October

Exasperating

• Backstory

  
  October grew up poor in a small village, but her family stuck together quite closely. She had an older brother named Darwin and would have had a younger sibling had they not been miscarried. Her mother and father, Shirina and Marcus Hale, were happily married for five years before having Darwin, and nine years before having October. Her father had an obsession for the supernatural, and would often tell she and her brother little stories about creatures he'd claimed to see or have encounters with. He kickstarted that fascination in the supernatural, which would carry on well into her adult years. Her family lived happily together, close as could be, for most of her childhood. October was thirteen years old when her father was murdered by a half-drunk guard for his stubbornness when questioned on his way home from work. He was compliant with everything the cop requested, but when he stood up for himself for the harassment (as the cop had no real reason to be attempting to arrest the guy), things escalated and Marcus was killed.
  
  The family drifted apart a bit under the strain of their lost loved one. Darwin busied himself in his studies, trying to become a cop himself with the hope of changing the way the world worked. October grew reclusive and lashed out, angry with her brother for his interest in becoming the same thing that killed their father. She was young, didn't understand, and was far too angry to even try to. Her mother turned to God and tried to get October to come to church more often (as they used to as a family on Sunday mornings), but she always refused. Her relationship with God, like with her family, flew out the window. The next few years of her life was spent discovering herself.
  
  Religion wasn't even considered until one night she dreamed of communicating with a faceless Goddess who explained how anything was possible, and how the human will was the most powerful thing about a person, and how if one believed strongly enough, they could make things happen. It was a random dream, brought to life by alcohol and depression. At seventeen she (vaguely) discovered the the occult and devised her own method of magic, something that brought her closer to feeling okay again.
  
  Her relationship with her mother and brother has since been rekindled a small amount, enough to visit during the holidays and not feel too awkward. Her mother was known to visit Marcus' grave often at first, but as the years went on and time healed her heart some, she stopped visiting so much. October still makes a point to visit every holiday, or when something big happens in her life she feels she has to share. She was her father's little girl, closer to him than words could even begin to describe. Even now, years after his death, the woman still hurts as if the wound was new.
  
  October used writing as a coping mechanism over the years. Combining that with her personalized faith, she writes mostly about the supernatural, which she never had proof of in the first place. She was dead-set on finding some, though. For herself, sure, but also for her father.