Italy, 1879

Shad was a girl who lives in a wealthy Italian bourgeois family. She didn't live in the heart of the city, which was too noisy and not suitable for raising children, so her father and mother took a house in the plains outside the capital. Rome. The new capital of time.

The countryside was a dream for those children. They had three, and she was the middle child. The eldest brother was revered by her family. The favored male heir, But as children, they didn't give this much importance.

They played in the fields, chased each other, rolled in the grass, picked flowers, but most importantly, they played with the horses. To Shad they were majestic, fantastic and funny animals, but then again, that was how a five-year-old girl saw them.

All three children had always been attached to that animal, thanks to their father, who had a stable and took his horses to race at the largest racetrack in the world. And he, he was one of the runners.

Shad would have liked to be like her father. Riding and racing, competing and winning prizes to make her family happy, Just like he did...But it wasn't like that. Because she was a woman, and women couldn't do those things.

This was not the case for the older brother. Lorenzo, That was his name. He could do whatever he wanted. 'He could ride those horses and give to this family great satisfaction.' That's what her father told her, When she naively asked him to teach her how to ride a horse.

As a child, Shad didn't understand. She cried and complained, but as time went by, at the age of ten, she began to understand.

Pompous clothes, uncomfortable bodices, long hair pulled into stupid hairstyles just to make themselves look beautiful in the eyes of others. In the eyes of other men. Because that's what she understood...her purpose in life shouldn't be to want to run around on a horse, But that of getting married and carrying on the human species.

When she reached the age of seventeen, she realized how much she was not suited to the life she led, to her family...she wanted to run through the fields, to explore, and not stay at home sewing, play the piano.

Her mother, the only true person who perhaps, deep down, understood her, had allowed her to gain an education. She had made her study art, and that city was full of it. This would allow her to study history and form her own view of the world. And having a little brother was a good excuse to let Shad always study new things, without ever having to be reprimanded by her father.

Shad adored her little brother. Unlike Lorenzo, Leonardo was sweet, shy, and whenever he was with her, they drew, played, and made her feel appreciated. He was the only one in the family who made her feel good.

The mother, despite wanting only the best for her, was an anxious woman, who lived a life submissive to her husband. Lorenzo was grown up, he loved his siblings, but he loved his father more and the head of the family...

The Father.

The man who, despite all the times Shad had tried, wouldn't give her the satisfaction of a compliment, a hug, a smile. Everything she did was wrong in his eyes. He also considered studying "unfeminine". Shad tried her best to gain acceptance, because that's what a daughter was trying to do...seek acceptance from one of the most important men in her life.

But it wasn't like that...and when one day, at the age of twenty, he found her a husband to marry and she refused, Shad understood that his wasn't a father who cares for his children...He was just a stingy man, who had no qualms about giving his daughter away just for money.

Shad couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want to get married, she didn't want to stay in that house another day, and it was hard for her to abandon her little brother, but she did. At night. When everyone was asleep, she ran away.

She didn't want to stay in Italy, knowing that her father could have found her immediately, if he had looked for her, so she embarked with the little she had and without any prospects, she arrived In America.

When she arrived there, she didn't know what to do. A new world, a new adventure, but fraught with danger. But she took a chance and rolled up her sleeves...Or at least, she tried.

Months passed, and by that time she had managed to establish herself in a small town. She helped out at the inn that offered her hospitality and was paid. Somehow, she felt that life belonged more to her, but she felt that there was still something missing.

America, 1899

One day, while she was in a small town, she recognized a man. She'd seen him on the bounty notices posted on the city's tree trunks.

She felt anxious; she'd never met an outlaw before, but something told her it would be okay. She spoke up, Curious to know him somehow. From that day on, she met Arthur and then the rest of the gang.

After the attack on her city, she ran away with her horse, Morgan. She'd found him one day taking out the garbage. The horse wanted food, and she'd given it to him. From that day on they became friends.

She is temporarily part of the Van Der Linde gang, but promised to leave soon, To search for that something she doesn't yet know.

===================

• Shad's lore continues!

• Information about Shad Vampire!

• The Vampire of Saint Denise.

•"The bait-part 1"

•"The campfire"

===================

Things she owns:

Hat and gloves (given to her by Arthur)

Morgan (her horse and he is a Morgan)

A notebook (sketchbook) where she draws and writes what she sees and does

Things she is afraid of:

Snakes.

Never being enough (especially in love)

Fear of seeing all her loved ones disappear before her, without her being able to do anything.

Things she loves:

STRAWBERRIES.

Her gang family.

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Great people and RP blog:

@dutchvanderlinderp + @fromthelindentree (Dutch), @arthurmorganrp, @mistermxrgan, @mrtacituskilgore (Arthur), @red-dead-muses (Charles and Dylan), @johnmarstonrp (John), @boaz-appreciation (Javier), @guy-farningham (Micah), @kieranduffyrp (Kieran), @theirishterrier (Sean), @missabigailrcberts (Abigail), @missus-adler (Sadie), @samaelmntzrp (Samael)

@just-a-lone-soul (Huron), @diabolosthedevil (Diablos), @elliebrownrdr2 (Ellie)

===================================

Some drawings made by AMAZING PEOPLE I LOVE🫰🏽🫰🏽

@surprisinglyscarlett and @doethelittlecowpoke

Papà Theodore and his children 🤭

Going from a warm and sunny period like summer to a colder and darker one like winter was not easy, but fortunately there were the transitional seasons.

Autumn.

With its cooler days, the leaves beginning to fall from the trees and the sun setting earlier, prepared us for a period of frost. A chill that Shad had always enjoyed from her bedroom window in Italy. It wasn't snowing. Snow was rare there, but it rained. And every time, she loved watching the rain, Remembering when she was a child, when, together with her brothers, she would deliberately stumble into puddles, dirtying her clothes and laughing happily, Before she came home and got scolded for rolling in the mud.

But that was part of the game, and she enjoyed it.

Shad remembered days spent in bed with some silly ailment, accompanied by hot meals and, when night fell, the incessant sound of the drizzle pattering on the windows. The cold wind that inevitably entered the room and made her shiver, making her sneeze. She felt cold, but she knew it would get warmer again.

But not anymore...

Shad felt only a constant, cold, empty sensation in her body, and there was nothing she could do to avoid it. She could stay in front of the fire for hours, searching for the warmth she lacked, But she only ended up feeling a sense of fear every time she tried to get close to that flame.

And even though she had started to accept it, sometimes it weighed on her, so she tried to concentrate on something else, thinking that if she didn't feel hot, she didn't feel cold either.

And that early autumn day was just like that. A fresh wind that she couldn't feel, but see thanks to the trees that let themselves be rocked and the leaves that fell gently on the surface of the river where she was.

Shad was washing some gang members' clothes. She wanted to make herself useful, and that seemed like the best way to do it during the daytime hours. She often felt weak, she always had to stay hydrated with animal blood, but that day it wasn't like that.

That day, Shad felt good, almost...strong. And the vials. Where before she'd drank one every hour to stay healthy, now she needed two. This worried her, but she told herself that it was only because she wasn't eating as much as she should have.

But what if it was something else? She felt her hunger rising, but she also felt the lump in her throat that formed at the thought of drinking blood. Maybe she should have stayed away from the camp, at least for a while, and that was probably why she had offered to go wash clothes in the river.

The water moved every time it wet a cloth and reflected what was above it. The sky, the clouds, the leaves. Shad ai looked into the mirror of water, But there was no reflection.

"Right..." A disappointed murmur at the memory that vampires couldn't see their reflections in a surface. She wondered how they saw her? She had never asked herself that question. Maybe her family thought she was strange. But who wasn't?

And after that little disappointment, the day went by as usual, until evening came, where, to her horror, she realized why she had been feeling this way since morning...

That night people witnessed an event that only occurred once every three months. The dark sky in the silence of the night with its moon, which completely changed its dress and turned a disturbing blood red.

Shad had seen moments like this as a child, but never like this. Her eyes could see something humans couldn't. A red sky, a bright moon, As if the blood were part of her and made her shine even brighter.

For the first time in a long time, she felt afraid. The last time was when she encountered the monster that had allowed her to see like that that night...

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Speaking of the devil..."I told you it would be even more fascinating this way." The words always spoken in that calm tone of his, as he gazed at the moon with appreciation. As if she were a Divinity in his eyes.

"Why do I see her... so red? Before I didn't-" "You're a vampire now. Have you forgotten?" He clicked his tongue, interrupting her. "Humans fail to see its beauty. To them, it's a simple red sphere, surrounded by a dull sky." His tone was almost disgusted, haughty. She hated it. "But luckily we are here to appreciate its beauty, right?"

Shad just glared at him. It was beautiful, but it would never have occurred to her to thank him. Never. But he didn't seem to care.

"Ready your claws, darling, and your teeth. Tonight's hunt will be even more exciting." Those words sent a shiver down her spine. Hunting? She was starting to hate that word.

"What do you mean?"

"How naive you are, girl...don't you feel the hunger growing? The desire to sink your fangs into a human's skin?" He approached her, looking at her for a moment and realizing that it wasn't like that yet. "Oh, never mind. It'll happen. And when it happens, there's nothing you can do about it." And having said those words, he left as he had arrived.

Shad hated him. It was just a game to him. An eternal life where he could do whatever he wanted without any consequences.

But what the vampire said happened. Shad began to feel a slight tingling on his skin. The moonlight was fascinating, but also slightly uncomfortable. The discomfort would pass with food and also the great hunger she was beginning to feel.

Leaving everything you know and leaving it all behind is not easy. Shad had done it with Italy. She had left a family and social situation that had become too restrictive for her and gone to America.

"The American Dream." These were the words she heard every time her father gathered in the living room with his friends, drinking and talking business, amid laughter and shouts. While she listened from her room or peeked from the stair railings, curious about her father's life.

She had a dream. And she would make it come true.

And perhaps it was precisely those words that unconsciously led her to take that ship that took her to the great land of great possibilities.

Shad had nothing, but she hadn't given up. She'd worked, found a roof over her head, and saved money for any eventuality.

What came next seemed almost like a blessing to her. Even though she didn't believe in miracles.

She considered it lucky.

A close-knit group of people who immediately welcomed her into their family and it was there that she met the most important people in her life.

Through thick and thin, she did everything she could to stay close to them. She helped them out at camp, tried to be a shoulder to lean on, and even though it wasn't easy, they always found a way to move forward.

Then things changed. Shad became something she never imagined she could become. She became a vampire.

At first it was a surprise, unexpected, but it felt stronger. This gave her the strength to believe that she could have done more for her family, that she could have protected them more easily, but it wasn't like that...

Her bloodlust kept her from being close to them, and things only got worse for some of them. Shad felt useless, without purpose. She had left her dream locked away in a drawer, and with it, the knowledge that it would never be possible to realize it.

Despite this, Shad worked hard, spending weeks figuring out how to curb her instincts and when everything seemed to be going better, she was forced to do something that affected her so much, No longer finding the strength to drink blood, neither human nor animal. The bare minimum needed to survive. Nothing more.

Autumn arrived. Moments of peace came and went, and she still felt inadequate for those people...

Dylan, the brother who had been through the worst, but who despite everything always remained standing.

Theodore, the father she never had. Not her father, but her dad.

Samael, the man with whom she had spoken about religion and whose blood she had almost tried to drink.

Mag, the brother with whom she had first tasted fish blood. Never again, But forever A new experience with him.

Scarlett, The sister she never had and who would blow everything up for her family.

Osi, that mysterious yet sweet boy. Always ready to lend a hand when needed.

Henry, Doe, Ellie, Diablos, Huron...And all the people she met on that journey and couldn't be more grateful to have met.

Not to mention Charles, Javier, Liam, and Alejandro. Sweet and always available. She'd had a wonderful time with them.

John...she had bonded with that boy Shad in a way she still couldn't explain. They could talk about serious things even while talking about silly things.

And Arthur...oh Arthur...The man who had welcomed her into the gang, who had introduced her to the others, and on whom she had developed a stupid crush. Without him, none of this would have been possible.

Shad was grateful for everything. For everyone.

But she couldn't stay...

She would have liked to, but she had realized that the dream she had locked away in a drawer some time before was gathering too much dust even in that closed box. And she wanted to give a new turn to her life.

And that's what she did. She left without saying anything, because if she had, she wouldn't have had the courage to leave. She traveled for a while, and when she found the perfect place, She was able to begin building her dream.

A small house that would one day become her new ranch sat on a small plain filled with small trees and dry earth, framed by a slowly setting sun, Proclaiming the end of that second week of hard work.

Shad would return. She would see her family again, but not now. She wouldn't go back. But she would write them letters.

So, sitting on a wooden chair in the little attic with her new fawn friend, She smiled as she watched a new day end and thought that when she sent letters to her family, each one would end with a:

Yeah, I should probably write something about that. Shad is trying to create a place to call home. A little ranch she's always dreamed of. (Let's say they are the foundations for the future: 1900 onwards)

I think she'll be doing some errands around the gang and ranch, but she'll be busy a lot.

The stars. They were always there. They lit up the sky and only stopped when it was time for them to die...Could a star die? It exploded, but then where did it go? It merged with the immensity of space and then remembered? And once again became a bright point among the others...?

Scientists had probably studied it, but Shad hadn't. She didn't know that. And maybe she didn't care, Not that night. She watched the campfire blaze, the fire crackling as the wood burned to the ground beneath it.

The fire. She knew what happened once it was out. It turned to smoke and spread into the air, that was it. She enjoyed watching it, Before more than now. The heat that passed through her skin when she was still a human, she loved that when she was young, she could stay for hours in front of the fireplace, with her face turned towards the flame and look at it enchanted, Her face was on fire. But she didn't care. She would have been captivated by its beauty.

Now she was afraid of it. The heat no longer felt pleasant...now it unsettled her. A tingle every time she approached. But she watched. She remained there.

Just like that night.

Shad was alone, and hunting wasn't on her agenda for that evening...in fact, it hadn't been for a few days. She'd lost the desire to hunt, to take the lives of those poor animals, just...Because she was hungry. Hunger for something that was not normal to crave.

She still thought of herself as a monster, especially after meeting her creator... she felt empty. As if she were no longer in charge of herself. What he said, she had to do, no ifs and no buts. She was fed up, but she had to do it. Her family came first...and that was the only way she could keep them safe.

Her family...She had found herself thinking about them often lately. Everyone was facing challenges and everyone was coming away with different wounds. Theodore, Dylan, Scarlett, they were the ones she feared the most and the others...Mag, Osi...She wanted to do something, but what?

"Useless." She said to no one but herself, shrugging her shoulders more. How could she help them, if she felt helpless at the mere thought that she couldn't prevent them from getting hurt? She was an immortal vampire, she could regenerate, but what good were those powers if she couldn't lend a hand to others? And even the thought that sooner or later she would be alone made her think about how she would end it all, one day.

She was a mistake. The vampire had told her so several times, he had tried to find a use for that mistake but... nothing.

With dull eyes, she watched the flame, holding herself by the shoulders just a bit more, Only for the long nails to dig into her skin, leaning perhaps a little too close to one of the few things that could kill her.

She couldn't feel the pleasant warmth on her face. She closed her eyes and lowered her gaze, taking a useless breath. How many times had she felt this way, even at home? Oh...too many.

A tear. Only one fell from her left eye...

She didn't want to drink blood anymore; she had never drunk human blood before, and she would continue not to do so and would stop drinking animals bloods. Every time she did, she felt a knot in her stomach... the feeling of guilt, The dirty feeling she felt inside.

Chad and Shad have a pretty similar story, but Chad left his family because they never liked what he did. He was a failure for them.

When he decides to go to America, he starts a new life, but almost immediately becomes a vampire. He cares little about who he kills to survive, but if he does, he always chooses prey who, According to him, they deserve it.

He's bolder than Shad and a few years older. No, they're not brothers, nor do they even like each other; they simply met because he's part of the vampire sect.

Some info about him:

He is 25 years old and 1,80 cm tall. He often has yellow eyes, but they can turn red when he uses his powers/drinks human blood.

The days had become shorter. The nights longer. The weather was changing inexorably, and Shad's melancholy grew with them.

Things at the camp weren't going badly. Everyone was busy as always, and each person had their own story to live, to tell. Every day was the same, but something new was happening for the others. For others, but not for Shad.

That period had become monotonous. She felt trapped in a cage from which escape would only be dangerous, and she remained inside. A safe bubble, where friendships, family, and help at the camp had become her only life. She was fine with that. A quiet life, as far as that could be, was what she had dreamed of since she fled Italy. But maybe it wasn't quite how she had imagined it.

Shad began to feel the weight of being locked in that cage little by little, more and more every day. The people were great there, but what she was looking for, perhaps, wasn't there. As soon as she arrived, in fact, she had changed his mind. Months earlier, when she could still breathe without having to pretend to do so and her skin was still a bright color, She had met someone who made her believe that maybe there could be more to her.

She had left Italy because of a marriage forced by her father. She didn't want it; she had always said that if she married, it would be for love. But the more the years passed, the more she didn't know what this "love" was.

Shad had never smelled it, never seen it, never tasted it. Was it simple attraction? Or maybe it was something that could change your brain chemistry so much, you lost track of what was happening? But the biggest question was... was it worth it?

She'd had a relationship. It was over. Maybe they were too young to fully understand what love was, each other's needs...and even if one of them said that word as if it were thin air, The other one still couldn't understand its meaning. And perhaps this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Shad was too naive. She'd felt wronged, and it made her feel different. Even though now she felt different than ever. A vampire, no longer capable of those simple human instincts that characterized them, without a functioning heart...who wanted to feel "love." Ironic, right?

But every time she looked at Arthur, she felt a shiver down her spine and it felt as if she was capable of feeling something again. Shad had never really tried to talk to him; she herself thought it was stupid. She had met him; he was kind, helpful, and somehow made her feel appreciated. And even though Arthur didn't mean to be rude, it was clear that he noticed the longer glances Shad was giving him, as if she was seeking approval in his words, Or how she tried to be seen as a "good girl".

But was what she was doing out of love or pure attraction? They talked about it once. Arthur couldn't stop what she felt, but perhaps she didn't even know what she felt. Even though that day, when Arthur told her it wouldn't work, she felt something inside her break.

So was it really necessary to love? If it hadn't been that day, it would have been another, with someone else, and it would have suffered just as much. Maybe she understood what love was that day. Something that takes over your head, your heart, your thoughts, and fills you with illusions. Until the day of the test of courage. Where those illusions can become reality, or break like a glass of water too fragile to be held.

And that day was like that for her.

Maybe that was also one of the reasons Shad decided to change her life again. To pursue her little dream, the one that would never disappoint her. But when that day came, her stupid, broken, lifeless heart decided she couldn't leave him without a goodbye. And she wrote him a letter.

Now, years later, with the ranch finished and her new life begun, she thought back to what had been. Twelve years of sleepless nights reflecting, remembering, appreciating what she had had. And with a hint of a smile, her gaze turned to the horizon...She thought about that day. When Arthur nipped it in the bud. Now he'd been gone for years, and perhaps what he'd done was protect her, or spare her from what was to come. Shad liked to think so... And maybe she had understood what love was.

Something worth fighting for, even if it might hurt. Something that keeps you going, even when everything seems to be falling apart. She saw it in John and Abigail. She loved that couple and their child.