Courtney Briganti

Courtney Briganti is a vampire and a student at Evernight Academy. She is one of the most popular girls at Evernight, despite the fact that she is not a particularly nice person. She despises and bullies Bianca Olivier and has a crush on Balthazar More and constantly tries to win him over, although he clearly does not return her affections. Courtney is killed by Charity More in ''Stargazer. ''

Early Life
Courtney was born in the Boston area, most likely in 1966. She had a presumably happy life as a human and loved her family dearly. During the 1980's, Courtney was a teenager and was a cheerleader at her high school. However, Courtney's life changed forever when she was eighteen years old, in the year 1984, when she was turned into a vampire. This makes Courtney quite young by vampire standards; by the time the events of the Evernight series take place, Courtney has only been a vampire for twenty-five years. Courtney was presumably forced to leave her home and family; they likely believe her to be dead, after all this time.

Courtney was lonely and miserable as a vampire, missing her family and her old life. At some point, she joined Evernight Academy and quickly became one of the most popular girls there. Courtney was still very lonely, though, and occasionally sneaked off to secretly visit her family, although she could never actually interact with them or let them see her, as she had not aged beyond eighteen. Courtney also went travelling and met and befriended Patrice Deveraux whilst on a skiing trip in Switzerland.

Evernight
Courtney first appears early in the novel, visiting Patrice in her new room, where she meets Bianca for the first time. Courtney mostly ignores Bianca and later begins picking on her, viewing her with disdain for being 'uncool' and 'immature'. Courtney also bullies other 'uncool' students like Raquel Vargas and hates Lucas Ross and is cruel to him at every opportunity. Courtney develops a crush on Balthazar and tries many times to seduce him, constantly flirting with him and ignoring Bianca if she's in his presence. She is none too pleased when Balthazar resists her romantic advances, instead showing affection for Bianca, which intensifies Courtney's hatred for Bianca. When Bianca accidentally bites Lucas at the Autumn Ball, Courtney was the first person Bianca ran into when she tried to get help, interrupting Courtney's make-out session with her ball date. Courtney was shocked when she saw blood on Bianca, but wasn't very sympathetic, simply remarking to the distraught girl "About time you grew up and became a vampire like the rest of us." After Lucas is revealed to be a member of Black Cross, Courtney openly despises Bianca, suspecting she is a 'traitor' and gossiping about her.

Stargazer
Courtney returns to Evernight Academy (much to Bianca's disappointment) after spending the summer in Miami, and has much the same role she does in the first book - making Bianca's life miserable and trying to woo Balthazar. However, more details are revealed about her background.

Towards the end of the novel, Courtney is paying her family a visit during what appears to be a birthday celebration, when she runs into Bianca, who is helping Lucas and Balthazar hunt for Balthazar's sister Charity. When Courtney sees Lucas, she realizes that Bianca is still with him and threatens to tell Mrs Bethany. However, Charity then arrives and stakes Courtney, rendering her unconscious. Charity then proceeds to behead Courtney with Lucas' hunting knife, killing her permanently. Bianca and Balthazar have to burn Courtney's body to prevent the police or her family from finding it, although Bianca, who was saddened by Courtney's death (despite the fact Courtney had never done or said anything nice to her) would have preferred to bury her.

Balthazar
Courtney is briefly mentioned by Skye Tierney, who reveals she once unknowingly wore the same dress as Courtney to the Autumn Ball, which greatly annoyed Courtney. Skye speculates as to whether Courtney was a vampire, then thinks to herself that "of course she was", due to her beauty and cold demeanour.

Physical Appearance
Courtney is described by Bianca as being the 'typical Evernight type'. She is very pretty, described as having "starlet looks", with long, straight blonde hair down to her waist, a slender figure and full lips. Courtney appears to be eighteen years old, but would in fact be in her late 30's or early 40's if she were still human.

Personality
Courtney usually came across as being stuck-up, shallow and generally a nasty person. Other than the "Evernight types" no one else in the Academy really seemed to like her. Courtney could be quite spiteful and passive-aggressive, as shown when she made snide comments about Bianca's unwillingness to drink alcohol in Evernight and again about Bianca's dress during the Autumn Ball in ''Stargazer. ''Courtney seemed to take sadistic pleasure in bullying and humiliating others, especially those she believed had wronged her in some way. In truth, however, Courtney was secretly insecure and desperately lonely. It is implied that she may even have despised her life as a vampire and took out her bitterness and insecurities on others. Courtney was rather concerned with superficial or materialistic things, such as clothing, make-up and keeping up with the latest fashions.

Powers and Abilities
Being a vampire, Courtney had all the usual powers of a vampire, including immortality, enhanced senses and enhanced speed and strength. It is possible that, being quite a young vampire, Courtney was not as strong and powerful as other, older vampires.

Balthazar More
Courtney was infatuated with Balthazar, apparently attracted to him for his good looks and popularity. She was constantly flirting with him or trying to get his attention, and acted aggressively towards other girls who showed attention to him. The feeling was not mutual; Balthazar didn't appear to have a very high opinion of Courtney, disliking the way she bullied and ostracized other students. He was usually cordial to her, though he made some humiliating or passive-aggressive statements towards her if she was being especially unpleasant. Despite this, Courtney was still determined to win him over, and Balthazar expressed sadness when she was murdered.

Bianca Olivier
Courtney never had a high opinion of Bianca, viewing her as immature, unsophisticated and not belonging at Evernight. Bianca in turn viewed Courtney as being spiteful, snobby and vain. Courtney often went to lengths to ridicule or embarrass Bianca, especially in front of other people. Bianca was often intimidated by Courtney, though she occasionally felt brave enough to stand up to her. When Courtney realized that Balthazar preferred Bianca over herself, she grew to despise Bianca even more. However, it's also implied that Courtney may be jealous of Bianca, because she has things Courtney doesn't: love, true friends and a family. Bianca feels sorry for Courtney when she sees her secretly visiting her family and is upset when she is murdered, expressing a desire to bury her body.

Appearances

 * Evernight
 * Stargazer
 * Balthazar (mentioned only)