Defective Souls - Niki's Struggle

Prologue

"I'm heading out. See you on Monday, bye Gwen!"
Niki waved at the girl behind the counter, who waved back, smiling. "Bye Niki! Have a good weekend!"
Niki headed out the door, glancing back at the huge letters above the sets of double doors: Hurricane City Cinema.

It was where she'd been working for a year now. She'd become best friends with the other girl who worked there, Gwen Hulls.
She walked to the pale blue Honda that was parked at the end of the lot, getting inside. It was her rather new ride; she'd gotten it four days ago after passing her drivers' test the week prior. She'd gotten her license and had been saving up to buy the car for months before hand. It wasn't a glorious car, but it got her around, and it was new, so she knew it'd last a while.

She pulled out of the cinema parking lot, driving down the quiet roads. It didn't take her long to reach her apartment building. Afterall, it was in Downtown, and close by to her work place. She drove down into the underground parking garage, then parked and headed for the elevator. It brought her up to the third floor of the building, where she walked two doors down to the unit marked 303. She put her key in and opened the door, stepping inside and closing and locking it behind her.

It wasn't that big. A small living room and kitchen, with a tiny hall and one bedroom and one bathroom. At the end of the hall was a door leading to a small storage space.
Niki dropped her keys on the kitchen counter, tired after her day at work. She opened the fridge to find a container with pasta, which she quickly warmed and wolfed it down. She was eager to relax, and after cleaning the few stray dishes around the kitchen, she made for the bedroom at the end of the hall.

Her small single-person bed lay in the center of the room, the pinkish bedsheets clean and smooth over the mattress. She made for the closet to find herself something comfortable to wear instead of her professional work clothes. She slipped into a pink sweater and matching pink leggings.
She reached for the doorknob to close the closet when the little box in the corner caught her attention. The word Memories was written on the top.

She curiously took the box out of the closet and went to sit cross-legged on the bed to open it. It had been so long since she last opened this box, the thick layer of dust a clear sign of its disuse.
She blew the dust off it, then opened the box to look inside. She grinned when she saw the little plushies inside. There were a yellow bear with blue eye rings and a tophat, a pink and white chicken with a pink bow, a green alligator with a red Mohawk, and a grey and red wolf with a green lock of hair. The plushies smiled up at her as she retrieved them from the box.

Another plush had been hiding beneath them, which made her smile more. A reddish pink fox with a hook,  an eye patch, and a blue vest. She took the last plushie out, now gazing at the photos that were underneath.
The first photo was of the main Glamrock band from Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex. In it were Freddy, Chica, Monty, and Roxy, looking the same as their plushes with bright eyes and cheerful expressions.
The next photo was of Niki and her sister, Lilly, smiling wide and triumphantly holding Fazerblasters in their hands. They were young in the picture, and Niki remembered how happy she'd been to win the blaster.

The next photo made her smile widen even more. It was her, taken when she was twelve years old, smiling wide at the camera. Beside her was the same reddish pink fox as the plushie. Foxy was kneeled beside her, a joyful look in his yellow eyes and his hook hand around Niki's shoulder.

She felt a rush of warmth at the fond memories. It had been eight years since Niki had been adopted by one of the Pizzaplex's night guards, Tess. She had stayed at the Plex ever since, spending most of her time with Foxy, the pirate animatronic who had protected her when ran from her cruel adopted mother. She remembered all the great times she'd had there, such as playing Fazerblast with her sister and friend Gregory, playing mini golf with Monty, and racing Roxy in her raceway.

But like any growing teen, Niki had slowly begun to drift away from her animatronic family, and a few days before her 17th birthday, she'd moved into her own apartment and gotten a job. It had been a year since she was last at the Plex.

It was then that Niki decided she was going to go there the next day, and visit the animatronics who had become family to her.

Hello and welcome to this story! This is a sequel to my book, Not Alone - Foxy's Return. If you would like to read that book first to get an idea of what's going on here, feel free to check it out! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and have a great day!