Mr. Huffman:

2050:

Meet Mortimer Huffman. His luck is about what one would expect from a man betting on a three legged race horse; in his defense, the payout would have been huge. 

Kalvin Kay King:

August 23, 1956:

Kalvin Kay King was born into the only black family in Rose Hill at 2:32 a.m. Lola King--his 14 year old mother--was in a non-responsive state of shock at the time of his birth; a state she had been in since Kalvin's conception. Lola's parents raised Kalvin until Lola regained herself. 

September 1, 1956:

The Rose Hill Library blew a fuse. 35 year veteran librarian, Candice Kane, sat in the dark for three hours before noticing anything was wrong. 

August 23, 1973:

Kalvin Kay King's face was severely burned when a female member of the cooking staff at Big Mike's allegedly struck him with a mop causing him to fall face first into boiling water. Sources indicate that it was the dish boy's (Kalvin's) birthday, and the female in question was his significant other. 

The scar tissue healed white; the pigment was burned. 

...

The beginning:

Rose Hill is a small Maryland town on the border of West Virginia. It began as a mining town back in 1910. The mining has all but gone belly up in recent years. The prisons and asylum are the only major employers these days; it's no wonder this little bit of rural is fraught with, shall I say, bizarre occurrences.

1924:

The town is abuzz about Marline Hishup. The clamor is echoing through the trees; even the forest is gossiping. Marline is a 53 year old--which is no noteworthy accomplishment unless accompanied by frequent late night rendezvous with the 26 year old pride of the town, Jesse Holloway.

 1951:

The Jesse Holloway suicide is the headline of the Rose Hill Gazette. At 53, he fell on his own knife 8 times before shooting himself in the head. His suicide note--which was not published in the paper--is rumored to have been full of incoherent gibberish about reaching the age of atonement. 

1924:

The steamy affair turned out to be anything but. Marline coaxed Jesse into ending her life. Their rendezvous, nothing more than preparation and dress rehearsals. Marline dictated a letter to Jesse: 

"Dear World, Fuck you! Atonement is mine."

8 times Jesse's knife entered and exited her stomach. Her eyes were bleeding tears as all the color in her face was draining out her wounds. He took the small Deringer from her handbag. 

"Don't forget all I've taught you." she said. 

Click.

Bang!

The muzzle flash painted the walls with a brief wick of light. 

Jesse never did forget what Marline taught. He even compiled her teachings into a book--a bible of sorts: The Amazing Eights: The Dimensions of Life and Death. 

...