The Leightons

The Leighton family is the wealthiest family in Somberwood. They are also the treasurers of the town. They are lead by Regulus Leighton and his wife, Isabel Leighton. They have four children. Enoch, Ivan, and Karina are adopted, though Ivan and Enoch are twins, while Nikolai is the blood child of Regulus and Isabel. Three of the six Leightons secretly resent Alistair Crowe and his family for having leadership. They are a prideful family and feel that they should be in charge instead.

Name: Regulus Leighton

Age when sired: 52

Year when sired: 1446

Life before sired:

Life as a Vampire:

Vampires Sired: Isabel, Enoch, Ivan

Spouse: Isabel

Children: Enoch, Ivan, Nikolai, and Karina

Name: Isabel Leighton

Age when sired: 29

Year when sired: 1517

Life before sired: As a child, Isabel was sickly. Her parents did everything they could to help her health improve. The doctors told her parents that she wouldn't make it past age 12. She surprised them all when her 12th birthday came and she was still alive. Her health began to improve until finally, her sickly days were left behind. She was married when she was 18 to a man older than her. Although she didn't love him, he treated her well. However, he began to drink. It eventually grew worse and one night, as she was preparing supper, he came up from behind and attacked her. She tried to fight him off, but he was too strong for her. As the life was being choked out of her and she was about to pass out from lack of air, the hands on her throat disappeared. As she regained her senses, she saw her husband on the floor. Behind him stood a man that she had never seen before.

He asked if she was okay and she nodded mutely. He introduced himself as Regulus Leighton and offered to take her away from her husband. Fearing for her life if she were to stay, she accepted the man's offer and took his hand. True to his word, he whisked her away and kept her at his side. He later revealed to her that he was a vampire. She had fallen in love with him and couldn't find it in her to be scared of the man who had been nothing but kind and sweet to her. She asked him to turn her and at first, he refused. Eventually, he gave in and turned her but under one condition: She had to marry him. She learned that her husband had killed himself, thus freeing her from her marriage. She accepted and was turned.

Life as a Vampire: Things weren't so different once she became a vampire. With Regulus's help, she managed to learn how to control her hunger and adapt as a vampire. She could tell that Regulus wasn't open with most people, but he had confessed that there was something different about her. She was elated to know he loved her back.

Sire: Regulus

Vampires Sired: Karina

Spouse: Regulus

Children: Enoch, Ivan, Nikolai, and Karina

Name: Enoch Leighton (Formerly Enoch Weatherly)

Age when sired: 25

Year when sired: 1680

Life before sired: Enoch and his brother were born to a somewhat poor, but still happy family in Europe. Things were good until their mother grew sick and ended up dying when they were 8. Their father was devastated by the loss of his wife and struggled with his grief while trying to raise his two young sons. When they were 12, he left to go hunt and never came back. At first, Enoch was convinced that their father had been killed, though no body had been found. In truth, their father had faked his own death and abandoned them to live by himself and get his life together. Enoch, as the eldest, was then in charge of caring for his younger twin and trying to make ends meet. It was hard at first but they got used to their new life.

When the twins turned eighteen, life started to look up for them. They were taken in by a wealthy family who adopted them as their own children. Things were finally starting to look up for them and they were allowed to live a nice life without wanting for anything. They finally had a home to call their own and loving parents to care for them. When they turned 25, tragedy struck. A rival family who was jealous of their family decided to strike in the middle of the night. Enoch was the first to wake and focused on getting his twin brother out of the fire. He tried to go back for the rest of his family, but Ivan wouldn't let him leave his side. Having no choice but to stay with his brother to comfort him, he was unable to save them. As the fire still roared and they tried to get away from the burning place, the rival family found them and decided to try to kill them. They didn't want any witnesses. They left the twins barely alive, clinging to one another as the fire continued to consume everything in its path.

After their murderers had left, an older man found them. He was accompanied by a beautiful young woman who took pity on the dying men and begged her husband to save them. Enoch was barely conscious as he clung to his younger sibling. The man was unable to deny his wife's plea and saved their life. However, at this point, Enoch had lost consciousness.

Life as a Vampire: When Enoch awoke, he was alarmed. A flood of memories threatened to overwhelm as he lay on a bed, trying to get his bearings. He managed to spot his brother who wasn't moving. He didn't know what had happened. Then a woman appeared and explained what had happened. She introduced herself as Isabel Leighton. She and her husband were vampires who had happened to run across the twins as they lay dying. Regulus had saved them by turning them into vampires. She assured him that Ivan would wake up. True to her word, Ivan awoke and Enoch had to comfort his frazzled brother. Ivan seemed to be more affected by the loss of humanity, while Enoch just accepted it and adjusted easily to it. He did not abandon his twin and helped him adjust. They were adopted by Regulus and Isabel, who loved them like her own.

Sire: Regulus Leighton

Clan Brothers: Ivan (Blood related), Nikolai

Clan Sister: Karina

Name: Ivan Leighton (Formerly Ivan Weatherly)

Age when sired: 25

Year when sired: 1680

Life before sired: Ivan and his twin led a relatively happy life before tragedy struck. Their mother grew sick and ended up dying, leaving their father alone to care for his two young sons. He did the best he could, but he was affected by the death of his wife and the stress of having to care for two young boys by himself. One day, he went hunting and never returned when Ivan and Enoch were 12. After that, Ivan and Enoch had no one else to rely on but themselves. Life had steadily gotten worse after their mother's death and now their father had abandoned them. Enoch knew that their father had chosen to abandon his sons instead of staying to care for them. He faked his death and went on about his life. When they reached the age of eighteen, things started to look up for them. They were taken in by a wealthy family and life seemed wonderful. However, when they reached 25, tragedy struck again.

Another family had gotten jealous of the family that had taken in the twins, wanting their wealth and status. In the middle of the night, they struck and set the mansion on fire. Enoch dragged Ivan out, but was unable to save the rest of the family. They thought they had made it out safely, but the rival family found them and knew they had to be killed or it would get out that they had started the family. So, they attacked Ivan and Enoch and left them for dead. As they lay dying and the house still burned, Regulus and his wife found them. Isabel felt sorry for the two and begged her husband to save them. Regulus, who loved his wife deeply, agreed and turned Ivan and Enoch, thus adopting them into their family.

Life as a Vampire: When Ivan awoke, he thought he was alone and that he had died. It was dark in the room and he felt alone and cold, then he felt a hand on his arm and he turned, his eyes adjusting and honing in on the form of his twin. Enoch explained what had happened and Ivan felt torn. They were technically alive, but at what cost? It was hard for Ivan to adjust, as he did not enjoy feeding from humans and surviving on blood. Eventually, he grew to handle it and life became easier. Enoch was always at his side. Regulus and his wife treated them like they were their flesh and blood. To this day, Ivan sometimes has trouble dealing with the loss of his humanity, even after all of this time.

Sire: Regulus

Clan Brothers: Enoch (Blood related), Nikolai

Clan Sister: Karina

Name: Nikolai Leighton

Age: 23 (For eternity)

Born: May 8th, 1939

Life as a Vampire: Nikolai was born in the year 1939 to Regulus and Isabel Leighton. He seemed perfect, except for one fact: he was born blind. Despite this, he was still cherished by his parents. Isabel was worried that he would stop aging when he hit a certain age, much like Marie Crowe, but was relieved when he continued to grow. He finally stopped aging at 23. Because he is blind, he looks different than the others. Most people avoid him due to the fact that his eyes scare them. Despite his disability, he gets along rather well. He is a bit of a recluse and does not share the same ideals as his family. Especially concerning their resentment for the Crowe family.

Parents: Regulus and Isabel Leighton

Clan Brothers: Enoch, Ivan

Clan Sister: Karina

Name: Karina Leighton (Formerly Karina Andrews)

Age when sired: 20

Year when sired: 1850

Life before sired: Karina was the youngest child of a well to do family. They weren't the richest, but they certainly weren't poor. They originally came from England, arriving in America to make a better life for themselves. They were certainly successful. Things were going good for Karina until she reached the age of twenty. She was informed by her father that she would be marrying an older man. She had never met the man, but she knew of him and wanted nothing to do with him. He was nice in public, but the women talked about how he was abusive and violent towards the opposite sex when he didn't get his way. She knew that if she stuck around, she would be miserable. So, she ran away.

She knew that she couldn't protest the marriage, as women had no rights. It was expected of her from the day that was born, to be a good wife and mother to her children. But Karina never wanted that. She wanted excitement and adventure, not to be cooped up and used as a broodmare. However, now that she had run away, she had no where to go. None of her friends would take her in, because they didn't want to cross her father. So she had no choice but to find a way out of town.

A man took pity on her and told her that he would help her escape for nothing in return. Karina accepted but would soon come to find out that her savior was no saint. As soon as he got her away from everyone, he assaulted her and took advantage of her. He then left for her dead. Isabel happened to find her and seeing that she was still alive, felt pity for the girl. She decided to turn Karina into a vampire.

Life as a Vampire: As a vampire with memories of her last moments as a human, it was hard. She was angry for what had happened to her. As soon as she adjusted, she sought out the man who had left for her dead and killed him. Brutally. Isabel scolded her, but covered up the murder and sought to try and help Karina let go of her anger. However, the damage was done and Karina had changed. She was no longer quite as angry, but she was not the girl she had been before as a human.

Sire: Isabel

Clan Brothers: Enoch, Ivan, Nikolai