Elora Branston
Elora is your average 23 year old college student living in Seattle, Washington. She grew up in Chicago with her parents and brother and is now pursuing a degree in law. She is an enormous geek at heart and the story takes place from her perspective.
Her mother is a teacher and her father is a retired police officer. She is a bit of an idealist and part of her passion for trying to make the world a better place comes from her father. But she also sees how much darkness and pain the world is in and decided to go into law instead.
She moved to Seattle in 2006 to attend law school and met her boyfriend, John, in 2007. Everything was going well, or so it seemed. And that’s where our story begins.
Eadric Branston
Eadric is Elora’s younger brother. He moved to Seattle shortly after Elora to pursue his love of art and writing. He’s fairly tall, about six feet, slender, with dark blonde wavy hair and blue eyes.
Even though he’s 18 months younger than Elora, he always appointed himself her unofficial protector. Their father is a retired police officer, but on disability, and he feels that it’s his job to watch over her if something were to happen.
Eadric has a bit of a short fuse, but is ferociously loyal to his family and friends. He’s the sort of person that speaks the truth, even when such bluntness can be awkward or painful. He also always has a sketchbook on hand to draw his surroundings. These sketches become an important part of the story later.
Dawn Redford
Dawn is Elora’s best friend. She’s tall for a woman, just under six feet, with sleek black hair cut to her chin and a bit of a fashion expert. She’s a woman who is serious about her coffee and has a clear mission in life.
Dawn is a skilled accountant and tries to be a bit of a grounding force to her friends. She also carries the weight of post traumatic stress disorder from an unfortunate past.
She met Elora while Elora was a freshman in college and she was about to graduate. They immediately hit it off and have been close friends ever since.
Beth Harper
Beth and Eadric have been dating for at least two years before our story begins. She’s shorter than average, with freckles and curly red hair that goes absolutely everywhere.
She moved to Seattle when she was 17 years old to pursue her career in the finer culinary arts and met Eadric while in college.
Beth is also a master chef-o-mancer and is one of the best cooks Elora has ever known. But, she’s also young and inexperienced. Talent alone isn’t enough to land her a job just when the Great Recession was getting started.