Samantha Kirksey

"My name is Sam. I am 18 years old. I was born with the ability to see the future... but I wasn't aware of it until I watched myself die."

- Samantha

Samantha Jayne Ward (née Kirksey) is the primary protagonist of Aftersight. She is the last known remaining Astute Seer, and the Mirrorbeing of Aksara. She is married to Kishra Ward with two children, Keegan and Leala.

Early life
A mixed species being - wolf Canid and Seer - Sam is a highly mysterious individual: her background/past is mostly obscured, although it is known that she was born in Ohio to her mother Aeryn, an Absent Seer, and her father, a Canid whom she rarely mentions. In the second book, it is revealed that his name was Eden Kirksey. In her pre-teenage years, she was extremely immature, and her common interests involved skateboarding, snowboarding, parkour and metal/hardcore music. Her mother defined her overall attitude as "boyish, to put it lightly". She did not condone these actions for Sam and constantly urged her to adopt a safer, more refined lifestyle - however, her wishes were met with defiance. In her early youth, Sam had very little interest in learning about her Seer heritage or cultural practices, and seemed to only focus on congregating with her friends and having fun.

In her early teenage years, Sam began to spiral heavily out of control and became involved with the police several times. Dubbed 'the state's most distinguished troublemaker' by authorities, during weekends and breaks, her actions consisted of vandalization of public establishments and vehicles, participating in small but destructive riots in the streets, and skipping school to be with her friends at the local skatepark. She often used her Aftersight revelations to evade the authorities and to help her friends do so. The escapades she went on earned her much respect from those around her of the same age - one of which included an occurrence where several of her cohorts distracted officers at a police station while she hijacked a police cruiser and stuffed her backpack against the gas pedal, watching as the car plummeted off an overpass. Fellow hoodlums then lit the vehicle on fire with home-made molotov cocktails. Her schoolmates and even upperclassmen regarded her as a 'legend'. In a very short amount of time, she became the most popular person at her school, amassing countless hundreds of followers.

Her mother was always filled with dread to hear that Sam had become involved in illegal and harmful acts, but never punished her; instead, she warned that if Sam continued down the path she had chosen, it would bring awful consequences. This, in fact, ended up becoming a reality: at age 14, Sam had a revelation of her brutal death at the hands of two unknown men.

Later life
Sam's fear and apprehension over her revelation forced her to give up most of the reckless hobbies she had clung to, and it was at this point that she began to realize what direction she had been going in. Determined to make a change in her life for the better, and also to make her mother happy, she pursued knowledge of her Seer ancestry and began to practice their ways. In time, she became very passionate about her heritage and adorned her room and school locker with traditional symbols and trinkets that fascinated her. Although she lost nearly all credibility in the eyes of her peers and became detached from her friends, she embraced the changes and was overall more cheerful than ever. At home, Aeryn began teaching her how to cook meals that were part of the Seer culture, and before long her relationship with Sam blossomed, and the two were inseperable.

Relocation to Seraph City
Several weeks before her 15th birthday, while walking home late from school, Sam took a shortcut through a large parking garage and was intercepted by two older men whom attempted to kill her. She fled from them, making her way out of the garage via her heightened hearing and using concrete columns as cover. Wielding shortswords in each hand and possessing incredible agility and reflexes, they pursued her until she reached an empty lot with a single police car, at which point the attackers disappeared. She pleaded the officer inside the car to take her home. When she arrived home, she explained what happened to Aeryn; realizing that Ohio was no longer safe for Sam, she sought out personal protection for her, willing to pay any amount for her daughter's safety. After countless hours of searching and making phone calls, she finally was able to contact the Seraph City Police Department, and upon explanation of Sam's situation, they agreed to provide protection for her. Pooling all of their remaining resources, Aeryn and Sam were able to board a plane to Seraph City. There, Sam met the SCPD 's operatives and staff, whom helped her move her belongings into her new personal quarters in their base of operations. Reluctant to leave her daughter alone but also realizing that Arizona was no place for her, Aeryn said her goodbyes and gave her love to Sam, thanked the SCPD and left indefinitely. It was after only a short while that Sam began to experience the crippling emotional toll that her abandonment of her previous friendships would bring.