Conworlding Chicago: Anastasia - The Basics
There are several characters that I would like to write about in my fantasy version of Chicago, but the one I have the best ideas for right now is Anastasia. She doesn't yet have a last name, yet. She is the central viewpoint character in Toy: A Fable for the Undying.
Anastasia is a vampire, born in Fort Dearborn on the shores of Lake Michigan in 1804. Her family survived the destruction of the first fort in 1812 and the following massacre, and later returned to the new Fort Dearborn. Her parents both perished soon after, leaving her alone. She was, by this time, sixteen, and able to fend for herself.
By this time, many folk had noticed that she wasn't hanging on the arm of any young men. Most put it off to her grieving over the loss of her family. Some few were privileged to know the truth. She liked girls. By the time she was eighteen (and expected to be considering marriage by now) she'd been with half a dozen girls, all of whom had their own secrets to keep.
One man, in particular, desired Annie. He was the local preacher, wed to another woman who had already born him three daughters. One night, in a fit of frustration after drinking quite a bit more than a preacher should, he burst into her home with the intent of demanding her attentions. He caught her in the act with another local girl. Stunned and outraged, he beat and raped her. She became pregnant from that one... unpleasant act of violence.
Despite the reasons for her pregnancy, the local community did not look kindly on an unwed mother - especially with the local preacher shouting about hell and damnation for sinning perverts - and Anastasia soon found herself unwanted in most areas. Late in her pregnancy, she made friends with another lesbian woman in the town. This woman had only just arrived, and was, it seemed, wealthy enough to disregard the opinions of the locals. She took Annie in, and her servants cared for her and helped her birth her child. She professed great love to Annie and wanted to have her near, always. There were odd things about this woman, but Annie really like her, even if she only ever saw her at night.
Annie continued having problems, though, as the father of her child petitioned the courts to take the child away from her. Despite the fact that she was the mother she was a lesbian, and that made her unfit it seemed. Whatever the child's origins, Annie loved her with all her heart, and didn't want to give her up. She thought long and hard about leaving the area and heading west to California, until her lover approached her with another idea.
The woman explained that she was a vampire, immortal and powerful and that she could make Anastasia like herself. With the power of a vampire, the woman told her, she could protect her daughter forever. In a terrible moment of fear, she accepted the offer and became an immortal vampire. She and her lover's servants cared for the daughter in daylight, and she cared for her in the night.
For nearly a year, all was well. The two women loved each other, and Annie loved her child. Annie also discovered that she could change herself into a raven and fly with an unkindness to hunt. Her (un)life, it seemed, was going so very well. Then one morning, she rose from her casket to find almost all the servants dead, and her daughter gone. Outraged, she flew to the preacher's house, subdued his family and demanded to know where her daughter had gone. He refused to say, stubbornly pretending innocence, until Annie held her fangs over his youngest daughter's neck. He babbled about a caravan that had left just after sunrise, and Annie flew off, leaving them there, all still bound. Several miles east of the city, she found the ruins of the caravan, burned and slaughtered by natives. There was no trace of her daughter.
Enraged beyond madness, she flew back to the preacher's house. All of them were still bound and struggling to get free when she returned. In a terrible fit of anger, she made the preacher watch while she snapped his wife's neck, and then slowly drank all three of his daughters dry. Then she finally killed him.
Afterwards, she flew back to her lover's house. Hateful against her former lover for her empty promises of protection, she accused the woman (rightly) of using her fears of losing her daughter to ensnare her in vampirism. The woman sneered and informed Annie that the preacher had nothing to do with the girl's disappearance. She, herself, had arranged for the whole affair to rid Annie of the "distraction" of the girl so that Annie could fix all her attentions on her, instead. Had the woman known of Annie's recent feast of virgin blood, she no doubt would have played the innocent and waited until Annie's newfound power had diminished. As it was, she thought Annie was no match for her, and that she could easily subdue Annie if she became rebellious.
She was in for a shock. Annie attacked her with a power and quickness she didn't think possible. Annie beat her to a pulp, bound her inside her casket and buried her deep in the marshes, undead and trapped for all time.
Annie never saw her daughter again.
Annie did go on, though. Her few remaining servants helped her find blood and to keep her secrets. She moved frequently as the town of Chicago very quickly grew into the city of Chicago, and she learned to adapt over the decades.
One night in 1871, Annie's city burned. A city of wood and wind, a third of it was destroyed, including her home and her casket, and very nearly herself. She was burned, and the explosion of a nearby building had blown a large number of wooden splinters into her back at one point. In agony, she barely managed to find some sort of shelter and a man near death before falling forever. Sheltered, she drank the man's blood before he died, and used the power to sustain herself before the sun rose and she slept.
In the aftermath, 300 were dead, and 90,000 were homeless, including herself. She was terribly weak, and the splinters in her back continued to weaken her. She could barely move, let alone hunt or find any sort of aid. She got very lucky.
She was found, that first night, by a family of former slaves, now homeless by the fire. They knew what she was immediately, but rather than hate and fear her, they pitied her. They carefully pulled all of the splinters from her back and gave her small portions of their blood so that she could sustain herself. In the aftermath of the fire, they nursed her back to health, kept her hidden and safe, and showed her love and acceptance. In the meantime, she discovered that they had their own problems with a group of people (that I have not yet identified) that wanted to drive them away. One night, these people came to drive them off and kill them. Annie protected her new family, and gained a long family bond for the first time in over a century. Many of these peoples' descendants still work for Annie today.
In the 1920's, Annie undertook her favorite venture. The 18th amendment had outlawed the sale of alcohol, but that didn't stop the need for a few drinks after work for most Chicago folks. She opened a restaurant and bar in a basement speakeasy. It had a backdoor connection to old sewage tunnels large enough for smuggle crates of whiskey and beer - and for the easy disposal of unwanted guests. Her place was one of the favorites of the town, both for the booze and the food, and for the music. Jazz was big, and she bought in the best. She did dealings with Al Capone right from the start, although she avoided letting him find out her little secret, and avoided most of the unpleasantness with which he conducted his affairs. To this day, however, the bar has a bullet hole or two from the night the O'Banion gang had tried to shoot up the place.
When lights were installed in Wrigley Field, Annie went to see a few games, out of curiosity. She discovered a new love for baseball and for the Cubs. It was there, two years ago, that she met Casey, a young nurse. Casey was full of life, and Annie quickly found herself enamored with her. She was delighted to find that Casey had affection for women and they went out on a few dates. On their third date, Annie gave her a dozen red roses. She was actually planning on taking her first bite from her, that night, but was shocked when Casey ate them! She nearly put off drinking her blood, that night, as roses are poisonous to vampires if placed in their mouth, and she was unsure of what would happen if she took the blood of someone who'd eaten them.
She was too hungry not to drink, though. She seduced Casey into a... willing position and drank, cautiously. She discovered that the roses gave Casey's blood a wonderful sort of spice and didn't hurt her at all. Thereafter, she told Casey the truth, and Casey accepted her for what she was (thank goodness!) and Annie was sure to bring her roses every night.
The two have been deeply in love ever since, and Annie looks forward to a long life with her.
Last night, though, she made a terrible mistake. She was terribly hungry, and Casey was unavailable for "donation." Under circumstances like these, Annie knows that Casey doesn't mind her finding another source of nutrients for the night, so she wandered her restaurant, looking for possibilities. It was actually Halloween night, and her annual costume party was already well under way. She found a young woman dressed as a fairy, with dragonfly wings on a harness and pointed ears glued over hers. As she came closer, she smelled virgin blood in the girl's veins, and wanted it. She danced with the girl, and the girl was having fun, telling her that she wasn't really a girl, but a fairy child. Annie smiled at the girl's role-playing and seduced her into coming upstairs to the little apartment there for some "Midnight fun."
The girl came upstairs, and let Annie seduce her. Annie slipped her teeth into her neck and began to drink.
She was shocked to discover that the blood wasn't virginal. She'd been tricked. Quickly, she tried to pull back, but the girl grabbed her head and commanded her to drink, and Annie found herself helplessly drinking until she was well past sated. When she was finally able to pull away, the girl laughed down at her, standing to toss the wing's harness to the floor, but her wings stayed. Annie knew terror as she realized she'd drunk fairy blood. Fairy blood is incredibly addictive to vampires. No vampire had ever drunk of them and remained free. The girl laughed, and Annie heard her say what a wonderful toy she would make for all eternity before she passed out.
That last bit is the opening of the novel. For anything beyond that, you'll have to wait for the book. Sorry. :)
Anastasia is a vampire, born in Fort Dearborn on the shores of Lake Michigan in 1804. Her family survived the destruction of the first fort in 1812 and the following massacre, and later returned to the new Fort Dearborn. Her parents both perished soon after, leaving her alone. She was, by this time, sixteen, and able to fend for herself.
By this time, many folk had noticed that she wasn't hanging on the arm of any young men. Most put it off to her grieving over the loss of her family. Some few were privileged to know the truth. She liked girls. By the time she was eighteen (and expected to be considering marriage by now) she'd been with half a dozen girls, all of whom had their own secrets to keep.
One man, in particular, desired Annie. He was the local preacher, wed to another woman who had already born him three daughters. One night, in a fit of frustration after drinking quite a bit more than a preacher should, he burst into her home with the intent of demanding her attentions. He caught her in the act with another local girl. Stunned and outraged, he beat and raped her. She became pregnant from that one... unpleasant act of violence.
Despite the reasons for her pregnancy, the local community did not look kindly on an unwed mother - especially with the local preacher shouting about hell and damnation for sinning perverts - and Anastasia soon found herself unwanted in most areas. Late in her pregnancy, she made friends with another lesbian woman in the town. This woman had only just arrived, and was, it seemed, wealthy enough to disregard the opinions of the locals. She took Annie in, and her servants cared for her and helped her birth her child. She professed great love to Annie and wanted to have her near, always. There were odd things about this woman, but Annie really like her, even if she only ever saw her at night.
Annie continued having problems, though, as the father of her child petitioned the courts to take the child away from her. Despite the fact that she was the mother she was a lesbian, and that made her unfit it seemed. Whatever the child's origins, Annie loved her with all her heart, and didn't want to give her up. She thought long and hard about leaving the area and heading west to California, until her lover approached her with another idea.
The woman explained that she was a vampire, immortal and powerful and that she could make Anastasia like herself. With the power of a vampire, the woman told her, she could protect her daughter forever. In a terrible moment of fear, she accepted the offer and became an immortal vampire. She and her lover's servants cared for the daughter in daylight, and she cared for her in the night.
For nearly a year, all was well. The two women loved each other, and Annie loved her child. Annie also discovered that she could change herself into a raven and fly with an unkindness to hunt. Her (un)life, it seemed, was going so very well. Then one morning, she rose from her casket to find almost all the servants dead, and her daughter gone. Outraged, she flew to the preacher's house, subdued his family and demanded to know where her daughter had gone. He refused to say, stubbornly pretending innocence, until Annie held her fangs over his youngest daughter's neck. He babbled about a caravan that had left just after sunrise, and Annie flew off, leaving them there, all still bound. Several miles east of the city, she found the ruins of the caravan, burned and slaughtered by natives. There was no trace of her daughter.
Enraged beyond madness, she flew back to the preacher's house. All of them were still bound and struggling to get free when she returned. In a terrible fit of anger, she made the preacher watch while she snapped his wife's neck, and then slowly drank all three of his daughters dry. Then she finally killed him.
Afterwards, she flew back to her lover's house. Hateful against her former lover for her empty promises of protection, she accused the woman (rightly) of using her fears of losing her daughter to ensnare her in vampirism. The woman sneered and informed Annie that the preacher had nothing to do with the girl's disappearance. She, herself, had arranged for the whole affair to rid Annie of the "distraction" of the girl so that Annie could fix all her attentions on her, instead. Had the woman known of Annie's recent feast of virgin blood, she no doubt would have played the innocent and waited until Annie's newfound power had diminished. As it was, she thought Annie was no match for her, and that she could easily subdue Annie if she became rebellious.
She was in for a shock. Annie attacked her with a power and quickness she didn't think possible. Annie beat her to a pulp, bound her inside her casket and buried her deep in the marshes, undead and trapped for all time.
Annie never saw her daughter again.
Annie did go on, though. Her few remaining servants helped her find blood and to keep her secrets. She moved frequently as the town of Chicago very quickly grew into the city of Chicago, and she learned to adapt over the decades.
One night in 1871, Annie's city burned. A city of wood and wind, a third of it was destroyed, including her home and her casket, and very nearly herself. She was burned, and the explosion of a nearby building had blown a large number of wooden splinters into her back at one point. In agony, she barely managed to find some sort of shelter and a man near death before falling forever. Sheltered, she drank the man's blood before he died, and used the power to sustain herself before the sun rose and she slept.
In the aftermath, 300 were dead, and 90,000 were homeless, including herself. She was terribly weak, and the splinters in her back continued to weaken her. She could barely move, let alone hunt or find any sort of aid. She got very lucky.
She was found, that first night, by a family of former slaves, now homeless by the fire. They knew what she was immediately, but rather than hate and fear her, they pitied her. They carefully pulled all of the splinters from her back and gave her small portions of their blood so that she could sustain herself. In the aftermath of the fire, they nursed her back to health, kept her hidden and safe, and showed her love and acceptance. In the meantime, she discovered that they had their own problems with a group of people (that I have not yet identified) that wanted to drive them away. One night, these people came to drive them off and kill them. Annie protected her new family, and gained a long family bond for the first time in over a century. Many of these peoples' descendants still work for Annie today.
In the 1920's, Annie undertook her favorite venture. The 18th amendment had outlawed the sale of alcohol, but that didn't stop the need for a few drinks after work for most Chicago folks. She opened a restaurant and bar in a basement speakeasy. It had a backdoor connection to old sewage tunnels large enough for smuggle crates of whiskey and beer - and for the easy disposal of unwanted guests. Her place was one of the favorites of the town, both for the booze and the food, and for the music. Jazz was big, and she bought in the best. She did dealings with Al Capone right from the start, although she avoided letting him find out her little secret, and avoided most of the unpleasantness with which he conducted his affairs. To this day, however, the bar has a bullet hole or two from the night the O'Banion gang had tried to shoot up the place.
When lights were installed in Wrigley Field, Annie went to see a few games, out of curiosity. She discovered a new love for baseball and for the Cubs. It was there, two years ago, that she met Casey, a young nurse. Casey was full of life, and Annie quickly found herself enamored with her. She was delighted to find that Casey had affection for women and they went out on a few dates. On their third date, Annie gave her a dozen red roses. She was actually planning on taking her first bite from her, that night, but was shocked when Casey ate them! She nearly put off drinking her blood, that night, as roses are poisonous to vampires if placed in their mouth, and she was unsure of what would happen if she took the blood of someone who'd eaten them.
She was too hungry not to drink, though. She seduced Casey into a... willing position and drank, cautiously. She discovered that the roses gave Casey's blood a wonderful sort of spice and didn't hurt her at all. Thereafter, she told Casey the truth, and Casey accepted her for what she was (thank goodness!) and Annie was sure to bring her roses every night.
The two have been deeply in love ever since, and Annie looks forward to a long life with her.
Last night, though, she made a terrible mistake. She was terribly hungry, and Casey was unavailable for "donation." Under circumstances like these, Annie knows that Casey doesn't mind her finding another source of nutrients for the night, so she wandered her restaurant, looking for possibilities. It was actually Halloween night, and her annual costume party was already well under way. She found a young woman dressed as a fairy, with dragonfly wings on a harness and pointed ears glued over hers. As she came closer, she smelled virgin blood in the girl's veins, and wanted it. She danced with the girl, and the girl was having fun, telling her that she wasn't really a girl, but a fairy child. Annie smiled at the girl's role-playing and seduced her into coming upstairs to the little apartment there for some "Midnight fun."
The girl came upstairs, and let Annie seduce her. Annie slipped her teeth into her neck and began to drink.
She was shocked to discover that the blood wasn't virginal. She'd been tricked. Quickly, she tried to pull back, but the girl grabbed her head and commanded her to drink, and Annie found herself helplessly drinking until she was well past sated. When she was finally able to pull away, the girl laughed down at her, standing to toss the wing's harness to the floor, but her wings stayed. Annie knew terror as she realized she'd drunk fairy blood. Fairy blood is incredibly addictive to vampires. No vampire had ever drunk of them and remained free. The girl laughed, and Annie heard her say what a wonderful toy she would make for all eternity before she passed out.
That last bit is the opening of the novel. For anything beyond that, you'll have to wait for the book. Sorry. :)