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Summary
A movie actress based primarily out of New York City, Evelyn Prieto is known for her presence … and for still being in her acting prime while closer to fifty than forty. Even in minor roles, her characters make an indelible impression. She is prominent in the local social scene.
Controversy swirled around Evelyn after her daughter, Sullivan Prieto, made an attempt on the life of Supreme Court Justice Grace Sullivan … and more recently, she was involved in a ransom / hostage situation with her daughter's summer guests and the same shapeshifters who (reputedly) trained Liv. Despite her singular ability to convey to the world that such trifles are beneath notice, further evidence mounted, and Evelyn Prieto vanished ahead of the authorities.
Background
Evelyn Prieto is part of a family acting legacy - like the Sutherlands or the Barrymores. The family includes an aunt, Deborah (deceased) and a writer/director brother, Samuel. Growing up in an acting family and then becoming a name of her own right, Evelyn has never had much personal privacy, details that most people consider off-limits mined by the press for entertainment.
She has been acting since her toddler years. Her early career was focused more on Broadway acting, with a slow but natural transition to the screen. In her twenties, Evelyn was engaged to architect Adam Hartford, but they split two months before the wedding, citing nothing more specific than "a loss of heart." Since then, she's been attached to many names, but never for long enough to be serious.
The birth of her daughter Sullivan caught the media off-guard. Evelyn had actually managed to conceal her pregnancy, while providing proof afterwards that the press were rather dim for missing the signs. As to Sullivan's father, she's never revealed his identity, stating only that it was a relationship that didn't work out.
(Of course, the question of how she happened to give her daughter this name if she truly didn't know about the plan to replace the Supreme Court Justice arose almost immediately with Sullivan's arrest. Evelyn responded that she had chosen several names, none of which fit the baby girl. The suggestion came from a nurse on-duty, with the implication being that the nurse was one of Liv's shapeshifting cohorts.)
Evelyn was in negotations for a movie set - and shot - in the Big Apple when she was forced to flee.
Encounters: Alia, Amber, Reg, Sandra, Stephanie
Allies: Hunter, Kerry, Singe
Logs
News
8/24/10
(New York Times)
A string of new developments has just arisen in the matter of movie star Evelyn Prieto and the hostage situation that occurred at her New York residence two months prior. The young visitors claimed that the actress held them for ransom, with the assistance of shadow-based shapeshifters similar in origin to Ms. Prieto's daughter Sullivan. She countered that she had been as much a victim as they, mimicked by the shapeshifters, and the case died … until now.
Sullivan Prieto has stepped forward to insist there is no distinction between her mother and the shapeshifters she blames - that Evelyn is a neohuman who shunted the actress aside and took her place. She claims it was her mother who trained her to replace Supreme Court Justice Grace Sullivan, a highly publicized prior incident where Evelyn also evaded suspicion. The daughter also explained there were attempts to quiet her and the other teens involved, ranging from bribery to violence to an attempted abduction. (The school the young people attend has confirmed a number of related injuries.) Sullivan credits her friends with helping her hold up on an emotional level.
The younger Prieto was also reputedly under a geis of silence, as reported by neohuman hero Valiant. In light of the amassed testimony, police allowed him to compare with a few pieces of Evelyn Prieto's glasswork, confiscated as evidence due to the damage her residence sustained. One glass piece held an enchantment from the same source as the geis, and authorities believe that mundanely, the glass can be matched directly to her personal forge. The test has a ninety percent accuracy rating.
Former Prieto servant Alice Penderly also came forward with stories of nebulous "strange doings" dating back months before the hostage situation. Penderly had quit directly after the incident.
Old evidence and new, and the extreme lengths someone went to suppress it, paints a compelling picture … one without Evelyn Prieto in it. Four policemen sent to take her into custody came back dazed and empty-handed, claiming they couldn't believe such a perfectly sweet woman could be guilty of anything. Once the fog lapsed, the authorities returned to the Prieto residence - only to find no trace of its owner.
Other members of the Prieto family - actors and movie folk all - have flooded the police with demands and disclaimers. Writer and director Samuel Prieto has vowed to sue for the entirety of the estate, claiming that everything the imposter made was based on his sister's skills and contacts.
Evelyn Prieto is not the only one of these alleged shapeshifters now at large: the individual known only as Hunter vanished in extradition transport. Those involved are unclear precisely what happened, but found a confused guard under an illusion had been substituted for the prisoner.
"So considering their ability to blend - we're back to the beginning," said New York detective Richard Brust. "The good news is, so are they. The advantages Evelyn Prieto has just lost are incalculable."
In a sidebar, the producer of The Last Straw, a romantic comedy in which Ms. Prieto had a minor role, has loudly indicated that her contribution remains. "The production is too far along to go back and re-cast, then re-shoot a set of otherwise quality scenes," he said. "And they are, regardless of who was wearing that face. Besides - any publicity is good publicity."
6/16/10
(New York Times)
Five teenagers on vacation in New York City found themselves the victims of a neohuman kidnapping plot. The young people - whose names have been withheld for reasons of privacy - were held against their will at the local residence of movie actress Evelyn Prieto … until rescued by a group of young heroes, who reputedly ripped through the mansion and defeated its guardians.
The ransom demands came in the form not of money, but artifacts or articles of unknown significance. Though these missives came anonymously, the teens claimed that they were held against their will by their hostess. Ms. Prieto countered with her own claim.
"I shouldn't have to remind anyone of the shapeshifters who have already tried to subvert my family," she said - referring to the highly-publicized incident involving her daughter. The girl, who possesses shapechanging abilities of her own, made a failed attempt on the life of Supreme Court Justice Grace Sullivan … apparently under the encouragement of others of her kind. "They have not given up. I was held in my home and impersonated by these … creatures. I'm as much a victim here as my guests."
When pressed for evidence, Ms. Prieto indicated that she had caught a glimpse of the true face of one of the antagonists, pointing authorities towards a startling figure: soft rock diva Annabelle Kerry. Skeptical authorities went to speak with Ms. Kerry, but she fled the scene, lending considerable credence to the story.
"If this is true," said local detective Richard Brust, "then the real Annabelle Kerry has been dead for years, replaced by this shifter."
Ms. Kerry's husband of eleven years, Kurt Batterton, was adamant there was a misunderstanding. "I refuse to believe," he said, "that either I married a murderess - or my beautiful wife was replaced by a complete stranger and I never noticed a change."
In view of this, Liv Prieto - the daughter - became a prime suspect as an accomplice, if nothing else, but after extensive questioning, the authorities released the girl. "It helps that the involved parties were unanimous that she was a prisoner as much as anyone else," Brust observed.
Hostages and hostess also agree on the appearances of two other individuals: one, the mercenary fire controller known as Singe, and the other, an unidentified man in his early forties. Sketch artists have matched the drawing with the late Damien Hunter, a brilliant Scottish chemist whose groundbreaking career halted abruptly in a plane crash twenty-five years ago.
Not all are content with the surface appearance of the case. "Evelyn Prieto has a story for everything," said Cove City detective Lance Elliot. "She wants us to believe she somehow didn't know her daughter was being trained as an assassin? Right - but there's no proof otherwise. Now she wants us to believe that these same shapeshifters pinned her and her guests down in her swanky home? The guests can't be certain they weren't dealing with a shapeshifter, especially when these are people who - allegedly! - fool spouses and close friends. Too much coincidence … but not enough for probable cause. We'd need some evidence of continuous behavior."
The Prieto mansion sustained massive damage, with estimated repairs running to the seven figure mark. Ms. Prieto has one of the most extensive neohuman insurance policies in the New York City area - "Which in itself raises a lot of questions," Elliot commented - but she will still be spending extensively out of pocket. She is reputedly making arrangements to stay with her brother, writer/director Samuel Prieto, for the duration.
Thanks to the efforts of young neohuman heroes, pitted against canny and ruthless foes, the hostages are now free and unharmed. Investigations continue.