Nicole Port

Nicole Port is a blonde woman who stands at 5'7'. She favors athletic clothing and commonly arrives to the Spiral wearing black T, jeans and athletic shoes.

History

In 1984, Nicole Port was the first born child to two working class parents who believed in working hard for every thing in your life. Her younger sister, Kristen, joined the family in 1987, followed by Nicholas in 1989.

Three years in, Nicole was fulfilling her duty as a 92 Alpha, working alone on the computer in the supply depot. She had just updated the inventory for the garage when a noise distracted her. Not overly concerned - as there were forty odd people completing jobs in the facility, she kept working.

Then she heard the crying. To this day, an old Drill Sergeant's voice reaches her: Soldiers don't cry. So who the frak was this loser in her supply bay?

Nicole strode out with the confidence of a E3 Private with a job to do. In the dark, she encountered a young woman wearing the same BDUs as herself- but whose *face* was wrong. It was disjointed, as though the bones seemed to be realigning every time Nicole tried to get a fix on what was wrong with the other soldier.

To this day, Nicole's not sure if the men arrived due to the soldier's hysterics or if she had lent her voice to them. What she did know is that she was shuttled off to the therapist for four weeks and stamped with a cleared for duty.

She was shipped to a new battalion six hours away, in another state. As soon as the move was done, she found herself still plagued with questions. She never could find any news reports, army answers- even gossip- about what had happened that night; including where the other soldier was.

When she tried to access the soldier's name through unofficial channels, she found herself in a new therapists office. This one was saying troubling things, like ' late onset schizophrenia'. Nicole took the hint and never mentioned the incident again, serving out her four years and getting out with her face intact.

She filed the paperwork to go to school, choosing criminology. She was nearly done with her first semester when an odd thing happened to her - or rather, around her. She enterd an empty class room and a VCR- TV lit up. A brief video played- a shaky hand held account of some sort of shadow that flowed from place to place. She recognized her high school, the local five and dime store among the five buildings shown. It ended with the figure turning to reveal a horrific sigt - its face was disjointed, just as the fellow soldier's had been.

She later found she had pulled some sort of trip wire to the TV, but it made her wonder who had left it- and what were the strange things in the amateur footage. After the semester completed, she went back home and visited her school, the five and dime. All seemed well.

When she was searching out the unknown three buildings, she spotted a dark van slowly following a group of young girls from outside the five and dime. When the girls entered a 7 - 11 and the van pulled over, she moved in. She suspected Pedo!Bear or some such, stalking forward with a gusto and pulling the van door open. She found three pimply, over weight boys monitoring surveillance equipment. Some very confused excuses and lies later, she realized that they had footage just like the one she'd seen in her college class room.

'Somethings stalking little girls,' the men told her. '-and then it steals their faces." She should have told them that they were crazy. She should have called the cops. Yet instead, she told them about Private Kelton, the Army's reaction and how she had seen their footage. "Must have been another person who saw our footage, did a flash tell." Bill declared. Yes, she learned their names, deciding to see the investigation through. All else fails, she'd be the one to call the cops.

They burned the Facestealer out of the school district with constant video surveillance. Sometimes they wonder if it just didn't find another school. Yet Nicole found herself staying with the 'documentary crew of the shadows vs light'.

She transferred colleges and then decided to enter a Private investigator course. She apprenticed under a retired police officer who had taught the course, closing a few legitimate cases. All the while, she remained in touch with the crew, sharing information. Nearly a year later, Bill called her needing help deciphering odd, bloody marks left at grave sites. Nicole turned town a legitimate job and worked with the crew to close the case. Then she kept working with them for months that stretched into a year, every day, working the Vigil like a job.

It was when the crew bit off more than they could chew that Nicole awoke in intensive care at the hospital. The current Shadow that they were chasing had beaten her badly; it would take months to recover. She warned the crew to stay away from it.

Her sister Kristen arrived, full of confusion and misplaced anger. She'd gone out, looking for it. Sometimes a bad wind blows - Kristen found it and landed in the hospital bed beside Nicole.

They never figured out that demon/vampire/ pain bringer.

That night had opened Kristen's eyes and Nicole watched with worry as Kristen joined the crew. She worked to protect her sister, to show her the truth as safely as possible. Her sister did not end up in another hospital bed under her watch, although she moved to Racoon.. Racocok..some crazy named town and began her own Vigil, to Nicole's dismay.