Father Patrick William Coughlin

Male

54

Church Leader

Heterosexual

Single in Service of God

Hank Jamison - Son - Abandoned by Coughlin shortly after his birth and he is unaware of their relation, Coughlin does not plan on ever telling him, works in the police force
Jenna Jamison - One of Coughlin's many flings, told to keep quiet and get lost by Coughlin after becoming pregnant with his child, died during childbirth

Coughlin lives directly north of the church, in the middle house of the three grouped there, thus being Sheriff Lodrick's neighbor. Cozy, Coughlin has all the trappings of a normal home - rugs, pictures, even the occasional painting of Jesus - however he finds the place unbearable, the silence allowing him to reflect on his life. More often than not he's in the bedroom, blinds covered by a blanket, where he can drink alone and then drink off to sleep. As far as the community knows, he just likes to sleep in total darkness.

Born in 1962 to hyper-religious in a podunk village, Patrick William Coughlin was a hellion, a rebel through and through. He cheated, stole, and got into too many fights to count as a youth, even running with a rough crowd of bikers at one point until a tragic accident ended up breaking his leg and killing a few of his closest friends. His family decided to counter this with routine beatings and blatant abuse, but that did little to dissuade him from making their lives hell.

It was no surprise that he took to all the vices of the world in excess, doing things that less lucky men would die from. It was only after a particularly bad few weeks that Coughlin mustered all his will to turn his life to something more innocent, and so he entered the clergy, thinking it would temper his attitude while getting away from his folks without much nagging. In actuality though, this helped none, and if anything, his obligations from the church just intensified his behavior. It became almost a point of pride for him to break the rules of the church, though as discreetly as he could muster. There was some delight in the double life for him.

In his mid-thirties, Coughlin ended up within Ashenport, given the responsibility over the local church. For those who can remember those early few weeks, Coughlin was downright awful; sure, he could recite verses verbatim, but when it came to being someone with conviction, he fell flat. The congregation gave him the cold shoulder early on, all of them except Jenna Jamison. A woman in her twenties, she took a liking to Coughlin and was the only one to be his friend in those days. With her help, he became a better speaker and ultimately a better priest for the people - except for their love affair. Though not meant to succumb to lust, the two secretly became romantically involved. If ever there was a time when Coughlin truly believed in God, it was now.

This was not to last. Life came crashing down when Jenna became pregnant, something which could not be hidden from the people, the same people who now regarded Coughlin as a pillar of the community. Coughlin was not prepared to be a father, and fear and irrational anger overtook him. In harsh words, he rebuked Jenna, naming her all sorts of insults, and made clear that she best not breathe a word to anyone about the father of her baby. In a sudden shift, the two were ripped apart and Coughlin refused to talk with her again. When she went into labor, she would die, but not before Hank Jamison would be born. Without parents, he was entered into the orphanage, ironically under the guidance of Coughlin.

Her death would devastate Coughlin, and at her funeral he spoke with great passion, earning the permanent trust of the community and cementing his status as an outwardly good man. His pain was furthered due to the constant contact with his illegitimate son Hank. To some degree, he deflected his self-hatred onto Hank and partially blamed him for what had transpired, though he never showed it. Since then, Coughlin has continued the motions of being a decent person, while slowly he has wallowed in agony from within, lacking the courage and moral integrity to right his wrongs and fess up to Hank and the community.

Despite his lack of faith in any sort of god, what frightens Coughlin the most is that he is wrong and indeed there is someone out there who knows just what sort of person he has been. His nightmare is a dark, looming figure, an inescapable force of nature that stares directly at him from his periphery before brining in justice to his soul. This being recites his crimes for the world to hear and when he finally has to withstand that dread judgement, it rips his skin, salts his flesh, and sends him to Hell. It's been the subject of many unfortunate night terrors.

Charles Clayton "Chuck" or "Clay"

Male

43

Moral Compass

Straight, well there was that one time in Tijuana...

Still wears his wedding ring.

Hard working, generous, Firm handed/even tempered.

Gallows humor, works and smokes away his pain to avoid drinking.

He HATES alcohol! If he has to step into a bar, someone is coming out bloody.

He loves his daughter, she looks just like her mom. But how do you tell your little girl you stay out late to not have to see her moms face every time she smiles?

Touring the town for odd jobs to keep himself busy, gloving up to hit the punching bag when there is no work to be done. Anything to keep himself out of his head.

Wife - Victoria "Clementine" Clayton (Victoria is her legal first name, but always went by her middle name socially)- Deceased

Daughter - Cameron Victoria Clayton - Student/babysitter

Brother - Montana "Mo" Clayton - Town drunk

Simple sturdy two bedroom 'log cabin' for him and his little girl. He only uses his bedroom to change and the master bathroom, otherwise he sleeps on the couch. He doesn't allow any alcohol on his property and he keeps his 'smoke' in the shed outside. He is usually gone for most of the day, out the door at 6 after getting Clementine up for school and home at or after 6 with diner. If its bad outside, then he waits to take her and pick her up from school. Something about not trusting anyone on the road in bad weather.

A farmers son, through and through. from six to sixteen he was in the barn tending to the cows while dad handled the greenhouse where they grew their hemp (happy cows make good milk, stoned cows make great milk). For the first ten years he was the only son, then Montana came along and life changed a little. When dad died on Charels sixteenth birthday, life changed a lot. When mom left two years later, his life ended. He had to be the dad for an eight year old sister, the next ten years were hell on that farm.
He couldn't hire hands without risk someone would spill or steal the family secret of potfarming cowpies. The only others who knew was the dairy 'next door' a mile down the road, who processed the milk for him since he couldn't make the cheese as well as run the farm all by himself. What help he got from mo, little as it was, was harder than pulling teeth from a rattlesnake and took ten times as long. "You're not Dad, Charles! You can't tell me what to do all the damn time!" Was a weekly mantra that usually ended with someone out the front door.

Just when it all seemed lost, came Clementine.



She came to the dairy down the road trying to get away from some 'city trouble' and they asked Chuck if he needed a farm hand he could trust. Lust became like and like became love. It took a couple years of trying with the farm springing back to life before life sprang up in Clementine. Against his better wishes, Clementine insisted that they keep their door open to Montana.

"She needs to know she has a safe harbor, no matter how bad the storm is outside or the storm brewing in your heart."

When the child was born, they agreed that each one got to pick part of the name, Clementine could pick any first name, he got to pick the middle name. She chose Cameron for the scottish name for a crooked river, for it was at the river she was concived. He picked Victoria for Clementines first name.

The first year was heaven, then it all went to hell. She went for a drive in the truck to celebrate their anniversary and grab something from the diner for dinner. Coming up the other side of the road was old man parkers 67 camero but he was driving a bit off. Normally what happened next would have just been a fender bender, but the collision happened on the wet bridge. The truck made a quarter turn, the back tires slid off and flipped it into the mostly mud river. If she hadn't been flattened, she would have drowned.

His dead wife, Sometimes completely hale and healthy in that summer dress he loved... other times she is the twist of skin and steel crawling towards him as nothing more than a severed torso with her entrails dragging behind her. Honestly, seeing her unharmed hurts him more. He knows what he had and lost.

"Cam, Vic, those are fine. I'm begging you, don't call me Cammy or Vicky. Just... ew.
Cameron Victoria Clayton

Cis Female. She/her pronouns.

Fifteen.

Caretakers daughter.

Pansexual.

Single

+Intelligent
+Curious
+Happy

-Bratty
-Rebellious

● Bitting her lip.
● Shaking her leg.
● Zoning out at random times, her mind going somewhere completely different.
● Quoting books at random times.

● Reading
● Sitting in high places
● Binge watching her favorite shows. "Does this count?"

Father - TBA - Caretaker

Will discuss this with the puppet master of the Caretaker.

Born to her father and mother, Cameron is the only child in the family. Just a few short months after the girl was born, her mother was killed by a drunk driver in a car crash. The young woman never had the chance to get to know her, something she has always had trouble with. She often blames herself for the fact, as her mother was coming to pick her up from the daycare nursery when the crash occurred. Cam has always taken her grades seriously, though the children at school have not always been the nicest people. Her father digging graves to find money started rumors around the town that he was crazy, and she, too, might be. It is something that the girl has come to laugh about, making jokes and weird faces at people when they come her way. Through this, she has actually made a few close friends who she tends to hang around with.

Cameron's nightmare is the figure of a woman dressed in a black robe with hair that falls to the floor, also black. Her eyes are black and hollow against her nearly transparent skin. She sucks the happiness and light out of everything around her, her thin lipped mouth opening and releasing the gossip of Cameron's possible insanity.

Mo is just fine

Female

38

Town Drunk

Heterosexual usually

Single usually

● Fun
● Family Oriented
● Artistic
● Friendly to everyone
● Easy going/rides the wave of life slowly but surely

● Alcoholic
● Promiscuous
● Aloof in conversation
● Spends too much money
● Commitment and trust issues with relationships and careers

● Falling asleep places besides home
● Chewing gum loudly
● Gambling on things
● Always leaves a thank you note after sleeping with someone

● Drinking
● Karaoke nights
● Painting
● Buying things for her niece

Brother - Charles - Caretaker
Niece - Cameron - Student

Montana lives as a permanent resident at the hotel in town. Her room is that of a typical hotel room having one queen size bed, fridge, microwave, dresser, and small bathroom. She eats out a lot and doesn't like to spend too much time in her hotel room because it depresses her. She usually just goes there to sleep and sometimes to take a bubble bath.

Ashenport had been Montana's home since she was born. She would probably die there, though God willing, she prayed she wouldn't. The problem with Ashenport was that everyone pretty much knew everyone and no matter how hard you tried to keep a secret, someone somewhere knew the truth. If they didn't know the truth, they at least found a way to entertain the lie far enough to where it replaced the truth.

Growing up Mo' had a pretty easy going life being the youngest of the Clayton children, light farming, helping her parents, and the chore here and there took up most of her life. It wasn't until her father had a heart attack that she knew that life was truly a double edged sword. The death had been hard on her mother and her, Charles hadn't seemed too concerned about it through Montana's eyes, but only until she grew older she understood as to why he had to be strong for the whole family. When their mother had pledged to leaving, Montana begged and pleaded with her mother to bring her with:

"I won't take any space! Please take me with, please don't leave me here." she sobbed.

Her mother could not bare to take any piece of Ashenport with her, and that included her only daughter. Charles became both a father figure, and a reason for rebellion to Montana, and that's where life began to get hard. Charles and Montana did not often see eye to eye on work ethic. He wanted everything to be done right there and right now, while Montana could wait a few days...weeks, or even months to start and finish a project. It drove Charles crazy, and Montana quite enjoyed doing just that after awhile. "You're not Dad, Charles! You can't tell me what to do all the damn time!" she would say as a young teenager living in his home. Boy, did that drive him up the wall! During these times, Montana had fell into the wrong crowd of kids. By all means Ashenport wasn't a crime infested city, but as far as bad kids go- Mo was one of them. Partying every weekend and staying out late every weekday became the norm for the young girl during her youth.

When the death of her mother reached town, Montana was barely phased. Some of the women gossiped it was suicide, some gossiped that it was murder. Montana gossiped that she wasn't her real mother anyways, or she would have taken her with her. Either way, life moved on and as Charles grew into more of a man, Montana was stuck in her childish ways, taking advantage of the situation she was in, and not doing much to change it. Montana was young when Charles met his first wife- Clementine. She was genuinely happy for him, though her attitude towards him had not changed. They still welcomed her into their home with no hesitation and when his wife became pregnant, they still had no trouble giving the teen a roof over her head. It hadn't occurred to her at the time, but now she was very thankful for the generosity and kindness her brother had shown her.

Montana had fallen in love with Cameron the moment she was born. Mo would lean over her bassinet and stare into the big brown eyes of the little girl, putting her finger down so she could wrap her tiny hands around it. She was so full of life, while Montana lacked so much of it. "You're going to make it out of here sweetheart, I promise you." Mo would whisper caressing the young girl's cheek. If anyone knew Montana they'd say Cameron was the light of her life. In the tragic and sudden events of Charles' wife's death, things took a turn for the worse in the Clayton family. Tensions ran high in the household, and everyday became a battle between brother and sister. Montana took a bitter turn for the worse, getting into more trouble at school, and around the town. She was a complete mess.

The moment Montana turned 18 she had to leave the house, not because she had to, but because she needed to. She couldn't bare to live with her brother anymore, though it pained her to leave- she knew it was for the best. Doing odd jobs around town she managed enough money for a small place in town. Her life was getting back on track, she met a man, fell in love, and became pregnant with a child in a matter of years. Montana was glowing in happiness, she was steady and finally becoming a young independent woman.

When the man she loved turned around and walked out on her. That was strike one.
When the bank told her she was losing her house and was bound to become homeless. That was strike two.
When the hospital informed her abnormal bleeding was because of a miscarriage. That was strike three.

Montana had gone from the top of the world to lower than dirt in a matter of years. Drinking, drug use, sex- became her normal day routine. Her reputation around town was split into two categories; Home wrecker or Nice piece of ass. Montana preferred the second one, but the first one seemed to happen more often in the small town. Reaching 30 things slowed down a bit again for Mo, she wanted to settle down and have a family, but no one really wanted to wife someone with such a reputation. That's why she needed to get out of town and leave that reputation behind her.

For several years since her 30th birthday Montana has been saving up some money to leave Ashenport. She still drinks, does drugs, and has sex on the occasion, but it definitely has slowed down a bit since her teen and younger years. Currently she rents a room in the Hotel as permanent residence. She is trying to rebuild a good relationship with her brother, and tries to have a healthy relationship with her niece- Cameron. Visiting them both at least twice a week up to their home in most northern part of town.

Montana's nightmare has visited her many of times during a drunken stupor. It is a young woman with a mangled face, unrecognizable because of the contortion of it and the amounts of blood dripping from the gashes. She walks slowly and her limbs appear to be badly broken or injured. The sound is the worst part of the nightmare as the sound of bone cracking and a gurgling sound escaping her lips. The nightmare has never gotten close enough to Montana for her to hear what the woman is saying, but she could swear that it's crying for help.