HOLLOW HILLS - NC, USA - A past timelineGhostly Shades, Ashes of the pastGhosts of bygone faces and memories.Elijah Payne, 7 - 17The reverend's son, born to a local cult and abusive household. He doesn't fit in and desperatly wants to break free, which leads him to take some very questionable decisions along the way with no regards for the consequences - to himself, and those around him.
Spirit medium just like his closest friend, Nate Blackwell (the cemetery caretaker's son, outside the cult) and his mother, who deliberately represses her ESP and urges him to do the same under Victor's influence, deeming them "demonic"._{Known family: Victor and Theodora Payne (parents). Only child.Symbols: Heavy on religious imagery.}Leah Greystone, 15-17One of the local parish kids, fatefully linked to Elijah via her cousin's friendship with him although she doesn't care much for either of them. Free-spirited, she and Elijah share a common goal: to get away from the Order's hold and patriarchal mindset, and most notably Victor, its founder._{Known family: Micah Lynch (cousin), Esther Greystone (mother). She's the eldest of numerous unnamed brothers and sisters whom she cares for and raises more than her own parents.Symbols: Centipedes.}

Lénore Velten, 26Ghost narrator with an inclination for knives, bugs, and revenge.
Artist - Sculpture, movie props, deals mostly with body horror.
Engaged to her childhood friend / former neighbour / local misfit Thel, she's found dead hanging by her veil on their wedding day, and proceeds to haunt the living in order to piece together her missing memories of the event. Peaceful when she was alive, although quite self-centered, her ghost-self tends to exhibit impulsive and vindicative tendencies, sometimes with dire consequences.
Linked to an anti-paranormal cult via her twin cousins Louise and Alban, whom she grew up with following their parents' death._{Known family: Her father, her mother Audrey Velten, her two cousins Alban and Louise Delaunay.Symbols: Raven, white lilies, spiders.}

Thel / Barthélémy Baier, 25Guitarist / back vocalist in the black metal band Vespertilion as Ruthven and deathrocker in Spontaneous Cheerleader Combustion, former tattoo artist, he also used to bartend at the local goth club The Catafalque. A self-inflicted injury at said nightclub led to partial loss of the use of his right hand.
Rather melodramatic, known liar and main suspect in Lénore's death despite his claims of innocence.
He disappears on his wedding day before reappearing as a vampire after a run-in with Ombeline’s clan, then seeks the help of his spirit-medium-friend-turned-accomplice Nathaniel in order to communicate with Lénore’s spirit._{Known family: Divorced mother who raised him.Pets: Fulci (cat.) Feeds the local corvids (including Savini, the graveyard crow.)Symbols: Magpie, barbed-wire.}

Nathaniel Blackwell, 33Asocial american spirit medium who would rather ghosts (and people) to leave him alone, for once. Hates crowds and social interactions.
Photographer within Lénore’s artistic circle (where he's mostly disliked), curator at his best (and oldest) friend Neema's art gallery. While spirit photography was a starting point, his work focuses on death and decay.
He keeps to himself and refuses to go into details about his life before arriving to France, or anything personal. Close friend with Thel, he's loyal and cares a lot more about his relationships than he would ever admit to under his aloof demeanour.
Former alcoholic, very self-destructive, deemed unstable. Might eat cigarettes for lunch._{Pets: Egon, Hiero, and the late Shelley (dogs.)Symbols: Undead cat, fire, mirror shards.}

Ombeline, ??Unrepentant vampire queen who likes to play with her food.
Lénore's murderer and Thel's sire, according to him.
Lives with her clan hidden in the catacombs under the Catafalque._{Symbols: Vampire bat.}

Bélial, ??Anti-supernatural mercenary under the Watchers / Louise and Alban's authority - hunts and kills other entities despite his own monstrous nature. Not subservient enough to their liking, he tends to ignore orders. Violent and unpredictable, approach with caution.

HECATE - Paranormal agencyIlham El Asri, 23Bassist in Vespertilion as Karnstein.
Paranormal investigator and occasional spell caster in charge of Lénore’s case alongside Cairn, her boss.
Émilie’s girlfriend. Very suspicious of Thel, can't stand him in general. Quite brash and judgemental.Émilie Le Quéré, 21Trainee paranormal investigator, a bit too optimistic and naive for her sake. Would like to believe that people are inherently good.
Ilham's girlfriend, colleague (and friend) of Thel at the tattoo studio where she sometimes works front desk.Maru, 7Gorgon fostered by Hecate. Kind of a rebellious kid, sees Thel as a big brother figure._{Known family: Parents of the petrified variety.}

VESPERTILION - secondary charactersAnya Evans, 25Founder and lead vocalist of Vespertilion, in which she's known as Westenra.
Full time musician, horror nerd & ass kicker.
Blissfully unaware of the supernatural happenings around her.Damjan Farkas, 30Drummer in Vespertilion as Bathory.
Good friend with Thel, his roommate at one point. Just like Anya, he remains skeptical and blissfully unaware of the supernatural happenings around him.

+ plenty who have yet to be drawn!
Fluffy bonus: Hiero_(nymous), Egon & Fulci :)