CHARACTERS
GWENDOLYN “GWEN” WEISE
Gwen is a young American woman with an insatiable intellectual curiosity, driven to understand the world while guided by scientific rigor. She is a study in contrasts: meticulous and methodical, yet capable of bursts of chaotic creativity; emotionally restrained, yet fiercely passionate. She approaches life with the precision of a researcher, accumulating knowledge across diverse fields, while her casual, unpretentious demeanor masks a keen, incisive mind. Gwen’s thoughts rarely rest; she questions assumptions, reads between the lines, and explores beneath surfaces that others accept without scrutiny.
Sharp-witted and guarded, she navigates social encounters with humor, debate, and subtle deflection, keeping her vulnerabilities carefully shielded. Her asexuality shapes a practical, self-directed approach to intimacy, reinforcing her independence and autonomy. Though she exerts careful control over her environment and choices, she is drawn to dangerous knowledge, embracing calculated risks in the pursuit of discovery. Creative impulses and inventive thinking surface in unexpected ways, revealing both her unpredictability and her reliability when trust is earned. Gwen is enigmatic, brilliant, uncompromising, and endlessly dynamic—a mind uncontainable, alive with tension between order and chaos.
LORD WILLIAM BENNETT
William is a British strigoi aristocrat, a presence shaped by two centuries of experience and cultivated refinement. Transformed after the violent betrayal and murder of his fiancée, he carries the weight of loss and guilt with quiet dignity. His impeccable Victorian attire and noble bearing reflect a lifetime steeped in tradition and propriety, while beneath his composed exterior lie predatory instincts tempered by rigorous self-control. Centuries of existence have made him reserved, yet brief flashes of passion and possessiveness occasionally emerge.
Despite his fearsome nature, William adheres to a strict ethical code: he drinks only from willing donors and abhors unnecessary violence. He values loyalty, art, and the familiar rhythms of aristocratic life, grounding his long, shadowed existence. Beneath his cultured exterior lies steely resolve; he will act decisively and lethally to protect what he considers his, all while striving to preserve the humanity that endures despite his vampiric nature.
XAVIER CARRINGTON
Xavier stands as a testament to British precision and unwavering discretion. A veteran of MI6, his weathered face bears the subtle marks of decades in the field: thin scars along his cheek, keen grey eyes that miss nothing, and a posture forged from years of military and intelligence training. His salt-and-pepper hair is perfectly groomed and his black suits are immaculate. A raspy voice, scarred from an operation gone wrong in Belgrade, carries authority wrapped in impeccable etiquette, hinting at the lethal competence beneath his refined exterior.
For fifteen years, Xavier has served Bennett manor with absolute loyalty, after William once saved his life during a particularly dangerous mission in Prague. He manages the manor with military precision, handles threats with lethal efficiency, and keeps secrets with spy-craft cunning, all while ensuring perfect timing for tea and maintaining his CZ 75 hidden beneath his tailored jacket. The perfect butler. The perfect guard dog. And above all, absolutely discreet.
RUTH WALLING
Ruth is a spirited young British woman whose impulsive creativity shapes both her art and her life. A lover of food, punk music, and coffee—but resolutely not tea—she navigates the world with a carefree, sociable energy, drawn to cultural experiences and anything visually or aesthetically striking. Active on social media and an unapologetic gamer, she is talkative, flirty, and unafraid to speak her mind in a relaxed, often vulgar style. Protective of those she cares for, she balances her playful, romantic tendencies with occasional anxiety, acting as a mediator when conflicts arise.
Though her interests lean toward the artistic rather than the scientific, Ruth’s love of literature, movies, and creative expression runs deep. She met Gwen online years ago, bonding over shared tastes and long conversations that revealed both humor and insight. Her personality is a whirlwind of curiosity, passion, and empathy; a combination that makes her both a devoted friend and an irrepressible force of energy wherever she goes.
DOCTOR PETER FOSTER
Dr. Foster is a private British physician, known for his gruff demeanor and uncompromising professionalism. He runs his practice with military precision, valuing punctuality above all else and insisting on efficiency in every consultation. Concise in speech, he dispenses medical advice with clarity and authority, leaving no room for unnecessary chatter.
Despite his stern exterior, he is quietly devoted to his patients’ wellbeing, valuing discretion and confidentiality above all. He tolerates little nonsense, has no patience for trivial complaints, and approaches life and medicine with the rigor of someone who believes order and discipline are paramount. His no-frills approach makes him respected, if occasionally intimidating, and perfectly suited to those who value competence over pleasantries.
LORD ALARIC DUNSFORD
Alaric carries five centuries of hard-won restraint, the kind that turns caution into its own quiet armor. Born into a Suffolk noble house undone by plague and civil war, he survived by outmaneuvering disaster rather than confronting it. His transformation spared him from the Black Death but not from frailty; echoes of old consumption still rasp at the edges of his voice and leave him prone to coughing fits that undermine his attempts at dignity. He dresses in immaculate Georgian fashion, clinging to an era that flatters him more than the current age.
Behind his polished manners lies a calculating cowardice; he manipulates with practiced subtlety, envies the vigor of younger strigoi, and masks ambition behind deference. Survival is his craft, and every conversation is another negotiation. His gaze has drifted toward the role of Vătaf, not out of duty but out of fear of becoming irrelevant in a world that keeps evolving without him.
JULIAN HARTWELL
Julian moves through immortality with the confidence of a favored son who never learned the word “consequence.” Born into a wealthy Manchester mercantile family at the turn of the 20th century, he grew up believing the world existed for his amusement. Turning into a strigoi only sharpened that instinct. He eliminated his older brother to seize the family business, ran it with predatory brilliance, then sold it off the moment suspicion threatened his comfort. Reinvention became his sport. Every new generation is another opportunity to build, gut, and rebuild an empire; mortals are merely resources in his ongoing experiment in selfish ambition.
His charm is polished, his cruelty effortless, and his narcissism absolute. He collects “wives” the way others collect art, turning women he finds beautiful or useful and discarding attachments as soon as they bore him. Beneath all that bravado lies a fledgling’s insecurity, the very flaw William exposes without trying. He is dangerous, clever, and utterly faithless.
CERIDWEN VALE
Ceridwen carries almost two centuries of cultivated composure, diplomacy shaped by a life that taught her survival begins with listening. Born to a poor Welsh family in Pembrokeshire, she forged credentials to secure work as a governess, relying on intelligence and determination to climb where birth never would have allowed. When her employer tried to claim her as his due, she fled, only to be struck by a carriage and left for dead. A passing strigoi saved her, and in time became her lover for nearly a century.
Though they eventually parted, their bond remains steady. Ceridwen is elegance without pretense; she reads tempers with uncanny ease, diffuses conflicts before they ignite, and navigates old rivalries with a tact that carries quiet but unmistakable authority. She prefers peace to posturing, but she is neither meek nor yielding. Behind her gentleness lies an iron core, and when she speaks, elders listen.
BISHOP ARVIND REO
Bishop Reo stands as the quiet backbone of the Church of England’s modern theological debates, a man whose authority rests on intellect rather than theatrics. His approach to faith is relentlessly rational: scripture, history, science, and philosophy form a single coherent structure for him, and he presents belief with such clarity that even skeptics find themselves listening. His demeanor is calm but unyielding, giving him a presence that discourages manipulation, particularly from the vampires who have learned he will not be intimidated.
Even in private, he refuses to compromise on the principles that shape his worldview, his steadiness unnerving both believers and skeptics. Though he never proselytizes aggressively, he engages others with thoughtful, measured conviction, grounding supernatural chaos in disciplined logic. In any crisis, he becomes the still point around which others steady themselves, guided not by zeal but by certainty earned through study, patience, and experience.
VĂTAF MIRCEA CORDREAN
Mircea moves through the centuries with the ease of someone who long ago accepted that survival requires adaptation, not nostalgia. Born a Dacian soldier with no lineage or riches, he rose to prominence among the strigoi through discipline, intelligence, and an instinctive grasp of power dynamics. Time did not soften him; it refined him. His presence carries a quiet authority that settles a room before he even speaks, earned through a millennium of navigating wars, shifting borders, and volatile supernatural politics.
He respects stability, despises impulsiveness, and values empathy as a strategic strength rather than a weakness. Loyal to his wife and to the moroi child they raised, he guards the secret history of their kind with unwavering responsibility. Even his silence feels intentional, as if he is constantly calculating the next hundred years. Only reckless cruelty tests the restraint that underpins his carefully cultivated calm.
SEBASTIAN
Sebastian is Gwen’s young adult domestic American longhair, sporting striking seal-point coloring and a luxuriously fluffy tail. Hyperactive yet aloof, he is a master manipulator, carefully doling out affection, allowing trusted hands to stroke his toe beans or rub his joints, while maintaining a regal distance from anyone else. Change to his environment or routine is anathema, and he shows little interest in other people or cats, though he curiously warms first to Xavier and, eventually, to William.
Playful but hard to win over, Sebastian adores salmon, ignores catnip, but responds eagerly to valerian. Large yet sleek, his deep, rumbling purr resembles an old motorboat, a testament to the pride and character behind his feline independence.
ELIZABETH HOLLOWAY
Elizabeth embodied the delicate charm of a sheltered aristocrat, living in a world shaped more by imagination than by consequence. She moved through the world as if it were a storybook landscape; soft light, whispered promises, dangers edited out of the frame. Her nature was airy, romantic, endlessly whimsical; every choice filtered through fantasy, not reason. She treated her arranged engagement to William with affectionate detachment, viewing him as a beloved companion rather than a future husband. When the allure of a dramatic elopement appeared, she followed it blindly, convinced passion alone would sustain her.
The reality proved far darker: the lord she trusted became her murderer, leaving her strangled in an alley just months later. Her death remains a haunting reminder that innocence without discernment is perilous. To those who knew her, she remains frozen as a cautionary figure—someone who loved the idea of love but never understood its risks.
✮° ── ⋆⋅✮⋅⋆ ── °✮
Disclaimer:The images on this page are AI-generated and used solely for visual reference.
This work is officially published exclusively on Inkitt, Royal Road, and Wattpad under the username GothicVulcan. Any other site hosting this work is doing so without permission. Please report unauthorized copies.
