Susan Baker was born the 4th of 12 (of who only 6 survived childhood) in a poor London family halfway the 1800's. Daddy Pete had an off and on job hauling crates at the docks though he tended to spend a fair amount of his earnings on whores and alcohol. Still, there was a roof over their heads and some bread on the table, mostly due to mommy Martha who worked long, long hours in one of the many sweatshops (this one textiles) in the East End. As the oldest daughter, Sue's first task was to look after her younger siblings and hers was even more of a serving life from that point on.
The family got a break when Sue, then age 11, could get a maid's service at the Fitzwilliam's, a family of some income. Though the combined pay was enough to pay the Baker's bills, life wasn't getting easier for Sue who had to wait on the youngest daughter Sarah -a spoiled, cruel girl- who used her to see what she could get away with. Sue has the scars to prove it to this day. But she was loyal, she had to be for her family and she learned quickly keep a stiff upper lip.
After a few years Susan found a young man she liked: Jack, a simple lad, but hardworking, honest and honestly in love with her. They married a week after Sue turned 16 and life together was warm and comfortable, though they had to carry the grieve of not being able to have children. She miscarried twice. A slipping crate at the docks put an end to Jack's life and Sue moved back in with her mother and siblings.
A widow now, Susan continued in the service of Sarah who by then had been working hard to become a well known socialite, a steady drain on her father's income but dotingly, he gave her what she wanted. A full decade after Sue's service began, it was Sarah who first met Samuel Khan at one of the city's gatherings. There was something about him that had Sarah completely enthralled and life at the Fitzwilliam residence came to revolve around nothing else but the youngest daughter's next chance to meet with him - and to make him hers. As such, he was invited into the house, managed to avoid dinners but did attend a few formal and less formal soirees with the family. Sue's first instinct proved right: he was bad news. Very. Bad. News.
Samuel was a fickle man and his when his fancy for Sarah turned into burning desire, he shared his secret with her. After she got over her first shock, Sarah was intrigued to her core by this vampire who'd decided to pursue her. Her! The romantic tale he'd spun her worked it's magic and not long after she agreed to spend all of eternity with him - on one condition. She wanted her maid along for the ride. Period. Samuel didn't overly care, Sue's looks hadn't (unknown to Sarah) exactly escaped his notice and he made the deal. That evening, may 25th in the year 1866, was the last night Susan saw her family.
Samuel and his new entourage left London shortly after the turning. First they traveled to the main land, but the America's lured and the three shipped out, arriving in the land of opportunity in 1871. They settled for a while in New York, later on moved to Washington, then further south to California. While in Washington tension started to grow between Susan and Sarah, the latter growing more and more jealous of every little hint of increasing attention Samuel gave her maid. And it was increasing, make no mistake. It started with teaching the illiterate Susan to read and write. Then teaching her how to keep his books. Not something she particularly liked or had a talent for, but he loathed the task and if she was their maid, she might as well make herself useful to him as well.
A year after they moved south to California, by now we're writing 1878, the joke of turning Sarah had faded and little Sarah felt the blunt of his boredom - and consequently blamed Susan. One night Sarah lured Sue out of the estate, claiming to need some time off. Samuel didn't mind. At all. Which decided things for Sarah. She took her maid on a little road trip. The coach had hardly passed the city limits, or she confronted Susan with a silver knife. To make a long story short: Sue was always the stronger one and this time she choose loyalty to her own existence over that to her employer. A week later, as planned, she returned to the estate, alone. Either Samuel believed her story about a reckless Sarah and an ambush, or he didn't care.
Not long after, Samuel started to feel itchy and decided it was time for Sue to stand on her own two feet. He left though they kept in contact - she continued to work his books for him, which provided her with an income as well. But suddenly she was confronted with this ocean of freedom to do with as it pleased her. And the one thing that pleased her was to be waited on, for a change. She was in control, she called the shots and if she was a little cruel in her shots, well, who was going to complain? She liked it. No, she loved it and vowed that nobody would ever make a decision for her ever again. Well, unless it was Samuel, of course she'd answer his call. But since he didn't care much one way or the other, that seemed fine as well.
She started to invest and her choices were lucky, generating more income and higher expenditures as her lifestyle evolved with it. Samuel, living back in London at that time, was pleasantly surprised and he trusted her with working his money as well - most of it anyway. The arrangement worked and both benefited.
But slowly, over the years, Sue's lust for control continued to grow. The humans in the employ of her home were little more then glamoured slaves for example and affairs between the sheets usually ended with badly needing a new set. Of sheets. Possibly mattress as well. As a boss she was cruel, keeping leashes extremely short, wages to the minimum, with no regard for human rights or needs - specially in the two sweatshops she ran until the 1970's in Mexico.
But her outward appearances were immaculate - the dresses as expensive as they were beautiful, the lawn(s) kept, her manner while in public respectful and outgoing. She never aspired to be the socialite Sarah once was, but she was queen of her own world.
Her luck ran out for the first time when the Great Depression hit the nation and she lost it all. And as she did, so did Samuel. Back to basics, traveling from place to place, feeding, surviving, abiding her time until she could rebuild once more. And she had to. Devoting all her time to bring back his comfort and luxurious lifestyle was the only thing that kept him from ending her when she was summoned to his then home in Nevada. And slowly but steadily, working glamours as often as her own knowledge, she did - though it never reached the level of richness they once had.
And all was well again for Susan, until luck ran out a second time with the Internet bubble bursting in 2002. By then she'd moved to Houston, Texas and was living comfortably in a penthouse with servants some acquaintances jokingly called her 'slaves' (though they all asked her where she got excellent staff like that…). It had seemed like such a flawless plan, new technology on the rise. So easy, so damn easy. Wrong choices, wrong people, wrong hunches, wrong companies. Evaporating with the same ease in the end. The damage extended far beyond herself and Samuel's finances however, a dozen or so other vampires wound up bankrupt because of her.
This time, Samuel was less forgiving and -before any of the others could even try to get revenge- brought her before the Magister knowing only too well that the public humiliation would cut deeper than any swift execution ever would. And the nuisance she caused him was well, well worth the effort. Tuning into the sick sense of humour, the Magister smiled, And the ball and chain he gave her were all but litteral. She would serve her punishment by serving the greater vampire community as the AVL's poster girl for the next 20 years. A good, decent, 'human' vampire. The vampire equivalent of the 'Hostess with the Mostess'. "Give the girl an apron," he said, glancing at her provided history.
So Susan Baker's back where she started, at beck and call to the AVL's needs. She's working at the PR department, organizing press meets, community lunches, is a sometimes face in commercials - always keeping a smile for everyone who needs her. Due to her feeding on her secretary and glamouring her into forgetting (something alas which was videotaped), she's now transferred to the Dallas office so she can be kept under closer watch.
In an additional sentence, she also needs to repay every victim of her dramatic book keeping skills. All her income goes directly to Samuel and the other creditors. In short, the girl's poor. She hasn't got a penny to her name and is living off what the AVL provides her with: a roof over her head, respectable clothes and TrueBlood.
But once having tasted the freedom of control - lust has already started to simmer underneath her skin and though she's being watched closely, she's started testing the leeway of her chains.
