Jack Jennings
32 years old -- +2 Attractiveness; +2 Charisma

Height: 5' 11"
Hair: Brown  --  Eyes: Blue


Jack was a journalist for the Chicago Sun Times. He watched and reported on the world as it went through a major transition. The human race learned that they might not be the dominate species on the planet anymore. Like most of mainstream media, the Sun Times often went for story angles that portrayed the paranormals (or formally known as heteroclites) in a negative light. The stories weren't lies, but it wasn't exactly what could be called fair and balanced reporting, either. Jack's writing was an exception to that. It's not that he was a "Clites sympathizer", he just treated them fairly, something that many of the paranormals took notice of.

Jack's wife, Carly, agreed with Jack that the paranormals shouldn't be treated any differently then anyone else. But this "new world order" had made her job as a Detective for the Chicago PD quite a bit more complicated. The cops frequently found themselves in over their heads when it came to cases involving the supernatural. And keeping the peace between humans and paranormals was a tenuous endeavor.

Jack spent a lot of time at the Liar's Club bar in Lincoln Park where the lines between those that walk in the light and those that live for the dark meet. It was a place where a kind of détente had formed. If you weren’t looking for trouble, no one would give it to you. Nearly all walks of life met there to drink and have fun on one day or the other. Jack became good friends with Frank Wayland the manager of the place, and befriended one of the bouncers. The bouncer was a wheeler and a dealer who was not above committing petty crimes. He tended to hang out on the fringes of some shady types, and that made him a great informant for Jack.

Jack's life was good. He and Carly were even talking about starting a family, and then it all went to hell in a hand-basket. Jack overheard his wife on the phone, and was able to piece together that the cops were planning a raid on an illegal gambling operation. Carly was angry when she realized that Jack had eavesdropped. She told him he had to keep the information to himself until after the raid. Jack had no problem sitting on the story, but there was one person he felt he had to tell. He knew the bouncer  was a bit of a gambler that frequently got into games at that underground casino. Jack didn't want his friend to get caught up in the cop's sweep, so he warned him. Jack told him to keep his mouth shut, but the bouncer decided to try and get into the good graces of the mobsters that ran the place by giving them a heads up. When the cops showed up, the mob was waiting for them. It was a bloodbath. Several cops were injured and two were killed.

There was an intense investigation to discover who leaked the information, and eventually the truth came out. Carly was devastated. She knew Jack didn't mean for anyone to get hurt, and he thought he was helping a friend, but she still felt betrayed. She didn't trust Jack anymore, and the marriage fell apart. Jack's career was also flushed down the toilet. The cops, the DA, even the Mayor's office all hated him. The Sun Times started to get shut out of police briefings and the paper lost contacts within the department. The police made it clear that having Jack on their payroll was bad for their business.

Jobless and kicked out by his wife, Jack hit rock bottom. The owner of the Liar's Club reached out to lend Jack a hand. Frank offered to let Jack rent the room on the third floor above the bar. It was dark and depressing, but it would put a cheap roof over his head. The people at the Liar's Club accepted Jack, and seemed willing to cut him slack about what had happened. They understood he was trying to protect one of their own.

About two years ago, a young girl came into my life, claiming to be my niece. I had not seen or heard from my sister in years; not even sure she is still alive, and never knew she had a child. She left home when I was young, never to be heard from again. My parents died a while ago, so learning that I still had family took some convincing. But Zoey is good at that. We spent some time trying to find her mother (my sister) and her father, but came up empty. Mainly, we just became good friends, beyond the link of bloodline.

One of the regulars at the Liar's Club was Toni Vincenzo, editor and publisher of the Independent News Service, an online newspaper. She and Jack chatted a few times at the bar. She needed a crime reporter, and he needed a job. Jack's been writing for the INS for several months now. If he's not out covering a story, he can usually be found at the bar. Jack likes it because the beer is cheap and cold, and the clientèle very interesting. After a few drinks, people open up and maybe a story or two comes out.