Lai Lan was a Chinese woman living in San Francisco. She was employed by Lawrence Dai Szae, a wealthy man obsessed with vampires. Dai Szae had Lai Lan use her computer talents to search for information on such creatures. Lai Lan accompanied  Dai Szae to a club called the Boneyard. There she was turned by the vampire Dave as Dai Szae watched and took perverse pleasure in her demise. Lai Lan became one of Dave's "brides" and took the name Screech, perhaps in reference to the tattoo of an owl on her shoulder. After Dave's death, Screech's computer skills helped hide them from the law. Eventually she encountered Dai Szae again, who maneuvered Screech into turning him into a vampire. He tried having her killed afterward so he wouldn't be subservient to her, but Screech managed to kill him instead.  
 
Screech is seen as something of an artist and frequently promises her prey "a beautiful death." She preferred women over men in life and this has extended to her undeath with her choice of victims.