BASIC INFORMATION
Full Name: Abigail Ella Vance
Nickname(s): Abby. Bee was the affectionate nickname her father used.
Gender: Female
Age: 33. Exactly one month before Freya, in fact
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Demisexual, bi-curious
Occupation: Counsellor at White Feather Community Hospital
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Face Claim: Victoria Pedretti
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 121
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Brown with an auburn sheen, sometimes highlighted blonde.
Prominent Features or Distinguishing Marks: Those big ol' baby blues, like a stormy sea. If eyes are a window to the soul then she's got it in spades. Kind of hypnotic, really...
General Physical Description: Abigail is a fair, petite slip of a woman with soft curves, a disarmingly sweet smile, and large expressive eyes framed with feathery brows. Her natural affinity for looking like someone you can confide in is, understandably, a great boon to her career choice. While working she can typically be found sporting a pair of black wire-rimmed glasses.
PERSONALITY DESCRIPTION
Personality Traits:
- Empathetic - sometimes she feels. Too much.
- Curious - maybe too curious for her own good.
- Altruistic - with few exceptions (re: her late father).
- Resentful - it's hard for her to let go of the past, especially when it has a way of creeping back up to her,
- Prideful - mostly in her work and feeling like she knows what's best for everyone.
Likes: Oversized sweaters, cats, tea and lattes, a good book, lots of sunshine, new tastes (foodie!), rainy days, star gazing, budding interest in the esoteric, alone time.
Dislikes: Lack of planning / disorganization, sudden loud noises, bland food, rudeness.
HISTORY
Biography: Elsie Hudson, a nurse at the old clinic in Dawn Chorus, was swept up in a whirlwind romance with a charismatic salesman named Jesse Vance. They were married quickly but more than five years later Elsie still had no luck getting pregnant, creating a rift between her and Jesse. She prayed at the clinic chapel ritually. At His Holy Tabernacle. She prayed so damn much to no avail 'til one night on the drive home from her shift she spotted a sign sticking out between the gnarled branches en route reading:
'Mama Marguerite - IN'. Well, what could Elsie lose at this point?
Eight months later, a bit early but wholly perfect, Abigail arrived.
Growing up she lived a comfortable middle class life. Or as middling as you could get in Dawn Chorus. She believed everything was wonderful. Abby's parents doted on their little girl enough to overlook her very... big imagination. Sometimes whimsical but more often a debilitating fear of the dark, shadow people, etc. To cope, Abby was plied with books and crafts and a dusty tabby cat she named Minnie. Elsie often lovingly would cradle Abby up into her arms at bedtime to tell her how she
prayed so hard to get her.
Time eroded the splendid image she had of her smiling parents. She was too young to remember the first time Molly Black Elk dropped by, only that there was a lot of shouting on the front porch. Molly continued her unannounced visits intermittently through Abigail's childhood, occasionally with a girl in tow around Abby's age with dark haunting eyes. Once when she was eight Abby stayed up after bed to watch her dad hurrying back inside with a slam of the porch door.
Dishevelled, he knelt down and looked at her intensely, saying, "It's not what you think." Think
what? She was only a kid, after all.
Jesse Vance was a liar, Elsie said. Unable to take the embarrassment any more, she packed up and moved them way up to Illinois where she got a job in Chicago's Northwestern Memorial working the night shift. Abigail was thirteen when her mother told her everything about Molly Black Elk, about Freya. Despite the bad blood in Dawn Chorus and all the ignored calls, Elsie eventually let Abby visit her father the following summer until she was eighteen. She stopped visiting Jesse once she got into university where, after a cold start at nursing and slogging through degrees, she became a licensed Counsellor.
Two years into establishing herself she received a call from White Feather saying her father passed away. Cirrhosis, apparently. Abigail flew down for a bare bones funeral and to get the meagre estate in order. Jesse left their old house to Abby, along with a letter she won't open out of spite.
It's been three months since she returned for the funeral and Abigail is
still living at her old house. She couldn't quite drag herself away... Often it can be found with lights on late into the night and wee hours thanks to a sudden recurrence of her childhood fear of the dark. To supplement her income she continues virtual sessions with existing clients as well as taking a position at White Feather Community Hospital.
Notable Relationships:
- Elspeth "Elsie" Vance, née Hudson - Night nurse at Northwestern Memorial.
- Jesse Vance - Father - Deceased
- Freya Black - Half-sister - Hasn't spoken to her in over ten years.
- Minnie - Does a cat count? Abby swears the little grey tabby's gotta be over twenty years old by now but still acts spry.