Tessa Pierce
Age: 16 | DOB: July 9th, 2001
Family, Known: Count & Countess Stavros | Family, Unknown: Zephyr Pierce & Delilah Rancour
Species: Blooded Vampire
Rank: Fledgling
Physical Marks: Burn scar on her left hand
Faceclaim: Astrid Berges-Frisbey

Curious | Adventurous | Studious
Naive | Stubborn | Careless

A storm raged over Ithaca Island that night. The wind battering walls and roofs, the stinging rain falling in sheets. Rivulets of water flowed down the streets, and the Mediterranean Sea flooded the harbour. Count and Countess Stavros watched the downpour from the library of their mansion, an old-fashion fire lamp flickering faintly in the gloom. Even during storms like this, the Vampires would not brave the winds. It was as if the great Poseidon himself was telling them to stay indoors that night, for no creature, human or supernatural, would dare face the storm.

Which is why they jumped in surprise when someone knocked on their front door. It was less of a knock, and more of an incessant banging. As if their life depended on the Stavros’s answering the door. Lamp in-hand, the Count glided through the marbled mansion, his expression molded in confusion. Rain and wind washed over him like a water cannon when he flung the door open, momentarily blinded. What greeted him as an unusual sight: Zephyr Pierce, an old friend, holding a tiny bundle wrapped in a towel.

The Count immediately ushered him inside. The last time the Count had seen Zephyr Pierce was because a band of rogue vampires had captured the Countess and held her for ransom. Zephyr saved his wife and slaughtered the rogues, and out of gratitude, the couple felt indebted to him. They promised that if he ever needed anything, they would do anything in their power to help him. It had been fifty years, and the couple had not heard so much as a peep from Zephyr until now. Cradled against Zephyr’s chest, wrapped in a sopping white towel, was an infant no more than a few hours old. Zephyr had only one request: that the Count and Countess would raise her, nurture her, and love her as guardians. Indebted to Zephyr and with no way of having children of their own, the Stavros’s were only too happy to oblige.

Tessa Pierce was an adventurous child. From the moment she could walk, Tessa explored the house and the gardens with insatiable curiosity. By the time she was five, Tessa knew every nook, cranny, and secret hiding place on the Stavros estate. The Count and Countess worked hard to teach Tessa to stay away from the sun, as her natural curiosity always drew her towards the warm golden rays. One day, when her parents had their backs turned, Tessa crept towards the door and stepped out onto the veranda. The roofed porch did well to shield her from the sun, but Tessa inched closer towards the railing, where the sunlight washed over the white marble columns. Tentatively, the Vampire reached her hand out to touch the sparkling columns.

The Countess dropped her porcelain teacup as she heard Tessa’s scream. Rushing outside she pulled the six-year-old away from the sun and back inside. The back of Tessa’s left hand bubbled red and angrily where the sun burned her skin. As the Countess wiped her tears and wrapped her hand, Tessa swore she’d never go near sunlight again. Years later, Tessa learned about the Sirens of greek mythology. Maidens with beautiful voices luring sailors with the promise of all the answers to their life’s questions, and leading the men to their deaths. The Sun was like the Sirens, Tessa thought: beautiful, alluring, and deadly. Throughout her childhood, Zephyr was there every night. To Tessa, Zephyr was a family friend, an honourary uncle. He played with her and brought her new gifts. Zephyr was her best friend, and although Tessa never knew why, she felt a strong, inexplicable connection to him. As a child, though, Tessa never questioned it. She only saw a caring friend, and a third guardian watching over her.

When Tessa was finally enrolled in school was when Zephyr stopped coming by so often. The visits lessened gradually: first only a few nights a week, then a fews nights every two weeks, then a few nights every month or so. Tessa didn’t understand why her friend was leaving her, but the Count explained that Zephyr had to return back to work, but he was never truly gone. Though his visits were occasional, the gifts stayed frequent. Tessa received books and clothes and jewelery from all around the world. Beautiful trinkets from counties she’d never heard of. But the best gift was always when Zephyr arrived on their doorstep. As Tessa grew older, she began to take notice of how different she looked from her parents. Both the Count and Countess had short auburn hair and piercing blue eyes, with milk-pale skin and faces splashed with freckles. Tessa had long brown hair and soft green eyes, with slightly tanner skin and not even a beauty mark on her face. When she was nine, Tessa finally confronted her parents, and they confirm everything she suspected: she was adopted. In a loose sense of the term, but Tessa didn’t care so much about the politics of it all. She wasn’t made at the Stavros’s, but rather had unending questions for them, her curiosity eating her alive once again.

Now that she knew, the Stavros’s agreed it was time she learned everything. That day, Tessa learned the history of the vampires, and how old her kind really was. The Count and Countess were both over five thousand years old, and had lived in Greece their whole life. They were around in ancient times when the gods were still worshiped and the temples were in pristine condition. Tessa learned about the Vampire monarchy, and how Turned Vampires slaughtered the Blooded and destroyed the castle in the Old Country. And she learned of the elite group called the Bastion, and how her birth mother, Delilah Rancour, was one of them. Though Tessa had never met her mother, she felt a swell of pride. Her mother served the King and protected the Prince during the attack. Tessa was in the bloodline of the Original Six. Tessa’s world was upended that day, and changed forever when the Countess asked if she wanted to get in touch with her mother. At first, Tessa was unsure about contacting Delilah. She had given her away after all, and never once tried to contact her. The Count explained that Bastion customs were strict, and having a child out of wedlock was scandalous. She would have been shamed, and treated as an outcast. And thought Delilah had given her away for her own protection,

Tessa still couldn’t help but feel betrayed that her mother didn’t fight for her. It took three weeks of mulling it over, but Tessa trademark curiosity finally got the better of her. Sitting down with a paper and a pen, Tessa drafted the first piece of contact she’d ever have with her mother. Writing that letter opened Pandora’s box. A month after sending the letter, she received a reply. At first Tessa didn’t read it; she only stared at the paper, absorbing the sight of her real mother’s handwriting. It was several pages long, and churned so many emotions, the Countess had to read it for her. Immediately, Tessa ran to pen a reply, printing and spelling as best as she could. Over the years, Tessa and Delilah formed a sort of code. They wrote under pen names and used complicated metaphors that even the Count and Countess could not decipher. It was Tessa’s idea, since her mother was an important figure with an important task, revealing anything about could be a great danger to both Delilah and Tessa. At the risk of interception, their conversations were coded.

Now knowing who her mother was, Tessa had endless questions about her real father. The Stavros’s claimed they didn’t know who it was, and Delilah refused to give her a name. But she talked at length about him. The stories Delilah told built a picture in Tessa’s man of a strong, knightly man who could level mountains and tame seas. Her mysterious father was a hero to her, even though she had no idea who he was. She had dreams of running along the coast of Ithaca just after sunset, with her real mother and father walking calmly behind her, holding hands. As the years passed, it became clearer to the Stavros’s that Tessa’s never-ending adventurism was beginning to boil over.

One night they asked if she wanted to keep the last name Stavros or change it to Rancour. Whatever she decided, they would not be offended. To their surprise, Tessa chose, Pierce, after Zephyr. She had no idea about their true relation, but Zephyr was still the most important friend in her life. The Count and Countess could not argue against something so perfect.

On Tessa’s sixteenth birthday, the Stavros’s approached her with an opportunity. They knew where Delilah was, and where the new Vampire King had landed his territory. In their hands were plane tickets to the United States, to a place in Colorado called Evermore City. She’d heard of the city in passing, whispers from other students at the school for Vampires that she attended. It was a city for supernaturals, the supposed “neutral zone” for different supernatural species. Her mother was there? With the new Vampire King? It was a reality Tessa never thought she’d be presented with. Right now, she could go West and meet her mother. She could meet the King and the rest of the Bastion. She could be surrounded by her people, instead of the other Vampire children she saw fleetingly at school during the night. But that would mean leaving her adoptive parents behind. Though they weren’t blood, they still raised her. They would always be her parents, and she’d miss them terribly.

But that insatiable curiosity flared up again, and Tessa just had to know. She had to go to the Eternal City and meet her mother. She had to know what the world was like. In no time, Tessa found herself packed and boarded on a private jet, heading West, into the heart of the supernatural world, and hopefully, into the arms of her mother.