fearnoevils

[fearnoevils]

look,  there  goes  benito ángel reyes-verdugo de las nieves !  they're  the  twenty-six  year  old  i  was  telling  you  about  …  you  know  the  capricorn ?  it's  their  seventh  case  with  the  crew  —  not  counting  the  one  where  he mistook a confused old woman for an incarnation of satan (he still sends mrs. johnson flowers on her birthday as an apology) …  originally  from  mexico city, mexico,  let's  hope  their  grandmother’s handmade rosary  is  enough  to  protect  them  from dying with his eyes open.  most  people  know  them  as  protective and  innocent,  but  don't  be  surprised  if  their  inflexible side  slips  out  when  the  lights  flicker.  this  time  around,  they're  signed  on  as  the  exorcist,  which  makes  sense  considering  they  spend  most  of  their  time  woodcarving  like  their  life  depends  on  it.  if  you  ever  need  them,  try  picturing  an offer of escort home on a moonless night ; calm in the face of chaos ; a lit candle set before an otherwise abandoned grave ; shaking hands forced into steadiness ; and dark circles under bright eyes  or  whispering  preacher into  the  walkie.  but  beware  —  if  they  don't  answer,  something  else  might.

the basics:

full name: benito ángel reyes-verdugo de las nieves 

nickname(s): ben, benny, preacher

age: 26

d.o.b.: 01/05/1999

born in: mexico city, mexico 

current residence: in transition; often lives in rectories adjacent to churches when not on cases with the Echo Files

parents: Luis Reyes (58), Ximena Verdugo de las Nieves (42)

siblings: Soledad “Sunny” (25), Francisco “Frankie” (24), Lupe (20), Ana (19), Paolo (18), Hector (17)

mentors: Nayeli de las Nieves (62), Father Gabriele Agosti (62), Father Candido Amati (65)

gender identity: cis man, he/him 

sexuality: asexual, demi&biromantic

relationship status: single & forbidden to mingle

languages spoken: english, spanish, italian, latin

religion: ordained as a roman catholic priest 

education: completed high school and seminary studies, as well as exorcist training

the body:

dominant hand: left ; forced to be ambidextrous and still defaults to right 

blood type: O-

allergies: cat hair (he still loves them even though they make him sneeze)

body type: muscular

hair: black, cut short and slicked back with product

eyes: black 

height: 5'9 

scars: deep lines scored down his back, paler and smaller scars along his knuckles

tattoos/piercings: his ears were pierced as a baby.  no tattoos.

most likely to wear: muscle tees, jeans, collared shirts with the sleeves rolled up the elbow, long jackets or trenchcoats 

scent: spicebomb extreme by viktor&rolf.  vanilla, sweet liquorice, and tobacco.  deepened with the warm, spicy scent of incense.  

the spirit:

traits: (+) protective, generous, dependable 

(=) innocent, devoted, faithful

(-) judgmental, inflexible, self-sacrificing 

mbti: the defender 

zodiac: capricorn sun, virgo moon, cancer rising 

likes: meditation, guitar-led and choral music, eating with others, warm days, flowers, bird-watching

dislikes: bigots, people who use long words on purpose, soap operas, hard-boiled eggs, lying

habits: sings choral music in the shower, wakes up at 3AM on the dot then either wanders around or goes back to sleep, prays and meditates for at least an hour every morning and evening

the backstory:

Benito was born in Mexico City, Mexico, the city his mother was born in, but his father convinced her to cut all ties and join him in a house he’d built in the countryside.  His father wasn’t a good builder; he remembers rain dripping into buckets, blood welling from scrapes against the uneven floor.  Ben learned how to take care of people young; his little siblings were his responsibility, and it was up to him to keep them safe.

He was six when his mother decided to leave his father, fully uproot and move them back Mexico City; he had difficulty fitting in at public school due to his classmates taunting him for his thick accent and country habits, and often in trouble for fighting.  His mother had to work multiple shifts to provide for them; his father only appeared on holidays.  They were both absent from his life in their own ways, but his mother’s constant sacrifice kept a roof that didn’t leak over his siblings’ heads, and Ben decided early in his childhood that he would not be like his siblings, crying and clinging to her; he would be the one that they could cling to instead.

The summers were hard for his mother; in order to be able to keep working, she had to shuffle Benito and his siblings between relatives and neighbors.  Ben most often ended up with his paternal grandmother, a reclusive curandera living in a village deep in the Yucatán jungle.  She was a strange woman, sensitive to changes in the air and deeply knowledgeable about the esoteric.  During those summers, it felt like Benito lived in a different world: one governed by deeply-rooted ideas of good and evil, curses and superstition.  His grandmother was often called upon by people from all over the region to cleanse evil and give blessings, and she brought him along on most trips, insisting that his guardian angel would protect him.  He helped her with anything she needed: he closed the eyes of the recently dead, held burning incense steady even when it made his eyes water, and memorized the prayers she taught him.

His grandmother gifted his mother the money necessary to enroll Benny in a Catholic high school, where the nuns brooked no fighting, no disobedience, and absolutely no writing with the left hand.  Benito thrived in the harsh environment, and took great solace in his religious studies.  There, he found answers to the mysteries he’d discovered at his grandmother’s side, trading dread for faith.  Although his high school was intended as preparation for further seminary studies, most of his fellow students lacked his diligence.  When a group of boys in his homeroom decided that they were going to stay after hours and use a dusty old book found in a corner of the library to summon a demon, he went along mostly so that he could stop them from causing any damage and make a full report on their activities to the headmaster.

The night broke into fragments in his memory, the same way certain nights at his grandmother’s side had.  The nervous laughter, the circle of salt.  The chant taken up, first hesitantly, then with strength.  The smell of sulphur.  Deep laughter ringing from far away.  Blood.  The boy holding the book, his spine bent in the wrong direction.  Screaming.  His grandmother’s rosary beads carving circles into his skin.  His own voice, unrecognizable, like the crack of thunder that heralds a storm: “I cast you out, in the name of the Lord.”  

When he woke up, he was in the hospital.  His mother, his siblings, his grandmother, and a priest he didn’t recognize were all waiting.  Over the next few days, he learned that although multiple boys had been injured, none had died.  Due to a litany of charges - stealing, breaking and entering, and property destruction - each and every boy present was expelled.  The priest, an old friend of his grandmother’s named Gabriele Agosti, explained to Benito that he had a choice: return to public school, or travel to Rome to begin seminary studies early and train as his apprentice.  

Benito chose Rome.  He worked hard at his studies, in between trips with Father Agosti to learn the practical skills necessary to be counted among the Pope’s exorcists.  After his ordination, he joined the order of Saint Michael the Archangel, led by Cardinal Candido Amati.  Due to his relative youth, Ben was bid to remain an apprentice at Father Agosti’s side even after his ordination, his role to assist the aging priest in the necessary rituals and rites of exorcism.  They settled in the United States, falling into an easy routine: Father Agosti would get a call from a priest somewhere in the continental U.S., they would hit the road – Ben driving, Agosti sleeping, living mostly off of diner food and resting in what churches or rectories would take them for the night.  On arrival, they would assess the problem, and if necessary provide their services. 

The rhythm of their routine was disrupted by an odd call: Inés Guzman, requesting the services of an exorcist for a show they helped to produce, the Echo Files.  She’d been given their number by her brother, Father Mateo Guzman, the leader of a small parish in Illinois.  Agosti laughingly declined, confident that the group wouldn’t stumble into any real trouble, but Benito couldn’t help but think of the night that changed his life, the boys who stumbled, laughing, into evil.  Inés was someone’s child, the younger sibling of a man he respected; he felt it was his responsibility to help.  And so, his tenure as the Echo Files’ exorcist began.

[fearnoevils]

Benito Ángel Reyes-Verdugo de las Nieves ❛Ben / Preacher❜

26 ♱ crewmember on the Echo Files, written & adored by sapph

The Exorcist I am the good shepherd ; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.

[fearnoevils]

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