Annika Cunningham
Faceclaim: Taylor Momsen
Species: Initia
Age: 18
Element: || Air (1st Element) || Water (2nd Element) ||
Family: None.

TRAPPED IN THE WAKE OF A DREAM 

(Trigger Warning)

Annika was born Aneksi Isis Solvaand on May 13 to Daffyd and Maharet Solvaand. Daffyd, a Finnish archaeologist was hired on with the Alexandria National Museum. He met Maharet in a coffee shop near the museum, and two years later they were married, another six months later and Aneksi joined the happy couple. A blonde haired, dark eyed little nymph of a child, she lived in a rather large home with her parents. Happiness was not, however, to be a lasting emotion in the child's life.

She was five years old when her mother packed up and left one day, without a word to the young girl. Annika struggles to find an understanding bone in her body about her mothers absence from her life. The weight of raising a little girl landed squarely on Daffyd, and it was a job he went about with great pride and joy. Annika and her father were inseparable, she often joined him at the museum, helped him label things, taught her the history of all of the objects in the museum. Their home life was equally beautiful, Annika did not want for anything. She did not need much, either, being a reasonably independent girl with an interest in dirt and stones.

It was a surprise to Annika, therefore, when her father told her he was getting married. At ten years old, her father moved her to Brooklyn, to live with her new step-mother and step-brother. He changed their last name to Cunningham to be easier to pronounce by Americans who often butchered his family name. The woman was named Claudette, and had little interest in knowing Annika beyond what was necessary to impress her father. The boy, however, took an immediate liking to Annika, who was older by five years. James was a smart, funny, sweet boy, and Annika found herself just as fond of him as he was of her. They immediately formed a strong bond in the face of all the change in their lives.

Claudette was the daughter of the President of the Brooklyn Museum Board of Trustees, and it was through her father that she met Daffyd. It was the Brooklyn Museum where Daffyd took the job of Managing Curator of Exhibitions. Life seemed to settle somewhat for Annika after the first few months living in a strange place with strange people, in a home far larger than she thought was truly necessary. It came to be clear that Claudette had many requirements, spending much of the money Daffyd brought home on superfluous things. Because of his job, and previous work, Daffyd was a very wealthy man as it was, and his particular trade made him all the more wealthy as the months passed.

Fourteen months into their marriage, Claudette received a call from the Museum. She told Annika only that there had been an accident and that Annika would have to go to the hospital to say goodbye to her father. Not comprehending and in shock, Annika numbly followed her step-mother. At the hospital, she found her father in a coma, one which the doctors said he would never wake from. A month later, Claudette took him off life-support.

Three months later, Claudette was married once more. The man, Manson Kayten adopted both Annika and her step-brother, giving them his surname. The next four years would be the worst in Annika's young life. Claudette, an uncaring, ruthless woman spent most of her time at cocktail parties or various other social events, leaving the children home alone. When they were not alone, it was Manson whom they were left with.

It began eighteen days after Manson moved into her father's home. He would come to Annika's room late at night and touch her. He began with simply caressing her chest, but within a few months, it had escalated to full blown penetration. Annika could do nothing but turn her face into her pillow and cry. If she struggled, he hurt her. Once, when she put up too much fight, he cut her thighs with a pocket knife, and then used her, causing all the more pain for the poor girl. She did not fight again. In the final few months, James would sneak into her room after being sent to bed. He would lay on the ground on the far side of the bed until Manson came in. Once he was distracted, James would reach up and hold Annika's limp hand, trying, in his own way, to be there for his stepsister. They both knew that Claudette was not unaware of what was happening, she simply didn't care.

One night when Annika was fourteen, the two children were left alone at home, a night that corresponded with a break in. The would be robber swung a bat at Alex's head, and Annika attacked him. She grabbed the man by the neck, heard cracking and sizzling, but did not register what was happening. Instead, as her brother tried to help her, she pushed him back to prevent him from being harmed. There was more crackling, popping noises, before Annika, feeling drained completely, fell to her knees.

All around her was blood.

Both her brother and the would be robber laid on the ground, their bodies in burnt ruin. Annika had no idea that her powers, until then unknown to her, had activated, killing both the robber and the only family she had left. Fear and sadness brought her to her feet, and the young girl, filled with confusion, hid in the tree house in the backyard, where she collapsed from exhaustion.

She awoke a month later, from a coma-like deep sleep. It is at this point in time that she was diagnosed with Lupus. It was also revealed to her that the police believed there had been a second robber who had killed his partner and James. They asked Annika if she could corroborate that, and she simply stated that she could not remember. Much of that is the truth, it took six months for her memories of that event to fully return to her. When she was released from the hospital, Claudette handed her a packet of papers already filled out awaiting Annika's signature. Annika signed them, and was given emancipation.

It was in High School that Annika met someone she would later refer to as her first love, but the first term she used to referred to him was 'asshat'. K was a rebellious, angry boy which clashed with her angry, sarcastic attitude. They fought often, be it in class or in the lunchroom. Once, he even threw an apple core at her, hitting her squarely in the back of the head, after she broke up his flirting with another girl by asking him if the 'cream' was working out for him. They weren't exactly a likely pair.

However, late one night a massive storm hit the campus while Annika was studying at the library. After only ten minutes, flood warnings were being given out for the area. Annika, attempting to make her way back to her dorm in the biting cold rain, ended up shaking in the middle of the campus, unable to discern direction. Out of the darkness marched K, who simply picked her up and carried her back to the dorms. Owing to the nature of her powers, and the disease that riddles her body, she became increasingly fatigued, and passed out in his arms. Taking her back to his dorm, he stripped her out of her wet clothes, then wrapped her up in towels and blankets, and sat in his bed holding her, the entire night.

One she awoke, she was none too pleased about being naked, but could not find the heart to yell at the boy who very probably saved her life, or at least saved her from severe pneumonia. They talked for a long time that morning, simply staying where they were, her wrapped up in his arms. Of course, teenagers will be teenagers, and things escalated from there. The only reason she was able to let him touch her, was owing to the fact that he was much more tender with her, and took everything at a snail's pace, making sure she was comfortable with everything that he did.

They were together for three years. Annika has no explanation for what happened to K. He was simply there one day, and gone the next. It broke her heart to have him vanish, but not half so much as losing the child that they had created, three months into carrying it. Being so slight and so lean, and having such a terrible immune system, among other things, means that it is difficult for a pregnancy to take root in her, and her doctor has since told her she will likely never have children.

It has been a year since she lost K and the child, and she hurts from that still. She hurts from the nightmares that are not held at bay, that are a constant reminder of her step-father, and she hurts from the disease tearing at her body. It is for this reason that she has sought an escape, desperate for her life to simply ease. Desperate for a break from the horrors that she has had to face, much of them alone.

IN A MIRROR, DARKLY:

The slight girl barely reaches five foot tall, and her frame is as slight as her stature. She is thin to the point of being unhealthy, something that she is neither thrilled about nor able to change. This has caused her some consternation due to the fact that others often perceive her to be anorexic. It takes only a few moments with the girl to realize how wrong that perception is, however, as she is fond of eating to the point of passion. Much of this is due to the need to eat to maintain weight and to control some of the fatigue that comes with her disease. Her metabolism is simply too strong, and she burns off much of what she eats.

Because of her slender frame and health issues, her body has never filled out properly, and she has a small chest. This is another gripe of hers, and she takes great offense to it being brought up. The one thing she does have is a slightly curvy set of hips and a firm but round butt. That is one asset that she generally keeps under wraps, though, as she isn't terribly proud of any part of her body. She is most often found in mini-skirts or jeans, and some kind of camisole, tshirt, or tank top. Her legs are longer than her torso, so she does tend to appear leggy in photos, though in person the general consensus is that she is simply short.

One of the few things she is vain about, is her hair. Her locks are platinum blonde, nearing an almost silver quality. They fall in soft waves down her back, past her butt, ending only after the curve of her hips. It is exceedingly thick, and she often wears it over her shoulders, falling down over her chest, effectively blanketing her figure. Although sometimes she wears it in buns or braids, she most often simply brushes it out and leaves it where it falls.

Her skin is a shade of white so pale it can be called alabaster. To say it is without flaw, however, would be a lie. Annika is dotted with flaws, all across her body, the scars and marks of a difficult life. Both the palms of her hands and the tops of her knees are speckled with tiny crescent moon shaped silver scars. Close inspection would reveal that they were obviously left by fingernails that dug into skin far too often and far too vigorously. This is a habit that she has had since she was small, and one she does not find easy to break herself of. When she is nervous, particularly if she is stressed because of males being close to her, or memories of her past, she tends to press her nails into her flesh until she bleeds, and many times long after the blood has begun. Various other scars from childhood dot her figure as well.

Next, she has tattoos on her wrists and her back. The tattoos on the inside of her wrists are written in black gothic script and read “Nex” on the right wrist, and “Vita” on the left. On her back is the image of a faceless angel, wings outstretched across her shoulder blades. The angel holds a sword in it's hands, lifted up above it's head, stabbing upward along her neck.

Moving away from her body and to her face, her true beauty can be seen. Annika is not exotic in so many words, or beautiful, or pretty, or any of those things. She is...ethereal. That is to say, she has a beauty that seems unearthly and to some even a bit disturbing. It is not that she is outlandishly beautiful, she simply doesn't look like other people.

Resting in a somber face are a pair of eyes the color of melted dark chocolate. They are deep and endless, and filled with the emotion she cannot hide behind a smile. Despite this, she makes eye contact with all she encounters, feeling a sort of defiance even to her self. Her eyes are large and almond shaped, giving her the appearance of an animated princess. There is a deeply quizzical appearance to the gaze she levels on others, as she has a thirst for knowledge that knows no bounds.

Her lips are soft and pale looking, and sufficiently plump giving her a slightly pouty look, particularly with her bottom lip as it is slightly more full than the upper lip they are full and kissable, her nose thin and sloping, and her cheekbones high. Beyond those features, there is little to say about her, beyond what is immediately obvious. She is an angry young woman with a chip on her shoulder, a sarcastic tongue, and a dark leaning. Her clothes are almost always black, along with the makeup she lines her eyes with. Her lips are often kissed with red.

Regardless of what she is doing, she insists on wearing some sort of glove that covers her hands and forearms to her elbows, though sometimes they are missing the fingers. These hide the pair of tattoos on her wrists.

Annika is, by her very nature, an angry child. It sounds ridiculously stereotypical, but it is the truth. She has anger problems, she is paranoid, she cuts herself off from emotional connections to people, and she dislikes physical contact intensely. This all hails, of course, from her past. Regardless, she simply does not enjoy peppy things. She is most content reading a pile of books at once, playing her guitar, or taking pictures...literally anything that will keep her conscious long enough to fall asleep from exhaustion and have no dreams.

She is afraid of men, almost universally. If they are closer to her age it isn't as bad, but that doesn't count for much. Overall, she is not trusting, she does not get along with many people, and she is extremely fragile mentally at this point. She is most interested in photography, food, cars, books, movies, and over everything else -music-. She sings and plays the guitar, which attribute much to her interests. It is her goal to one day be an archaeologist like her father was, before his death. However, at current she has pursued college level classes in mechanics and has eight college degree certifications. Using her knowledge, she works in a mechanic shop.

Personality Traits

The Positive: Ambitious - Honest - Mechanically Inclined
The Negative: Stubborn - Angsty - Physically Weak