Anden was always a quiet, shy, sensitive guy, who was clumsy and had a stammering problem when he was nervous, which was most of the time. But when you really got to know him, he was sweet, nice, and funny. He always stood up for his friends- but usually nonviolently, only reluctantly fighting back when he had to defend himself or to protect others, and when this happened, he was terrible at fighting. He was intelligent, imaginative, a bookworm, and quietly optimistic as well. He loved animals, books, springtime, sunshine, and singing, which he was good at- with a sweet and clear voice that would uplift any heart, if he let you hear it.
Anden had a fairly normal childhood, aside from the fact that his father was in the military and had gone missing in action. He had his mother and his older siblings (a brother, oldest, and a sister, the middle child), though. He was the top of the class from the beginning and through the years, and although this didn't win him much favor from his peers, he had a few close friends he stuck with throughout the grades.
In high school, he discovered he was gay, surprising himself when he found himself attracted to another guy. He was worried, as being gay wasn't supported in his fairly strict, religious household. He managed to keep it a secret for most of high school, but in senior year, he confessed to the guy (who he knew as a friendly acquaintance) while walking to school with him. The guy was horrified and he ran, and the guy's brothers, who were walking nearby, came over and beat him up badly, then left him on the sidewalk.
He laid in the street, choking back sobs from the pain of severe hurt, rejection and sorrow, and a concerned man drove up and offered to take him to the hospital. Anden tried to say no, but the man insisted, and he relented, then passing out from the pain. Little did he know that the man got a threatening call, and was redirected to... the compound. When he woke up, it was too late to realize where he really was or escape. And it resembled a hospital, at first. But even before he totally recovered, they began the process. When he finally understood what was happening, why they subjected him to this brutal procedure... he was again too late.
He became a haunted shell of his former self as humanity slipped through his fingers like grains of sand, he transformed into a freak, was subject to unspeakable things, and was poisoned by pain and fear, soon the only things he knew for sure. His life before became a distant dream, bitterly thought of in deepest despair- optimism and hope became faint, shattered things. It was laugable, really. They would never let him go, even though he had never done anything to deserve this, other than love. He began to withdraw into himself, becoming reserved, silent and fearful, seen as weak, because he no longer tried to fight back, to escape. He knew it was useless, and he now wished only to get through the pain as quickly and with as little resistance as he could give, and not draw out the horrific torture. The only thing that keeps him going is the deep-rooted instinct in all creatures to survive... and perhaps something even deeper in him still holds some miniscule remnant of defiant, foolish, human hope?