snapdragon

Snapdragon is unpredictable, explosive, and an overall hazard to be around. She is not the woman she once was, her personality distorted and altered from what it had been before. Her demeanour shifts rapidly and seemingly at random, unless provoked. Sometimes, snapdragon is subdued and observant; she stays out of the way and prefers to simply watch from afar, absorbing all the information she needs for whatever she’s arranging, patient. She may also choose to interact with others. When her presence is known, the apparition becomes playful and mocking; she knows how to get what she pleases when she pleases.

She can appear sweet if she really tries. her skills can bend her perception until she seems like motherly, compassionate and understanding being who only wants the best for you. Though, like an animal, Snapdragon can turn on a dime, her danger becoming apparent. Her mannerisms in general are bizarre. She acts inhuman, like something pretending to be one. she’s forgotten what it’s like to have a body. truly, Snapdragon is an angry, vicious and desperate spirit who will stop at nothing to achieve what she wants.

Snapdragon was born to a content family as a single child. However, it was discovered that her father wasn’t the loving husband and parent he always seemed to be. When she was seven, her parents took in a child her age named Yamato; the half brother she didn’t know she had. It turned out that her father was having an affair for years until her mother became pregnant, resulting in her father abandoning the woman he was cheating with to focus on his wife and future child. But that woman was pregnant at the time too, and gave birth to Yamato. After years of drug abuse and negligence, she felt she had to give her son to his father for a better life. The half siblings got along perfectly at first and loved one another dearly. Her mother, however, wasn’t so welcoming of Yamato. This caused frequent arguments between Snapdragon’s parents, which escalated swiftly: attacking, screaming, hitting, so on. Her father became a violent man with little regard for his family any more. And her mother’s mental health plummeted. She stopped caring for her children and herself.

It wasn’t uncommon for Snapdragon to be a victim to her father’s drunken anger or lust throughout her childhood, and as she abuse continued she followed in her mother’s beliefs that Yamato had ruined their family. She despised him. The only person she loved was her mother, but she was a distant shell by now, cold and subdued.

Snapdragon, too, became reserved. School and friends were an issue since things had gone downhill; she was bullied throughout most of her academic days, and sat alone for years. That was until she met a pair of the ‘delinquent’ students. Argyle and Aesthete. They empathised with 14-year-old Snapdragon and, within a few weeks, the three were best friends. Aesthete was a member of an all-girls biker gang and taught her all about their customs and skills. The group was a form of escapism for her for the next few years. She belonged with them. And she was beginning to show interest in Argyle.

Aesthete and a couple others from their gang were still friends. Though Argyle had mysteriously vanished at 17, and none of his family would disclose where he’d gone — but Yamato knew. And he was also sent away to live with his biological mother in Cyprus for the very same reason. Snapdragon resented Yamato even more for being in a secret relationship with one of her only friends and stealing his attention, but now they were both gone and she could worry about better things. She met a man named Astrophel when she was 17, and moved in with him when she was 18. The pair loved one another well for two years.

But Argyle came back, quieter and suddenly as religious as the rest of his family - a pastor assistant. But Snapdragon suspected something was off. She visited him in the church to speak, and visited again, then again, then again..

They were 21 when Snapdragon found out she was pregnant with Argyle’s son. She wanted nothing to do with Astrophel anymore, uninterested in him. When she told her friends that she was cheating they left her, disgusted; and when Argyle told his higher ups and family that he was in a relationship they left him too. The two planned to leave to the countryside with each other, but there was one issue that Argyle had been oblivious to this whole time; Astrophel. Snapdragon couldn’t let him find out about her first lover in fear that he’d abandon her. So, paranoid, she led Astrophel into the forest the night before she and Argyle planned to run away.

Astrophel was missing and then presumed dead in a matter of weeks. But it’s not like Argyle or Snapdragon knew anything about that; they were far away from that place by then, comfortable.

Months later, little Hart was born. Argyle adored his son, excited to be a father and, soon, husband. The family loved each other dearly. Everything was perfect… But Snapdragon wasn’t so content. She was paranoid and unstable, falling into silent fits of paranoia where she’d be convinced that Astrophel was alive and close, or that Argyle knew all about the things she’d done. Snapdragon had inherited the same mental illnesses that her mother had been prone to, and had become psychotic after the murder of her lover and the birth of her son. But she didn’t dare tell a soul, because they’d find out. Her state only deteriorated as the years went on. She was worried that Hart somehow knew his mother was a murderer, and that he was trying to get Argyle away from her. This resulted in her hating the boy. She pretended to love him when her husband was present, showering him in motherly affection and doting over him in the same way Argyle doted for him. But she was plotting. One Winter, seven years after the birth of Hart, she led him out one night to play in the snow while Argyle slept. She took him to the frozen lake within the neighbouring forest, where she pounced at him. In a bloody, but silent struggle, Snapdragon beat Hart to death and let him sink under the broken ice as the snow began to coat the scene. By the time it was dawn, there wasn’t a single sign of Hart.

Hart was announced dead months after he was first reported missing by a panicked Argyle and Snapdragon. Argyle was devastated, but he couldn’t wallow in his grief for long, but it had turned out that Snapdragon was pregnant with a second son throughout the entire ordeal, and gave birth just a few weeks after the declaration of Hart’s death. This son’s name was Mars. Argyle valued Mars nearly as much as he did his firstborn, being fiercely protective of him to keep him safer. In an effort to keep him safe, Snapdragon suggested moving away, to which Argyle agreed. Snapdragon really just wanted to move to keep herself away from the investigation.

The family arrived in Cyprus with less money than they had years before, considering they didn’t really plan the move very well and Argyle hadn’t been working for the past few months. Their financial situation and well-being hindered their living conditions greatly, as well as their love. Argyle had become distant, even to his son. He struggled to display much emotion and even became frustrated at them. Snapdragon was eager to fix his state, fearing he’d become like his father if their loveless relationship continued. So, 4 years after Mars was born, twins were on the way. Their names were Starfruit and Renaissance, a daughter and a son. Argyle hated them. He seemed to become worse.. far, far worse. He became physically violent towards the family — except for Mars. Snapdragon defended herself against him any time he came home drunk or mad, and every interaction they had was aggressive in some way. Nevertheless, she strived to find their love throughout the years.

But it became apparent when Argyle left that there was no more love for him to give her. He abandoned her with Mars, leaving her alone to take care of Starfruit and Renaissance when they were 6. But she hated them. She hated Argyle. She hated herself. She fell into a well of untreated depression, psychosis and paranoia, shutting herself out from the world for another long and painful 6 years. Starved, tired and hurting, Snapdragon left one night to a clifftop close by, where she was found at the bottom of the next day, dead and being picked at by seagulls and loons.

She became dormant for many, many years. Until her eyes opened years later from a shattered and burnt VHS tape, and she felt nothing but the physical and mental anguish of memories and death. She found Argyle, but it looked like he did have love left. He was comfortable, with a teenage son who was heading off to college soon, a sweet little daughter running around his legs and a husband who she could recognise as clear as day.