He was just a kid from some run-down neighborhood in Queens. Nikolas Everett was raised in a single-parent home with a brother, six years younger, and a mother who worked night shifts to make ends meet. At the age of sixteen, a family tragedy struck him hard enough to derail things from that point on. The aftermath left him bouncing between temporary homes and foster care for the next few years. The event meant balancing unstable home life and getting an education he wasn't focused on, all while still struggling to keep ties with the younger brother that he had been pulled away from in the process of things.

In no time at all, he was failing at all three endeavors. His grades plummeted. The 'home' Nik settled into was hostile and led to altercations. The letters he sent to his brother, mysteriously enough, didn't seem to go through. He briefly ended up a ward of the state shortly after age eighteen, following a breaking point with one of those foster homes. In his twenties, he would eventually get a foothold in an apartment and be left on his own to scrape by in the city.

The voice came to him one evening. It was quiet at first. It blended into his conscience in a way that took some time before he fully noticed it was there. Quick enough, he learned to keep his silence on the matter when it only led to therapists pushing medication. As some time passed, it grew louder, and Nikolas couldn't ignore it, no matter whether others were listening to him or not. It grew louder. He ignored it in the beginning... until eventually, he had begun to speak back to the voice. Subtle things. Short answers. Soon enough, they had turned into questions. He had begun to accept that the voice wasn't leaving anytime soon.

Inevitably, a deal was struck. To the entity, the kid was an easy target. Given the circumstances surrounding Nikolas' life at that point and the turmoil weighing him down, he was someone considerably easier to bend compared to past vessels. The demon needed a method out of Hell and into their world. A younger Nikolas desperately sought a way out of his own dismal situation and bought into the pact that promised it would get him out.

To most, possession leaves the original soul dormant, or worse. This was strangely not the case. He woke up with a heaviness in his chest, a chill on his skin, and an eerie sense of something watching over his shoulder. He walked in control, no matter if it was the demon's choice or a mishap that it had not accounted for. The entity lies just under his skin. At times, the demon weighs heavily upon the actions of Nikolas, but allows only what leverage or assistance it sees as reasonable.

To most, possession leaves the original soul dormant, or worse. This was strangely not the case. He woke up with a heaviness in his chest, a chill on his skin, and an eerie sense of something watching over his shoulder. He walked in control, no matter if it was the demon's choice or a mishap that it had not accounted for. The entity lies just under his skin. At times, the demon weighs heavily upon the actions of Nikolas, but allows only what leverage or assistance it sees as reasonable.

The result is constant one-sided battles within Nik's head that prove to be physically and mentally exhausting. Begrudgingly, the entity seems just as trapped and reliant on Nikolas as he is on the demon, forming a hazardous but symbiotic relationship. As an added factor, Nik has learned he is capable of using some of the demon's abilities with some discretion on the entity's part. Unbeknownst to Nik at the time, he had a library of knowledge ingrained into his head that he was hardly aware he was capable of.

Carrying a demonic presence comes with some unprecedented risks he'd never planned for. For every worry Nik has in his mind, the demon seems to have an enemy out to win over its seat in Hell while it remains dormant in its human host. As a result, Nikolas spends the occasional nights dodging shades and small demon-like creatures once the sun goes down, in worst-case scenarios, hiding out wherever light is present in order to stave them off. What's worse? The incidents have become more and more common.

■ He has developed a hypersensitivity toward the demon's signals whenever supernatural beings are around. Whether or not it leads him into trouble sometimes is... subjective. Curiosity killed the cat, but it's done Nik no better at times.

 ■ Nik has been able to source the demon's magic and abilities. He has studied magic under different mentors since discovering he could channel it without the demon's consent or approval. This technically makes him a Warlock, as he draws his energy from a higher entity.

■ He is prone to insomnia that he's tried to manage over the years, when the demon seems to find sleep far less important than Nik does. A caffeine addiction has come of it, coupled ironically with whatever he can do to get some sleep.

■ From a young age, Nik has been a regular cigarette smoker. The habit gets heavier when under stress, but what is going to kill him first—a little nicotine or a demonic possession?  One problem at a time. He's a drinker when it comes to being social.

Nik's magic use was for entertainment value at first. As time has gone on, the entertainment value has slipped away as he leans on his practices and studies to get him by. Despite all warnings, those studies are headed down a gradually more dangerous road. As for now, he attempts to keep his usage "neutral" despite the innately dark nature of the demon's power. The demon lost its control over Nikolas, harnessing this power once he learned to wield it for himself, and the Vessel is well aware of how infuriated it is about it. He has the thanks of two different mentors who have gotten him this far.

One miscalculated spell had Nik stepping out into unfamiliar streets of a Russian city he'd never seen before. It was that night he met Valkyrie. The woman had such an unstable aura that he couldn't make out what it was. A Berserker is what she called herself. A being of the Void. Nik still doesn't quite know what that means. What he does know, is that she was kind enough to let him into her home when he had nowhere else to go... didn't she? Thus began the second-most-hazardous contract: Valkyrie gave him refuge for his servitude and access to the demon's power. In return, she introduced him to her home in Katalam. The small merchant-style paper town is nestled in Siberia's desert climate, where very few maps would have it labeled. She described the location as private and unspoken, bringing in sparse travelers both supernatural and human. It was a refuge in that way; to Nik's eventual surprise, even the shadows frequently on his tail left him unbothered in the location. He felt unbothered by the demon; it seemed to lie dormant while in the Berserker's presence.

Still, it felt like his previous life was over. He had no contact with New York while in Katalam, and likely no apartment to go back to. The first two months consisted of errands down to Merchant's Road, practicing his sorcery to try and get a glimpse past the town, and learning how to coexist in the house with his hostess, who was quick to lose her temper.

The third month led to silence. One morning, Nik woke up and the Berserker had vanished. With no signs of what caused Valkyrie's absence, he took to the Merchant's Road below her property and began to ask around. Many ignored him, and others steered away from the question. He hunted for two more weeks before a figure in the Bazaar spoke towards him. While the old man knew nothing of the missing woman that he had been carrying on about. He was a mage who sensed the demon presence that Nikolas was carrying. In exchange for assisting in pottery work during the day, he promised Nikolas lessons on better controlling and channelling the demon's magic for his own purposes. Two years passed. He kept to his routine and held down Valkyrie's property in her absence. His practice with the old man was enough of a reason to avoid the unforgiving three-day trek it would be to leave Katalam. At the end of the two years, when this mentor passed away, he was at odds with the village and his circumstances all over again.

Nik lived in Katalam for the last two years, even in Valkyrie's absence. Just when he had forgotten about New York and being chased off, Nik had changed his course through Katalam on the way home one night. A familiar optical illusion was caught from the corner of his eye. After all that time, a doorway to the Sanctum Cafe was hiding right under his nose. Without hesitating, he dropped what he had been doing and passed through. Through the Cafe's mysterious portal system, NYC greeted him and reminded him of how quiet the desert village had been. His old apartment was freshly occupied, judging by the light in the windows. The bar he'd frequented was an empty building just sold for a new lease. He didn't have his phone or any of the contacts in it.

After letting go of the previous chapter of his life, he returns mostly to Katalam as home in order to hold down the fort like he promised Val. Nik's current status puts him between Katalam, Sanctum Cafe, and the occasional trip elsewhere through the Cafe portals or his own.

"He who jumps into the void owes no explanation to those who stand and watch."

He Who Jumps Into The Void (Pt. 1)

-WIP-

BASIC MISCHIEF. 
He is capable of rendering others unconscious, quieting his footsteps, creating minor illusions, picking familiar styles of locks, and other methods of cutting corners that the demon has let him get away with.

FAMILIARS.
Creating familiars is common, whether they are energy-based or created from the remains of a dead animal... despite all warnings about Necromancy. Nik leans toward birds for this.

PORTALS.
He can create small doorways, so long as he has a writing tool, a grasp of his present location, and proper visualization of where it will lead. This spell is... a work in progress. Miscalculations have led to unpredictable results.

DEFENSIVE.
Nik can manipulate shadows to a degree to trap or snare momentarily. It only works for a short span of time. He can also render others unconscious or disoriented with a touch, so long as he can focus long enough to cast it. While the demon won't let him heal, he can still numb the pain.

ELEMENTALS.
He is currently working on getting a grasp on controlling temperatures and starting small fires. The demon limits him to more destructive things regarding this.

SIGILS & SPELLS.
Since spellcasting doesn't come to him inherently, sigils are often used. They are coupled with incantations to better channel his intent.

LAST RESORT.
In times that Nik is rendered mentally incapable of acting, the demon has been known to take the opportunity and to make quick decisions on his behalf. This includes panic attacks, intoxication, unconsciousness, and events where the Vessel is in danger and unable to act. Nik rarely remembers what happens during these blackouts.

■  Nikolas originates back to 3.30.2017 as an original character and still has work to be done.

■  Multi-paragraph, weekly or bi-weekly replies. I'm pretty tied down to the threads I have pending, but not against starting a new story if you're interested.

■  Site admin's alt page–ask me questions about anything site or page-related. Holler if you have concerns.

■  I'll sometimes roll a D20 on how well Nik's borrowed magic actually works (Best of luck, kid).