Beauty and the Beast (2 page)

Helpers: These were people from the world above in New York City who were friends and supporters of Father’s world below. Father’s community even had an annual holiday, unique to their world alone, called Winter Fest, which was held partly in honor of the Helpers from above who helped bring light symbolically to the world below. This holiday involved sending special handmade candles to the Helpers and then leading them with their candles down below to the Great Hall, a massive cavern hung with beautiful tapestries. They would begin the celebration in darkness which was how the tunnels were before they created their community in them. Father would take his lit candle, light someone else’s, and then they would each light the candle of whoever was beside them, symbolizing the lighting up of the tunnels. They then celebrated with a feast, dancing, and games.

unstable and ultimately evil co-founder of the world below, at one time a friend of Father’s. He had a wife, Anna, who was childless. Anna then conceived and lost her baby at the end of her first trimester. Vincent was then brought to Anna as a baby when he was found abandoned in an alley behind St. Vincent’s Hospital. Paracelsus became obsessed with Vincent, convinced he was his son. It was then that Father took over Vincent’s care after Anna brought him to Father, because she was fearful of Paracelsus’ unnatural attachment to him. Paracelsus was so angry with both Father and Anna that he put poison into a glass of wine and killed his wife. Father’s community had no choice but to exile Paracelsus.

Paracelsus attempted every device to turn Vincent evil after that. In the episode, “The Alchemist,” Paracelsus developed and marketed a very toxic hallucinogen, which ended up killing fifty of New York’s population and turning a larger number of his consumers insane. He made a vicious attack on Vincent with this chemical when Vincent tried to stop him from going above with it, which caused Vincent to become a danger to himself and to others from its effect. Catherine was able to pull Vincent back to sanity, and he recovered.

Paracelsus finally kidnapped and then impersonated Father with a vinyl face mask and his skill at voice impressions, told Vincent cruel lies about his origin, and provoked Vincent into killing him. As Paracelsus was dying, he revealed himself to Vincent. He told Vincent that it was all right; killing him in the guise of Father truly made Vincent his own son. Afterwards, Vincent suffered a mental breakdown, and he fled to the lower chambers. A few members of the community followed him, in order to keep track of where he was, while Father sent for Catherine. Catherine finally managed to pull him back from the brink of madness as he battled the demon within himself, caused by Paracelsus’ cruelty, for the second time. However, Vincent’s empathic connection to Catherine was severed this time, and many of his precious memories were lost.

Cullen: This man, featured in the episode “Fever,” was a very talented carver, sculptor, and wood-worker, and enjoyed creating artistic gifts for members of the community below.

He came below after his wife died of a catastrophic illness which left him bankrupt. When eighteenth century gold antiquities were found in a buried ship in one of the lower passageways, Cullen succumbed to “gold fever” and ended up stabbing another community member with one of his carving tools. Father performed surgery and the community member was saved. Meanwhile, Cullen’s dreams of wealth turned into a nightmare when Vincent’s warning that attempting to sell rare items above would draw notice from evil elements was realized. Cullen redeemed himself and was forgiven by everyone when he risked his life to save the community from an armed murderous smuggler who forced Cullen to take him

below for more treasure.

Pascal: He was in charge of the pipe communication system in the world below which involved tapping on the pipes in a unique code. That knowledge was passed down to him by his father, and he was continually improving upon it and coming up with new ways to streamline and abbreviate it in order to send messages more quickly.

Zach: He was a preteen boy, who was a leader among the children, and was being trained on the pipes by Pascal.

Mouse: He was an homespun engineer, inventor, and metal worker, with poor language skills, whom Vincent managed to capture as a child when he was stealing food from the community. At the time Vincent caught him, Mouse had not learned to speak, only pilfer. Vincent taught him, but Mouse never quite grasped proper English, the concept of time, or the difference between stealing and salvaging. He was, however, brilliant at making things work. He was the one Cullen stabbed in the episode “Fever.” Being a very generous soul, Mouse was happy to forgive him when Cullen finally came to his senses. He had a pet raccoon named Arthur.

Elliott Burch: He was a wealthy architect who was in love with Catherine, but was rejected by her because of the people he did business with, who were unsavory and used strong-arm tactics to further his interests. He evolved into a more complex character as he struggled to overcome his weaknesses and be a better person, largely due to Catherine’s influence. After Catherine’s death, he tried to help Vincent find Catherine’s child. He was later killed by Gabriel, the man responsible for Catherine’s death and for the kidnap of her newborn son of Vincent’s. Elliott was killed and Vincent was wounded when Gabriel blew up the boat, the Compass Rose, where Elliott and Vincent had been meeting to discuss how to find Vincent’s son.

Joseph “Joe” Maxwell: He was an Assistant District Attorney and Catherine’s boss who nicknamed her “Radcliffe.” He and Catherine became very close friends. In fact, at one point Catherine made the comment that Joe had an heart like

Vincent’s. The former District Attorney, John Moreno, turned out to be an inside player for Gabriel and was responsible for Catherine’s kidnap by Gabriel. After Gabriel’s death and John Moreno’s exposure, Joe was made the Acting District Attorney, effective until the next election which had not occurred by the end of the series.

Mary: She was a mature nurse and midwife, about Father’s age, who was also in love with Jacob Wells (Father). However, she never made her feelings known to him, thinking that it was somehow selfish to want him for herself alone. She came to the tunnels following the deaths of her child and her husband and had been there almost from the beginning of Father’s world.

Rebecca: She was a young adult woman who made candles for Father’s world’s unique holiday, Winter Fest, featured in the episode, “Dead of Winter,” which also honored the Helpers who helped to bring light metaphorically into their world. These beautiful candles were tall yellow-orange tapers with white tips.

William: He was the community cook for Father’s world, and he absolutely loved cooking for everyone.

Chinese Clergy Man: This character, never named, was featured in the episode, “China Moon.” He performed a marriage ceremony in Father’s Council chamber in that episode. I have given him the name Kevin Chin.

Snow: This man was an assassin Gabriel sent to kill Vincent, so he could keep the baby without fear of reprisal by Vincent. Snow was outwitted by Vincent, who led him to the Stalactite/Stalagmite Cave, where Snow fired his weapon, and was crushed to death by stalactites falling because of his own percussive shots.

Peter: He was Catherine’s deceased mother’s gynecologist, who had delivered Catherine. He had a wife named Susan. Peter had been an Helper to the world below from the beginning, because he went to medical school with Father, and they remained good friends even after Father was blacklisted in the world above. In the episode “Ashes, Ashes,” Father’s world was trying to stem an outbreak of pneumonic plague brought into their world by a stowaway Russian immigrant, Dmitri, whom they tried to help. It was then that Catherine and Peter, who had been family friends all of her life, first realized that they shared the knowledge of Father’s world. They collided when Catherine was sent to meet an unknown Helper, who turned out to be Peter, driving a supply van with vaccine and antibiotics against the plague for the sick below. He was never given a last name in the series, so I have given him the last name of Wellington.

Jamie: She was a petite girl in her late teens who was also an archer and best friends with Mouse. She had a cute spitfire personality and was a very hard worker.

Tony Ramos: He was an orphaned Gypsy boy Catherine and Vincent helped to be restored to his family in the episode “Everything is Everything.” Tony’s evil uncle had framed Tony’s father for stealing from the family business, and in a Gypsy trial Tony’s entire family was considered dead by the clan. When Tony’s parents were killed, he made the trip to New York City by himself from Chicago, to try to prove his father’s innocence, and be restored to his grandparents. His grandparents, Milo and Eva Ramos, were devastated over not being able to acknowledge their grandson but feared chaos in the clan if they broke their Gypsy laws. Vincent confronted Milo, who was the king of their clan, and convinced him to hold a new trial for his grandson, Tony. Milo relented and arranged the new trial, at which time Tony’s wits prevailed, and he was able to prove that it was his uncle who was the thief. Tony was restored to his family and felt that he owed a debt to Catherine for taking him into her home and helping him.

Dr. Marx: He was the New York City Coroner who was called in to collect Catherine’s body. He played a game of cat-and-mouse with Joe Maxwell, trying to avoid his questions about Catherine’s case. He was never given a first name. I have given him the name David.

New York Cabby: This is another Helper who was never given a name. He surveilled and gave rides to people needed by Father’s world in times of crisis. He was the one who corralled Diana, and at one time he also shanghaied Joe when Father was trying to find Vincent after the Compass Rose incident. I have given him the name Chuck Johnson.

Sarah: She was a middle-aged woman in the world below who aided with special tasks like practical nursing. She took a special interest in the eccentric members of Father’s community.

Jenny Aronson: She was Catherine’s close friend who owned a publishing company specializing in books on art which she edited. She helped to book art exhibits at local galleries because of her influence with the gallery owners.

Kipper: He was one of the children in Father’s world. He loved running errands for everyone.

Dr. Wong: He was an herbal doctor in Chinatown who was featured in the episode “China Moon.” He had been prescribing and providing herbal medicine for Father’s condition as well as other community members’ ailments for over twenty years.

Mong and his young son, Edward: Mong was a Vietnamese grocer who was taught English by Father’s family below.

Mong helped them with groceries for William’s kitchen.

Rolley: This young black man, featured in the episode, “Chamber Music,” was brought to the tunnels by one of the Helpers from above as a boy. He was a savant pianist, who could play any classical piano piece he heard by ear perfectly. When Ms. Kendrick, his piano teacher below, was killed by acquaintances of his trouble-making older brother, Rolley blamed himself. As a result, he battled with heroin addiction on the streets as a young adult, until Vincent found him again and told him that everyone still wanted and loved him below. He rejected that first overture, because he couldn’t forgive himself yet. When he was finally shot in a failed robbery attempt in the episode “In the Forests of the Night,” he took refuge in the tunnels, where Vincent found him critically

wounded. Father performed surgery and removed the bullets, and Rolley finally overcame his addiction and stayed home below.

Brooke: She was a young girl in her late teens. Her boyfriend, Steven, was a teenage boy who was killed by the assassin, Snow, when he went into the tunnels hunting for Vincent in the episode “Snow.” Brooke was devastated by this loss.

Eric Peterson & his sister, Ellie: These were children who were rescued by Catherine and Vincent from a bad foster home in the episode “A Children’s Story.” Kipper reported talking to an abused child from that home to Vincent.

Vincent then told Catherine, and she was able to take action to have the home closed down. Eric and Ellie were in imminent danger, though, because the corrupt director of the foster home was selling the children in his care to a “Fagan.” Eric and Ellie were hidden and then adopted by Vincent’s community. Ellie died of the plague in the episode “Ashes, Ashes.”

Kristopher Gentian: He was a deceased painter whose ghost visited Catherine and Vincent in the episode “When the Bluebird Sings.” He interacted with them in corporeal form, so they could discover his paintings which were hidden in a forgotten warehouse. Catherine, being a logical-minded lawyer, had a really difficult time believing that he was actually dead. She thought that his death must have been staged in order to increase the value of his paintings.

However, among the paintings found in that warehouse was a spectacular huge portrait of Catherine and Vincent carefully wrapped with her name on it. When she and Vincent uncovered it in Vincent’s chamber, she assumed that Kristopher had painted it after meeting them. Vincent pointed out to her, though, that Kristopher’s paintings were all oil paintings, including this one, which would take many months to properly dry. She had to accept the obvious fact that this was a prophetic painting done long before he ever set eyes on either one of them and painted before his death.

Jonathan Smythe: He was the antique book store owner

who was Kristopher’s friend from the time the artist was a child. He had identified Kristopher’s body after he froze to death one winter outside on the streets. When Catherine and Vincent found the paintings Kristopher led them to, she had them shown and sold at a local gallery with the help of her friend, Jenny Aronson, and then she gave the generated funds to Mr. Smythe. He used the funds for cemetery upkeep of Kristopher’s grave.