atonement.

BASICS

full name: mercedes cruz aguilar

former name: mercedes cruz de hawthorne

nicknames: cedes

gender: cis woman

pronouns: she, her

species: vampire

date of birth: april 29, 1918

date turned: october 1, 1948

appearance age: 30

vampire age: 107

occupation: pediatric nurse at port james hospital

status: legally presumed dead (as mercedes cruz de hawthorne)

ABOUT – tw: war/military, alcoholism, ptsd, domestic violence, murder/death

mercedes was born in portland, oregon to a dock laborer and his wife. her father worked hard to provide for the family, working long, laborious shifts. when mercedes was 5, her sister lidia was born and she gained a built-in best friend.

in high school, she met samuel hawthorne and the two began courting. mercedes was 20 when she became a wife, and she couldn't have been happier. together, she and samuel were full of love and grace.

( TW: war/military ) – when the united states entered world war 2 in 1941, samuel was one of many amongst his peers and friends to be drafted and sent overseas. mercedes wrote to him multiple times a week, and he returned her letters as often as he could. as the war continued, letters from his end waned, but any letter at all meant he was alive.

( TW: alcoholism, ptsd ) – samuel returned in 1945 after the war ended, but he wasn't the same man who left. he suffered from shell shock (ptsd) and eased his mind with alcohol. every meal, he had a glass. first thing in the morning and last thing at night, he had a glass. mercedes stuck by his side, caring for him and trying to make their home as peaceful as possible. the days weren't all bad and that gave her hope.

( TW: domestic violence ) – samuel's changes were subtle at first, sleepless nights, tears, irritability. over time, the tension grew, sharpened by alcohol and unspoken trauma. mercedes avoided setting him off but no matter what she did, she was a target. anger morphed into violence and one night, it nearly killed her. whether samuel understood the extent of his actions in his drunken state, she'd never know. he left for the bar and that was the last time she saw him.

that same evening, mercedes was supposed to meet her friend for their weekly catchup over coffee. he had his growing suspicions over her life at home and this was all but confirmed when she didn't show. he ventured to her house to check on her, finding mercedes in the living room clinging to life. in his panic, he only saw two options: she dies or he turns her. she had too much life left to live for the former, so he bit her.

( TW: murder/death ) – he brought her back to his home to recover and left to hunt down her husband. days later, his unsolved death and her disappearance hit the newspaper, 'LOCAL WOMAN MISSING; HUSBAND FOUND DEAD.'

the life mercedes knew was gone, and she didn't know whether to mourn or be grateful for the change. she didn't ask for any of this but now it was her cross to bear. she couldn't say goodbye to her parents, her sister, or any of her friends. she was missing in the eyes of portland authorities and had no reasonable explanation for her husband's passing. not to mention, every scar and bruise that had painted her skin was gone.

her friend brought her to port james, telling her how the supernatural like them would be safer here. everything she knows, she learned from him, but she'd be damned if was supposed to kill for food. she became a student nurse at port james hospital and after getting her feet wet, mercedes began stealing from the blood bank. her work and patient remarks were exceptional, she knew how to not draw attention to herself.