Nikki felt bile rise up in her throat and her legs turned weak as she practically stumbled through the front door to her flat. She was welcome by the familiar scent of Vanilla and homeliness. Not that she was meant to feel any safer there, she supposed; her flat had already been violated. Still, the new padlocks and keys (and door) gave her more comfort than if she was still outside.
With a kick of her foot, Nikki flung her shoe into the corner of the room, closely followed by the other one, which landed with a satisfying thud. She dropped her coat onto the ground, along with her scarf and jumper. Normally she was more tidy than this, but her discarded items could wait until later to be put into their correct place. Nikki's main priority was to have a nice, long, piping hot shower.
And maybe take a look at what she suspected were bruises forming on her neck. Or not, whatever.
She emerged from the shower an hour later, snug in her pyjamas and a towel wrapped around her wet hair. Just as she had thought, there were coin sized bruises around her neck (amongst other bruises she had gained from her and Jack's recent escape through the forrest). That, paired with the gash on her leg, made for a very uncomfortable Nikki Alexander.
She performed the arm-aching task of drying her hair to the best of her current capabilities , before making her way sluggishly to her bedroom.
The sensation of lying (or rather falling into) her bed was indescribable, only further amplifying just how exhausted recent events had made her. Who knew that her job was going to be this life threatening? Nikki laughed bitterly, before rolling onto her side. It wasn't a laughing matter, the morbid part of her brain added, you could tell Leo that. No matter how much Nikki loved her job, sometimes she wondered if she had...
Eyelids were too heavy, thoughts were too jumbled. Mercifully, it wasn't long before unconsciousness claimed her.
And like all good things in Nikki's life so far, it wasn't destined to last.
The last thing she remembered before waking up with a jolt was hands around her neck. They had gripped her throat with such intensity and power. Her own hands instantly flew up to the same place, half expecting the hands to still be there even though she was now awake.
There was nothing there.
This realisation took several moments to sink in, slowing down her breathing but doing nothing to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. The nightmare had felt so very real.
Nikki had a horrible sinking feeling that she was not going to get back to sleep.