Description

Name: Nikki Montoya

Age: 17

Appearance: Nikki stands at average height, around 5'7. Her hair is dyed a vivd red, and falls in small waves. Her eyes are a light green, akin to jade. Nikki is very slim, keeping active and having a high metabolism. She usually likes wearing off-beat clothing, completing most of her shopping at Hot Topic. Her favorite outfit comprises of a graphic tee and ripped, black skinny jeans. She has three piercings in her right ear and two in her left. The three in her left are all gemstone studs- one garnet, one ruby, and one emerald. In her left, she keeps two small hoops- one gold and one silver. Nikki's skin is a light tan. She does not usually wear make-up, but on occasion will put on eye-liner and mascara. Her true hair color is a light brown, but she prefers the red. Finally, Nikki has a crescent-shaped scar between her shoulder blades, a mark made by James Blackwell in order to trick the family into believing that Nikki was their true child.

Theme Song: Planetary (GO!), by My Chemical Romance.

Personality

Nikki can be described as a classic case of rebellion in her childhood. She's what you'd call a punk, although she prefers to think of herself as "individual". Nikki likes to break the rules, push people's buttons. This may be in response to her "parents" multiple attempts to "civilize" her. Nikki's manner is sarcastic and dead-pan, often accompanied by a roll of the eyes. She hates people who conform to society and bend themselves to fit within groups. She likes the quirky people, who aren't afraid to be themselves.

She also held a specific resentment to other rich people. She despises the way they belittle others of "lesser rank". However, she found her profiling didn't hold true for all rich people. After meeting Eli, Alexander, and Raine especially, Nikki found that the world of the Blackwells' was not shared by all the rich.

Nikki is soft around friends, light-hearted and joking. She enjoys music, especially by such artists as All Time Low, Cute Is What We Aim For, Panic! At the Disco, and Yellowcard among others. Finally, Nikki is an artist. She doesn't really do more than sketching, finding anything beyond too time-consuming. She dreams of becoming some sort of artist- even a police sketch artist would do. Nikki also has an automotive hobby. She loves vehicles of any kind, favoring motorcycles. In fact, she fixed up an old Harley Davidson with a couple of her friends. She's quite adept at anything to do with mechanics.

History

As a newborn, Nikki was stolen. She had originally been born to Emily Louise Martin, a young woman who would later run a successful carnival. James Blackwell, the CEO to a large tech company, had poached baby Nikki to be a replacement to his stillborn child. Mrs. Blackwell was never aware, although she wasn't particularly surprised when the truth came to light.

After being expelled from multiple private schools, Nikki was shipped off to St. Mary's Preparatory School. She was a wild child, refusing to cooperate to her "parents" wishes. She wanted to be herself, to follow her passions, to make her own friends... but most of what she wanted to do was frowned upon by the Blackwells. To try and bend her into shape, the family turned to the most prestigious boarding school in the state. Surely, the nuns would straighten Nikki out... But Nikki had run away after her first day. She had hopped a train back to her home town, and camped out at a friend's. The day after, Nikki faced the problem of what to do next. She didn't want to go back to the Blackwell Manor- she never wanted to see that place again. But where could she hide? It was then that Nikki decided to hide in plain sight. She dyed her chestnut brown hair a vivid red, and stayed out of the rich part of town. She'd adopt a different name and go to the local public school... her plan was pretty naive in retrospect. But Nikki was a dreamer of sorts.

Two days after her exciting escape from St. Mary's, Nikki and her best friend Peter decided to go to the carnival. Every year the carnival came by, but Nikki had never gone. Her "parents" did not approve of such a squalid setting. Nikki drove them there on her Harley Davidson, and the two wandered about. First and foremost, they decided to see the main show in the big tent. Nikki went inside to find seats while Peter was tasked with getting food. Inside the tent, Nikki chatted with and made acquaintance of Elijah Lucian Class (now Elijah Warbler), Alexander Morgan III, Raine Tallulah, Alaina Loyd, and Karina McGeehan. The six teens talked it up, and Nikki found herself liking the kids. But Peter had been gone for a weirdly long time...

Little known to Nikki, Peter had been intercepted by Nikki's "sisters", the twins Avery and Charlotte. The two harpies hounded the poor boy about Nikki's whereabouts, suspecting that he'd know. They had been tasked by James Blackwell to look for Nikki in the most likely places that she'd be. Peter was forced to lie, saying that he had come alone. For the next hour, Peter had to walk around, go on a few rides, etc. The twins finally grew tired of following him around, and left the carnival.

Back inside the tent, the show had started. Nikki watched, enthralled, as each act was greater than the last. Finally, the ringmaster made her appearance. She was a magician and displayed many baffling tricks. One of her tricks was this: making the two front rows disappear. All the children sitting up in the front were somehow transported to a closed off room. It wasn't so bad- there was food there after all. Nikki thought it was an interesting trick... crazy to think how it would have to be pulled off. The six teens had begun talking once again, not noticing that the other kids were slowly disappearing from the room.

Soon, they were the only ones left.

Back outside the main tent, Peter was waiting for Nikki to come out. The show was supposed to have just ended... but she never came out. He called her multiple times, but where Nikki was there was no cellular service.

In the contained room, the kidnapping had begun. Unbeknownst to the kids, the entire magic trick was a scheme to kidnap them for their wealth. The entire kidnapping was planned by Alexander's butler, Andy; the ringmaster, Emily; and a member of the carnival, Carnivalle. Originally the plot had been to kidnap Alexander solely. However, luck had it that five rich kids were sitting in the seats.

Carnivalle was the first to enter the isolated room, grabbing Eli. Then came in Emily and Andy. Andy immediately went for Alexander, disabling the kid and tying him up. Carnivalle had already secured Eli. Breaking from her shock, Nikki made a bid for the door. She ran, hoping that if she got outside, she could call the cops and save them all. But Carnivalle was fast. She grabbed Nikki, tormenting her with the large tarantula sitting on her shoulder. But, thanks to Nikki's squirming and Carnivalles concern for the spider, the kidnapper's grip loosened. Again, Nikki tried to run. But this time a taser brought her down.

Andy had fired the tazer gun, stunning Nikki. It was all over. The kids had all been tied up and it seemed that they were doomed. Nikki made a final attempt to get them out of there. She turned to the ringmaster, saying this:

"You kidnap us... Exchange us for the money... that's great for you, isn't it? You can keep your lovely life, save your carnival. Have everything you ever wanted... But there are too many connections. We went missing at your carnival- dozens of witnesses saw your disappearing act. The police only have to put two and two together. You are number one suspect, dear Ring Master. Do you really want this weighing on your conscious? The investigators question your unwitting performers... Soon, they'll be knocking down your door. Not *Richard's here, or Miss. Crazy's. This all falls on your head. So, consider everything wisely. Do you want to go down this road?"

But, still, it was for nothing... or so Nikki had thought originally. There was flicker of doubt that crossed Emily's face, for it was true. It would all come down on her. The three adults had hauled the kids into a van and drove them to an old, closed-down funeral home. Inside, Emily had taken Nikki into a small room. By that point, Nikki's mind had checked out. She wanted to disconnect from the situation. To distract herself, Nikki mulled over a statement that Emily had made earlier:

"I only hate one kid. And she's dead already."

The kicking down of the door then averted her attention. Sam, the Emily's assistant at the carnival, had burst in. Emily put Nikki at gunpoint, threatening that she would kill the girl if Sam tried anything.

Nikki watched the scene with a detached curiosity. Ever since she had gotten out of that van, she had begun to drift away mentally. Such was her coping mechanism. At home, she would do the same thing. Although, at home she'd usually be doing something to distract her tumbling brain, like sketching or working on her bike.

Anyway, Nikki was fairly sure that the Ring Master didn't have the guts to pull the trigger. She wouldn't accomplish anything. She'd lose a ransom, not to mention add murder onto her conscience. After Nikki's unsettling speech back before they were hauled into the van, Emily had displayed a good amount of uncertainty. Nikki highly doubted that she'd shoot her then and there.

It was the scream that finally broke through Nikki's mental drifting. It was Eli's yell of pain, that snapped her into reality. Nikki nearly exploded with rage, screaming at Emily to end this all- either blow Nikki's brains out, or stop the entire thing. At that, Emily lowered the gun. She couldn't shoot them. Emily then admits that it was Andy who had set up the kidnapping scheme. Nikki then understood. This was all just a revenge scheme. The money was a bonus. Emily was too afraid to stand up against her nephew and the manic Carnivalle.

Emily then went on to tell of how she had gotten pregnant, and then was left by her boyfriend. She later gave birth to a dead child. At that point, the ringmaster had fallen to tears. Sam embraced her, trying to calm her down.

Out of nowhere, Alexander and Andy barged through the still-open door. After a lot of action (including Carnivalle entering, Nikki being locked in a coffin, and Emily taking Eli hostage against Carnivalle), it seemed as if the situation was near end. Andy had been shot, and was lying, bleeding, on the floor. Carnivalle was held at bay by the threat of Emily shooting Eli (for whom Carnivalle secretly cared for- even though it was in a sadistic manner).

It was in this moment of relative "peace" that Alexander disclosed an important piece of information: Emily was Nikki's true mother. It turned out that the Blackwell's had born a stillborn child, and James Blackwell, unwilling to tolerate failure of any kind, switched the dead baby with the living one of Emily's. So, Nikki came to be a Blackwell.

Despite this moment of touching revelation, everything collapsed into turmoil. Carnivalle had taken out a gun and shot Emily twice, and ripped Eli away from her. She then proceeded to re-tie up the kids. Nikki was devastated, and fought with all her might. But it was no use. Once she saw her mother go down, and Emily's eyes close, Nikki was gone. All emotion, save determination and cold fury, was gone.

It was then that Nikki remembered her Granfather's swiss army knife. She maneuvered herself so that she was able to retrieve it from her boot. She spent the next minute wearing away at the rope. It was a soothing motion- promising vengeance. She didn't even notice and she began cutting into her wrists. Finally realizing that she was free, Nikki stood and began taking steps toward Carnivalle- who was standing with her back to Nikki. Suddenly, Carnivalle was knocked back. She had been shot. Nikki looked to the door in shock, dropping the knife which she had been about to use on Carnivalle. Emily was standing in the doorway, gun raised. Blood began to seep out of Carnivalle.

Within minutes, all the kids had been freed again and police flooded into the area. From there, Nikki had been taken out to an ambulance so that her cuts could be examined. In the parking lot, she encountered her "father", James Blackwell. There, she confronted him about her true identity. Through threatening to tell the press about the whole child-theft, Nikki was able to gain her freedom. She also required that James Blackwell pay for her living costs until Emily was able to and to pay for her college education regardless. A few other requirements were made, and Nikki was at last finished. She was swept away to the hospital.

After a rudimentary examination, the doctors found that the cuts on her wrists weren't too bad, and that Nikki was free to go. All bandaged-up, Nikki called Peter. She spent the night at his house, and later told him the entire ordeal. That same day, Nikki visited the manor to pack up the things in her old room, went to the city hall and legally changed her name to "Nicole Montoya", stopped at the bank to create an account, and finally went to see Emily at the police station.

In the following months, Nikki had rented a small apartment in a condominium (thanks to the help of James Blackwell's money) and moved in. It was perfect for her. Nikki got a job at the automotive shop that Peter's dad owned, and was making a fair income. Nikki saved away the money she earned. She also took the time to apply community colleges in the area, and also applied for a scholarship to some art schools. The college councilor at Peter's public school was nice enough to help Nikki out. She wasn't totally optimistic about her chances of getting into the art schools, but hey, it was worth a shot.

She still communicated with the other five teens who had gone through the kidnapping, most of all Eli. They were dating now. After the kidnapping, they leaned on each other for support.

Due to the extensive trauma that could be caused by the kidnapping, the police suggested that all the kids go to therapy. In fact, they required it of Nikki, telling her that if they were going to allow her to live the next 2 months (in two months it would be Nikki's 18th Birthday) with relatively no legal guardian, then she would have to go. So, until Nikki's birthday, she was forced to go see a shrink, much to her distaste.