â BE BRAVE. EVEN IF YOUâRE NOT, PRETEND TO BE. NO ONE CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE. â
NAME: Meredith Danvers
GENDER/PRONOUNS: CIS Female, She/Her
DATE OF BIRTH: April 23rd, 1985
PLACE OF BIRTH: Salem Woods, Minnesota
CURRENT RESIDENCE: Brooklyn
OCCUPATION: High School Dance Coach + Weekend Bartender at Neon Nights
FACE CLAIM: Shelley Hennig
SPECIES: Witch
SPECIAL POWERS: Siphoner
Trigger Warnings: Death, Pregnancy
Meredith Danvers entered the world on a mild spring day in the supernatural community of Salem Woods, Minnesota. As the firstborn daughter of James and Ellen, a witch and a human respectively, the eyes on the coven were on young Meredith and (in time) her younger sisters. Though the coven of Salem Woods never held blood purity in particularly high regard, they were quite eager to pass on their knowledge to the next generation of witchesâthey were future coven leaders and elders, after all. When Meredithâs magic manifested early, just shy of her eleventh birthday, the elders were ecstatic. She could be a magical prodigy, or maybe even a future supremeâthey were sure of it! But life for Meredith and her sisters wouldnât revolve solely around their magical responsibilities.
Her mother made sure that the Danvers girls would have some semblance of human normalcy in their lives. For Meredith, that meant joining the dance team, hiking through the woods, and partying with her classmates on weekends. It was pure, stupid, mundane teenage fun, and precisely what Meredith needed to balance the scales of life. By age sixteen sheâd discovered her affinity for earth magic, manifested the ability of divination, and was elected captain of the dance team. The thought of the future was daunting enough, but being able to glimpse the infinite possibilities it held was a lot for Meredithâs still-developing brain to handle. The only future she wanted to worry about was who was taking her to homecoming, or whether or not her so-called friend Dana was gunning for her spot as team captain.
The coven elders were pleased to see her excelling in her studies, but grew increasingly disappointed with her attentions being so divided between the magical and the mundane. Some still held on to the hope she would be a candidate for their next supreme, but her actions made them doubt. Though Meredith was diligent in her magical studies, she was also known to reschedule her lessons for dance practice or study sessions with her friends. The more pressure the coven elders placed on her to prioritize magic over her life, the more disillusioned she became with the entire establishment. They claimed to view the species of the world on a level playing field, so why were they forcing her to choose between the two worlds she was equally a part of? They couldnât, or rather wouldnât, give her an answer.
Word of their âspirited discussionâ eventually trickled down through the coven in hushed whispers until it reached the ears of Meredithâs younger sisters. Then, it spread like wildfire. Each retelling warped and exaggerated the interaction until the story on the rumor mill declared that Meredith was in the running to become the next supreme, and planned to oust the elders for their elitist beliefs. Despite what some of her visions showed her, this, of course, was not true, but the social blowback did prompt the elders to ease back on the issue. Meredith made it through the rest of high school without overbearing magical interference, and paved the way for her sisters (and many of her fellow witches) to have a similarly mundane experienceâif they so chose.
However, once she graduated, Meredith returned to her magical studies. The more Meredith embraced her magic, the more stable her powers and visions became. They showed her many possibilities, but one became more common as she got stronger: one of her braiding a little girlâs hair, of her teaching young witches, and of an older version of herself leading the coven. When the visions faded, it struck Meredith how much she found herself wanting this futureâeven just a small part of itâand how hasty she may have been in condemning the elders. Mustering her pride, Meredith went before the coven leadership to ask forgiveness for her actions. Meredithâs apology was accepted on the condition that she would dedicate herself to the betterment of her coven. She found the terms acceptable, and firmly believed this to be the path forward to her desired future.
Not long after Meredithâs twentieth birthday, her path took an unexpected turn toward the future when she discovered she was pregnant. At this point in time, neither she nor Nicky, the werewolf would-be father, were interested in a relationship, but both found themselves invested in the notion of raising this child. Over the course of the pregnancy, the pair got to know each other better and discussed the logistics of their situation and what would be best for their âfamilyâ in the long runâespecially when they learned they were expecting twins. Ultimately, they decided to get married and did so in a private ceremony hours before Meredith prematurely gave birth to their children.
The next few years were a nonstop onslaught of diapers and sleepless nights, but with the help of their parents and Meredithâs sisters, the couple maintained their relationship, their careers, and their sanity. But as the twins grew older, it became clear that they would need to upgrade their living situation to accommodate their family. Meredith wanted to stay in Salem Woods, but it was going to be difficult with their financial situation. No matter how they scraped and saved, it wouldnât be enoughâbut a stroke of dumb luck answered their prayers. Nicky bought a lottery ticket on a whim and the next day they drew the winning numbersâhis numbers. Even after taxes they were left with a sizable sum, and with some smart investing, Nicky turned his winnings into his first million after just a year. Now they had what they needed to stay in Salem Woods, but the universe had other plans.
Meredith Danversâ very public death became a mystery that haunts her hometown to this day. On a cold autumn afternoon, Meredith and Nicky went to an open house on the swanky side of Salem Woods. It wasnât their first open house, but it would be Meredithâs last. As soon as she entered the master bathroom, she was stabbed to death by unknown assailant. It happened so fast and so quietly that her husband, the realtor, and the couple in the next room had no idea anything was wrongâuntil they saw the pool of blood. EMTs were on the scene in minutes, but it was too late. Salem Woods grieved for the sister witch and young mother they lost, and the family she left behind. Two days later, Meredith woke up screaming in the county morgue.
The covenâs network of members and connections whisked her back to Salem Woods to conduct their own investigation, but their only witness traumatized witness no answers for them. Meredith couldnât remember who attacked her, only her final moments of being stabbed over, and over, and over again. It wasnât until her children were in her arms again that she became more grounded in reality, and began to recognize the gravity of the situation. She died, but here she was alive and otherwise well. Even her injuries from the attack and the autopsy incisions were now white lines and gnarled scars. Nothing about the situation made sense. Who wanted her dead? Who wanted her alive badly enough to perform a resurrection ritual? Everyone knew the cost of such magic was a life for a life, so who died for her?
But after nearly a month of chasing their tails asking the same questions, the Salem Woods coven was ready to wash their hands of the matter altogether. The tight-knit community that once adored Meredith now looked at her with suspicion and disgust. Many suspected she was possessed, or that it was only a matter of time until she âgot them.â To add insult to injury, Meredith learned her powers died with her. She couldnât cast spells, call on her familiar, or glimpse the future sheâd clung so tightly to. All she could do was siphon magic from external sources. After everything she had done for them, the coven of Salem Woods requested that Meredith leave and never return. Despite her familyâs protests, she was declared an abomination and a danger to everyone she loved. With no future in her hometown, Meredith bade her parents and sisters a tearful goodbye and followed Nicky out of town with their infant children in tow.
In the years that followed, life changed drastically for Meredith. Nightmares of her death werenât uncommon, but she developed her own methods of coping with them and her other losses. With no magic and no sign yet of either child inheriting magic, gone were the days of coven meetings and spell practiceâall replaced by hair braiding, homework help, and PTA meetings. And with the assistance of financial advisors, Nickyâs winnings continued to grow into a small fortune. This allowed them to live a comfortable (and at times more extravagant) lifestyle than they were used to while still saving for the future. Though the platonic couple worked in sync together, Meredithâs resurrection was the elephant in every room and they had very different ways of addressing it.
Meredith, for one, was content to not look the gift horse in the mouth. As traumatizing as the ordeal had been, she was alive nowâand someone else had died for that to happen. She felt she owed it to herself, her family, and the unknown soul to make the most of each day and treasure each moment. Nicky, on the other hand, wanted answers. Someone wanted Meredith dead badly enough that they executed an insidious and elaborate method to do it. As time marched on, this became a point of contention between the couple. Nicky became more obsessed with finding answers and sunk more and more money into different avenues and leads. He made sure Meredith and their girls never had to worry about money while he was gone, but all they needed was him.
When the latest move brought them to New York City, it was just Meredith and the girls. Now in their late teens, the girls were magnets for trouble. The elder of the twins finally showed signs of having magic, and the other scared Meredith to death when she was attacked and bitten by a werewolf within their first week in NYC. One witch Meredith could handle, but a witch and a werewolf had her sorely wishing Nicky would be back soon. Theyâd helped their girls through many transitions over the years, but coaching a new werewolf as a former witch wasnât something Meredith could hope to undertake by herself. Between finding a new job, paving inroads with the areaâs supernatural community, and finding good mentors to teach her children, Meredithâs plate is quite full and for that, she couldnât be more grateful.
