Name: Eden Shaw
Age: 24 (looks) 152 (actual)
Family: None
Species: Turned Vampire
Rank: Nomad
Faceclaim: Kristen Kruek

Studious | Determined | Smart
Careless | Callous | Opinionated

Eden: a place of pristine or abundant natural beauty; paradise. That’s what James and Margaret Shaw wanted to give their newborn daughter. But as the healthy baby was delivered in their rickety home with barren walls and a leaking roof, James and Margaret could hardly give her more than a name. So they named her after the fictitious paradise that would eternally bloom and flourish, as they knew she would: Eden.

Growing up with barely a penny to spare was hard work, but it taught Eden strength, resilience, and determination. James taught her how to read with whatever shabby book he could add to their meager collection, and Margaret taught her basic life skills like sewing tears in fabric and making a soup out of food scraps. Eden was eager to learn everything they could afford teaching her, thirsting for knowledge. And when she was old enough, her parents surprised her by scraping together what money they could, and enrolled her into school.

Eden was not popular amongst her classmates. Her clothes were shabby and ragged, her books were third rate at best, and her shoes were worn down to rags. She always arrived with a smudge of dirt on her face and some hay in her hair from helping her parents with farm chores early in the morning before school, and her lunch always consisted of stale bread and occasionally some shreds of ham. The kids made fun of her when the teacher wasn't paying attention, tossed her books in puddles, and threw mud at her clothes. It hurt her feelings and wounded her pride, but it never broke her spirit. Everyday the kids would bully her and everyday she returned to school with more determination that before. She studying hard, practiced every night, and soon was making top marks in her class.

Eden graduated on to high school at the top of her class, and held on to her spot despite the bullying. Soon, Eden set up her own small business: tutoring for three dollars. In three months Eden was able to buy new books for herself, and almost a year later, she could afford new shoes. Her system was genius and manageable, still maintaining her top spot in class. The richer kids viewed her as a protege - one in a million. They credited her brains to luck and chance, but to Eden is was more fundamental than that. To her it proved that class did not determine smarts, it just dictated who could afford an education. In her spare time, Eden would tutor the children in her neighbourhood whose parents could not afford to send them to school. She taught them easy life-skills like reading, writing, and basic addition. Nearing the end of her school career, Eden vowed she would create a volunteer program to help less-fortunate kids get the education they deserve.

That was, until her father fell ill. The physician diagnosed him with a rare form of brain cancer, an inoperable tumour even if they could afford treatment. There was nothing that could be done. Eden and Margaret did they best they could to care for him, but they could all but watch as James wasted away and eventually died. They buried him under the oak tree on a spot of free land just off their property, where he liked to sit and watch the cows as he ate his lunch. James’ death meant two things: losing a loved one, and losing their income. Eden had to face two horrors that night. Bidding goodbye to her beloved father, and going back on her personal vow. If Eden and Margaret were going to survive, Eden had to work. And what she was best at was tutoring, which meant leaving behind the poor children and walking into the lavish houses and mansions of rich men.

The world around them began to change. Maps of Earth was losing uncharted lands, Europe’s technology was advancing at an alarming rate, and the United States tore itself in half. Families watched their fathers, brothers, and son head off to war, and woman were working more. New laws were passed and old ones were abolished, and Eden was still entering rich homes to tutor rich children to provide for her poor mother. It had been three years since James died and three years since Eden turned her back on the children in her village. No one held her to the decision she made, but Eden was still washed with guilt. She hated breaking promises.

But she pressed on regardless, her mother now her only concern. Margaret was getting older, her hands showing signs of arthritis. Eden hired a farm boy to care for the cows and chickens, but that meant taking on more work. It came to the point where Eden was getting little to no sleep, traversing to town early in the morning each day and trekking back home at night. Though she tried to hide it, Eden was visibly getting worse. She was getting ready to look for other alternative of work, when a particularly wealthy client of hers offered her a guest bedroom to sleep during the nights. Their mansion was right at the edge of town, and the children were favourites of hers. As they told her, Lord and Lady Heathcliff came over from England about twenty years ago, and their twins Lily and Oliver were born ten years later. Eden always thought the couple looked younger than thirty, but she chalked that up to being rich and in good health.

Lily and Oliver were bright little things who were always on their best behaviour and soaked up whatever text she plopped in front of them. They greeted her excitedly in the foyer, were glued to her side through the duration of the entire lesson, and waved goodbye when the session was over. When their father presented Eden with the offer of using their guest bedroom, Lily and Oliver begged over and over until she finally conceded. Though Eden hated leaving her mother, staying in the Heathcliff mansion was much more economical. The setup worked splendidly for another two years, with Eden sending her mother money at the end of every week, and scheduling a visit home at the end of every month.

Life was going well for Eden until the morning she woke with a splitting headache. The pain was so intense, Eden almost immediately passed out upon waking. It felt as if her skull was slowly being wedged in two with the broad axe her father used to chop wood. Her nose felt warm and wet, and when Eden touched and pulled away, there was blood on her fingers. Eden cursed herself and gritted her teeth. She could not be sick. For the sake of her mother, she needed to press on.

After cleaning up, Eden felt marginally better, and went along her normal day. The headache never ceased, however, and when she returned to the Heathcliff mansion, Eden collapsed on the marbled foyer floor. When she woke, we was lying in her bed, Lord Heathcliff sitting beside her. With a somber face, he informed her that Eden was in the early stages of a rare form of inoperable brain cancer. Eden’s world tilted. Incurable cancer; just like her father. To be sure, Eden asked to speak with the doctor who diagnosed her.

If Eden thought life had just handed her the wrong end of the stick, it was about to toss her a curveball she never saw coming.Lord Heathcliff revealed to her that a doctor did not diagnose her. Eden thought perhaps he was a doctor himself, but that wasn’t the case either. No, the Lord claimed he could “smell” the disease on her, and knew it was incurable, except for one “unconventional” way.

“Unconventional” was as understatement. Eden prided herself in being an observant person. She saw details most couldn’t, read facial expression as easily as textbooks, and noticed changes in the weather based on a cat’s behaviour. So how Eden could miss that her favourite customers, and most hospitable patrons of whom she lived with for two years were an entire family of Vampires was lost to her. Eden didn’t believe the Lord at first, of course. Though it caused her great pain, she laughed until she could not breathe. Vampires were myths, they were urban legends. To prove his claims, Lord Heathcliff flashed his fangs, and Eden fainted once more.

When she arose, Eden surprised herself in immediately making a decision. It was not to run or call the police, but to accept Lord Heathcliff’s offer. Why? Eden asked herself that many times. Mostly so that she could keep providing for her mother, who seemed to be aging more everyday. Partly because of her pride. She had been gifted with such a great mind, she was not going to allow it be destroyed. And if this was truly the only way - so be it. Eden Shaw agreed to become a vampire.

When the Turning began, Eden almost regretted the decision. The pain was worse than anything she’d felt. It felt as if she was burning from the inside out, unable to speak, to think, to breathe. The torture lasted for twelve long hours, and Eden felt as if she would not make it. Her lungs stopped churning air, her heart stopped beating, and hour by hour, she could feel her life slowly drain away.

That is, until she woke. Free of pain but filled with ravenous hunger. She felt out of her body, her mind unhinged, and when a human carcass was dropped in front of her, Eden didn’t care who it was or how it got there. She lept on the body, new fangs piercing the flesh and drinking every drop of crimson blood as if it were succulent wine.

Thinking back to that moment always terrified Eden. The way she acted like a starved animal, morality thrown out the window. As Eden adjusted to her new life, she retired from her tutoring position from all families except for the Heathcliffs, who taught her Vampire life in exchange for homeschooling Lily and Oliver. The Lord assured Margaret would continue to get her money, but Eden could not visit her until she was completely comfortable as a Vampire.

It took three months to fully adjust, and the timing was just right, as Eden returned to her mother on her deathbed. Margaret clung to life for a week, and Eden stayed with her, caring for her mother until she, too, passed away. Eden buried Margaret right beside James under the oak tree, reunited once more.

After her mother passed, Eden had no more use for the village or her family home, and pulled together all her savings to have it reconstructed into a schoolhouse with volunteer teachers for the poor children who never got a chance to learn. However late it was, Eden felt like she was finally able to fulfil her promise.

Ten more years pressed on, the civil war was long over, and Lily and Oliver were now grown and ready to travel. Eden, frozen at twenty-four, was ready to travel as well. The goodbye was bittersweet, watching the twins wave from the foyer for the last time, as Eden stepped out into the weak light of dusk.

The Vampire followed a similar path along the years, moving from city to city and state to state as private tutors for rich Vampire children. Blooded Vampire who could not got to school during the day. Eden watched in awe as the world changed and developed around her. When the turn of the century hit, Eden realized there was less and less need for tutors, so she decided to take a well deserved vacation.

She traveled Europe and South America with the money saved over the last hundred years or so, enjoying life and learning new and exciting cultures. Out of everything that Vampirism changed, her desire to learn never left. And when Eden finally returned to the United States, she found her sights set on Colorado. A famous city called Evermore was based there, but Eden never had any interest in visiting until now. Apparently, after two thousand years the Vampire King had finally returned.