Rachel Lynne Cassidy was born in 1966, but ended up being raised by her second-generation Irish grandparents, Liam and Rebecca Cassidy, as her own parents were unable to properly take care of her. As she grew older, her grandparents declined in health, and It was this reason, that caused her to go into the nursing field.
Brian Douglas McKay was born in 1962 in Scotland, to Bruce and Iona McKay, immigrating to the United States as a college student in order to study law, obtaining his citizenship after graduation in order to pass the bar exam.
Rachel and Brian met in 1988, and got engaged in 1991, marrying the following year. On May 18th 1993, they had their son, Liam Bruce McKay. Rachel cut her hours as a nurse to be home with Liam as much as possible, while Brain worked long hours in his legal office fairly often, so they placed him in a high rated daycare when they were both working.
Rachel got it in her head to give Liam an appreciation of the arts at a young age, and after convincing Brian it would be fine, she enrolled Liam in dance classes, specifically ballet. Liam seemed to enjoy it, so they kept up with his lessons. Rachel made sure to attend every recital, while Brian did his best, but was frequently working on his case load.
It didn’t take long at school for the other kids to learn Liam was doing ballet, due to one of the girls in his class also being in his dance class — that’s when the teasing began, which would soon become bullying. Upon learning this, Brain was determined to enroll Liam in martial arts so he’d have a way to protect himself if it became needed, and enrolled him in Jiu-jitsu classes.
At home, Rachel continued to encourage Liam’s love of art, by letting him express himself however he wanted, though Brian tended to frown on this, arguing with Rachel behind closed doors that he didn’t want his son to turn out gay. As the years went on, Liam graduated from coloring books and drawing stick figures, to refining his drawing skills at home and in school art classes.
Growing up, his Grandpa Bruce would often tell him stories of Scotland, about the mythology and folklore, as well as family history. Liam found these stories fascinating, and some of his first refined drawings were of the mental pictures he had from these stories.
When Liam was seven, his parents informally separated for a while. They had been arguing a lot more lately, typically over how to handle Liam (Brian disagreed about the dance and artistic qualities, while Rachel contested so much martial arts), or long hours worked by one or both of them. When they separated, it was agreed that Liam would stay with Rachel, and Brian would pay support for Liam.
Initially, they didn’t discuss marriage counseling, as both of them wanted to try moving on. Rachel had a handful of dates, but didn’t feel right about moving on, and stopped dating. Brian had begun seeing someone from work, and in a few short months, it seemed serious. During this time, Liam was depressed – he even stopped drawing, and worked even harder in martial arts to take out his frustration and lack of understanding over his parents’ separation. He didn’t want his parents to divorce, and eventually concern over Liam drew his parents into counseling, and eventually they reconciled – but not before Brian had gotten his co-worker pregnant, something he wouldn’t learn about until years later. Altogether, the separation had lasted a couple of years before the reconciliation.
By junior high, Liam’s free time was full of expanded dance classes – now taking hip-hop and modern dance classes, as well as continuing Jiu-jitsu. The bullying had also continued through this time. In high school, the bullying had turned physical. Words had been tough to ignore, but he’d managed. But being physically assaulted? He wasn’t going to stand for it. So he fought back, and got in trouble for it, while the other parties did not.
The school wanted to expel him, but his father stepped in, threatening to sue if they didn’t do their due diligence. At the thread of litigation, they backed off, and let Liam continue school after a suspension.
Over the years, Liam had won a couple of competitions for his martial arts, and these trophies and ribbons were displayed in the house, more prominently than anything he’d received for his art, just because his father insisted.
When Liam was fourteen and a Freshman in high school, he met Avelina Morales. They’d been paired up to work on a project in one of their classes, and had gotten along well enough that they started hanging out regularly. Their first date was Homecoming during their Sophomore year, and they ran steady together over the years, doing typical dates and couples things, up until Senior year.
Lina was an artist as well, and with her encouragement (and his mother’s permission), he got his first tattoo at seventeen – that of a sugar skull girl, modeled after Lina, and placed on his left shoulder blade. Later that same year, with his father’s permission, he got the family clan symbol tattooed on his left shoulder.
Now, Liam liked Lina a lot. He felt comfortable around her, felt as though he could be himself – even enjoyed kissing her. He was content, and happy enough, yet something felt off. Not only that, but he never looked at other girls, which made him happy – it made him feel as though Lina might be the one. However, he found himself noticing guys a lot. Thoughts both romantic and sexual would creep in, and he’d push them back down, telling himself that every guy went through a phase like this; that it meant nothing.
They started to experiment in their Senior year. They never got further than foreplay, since Liam kept saying he wasn’t ready to go all the way, though truth was he was getting concerned that he just didn’t seem to be getting aroused when Lina did things to him. When she’d ask, he’d deflect by focusing attentions on her; helping her with ‘stress relief’, even though he wasn’t really into it. This couldn’t keep up forever, though, so when she finally pinned him down on it, he confessed that he was having trouble.
They talked for a while, and after finally letting out all the repressed thoughts and feelings he’d been having, Lina helped him come to terms with his being gay. Therapy would have been better, he knew, but he was afraid of what his parents would say if they knew why he needed it, especially due to his father’s latent homophobia. Lina went from being his girlfriend to his wingman, eventually setting him up with her cousin Mateo, whom he dated until just before graduation – Mateo was moving on to the military, and they both amicably agreed to split.
Academically, Liam was average, though he worked hard to get academic or artistic scholarships to universities. He was typically home before his parents, thus able to get to the mail before them and check his acceptance letters for colleges and universities. Arizona State University was able to give him scholarship money to attend, so he put in his formal acceptance, but never told his parents he had gotten in.
Liam spent the summer away from home, instead heading to parties with Lina, as well as participating in some tournaments or contests as a way to earn some pocket money. He also made precautions. He took the time to open up a bank account in his name only, and secure his important paperwork, like birth certificate and social security card. He began packing, loading up the car that had been gifted in his name the closer it got to the time he wanted to leave. The reason for all the precaution was because he had been convinced to try coming out to his parents before he left. This way, if they didn’t take things well, he wouldn’t have to fight to get the things he needed.
Two weeks before he was supposed to leave, he mentioned to his parents that he had something to tell them.
“Oh, going to tell us where you’re attending finally?” his father had joked. Liam watched as his mother smiled, but gently chided her husband.
“Brain, let the boy talk.” she had told him. “What did you want to say, Liam?”
Liam took a drink and looked at his parents, feeling nervous. “I’m gay.” he finally blurted out.
Rachel had appeared shocked. They both saw the look on Brain’s face – it was a calm, collected face, very slightly red. A face that usually meant he was angry.
“So, um…what school are you going to?” she asked Liam, in an effort to change the subject.
“UCLA.” Liam blurted out. He knew something bad was about to happen, and said the first school that came to mind.
“Get out.” his Dad said then.
“Brian…” Rachel had started.
“Don’t ‘Brian…’ me.” he snapped.
“Dad, I…” Liam tried to explain.
“When did this happen? Never mind – no son of mine is going to be gay.” he stated.
“Tough. I am gay, there’s no changing that.” Liam said, narrowing his eyes.
“Then I don’t have a son. Get out of my house, and don’t come back.” he said, verging on yelling.
Rachel was too stunned to say anything. Liam just got up, grabbed his car keys and left. His card had already been packed with everything important, the car itself was in his name so they couldn’t fault him for that. So he just drove east along I-8 E until he came to a rest area, where he stopped to refuel, grab a bite to eat, and pull up directions for the rest of the way.
He was able to rent a cheap hotel room for the remaining two weeks until he could move into his dorm, and the first thing he managed to do was get a job on campus for some pocket money to add to his savings. While attending school, he also took art commissions, which ended up making him more money than his job, so he quit that, citing the need to focus on his studies as the resignation reason.
Socially, he joined an LGBT support club, and in his spare time, he used his overhead money to take more martial arts lessons. Classes were straightforward – he was majoring in Social Work, intending to double minor in Criminology and Art. As electives, he took some language courses, and for the fun of it, took some drama courses. Between drama classes, the LGBT club, and a mutual friend group between the two, is how he came to rent a three-bedroom house with five other people instead of dorming it up for another y ear after he had earned his first degree.
At the rental, there were two to a room. David and Carmen took the master suite, since they were engaged and had found the house. It was a drawing straws deal for who shared the remaining rooms. Liam ended up matching with Ollie, while Noah and Riley were left with the last available room. Liam knew Ollie via Riley, and they got along well enough. Those in the house that had similar classes studied together, and those who didn’t were respectfully left to study on their own.
The roommate situation was going great, but wasn’t without its few hiccups. The biggest hiccup came when, two years after they had all moved in together, Carmen announced that she was pregnant. No one was expected to move out, but they were expected to be okay with this. Liam and Ollie talked, and after they had both graduated with their Bachelor’s degrees, they moved out, into a one-bedroom apartment, as they’d been discreetly dating.
At the gym he usually went to, someone had suggested to him that he get into MMA, so Liam began to learn how that worked, and eventually entered some competitions, earning money alongside his art commissions that way, and studying his ass off in order to pass his classes in grad school. Looking for another way to earn money, he decided on joining the local police force, in an effort to protect kids and especially the LGBT crowd if he at all could It’s what he had some training in, after all.
Although he was frequently busy, he still made time for Ollie, even getting a tattoo of drama masks on his right shoulder blade to represent Ollie’s passion for the theater. By the time he was twenty-three, he’d gained some more tattoos, quit the police force due to harassment, obtained his master’s degree in social work, and dipped heavier into the MMA scene.
Unfortunately, as he put focus into MMA and working out, Ollie seemed to be around less and less – he even missed their anniversary. Due to the frequency of Ollie being away, Liam suspected cheating, even confronting Ollie about where he was all the time.
“I miss you.” he’d said, wrapping his arms around Ollie. “What have you been up to that you’re gone all the time?” he said, giving the other man a kiss.
Ollie smiled for a moment, then disentangled himself. “It’s nothing, I promise.”
“But you’re gone all the time.” he protested, yet again. It was not the first time they’d had this conversation.
“Believe me, Liam, I’d tell you i f something was wrong.” he smiled.
Liam sighed heavily, then crossed his arms over his chest. “Tell me already.”
“Tell you what?” Ollie asked innocently.
“You know what.” Liam said. “I’m not playing games anymore, Ollie. Why are you always gone?”
“I have to go.” Ollie said, grabbing for his house keys.
“Fine. Go.” Liam had said, and walked away.
After Ollie had left, he spent time looking for new apartments. He never said anything right away, but when he was able to secure a place in a different part of town, he packed his things, left the furniture behind since he planned to replace it, and moved when Ollie wasn’t around, and blocked his number. A note was left behind from Liam, explaining that he couldn’t handle the lies and evasiveness any longer, and that they were through. It was ended with a goodbye, good luck, and don’t contact me.
That breakup had happened just a couple of months after his twenty-fourth birthday, and it soured him on relationships. If he hooked up with someone at all, it was short term, and nothing serious, something he made clear from the get-go. He’d still go out, but went to clubs that Ollie didn’t frequent, and stressed to any friends he had that maintained friendship with Ollie not to give him any updates about Liam. If they did, he cut out that friend, because he didn’t want Ollie back in his life, and that friends hadn’t listened to his boundaries.
He took the money he’d earned from art commissions and invested it, but didn’t pick up a pencil again, and wouldn’t for some time. He then spent the next couple of years growing his investments by putting more money from his MMA earnings into it. In 2019, at the age of twenty-six, he had just opened a school to teach martial arts. Liam enjoyed teaching his students, though he also kept up with his MMA career.
In September of the following year, he met Bethany, and she embraced him without giving him a choice in the matter. She sweet talked him into being okay with the new change, but also pointed out that he would have to quit his MMA career due to potential violation of the Masquerade, so he did, but still ran h is school – just others were in charge of teaching now. He kept meeting and appointments for the evenings, even teaching a couple of evening classes, though his time was now split between his school and spending a lot of time with Bethany, learning from her what it meant to be a vampire, and more specifically, a Toreador, among other things she thought were appropriate.
He carefully cultivated three of his students to be his herd, students he knew wouldn’t mind a little light making out. Kayla was a student who noticed a pattern of this and had approached him about it. Seeing as she was a fantastic student, and he’d previously lost his best student due to her quitting the school (Sierra), he opted to ghoul her, fill her in on what that meant, and what she was expected to do for him, other than just keep his secret.