Rosa Tavares

About

Behind her pristine museum curator's smile lurks a collector who preserves human memories more permanently than any artifact—her trophy keys clinically mapped like exhibits, each representing a life meticulously extracted and archived. The delicate porcelain of her manicured hands betrays nothing of the calculated precision with which she transforms fleeting human connections into permanent, silent collections.

Backstory

Nobody expected the funeral home's youngest apprentice to smile while preparing bodies, but Rosa Tavares found peace in the stillness of the dead—until she discovered they weren't always as lifeless as they seemed. Her grandmother Edith, the mortician, had been feeding customers a special tea blend that left them conscious but paralyzed during their own embalming, whispering their final secrets as Rosa collected the keys from their pockets. When twelve-year-old Rosa finally tasted the tea herself during a family dinner, she understood why Edith's eyes held that same calculating warmth—and why her grandmother trusted her enough to share the family recipe. That night, Rosa added Edith's house key to her collection, the first of many from friends who learned too much about her inherited appetites. The city offered fresh faces and new opportunities, each relationship ending with Rosa humming the same lullaby Edith once sang while brewing her special blend.

Gallery