character :: Sean Holmes
Sean had become a nobody and to be honest, he liked it that way; it made it easier to fade into the background. But that didn't stop his parents from pushing him, trying to make him strive for a better life even as it was circling the drain. Sean, even as a child, was nothing like his older sister Kelsey, who challenged herself to exceed in everything she did from sports to choir, earning her the attention and delight of their parents. He was content, however, making A's and B's in school, never expecting more from himself than what he could do without a strong effort and lounging about the house with friends, junk food piled to the ceiling. But Sean's mother, a realtor when the mood suited her, and his father, a break-his-back kind of roofer, were devoutly traditional in their roles of the home and they knew that a room full of video games and a desire to do nothing didn't make the kind of man they were wanting for a son so they demanded more.
It would be many years later before Sean found himself a comfortable niche as he entered middle school: an ear for music that even outshined even his perfect sister. His parents, albeit deflated at their son's interest in music, were excited to see that something had finally gotten through his thick head and encouraged him to find his passion in any type of instrument he chose and in the end, it was the cello that sounded the sweetest. Months of practice led into years, following him into high school where the music became the wind beneath his wings and everyone in his family begged to hear him play at their family gatherings, while his parents beamed proudly at their talented son. But they didn't see that the winds beneath Sean's wings were about to change...for the worse as adulthood gave way to the worst kind of temptations.
There would be a small change, a move across town to a larger home where the family could spread out but ultimately, it would mean a different zip code and in return, a different school to go to. Kelsey, who had already graduated and was working on her associate's degree, commuted as though nothing changed but Sean was forced to make new friends, a change that didn't take as long as he thought despite his withdrawn nature, except they weren't the kind of friends his parents were looking for their prodigy son to have. By Christmas break of his junior year, Sean had begun to act up in class, the days he actually attended anyways, and had forgotten all about his grades and cello. After one particularly stressful string of nights in which Sean didn't return home for three days, he re-appeared as a vastly different person: hair dyed a bright, crayola red, infected piercings in his ears and nose and the smell of paint thinner clear as a bell. A firm grounding did nothing, his parents' idea of house arrest was practically a joke and even as police officers returned him home time and time again, Sean knew he wasn't going to stop: he was having way too much fun. Even the time he spent at home was sequestered in his room, a number of inhalants becoming his drugs of choice even despite his mother's tears and his father's threats. Ultimately, he dropped out his senior year of high school and it would be the final straw for his parents: Sean was ordered to leave their family home and he never looked back.
human, we can stop
apologizing for
being human
With the job market slowing to a crawl, Sean accepts the first job he is offered: a night stocker at the local Wal-Mart, just outside of Seattle, Washington. It'll be here, during a typical night that he'll have a not-so-typical encounter with someone unlike any he had ever met: an arrogant, selfish, yet compassionate man who claims to be a Satanist and invites Sean to join in worship. But when Sean, assuming he's met a fellow addict, agrees to join their so-called 'Satanic Church', he has no idea that this man and this place, might actually be his saving grace.
