Andrea Costigan

Although not particularly tall at 5'3'', Andrea has always been thin and very much enjoys being known as 'pretty and petite'. With long blonde hair that falls to the beginning of her back in tumbling waves, green-blue eyes and a pale, delicate face, Andrea's appearance has often been described as angelic - her true personality, however, is probably best given away in her very mischievous, cunning smile.

Despite having grown up with little money, Andrea loves to follow the latest fashion trends, often searching extensively to find cheap, fake versions of the items she sees celebrities wearing in the magazines she browses at the newsagent's. She loves experimenting with fashion, enjoying particularly wearing accessories such as scarves, handbags and fake jewellery.

Back when she used to go to school, some of her crueller colleagues branded Andrea with a specific stigma - wannabe. Although at the time it made her cry and kick up a fuss, if Andrea were to be honest with herself she'd find that it isn't too far from the truth. Having grown up with not as much money as she'd have liked, Andrea has always dreamed of a glamorous life - one filled with stretch limousines, designer dresses and expensive champagne. However, since she can't particularly dance, sing or act, Andrea hadn't yet found any means to achieve her life ambition - or at least, not until she discovered that there was a possibility her father was a very rich criminal gangster.

Bright and bubbly, Andrea has always had a tendency towards mischief, and is especially good at getting away with it too. She can put on a sweet guise that would have nearly anyone believe she was as innocent and pure as an angel, whilst in reality she has many a time had a desire to engage in criminal activity but could never quite bring herself to do it. She often lacks courage to do what she really wants, but deep down is extremely ambitious and can be very assertive when she puts her mind to something. As far as her love life goes, Andrea has a tendency towards being attracted to older guys - her last boyfriend, whom she broke up with only recently, was a full fifteen years older than her.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Andrea grew up as the only child of Irish descendants William and Sharon Costigan. The working-class Costigan family had always lived in a small apartment in the neighbourhood of Dorchester and, for the last three generations or so, were proud of the fact that they earned a small but honest living. William Costigan worked in one of the neighbourhood's local slaughterhouses, whilst the most Andrea knew about her mother Sharon's profession was that she worked in horticulture. Andrea herself attended school like any other girl, but was generally seen by her teachers as lazy and irresponsible and by her fellow students and superficial and ditzy. She was always trying to hang out with a different, richer crowd and usually ended up pushed down because of it. When she was fifteen, however, the 'noisy family from downstairs' produced her first real friend - Katherine Sullivan, whom she met on the stairs of her apartment block after Kat had been kicked out by her family.

By the time she'd graduated High School, Andrea was being pushed by her family to either go to college or get a job - neither of which she was particularly keen on doing. Deciding to stay with her parents for as long as they let her, Andrea's whole world fell apart when she returned home after a day's bargain-hunting and window-shopping to find her mother lying dead on the couch. She was even more taken aback when it later came to light that Sharon Costigan had died of a drug overdose; as far as Andrea knew, her mother had never been involved with drugs in the slightest.

For the following weeks, Andrea became a shadow of her former bubbly self and often stayed indoors, looking through her mother's old things and generally sulking around the house with not much to do. It wasn't until one night, when reading through her mother's diary, that Andrea came across a revelation that would completely turn her life upside-down. Sharon Costigan, it transpired, had a very different job to what Andrea had imagined - she grew plants, yes, but they weren't exactly legal ones. In fact, Sharon grew cannabis for some criminal organisation called the Gargoyles. Even more startling than that were worried, shaky words on one page where Sharon confessed to having a one-night stand with a rich man called James Mann and that - most importantly of all - Sharon wasn't certain of the paternity of her only daughter. Shocked, stunned, but somehow pleased and excited all at the same time, Andrea saw her ticket to the life she'd always wanted staring her in the face and she knew she had to take it. It didn't take her long to turn to her friend Katherine, who knew of the Gargoyles and helped her to contact them. Soon after, Andrea joined the organisation in hopes of rising up the ranks and, as soon as possible, finding James Mann and using the leverage she has to extort him out of every penny.