VANESSA SANTOS.

☾ CHARACTER BACKSTORY ☽

Image is everything. Or, at least, it is in the Santos family. A well-known group of supernatural hunters that originated in Brazil, a branch was sent to Mystic Falls in the late 1800s after considerable vampiric activity was reported in the town. It was from that line that Vanessa Santos was eventually born. A middle child in the group of five Santos children, Vanessa was born a half hour after her twin sister, Valentina. Like all Santos members, it was always expected that Vanessa would grow up to hunt vampires. Although she did eventually do so, nothing went as planned. When Nessa was 5, her parents went on a routine trip out of town to hunt while Nessa remained behind with her siblings under the care of her grandparents. When Fernando and Gabriela returned a few days later, they found chaos. Only two children, Cristian and Beatriz remained. Nessa, Val and their elder sister, Heloísa, had vanished. There was no sign of them for an entire year until the day Valentina and Vanessa inexplicably showed up on the Santos doorstep. There were no answers. The twins didn't know what happened to Heloísa or where they'd been. Although their parents were relieved, it became apparent something was wrong. The girls were wasting away and nothing helped. It wasn't until Fernando brought home a bloody stake from a kill that anything changed. The girls went wild at the sight of the blood, and it soon became clear that vampire energized them. It made them better. Faster, stronger, unable to be compelled. The twins were exceptional hunters… and total abominations in the eyes of their father. Still, he protected them and their secret to preserve the family name. He made a deal with Dr. Grayson Gilbert that he'd bring him vampires in exchange for the twins receiving routine blood transfusions. With their "issue" seemingly under control, the Santos family continued as if life was fine. Life was not fine. Fernando trained Nessa, but he was cold. He didn't deal well with Val's moods, and she trained with Gabriela. The training sessions were some of the few times when Nessa wasn't with her twin, and although she'd never admit it, it was nice to have a time when she didn't have to be cleaning up Val's messes. Fernando didn't like Nessa either, but she worked harder to be the daughter he wanted. Val struggled, and Nessa overcompensated. She graduated with straight A's and while her parents wouldn’t want her to risk something like Miss Mystic Falls, Nessa tried to succeed. She may have been an abomination, but she'd be the perfect daughter and hunter. After high school, Nessa was officially initiated with her first independent kill. College, at least, gave her a little more time to herself even if she had to commute home. While the transfusions worked, it was hard to ignore the bloodlust. Nessa wasn't a vampire. Why did she crave blood so badly? She did everything in her power to never let anyone know it was a struggle. Not her siblings, not her parents. While it was hard, it was doable. At least, it was until Grayson died. With Grayson gone, the transfusions stopped. Fernando found how to do them himself, but they had to carefully ration. He became paranoid that the Founder's Council would find out, and Nessa began giving some of her portions to Val to try to sate her sister. Everything was slipping, then a potential salvation arose. Wes Maxfield was Nessa's professor, and he explained that he had read all of Grayson's notes and made the connection that Nessa was one of the subjects in them. He didn't have a cure, but he was willing to help find one. After a lifetime of question marks, it was too good to resist and Nessa agreed to let him monitor her in exchange for answers. Fernando couldn't know, of course. He was firm no one could know of the twin's struggles. It seems worth the risk to Nessa. Val is only getting worse, and she isn't sure how long she can hold on either. Something has to give, and maybe if Nessa can cure this ailment that's plagued her for most of her life, she'll finally be everything she’s pretended to be.

☾ CONNECTIONS ☽

☾ VALENTINA SANTOS has always been by Vanessa's side. No one knows what the two of them went through, and that should bring them closer together. Not only did they share the same womb, but they share the same affliction. Unfortunately, Val and Nessa have had very different responses to the transfusions. Vanessa has spent a good deal of her life not only hiding her bloodlust but also trying to manage her sister's outbursts. She's not her sister's keeper, but no one can understand how hard it is to be a vampire hunter who craves blood. Val's increased bloodlust isn't her fault. Vanessa knows that, and she tries to keep it in mind when Val is being difficult. She loves her twin and will do whatever she can to help her navigate their situation. ☾ FERNANDO SANTOS is not easy. He's never been easy. Vanessa is acutely aware of the fact that he hates what his daughters became, and she's spent her life trying to not only act normal but excel in whatever she does. Don't give into the bloodlust, don't give into the desire to snap. Instead, she wants to make her father proud. He's dedicated his life to keeping her secret, so isn't it the least she can do? She can try to be a good hunter and bring honor to the family line. Maybe one day she'll do a good enough job that it'll overshadow the fact that she needs vampire blood to survive. ☾ WES MAXFIELD teaches at Whitmore College, and he's offered to help Vanessa look into her condition. He says that he's familiar with Grayson Gilbert's work as well, and while that was supposed to be top secret, it makes him one of the few people who knows about the Santos family's greatest source of shame. Although Vanessa has agreed to let him examine her, she's remained hesitant. Her father would kill her if he knew that she told anyone about the bloodlust, and it's likely in Vanessa's best interest to not let Fernando know until they're closer to a cure or explanation. After feeling like she's stuck as an abomination her entire life, the idea of having hope is hard to fathom.

☾ WELCOME TO MYSTIC FALLS, VA ☽

Tina used to love the carnival. Any event was her time to shine. However that year it had kind of lost its appeal. It made her so angry. As usual, she resented her parents for pulling her into the dark side of Mystic Falls. She would have gladly kept leading her attention seeking, competitive and carefree life. Instead she was stuck with terrible knowledge and so few people to share that burden with.

The dead were always loud, but it was worse in a public setting. so many people gathered with spirits attached to them like puppets on a string. Ghosts were exhausting because no one ever left this plane with their life tied up in a neat little bow. That's the thing about dying--no one's ever ready. They always have something dire left to be said or done, and as soon as they knew she could see them, they chained themselves to her like anchors to an unfit life raft. It felt like drowning, except it wasn't water she was choking on, it was a tsunami of everyone else's grief. It had been stupid to come, but she was trying not to be a hermit. So much for that, since she was already off at the edge of the lot where it was more quiet. She could hear the games and rides playing over the distant crowd as she dug through her purse, looking for a lighter to smoke her joint. Someone struck the bell on the strength game really hard with the hammer and all the lights went off, blasting celebratory music. Isa angled her purse into the momentary brightness to confirm what she already knew.

the plan had been to divide and conquer. the carnival had a decent amount of space to cover, and the shadows had only grown longer as the night went on. beatriz had yet to be fully initiated, so cristian had taken her in one direction and vanessa was left to her own devices in the other. the thought of being the odd man out didn't bother her. cristian and beatriz had always been close, and being alone was better than dealing with cristian and his guilt. she had already told him that he didn't need to apologize any longer for something that had happened when they were children, but for as long as fernando held him at arms length, he would. there wasn't really anything wrong with patrolling with beatriz, but vanessa was rarely allowed to. she wasn't valentina, but she was still a flight risk in her father's eyes. an abnormality. an abomination.

not super eager at the thought of having to engage— or, god forbid, bust out a stake— vanessa continued her route around the carnival's perimeter. there was a slight pang in her chest as she watched the happy faces lost in their own joy. they had no idea how quickly the night could change or the lives could end. it sounded both freeing and terrifying. vanessa was nearly ready to text cristian that she was done and heading home when she first heard the voice. it only took a second to trace the sound to the face of a woman standing there with a joint. vanessa didn't smoke, of course. outside of having no appeal, it was detrimental to the lungs. there couldn't be any disadvantages physically if she were to live up to her father's standards. that didn't mean she didn't carry a lighter, however. you never knew when you needed a flame.

She'd taken the late shift for that brief respite from her family, and the time had slipped by without her even really noticing. The bell above the door rang and she looked up in surprise, eyes hitting the clock before the customer. "Oh— we close soon." Five minutes ago, really. "Can I help you find what you're looking for?"

vanessa knew more of maeve mccullough than she actually knew her. maeve had graduated with beatriz. vanessa knew that. she was pretty sure her younger sister and maeve had been friendly, but she didn't know much about the mcculloughs outside of that. witches, likely. that was fine. the santos family tended to leave them alone. they could be a decent ally against vampires, so they were tolerated.

She enjoyed teasing the hunters that obviously trailed after her, one of their dead bodies lurking just behind her in the alleyway. "You'd think people would learn a little something after all these years but it feels like people are growing dumber by the year. Kind of disappointed in a way"

"For a small town it definitely has big things going on with it - like one of those stupid Russian dolls that never seem to end," she sighed, taking a sip from her coffee. "Plus the coffee here sucks, I thought small towns were supposed to have decent coffee or something like that"

"high schoolers." liz sighed. she didn't hate them for being young and reckless, everyone was young and reckless once, she was just annoyed because all she wanted was to keep them safe and they notoriously made her job harder. "these kids hear town wide curfew and animal attacks, and decide its the perfect time to throw a bonfire party in the woods." liz started her day bright and early with a call about several burned bodies in the cemetery. she was just wrapping her head around the resurgence of vampires and now they might have a regular human serial killer on their hands. in mystic falls of all places. what's next-- werewolves? at the snap of a branch liz wipped her head around, eyes landing on a familiar face that didn't belong.

reporting to a crime scene in the early hours of the morning was never not a drudge. there was never a happy ending, and there wasn't usually an active threat to dispatch. vanessa— was by birth and training— a hunter, not a detective. the police could solve the crime. that was their job. it was vanessa's duty to not upset her father. if fernando wanted a santos on the scene to check for supernatural activity, one would be there. unfortunately, he never asked valentina, beatriz was barely out of training and cristian was busy. it was vanessa who was stuck with leaves stuck on the soles of her boots as she trudged to the site. the plan was to wait quietly until the other law enforcement agents cleared the space, and once they were gone, she allowed a snapping of a twig to signal her presence.

Derek would have never been caught dead attending a stupid carnival but busy events were a prime hunting ground. Whoever was responsible for the chaos in Mystic Falls could lurk around, selecting its new victim. So there he was in the middle of the crowd. As he was making his round, an annoying brunette interrupted him, making him lose his focus.