Brianna's Murder

Brianna’s Murder is Vlad’s killing of Brianna Rodriguez in the Forest, a predatory attack that makes the danger of his hunting immediate to the Rodriguez family. Brianna’s death leaves Celeste and Susie mourning their younger sister; Susie vows to find the killer, and the loss becomes a continuing presence in Celeste’s grief and in Callum’s determination to protect her.

Background and Attack

On the night of the murder, Brianna is at a friend’s house when she realizes it is getting late. Her friend offers to drive her home, but Brianna says she will be fine and sets off alone. At the same time, Vlad is out looking for a human to feed on. Their paths cross as Brianna leaves the house: hearing something, she asks who is there, but receives no answer.

Vlad jumps down from a tree, and Brianna sees his fangs and tries to run. She flees into the Forest, but Vlad is faster and catches her from behind. He bites her neck as she struggles, drains her life, and leaves her for dead. The sequence makes the disparity between them decisive: Brianna is walking home after an ordinary evening, while Vlad is deliberately searching for prey.

Disappearance and Discovery

The next day, Brianna does not come home. With no sign of her, Celeste calls the police, who question the family. The disappearance leaves the family without an explanation for several days; then police find Brianna’s body in the woods. The discovery confirms that she has been killed, but does not initially identify her attacker to the family.

Celeste and Susie mourn and cry for their sister. Their responses differ in emphasis: Celeste’s grief is expressed as sorrow, while Susie turns the loss into a determination to act. She vows to discover who killed Brianna and make the killer pay. That promise gives the murder an immediate consequence beyond the family’s bereavement: it plants a desire for vengeance that continues to shape Susie’s choices.

Grief and Its Afterlife

Brianna’s death remains present in Celeste’s life after the immediate search ends. On her birthday, only weeks after the murder, Celeste does not feel like celebrating. Callum gives her a silver chain with a ruby, but she goes to Brianna’s grave that evening and places flowers there, crying as he watches from a distance. Her grief is not displaced by the birthday or the gift; the grave visit makes clear that the loss remains the day’s emotional center.

Later, Celeste returns to the grave with tulips and talks to Brianna about what is happening in her life, including Callum. Callum watches and understands that Celeste is in pain. After she leaves, he addresses Brianna and promises to protect Celeste, describing Brianna as the light in her sister’s life. The promise links the murder’s continuing emotional cost to Callum’s protective role: Brianna’s absence is part of what he is trying to shield Celeste from facing alone.

The death is also recalled when another young girl is killed in the woods. Seeing the body, Celeste notes that the girl is around Brianna’s age, covers her with her jacket, and turns her attention to finding Susie. At the hospital, she tells Damien that she cannot lose Susie after losing Brianna months earlier. These later moments show how Vlad’s continuing violence reopens the earlier bereavement: Brianna’s murder becomes the point of comparison through which Celeste recognizes the danger to others and measures her fear of another family loss.