✚ RILEY BECKETT ✚

Riley Beckett is a 26-year-old ex-military who fought in Iraq. He lives with his father, Garrett, who sustains them both as Riley is unemployed. Riley's mother left them when he was 7, after Riley killed his newborn sister Christa. He never showed any remorse for this; in fact, from then on his aggressive behavior only worsened, resulting in violent outbursts against both his peers and the adults around him.

Despite his violent tendencies, Riley's behavior was left mostly unchecked by his father, who was too depressed and intoxicated to do anything or bring himself to care. At age 18, Riley was recruited by the U.S. military. Having no interest in a formal education or a job, Riley was overjoyed upon being drafted to Iraq, convinced he had found in the military a profitable career. His tour, however, was cut short in two weeks with a bad counduct discharge for his insistence on threatening fellow soldiers with physical and sexual violence, as well as attempts to actually follow through on those threats

Back in his father's home, Riley never made any effort to find a way to sustain himself, constantly giving the excuse that he was "still recovering" from what he saw in Iraq. He's been saying this for 5 years now.

Given his temperament and past, Riley and Garrett are not invited often to family reunions. They were unexplectedly invited to Christmas in 2010, to meet Ashton, the foster child of Garrett's brother and Riley's now-cousin. Upon meeting, it didn't take long for Riley to realize Ashton was just as disturbed and maladjusted as him, but far, far more naive.

The two hit it off and, living within a reasonable distance of each other, saw each other quite frequently, despite Ashton's parents disapproving heavily of it. Riley teaches Ashton how to use his father's guns, how to fight, survive in the wild and improvise weapons. He loves having Ashton around, as he is his only friend, yet cares very little for what he has to say. Ashton always goes along with whatever Riley wants to do. This willingness to endanger himself and bend himself backwards for Riley comes from his odd crush on him; he desperately wants to be seen and praised by Riley, eventually developing a fixation on being physically or sexually assaulted by him. Riley does get physically and verbally violent with Ashton on occasion, mostly out of frustration or anger, but remains completely oblivious to Ashton's fantasies. It's not like the signs aren't there, he's just too self-centered and stupid to see them.