Johnny Rayflo (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bloodcoveredcherries) wrote2034-02-10 12:53 pm
bloodcoveredcherries) wrote2034-02-10 12:53 pm
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[nick / name]: Kathrine
[personal LJ/DW name]:spkathrine
[other characters currently played]: Toul :: Original ::bendthekey
[e-mail]: spkathrine[@]gmail.com
[AIM / messenger]: N/A (plurk: chocolateisbrainfood)
[series]: Vassalord
[character]: Johnny Rayflo
[character history / background]:
Much of Rayflo’s life and history has been obscured and distorted, partially by him to keep people from knowing the truth about his past, and partially by Barry, to keep others from getting to close to him.
What is known is that Johnny Rayflo was a religious knight during the Middle Ages in Europe (placed before the 13th Century, but likely after the 10th Century), and the crown that he had sworn his fealty to was Princess Marie of an unnamed kingdom. The castle was under siege by a great force, people were suffering from the blockade, being trapped within the walls for so long with little food, water, or sanitation. To save the little girl he was sworn to, Rayflo damned himself and sold his soul to the demon Belial in return for the wish to have the strength to protect her and the rest of the people. With that wish, he gained the power to save her, but was also turned into a vampire.
Marie was injured during the fight, near death, and Rayflo turned her into a vampire hoping to spare her life. When Rayflo was losing himself, corrupted by his new nature and bloodlust, it was Marie who pulled him back. But this didn’t last. Eventually as time went on, Marie was twisted and corrupted, mostly likely due to her young and impressionable age when she first became a vampire and the long centuries of being one. It is one of Rayflo’s greatest regrets.
The demon whose name Rayflo cannot speak became quite infatuated with the idea of owning such a selfless, religious, and loyal knight and watching him slowly corrupted, to the point that despite not being able to remain indefinitely on Earth himself, he created a copy of himself, Barry the incubus, to watch over Rayflo and act in his stead. He also took one of Rayflo’s ribs and created a female copy of him, Rayfell, in a twisted mockery of the story of Adam and Eve. He cursed Rayfell so that she would be doomed to be unfaithful to anyone she loved, always giving into carnal desires and base need, which in turn also feeds Barry and he gains strength from Rayfell’s infidelities. Rayflo is thus bound to both of them. Barry is capable of controlling Rayflo by using his true name against him and Rayfell will live as long as he does.
Over the years, Rayflo has had a love/hate relationship with Barry, often to the point that Barry abuses him in violent displays of his authority and possession of him (killing people Rayflo comes close to, slaughtering villages in his name, sexually assaulting him on more than one occasion), and Rayflo himself gave into his own negative nature to appease Barry and keep him from harming other people. He drinks blood, has sex with multiple partners, collects massive amounts of wealth and luxuries just because he can, and does as many different things that he can to prove he is indeed a terrible person. He even worked with the Catholic Church to lock Marie away in suspended animation, which was a great show of betrayal since he had sworn a holy oath to her, but he did it because he believed that she had become too much of a dangerous to herself and to others. Somewhere along the way he also gained a cat familiar, Minea, who is his dearest companion that also transforms herself into a maid when it suits her to be useful for him.
Then he wandered his way into a war torn nation in the late 1800s, knowing how easy it would be to pick his food from the dying or unassuming soldiers on the battlefield. What he did not expect was to find a child left alone to die in the rubble of a church. The little boy was young, innocent, naive, and traumatized to the point from his experiences that he barely knew how to speak and had no memories of how he had come to be there. Rayflo cared for the child for a month, and even gave the child the name “Chris” (later to become Christopher Michael and then Charles J. Chrishunds), but realized it was too dangerous to keep a child with his lifestyle and Barry always a step behind. So he took the boy to a church to be cared for by the nuns and priests there.
He stayed away for years, but eventually couldn’t keep himself away and came back, taking on the guise of a priest to look after Chris and help raise him. Their relationship deepened over the years, becoming very strong bond, to the point that Chris all but worshipped Rayflo himself, but everything changed the night that Chris was fatally injured and Rayflo found him near death. Chris did not want to die and leave Rayflo, so he turned him into a vampire, knowing that Chris would regret his choice. And he did. He regretted it so much that he came to hate himself and hate Rayflo for what he had done to him.
Chris gave up the name Rayflo gave him and became Charles J. Chrishunds, but refused to drink human blood. He only drank blood from Rayflo, and even that he would put off doing for as long as he could. Rayflo had to all but force him at first because Chris was so ashamed, but the hunger and need to feed would eventually take control. Rayflo threw himself back into his self-destructive behavior after this, going back to the parties and drinking and giving his body to others to be used how they saw fit in return for their blood (and even letting some people drink his blood without care for if they turned). Charles became a sanctioned vampire hunter of the Catholic Church and Rayflo went on as a rich playboy who did as he pleased and only sought to have fun. The more reckless and sinful Rayflo’s actions, the angrier Charles was by him.
In part, Rayflo’s actions were to drive Chris away from him, but Rayflo could never do that completely. His own need to know Charles was okay and that he could come to him if he needed was just as strong as Charles obsessive need to hunt him down whenever he ran away. It became a twisted game and went on that way for decades. Rayflo would run and create a decadent, indulgent image and lifestyle and Charles would go on missions for the Vatican while hunting Rayflo down. Then there would be violence and fighting until Rayflo “lost” and Charles would finally drink from him.
It was after one of these fights that Charley informed Rayflo that he had been requested to go to a mission in China and that he was taking Rayflo with him. He didn’t really want to go at first, but Rayflo agreed. Sister Famille revealed that they had Princess Mary and that was when Rayflo realized that the true person who had brought them there had been her all along. Mary wanted Rayflo back and was willing to kill Charles to convince him, but instead Rayflo let Cherry feed from him and almost died when the sun rose and he turned to ash, but instead Mary tried to save him, turning to ash herself. Rayflo was spared because one of the bats that he shape shifts himself into hid in a cave until nightfall and he was able to heal himself. It was after this event and how severely Charles took what might have been Rayflo’s death that they moved in together, Rayflo spending almost all of his time at Charles’ apartment and he began to avoid Barry, cutting off their affair.
Sometime later, there was a party at a church supporting the various denominations of the Church in the area and Charles was invited so he took Rayflo with him. They ended up in a compromising position and met Cheryl, a vampire hunter and a vjedogonia (human descendant of a vampire who has the powers of a witch and shall become a vampire upon their death), the lover of Rayfell. She had wanted his help in trying to solve a case as several women had ended up dead around the Church that the party was being held at. They tricked Cherry into thinking that Rayflo had somehow transformed his body into a woman’s but really it was Rayfell pretending to be Johnny. They used her as bait at the church to try and figure out who the culprit was and it turned out to be Father Kazan of the Neo Union Church himself. His follower Father Mailer had been watching over the Church while he retired due to “illness” and he fed on the women to try and cure himself, but had not completely turned into a vampire. Mailer was injured and left in a coma near death, but was later cured when someone used Vassalord, a drug created from vampire blood and ended up becoming one himself, while to the public it looked like a medical miracle.
Months later, Cheryl invited them to a beach resort so she and Charles could talk, only their flight was interrupted (not to mention Rayflo did not take kindly to being left in his coffin in cargo…), when a girl named Miranda tried to highjack the plane so she could get her cargo to her destination without anyone messing with it. It turned out to be a box of body parts with a bomb inside and Rayflo and Cherry subdued her only to realize they couldn’t defuse the bomb in time so they threw themselves out of the airlock with the bomb. Rayflo cushioned their fall—breaking his back in the process—and they all survived so that Charles could flag down a shipping boat nearby to take them to the mainland.
Rayflo had to feed his blood to Miranda because she was going through a hunger frenzy from the shock—which is when they realized she was a vampire herself. It was after they finally were at their hotel and Rayflo was bedridden from his injury that they finally let Miranda (who they found out was an rising star from the big screen) go back to her agent. Then her car was blown up and Barry made sure Rayflo knew he had done it because Rayflo had given blood to Miranda.
It is after this that Rayflo becomes more distant. They also have Detective Craig Bernstein investigating them because he was the head detective on the Mailer case at the church and knows they were on the plane Miranda high jacked. Rayflo runs away so he won’t have to answer questions, going to his mansion where he conjures up his maids and makes them clean the house from top to bottom of any proof that he and Cherry were ever there.
Cherry follows him there later and they fight, only for Charles to feed from him again. Then Charles’ dog alerts them to a paralyzed child he found outside on the property. It hits Rayflo that the boy, Harold, looks a lot like he did when he was young. It makes him uncomfortable and he’s rude to the boy, something that surprises Charley considering Rayflo’s completely adoration of children. Rayflo even tells him that the boy might be a vampire of a sort, but he won’t tell him anything else. Rayflo doesn’t like staying in the house with Howard there so he goes off into the woods to burn all of the records he has of his and Charles’ life in the mansion, then goes off to Charley’s apartment to hide out. A voice calls to him from outside and he thinks it’s Charley so he opens the window—only to find out that it was Barry pretending to be Charley.
Barry assaults him, leaving him a bloody mess on the bed for Charley to find when he arrives. Rayflo tries to hide what happened, but Charley isn’t fooled. Instead he goes into a frantic rage over how Rayflo was injured and Rayflo has to calm him down. He then asks Charley to drink from him because having his blood drank by Charles has been purifying it, something that even Barry noticed. Barry seeks to force Rayflo to feed from him because he knows it taints him more every time. But then Rayflo realizes that Barry is still watching them and pushes Charley away, walking out on him.
When Charley infiltrates a prison in Italy to find out more about the drug Vassalord while working on a case with Detective Bernstein, Rayflo has to go to the prison to save him, despite knowing that Barry is still chasing after him and that he would have to do it in broad daylight without turning himself to ash. He doesn’t stay, but instead leaves almost immediately, only to be confronted by Barry again. He decapitates him and leads him on another chase, but a few weeks later he knows that Cherry will need to feed again so he sends him an invitation to a masquerade ball with an opera perform of The Phantom of the Opera.
But Barry is there, too, and when Rayflo tries to flee Charles won’t let him. He refuses to let him go again and Rayflo almost consents to stay, only to have Barry attack them and try to kill Cherry. He uses the guise of Rayflo when he was a priest to confuse Charley and is too powerful for Cherry as a weaker vampire to kill alone, but Rayflo realizes that if Charley can use Barry’s true name against him, he will have the power to at least severely weaken him. But Rayflo is bound by his contract with the demon and thus cannot say his name. Instead he chooses to hurt himself by quoting passages from the Bible, which he knows Charley will know by heart and will thus lead him to figure out what Barry’s true name is (which is the same as his maker, Belial). This tactic works, but it was so harmful to Rayflo that he almost dies right then. Charles calls out for help and that is when Harold arrives with Father Mailer in tow.
Only he is not truly Harold, but instead Alfred Wayne, the man who has been making Vassalord and using it to spread vampirism in his quest to study Rayflo, who he calls Adam, the first vampire. Alfred heals Rayflo, but because of this devil’s bargain, Cherry becomes his puppet, a high fashion model and public face to push his agenda so as to better circulate Vassalord to the rich and famous, while also doing other things in shadows. Rayflo on the other hand is kept locked in an underground cell designed to look like a natural garden where he can be experimented on and his blood can be taken. It is here that they find out that Alfred has been obsessed with Rayflo for over a century, to the point that he even made clones of him to try and better understand his secrets. Rayflo and Cherry are kept separated while they fulfill whatever roles Alfred demands of them, but neither likes the situation.
[character abilities]:
As a vampire over a few centuries old (he was alive during medieval times), he has a very strong healing rate and he can pass this on to other vampires. By drinking his blood regularly, his thrall, Charley, can even go out in sunlight (which Johnny himself cannot do without special protection). Johnny also has the ability to turn into a horde of bats and squeeze himself through very small cracks and holes. If he is ever turned to dust by the sun, as long as one bat is spared (or his ashes are saved), he will heal himself. Johnny also has the ability to fly, supernatural strength, speed, agility, very high pain tolerance (he has his limbs ripped off and his chest torn open with bones removed and is still able to make witty remarks), and what appears to be a higher than normal sex appeal (whether this is because he is a vampire or because he is just naturally sexually appealing to a variety of people is not explained). He also has the ability to turn humans into vampires. Johnny is does need to ask to enter a room that is not his, is weaker against silver, holy water, and other blessed weapons, but can go into churches without a problem.
Other basic skills that Johnny has are that he's very good with swords and physical combat. He's lived for centuries and been around the world so he's picked up a lot of things, so it stands to reason he is probably familiar with various languages, cultures, and has learned from them.
[character personality]:
Johnny Rayflo is not his true name, but it is close to the name someone dear to him used to call him. Johnny is an enigmatic character because he has layers upon layers to his personality, to his behavior, and his history. On the surface he comes across as this sexy, flirtatious, playful, affluent playboy who just loves having fun and taking what he can out of life, but beneath that is also his large soft spot for children and his love of cute things (animals, toys, etc). Going even deeper is his affection for "Chris," a young boy he found during a war in the 1800s who he took in when the boy was left to starve to death in a war town city. He took care of Chris and raised him for over a month before finally taking him to an orphanage run by the Catholic Church (and then later on infiltrated said church to continue to take care of him). Years later, after Chris is also turned into a vampire by Johnny himself, he becomes his thrall (essentially his child) and comes to him to feed so that he'll not have to feed off of humans.
Johnny lets him do this even though Chris gets pretty violent and rough (he will go days and weeks without feeding, starving himself as long as he can until he eventually gorges himself), while also professing his undying anger and hatred of him, and it wears on him (although Johnny is also more than a bit of a masochist and likes it). Johnny despite appearing selfish and arrogant is rather selfless, doing things often that contradict his surface facade, such as jumping off of a plane when he finds there is a bomb on it and taking the bomb with him so that the passengers on the plane won't be hurt (which leads to him breaking his back).
Despite being a playboy who loves to flirt (and he will flirt with just about anyone) and someone who quite enjoys sex on a regular basis (except when he's with his "Cherry," aka Chris/Charley, because Chris is still a virgin and won't give it up), Johnny has a bit of fear and dislike of women. He will flirt with them, flatter them, and even help them, but if they show sexual interest in him he has problems handling it. On the outside he'll still seem flirtatious and enjoying himself, but inside he's having a breakdown. After being kissed by a woman he had saved, he even claims he has been poisoned and needs a kiss from Cherry to save him (of course, only doing this after she has left the room, and only Cherry can see him taking it so poorly). It shows that Johnny only really lets his guard down around people he's comfortable with and otherwise the mask of chronic flirt and rich playboy stays in place.
Johnny's sentimental, but secretive. The people closest to him still do not know all there is to know about him. He's also an emotional person who can be teased and at times hurt by words from those who mean a lot to him (Cherry uses this against him at times), but then he can also turn around and make everything into a game. He doesn't like showing how weak he can be to people so he tends to just play it off and make jokes, or flirt. He would rather be seen as selfish, ignorant, or a tease than to show just how deeply he can let himself get involved in things or how big of a masochist he is, because many of his surface traits and the facades he wears are very self-destructive. In the past he even used to sell himself, having sex and letting people drink from him (but only in very minute amounts), and in return be allowed to feed from them. He treated himself like an object to be used and it took Cherry crashing more than one of these parties and showing a lot of possessive judgment. for him to put a stop to it. Not that it stopped Johnny from still fully believing that being used and abused is a fitting punishment for him, but he keeps these feelings close to his chest. Even with Cherry, who he is very open with, Johnny cannot give all of himself without feeling some guilt because parts of his past Johnny doesn't want him knowing about.
Another layer to Johnny is his relationship with Barry, an incubus demon who comes across as his ex (but who is really a clone of the demon Rayflo sold his soul to when he became a vampire). Before moving to the United States to live with Chris, he would go meet him on occasion, but avoids him completely afterward unless necessary. It's rather obvious that Johnny is afraid of Barry, which could stem from the fact that Barry is the only person Earth who has the power to completely control him. At the same time, Johnny continues to play games with Barry, leading him on, so as to keep him attention from other places (such as Cherry). He avoids being around Cherry in order to keep Barry from trying to involve him, but as soon as he knows that Cherry needs him to help escape a mafia prison, he goes to his rescue, even in broad daylight. No matter what, Cherry comes before everything for him. He will sacrifice anything and everything for him. He even quoted the Bible despite knowing that, as a damned being (as he is a vampire and sold his soul), it could kill him. When forced to fight against Cherry at the behest of Princess Marie, the little girl he had sworn fealty to all those centuries ago, he was willing to let Cherry kill him because he could not go against Marie’s orders, but refused to hurt Cherry, either.
For all that Rayflo can be flirtatious, melodramatic, immature and purposefully tries to rile him up, Charley is the center of his world and to some it may not seem important, but it greatly defines Rayflo’s life, goals and self-image. He raised him, gave him the name Chris, turned him into a vampire (to save his life, though Rayflo did not want to), and all the good he believes can ever come from him exists within Charley. He also sees Charley as proof that no matter how good something is, Rayflo’s influence will taint it somehow.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Chapter 22, after sending Cherry a very elaborate, intimate love letter that was really a secret message about a plan to escape.
[journal post]:
From a Garden of Eden to a City of Hell, is it? Prettiest piece of hell I’ve ever seen, I’ll give you that. [He’s smiling at the camera, cigarette held a few inches from his mouth.] But do forgive me, where are my manners—call me Rayflo. Now if someone would mind pointing me in the direction of the door out of this place, I’m sure I can show a little appreciation before being on my way.
That is, unless there are some more interesting attractions to see here first. [Playful and easy, he needs to keep up appearances, even if he is standing around where nothing more than a robe and looking perfect comfortable in it.] I’m easy to please. A little wine, a little fun, and a nice bed at the end of the night.
[And that easy going demeanor changes for a moment, but it comes back just as quickly.] Not that I’m intending to make this an overnight trip. Places to go, people to see—you know how that is. Where does the time go?
[third person / log sample]:
He can feel him coming. The recognition sends a hot, twisted thread of anticipation curling up Rayflo’s spin, but he doesn’t react so obviously about it. He sits on the bed he’s been given, staring up into the eaves of the trees overhead, relaxed as he ever looks. Minea is gone, off to complete the orders he gave her and the room feels so very empty without her. He knows they’re watching him, but it doesn’t him as much as it could. The boys behind the cameras get so shy when he shows a little more skin and he knows they aren’t as vigil about monitoring him as they could be just from the scandalized and bashful way they talk to him sometimes. It’s kind of precious.
The sensation moves from his spine to the messy lump of meat in his chest that doesn’t beat, but keeps him alive all the same, and it’s from anticipation to full grown yearning. So close and yet so far.
The door opens and he pushes himself up to sit on the bed with an easy, languid motion, knowing already who it is by their smell. He can’t say that he expected him today, but Rayflo is good at adapting to the situation. He’ll just have to make sure to get rid of him quickly. Not like it’s all that hard.
“Father, whatever brings you here?” he asks. The man stares at him with that same annoying as hell smile on his face. Half indulgent, half condescending. He has no idea.
“I heard that you were giving you guards a bit of a show earlier,” he responds, staring down at Rayflo from where he stood.
Oh, is that what this was about? Were they so embarrassed they couldn’t even call him over the PA system? Babies. “Maybe they shouldn’t be so eager to peek while I’m enjoying myself,” he tells him. “Or did you come because you were jealous they saw it and you didn’t?”
Mailer doesn’t rise to the bait. At least not yet. Rayflo knows how this game will play out. “You are a devil of temptation. I wonder if this is why your precious Charles is so addicted to you.”
“Well, I am irresista—” Rayflo throws up a hand dismissively, only for Mailer to grab in, holding his wrist in a firm but gentle grip. Rayflo cuts off his own sentence to chuckle while tilting his head to the side, making sure his hair is aware from his neck. Risky move, being so blatant, but when does anything ever come without a risk? Pastor Mailer’s eyes shift in focus, moving away from his face for the briefest of moments and Rayflo knows he’s already won this round even when those teeth as sinking into his skin barely a minute later, the foreplay already said and done. This barely matters anymore and all he has to do is play his part.
Chris is here.
[personal LJ/DW name]:
spkathrine[other characters currently played]: Toul :: Original ::
bendthekey[e-mail]: spkathrine[@]gmail.com
[AIM / messenger]: N/A (plurk: chocolateisbrainfood)
[series]: Vassalord
[character]: Johnny Rayflo
[character history / background]:
Much of Rayflo’s life and history has been obscured and distorted, partially by him to keep people from knowing the truth about his past, and partially by Barry, to keep others from getting to close to him.
What is known is that Johnny Rayflo was a religious knight during the Middle Ages in Europe (placed before the 13th Century, but likely after the 10th Century), and the crown that he had sworn his fealty to was Princess Marie of an unnamed kingdom. The castle was under siege by a great force, people were suffering from the blockade, being trapped within the walls for so long with little food, water, or sanitation. To save the little girl he was sworn to, Rayflo damned himself and sold his soul to the demon Belial in return for the wish to have the strength to protect her and the rest of the people. With that wish, he gained the power to save her, but was also turned into a vampire.
Marie was injured during the fight, near death, and Rayflo turned her into a vampire hoping to spare her life. When Rayflo was losing himself, corrupted by his new nature and bloodlust, it was Marie who pulled him back. But this didn’t last. Eventually as time went on, Marie was twisted and corrupted, mostly likely due to her young and impressionable age when she first became a vampire and the long centuries of being one. It is one of Rayflo’s greatest regrets.
The demon whose name Rayflo cannot speak became quite infatuated with the idea of owning such a selfless, religious, and loyal knight and watching him slowly corrupted, to the point that despite not being able to remain indefinitely on Earth himself, he created a copy of himself, Barry the incubus, to watch over Rayflo and act in his stead. He also took one of Rayflo’s ribs and created a female copy of him, Rayfell, in a twisted mockery of the story of Adam and Eve. He cursed Rayfell so that she would be doomed to be unfaithful to anyone she loved, always giving into carnal desires and base need, which in turn also feeds Barry and he gains strength from Rayfell’s infidelities. Rayflo is thus bound to both of them. Barry is capable of controlling Rayflo by using his true name against him and Rayfell will live as long as he does.
Over the years, Rayflo has had a love/hate relationship with Barry, often to the point that Barry abuses him in violent displays of his authority and possession of him (killing people Rayflo comes close to, slaughtering villages in his name, sexually assaulting him on more than one occasion), and Rayflo himself gave into his own negative nature to appease Barry and keep him from harming other people. He drinks blood, has sex with multiple partners, collects massive amounts of wealth and luxuries just because he can, and does as many different things that he can to prove he is indeed a terrible person. He even worked with the Catholic Church to lock Marie away in suspended animation, which was a great show of betrayal since he had sworn a holy oath to her, but he did it because he believed that she had become too much of a dangerous to herself and to others. Somewhere along the way he also gained a cat familiar, Minea, who is his dearest companion that also transforms herself into a maid when it suits her to be useful for him.
Then he wandered his way into a war torn nation in the late 1800s, knowing how easy it would be to pick his food from the dying or unassuming soldiers on the battlefield. What he did not expect was to find a child left alone to die in the rubble of a church. The little boy was young, innocent, naive, and traumatized to the point from his experiences that he barely knew how to speak and had no memories of how he had come to be there. Rayflo cared for the child for a month, and even gave the child the name “Chris” (later to become Christopher Michael and then Charles J. Chrishunds), but realized it was too dangerous to keep a child with his lifestyle and Barry always a step behind. So he took the boy to a church to be cared for by the nuns and priests there.
He stayed away for years, but eventually couldn’t keep himself away and came back, taking on the guise of a priest to look after Chris and help raise him. Their relationship deepened over the years, becoming very strong bond, to the point that Chris all but worshipped Rayflo himself, but everything changed the night that Chris was fatally injured and Rayflo found him near death. Chris did not want to die and leave Rayflo, so he turned him into a vampire, knowing that Chris would regret his choice. And he did. He regretted it so much that he came to hate himself and hate Rayflo for what he had done to him.
Chris gave up the name Rayflo gave him and became Charles J. Chrishunds, but refused to drink human blood. He only drank blood from Rayflo, and even that he would put off doing for as long as he could. Rayflo had to all but force him at first because Chris was so ashamed, but the hunger and need to feed would eventually take control. Rayflo threw himself back into his self-destructive behavior after this, going back to the parties and drinking and giving his body to others to be used how they saw fit in return for their blood (and even letting some people drink his blood without care for if they turned). Charles became a sanctioned vampire hunter of the Catholic Church and Rayflo went on as a rich playboy who did as he pleased and only sought to have fun. The more reckless and sinful Rayflo’s actions, the angrier Charles was by him.
In part, Rayflo’s actions were to drive Chris away from him, but Rayflo could never do that completely. His own need to know Charles was okay and that he could come to him if he needed was just as strong as Charles obsessive need to hunt him down whenever he ran away. It became a twisted game and went on that way for decades. Rayflo would run and create a decadent, indulgent image and lifestyle and Charles would go on missions for the Vatican while hunting Rayflo down. Then there would be violence and fighting until Rayflo “lost” and Charles would finally drink from him.
It was after one of these fights that Charley informed Rayflo that he had been requested to go to a mission in China and that he was taking Rayflo with him. He didn’t really want to go at first, but Rayflo agreed. Sister Famille revealed that they had Princess Mary and that was when Rayflo realized that the true person who had brought them there had been her all along. Mary wanted Rayflo back and was willing to kill Charles to convince him, but instead Rayflo let Cherry feed from him and almost died when the sun rose and he turned to ash, but instead Mary tried to save him, turning to ash herself. Rayflo was spared because one of the bats that he shape shifts himself into hid in a cave until nightfall and he was able to heal himself. It was after this event and how severely Charles took what might have been Rayflo’s death that they moved in together, Rayflo spending almost all of his time at Charles’ apartment and he began to avoid Barry, cutting off their affair.
Sometime later, there was a party at a church supporting the various denominations of the Church in the area and Charles was invited so he took Rayflo with him. They ended up in a compromising position and met Cheryl, a vampire hunter and a vjedogonia (human descendant of a vampire who has the powers of a witch and shall become a vampire upon their death), the lover of Rayfell. She had wanted his help in trying to solve a case as several women had ended up dead around the Church that the party was being held at. They tricked Cherry into thinking that Rayflo had somehow transformed his body into a woman’s but really it was Rayfell pretending to be Johnny. They used her as bait at the church to try and figure out who the culprit was and it turned out to be Father Kazan of the Neo Union Church himself. His follower Father Mailer had been watching over the Church while he retired due to “illness” and he fed on the women to try and cure himself, but had not completely turned into a vampire. Mailer was injured and left in a coma near death, but was later cured when someone used Vassalord, a drug created from vampire blood and ended up becoming one himself, while to the public it looked like a medical miracle.
Months later, Cheryl invited them to a beach resort so she and Charles could talk, only their flight was interrupted (not to mention Rayflo did not take kindly to being left in his coffin in cargo…), when a girl named Miranda tried to highjack the plane so she could get her cargo to her destination without anyone messing with it. It turned out to be a box of body parts with a bomb inside and Rayflo and Cherry subdued her only to realize they couldn’t defuse the bomb in time so they threw themselves out of the airlock with the bomb. Rayflo cushioned their fall—breaking his back in the process—and they all survived so that Charles could flag down a shipping boat nearby to take them to the mainland.
Rayflo had to feed his blood to Miranda because she was going through a hunger frenzy from the shock—which is when they realized she was a vampire herself. It was after they finally were at their hotel and Rayflo was bedridden from his injury that they finally let Miranda (who they found out was an rising star from the big screen) go back to her agent. Then her car was blown up and Barry made sure Rayflo knew he had done it because Rayflo had given blood to Miranda.
It is after this that Rayflo becomes more distant. They also have Detective Craig Bernstein investigating them because he was the head detective on the Mailer case at the church and knows they were on the plane Miranda high jacked. Rayflo runs away so he won’t have to answer questions, going to his mansion where he conjures up his maids and makes them clean the house from top to bottom of any proof that he and Cherry were ever there.
Cherry follows him there later and they fight, only for Charles to feed from him again. Then Charles’ dog alerts them to a paralyzed child he found outside on the property. It hits Rayflo that the boy, Harold, looks a lot like he did when he was young. It makes him uncomfortable and he’s rude to the boy, something that surprises Charley considering Rayflo’s completely adoration of children. Rayflo even tells him that the boy might be a vampire of a sort, but he won’t tell him anything else. Rayflo doesn’t like staying in the house with Howard there so he goes off into the woods to burn all of the records he has of his and Charles’ life in the mansion, then goes off to Charley’s apartment to hide out. A voice calls to him from outside and he thinks it’s Charley so he opens the window—only to find out that it was Barry pretending to be Charley.
Barry assaults him, leaving him a bloody mess on the bed for Charley to find when he arrives. Rayflo tries to hide what happened, but Charley isn’t fooled. Instead he goes into a frantic rage over how Rayflo was injured and Rayflo has to calm him down. He then asks Charley to drink from him because having his blood drank by Charles has been purifying it, something that even Barry noticed. Barry seeks to force Rayflo to feed from him because he knows it taints him more every time. But then Rayflo realizes that Barry is still watching them and pushes Charley away, walking out on him.
When Charley infiltrates a prison in Italy to find out more about the drug Vassalord while working on a case with Detective Bernstein, Rayflo has to go to the prison to save him, despite knowing that Barry is still chasing after him and that he would have to do it in broad daylight without turning himself to ash. He doesn’t stay, but instead leaves almost immediately, only to be confronted by Barry again. He decapitates him and leads him on another chase, but a few weeks later he knows that Cherry will need to feed again so he sends him an invitation to a masquerade ball with an opera perform of The Phantom of the Opera.
But Barry is there, too, and when Rayflo tries to flee Charles won’t let him. He refuses to let him go again and Rayflo almost consents to stay, only to have Barry attack them and try to kill Cherry. He uses the guise of Rayflo when he was a priest to confuse Charley and is too powerful for Cherry as a weaker vampire to kill alone, but Rayflo realizes that if Charley can use Barry’s true name against him, he will have the power to at least severely weaken him. But Rayflo is bound by his contract with the demon and thus cannot say his name. Instead he chooses to hurt himself by quoting passages from the Bible, which he knows Charley will know by heart and will thus lead him to figure out what Barry’s true name is (which is the same as his maker, Belial). This tactic works, but it was so harmful to Rayflo that he almost dies right then. Charles calls out for help and that is when Harold arrives with Father Mailer in tow.
Only he is not truly Harold, but instead Alfred Wayne, the man who has been making Vassalord and using it to spread vampirism in his quest to study Rayflo, who he calls Adam, the first vampire. Alfred heals Rayflo, but because of this devil’s bargain, Cherry becomes his puppet, a high fashion model and public face to push his agenda so as to better circulate Vassalord to the rich and famous, while also doing other things in shadows. Rayflo on the other hand is kept locked in an underground cell designed to look like a natural garden where he can be experimented on and his blood can be taken. It is here that they find out that Alfred has been obsessed with Rayflo for over a century, to the point that he even made clones of him to try and better understand his secrets. Rayflo and Cherry are kept separated while they fulfill whatever roles Alfred demands of them, but neither likes the situation.
[character abilities]:
As a vampire over a few centuries old (he was alive during medieval times), he has a very strong healing rate and he can pass this on to other vampires. By drinking his blood regularly, his thrall, Charley, can even go out in sunlight (which Johnny himself cannot do without special protection). Johnny also has the ability to turn into a horde of bats and squeeze himself through very small cracks and holes. If he is ever turned to dust by the sun, as long as one bat is spared (or his ashes are saved), he will heal himself. Johnny also has the ability to fly, supernatural strength, speed, agility, very high pain tolerance (he has his limbs ripped off and his chest torn open with bones removed and is still able to make witty remarks), and what appears to be a higher than normal sex appeal (whether this is because he is a vampire or because he is just naturally sexually appealing to a variety of people is not explained). He also has the ability to turn humans into vampires. Johnny is does need to ask to enter a room that is not his, is weaker against silver, holy water, and other blessed weapons, but can go into churches without a problem.
Other basic skills that Johnny has are that he's very good with swords and physical combat. He's lived for centuries and been around the world so he's picked up a lot of things, so it stands to reason he is probably familiar with various languages, cultures, and has learned from them.
[character personality]:
Johnny Rayflo is not his true name, but it is close to the name someone dear to him used to call him. Johnny is an enigmatic character because he has layers upon layers to his personality, to his behavior, and his history. On the surface he comes across as this sexy, flirtatious, playful, affluent playboy who just loves having fun and taking what he can out of life, but beneath that is also his large soft spot for children and his love of cute things (animals, toys, etc). Going even deeper is his affection for "Chris," a young boy he found during a war in the 1800s who he took in when the boy was left to starve to death in a war town city. He took care of Chris and raised him for over a month before finally taking him to an orphanage run by the Catholic Church (and then later on infiltrated said church to continue to take care of him). Years later, after Chris is also turned into a vampire by Johnny himself, he becomes his thrall (essentially his child) and comes to him to feed so that he'll not have to feed off of humans.
Johnny lets him do this even though Chris gets pretty violent and rough (he will go days and weeks without feeding, starving himself as long as he can until he eventually gorges himself), while also professing his undying anger and hatred of him, and it wears on him (although Johnny is also more than a bit of a masochist and likes it). Johnny despite appearing selfish and arrogant is rather selfless, doing things often that contradict his surface facade, such as jumping off of a plane when he finds there is a bomb on it and taking the bomb with him so that the passengers on the plane won't be hurt (which leads to him breaking his back).
Despite being a playboy who loves to flirt (and he will flirt with just about anyone) and someone who quite enjoys sex on a regular basis (except when he's with his "Cherry," aka Chris/Charley, because Chris is still a virgin and won't give it up), Johnny has a bit of fear and dislike of women. He will flirt with them, flatter them, and even help them, but if they show sexual interest in him he has problems handling it. On the outside he'll still seem flirtatious and enjoying himself, but inside he's having a breakdown. After being kissed by a woman he had saved, he even claims he has been poisoned and needs a kiss from Cherry to save him (of course, only doing this after she has left the room, and only Cherry can see him taking it so poorly). It shows that Johnny only really lets his guard down around people he's comfortable with and otherwise the mask of chronic flirt and rich playboy stays in place.
Johnny's sentimental, but secretive. The people closest to him still do not know all there is to know about him. He's also an emotional person who can be teased and at times hurt by words from those who mean a lot to him (Cherry uses this against him at times), but then he can also turn around and make everything into a game. He doesn't like showing how weak he can be to people so he tends to just play it off and make jokes, or flirt. He would rather be seen as selfish, ignorant, or a tease than to show just how deeply he can let himself get involved in things or how big of a masochist he is, because many of his surface traits and the facades he wears are very self-destructive. In the past he even used to sell himself, having sex and letting people drink from him (but only in very minute amounts), and in return be allowed to feed from them. He treated himself like an object to be used and it took Cherry crashing more than one of these parties and showing a lot of possessive judgment. for him to put a stop to it. Not that it stopped Johnny from still fully believing that being used and abused is a fitting punishment for him, but he keeps these feelings close to his chest. Even with Cherry, who he is very open with, Johnny cannot give all of himself without feeling some guilt because parts of his past Johnny doesn't want him knowing about.
Another layer to Johnny is his relationship with Barry, an incubus demon who comes across as his ex (but who is really a clone of the demon Rayflo sold his soul to when he became a vampire). Before moving to the United States to live with Chris, he would go meet him on occasion, but avoids him completely afterward unless necessary. It's rather obvious that Johnny is afraid of Barry, which could stem from the fact that Barry is the only person Earth who has the power to completely control him. At the same time, Johnny continues to play games with Barry, leading him on, so as to keep him attention from other places (such as Cherry). He avoids being around Cherry in order to keep Barry from trying to involve him, but as soon as he knows that Cherry needs him to help escape a mafia prison, he goes to his rescue, even in broad daylight. No matter what, Cherry comes before everything for him. He will sacrifice anything and everything for him. He even quoted the Bible despite knowing that, as a damned being (as he is a vampire and sold his soul), it could kill him. When forced to fight against Cherry at the behest of Princess Marie, the little girl he had sworn fealty to all those centuries ago, he was willing to let Cherry kill him because he could not go against Marie’s orders, but refused to hurt Cherry, either.
For all that Rayflo can be flirtatious, melodramatic, immature and purposefully tries to rile him up, Charley is the center of his world and to some it may not seem important, but it greatly defines Rayflo’s life, goals and self-image. He raised him, gave him the name Chris, turned him into a vampire (to save his life, though Rayflo did not want to), and all the good he believes can ever come from him exists within Charley. He also sees Charley as proof that no matter how good something is, Rayflo’s influence will taint it somehow.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Chapter 22, after sending Cherry a very elaborate, intimate love letter that was really a secret message about a plan to escape.
[journal post]:
From a Garden of Eden to a City of Hell, is it? Prettiest piece of hell I’ve ever seen, I’ll give you that. [He’s smiling at the camera, cigarette held a few inches from his mouth.] But do forgive me, where are my manners—call me Rayflo. Now if someone would mind pointing me in the direction of the door out of this place, I’m sure I can show a little appreciation before being on my way.
That is, unless there are some more interesting attractions to see here first. [Playful and easy, he needs to keep up appearances, even if he is standing around where nothing more than a robe and looking perfect comfortable in it.] I’m easy to please. A little wine, a little fun, and a nice bed at the end of the night.
[And that easy going demeanor changes for a moment, but it comes back just as quickly.] Not that I’m intending to make this an overnight trip. Places to go, people to see—you know how that is. Where does the time go?
[third person / log sample]:
He can feel him coming. The recognition sends a hot, twisted thread of anticipation curling up Rayflo’s spin, but he doesn’t react so obviously about it. He sits on the bed he’s been given, staring up into the eaves of the trees overhead, relaxed as he ever looks. Minea is gone, off to complete the orders he gave her and the room feels so very empty without her. He knows they’re watching him, but it doesn’t him as much as it could. The boys behind the cameras get so shy when he shows a little more skin and he knows they aren’t as vigil about monitoring him as they could be just from the scandalized and bashful way they talk to him sometimes. It’s kind of precious.
The sensation moves from his spine to the messy lump of meat in his chest that doesn’t beat, but keeps him alive all the same, and it’s from anticipation to full grown yearning. So close and yet so far.
The door opens and he pushes himself up to sit on the bed with an easy, languid motion, knowing already who it is by their smell. He can’t say that he expected him today, but Rayflo is good at adapting to the situation. He’ll just have to make sure to get rid of him quickly. Not like it’s all that hard.
“Father, whatever brings you here?” he asks. The man stares at him with that same annoying as hell smile on his face. Half indulgent, half condescending. He has no idea.
“I heard that you were giving you guards a bit of a show earlier,” he responds, staring down at Rayflo from where he stood.
Oh, is that what this was about? Were they so embarrassed they couldn’t even call him over the PA system? Babies. “Maybe they shouldn’t be so eager to peek while I’m enjoying myself,” he tells him. “Or did you come because you were jealous they saw it and you didn’t?”
Mailer doesn’t rise to the bait. At least not yet. Rayflo knows how this game will play out. “You are a devil of temptation. I wonder if this is why your precious Charles is so addicted to you.”
“Well, I am irresista—” Rayflo throws up a hand dismissively, only for Mailer to grab in, holding his wrist in a firm but gentle grip. Rayflo cuts off his own sentence to chuckle while tilting his head to the side, making sure his hair is aware from his neck. Risky move, being so blatant, but when does anything ever come without a risk? Pastor Mailer’s eyes shift in focus, moving away from his face for the briefest of moments and Rayflo knows he’s already won this round even when those teeth as sinking into his skin barely a minute later, the foreplay already said and done. This barely matters anymore and all he has to do is play his part.
Chris is here.