Anna Angel

Anna Angel (Анна Ангел) is a young woman living in the Willows, on the eastern side of town. She claims to be a talented singer.

Description
Anna is a singer—however, no one has ever heard her sing. Rumour has it, Anna's past is closely linked with a terrible caravan called the Ace of Diamonds. However, many believe that this rumour is too obvious and must be covering some other secret.

She does not trust anyone, especially children, calling them "the cause of all ills." She sees almost everyone as a threat.

The Caravan
Anna has not been proven to have associated with the Caravan, but everyone assumes that she was.

The "family of the Ace of Diamonds" was the living nightmare of the entire country for years before the Second Outbreak. It was a traveling circus made up of highly talented actors. The Caravan would arrive in a city and arrange a show: one during the day, for children, and one at night, for adults. During the day the Caravan sought out beautiful and talented kids and later, when they were sleeping, they were stolen to join the Caravan and be trained as gymnasts, jugglers, sex workers, singers and acrobats.... and in the morning the parents found their children replaced by the circus freaks they had watched at night.

The caravan evaded arrest for a long time, but was finally caught near Orv. Many actors were killed during the interrogation, and all the survivors were sentenced to death. Since then, much time has passed, and the caravan has become the subject of many horrible rumours and legends.

The Willows
Anna's arrival was curious. She was targeted by The Powers That Be, in her own words, because her family hosted political exiles, and found a safe haven in the Town-on-Gorkhon. A few years later, the inhabitants of the Willows began to die (though Vera was buried in a closed coffin). Subsequently, Anna was left alone in the mansion, wearing the clothes of Vera; with her hair and voice. This story is no rumour, but simply the truth.

Peter's take on her:
«The poor thing has lost her voice. I sympathize with her because she keeps her chin up, and I hate whiners. I am thoroughly convinced that she's paying the price for someone else's sin; a haunting visitor eager to rip out her soul is coming after her any day now. At least that's what she thinks. A lesser person wouldn't have managed to endure such torture.»

Yulia's take:
«Anna affects to be suffering, but her hypocrisy is all to easy to see through. If she was genuinely wanted—for her involvement with the February Riots, or that Caravan of kidnappers—she would have been found years ago. She is able to trick her destiny for now, but her luck will run dry soon enough. The Ace of Diamonds Caravan has left a ghastly imprint on her, the way it did with everything it was linked to... yet the nature of the link between the caravan and Anna remains a mystery.»