blood doll, strong and resilliant as he was, he survived repeated feedings, his beast was broken into a take cub, even he was sculpted and reshaped by the vampire's powerful will, he didn't even know his own name anymore, he became what the vampire wanted, even given a new name by the vampire, Ahikam.
Salvation
It took another year, a year the grandmother would never see, finally succumbing to old age, but one day, bounty hunters caught the vampire, and executed him in an old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, the boy was found in a rather small cage in one of the barns, broken, weak, but alive. He was identified with a combination of genetic testing, finger prints, and age-progression photographs to determine who he was, and ensured the bounty was paid in full.
The grandmother had set up a trust fund, if Edward had ever been found, the money put away, a lawyer to manage the account, the bounty was paid from it, but there was more than enough to take care of the boy, between the settlement, and the inheritance of the parents and the grandmother. Edward, Ahikam, was returned home, at least to the city that had been his home, Chicago, all alone, he spent months in various rehabilitation programs, under the care of psychiatrists, trying to undo some of the damage done… but a boy needs friends, and he was not a danger, he was eventually brought to a contact of the local Pard, hoping that they would be willing to take him in, and atleast give him a place to belong.
Chicago!
When Ahikam came to Chicago, and joined the pard, he was immediately made the newest Omega, taking the old Omega’s place. Ahikam had a lot of issues to work out, he was afraid of beds, which Crystal, and two other leopards helped him over, scared of public places, and he had a real problem saying no to people. One of the leopards exploited this a few times, sexually using Ahikam, perhaps in an effort to give Ahikam a reason and a chance to say no, but Ahikam didn’t understand, and always submitted without a contest, until this leopard told Ahikam that he wasn’t worth the effort, which hurt Ahikam pretty bad emotionally.
Ahikam left where he was staying with some pardmate friends, where he stayed for a while, slowly gaining some measure of self worth, his eye almost always on Crystal, who had become his lover and playmate, though she sought a mate in another.
Ahikam became the boyfriend of the European supermodel, dating him for several months, and going on fantastic trips with him, seeing a whole new world.
Until Ahikam met a young leopard. The young leopard quickly became Ahikam’s friend, even though they didn’t know eachother long, and after one day he tried to teach Ahikam how to say no, Ahikam decided he needed to leave to try and figure things out for himself, he left without a word, leaving his boyfriend, Crystal, and the pard.
Intermission 2
Ahikam spent the next several months on a farm he rented outside of Ithaca New York, it was a quaint little place, small house, one hundred and twenty eight acres, but it gave Ahikam leeway to be on his own. He hunted there every moon, and more on his own, learning to catch his own prey, which built his self confidence and self reliance, while also seeing several psychiatrists very regularly, staying there for nearly a year until his initial contract on the farm was up. Ahikam had contacted the Raj of the pard that controlled the area, and essentially bought time to do what he wished to on the land without interference, using the money from his trust fund, it cost him several thousand dollars a month to buy this independence. %r%rBy then, he felt confident enough in himself, no longer the mewling kitten, he returned to Chicago, got himself an apartment, and rejoined with his lost lover Crystal, and with the Chicago Pard.
Chicago 2
Ahikam’s return to Chicago was uneventful, though things would no stay that way. A long series of events involving the death of the young leopard that had befriended him, the kidnapping of his mate, the arrival of new pardmembers made Ahikam turn to his mate’s religion for strength and support, when the pard itself could no longer be trusted, and eventually lead him to flee with his mate and a number of his friends from the growing aggression of the newly arrived leopards. Guided by a few friends they still trusted, they met up with the Rat King, Peter, and were brought to Boston to rendezvous with the cities Nimir Raj, and beg for asylum.
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