<a class="postlink" href="http://www.a-gc.com/images/2012/11/blondes-green-eyes-anime-hoshii-miki-anime-girls-idolmaster-HD-Wallpapers.jpg">[ img ]</a><br/><br/>Nicolette (Preferably called Niko)<br/>17<br/><br/>Niko let out a sigh, her body aching as she walked home from work. When she had moved here with her dad, she hadn't expected to have to drop out of school so she could work 12 hour shifts just to pay for her dad's mistakes, but the didn't complain. Her dad had once been a gambler, he got really into poker and slots after her mom died. It was his way to cope. Money for living expenses flew out the window every time he went to a casino. They were soon faced with a difficult decision: they had to get a loan. Normally, that wouldn't be so bad, but this wasn't a loan from a bank. No, it was from some loan sharks.<br/><br/>Looking back on it now, that wasn't such a smart idea. Her dad was getting beat up every month that he couldn't pay their fee, and the leader was getting sick of his nonsense. Her dad had to get the graveyard shift at a drug store and she dropped out so he didn't have to pay for schooling as well.<br/><br/>Niko clutched her purse tightly. In it held her week's pay, 100 bucks. Hopefully that would be enough to get them by. She didn't want to see her dad try to explain the random appearances of bruises and cuts all over his body. It hurt her just as much as it hurt him to see him in such pain, trying to get by.<br/><br/>A sudden whoosh, and Niko felt the air get knocked out of her lungs as she was shoved off the sidewalk and into the alleyway, where a thug pinned her to the wall with one hand, a pocketknife pointing at her throat. "Look doll, hand over the purse, and you can walk away unharmed." he muttered, seeming all too eager to cut open her jugular. Niko's eyes were wide, but she shook her head. This guy wasn't getting the cash she had worked so desperately to get.<br/><br/>He growled, and a sudden, intense pain spiked from her neck through the rest of her body as the blade slashed her artery. The man grabbed her purse as she collapsed, clutching her throat to keep her blood from forming a puddle around her. Her heart beat wildly, which didn't help keep the blood flow to a minimum. She began to feel numb, things around her started to blur as her vision failed and her eyes filled with tears. She was the only thing in her father's world, and she was going to die here.