Marina Hillcrest

"*This isn't about 'Why me?' or 'What did I do to deserve this?' No, this is about right and wrong. Now, for whatever reason, this whole thing fell into my lap rather than the guy behind me. This is simple. I have to do this. For myself, for Layla and Thao and for anyone else who's died over this and anyone who still might. [...] I need to do this. I need you to* let *me do this.*"
—**Marina** to Zane Chevalier[src]

**Marina Hillcrest** (born **Gabriela Lucía Mendez**) is a Pureblood Vampire and the main protagonist of *The Pureblood Legacies*. She is first seen in the trilogy's debut *Blood Pressure,* where she is introduced as a junior in college. She lives in the fictional town of Cape Luna, Florida. Prior to her evolution, she was briefly a werewolf due to being bitten by her ex Justin Nightlock. She was eventually cured of lycanthropy, which had restored her to her pre0-evolutionary state until she evolved after drowning to death at the hands of Vivienne. She is the girlfriend and soul mate of Zane Chevalier, with whom she lives with, along with his younger brother Louis, and their close friend Johanna Strauss, at the Château. She used to live with her friend and roommate Heather Malone at Latimer University, where she attended school as an English major prior to meeting Zane.

In the summer of 2006, a 10-year-old Marina had secretly witnessed the murders of her adoptive parents Aaron and Elizabeth Hillcrest and her younger brother Jonah by a coven of vampires at her family's cabin on Brier Lake. Her location was soon compromised and the vampires attacked her. After feeding on her, the vampires believed that she was "as good as dead" and set the cabin on fire in order to cover their tracks. Marina then woke up to the sound of the burning cabin and tried to escape but she lost consciousness again due to the smoke, only to wake in the hospital. Soon after, Marina was placed into foster care where she had remained until she graduated high school in 2013. She then moved to Cape Luna to attend Latimer University.

Since birth, Marina has possessed a slower than normal heartbeat, a condition rarely heard of in regards to an infant. This prompted doctors to perform many tests on her, which didn't do anything. Because doctors could not find causation for her slow heartbeat, they were unable to treat it. Seeing that her condition was stable, Marina lived a normal life while taking medication in hopes that it would regulate her heartbeat. However, this method of treatment did not work.

## Early Life

Gabriela Lucía Mendez was born on September 27, 1995 in Coral Harbor, Florida to vampires Camilo Mendez and Andrea Lucero.
Upon discovering the Mark of Purity on her wrist, Camila and Andrea realized that their daughter was a Pureblood, and due to the hunting down of Purebloods, the two had decided to drop their daughter off at the hospital and never look back for her own safety. Elizabeth Hillcrest, one of the nurses on call that night, discovered the baby and after no one claimed her, she and her husband adopted her. They named the child Marina Rose.

In the fall of 2002, Marina, at the suggestion of her teacher, was placed one grade ahead, entering the second grade rather than the first.

On August 23, 2006, Marina and her family had visited their cabin on Brier Lake. One night, she woke up to witness the murder of her family by a coven of vampires. Once she was discovered, they brought her out to see her dying family and then they fed on her. Believing she was near death, the vampires left the scene but not before setting the house on fire to cover their tracks. Unbeknownst to them, Marina woke up due to the sounds of the fire spreading and tried to escape, but the smoke soon rendered her unconscious. She woke up in the hospital, where she was told that a brave stranger risked his life to save her.

Immediately following the death of her brother and parents, Marina was soon placed into foster care where she met Claire Wyndham. The two immediately formed a strong bond and became best friends.

Marina participated in competitive swimming in high school.

In 2013, Marina graduated from high school a year early due to her skipping the first grade. She then moved away to attend Latimer University, where she received many scholarships and grants due to her GPA and SAT scores. In fact, she states early on that she pays "less than nothing" for her schooling.

## In The Novels

* Blood Pressure
* Killer Instinct
* Midnight Fury

The fact that Marina is going to become the very thing that killed her family is a hard pill for Marina to swallow.

Due to being exposed to the supernatural before with the death of her parents and younger brother, Marina is more receptive and open to the existence of other entities than other humans. Because of this, however, Marina falls short in that she does not think to question what she is told, which allows her to be lied to by Zane, Louis and Johanna throughout Blood Pressure.
Marina

Marina

*The Diary of Johanna Strauss*
Marina

## Personality

Marina is a good girl who's been through a lot (witnessed the murders of her parents and her brother, spent nearly seven years in foster care, recently left an abusive ex-boyfriend). She is an intelligent, moral, grounded, compassionate, loyal, honest and independent person. In addition, she is also fun-loving, witty, determined, stubborn, headstrong and a free-thinker. She always puts others before herself. She shows such selflessness when she gives herself up to the Vasile Coven in order to obtain the cure for Zane, who was bitten by a werewolf in *Killer Instinct.*

Ever since the night of the fire, Marina has struggled with her sanity in terms of what she saw that night, but ultimately believes that vampires killed her parents. When their existence is confirmed, Marina stops questioning herself about anything that seems impossible.

After she evolves, Marina becomes more comfortable with herself in that she knows who she is and what she wants. She is stronger than she's ever been and has grown into her own shoes.

## Powers and Abilities

* Enhanced Werewolf
* Pureblood Vampire

Because Marina is a born supernatural and was bitten prior to becoming one, she is an enhanced werewolf that may shift at will.

Due to being one of the True Descendants, Marina possess the ability to create and manipulate water as each of the five Descendants possesses an elemental ability. In *Blood Pressure* when Marina exhibits this power for the first time, Johanna estimates that this is because she is descended from a mermaid. While Marina does discover that her mother was originally a mermaid, they learn of the causation of her power in *Killer Instinct*.

## Name

### First

* **Marina** is a feminine name of Latin origin that means "from the sea".
	+ **Gabriela** is a feminine name of Hebrew origin that means "my strength is God".

### Middle

* **Rose** is a feminine name of Latin origin that means "rose".
	+ **Lucía** is a feminine name of Latin origin that means "light".

### Last

* **Hillcrest** is a surname of English origin that means “the crest of a hill”.
	+ **Mendez** is a surname of Spanish origin that means "complete sacrifice".

## Trivia

* She wears a dog tag necklace around her neck that had belonged to her late adoptive father, who served in Afghanistan. She also wears a ring of her adoptive mother's on her right hand on her middle finger.
* Her original surname was originally going to be Lovett while her first name was to be Melina.
* She owns a Red 2004 Chrysler Sebring Convertible.
* She is descended from two different supernatural species: on her mother's side, she is descended from mermaids while on her father's side, she is descended from vampires.