Desna Simms
Age: 28 (looks & actual)
Family: None
Species: Turned Vampire
Rank: Fledgling
Faceclaim: Lesley Ann Brandt

extremely loyal || compassionate || goal driven ||  protective
impulsive ||  control issues || reckless

In the Deep South, on a hot summer's day a baby girl by the name of Desna was born. Her mother Amoura and father Charles couldn't have been happier. They've been trying for months prior to her birth but they always had a disappointing result until now. March 21st, 1990 changed their lives forever. Her father owned the family farm. He would supply the small town they lived twenty minutes away from with fresh eggs from the chickens and milk from the cows. Desna's mother was nurse. She worked at the small clinic that was in town. Helping others was big trait her mother carried and was known for. Desna was an only child. Even if they wanted to try for another one, her mother was unable to conceive.

Although that put a small strain on her parent’s relationship, they were more than grateful to have Desna in their lives. Something about their only daughter was special. They just didn't know exactly what it was. By the age of five, Desna began helping her father a little bit. She tended to the chickens or helped around the house by doing chores needed to be done to keep it clean. Her father when he found the time gave her horse riding lessons. Her favorite horse was named Moonlight. She rode him every day with her father in assistance to tend to her. She was being home-schooled for the time being. Her mother thought it would be great for her to enroll into school soon but her father crushed the idea every chance he got. He was very old-fashioned.

But as Desna grew, she was becoming wearier about being home-schooled. When she turned twelve, she pleaded with her father to allow her to go public school. It took a few weeks but he finally gave in. He wanted his daughter to explore and experience new people and opportunities. It wasn't easy making friends like she thought. They bullied her because of the life-style she lived. Her clothes showed she wasn't rich or even middle-class like majority of the school was. Because of this, Desna was close to demanding to be home-schooled again. That was until she found an escape from the harassment she faced every day. Music. One day after school, while waiting for her father to pick her up, she heard a guitar playing. Her music teacher Mr. Jones was the one playing it. He didn't notice Desna approaching until he looked up. She asked him to teach her how to play. Since then, she has been using the time she had waiting for her father to pick her up after school by playing the acoustic guitar.

For her sixteenth birthday, her father managed to buy Desna her very own acoustic guitar. She would play it non-stop. Especially since getting through high school was worse than middle school. The bullying became undeniably hard. It got worse when their farm was being foreclosed on. Her father fell into a deep depression and her mother had to work over time to keep them afloat. Everything began falling apart around her. Desna wanted to drop out of school to help out but her father refused. Months had passed and eventually they were forced to vacate the property. Desna had to say goodbye to her favorite horse Moonlight. He was being sold off to another farm owner in a different state. This broke her heart.  She felt more alone than ever. They were now living with Desna's aunt which was her mother's sister. She lived in town.

By the time Desna graduated from high school, she knew exactly what she wanted to do, career wise. She wanted to become a musician.  Her father agreed that she should peruse her dream but her mother was not having it. With her Aunt Nessa chipping in to pay for community college, her mother felt that the money used should not be wasted. Desna became disappointed and forced into majoring in something she wasn't going to like doing. Her rebellious side was building up inside of her. She loved her mother with all her heart but this decision she made without even considering listening to her made her furious. She deiced to go against her mother's wishes and major in music composition with a minor in music education.

For about three years, she was able to get away with hiding what she was really majoring in. The slip up came when her mother discovered her binder for one of her classes. Nothing but music sheets and notes about music were compacted inside. It was that night that Desna and her mother got into a heated argument and Desna stormed out of the house. She was so close to finishing with college. It was senior year and her mother had to nerve to tell her she had to opt out. To cool off, she decided to hit a local bar and drink for the time being. Maybe her mother will come to her senses but there was high doubts about that. Her only supporter was her father. He kept her secret and he seemed like he was the one who could be trusted with anything.

Midnight came rolling on by and Desna was buzzed. She stopped herself before she got to tipsy or too drunk to even function. The walk back to her aunt's house was cold and quiet. The alcohol in her system kept her warm so she didn't notice the change in weather. By the time she got to her aunt nessa's house, the porch light wasn't on. The front door was slightly ajar. A strange feeling overcame Desna. She quietly opened the door some more, letting in the light from the moon hit the floor. She yelled out for her parents and aunt but nobody answered. As she proceeded to investigate, her sneakers stepped into a puddle of blood. Desna quickly took out her phone and turned the flashlight on. To her horror it was her father lying there.  She quickly moved back freaked out by the sight but ended up falling over her aunt who was inches away. She too was lying in a puddle of blood. Desna ended up scratching her leg against a broken shard of glass on the floor causing pain to surge throughout her leg. That didn’t distract her from the fact that there were wounds to both of their necks that showed where the damage was done. Desna yelled out for her mother and that’s when she saw a figure emerge from the shadows. Her work uniform was drenched in blood. Her mouth even had blood dripping from it. Desna could not believe what she was seeing right now. She thought this was all a dream and that the alcohol she had drank was spiked or something.

Her mother didn’t say a word, she just stood there. Her soft green eyes were no longer there. They glowed like that of a cat. Desna’s mother soon showed the fangs in her mouth and immediately went after her own daughter. She managed to pin her down to the ground where she had fell. Her mother was stronger than ever and with Desna being slightly buzzed it was hard for her to concentrate or even register everything that was happening. Soon she felt a piercing stinging sensation on her neck. For a few minutes she didn’t know what to do. Her eyes scanned the room rapidly, looking for something to get her mother to stop. She found a wooden leg from a broken chair. Desna desperately reached for it. She could feel the blood leaving from her body and the more that was being drained from her the weaker she felt. After a couple of tries, Desna managed to grab a hold of the broken wood and stab it into her mother’s back. She jumped back, screaming in pain. Her mother out of anger was about to attack her again but Desna found another piece, this time driving it right through her mother’s heart. She fell to the floor, lifeless.

Desna couldn’t help but feel her whole body shake. She was weak from the amount of blood that was taken out of her body. She could faintly hear someone’s voice but couldn’t really make it out. Desna passed out and later woke up in the hospital. Police were surrounding her bed when she woke up. They were asking her questions about what exactly happened but everything was a blur to her. The police told her about her family being dead and she was the only one who survived. As she sat up in the bed, she felt handcuffs around her wrist. She was the one being pinned for the crime. Desna pretended to pass out again and the officers were asked to leave. What was odd to her was the fact that she was able to hear the police conversing with the nurse outside her door. She knew when she was fully cleared that they will transport her to county jail until further notice. Since then Desna spent a couple of days in the hospital, thinking of a way to escape. None of this was her fault and to be charged with murder was even worse.

It mid-evening, Desna had finished eating her food but it wasn’t enough. She felt hungry but not for food. Something else was compelling her. With the handcuff still around her wrist, she managed to break it with ease. Her new found strength scared her and caused a flashback to the night she was attacked by her mother. She remembered how her undeniable amount of strength crushed her meek body down onto the ground. Desna didn’t know or realize what she had become. That was the least of her priorities at the moment. She needed to leave her hometown without being detected and that she did. With the money she had made from playing her guitar at the bar and café in town, it was enough for her to buy a bus ticket and some hair dye. She was able to find some shady guy to even give her a fake I.D. which used her middle name Amoura instead of her first name. Everything was happening to fast, she first lost her home, now her family and now she had to lose out on ever graduating college.

Desna was going to have to start all over from scratch, depending on where she decided to finally live. The only thing troubling her were the strange cravings she was having. She almost lost it being in such a crowded bus. All she saw around her was red. Nobody looked like anything to her but a walking meal. Going cross country was risky but until she could find the right place, Desna had to develop some kind of self-control until she could fully understand what happened to her and what she has become. It took a manner of days which turned into weeks. Her money was almost gone. That was until she arrived in Evermore CO. Something about this city drove her from out of the bus. The aura this city was giving off was welcoming and for once she felt like she could relax. While exploring, she met a woman named Martina. Something about her made Desna feel instantly connected to the woman. That’s when she learned who she has become…a vampire. Hearing that almost made Desna freak out to the point where she was almost belligerent. Martina promised to help Desna in her journey to learn self-control and to piece together the events that happened the night her family died.

Since then, Desna was able to find a job working at a coffee shop. She also performed there too. Martina which she called gram bought Desna a new acoustic guitar to play since her old one was left back at home. Living in Evermore has been a pleasant experience but she will always be haunted by that night and living with the fact that she is no longer human anymore.