| “ | “I’m no dead man, I just haven't aged in a while. A very… long while!” | „ |
| ~ Raymond Beckham |
Raymond Evan Beckham, Otherwise known as the Apparition of the Atlantic, is a 16 year old Assistant Engineer on a military ship known to many as the HMS Gweneviere ll. In 1940, Ray had a grand time on the ship, dedicated to spending his free time with his dearest Amelia Wagner. Ray usually helped his father in checking the mobility of watertight doors, emergency boats, and emergency kits around the ship. After preparing for an emergency drill and going through a few malfunctions, Raymond underestimated the severity of his sleep deprivation and was brutally crushed in between a watertight door. Though spending almost a century on the now empty ship, Raymond is still unaware of his death and continues to call out for his lover, in hopes she will respond back.
Origin[]
Born on June 13th, 1924, Raymond Evan Beckham has spent almost his entire life with a fascination with boats and ships. He never got over how his father owned an 880 ft long ocean liner; the HMS Gweneviere. As a young boy, Ray was always scolded by his parents for running on the ship’s bow. The 175 foot drop into roaring waters startled him, especially when he was told by his mother that he could be sucked into the ship’s colossal steel propeller. After many years of training under his father to keep Gweneviere to be the safest and fanciest ship in the United States, Raymond was finally considered to be an Engineer. There was truly nothing that could distract him from such an accomplishment. It was until 1938 when he met a girl, a girl as beautiful as the sea’s lost treasures. She had eyes that shone like honey, her skin a mocha brown, and her hair as luscious as can be. She told him that she wanted to be an astronomer someday, Ray’s heart skipped many beats as she told him about her interests in going to space and working for NASA.
‘She’s the one.’ He thought, He envied her intelligence and fell head over heels for her as they kept hanging out together.
1940 came rolling by, Raymond asked Amelia to be his belle and she enthusiastically said yes. Ray’s mood was always upbeat until August 27th, 1940. The ship was nearly in the middle of crossing the Atlantic. His mother became ill with Tuberculosis earlier in the year. Spending countless weeks bedridden in the medical bay was truly a burden. Not being able to be the one who gives her husband a gentle, loving kiss, not being able to watch her son become the man he was now... The pain that came with the illness was too much for her to bear. Eventually she snuck out, forcing herself to nullify the sounds of her dry, painful coughs so nobody would suspect one of the ship's patients exiting the medical bay. In the course of time, she reached the crows nest. By then, the moon was the only source of light that she worked with. She spent many hours contemplating her suicide, was it truly worth leaving behind everyone she knew and loved? It didn't matter anyway, The nurses never allowed her family the slightest glimpse of her. She didn't waste any time to let all control of her body go, allowing it to free fall off the highest point of the Gweneviere. It seemed like an eternity that she'd been falling, until her body smacked the floor at such high speeds that it bounced back into the ocean, just for the corpse to be sucked into the propeller, dicing her body up to the point where there was no possible way to recover the pieces. The blur of her body was only a couple of feet in front of Raymond before it fell into the ocean. He was taking a stroll around the ship after working 10 hours with no breaks. Witnessing the familiar woman commit suicide killed a part of his soul, as if he knew deep down who she was. He rushed to the stern of the ship while releasing a mix of screaming and crying. That wasn’t his mother, it couldn’t be. He looked below into the propeller area in hysteria, blankly watching the blue shimmering waters transform into a nightmare red. The ocean reflected the moon's luminescence, making the blood in the deep blue liquid appear to glow. Raymond fell to his knees and stared ahead at the red trail following the gargantuan moving ship. He didn’t know what emotion to feel at this point. His face was frozen in distress, casually letting tears roll down his cheeks.
Ray couldn’t sleep for the rest of the month without closing his eyes and seeing his mother’s body bend at inhuman rates and recoil into the ocean. He became so sleep deprived by October that he would take naps standing up, usually when being covered by the sun’s warm rays. Amelia grew worried for him, reminding him that he’s allowed to sleep in her cabin if he so wishes. He declined however, Telling her that a cup of coffee will re-energize him in no time. The lies could only cover him for so long. It was the day to test the ship’s mobility, emergency drills were executed. First, Raymond had to secure the emergency boats. Second, check whether the emergency kits around the ship were stuck closed. His final job was to check the watertight door. His energy was completely drained by the time he reached the machinery space, yet he kept telling himself that he was energized and ready to work. He turned the steel wheel of the black shiny door, quickly becoming unaware of what he was actually supposed to do. Watching the heavy metal door fly towards his face, The only thing going through Raymond's head at the time was a simple "Oh." The door completely crushed his body against the metal pipes that covered the room. The sounds of cracking bones and the last of Raymond's soft moans faintly sounded.
After 20 minutes of a deep slumber, Raymond's eyes opened. It was something he thought he wasn't able to do, yet came to the conclusion that he was only dreaming. He woke up in Amelia's cabin, the place he would usually go when his nightmares were too much to handle alone. He stretched and yawned only to find Amelia sobbing behind the door.
"Darling! What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Raymond Sympathized. He jumped out of the small mattress to comfort her, however when his hand touched her shoulder, it passed through like she was only a hallucination. Amelia kept wailing, holding her knees close to her chest.
"He's dead and it's all my fault." She croaked. Dead? Surely she's not talking about him.
"Amelia, I'm right here! Can't you see me?..." Raymond mumbled. He tried reaching for her face only for his hands to phase through her cheeks. He kept repeating her name as if she was going to hear him, Finally trying to give her a hug. The several failed attempts of embracing his dearest just one last time ended with him weeping on to the cold, solid floor.
Appearance[]
Raymond appears wearing traditional clothing for an engineer to wear, in the 1930s at least. He wears dark blue overalls paired with a collared de-saturated yellow shirt with thin vertical stripes. His apparition wears the traditional engineer's blue cap. His peachy skin tone makes it easy to spot his dark eye bags resulting from months of sleep deprivation. He has olive colored irises and has his hair swept to the left. Though he does wear pretty vibrant clothing, It's put to waste as the person who's able to see him can only do so in grey scale. He stands at a towering 6'4", inherited from his father of the same height. He has a body of muscle, his stomach showing off his well sculpted abs, a result of working 13 hours a day that required him to give it his all into his arms and core. Due to his tragic way of passing, His apparition features an empty eye socket and his chest area bloodied due to shattered ribs and pierced organs.
Personality[]
Known Mental Illnesses: Depression, Insomnia, Obsessive Love Disorder (OLD)
Raymond was considered a hunky jock by other ladies, so of course the words caught up to him, leading to his quite big ego. He's an extroverted, loud, and dimwitted young man who's secretly insecure of his looks but uses humor to cover it up. He must know of people's opinions on what he wears, his physique, and if there's anything he can do to make himself appear more professional and equally attractive. He enjoys having long and thoughtful conversations, usually with his beloved Amelia. He was described as loyal and full of light when he was alive, however he wishes to keep that reputation even in death.
Abilities/Skills[]
As one of the most well known poltergeists on the now barren ship, Raymond has basic abilities such as picking solid objects up, tapping the shoulders of paranormal investigators to mess with them, and disturbing electronic devices so he can communicate to the living through them; He hardly ever says anything other than "Amelia?" and "I'm so lost."
He has abilities quite unique to him, such as inducing suicidal thoughts in women and grabbing men by the collars of their shirts in a vividly aggressive manner. People's phone batteries usually drain much quicker when in Raymond's presence, sometimes people report hearing Ray murmur in their ears "What's that?" while referring to modern devices such as Phones, EMF meters, and Cameras. Relating to his physical abilities, Raymond can pick heavy objects up and throw them. He does not use his super strength much in the afterlife, though.
Stats[]
Intelligence: 4
Strength: 8
Speed: 5
Agility: 7
Endurance: 9
Stamina: 10
Balance: 9
Social Tolerance: 8
Theme song(s)[]
General: Soft Fuzzy Man - Lemon Demon
-
Backstory: the day you killed yourself - xójira
Trivia[]
- Raymond Beckham was created by xoRoketto.
- Signs of his presence include the scent of metal and/or blood, transparent figures appearing in photographs, White orbs, and hallucinations/the sudden feeling of being dizzy
- He mistakes many people as Amelia Wagner and sometimes even refuses to believe otherwise. This is due to his chronic delusions and hallucinations, making him see and hear Amelia when in reality he's communicating with someone completely different. Those who he mistakes as Amelia are automatically protected from harm and even treated preciously.
- Ray believes his loved ones are still alive (minus his Mother) and dislikes bringing any of their deaths up as he considers it to be ill-mannered.
- He allies with Vermin as he has used his body as a form of communication more than once.
- Raymond is American, Born and raised in New York before setting sail to Ireland with more than 5,000 passengers on board.
- His soul is still as loud as he was when he walked the earth, He'll be releasing thunderous laughter as he roams the halls of the large vessel. Sometimes he'd tell himself jokes, Other times replaying comedy events that he attended before he died in his mind.