about.

name maranatha "marry" chambers
age unknown (she's lost count)
species vampire
pb taylor russell

marry grew up in extremely rural kentucky; her white father was a preacher who brought snake handling into his services. she had no contact with her mother's side of the family; her mother died when she was young. she was changed aged 18 by a travelling vampire who abandoned her immediately after the change for reasons she still doesn't know. she struggled with the transformation, and it took her a long time to realise that she needed to drink blood to survive or that she couldn't stay out in the sun without burning.

her father believed she was a demon when she could no longer enter the rickety old church without screaming in agony, and she subsequently became a hungry, desiccated pariah in her tiny community until she was bitten by a snake and lived, unharmed. her father's attitude changed after that, and she became a central pillar of his sermons, which were held outside the church since she couldn't set foot in it.

her life became gruelling after that. she wasn't properly feeding, still barely aware of the rules, becoming weaker and weaker by the day. her father, wanting to share her immunity to the snake bites, allowed a snake to bite him after it had bitten her, believing this would transfer the ability; instead, he died in front of her, and while his body was still warm she had the first proper feast of her life. with no more tethers to the community, she ran in the night.

find her on the side of a road, or taking a cross-country bus from one nameless place to another, or holed up in a poky roadside motel. she's looking for the vampire who changed her; looking for answers.

vampire rules

•ageless and visually stuck at the age she was turned

•can be killed by a stake to the heart, decapitation, fire, or exposure to the sun; is otherwise immortal

•retractable fangs: when she feeds, her teeth change into an entire mouth of sharp fangs (like so)

•weak to any kind of religious material or location, regardless of denomination, as long as the person wielding it believes in it (for example she would be harmed by a christian brandishing a crucifix, but not by an atheist throwing holy water at her)

•must be invited into dwellings

•can turn others in theory; she has tried a few times but hasn't been able to do it successfully as she isn't really sure of what needs to be done to make it happen

•without blood, she becomes pale, weak, and desiccated but does not die

vampire abilities

•superhuman agility, speed, and strength; not overpowered, but basically human+ and definitely stronger than she looks

•fast healing

•enhanced senses – hearing, sight, and smell