Vanessa Cleveland

**Vanessa Cleveland** is one of the four original Daughters in the *Daughters of the Moon* series. She is the first character to be introduced, starring in the first book, *Goddess of the Night*, as well as *Moon Demon* and the final book, *The Final Eclipse*.

## Vanessa Cleveland

Vanessa Cleveland in Goddess of the Night

### Relatives

Her mother, her father (deceased), Michael Saratoga (partner)

## Personality & Appearance

Vanessa has silky long naturally wavy blonde hair and piercing bright blue eyes. She also has a tattoo over her heart of a moon and three stars (one for each of the other daughters). She is tall and well-toned, with naturally sunkissed skin.

Vanessa is portrayed as being intelligent and always trying to see the best of people, such as Morgan Page who is consistently rude to Vanessa's other friends. Vanessa is usually cautious and can be shy and self-conscious, despite being known as one of the most popular girls at La Brea High.

## Character History

Vanessa's mother is a clothing designer in the film industry. Her father was a movie stunt double, known for jumping off buildings and tumbling off trains, but died in an accident when he had to jump off an airplane; when Vanessa was five years old, on a night when there was a ring around the moon, which is later explained to be the ring that appears when a demon crosses through a portal. Vanessa is an only child.

Young Vanessa rarely used her power, which hadn't given her the proper experience, and still went awry when she had strong emotions. Sometimes when younger her tried to come back together, she'd come back with a deformed body part, or not at all without proper concentration and lack of experience.

Vanessa plays soccer at La Brea High, as depicted in *The Lost One*. She met Catty at a soccer game when the two were very young. Playing on opposing teams, they noticed that they were wearing the same necklace and got distracted, both throwing the game.

In *Goddess of the Night*, Vanessa tries to save Stanton as a child when she goes into his memories. Because of this act, Stanton can never harm her.

In *The Secret Scroll*, she starts to date Toby, a Regulator, who wants the Secret Scroll destroyed but he endangers all of the girls, including Vanessa. Fortunately, he is ultimately killed in the end.

Vanessa Cleveland in *Moon Demon*

In *Moon Demon*, Vanessa starts to date a mysterious guy named Hector, who later turns out to be a moon demon. He tries to marry her so she can live with him for eternity, but she frees him from his bonds to the Atrox, causing his death. In the same book, Vanessa reveals a talent for singing and joins Michael's band. Also, her birthday is revealed to be November 14.

In *The Final Eclipse*, Vanessa returns from Nefandus after being held prisoner there for many months and discovers her 17th birthday is a few days away. After she helps to defeat the Atrox she is faced with the choice of becoming a guardian spirit or losing her memories of what she is and her powers. She makes the choice of losing her memories and her powers.

## Powers

Vanessa's power is that of invisibility. With her power, her molecules spread out so that she floats through the air, rather than just being invisible in a solid, human form. She starts off the series quite cautious about using her ability, worried about the potential negative results it could have.

At the beginning of the series, she just wants to be normal, especially when her ability winds up ruining her first date with Michael. Later on in the series, she begins to fully appreciate and embrace her ability. Vanessa is also the daughter of Pandora, as revealed by Hector in *Moon Demon*.

Vanessa first discovers her power as a child, when she wakes up from a nightmare and can't see herself. Her mother heard her crying and came to her room, but couldn't see her. When her molecules came back together, her face looked different, so she locked herself in the bathroom, where she fell asleep. When she woke up, she was back to normal, but the experience terrified her.

## Love Interests

Vanessa's first boyfriend is Michael Saratoga. On their first date, Vanessa has difficulty controlling her emotions and almost dissolves several times. Later in the series, Vanessa asks Michael for some space, to the surprise of her friends. However, they always make up and get back together.

In *The Secret Scroll*, Vanessa dates Toby. Toby is later revealed to be a Regulator, ending their relationship.

In *Moon Demon*, Vanessa dates Hector. She discovers he is a demon who is deceiving her in an attempt to destroy her. With help from Maggie, Vanessa is able to free Hector from his bonds to the Atrox.

## Trivia

* She sings in Michael's band, starting in *Moon Demon*
* It's implied that she regrets not using her power more often when she's forced to make the change at 17
* She'd thought of telling her mom that she was a Goddess, a *Daughter of the Moon*