Name: Elizabeth Briar (Prefers to be called "Liz")
Age: 25
Sex: Female
Species: Human
Profession: Freelance photographer, part-time homeless shelter volunteer.
Appearance: Liz stands at 5'6", with straight black-dyed hair (kept at medium length), green eyes, fair skin, and an average build. Her natural hair color is dirty blonde, and in order to keep it black she makes bi-monthly trips to her hair stylist. Her typical outfit consists of a flannel or checker patterned button-up shirt (her favorite being a flannel with a black-and-purple color scheme), jeans, and high-top sneakers. Being a photographer, Liz is rarely seen without her camera, which she carries in a grey sling bag.
Personality: Liz is an active and outgoing person. She is also extremely passionate about the causes and beliefs she holds close to her. As a result, she can get quite fired up and excited during discussions and debates. She tries to use this energy for positive social causes, such as the care of homeless and impoverished Vampires and Husks. In that regard, one could call Liz a 'bleeding-heart' activist. She can also be a little naive due to her unabashed activism.
Bio:
Elizabeth Briar was born on February 2, 2005 to Clancy and Melissa Briar in New York City. Clancy was an Afghanistan War veteran who worked as the manager of a restaurant, and Melissa primarily a stay-at-home mother. Liz's early childhood and grade school years went by uneventfully. She was an average student, earning mostly B's and staying out of trouble. From a young age she demonstrated an interest in photography, always fiddling around with her mother's digital camera when she had a chance. Her parents encouraged her hobby, even giving her a camera of her very own for her thirteenth birthday. After a while, Liz became the designated photographer at family gatherings and vacations.
As a Freshman in high school, Liz enrolled in a photography class. She had bargained with the school to allow her to take the class in lieu of the mandatory 'computer literacy' course on the grounds that she had already taken a similar class in middle school and was already familiar with a computer. After a few discussions with her Dean, the school approved, making her the only Freshman in the class. And despite her inexperience, she quickly soared to the top, impressing her instructor and earning the ire of some of the older classmates. In her Sophomore year, she enrolled in the advanced follow-up course as her elective.
It was during this time that Liz became friends with a group of older students. Among them was a community college student named Sean, who she quickly developed a crush for. His handsome looks, great sense of humor, and disarming smile won her over in no time at all. Due to their conflicting schedules, they would usually hang out in the evening, after Sean got out of his night classes. In their many nighttime discussions, he suggested to Liz that she try out for the Journalism course at her high school. "You're a great photographer," he had told her. "Why not give Journalism a shot? They could use someone like you, I'm sure." Although reluctant, she eventually agreed and signed up for the class for the next school year.
Junior year came, and the world was about to change. The European Union released findings suggesting the existence of an entirely new species of human. Vampires. Not very long after that shocking announcement, the so-called "Elders" revealed their presence to the world. With that, the masquerade had ended. And it was then that Sean confessed to Liz that he was, in fact, a Vampire. After getting over the initial shock, Liz told Sean that she still loved him, and that this would not change their relationship. In fact, she used this earth-shattering story to hone her journalistic skills. Her photographs were used in the school newspaper's story covering the reveal.
As a gesture of good faith, Sean's family, in addition to several other families revealed their status as Vampires to the community. It was their hope that a policy of openness would help foster positive relations. When Liz's parents heard the news, they went absolutely ballistic. There was no way in hell they were going to allow their only daughter to be involved with a subhuman 'freak'. They severed all ties with Sean and his family, and put Liz on lockdown. They would not allow her to see Sean ever again, and even went as far as rubbing garlic into the laundry to ensure it. Her father personally took her to and from school to prevent her from sneaking off and severely restricted her cell phone plan and Internet access to curb any communication. Stuck in her room with no way to contact Sean, Liz spent her time moping in her room.
The Blood Riots broke out a few days later. Clusters of Vampires, no longer bound by secrecy, gave in to the Beast and wrecked havoc throughout New York City. It was the only time that Liz saw her father pull his rifle from out of the closet. "If something tries to get in, I shoot it," he had told her while cleaning the firearm. Liz and her mother spent the evenings cowering in the living room and watching live news coverage of the rioting, while her father kept constant watch, rifle in hand. Things went from bad to worse when the military was forced to intervene. The sounds of gunfire and screams ensured that nobody would sleep.
During a daytime report of the riot and its damages, the camera lingered on a pile of Vampire casualties just long enough to see the unmistakable image of Sean dead, with a bullet hole in his skull. Absolutely heartbroken and angry, Liz stormed into her room and spent the next day and a half crying, cursing the Army for killing her boyfriend and the Vampires for starting the riots in the first place. But in her eyes, there had to be a different way the Army could have responded to the crisis. Some way that didn't leave so many people dead and injured.
She spent at least two months grieving the loss of Sean before doubling her efforts in photography and journalism in an attempt to occupy herself. Over the course of her Junior and Senior years, she reported the plight of the Vampires and newly formed Husks rendered homeless by the Riots in the school newspaper and her personal blog. A few of her photos depicting the cleanup effort got attention from a few magazines and newspapers, who paid her a decent sum in royalties to use them. It encouraged her to further pursue photography and journalism in college, as well as political activism.
In college she joined a club of pro-Vampire activists who sought out the equal and ethical treatment of Vampires and Husks. In her second year, some of the first Vampire/Husk homeless shelters began to emerge and needed volunteers to get them running. Liz signed up in a heartbeat. She spent as much of her free time as she could assisting in the running of the shelter and the care of the residents. At the end of the Spring semester that year, she left with an Associate's Degree in Photography. She got her name out as a freelance photographer to earn money when she wasn't working at the shelter. At the age of 20, she moved out into an apartment near the Vampire district (rates were unsurprisingly cheaper in the area).
Today, Liz still volunteers time at the shelter and raises awareness for nonhuman rights. Recently she has been getting signatures for a petition to Congress against the proposed bill that would create a national registry for Husks. Working feverishly on the Internet and on the street, she has been trying to raise awareness for the grave infringement of Husk rights that would ensue as a result of the bill.