The early 1920’s; a time of prosperity and promise, at least if one looked upon the surface. Hedonistic tendencies ran rampant, nightclubs, jazz clubs and the like jam packed with youthful presence that desired nothing more than to indulge in life’s greatest delights and have a swinging time. For a child born to this grand era, Dewey Foster wanted for virtually nothing. Being born youngest to a large family of three other siblings, two brothers and one sister, meant little in terms of garnering attention - the children learned at an early age to make means of playtime and distractions among each other. A father, prominent in one of the local law firms of the time, and a mother who was well educated in the fine arts and classical music, the children’s education was extensively beyond that of regular teachings. Dewey himself became fascinated with the piano and violin.
Being in a part of London that wasn’t particularly affected by The Great Depression, life continued on in very much the same manner for the Foster family. Although the children were somewhat sheltered, Dewey held a rather large sympathy for those less fortunate or the ill, forged stronger by his mother’s own social awareness. By the time Dewey had reached his teens, his love of the arts had taken a back seat to growing news in the health industry. With diseases such as TB and Polio claiming so many lives, he felt his talents and time would be better suited to aiding those in need. Aside from his studies in the arts, Dewey had a somewhat odd fascination with the world of medicine and illnesses. He’d spend many evenings with a medical book in the common room, asking his mother what certain terms meant and learning how to identify them himself eventually.
Determined to set himself on the course of medical school, Dewey was a studious young adult, dutifully engaged in his learning and rarely ever could be found on campus without a journal of some kind in his possession. He soon graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in medicine from the University of Cambridge.
And then, that night. That fateful night - the immediate Foster family had gathered to celebrate Christmas Eve, his brother and sister’s children in tow to the house they had all grown and blossomed in. Dewey himself still remained single and unmarried, a choice deemed a shame by his mother specifically, but he insisted that his work remained the only romance he would ever require. The evening grew late, and Dewey was the first to offer his goodbyes to the family before heading out into the night. Snow drifted quietly along the sidewalks, until Dewey spotted a dotting of crimson in stark contrast to the white expanse. Curiosity overrode any other sense and, upon following the trail, he wound up finding a collapsed figure in a nearby alleyway.
He immediately rushed to their side, his instincts already kicking in to attempt to find and stop the bleeding. Only, in a matter of seconds, Dewey would realize that this was the gravest mistake of his entire life. The person was gushing profusely from their neck, and what appeared, to Dewey’s horror, bite marks sunken into the bloodied flesh. Only when they collapsed in his arms did he realize he had been a few minutes too late. Before he could even regain enough thought to return to his parents home and alert the authorities, a dark figure had been lurking in the alley, watching his every move. When Dewey glanced up, he was taken in an instant, slammed against brick and a hiss exhaled against his throat.
When he finally awoke, disoriented, pale and still bleeding, the figure towering over him asked him a simple question: did he wish to die? As weakened as he was, Dewey managed out a whispered ‘no’. For some reason that Dewey still to this day cannot fathom: whether the vampire took pity on him, sensed something that Dewey didn’t at the time, or simply wanted a companion, he offered himself for the dying human to drink. The process was… agonizing didn’t seem sufficient enough to describe it. All Dewey knew was that one moment, he was a human, and the next, he was being taught of creatures who only lurked at night, who sustained themselves on the blood of the living, those who were powerful beyond the mortal imagination.
As a youth, Dewey always had a bright outlook on the future, feeling that the world was his oyster. After being turned, his personality spiraled, a self loathing taking space in every corner; what once held light seemed to dim with gloom, a pensive sadness overwhelming him for the longest of times. Only through meditation and dutiful self-control practices did he begin to venture out into the world, slowly rekindling his adoration for medical practicing. As a vampire, he feels even more compelled to help those in need, maybe in an attempt to cover over the fact that he now sustains himself on a substance so vital.
Rarely ever is he seen without a grimace on his features, although he does make attempts at hopefulness only to his patients. Otherwise, he can be seen muddling through the rest of his life, a constant dark cloud hanging over his head. There isn’t much in the way of happiness for him aside from work. Though lately he’s been known to spend increasingly long nights at the local bars, drowning his sorrows in the dark corners until they finally close.