Caleb: Made Of Tears
Greetings, readers. I appreciate you taking interest in this comprehension. I cannot guarantee your satisfaction reading this... but I have not written this as a story to begin with. Instead, its more of a public message. You see, Caleb has taken time off from SoFurry and has left me to manage his profile throughout his absence. The reason being that he has recently opened slots for commissions and he needs someone to manage possible inquiries. I am his maker. You need not know my name. Just note that nobody alive in the world today knows him anywhere near as much as I do. It has come to my attention that certain members of SoFurry dislike Caleb simply for how he behaves. They find him unusual at times... and some have even expressed him as being depressing. To make things even more interesting, he has been occasionally snapped at and ordered to have his ways changed. These people know nothing about him and yet have the nerve to act like they do. I am going to share something with all of you regarding our dear Caleb. I am going to tell you his story.
In 1970, Caleb and his first wife, Aaliyah, were enjoying a drive on the Gold Coast when two men in a pickup truck ambushed them. They ran them off the road and dragged both of them out of the car. Caleb struggled to reach for the gun in the glove compartment to no avail and Aaliyah and him suffered a brutal beating. It does not stop there... One of the men proceeded to restrain Caleb and he forced him to watch as the other raped Aaliyah before putting a bullet into her head with the very gun from the glove compartment of Caleb's car. To finish things, both men threw Caleb off a nearby cliff and left. I was feeling the waves caressing my feet on my shoreline stroll nearby when I heard the commotion. Caleb hit the rocks soon after. He had barely a breath left in him as I gazed down at his bloody body, eyes half-lidded with no sign of sight. There was no time to lose as blood continued to trickle down the rocks and into the sea. So, I did what I deemed necessary at the time considering the circumstances at hand. I managed to gain what I needed from him before he passed out. Would he avenge the death of his wife if he had the chance? His answer was yes.
I am a vampire. One who's rank dwarfs all others'. I am the reason Caleb survived that accident over 40 years ago to see these days. My blood runs in his veins. While Caleb was undergoing vampire baptism, I tracked down the two men that attacked him and Aaliyah to repay their deeds. Allowing Caleb to avenge his wife's death himself with the strength and powers he had inherited from me at such an early stage might have had terrible consequences. The following day, I left Caleb in an abandoned beach hut with the two slaughtered men and a note. He had not seen my face... so discretely watching over him for the following 42 years was fairly simple. I do not favor turning mortals despite the stereotypical views on my kind majority of people tend to possess. I still sometimes resent what I did. But, when you have lived for well over 3 millennium... and have hardly anything left to live for... seeing something so terrible happen to a helpless being is not something you want to ignore.
I should also point out at this very moment that not long before all this happened, Caleb lost both his parents. His father collapsed and passed suddenly during a day out as a family... and his mother soon followed due to severe depression, alcoholism, and heavy smoking. Aaliyah was all he had left... till that unfortunate morning on the Gold Coast. They were very happy together. Having experienced such stress and despair... and no longer having any family left to return to, Caleb made the decision to leave home. Packing necessary belongings, he took his father's car and embarked on an endless drive. He did not seem to have any destinations in particular. It was just... highway after highway... town after town, city after city... gas station after gas station... border after border. He never even stopped once to rest at a motel or homestay. He just pulled over when he got tired and slept in the car. He would not meet anyone. It was obvious to me that he wanted to be alone. Quite often, for some time, he would wake up in the middle of the night... and then I would hear him crying. He never stayed in one place for more than three days either.
From Gladstone, Caleb boarded a container ship to Singapore. It was a full week before we hit land once again. From Singapore Harbor, Caleb continued his drive north... eventually reaching the Johor-Singapore Causeway that lead into Malaysia, a jungle-filled country at the time with only small, winding roads connecting cities to towns. After an additional 8 hours of driving, Caleb had reached a place on the border of Selangor and Pahang called The Gap... the base of Fraser's Hill where a British colony once resided during the second World War.
Reaching the colony at the top, the British had long gone and some natives had already made some of the houses into their homes. Caleb seeked out an abandoned bungalow and for the next 5 years or so, this was his home. Finally, he found a place that made him feel comfortable enough to settle down in. For income, he collected insects for a family of Chinese framers who paid him well for his collecting skills and knowledge. It was from here that he gained the fascination for butterflies and moths. Slowly, he started building his own little collection of papered specimens. Specimens which he still keeps till today. I used to watch him go on walks at night, inspecting the numerous lights in the area. With the pristine environment of the time, there was plenty to go around. During this period, he made a friend... a young teenage boy named Khalid who shared the same fascination for insects with Caleb. For the first time, I was privileged to see the person Caleb once was. From a quiet, depressed individual emerged this jovial and boisterous being. They joked and laughed... They had food and drinks together... It was both a pleasure and a relief for me. On weekends, Caleb took a 3 hour drive down to Kuala Lumpur... the capital of Malaysia to perform gigs with his father's old guitar that he had taken with him from home. He sessioned for several top bands of the time and the recordings from those days are still in his possession till today. I recall him once sharing several recordings on his profile, but was later accused of copyright infringement. Dandy. Performing was the major part of his income. Of course, after not playing for a while, he was a little rusty. But, the locals accepted him nonetheless and all these happenings were doing Caleb good. He had friends, he had financial income, things had improved greatly. It seemed the days of sadness had come to an end. I was wrong.
5 years after Caleb's arrival at Fraser's Hill, more tragedy struck. Caleb was having lunch with Khalid when the now adolescent boy decided to cross the street to visit the local sundry store. Screeching tires were heard soon after and Khalid was on the ground, thrown approximately 10 feet from where the car had hit him. The driver was rushing to work and did not see him crossing as he flew around the bend. Khalid was announced dead on site. Looking back to Caleb, my heart sank once more. As he stood there by the side of the road, those long-passed days of sadness quickly returned to engulf him in a void. He trembled down to his knees and stayed there. No tears were shed... No words were spoken. He just... did not move. Everybody in town knew about Khalid and Caleb and many of them came to comfort him as best they could. Even after the local police had taken the body away to the nearest hospital about an hour away, Caleb remained where he was. Before dark, he finally got back up on his feet... and slowly walked back to his bungalow. I listened to his silent crying that night.
The following morning saw him packed up and ready to leave once again. It seemed Caleb had made the decision to move on. It was like starting all over again. The death of a loved one... followed by a long, endless drive. Caleb was such a nice young fellow. 5 years of watching him showed me this. Why such misfortunes were happening to him, I did not know. I could not fathom it. There was no meaning to it. I am going to save some time and explanations here and forward things a little further. Nothing truly worth mentioning happened from here to where I am about to resume. Lets skip right to when Caleb arrived in Brazil... the country he lives in till this day. It had been 18 years since Caleb left Malaysia... 23 years since he left home. His travels had brought him tens of thousands of miles across the globe to be where he was, now. A weather-beaten individual in a car that had seen much better days stopped to refuel at a gas station in a place called Rondonia. This was yet another unfamiliar country for Caleb, but I had been planning and making arrangements for something that would change his life for the better since he crossed over from Panama into Colombia.
Lets take a trip back some 800 years from now. 1204 was the year and an adolescent male with big dreams had devised a plan. His name is Vincent. As he sat there at his workbench, a large blueprint consisting of several portions of hide stitched together covered the entire top of the table. They were schematics... Drawn architectural measurements that eventually came to be Sector 1404 200 years later. Of course, Vincent did not do it alone. No one could... and so he had help. It was not a difficult feat gaining the attention and interest of higher ranks since the idea of a safe haven for the decreasing numbers of non-humans was much favored. The time had come to be something more than just hunting trophies for the human race. This was what Vincent strived to achieve. This was what every non-human had hoped for. Alongside Quetzalcoatl, Constantina, Ra, and many others, I was a part of the team that helped build Sector 1404. As you might imagine, I knew some people. The world was quite small back then... and everyone knew one another at some point. For the centuries that followed after Sector 1404's completion, I made even more friends. I was a rarely unknown name in Sector 1404 just like everyone else involved in its construction. Making plans to ensure Caleb found it as well was fairly simple. All it needed was just a handful of people to converse at the right places... at the right time.
Back to the gas station in Rondonia. Caleb appeared quite troubled as he leaned against the side of his car, a small receipt in hand. It occurred to me that he was finally down to his last few hundred dollar bills. All the money that was saved up in the bank had been spent on his traveling. He was on the verge of bankruptcy... He knew the line had to be drawn then. Something had to be done there and then to change things. While he stood there deep in thought, a trio of heavily modified cars drove by. Unsurprisingly, they caught Caleb's attention... and I started seeing the wheels in his head beginning to turn. He had a plan... an idea. I just did not know what for the time being. Without hesitation, he jumped back into the driver's seat and sped off after the three cars. He followed them, keeping his distance as to not appear suspicious. The cars arrived at what appeared to be a garage, eventually. A small get-together of fellow car enthusiasts, it seemed. After idling by the roadside for a bit, Caleb made his move. He drove into the garage premise and stepped out of his car. Such an awkward moment it was... He was making an announcement. Being exactly who he was, Caleb revealed to them everything that he had been through... and that he was then looking for a street racing team. Caleb was going to street race... Maybe he had finally lost his mind. While most of the people present laughed at him, some stood silent. They appeared to understand him. Caleb had no more money... and he definitely was not going to win at anything with his father's old rust bucket Camaro at the time. As the rest paid no mind to Caleb and continued their conversations, two men approached him. One spoke while the other checked out his car. When they shook hands with smiles on their faces, I knew things had gone well. Once more, relief seemed to be on its way yet again. The agreement they had was that they would work on giving Caleb's car some top notch upgrades as well as a place for him to stay... while he raced cars of their own to earn the cash to pay them off for their work. It all looked like fair game... and it was. Night after night of illegal street racing passed and Caleb always delivered. All that driving he had done since he left home had an impressive effect on his skills. His name and reputation were growing fast... and more street racers began fearing for their cash.
It took Caleb only 2 and a half weeks to pay off his debts to the garage and its crew before continuing on his uncertain way. They shook hands and hugged before Caleb drove off in a similar-looking Camaro that sounded far more vicious. It was obvious to me that a lot of money had been invested into that old car. Some things changed from this point on. Due to his new career as a street racer, his life was now mostly spent up all night as very few racers dared to break the rules in broad daylight. Caleb became a nighthawk. He slept all day and raced all night. I for one was quite relieved by this change. Sunlight may not kill vampires, but its still nonetheless a discomforting element for us all. Caleb seemed to fare far better than me, to be honest. His genes mixed with mine must have caused a sort of positive reaction.
For the following week, I watched Caleb win race after race. It was quite exhilarating to watch, I must say. It was slowly becoming clear to me why street racers did what they did. Though some racers were darker than others... and Caleb did encounter these types on occasion. They played rough... They tried to cheat... But, he miraculously remained at the top. His will to succeed was unrivaled. He was determined to make things better for himself. One night, however... Something different was going on. Rather than driving to the usual racing sites, he took a different route and met up with a small group of people. I recognized some of them to be the ones who helped Caleb in the beginning. Perhaps there was no racing that night... Just a get-together of friends. That was what I thought till another car arrived. It was a face-off. Listening to the announcer of the event, I learned that this was a different kind of race. No money was involved. It was just two racers putting their very own cars on the line. Winner took all... loser walked home. I did not like what Caleb had gotten himself into... and I could tell by the look on his face that he did not either. But, it was clear that this was something he had to do. I knew Caleb too well. He never did anything without reason. Whatever he was aiming for that night, it must have been worth such great risk. He may have already earned a considerable amount of money from winning all those races, but I still did not think it was a wise choice to risk losing his only car. I looked on with a sick feeling in the bottom of my gut as both cars rolled to the start line. When the flag was raised and waved, I watched. Both cars remained side-by-side for the first half of the quarter-mile stretch. One car began pulling away from the other and as quickly as it started, the race was over. It was so close... and I kept watching, praying that it was Caleb who was ahead. It was. Overcome with such relief, I fell short of breath. People cheered him on while the other racer threw a tantrum. He did lose a very nice car, I must admit. Caleb now had two cars and his friends paraded in them all the way back to their garage. Now was the time for me to find out what their plan was...
The events were called Pink Slip Races... and Caleb saw these as an opportunity to start earning seriously large amounts of money. Since there were no cash wagers in racing pinks, Caleb sourced the money from something else... the cars that he won. He gave owners of said cars a chance to buy them back. But, not till after he had his friends search the cars over for any parts that would help improve his own car even further. Any parts he took were replaced with cheaper aftermarket pieces... and his friends' garage gained business from applying the upgrades to Caleb's Camaro. Caleb also paid for the aftermarket replacements. It was a professional deal... and for once, they were on to something big. While the cars he won awaited to be sold, he often raced pinks with them instead of using his beloved Camaro. That way, if he lost, and he did on occasion, the losses weren't too great. Some cars were eventually bought back by their owners while others ended up in others' hands... and with each sale, Caleb gained sums ranging from 50 to 100 thousand dollars at a crack. Heavily modified cars were rarely valuable in the commercial vehicle market. But, in the street racers' market... there were always people looking to spend on better, faster cars.
It was this high income that provided Caleb with the funds he needed to kick-start his new life. With the money, he applied for permanent residence, he invested in a couple of businesses for extra income... businesses which still stand strong till today, and he eventually got himself a nice place to call his new home. Everything he has now was all grown from street racing. Caleb has come a very long way from where he started off. Once a homeless loner with nothing but his father's car and the clothes in his knapsack... to the misunderstood millionaire you all know today. So, that is what Caleb did to turn his life around. Now, its time for me to show what I did to do so as well.
Sometime during Caleb's early days of street racing, I arranged to have two individuals from Sector 1404 to take their seats at a table next to his at a crowded food stall one night. Their duties were simply to talk about Sector 1404 and catch Caleb's attention with it. Sure enough, being the observant individual he was, Caleb overheard their conversation and started listening to them... his curiosity growing to a point where he was then staring right at them. Acting unnerved, the two girls stopped to check with him. That was when they started explaining to Caleb about Sector 1404... what it was and all that. Eventually, the two girls left... and a very puzzled and interested Caleb remained in his seat, the bowl of noodle soup he ordered gone cold. They talked for quite a while. Though Caleb had been informed about Sector 1404, I made sure how to get there remained unknown to him. I had other plans for that... and it was after that night that I went to pay Vincent another visit... after about 590 years of absence.
Vincent was very surprised and pleased to finally see me again... as was I with him. There was much to talk about. But, I had no plans of wasting time. I jumped straight to the point of my sudden return to Sector 1404 and I made sure Vincent understood my every word. I wanted Caleb brought into Sector 1404... and I explained everything that had happened since 1970 till present thoroughly. Very much like how I am doing so right this instant, actually. I realized that was not the usual way one got into Sector 1404, but amends had to be made for such an unfortunate soul like Caleb. Vincent was very sympathetic for the story I had told him... and though he understood, he was difficult to convince. I eventually convinced him... though the intimate as well as erotic methods I administered are to remain secret.
It was almost a year before anything went under way to introduce Caleb to Sector 1404. By then, Caleb had already achieved a better life. It was the end of October 1993 when Vincent approved the proceedings with the plan. I entered Caleb's house one late night and for a change, he was already passed out in his bedroom. Carefully lifting him out of bed, I carried him to the designated area where he was to meet Vincent in person. Once there, I gently laid him on the ground and retreated back into the surroundings to continue watching. Holding him for the first time in almost 24 years was quite nice... To wake him up, I kept calling his name softly. Once he stirred, my duties for that night were done. His eyes shot open and he jumped to his feet, disoriented and confused. Vincent then took over, telling Caleb that he was in no danger. The thick fog of that night slowly broke away around him and Caleb looked on quietly. They talked for a while and eventually, Vincent managed to convince Caleb to follow him. Caleb was now a part of Sector 1404... and I could finally rest easy. Knowing he was in good hands, I decided to take some time off.
Watching over someone for over 23 years does seem ridiculous... especially if he is someone you have never met before. I could have just left him there to die on the beach if I wanted to. But, being with Caleb showed me things I would otherwise have never seen. I learned things that one can only gain from sharing so much pain with a total stranger. It opened my eyes to the brutal reality that is humanity. It showed me that everyday is a gift and not a given right. We learn in every day of our lives. We can never know everything. Even I who have been cursed to walk the Earth for the past 3,270 years do not know everything. Before meeting Caleb, I was lost and lonely. Being with him healed me in a lot of ways. You see, solitude can be a good thing once in a while... but, when it is constantly surrounding you for lifetimes over, its enough to drive anyone insane. Many my age have taken their own lives. They just could not stand existing any longer. I have had my fair share of such moments, but something always told me to be patient... to wait. Maybe Caleb was not meant to die that day. Fate does work in mysterious ways. Its malleable enough to be influenced by choices and decisions, but also written in stone all together. It never seems to matter which path you take or how you choose to carry things out. You always end up with the same outcome sooner or later. Its both wonderful and daunting.
It was another 18 years or so before I ever saw Caleb again. What I was doing for all those years is quite frankly none of your business... neither is it important to you. Since my blood flows in Caleb's veins, tracking him down was easy. Progeny and their makers are always connected spiritually. The fact that I felt no pain or suffering throughout my absence ensured me that Caleb was doing fine. I tracked him to Atlantico, a part of the southernmost coast of Brazil. He was sitting on a rock with eyes red and brimming with moisture. It seemed that the tragedies from his past had returned to haunt him. Caleb was so good at bottling up his emotions... so strong with himself... that I never felt the sadness and despair that he went through on occasion ever since achieving a far better life. I figured it was time he saw the face of his maker. The one person who gave him that second chance at life. For the first time ever, I stood out in the open for him to see. He did not notice me at first so I called his name softly. Swinging his head around with recognition he stared quietly at me. With my face hidden in the shadow cast by the wide rim of my sunhat, I slowly walked over to him. Tilting my hat upwards a little, I showed him my face with a soft smile. He had no idea who I was, but he remembered my voice clearly... and so, for the rest of that day, we talked. I explained to him everything... and as if all the sadness within him decided to finally leave him alone, he cried. He did not sob, he did not whimper... He cried.
From our conversation that day, I learned of even more misfortunes he had experienced during my absence. In his early days of being a part of Sector 1404, he found a friend. His name was Calvin. Calvin fell terribly ill one day and the doctors discovered that he was poisoned. They tried saving him, but he was just too far gone. Caleb and Calvin spent their last moments together watching the fireworks of New Year's 2009. Calvin passed quietly in Caleb's arms. In early 2011, Caleb had a second wife named Carmela. She was stabbed to death during an ambush assault on Caleb by vampire haters a few months after being mated. Ever since I moved in to live with Caleb, the misfortunes have yet to cease. Halfway through 2013, a member from Caleb's street racing team was killed in a head-on collision with a semi-trailer. Caleb retired from street racing soon after. A few months later, he was hunted down and kidnapped by a group of armed men hired by a business colleague Caleb put in the hospital for stealing from him. He sustained a gunshot to his left shoulder when chased and was held for 5 days during which a dozen men took their turns at using him as their very own punching bag. Caleb eventually broke free and fought every single man to death to escape. No words can describe the shear stress Caleb suffered after returning home.
Now... Back to these users whom I have heard have a problem with Caleb. You see, all the accidents and misfortunes that have happened have had significant effects on him. He is deeply scarred in both psychological and emotional ways. Its not his fault he behaves the way he does. Caleb cannot function the same way everybody else does. His hard life has shaped and crafted him in a way that makes him strange. He is broken... but his will to live through the rest of his days alive is as strong as it will ever be. Until any of you have walked through the minefield that Caleb has... do not judge him. All he does is act strange and sometimes has his depressing moods. Do not tell me he judges you... because he does not judge people. I hear all this complaining about Caleb being depressing and I just shake my head. Its not the end of the world. If you cannot accept Caleb for who he is, then leave him alone. No need to spend your worthless breath nor your foul words. Just stop hating each other. Please... You get angry and make big deals of the pettiest of things. You judge people when you have no idea who they are or what they have been through. Why do you do that? It is not your right and it will never be.
Do not expect Caleb to change to suit you.... because he will not. He has done enough in his life to get where he is now. Its time you looked at yourself and see what can be changed there. Use that mirror for what it really is for once.