Back to Nosferatu

Rachel Shirley

Description: Stringy black hair hangs off the skull of this behemoth, thick with slimy, congealed blood that colors the oily locks dark crimson as they hang all the way to the back of her waist. From head to toe, chapped, peeling skin of a sickly grey color exposes areas of bone, sinew, and entrails, a perfect match for her cracked, ragged fingernails. Her face trickles from every opening with the same thickened, decaying ichor that "accentuates" her hair, and her eyes are coated in a film of crusted gore with an expression both monstrous and human at the same time. Her outline, as ironic as it might seem, appears to have once framed an erotically-contoured female, with curves in all the right places. 

Affectations: She dresses in skimpy skirts and halters or tanktops, and carries a stolen laptop with a variety of programs in her backpack. Also, she tends to wear a small utility belt containing spare cash, a phone tap, lockpicks, and various other small gadgets for infiltration and information gathering. 

Haven: Rachel lives deep within the sewers, in an abandoned bomb shelter created by the city long ago. With the wonders of Nosferatu construction, the entrance has been engineered to appear as a brick wall that must be opened by a turn of one of the bricks on the adjacent wall. Inside is a messy, cluttered place, filthy and home to a dozen rats visible at any time. It contains a television, a massive computer system, stereo with a large collection of cds, cassettes,. 8-tracks, and records, as well as a small collection of relatively unread books. A secret, one-way hatch leads out to another section of the sewers and is used only during emergencies. A small table with three chairs sits in the northwest corner, the couch in the southwest, a tv in the northeast, and a bed in the southeast, all in worn and faded condition, but usable. The clutter is generally composed of junk, be they comic books, stolen knicknacks, and any object she forgot to put away. Dried blood and skin graces the walls, ceiling, and floor, and is fed upon by the local vermin. As a result, they are indirectly blood bound to her and have indeed developed a taste for her vitae and are trained to attempt to wake her if anything man-sized enters, as well as to let her know if anything man-sized besides herself enters when she is gone. A ceiling fan constantly rotates, circulating the stuffy air, and pictures adorn the stone walls of sunny landscapes. The electricity has been tapped from the city's current, and no plumbing exists. 

Personality: Rachel is the typical Nossie: Lewd, grumpy, bestial, and messy, she is reviled by the members of the more beautiful clans and reveres the members of her own. She is nosy about everything but means well when it comes to her clan: after all, they are the Harvesters of Secrets. She is ambitious to prove herself to Victoria and the other Nos, going to great lengths to extend the power of the clan and strengthen current ties, an effort she hopes will someday elevate her in status from ancilla to elder. As a result of remarkable clan unity, Rachel would never consider stabbing another member in the back to get ahead, but if asked, she might just do so to anyone else. 

History: Rachel hailed from a dysfunctional family and was subjected nearly constant beatings and rape by all members of her family due to her beauty. After running away from home at the age of 13, she became a streetwalker in her native Denver, giving birth to an illegitimate child. She found, to her horror, that drugs and alcohol could not drown away the guilt of being every bit as abusive of a parent as those she fled, and was at the brink of suicide when a wandering Nosferatu offered her a second chance at life. She was hideous, this vampire, and seemed to balk just as much at beauty as Rachel did. She agreed, and with in a few days she never had to worry about being looked over like a piece of meat again. Her sire, an enigmatic Nos named Julie, provided enough money for Rachel's daughter to attend a boarding school completely through college, where the pains of her twisted childhood were forgotten. For whatever reason, Rachel convinced Julie to let her watch over the blossoming child, who eventually married and gave birth to a son, who in turn married and raised a boy and girl. The boy, killed during the War to End All Wars, left only the girl to carry the family legacy, which was, by now, wiped away of the Nosferatu's foul taint. The girl grew into a beautiful woman who was an exact replica of Rachel's appearance in life, even down to mannerisms, and moved to Dallas when she married a rich banker. Rachel bid her farewell to her sire and followed her scion, where she presented herself to the Prince and remained there to witness the wonder of the growing family her great granddaughter had so carefully cultivated...the cycle of abuse had been ended with her own removal from it. She still watches, every once in a while, but has distanced herself from her mortal descendants out of fear of corrupting them. She has since gained a new family, her fellow Nosferatu, and serves them faithfully, utilizing her formidable abilities in the name of the clan. 

Special Ability: Gift of the Spider With this ability, Rachel can climb walls and even crawl along ceilings as if gravity was against that surface rather than the floor. This ability is always on and can be used at will, though actual walking standing straight up is not possible, as moving closer to the floor will cause the user to "flip feet" back to the floor again. Crouching, as a result, is the highest stance she can take, and can even use the power through gloves and boots, making her the perfect infiltrator. She has always had this unique ability, and its source is unknown.