Dame of the Dead

Antonia returned from work to find her home and family burned alive — but one body was missing. On the Day of the Dead, an ominous clue on the ofrenda spurred her to follow her sister Sofia into the brackish veil between life and death.

Death’s Rose

Antonia used to love fine Sunday gowns, flower bouquets, and decorated cakes. While she left that life behind for revenge, this Maynard Sniper reminds her that death, too, is a beautiful thing.

Grave Silence

One neighbor believed Antonia had gone mad with grief and tried to stop her from becoming a Hunter. This Nagant M1895 Silencer shot through the eye that refused to see what she had seen, and she bid her hometown goodbye.

Sweet Offering

Is it a miracle inside this vial, a witch’s spell, or dyed sugar? To the Dame of the Dead, all that matters is that it prolongs sweet, sweet life.

Antonia was once a midwife, a trade that dealt in death as often as in life. One late October, she returned to find her house in ashes and her family reduced to nothing but charred bones.

They had no enemies that she knew of, no riches, and no powerful friends (sometimes the most dangerous thing of all). There had been nothing out of the ordinary about them, save her sister Sofia’s visions, which their mother claimed came from Heaven.

But it was Hell that had visited Antonia’s home. She collected the bones and buried them alone, discovering in the process that one skeleton was missing.

But whose?

When the month turned, she painted her face with charcoal from the ruins. On the blackened stone foundation, she built an ofrenda, where she placed flowers for her deceased relatives. By evening, the flowers had withered in the smoky air — all but the marigolds, which had been Sofia’s favorite, remained as fresh and new as they were that morning. Suddenly, Antonia saw something in the hypnotic, blinding brightness of their many petals: a young woman wading through brackish water, seeking vengeance on the edge of death’s veil.

Her family was trying to tell her something.

Antonia purchased a gun, two knives, and as much ammunition as she could carry, ignoring her neighbors’ insistence that it was a delusion of grief. She would learn to fight on the road, until she found her destination, her sister, or — best of all — her family’s murderers. She would seed bullets until bloody flowers bloomed on every crown. For her, death had meant sweet bread and open bottles and laughter. She would not fear death.

She was the only thing there was to fear.