VANCE, Iris Nephelae

[iris nephalae vance]

IRIS NEPHELAE VANCE

FULL NAME: Iris Nephelae Vance.
NICKNAMES: None
AGE: 27
GENDER: Female
SEXUALITY: Homosexual.
STATUS: Single.
GROUP: Citizen.
GRADE: N/A.
MAJOR: N/A.
JOB OCCUPATION: Forensic Computer Analyst.

HAIR: Blonde and long. Naturally, it’s got a curl to it that she actually enjoys on the days when her hair behaves. Other times she’ll straighten it out and do something different with it.
EYES: Blue
SCARS/BIRTHMARKS: She has three faint strips on her back from “The Belt” when she was younger.
TATTOOS: None.
PIERCINGS: Just her ears once.
PLAY-BY: Penelope Mitchell!

LIKES: Lavender, musicals, her coffee machine, live music, Pornstar Martinis, poetry, hot summers near the water, kayaking, layers, Diet Coke, taking photos, cooking with herbs, honey and lemon tea, chocolate ice cream, swimming, driving cross country, a gentle breeze, mouthwash (she carries it in her bag), outdoors bars, festivals, New Orleans, coconut oil, sun cream, karaoke.
DISLIKES: Ignorance, religion as an excuse, grey days, hardback chairs, political conversations, being cooped up indoors, commuting, no music in the car, packed nightclubs, flat shoes (that aren’t like sneakers), spiders, questioning herself, skimpy outfits just because, cheap soap, preaching beliefs, letting a hot drink go cold, melted chocolate, cluttered bags and drawers.
FEARS: Spiders, going back to the commune, claustrophobia.
SECRETS: Despite being disowned by her religious community for her sexuality, Iris still considers herself religious. She doesn’t enjoy talking about it since it’s her own little private thing and it’s complicated and messy, and too many people have an opinion about it. However, she does find some comfort in churches and hearing hymns. She knows that it’s a part of her without needing to preach it to the world or be as devout as she was ordered to be as a kid.
PERSONALITY: Iris is notably independent and strong. She’s stood alone for a long time and could do so again if the fates deemed it so. She’s open-minded, and the type to welcome any outcast into her home. She’s streetwise so it’s hard for her good nature to be taken advantage of. Iris gives a little – enough for people to appreciate – but keeps a lot to herself. Can you spare a dollar? Iris will give five, even if she could afford ten. She knows that generosity is easily manipulated if someone isn’t careful. She’s outdoorsy, and after spending her working hours indoors she’s happy to walk home, or drive out of the city for a short break at the weekend. Outspoken, Iris is determined that no one will silence her or take from her the chance to be herself. Private, Iris is the type of woman many people will call a friend, who will always be there for them, but later realise they know very little about her. She’s resolute in her convictions, and that crosses over to her temper. There’s no “three strikes” with Iris. Most of the time people are evicted from her life after the first foul. She’ll let them know (very loudly), and often emotionally, too. Iris hasn’t exactly found “the one” yet. She’s spent a lot of time getting to grips with who she is and what she’s after from a relationship. A lot of that still scares her, but then she plays it safe by sticking with flings and friends with benefits. She’s been the girl who friends “experiment” with, knowing nothing serious will come from it. It was never a big deal when she was younger, but the sleeping around stunt got old fast when she accepted that she was in her late twenties. Now it’s about settling down, but she doesn’t know where to start on that front because it’s not something she’s ever thought about before – at least not for herself anyway.

MOTHER: Shireen Penelope Vance, 52.
FATHER: David Oliver Vance, 58
SIBLINGS: Kane Isiah Vance, 33.
Nicolas Kingsley Vance, 30.
Adonis Grantley Vance, 28.
Selene Katrina Vance, 25.
Phoebe Helen Vance, 21.
OTHERS: Samantha Mary Moore, 26, former friend.
PETS: Jack and Daniel, two sun conures!
HOMETOWN: Yalobusha County, Mississippi.
HISTORY: David and Shireen were brought up in religious families in the town of Tillatoba. They met through their families and attending the same church. However, David didn’t think the life they were forging was enough. He had heard of a group living on land outside of the town. It was a religious sect although they didn’t use that term, and David thought their strict beliefs was exactly what a young family needed. So, their family started there. Everything was founded upon and based around the Bible and its word was taken almost literally. To outsiders it was unreal, strange – even to those who were devout. The sect took it to a whole new level than the church, but there was no way to stop them, to make them see reason.

Iris never questioned any of it. After all, it was all she knew. She was born into it. Bedtime stories didn’t involve princesses or wicked queens. They only read scripture, memorised it and then re-read it again. They had rules to follow and if they weren’t followed they were punished for it. It wasn’t like being grounded or put in time out. The sect believed in beating the lessons into them, literally. By the time she was ten Iris thought every kid there had a welt or scar from The Belt. And that was better than what some of the older children got if they stepped out of line. Iris witnessed full scale beatings from grown men on young teenage boys. The wives would hold back sobs and their other children, but they never stepped up to stop them. That would get them punished, and probably worse for the child already suffering.

Iris was in her early teens before things began to change for her. Everything was black and white, rigid and set in stone. The rules of the commune were unbending, and those who even toed the line were punished for their transgressions. So when Iris began to feel something strange from a simple hug with her best friend, Samantha, she was terrified. Samantha had been by her side for as long as Iris could remember. They had grown up together, cowering together when they were forced to witness punishments, giggling when they could get away with it. Iris prayed for guidance, not wanting to break the rules of the commune. However, she wasn’t alone in her feelings and Samantha too was confused about how she felt around Iris.

Their feelings blossomed when no one else was watching. Private studies in bedrooms, bathroom breaks at lunchtime; that sort of thing. They didn’t dare tell anyone else or allow themselves to be caught. Two girls who had been raised religiously had parents who never dreamt this would happen, so they were trusted to be alone unlike boy and girl combinations of study groups and friends. They knew it would never be accepted, never allowed in the walls of the strict commune. It was a sin – up there with adultery and murder in the eyes of their leaders. Iris suggested they run away, but at sixteen they had nothing; no savings, no piggy banks filled with change. Eventually, through sneaking a peak at his sister’s journal for revenge after she told their parents he had skipped the chores, Samantha’s secret was uncovered. Their relationship was revealed and the punishment came swiftly.

Hair cut, beaten, blasted with cold water…it was all just the beginning. The leaders of the commune decided that it still wasn’t enough. Scared that her daughter would be killed and not “cured”, Shireen started a small fire in one of the fields. During the commotion she snuck Iris out of the room she was being held in and told her to run. She gave her a number for an aunt she had never met and pushed a wad of money into her hand. The women there weren’t granted any power or privilege, but they could be wise and resourceful. Almost all of them had an emergency plan, just in case. They were religious, but this was still the modern age and they knew what dangers lurked still. Iris didn’t want to leave without Samantha, but Shireen wouldn’t hear it. She loved her daughter, but this lifestyle did go against her beliefs. She lied, telling Iris that Samantha had been taken for more punishment, that she was non-responsive and possible going to die. It crushed Iris to think that she had caused that, that if she had never acted upon those forbidden feelings that Samantha might be okay.

Iris, living in a basement conversion at her never-before-met aunt, began to adjust. She mourned for the friend and love she had lost, and tried to adapt to a world where religion wasn’t the start and end of everything. Her aunt, who had two children of her own, didn’t really know what to do with Iris. She didn’t know what had happened, only that the sister she hadn’t heard from in over a decade was suddenly calling and pleading for help. She took in her niece, got her into a school and helped her start to catch up on the real education that she had been denied. It took her some time to earn a GED, but once she had it, Iris went off to college, taking her aunt’s advice and moving far away from Mississippi and all it meant to her.

She wound up in New York, and after being introduced to computers, Iris had been fascinated with them enough to study them more. She wanted to help people, but felt more at ease with a computer in front of her than she did say on the phone or at a table with a person. Maybe it was because her hands were busy and that served as a distraction. Either way, she found peace in technology; something she found funny after growing up in a place where technology was practically non-existent.

New York helped her adjust and come out of her shell. School had helped somewhat, but she was still traumatised by what had happened to her and Samantha. New York was like a fresh start. She felt almost as if she had closed the door on her past and was starting her life anew. Religion wasn’t something she entirely abandoned. It had been a part of her life for so long that she still found a sort of tranquillity from sitting in the back of a busy church service, or even just sitting there quietly in the evening when her life was crammed with events and to-do lists. It was impossible to explain, but it was still a part of her, just not as intently as it used to be.

After graduation she worked tech support for a while, but then there was a new door opened for her via an e-mail from her old professor who she had kept in touch with. He thought Iris would be excellent at Forensic IT, and so she checked it out and fell in love with it. She enjoyed doing her work, had developed a steady social life and had her independence. She didn’t go back to Mississippi. Her aunt and cousins would come to visit her instead when it was the holidays, understanding but never prying into her history in their home state.

She never really succeeded in relationships. There was always this fear that they’d be taken away from her, stolen in the night like Samantha. Iris still grieves for the girl, struggling to understand what happened and that it wasn’t her fault. She finds moments of comfort in strangers met in bars, or people who just want to experiment, hook up when days are slow and nights are long. It’s not how she plans on spending her entire life, but it’s a scary world out there.

YOUR ALIAS: Kim.
RULE WORDS: kidnappedbykim.
WHERE YOU FOUND US: In the hellfire.
SAMPLE:

Nah!

[kim]