Holly Byrnes

— Holly on upkeeping roses.

**Holly Byrnes** is a character in The Smoke Room. She is a teacher at Echo School, the eldest daughter of the Byrnes family, and the fiancée of Jim Sterling.

## Appearance

Holly is a red fox with orange and white fur, as well as a carefully combed auburn tuft atop her head. While the other members of her family have black or dark brown fur accenting their ears and arms, Holly's coloration is closer to a deep maroon. She has bright yellow eyes and wears a tan button-up blouse with a white undershirt, and a long gray skirt cinched with a brown belt. She also wears an ornate golden necklace and a golden engagement ring on her left ring finger.

Holly's wedding dress consists of a white gown with a lacy black bodice and a sheer, flowing bolero over her arms and shoulders, and a lace veil accented with a white flower.

Holly is also described as wearing an emerald plaid summer dress when Samuel runs into her during school picture day, although her sprite does not change to reflect this.

## Personality

On the surface Holly maintains an exceptionally polite and formal demeanor, and is patient with her students. She takes pride in her work and is a capable, organized person who efficiently solves problems. As the eldest Byrnes child, she inwardly seems to struggle with the great deal of pressure she is under to live up to her parents' expectations, but nonetheless bears her duty to the family with cold determination and expects her siblings to do the same.

Over the course of Murdoch's route, Holly gradually reveals herself to be calculating and quite ruthless, and in order to achieve her goal of getting her family out of Echo she is willing to resort to extreme measures including emotional manipulation, blackmail, and coercion. While she can be extremely spiteful toward those she deems threats to her own aspirations, she is more self-serving than outright malicious in her actions.

Holly was raised Catholic like the rest of her family and this appears to have colored her worldview to a substantial degree. Possibly because of this, she seems to have a strong aversion to discussing overtly sexual matters, particularly gay sex. She is also a firm believer in the paranormal in spite of her apparent fear towards the subject, with many of her actions being motivated by a desire to escape Echo's influence. Like her mother and sister, Holly is an active member of the suffragette party and strives toward reform to secure equal rights for women throughout the country.

## Story

### Before The Smoke Room

Holly is the oldest child of Alfred and Gretchen Byrnes, making her the eldest sister of Murdoch, Dahlia, and Seamus. Holly grew up well-educated and was encouraged by her suffragette mother to fight against the restrictive societal expectations placed on women. The Byrnes children would also visit their maternal grandmother during each summer. At some point when they were younger, Holly and family friend Ralph had an unspecified falling out that left them on bad terms.

One Fourth of July ten years before The Smoke Room, the Byrnes parents left their children to look after each other while traveling out of town. Holly snuck off to celebrate the festivities with some friends and, seemingly left unsupervised by her as well as Murdoch, Seamus tragically drowned after hitching a ride aboard a steamship that was sailing on Lake Emma.

When asked about her whereabouts during the tragedy later on, Holly claimed to have been on the beach near the lake. After being confronted with the fact that she would have seen the accident from there however, Holly admitted to have lied about her position but refused to elaborate further beyond stating that her friends were giving her "the best day of her life." This omission in Holly's story seems to have furthered the wedge between her and Ralph, who speculates that whatever Holly was up to would be mean the world to her but seem mundane to others.

In the wake of Seamus' death, Gretchen and Alfred's treatment of their children changed drastically, and they began to place more pressure on Holly and her surviving siblings to succeed in their various roles. In Holly's case, this meant working to make a name for herself as a respectable figure in town and a "successor" of sorts for Gretchen, as well as getting an education and becoming a teacher in Echo.

After both of her siblings came out as gay, Holly seems to have felt particularly pressured to get married and carry on the Byrnes family legacy. In spite of the weight of expectation placed upon her, Holly appears to excel at meeting her parents' standards: she teaches English and possibly other subjects at Echo School, to students such as Blithe and Melissa; she raises the profile of the Byrnes name by attending parties held by influential people in town like Cordelia Hendricks; she aids her mother in hosting community events for Echo's residents and advocating for women's suffrage; and she takes a special pride in managing her family's rose garden. Each Sunday, Holly and her siblings attend church together before dining in The Hip's saloon, a Byrnes family tradition.

Despite Holly's apparent impeccably respectable reputation, she also developed an interest in the paranormal alongside her siblings, a side she seems to keep secret from her mother. At some point Holly and Dahlia, occasionally accompanied by Murdoch, joined Echo's historical society alongside Cordelia, Porter Moore, and other community members in order to discuss the paranormal nature and happenings of the town. Holly became especially well-acquainted with Porter at some point and came to consider him her closest confidant. Holly also began collecting orbs made of quartz for unknown reasons, many of which she hides throughout her bedroom.

Through the historical society and discussions with her siblings about their own experiences, Holly learned about various supernatural occurrences in Echo, particularly the hysteria event that had occurred in the early days of the town. While all of the Byrnes siblings and Ralph began to fear the town to varying degrees, Holly became especially terrified and came to see the events in Echo as a slowly escalating act of providence. Like Murdoch, Holly decided that the best course of action would be to escape Echo by any means necessary before things could escalate to another hysteria event, which she began watching for signs of. In order to accomplish this, Holly set her sights even further toward securing a marriage that would allow her to escape town and, with any luck, bring her siblings with her.

Four years before The Smoke Room, Holly began a relationship with Jim Sterling, a traveling assayer working in Echo for the CSCG mining company, and the two eventually became engaged. While pleasing Gretchen especially, the relationship is not without its problems. Jim soon expressed dissatisfaction with heterosexual monogamy and an interest in "swinging" with other partners. In order to keep Jim pacified, Holly arranged for him to have sex with her brother Murdoch. Holly hopes that she can secure Jim's help to relocate the whole Byrnes family to his home city and away from Echo; she is willing to go to great lengths to ensure the marriage goes as planned, which includes overruling Murdoch's discomfort at being coerced into having sex with Jim for the family. The scandalous nature of Jim and Murdoch's liaison also provides Holly with material for blackmail should Jim attempt to back out of their engagement, although she seems to consider this a last resort. From an outside perspective, however, these issues stay largely under the surface as Holly singlehandedly works to plan her entire wedding.

### Murdoch's Route

Sam first meets Holly when he visits Echo School alongside Murdoch to deliver paperwork for the upcoming school picture day. She briefly introduces herself and expresses interest in getting to know her family's new employee. She later appears during the picture day festivities and introduces Jim to Sam as her fiancé, apparently unaware that the two have already had sex at the Hip.

The following Sunday, Holly attends church with Jim, Cliff, and her siblings before dining at The Hip, as is their tradition, before the group is unexpectedly joined by Sam. Holly attempts to invite Sam for dinner with the Byrnes family that night on Gretchen's behalf, only for Dahlia to explain that dinner will have to be postponed due to her obligations with the astronomy club. Afterward, Holly and Jim depart.

The following day, Holly arrives at Red's General Store and once again requests for Sam to attend dinner that night, sharing a tense moment with Ralph before leaving. Holly helps her mother prepare the meal that evening, and welcomes Sam to the house. Over dinner, Holly discusses her wedding and the difficulty of finding ushers. Gretchen volunteers Sam and Murdoch for the role, much to Holly's relief. On the day before her wedding, Holly holds a bachelorette party at the Byrnes house and has having a brief argument with Dahlia in the Byrnes' back garden over Gretchen's expectations and Holly's apparent refusal to go against them that is overheard by Sam.

After Jim and his friends arrive for their own bachelor party, Sam goes into the garden and listens in on another tense conversation between Holly and Murdoch. Murdoch seems to be trying to get out of attending Jim's party but Holly is unsympathetic and disparages his reluctance, citing the many social obligations she herself has had to fulfill for the family over the years despite her unwillingness. She adds that compared to the relative freedom that Murdoch enjoys as a man, Holly's gender means their parents have dictated everything for her, from her clothing to the fact that unlike Murdoch she is obligated to have children. She asks him to keep things perfect for just one more day until the wedding, and reminds him of their goal: if she escapes to the city with Jim and proves she can thrive there, it will convince Gretchen to relocate as well and then the whole family will be able to move away from Echo. Murdoch is skeptical, but Holly insists that she is certain Jim loves her and will be willing to help her family. Sam then makes himself known, and Holly addresses him with an edge in her tone that he observes isn't usually present.

The men and women celebrate separately and so Holly is not seen again until that night, when she finds Murdoch, Sam, and later Jim returning to the Byrnes house from the Hip. Holly chastises Murdoch, causing Jim to announce himself and confront her about the domineering way she treats her brother. Over her attempts to stall the conversation, Jim then confronts Holly outright about whether she coerced Murdoch into having sex with him. Murdoch tries to take the blame in order to conceal the truth of Holly's manipulations, and when Sam cuts in to stop him Holly sternly interrupts.

Murdoch immediately snaps at Holly to defend Sam, but she disarms his outrage by pretending that his outburst has brought her to tears. Sam realizes she is faking and states unambiguously that Holly has pressured Murdoch into having sex with Jim against his will. Jim believes Sam and is shaken by the realization. Holly deflects, accusing Jim of starting the whole mess with his sexual insatiability, and then demands to know whether he still loves her, as she loved him even throughout the depths of his 'depravity.' Jim calls off the wedding so he can think things over.

Furious, Holly reveals her final contingency: incriminating pictures of Jim and Murdoch having sex, which Jim previously gave to her in confidence, have been distributed to three confidants and will be made public unless Jim goes along with the wedding. Murdoch is terrified, but Holly asks him to trust her and assures him that, unlike Jim, he is in no danger because plenty of people in town already know he is gay and Gretchen's influence can continue to shield him from any consequences. Holly calls on anyone who thinks she is lying about her plan to 'cast the first stone,' and she is suddenly struck in the arm by a rock thrown at her by another party.

Upon seeing Ralph arrive, Holly confronts him for presumably having assaulted her and hits him with her bag before striking him across the face in response to his irreverence toward the accusation. Holly furiously states that Ralph has no right to accuse her of anything, only to begrudgingly back down when he taunts her about *other* accusations he could level at her. The pair's argument is interrupted by Sam bringing up that the rock came from the direction of the house, where Dahlia reveals herself to have been watching from the window and scolds the group for waking Grandma Rowan. Holly turns her accusations toward Dahlia, who meets them with an ambiguous detachment from before closing the window.

The silence that briefly follows this scene is broken by Jim accusing Holly of bluffing about her blackmail, leading her to reveal that she has given the photos to Dahlia, Grandma Rowan, and Porter on top of having the original images from which she made the copies herself. She reaffirms that she trusts her confidants not to snoop and angrily states that she wants a genuine husband instead of a false show when Sam suggests that the two have the wedding ceremony without officiating the marriage. Though Jim initially declares that he would rather be accused of sodomy than let Holly have a cent of his wages through marriage, Sam is able to win him over, briefly impressing Holly. She insists on receiving enough for permanent housing, which Jim agrees to despite making it clear that any affection he had for her is now lost. In response, Holly states that he may come around in time before the pair head their separate ways for the night as Jim returns to the guest house his friends are staying in to tell them not to come.

Before Holly can step back into the Byrnes house however, Ralph once again confronts her about her true whereabouts on the day Seamus died. Holly icily insults him and refuses to elaborate beyond her typical response before going inside. Ralph then informs Sam about Holly's lie and his own suspicions in her absence. The following morning while Holly is at the church preparing for her wedding, Sam sneaks into her bedroom in hopes of finding her blackmail photos. While he is unsuccessful, he notes how everything in the room has a proper place and is perfectly kept, though her collection of quartz orbs and a seemingly bloodstained carpet found in her closet are notably strange in comparison.

Later on, Sam finds Holly and Jim sitting in the sanctuary of the church looking in separate directions with Murdoch sitting between them. She declares that churches are places for thinking rather than speaking when Sam questions them before Murdoch excuses himself to help Sam get changed into his usher's outfit. After Sam steps back into the chapel by himself, he is met by Holly sitting in the pew nearest to him. She observes that he and Murdoch are evidently close and questions how much her brother is paying him before offering Sam a blank check and telling him to write down however much he feels would be appropriate to quit that day and leave immediately.

Finding that Sam is not interested in money, Holly quickly deduces that Sam's relation toward her brother is more about affection and loyalty and shows some unspoken disgust toward their relationship. Putting this aside however, Holly congratulates the pair on being genuine to one another but confronts Sam on possibly costing her brother the opportunity to escape town through Jim. She reveals that she can tell that time is running short before explaining the symptoms of the previous hysteria to Sam and noting that similar occurrences are becoming more regular. Holly makes it clear that she wishes for herself and Murdoch to leave town as soon as possible, aggressively citing the folly of the men in Sodom and Gomorrah for their own suffering, but declares her belief that Ralph is keeping Murdoch chained to the town for his own personal gain using his drug addiction as leverage. Holly concludes by stating that she hopes Sam is able to help Murdoch escape town on his own, but reinforces that she will not hesitate to take him down should he get in the way of her own ambition before stalking out of the church.

After this tense conversation, Holly immediately takes on the persona of a charming hostess and greets guests as they arrive outside. Holly pays special attention to the arrival of Madam Dora, who observes that Holly is about to become the new matriarch of the Byrnes family and encourages her to be less humble on her big day. The women then turn their attention to Jim's family's table and question why none of his friends or family have arrived, with Sam noting that Holly is able to cover up her animosity expertly. After Dora speculates that Jim's parents may have been delayed by the train being late, Holly remarks that the party should hope for the best rather than assuming the worst and declares that it's nobody's fault if things went awry, causing Sam to question if she is earnest or if she suspects Jim's involvement. Afterward, Holly departs to prepare for the ceremony.

As her wedding begins, Holly is walked up the aisle by her father as those in attendance look on. Before the ceremony can commence however, the wedding party is interrupted by the sight and smell of the Hendricks' mansion having caught fire.

## Relationships

### Jim

Jim is Holly's fiancé, though the two appear to have little in common. While they get along in public and claim genuine love for one another, there does not seem to be much warmth in their relationship. It is unknown how Holly feels about Jim's less-than-progressive views on matters such as women's rights, but he seems to watch what he says in her presence. She has seemingly been open toward Jim regarding her fear toward the paranormal happenings in town, causing him to notice some of the more suspicious qualities of the mine himself.

Holly is frustrated and disgusted by Jim's sexual appetites but is committed to helping him satisfy them if it guarantees the success of their marriage. Once Jim realizes Holly has been coercing Murdoch and tries to call off the wedding, however, Holly shows that she is willing to blackmail him in order to keep their marriage on track, even at the expense of his affection for her.

It is unknown whether Holly currently knows that in addition to sex with Murdoch, Jim also regularly solicits sex from prostitutes at the Hip, but she does not seem surprised when Jim is able to identify Sam as one such prostitute.

### Murdoch

Holly is Murdoch's older sister, and outwardly the two appear to get along well. Holly credits Murdoch for doing most of the work necessary to keep their family's store running, and seemingly accepts his sexuality in spite of some disgust toward the subject. The two are also well-aware of the paranormal nature of Echo and seem to share their findings with one another. Despite this, she (like their parents) is not above using Murdoch's altruism to solve her own problems, such as passively acquiescing when he is conscripted to serve as an usher for her wedding or (most drastically) arranging for him to have sex with Jim and turning a blind eye to his dubious consent. According to Jim, Holly seems to resent that Murdoch is not around more often and she seems irritated by him having privileges to free agenda that she lacks as a woman.

Regardless of any apparent resentment, Holly cares about her brother in her own way and wishes for him to escape town alongside her by any means necessary. Though she tends to overlook Murdoch's feelings in service of her own agendas, Holly seems to believe that her actions are genuinely the best course of action in order to keep herself and Murdoch safe.

### Ralph

Ralph and Holly are on bad terms with one another for unknown reasons stemming from something that occurred in their youth, possibly the death of Seamus. While the two can remain at least somewhat professional when necessary, they seem to primarily avoid each other and tend to be acerbic toward one another in conversation. Holly in particular considers Ralph to be an empty and vile man and resents his contemptuous nature, particularly in the way that he questions her word at every turn.

It is later revealed that Ralph has suspicions in regards to Holly's activities on the day of Seamus' death due to her refusal to elaborate on her whereabouts at the time after lying about being on the beach during the event. Holly has stuck firmly to her vague testimony and is angered greatly by Ralph's attempts to press her further. While she is willing to verbally and physically demonstrate her resentments toward Ralph, he seems to possess some sort of leverage over her that causes her to back down when confronted, though it is unclear whether this relates to Seamus' death or another subject entirely.

Another point of contention between the pair seems to be Murdoch, with Holly believing that Ralph is intentionally attempting to keep Murdoch tied to Echo for his own benefit. She is incredulous toward the idea of Ralph wanting to leave Echo himself, stating that he is kept afloat by his business through the Byrnes' store and that Murdoch and the rest of the family leaving would mean the loss of his income. Holly also believes that Ralph is responsible for providing the drugs that Murdoch is addicted to as a means of keeping him reliant on him, though she is seemingly oblivious of Ralph's refusal to give Murdoch opioids and his use of other channels to further his addiction. Holly is further unaware of Ralph's own opinions toward her role in keeping Murdoch tethered to the town, with Ralph believing that Holly's manipulations are in service of keeping Murdoch reliant on and subservient to his family for her own benefit, even as Holly's aspirations seem to involve getting the Byrnes out of Echo. Sam is surprised by the contradictory hate that Holly and Ralph have for one another, and questions what could have happened to inspire the degree of mistrust the two seem to have for one another.

### Dahlia

Dahlia is Holly's younger sister and her coworker at Echo School. Much like their mother, Holly seems to disapprove of Dahlia's "air-headed" qualities, and does not appreciate it when Dahlia questions why Holly does not stand up to Gretchen more. That being said, the pair are often seen together and get along at least somewhat well in spite of their respective gripes toward one another. They are also both members of Echo's historical society and presumably share their findings on the paranormal happenings in Echo.

Dahlia is one the "three informants" who received letters intended to help Holly blackmail Jim, but Dahlia says that she immediately burned whatever Holly gave her without opening it. This suggests that Holly has miscalculated in her assumption that Dahlia trusts her enough to unquestioningly go along with her plans, and Grandma Rowan later declares that while Holly may be able to manipulate the men in her family she overestimates the strength of her connections to the women.

### Gretchen and Alfred

As the eldest (and only heterosexual) child of the Byrnes family, Holly is steeped in expectation by her parents, especially Gretchen. Holly rarely speaks about her father, though she notes that it is obvious that Murdoch is the true force behind the daily operation of the family store.

As for Gretchen herself, Holly follows in her footsteps greatly in terms of achievements, community work, and even her sense of brisk efficiency. While acknowledging Gretchen's “rough edges,” Holly seems to hold her mother in high regard, and gets defensive on Gretchen's behalf when compared to her unfavorably by Jim. Gretchen hopes to have Holly serve as her successor as the family matriarch, though unbeknownst to her Holly seems to carry some resentment toward her mother's control over her life.

Holly notes at one point that Gretchen will have to cope with whatever she makes of her life (or *where* she might make it, in the case of her moving). She also privately expresses the opinion that her mother is "stubborn and faithless," and seems to resent that despite many people realizing that Gretchen is nowhere near the pristinely devout woman she claims to be, no one challenges her because of her efficiency in the community. In spite of this, Dahlia points out that Holly rarely seems to stand up to her mother's influence and frequently falls in line with what is asked or expected of her regardless of her personal feelings, indicating that Holly possesses a similar fear toward disappointing Gretchen as Murdoch even with the dissatisfaction she feels toward the pressures she is placed under.

### Sam

— Holly threatening Sam

Holly is at first intrigued by Sam and hopes to get to know him better as the store's new employee, even exhibiting gratitude toward him for helping Murdoch. She seems to largely overlook his presence in many scenarios as "the help," and has no issue with him being roped into her mother's agendas. After realizing the extent of his relationship with Murdoch and Sam witnessing her dispute with Jim later on however, Holly begins to perceive him as a possible threat to her own ambitions of leaving Echo. She initially attempts to pay him off in an attempt to remove his influence from her brother's life, and when this fails, threatens him not to get in her way.

Even with her reservations toward Sam however, Holly seems to be cautiously tolerant toward his work as a third party in her family's situation. She is notably impressed with him for being able to convince Jim to go through with the wedding, and while she is disapproving toward homosexuality, she congratulates Sam and Murdoch for having a genuine and loyal relationship. Holly further affirms that so long as Sam is able to help Murdoch without interfering in her goals, she bears no animosity toward him.

### Grandma Rowan and Porter

Grandma Rowan is Holly's maternal grandmother. As a child, Holly and the rest of her siblings would go to visit their grandparents each summer, where she would tell them stories about her beliefs in more supernatural matters. Grandma Rowan is later invited to Holly's wedding and stays in the Byrnes' house. While there, Holly chooses her grandmother to serve as one of the recipients of the blackmail photos she has prepared should Jim attempt to call off the wedding, indicating that she trusts her grandmother greatly. This level of trust is somewhat misplaced however as Grandma Rowan is quick to give up her copies of the photos to Sam, citing that Holly is unaware of how poor her standing is with the woman in her family and chiding her for her tendency to take advantage of her loved ones.

Little is known about Holly's relationship with Porter beyond her describing him as her oldest and closest confidant. The two are members of Echo's historical society, where they presumably discuss the paranormal happenings of Echo at length. Later on, Holly chooses to trust Porter as the final recipient of her blackmail photos. This indicates that has a high degree of trust in him in spite (or perhaps unaware) of his occupation as an information broker.

### Blithe and Melissa

Blithe and Melissa are two of Holly's students in her high school English class. Holly thinks highly of Blithe's academic performance and often calls upon her during class time due to her insightful readings of text. While Melissa struggles somewhat more than her friend, Holly encourages her and is gentle in her corrections.

## Trivia

* While teaching her English class, Holly tends to highlight select quotes or passages that seem to somewhat parallel her real-life situation in ways that she does not openly discuss otherwise.

## Gallery

DefaultFrowningAngrySternHolly in her wedding gownArtwork of Holly, along with Jim and (hidden in between the pair) Murdoch, posted alongside Build 28 of The Smoke Room.