Name: Lucille Durrant
Age: 24 (Looks) 194 (Real)
Family: Araminta Durrant (Older Sister)
Species: Valkyr
Rank: Nomad
Face Claim: Florence Pugh

| Witty | Impulsive | Loyal | Vengeful | Calculated | Ambitious | 

BIOGRAPHY

It has never been easy for the Durrant sisters to keep up with the people's expectations. Being the daughters of a well-known countess that contributed plenty to the kingdom itself, all eyes were meant to be on them the moment they fluttered their eyes open to greet the world. On the eve of Anabel's wedding anniversary, only 7 years after the birth of her firstborn, Araminta, another child was born under the Durrant and Ryle’s household watchful eyes. Nobody expected a second girl to be born, in fact, Anabel was pressured to have a son so he could inherit the title from his father. The girls in the household were treated to be no more than livestock ready to be married off to any prospects that will bring more riches to their family.

She was given the name Lucille and that was all to it. Her father quickly left, using the excuse of work, despite not being present for the entirety of his wife’s childbirth. Anabel resented Stephen Durrant, their relationship has been estranged months before Lucille’s birth. To her, he was her husband on paper only. Rumors of Stephen marrying another of his many mistresses were going rampant by the time Lucille turned 7. Everyone knew of their broken relationship, how the marquess only held onto the dry roots of the marriage just to keep his ‘share’ of inheritance after marrying the countess Anabel Ryle. Nobody knew why Anabel decided to keep him around, at some point even young Lucille asked her mother why she did what she did. She would often ask Araminta, her older sister, “Why does mama choose to stay with the bad man if she does not love him?” She never received much of an answer that she could accept, it was always vague.

As she stepped into teenhood, Lucy settled with the excuse ‘behind every man is a powerful woman.’ Anabel was using Stephen as a piece in front of the public when she’s the one managing everything related to the march. Her childhood wasn’t something particularly remarkable, it wasn’t something she would go back to reminisce and laugh at. She came from a broken family, who didn’t even pretend they were fine, to begin with. Her only companion was her sister, Araminta, who didn’t stay long after she was sent to a boarding school by their mother.

She was a troublemaker, her governess couldn’t control her and Anabel did not care what she would do so long as she would not bring harm upon herself. To say Lucy was a spoiled child wouldn’t be an understatement, given how her mother would let her get away with almost everything. Despite her eccentric self, their name wasn’t soiled as bad as the scandal roused between Stephen Durrant and Makiara, a beautiful gypsy who would later be the target of Lucy’s hatred. She made plenty of friends but neither she would consider close enough to divulge her secrets or personal worries.

At 13, Lucy felt the loneliness that crept into her heart. Her ‘father’ was never home and her mother was too busy with her affairs, Araminta was away in a boarding school across the county. No matter how many times she expressed her interest in enrolling in the same school that her sister went to, her mother would not allow her. “If you go, then who will accompany me here? Your father treats the house like his lodging and your sister is away. I need someone to keep me sane,” she never asked again, though Lucy wasn’t sure if it was due to her own annoyance or her mother’s pitiful state appealing to her. Her behavior grew to be better, in some people’s eyes. She was no longer as loud as she used to be, the youngest Durrant even took on sewing classes.

She behaved for a good portion of her teen years. By the time she reached the age of 17, she knew she would later have to make her debut into society, the very den that her sister wished she never had to step in. It wasn’t as if Lucy wanted to, of course. It was a scarce line, and only the strong will survive, she intends to be exactly that. If she was going to go into a place where she will be scrutinized, again and again, she wants to be on the top. Her ambition drove deep, she wanted to control the society; she wanted to be the flower of the season. And so she did. By the end of the spring solstice, her name was known by many, and her debutante attracted many eyes; particularly the foreign Duke of Normandy’s second son.

That’s fine too, she thought. The more prospects, the better. When Araminta returned after finishing school, she was greeted with a different home, one that is more lavish than the one she remembered leaving. Her mother had divorced their father who doesn’t seem to be willing to let go of them, and Lucy has grown into a beautiful woman who retained her status as the flower of society. Countless proposals came rushing in the household, some even for the lady Araminta whose news of returning erupted in the neighborhood. However, when asked who Lucy wanted to pick to be her future spouse, the younger Durrant said she had no interest in marrying, at least not that early while she was still young. She wished to live the fruit of her youth without any restriction imposed on her, Her mother had no problem with it considering she also just divorced their father, but Araminta did not think the same, nor did the rest of the county.

Before long, people started to pressure her to take a groom instead of leading many young bachelors to cling to false hope. She still refused to cave into their requests, even after many of them came to visit their home personally to court her. Lucy truly believed that her marriage may as well end up being as miserable as her mother was and so she wanted to just live by herself for as long as she could. She was only 19, she had no reason to marry this early, even if from the other’s perspective, it was late. Lucy started to fool around with others, stringing them up for the sake of it, and enjoyed their company. There wasn’t one social event that she attended without the company of another man, hands linked together. Araminta did not approve of her sister’s ways but couldn’t bring herself to talk the younger out of it, because she too, still has yet to marry. The last thing she wanted to be was a hypocrite, and honestly, she witnessed the fall of their parents’ love for one another. It made her wonder if what Lucy said was right.

But everything nice must end at some point, for young Lucille, it was during her 19th birthday. They had held a party for her, it was a big celebration and she had invited a lot of people. While the star of the day was having fun conversing with the people at her party, Araminta was dragged away by someone. Lucy only noticed her sister's absence upon requesting for her to make a toast and excused herself after doing it on her own. She asked around, but no one seemed to be able to find her. To say Lucy was worried would be an understatement because her sister had been away for longer than she thought she would. The eldest Durrant wasn’t there in the powder rooms either, and she realized that something might have happened to her sister while everyone was busy with the party, including her. Though Lucille may not be compassionate or caring for others, she cares and loves her sister and mother deeply. She had promised to take care of them, after all.

She made her way to the second level when she noticed a glimmering stone on the floor. Picking it up in her hands, she recognized the earring to be what Araminta was wearing tonight. The very same set that she was gifted upon her graduation by their mother. Lucy rushed over to the stairs where she witnessed the familiar silhouette of her sister standing by the balcony, talking to a female. Squinting her eyes to see the sight before her clearer, Lucy made her way near to eavesdrop. They weren’t talking, no they were arguing. Araminta's usually soft and well-spoken self had threatened whoever the person was, it was the first time Lucy heard her sister get angry like that. Araminta Durrant always carried herself with grace, the opposite of Lucille who is more likely to raise a whole rebellion because she was just that good at manipulating and convincing people to follow her. She couldn’t remember what they were talking about, maybe because she was too horrified by what happened next. Her sister had slapped the person and in retaliation, she was pushed against the railing, hard enough to cause the blonde to yell out in pain.

Before she could go ahead and help her sister, Araminta was already pushed off the balcony and Lucy fell backward due to shock. The screams of her sister earlier had been traumatizing but poor Lucy didn’t have the time to collect her thoughts because she had to get away from the scene. Unfortunately, the sound of her falling was loud enough for that person to realize someone was there. She knew she had to flee before she was caught but she was no match for the person who was cold enough to do that to her defenseless sister in her own home while there were people just one floor beneath them. She tripped while making her way through the hallway and her pursuer was able to catch up to her. But Lucy was not one to give up simply because she was caught, so she fought against him by kicking her knees and once more to her face when she staggered down. She left her shoes behind and dragged herself up to her room on the third floor before locking them behind her. She didn’t know how long it had been but the sound of a female grunting as he tried to open the door was making her anxious.

Lucille felt an aching pain on the lower half of her ankle and realized that she had injured herself when she tripped earlier, not to mention that the sudden adrenaline rushing in her while she was trying to flee from Araminta’s attacker caught her off guard. Leaning against her vanity table, she examined her ankle carefully and hissed in pain when she tried to massage it. There was no way she was going to go anywhere in a bad leg like this, but she didn’t have much of a choice; there was someone bad who wanted to shut her mouth on the other side of the door and the only way out from her room is via her balcony which is three levels high from the ground. If she fell, she may as well sign her death certificate because the fall would kill her almost instantly. Almost. That word alone was enough to convince the blonde that she had to act fast because the sound of the doorknob was loosening, so she pulled herself up with every strength she could muster and limped her way towards the balcony, halfway pulling herself to the other side when the attacker broke in. She may have been hallucinating from the amount of pain but she could see the malicious glint in her eyes, even in the dark. With only the moon illuminating whatever light she could get while she tried to climb down, it wasn’t surprising that she lost her footing. Or that’s what people thought when they found her lying down in her own pool of blood later.

Little did they know it wasn’t really an accident. What happened to her sister happened to her too. She caught her arm while she tried to climb down and had decided to push her because what’s a better way to shut someone up if not with death? She had clearly done the same with her sister, why not her?

She couldn’t remember much, only that she had this throbbing pain in her head when she woke up. Almost the same sensation she felt after drinking a bit too much the night before, but she couldn’t recall drinking anything more than two glasses of champagne. Putting one hand against her temple, Lucy tried to get out but noticed she couldn’t move. No, she was bound. As she wriggled to get herself out, the ropes only dug in deeper against her skin. The dress she wore, it’s the same dress she wore at her birthday party, only it’s stained with blood she did not want to know where it originated from. Of course, she would freak out and when her cries of distress were heard, a familiar figure entered the room, it was Araminta? “I saw you fall to your death…” Her sister explained everything and it was not easy for her to accept it. To hear that supernaturals are real and those monsters their governess would tell them to live amidst them, wasn’t the version of truth she wanted to digest. Valkyr, that’s what she was told she is, a being who lives off blood, to Lucy it was another name for vampires.

But Araminta didn’t stay to help her sister any longer than she had to, Lucy couldn’t understand the reason why she did it but was told that she still wished to find out who was the one that turned the elder Durrant. Araminta turned Lucille, but who turned her? Neither of them knew and while Lucille wanted to hunt down their murderer, Araminta was more concerned to find the person who turned her. The sisters’ interests clashed, as usual. As if knowing her sister would never let her go at that alone, Araminta decided to leave her, and that left Lucille heartbroken, especially after both promised to stay by each other no matter what happens. The younger Durrant was angry towards her sister and went ahead with her life, thinking one day she would have the explanation Araminta promised to give her over the letter before her departure.

Over the years, Lucille traveled from one country to another, in search of their murderer who she found out to be a valkyr too. She would never rest until she meets her again, and perhaps, maybe her sister too. When she caught wind of more of her kind residing in Evermore and the last trail of her murderer being there, she quickly packed her things and departed from Yugoslavia to the eternal city. Word has it, there’s more than just a redhead there; a woman that goes by the name Araminta.