TL;DR
Version:
·
Aubrey grew up
a child actress under the management and oversight of her mother, Helena
and alongside her younger sister, Lyla.
·
Her
mother’s expectations were always super high. Aubrey liked acting but crumbled
under the pressure as time went on.
·
She
ran away from home when she was 16 to make it on her own.
·
Alone
and living on her own, she got a minor role on a major horror film starring two
celebrities: Camille Renoux and Wesley Grey.
·
Wesley
tried to drain her, but Camille saved and sired her.
·
She
used her new abilities to attain the roles and recognition she always wanted.
·
Camille
(and by proxy, her) belongs to a secretive bloodline of vampires that want her
to enroll at Oxford to undertake certain tasks for them. She sees it as a chance
to get the education she never received.
·
She
wants to amass more power and earn what she thinks she needs: Adoration.
______________________________________________________________________________
The
earliest memory she has is of a spotlight. A lazy stagehand had done a shoddy
job getting it properly rigged up, and when the lead of the play stepped downstage
to deliver her big song, the beam shifted back, sliding across the set to the
consternation of all in attendance — All except the young extra at the back,
standing just before the threshold of the curtain, dollied up in a large poofy
dress and more caked on stage make-up than a child could ever imagine. The blinding
light stung her eyes, like staring into the searing sun, and she recoiled at
its glow. Yet when her eyes adjusted, she found herself looking at a much
different scene: the stunned faces of all in attendance. She didn’t think it
possible her heart could ever beat so hard again.
Born into
a family of small-time entertainers at the height of the ‘80’s, Aubrey
Knight grew up in showbiz. Her grandfather had been a screenwriter for some
of the biggest films of the golden age of cinema in the 30’s and 40’s, and her
father had found success directing for TV. Her mother Helena, however,
had come from humbler origins, and when Reginald left her not longer
after birthing Aubrey’s younger sister Lyla, she took it upon herself to
ensure her children knew the taste of success.
From
almost the moment Aubrey could walk, her mother had her thrust in front of a
camera, or up on a stage. From hokey adverts (“Just one cornetto!”) to
bit parts in productions of Romeo and Juliet on the West End and off-Broadway
plays across the pond, young Aubrey rarely knew a day whose schedule wasn’t
scripted. And for a long while, she enjoyed it.
Traveling
with her mother, getting to dress up in fancy clothes, and hearing the applause
of the crowd — even if it was rarely directly for her — set her heart
alight. But the glamour of such a light is lost on those who live it long, and
as ages 4 and 5 gave way to 11 and 12, she could feel the mounting pressure
upon her. For all her support, her mother worked her to the bone. “Terrible
darling, take it from the top once more.” “Again.” “Again.” “Again.”
For every lukewarm reaction to being cast in a commercial she received came
increasingly heated verbal — and sometimes not-so-verbal — lashings for a
failed audition.
Still, Aubrey worked her darndest. Her
mother was upset when she failed, but she was too! And mum wasn’t really
angry, she reasoned. Just disappointed. If she got the next role, or the next
two, she’d praise her. She’d be so excited! They both would. But she did
sometimes get that next role; perhaps even the next three. Yet they weren’t
enough, it turned out. Those were as extras. Or only had a couple lines. Or shitty
little productions that’d never be seen by anyone with worthwhile. “You should
have been the star. Don’t you want this? Don’t you give a damn how hard mummy
works to get you each audition?” I do want this, mum! “Then why waste
them?” She’d sit up at night and let the tears slide down her cheeks until they
stained her pillow, but she never made a sound. It would’ve only disappointed
her mother more if she found her sniveling to herself. “Having a pity party for
one,” as she’d be told.
Leaving Lyla was the hardest part, no
doubt about it. Despite the few years of age difference between them, she’d
always been the only friend she ever had. The girl was more precocious than she
was, but sweeter too. Already, she was on her own acting path, and already
Aubrey feared for her. It’s why she stood for so long in the threshold of her
sister’s room the night she left. She got as close as a few feet away — that
was it — and felt the urge to pull the young girl away with her nearly overcome
her. That’s how easy it’d have been, she’d later recalled, to just reach out
and… But she didn’t. And so she left alone, to find a life on her own; to find success
her mother could be proud of. She couldn’t know it’d be the last time
she saw her.
For the next few years, the
aspiring star roamed the streets, bumming couches off of past costars and casting
directors she’d befriended. But the truth was that a life like the one she
lived had rarely afforded the luxury of friends. Those were a commodity reserved
for the successful. Her mother had often pointed out as much on sets, looking
to the circle of fawning fans and adoring sycophants that clung like remora on
a shark to the leading stars. “That’s what awaits you,” she’d tell Aubrey. “That’s
what you should think about when you step on stage. That’s love.”
Well love did find her, just not in
the way she ever expected. Within a few years of running from home, Aubrey was
living in a women’s shelter in south London. It was there she caught wind of a
casting call for a horror movie to be shot not far from her. She made her way
down and to her surprise rather easily secured a small speaking part as a
victim of the monsters. It was when she got the casting call did her eyes lit
up with excitement. They were making some schlocky vampire picture, sure, and
needed her to simply act the part of one of the victims, yes. But the leads!
Camille Renoux and Wesley Grey. Two of the hottest talents alive,
and she’d be sharing scenes with them.
The filming went so smoothly, too.
Any anxieties she’d had to be on screen with such stars evaporated when they
came by. Practically the moment they stepped on set, all the extras swooned —
Aubrey included. They had a way of putting the world around them at ease that she
marveled at, and when it came time for Mr. Grey to bite her she shuddered with
joy. She could hardly remember what happened, only that when it was over, he
was praising her. Did he say her eyes were beautiful? When they walked past the
camera he mentioned he thought her smile was perfect, she swears she can recall
that. Or… maybe it was that her scream during the scene was very convincing? He
almost definitely said something like that as they entered his dressing room alone.
He wanted to run the lines one more time. Practice the bite, he said. Just once
more. It’d be so quick…
She hardly remembered much of what
happened next. She knows now the bare details, but only because they were told
to her later. She can recall the most pleasurable feeling. Did he kiss her?
But something else. Something primal. Pain. And the fear that came with it.
There was screaming for sure, and her head must have hit the floor. But when
she came to, it was Ms. Renoux who was cradling her.
The next months were unlike any she’d
ever experienced, as the reality of what had happened was made clear to her. Camille
had sired her. That vampire film? More or less a front for actual bloodsuckers,
of which its stars and director had been. They just weren’t supposed to
actually kill anyone, Camille later explained. But Wesley Grey films had a history
apparently of missing extras. It didn’t matter, none of the past did anymore.
As she came to learn, her human life was gone, but her true life was just beginning.
The months that passed under Camille’s mentorship brought thrills and pleasures
unlike any Aubrey had ever known. Within a year, and with her sire’s support,
she’d manipulated her way into her first leading role. And then another. And another.
She could scarcely believe she’d spent so long struggling to get by when the
world could be made to curl around her finger just by walking into a room now.
The fame was intoxicating – an aphrodisiac
that only strengthened with every screaming fan, vogue photoshoot, and red
carpet premiere. She was getting what she’d always wanted, and for once, she
was in control of her life. If this didn’t make her mother proud, what would?
Of course, she couldn’t just go back to her… she’d left them. Let them think
she was dead. Let Lyla think she’d abandoned her. It would have to be enough to
simply, well, keep an eye from afar. For now.
There was just one small catch: The
bloodline they both belonged to permitted the life they lived, but not without
some give-back. She didn’t understand all of it, and Camille rarely gave as
much info as she’d hoped, but every once in a while, they’d call on her to do something.
Usually it was fairly simple stuff like swaying certain mortals or spreading
some rumors in the gossip rags – but now, a few years into her requiem, Camille
informed her they had something more long-term in mind. She was to be enrolled at
the most prestigious University she could name, and play the true role of a
lifetime: an Oxford Student.
Enrolled through her blood
benefactors, and with the support still of Camille, her only true friend,
Aubrey finds herself in the completely alien world of academia. Sure, she felt
a twinge of fear stepping onto such hallowed, ancient grounds. She could almost
hear her mother in her ear, telling her she could never make it there. Sure,
though. Who cares? They’ll love me. Everyone will. One way or another.
And once they did, so would she. Surely.
Right?
(Blush of Life) 
(Hungry)