In this case, the main characer of my completed manuscript, currently titled Locked Within and in the querying process.
Nathan Shepherd dreams about living different lives at different times in history. He dreams of battles and bloodshed. More than once, he's dreamed of his own death. He also has another trait; a perfect ability to recall information or things he has seen.
He tries not to let either of these things become well known, but finds himself drawn to stories of unexplained deaths or disappearances in the news. His girlfriend, Laura, is tired from trying to compete with Nathan's obsessions and his friends are worried he's developing serious mental problems.
When we meet Nathan, he is somewhat lost. A drifter in society, not quite sure where he wants his life to go, he knows only one thing that calls to him. Death. Those he has dreamed of, and those he starts to believe he can prevent, if only he can learn how to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
It is when Nathan stumbles across evidence of a series of murders taking place over a hundred years or more that he starts his journey into the supernatural world of New York and discovers people and events overlooked by mundane society.
Whether Nathan can adapt to survive in this world, or loses everything, is a question left for another day.