Heather

Heather is a side character in Echo. She is a resident of Echo and TJ's ex-girlfriend. She appears most prominently in Jenna's route.

## Appearance

Heather is a cat of some sort with light brown fur. She has a slender build with brown stripes along her arms, shoulders, and legs, as well as brown eyes and a bit of cream headfur.

She wears a ripped pair of daisy dukes and a dark gray t-shirt that hangs off the shoulder. Heather also has a single golden earring on her right ear.

## Personality

Heather acts extremely childishly and frequently exhibits behavior that makes her seem forgetful and detached from reality. She is prone to bouts of extreme emotion, and her friends treat her delicately as a result.

## Story

### Prior to 2015

Heather grew up on Jasmynn Street in Echo, in a small pink house decorated like a fantasy castle. She was raised by her father, who worked as technician at the nearby dam. Heather's father seems to have infantilized her to an extreme degree and was presumably sexually abusive.

At some point during her childhood, Heather made friends with Micha. The two went camping together frequently, which gave Heather an excuse get away from her home.

For much of her life Heather has greatly looked up to Keith, a friend and mentor to her and the others on Jasmynn Street who helped them cope with life in Echo. When Keith disappeared around 2008, Heather was devastated.

Heather was in her high school’s sports management club, which is where she met TJ, but had to leave the club at some point due to 'family issues.' During the events of Route 65, TJ tried to give Heather a hug at a Day of the Dead party but startled her badly. This led to TJ being bullied by several other partygoers, who rushed to defend Heather from him.

Around two years later, Heather briefly dated TJ. According to Chase, Heather most likely assumed TJ had romantic intentions after he simply tried to befriend her to help her fit in. Their relationship was short-lived, and they seem to have had little in common, but remain on polite terms.

Heather also became acquainted with Jenna during school, and came to increasingly rely on her for a variety of things. After repeatedly doing Heather's homework and giving her money when she asked for it, Jenna cut Heather off. In return, Heather orchestrated an elaborate revenge that made Jenna look like a slut and ruined her reputation.

Heather spends most of her time with Jeremy and Clint, her closest friends who still remain in Echo. In the time since Jenna and Chase were last in town, her mental state seems to have deteriorated significantly.

### Jenna's route

When Chase visits Jasmynn Street on Wednesday in search of information about Carl’s disappearance, he overhears Heather suddenly begin to insistently mention Keith, before breaking down into sobs. She continues crying throughout Chase’s conversation with Jeremy and Micha.

The following day, Heather greets Chase, Flynn, and Jenna when they arrive at the 'Ahoa Party' she and her friends are holding in Keith's honor. She is extremely friendly towards Jenna, which Jenna remarks is a change from the way Heather used to treat her. Heather is evasive when Chase and the others ask about the last time she saw Carl, but once she connects Carl's disappearance to Keith's she is much more willing to answer their questions. She leaves and returns later with a crazed Clint, and tries to calm him down as he threatens their visitors.

On Saturday, as the Hysteria descends on Echo, Jeremy mentions he can't get ahold of Heather by phone and he and Clint set off to look for her, along with Carl. Duke later recounts that Heather carjacked him at gunpoint and then drove off towards her father’s house, and describes her as looking haunted and vengeful.

Presumably shortly after, Heather kills her father by shooting him through both eyes. She leaves his body in a closet, where Chase and his friends find it the next day when they arrive at Heather’s house in pursuit of Carl. When Heather eventually reveals herself, she is hysterical and frantic and orders everyone to leave at gunpoint. If Micha tries to talk her down, she shoots him through one of his wings. Heather then explains that her deep-seated hatred of Echo, along with her desire to do something good with her life, has led her to concoct a plan to open the dam and flood the town, with the help of blueprints taken from her father.

In Jenna's bad ending, Heather is shot and killed by Flynn on Jenna’s orders, but her plan to destroy Echo is ultimately still carried out by Jenna after her death.

In Jenna's good ending. the group pursues Heather to the dam and Micha and Jenna are ultimately able to convince her not to proceed. Heather is not seen again after the main cast escapes to Payton, but Jenna mentions that since leaving Echo Heather is no longer seeing visions of Keith.

### Other routes

In Flynn's route, Heather is present among the citizens of Echo who assemble at City Hall on Saturday to try and understand the cause of the mass hysteria gripping the town. When Salem's body is unveiled, Heather apparently sees the corpse of Keith in its place, and inconsolably begins wailing his name.

## Relationships

### Jenna

Jenna and Heather were friends in high school, but their relationship quickly became strained by Heather's dependence on Jenna's goodwill. When Jenna tried to put boundaries on what she was willing to do for Heather, Heather retaliated by slandering Jenna's reputation. Years later, Jenna is still bitter about Heather's behavior towards her, and characterizes Heather as someone who sees herself as an eternal victim. Heather shows little recollection of any animosity between them, but this is likely a sign of her general dissociation.

### Keith

Keith was an inspirational figure in Heather's life, and she saw him as both a friend and counselor. Heather had great difficulty coping with Keith's disappearance, and losing him seems to have led to Heather becoming increasingly disconnected from reality.

Heather claims to still hear Keith's voice through a baby monitor that she keeps in her home. It is strongly hinted that she may have created a tulpa of Keith and is being haunted by it, much in the same way that Leo is haunted by a shadowy version of Chase.

## Trivia

* Heather was originally intended to be a minor character exclusive to the short story "Date," prior to her appearances in Route 65 and later Echo itself.

## Gallery

DefaultHappySadHystericalCryingHeather in Route 65