Name: Katherine "Kathy" Amilia Simen
Age: 27
Occupation: Newspaper Reporter
Appearance: Dark brown hair, blue eyes, fair skin. Kathy dresses in business casual, and if it is cool out wears a pea coat. She prefers slacks while out in town but will often wear a skirt if in the office. Her shoes tend to be dress boots with a slight heel, or kitty heels. She doesn't usually wear high heels unless she is dressing up for a special event.
Personality: Tenacious, Pessimistic, Adaptable, Vindictive, Strong-willed, Opinionated
Kathy has a strong sense of duty. She is determined. She doesn't write articles about crimes as she knows she would not be able to keep herself from writing her opinion. Kathy is active in the community, partially because of her writing and because she believes in duty to the community. She's just as likely to be volunteering somewhere as she is to be at an event for the paper.

Background: Kathy's family has deep roots in Havenwood. They've been here since the town was founded. She was the only child of one of the town's cops. He was a single father. Her mother had left him when Kathy was still an infant. He had woken up one morning to Kathy's cries and his wife gone, bag packed, car missing. He spent some time looking for her but gave up when she sent a card with cash but nothing written on it.

During college, Kathy and her father had a falling out, but by the time she graduated, they had figured out their relationship. They are now close to each other. She doesn't live with him but checks on him several times a week, especially since he retired. In college, Kathy studied Communications and Journalism. She's been working at the town newspaper since graduation. Kathy made her name by writing articles about local history. She would tie in current events, such as a centennial celebration, with historical facts. Her articles are interesting, and while her boss at first was hesitant, he now lets Kathy choose her topics.

Currently, Kathy has a 'will they, won't they' relationship with the older brother of her high school best friend. He is one of the Librarians, and she often goes there to work on her articles. He doesn't think she'd like him that way, and she thinks he sees her as a little sister rather than anything more.

The Touch: For years, Kathy sees a figure in the corner of her eye. She can never get the figure in view.
Weaknesses: Her father, Gus, is older, and she cares for him a lot. This is both money, time, and emotional investment for her.
Motivations: Kathy's strong sense of duty has kept her in Havenwood for her father and her job. She likes her job a lot and doesn't think she'd find one in a bigger city she likes more.

Name: Michael Huether
Age: 36
Occupation: Furniture delivery/repair man.

Appearance: Standing at 5'10 Michael can be considered somewhat heavy-set with a pot belly. Though the nature of his job gives him nice arms and legs. His hair is copper brown. His eyes a dark hazel. He has a red mustache/goatee that is beginning to have strands of white in it. If he is working. He is always wearing a black polo with his company's logo on it and black cargo pants. If he's off it usually tends to be a random T-shirt with funny sayings or pictures on it and faded camo cargo pants. He is also wearing blue light glasses to help him see.

Personality: Michael is one to express confidence aloud in group settings but suffers from imposter syndrome when alone. He belittles himself a lot and never feels what he does is enough even when he is doing his best. While kind to others because he does not want people to feel the way he feels, he does not usually go out of his way to be friendly because he is introverted. Prefers to be alone, but because his job forces him to be with the public of Havenwood on a near daily basis he can fake being an extrovert for a bit. Is willing to take the lead in a situation if forced but would much rather be a follower.

Background: Michael has been in Havenwood for about twelve years. He moved down here when his grandfather grew ill and could no longer work. So, he moved into his grandparents' large old house and has been helping them since. His grandfather died three years ago and now it is just him and his grandmother whose health is declining despite her smiles. The house is thankfully paid for but some of it is in disrepair due to financial struggles. Michael repairs what he can when funds come up though. It always feels like two steps back for every step forward.

The Touch: Michael's grandfather Otto had always been a large bear of a man that worked for the Havenwood Lumber Company. Until he became unexpectedly sick. When Michael arrived, his grandfather had become a shell of man. Sickly thin with flaps of skin being the only evidence of all his muscles. His eyes forever twitching, searching for something he could not see. The night Otto died, he apologized to Michael but Michael didn't understand why he apologized. It was only after Otto breathed his last that Michael felt a strange heaviness descend upon him. It was like something was resting on his shoulders, but there was nothing he could do to remove this feeling. Checking in the mirror would come up with nothing strange. Now there are unexpected times where Michael could be alone in a room or in a crowded place and hear breathing behind his head but no one else seems to notice it. Occasionally if he is moving deep in thought, he will find himself heading to strange places and have to stop and move back to where he needs to. Randomly he can catch a glimpse of something in the mirror resting on his shoulders when the room is dark.

The feeling never fades. It doesn't matter if he is sleeping, working, sex, whatever. It never vanishes.

Weaknesses: Lacks confidence even if it's something he's done hundreds of times. Struggles with what he's going to do when his grandmother passes and is now alone in a house he can barely keep up. If you have ever heard the expression can make a mountain out of a mole hill? Michael can talk up anything in his head and make it twenty times worse. Feels like hes a slob even when he tries to be healthy and attempts to work out. His grandmother.

Motivations: Wants his Grandmother Joyce to enjoy what life she has left without having to worry about him or really anything. This forces him to constantly be working or trying to find odd jobs for more cash. Would love a newer car but will probably never buy one because it's a want and not a need. Will not leave Havenwood no matter what as long as his grandmother is alive. Feels he owes it to his grandparents to care for them.

Name: Beth Brown
Age: 31
Occupation: Motel worker

Appearance: An unassuming looking woman with a soft face and body. She wears poorly fitted floral dresses and loose cardigans that are largely unflattering, and she keeps her hip-length ginger hair tied back in a simple plait. Her expression defaults to kind, although her eyes often give away an underlying anxiety.

Personality: Previously an ambitious and extroverted woman with a love of music and travel, she now does her best to push down any feelings that could try to push her outside of the safe world she has built. She is helpful and friendly with those she interacts with, if largely quiet, but carries a slight air of unease that can be off-putting to those perceptive enough to detect it.

Background: Beth grew up in a middle-class family in Wales. Her parents were loving but controlling, and when she decided to apply to study at university they pressured her to attend a poorly-ranked local institution so that she would be close to home. On her first day she met Talia, an American student in her final year, and they entered a whirlwind relationship that took over Beth's life. But coming out to her parents led to fury and, unhappy with her life, she agreed to follow Talia back to East Coast USA. The relationship quickly became abusive, and with no college education and very little freedom Beth settled into a life of miserable monotony. After eight years of worsening treatment she decided to flee, taking the car in the middle of the night and driving aimlessly. She found herself several states away in Havenwood where, as she was passing through, debilitating exhaustion hit. She booked a room at a motel and never left. Four years later she works a job in the motel she first landed in and rents a small, grubby apartment by the main road.

The Touch: Nothing ever looks quite real, as though the moment she stepped into Havenwood everything became too flat and too vivid, like the world is a picture. The more she tries to remember what 'real' looks like the more panicky she feels, so she tries to ignore it. She puts it down to the Kansas sunlight.

Weaknesses: Her biggest fear is that Talia will find her. To maintain emotional stability she generally avoids thinking about the past or the future, and is terrified of facing her emotions. She often resorts to food and alcohol to help in this avoidance.

Motivations: She wants above all to have a stable life. She is working towards buying one of the small houses in a nicer part of town, and has her eyes set on a promotion at the motel. There's a stray cat called Billy who she's been working on befriending. Her life is small but safe here, and she can convince herself that she's beginning to fit in; if she left she'd lose all of that.