Nichole
Year 2090. A half-human, half-Angelica assassin working against Group 52 and the Un-Naturals. 30+ characters across 13 chapters, a Prologue, and Special Features — with confirmed cross-universe links to DreamCatcher.
Protagonist & Narrator
Also known as Nicholetta, Niku, Aunt Niki, and Zin. Daughter of Melonnie Rumanni and Brahnt. World-class contracted assassin in 2090, working against Group 52 and the Un-Naturals. Hybrid abilities include vampiric fangs, camouflage/light-bending invisibility, morphing into other appearances, protective exo-skeleton, enhanced speed, night vision, and the ability to kill with her bare hand. Rides a custom turbine cycle managed by her AI companion Jack. Carries a Dragon Dagger, sonic Rippler, and the ancestral sword. Her arc moves from professional assassin toward conscious participant in the ancient war between Naturals and Un-Naturals.
Narrates the Prologue, framing the entire book as a story he was pulled into when Nichole happened to him. The wounded man dying on the rooftop in Chapter 7 — shot by Nichole, sheltered from the rain, delivered her longest philosophical monologue. Returns as the helicopter operative in Chapter 11. Survives the book. The primary human witness to her world.
Nichole’s Close Circle
Kim Yung Im. Nichole’s adoptive “little sister” and closest friend. Korean-Asian. Owner of O’Reily’s Cyber-Real Bowling Center. Sharp, funny, fiercely loyal. One of the few humans who knows exactly what Nichole is and accepts it without flinching. Co-author credit on the book itself.
Yung Im’s young daughter. Calls Nichole “Aunt Niki.” Asks her to do “that trick with your face again.” One of the book’s rare moments of uncomplicated tenderness.
Male-coded, dry wit, reliable, quietly devoted. Manages voice recognition, weapons targeting, color-change protocols, traffic control hacking, message routing, and security. Trades constant banter with Nichole — telling her to get a man, expressing that he’s missed her. Her most constant companion through the book.
Raised Nichole from infancy after Erasmus delivered her as a baby. Recognized what she was when she was a child — drew his own blood to save her during a fever crisis, watched her fangs appear and retract. Taught her how to fight Un-Naturals. Their Chapter 3 reunion in the barn is the emotional heart of the book. The same Brobova-adjacent priest figure from Tooth.
Present during Nichole’s childhood fever crisis. Watched the fangs appear and crossed herself in controlled fear rather than panic. Brings soup, brushes her hair: “You were the biggest trouble maker here.” Maternal, faithful, warm.
Second nun mentioned in the childhood fever crisis sequence alongside Sister Josephine.
Supernatural Allies
Cross-trilogy connective character. Delivered baby Nichole to Father Markus. Emerges from the barn shadows, triggering her predator instincts before she recognizes him. Provides her origin story. Fights alongside her in the final battle against Black Coats and Zethia. Appears across all three vampire trilogy books.
Former assassin-agent of Count Vigor in Tooth, now fighting for the Naturals. Lands in front of Nichole in the final battle: “My name is Thulis. I believe we have met.” Briefs her on Silver Skull and what she must do. Serious, tactical.
First appears as a young woman at Brahnt’s grave, then withers into her true aged form. Attacks Nichole on sight, loses, then smiles: “Just Augra.” Lives in an ancient castle where she dispenses tea, receives ghosts, and teaches Nichole the truth of her origin. Becomes a surrogate mother figure. She is the mist itself in the final battle.
Ghostly female warrior who appears in the final battle. Steps out of the mist alongside Thulis. Fights with liquid, near-invisible precision — beheads an archer from within the fog who had shot Nichole.
Unnamed apparitions in Augra’s castle. Cold to the touch but project warmth. They lift Nichole off the floor and carry her hovering down the corridor to the beast’s room. Connected to Augra. No words, only gesture.
Villains
Primary antagonist across the entire vampire trilogy. Does not appear directly in most action scenes but is a constant presence — referenced by Zethia, by Nichole’s memories, by mythology. Ancient, immensely powerful, the driving force behind the Un-Natural forces. “Vigore still lives and that is all I will tell you.”
The book’s primary physical antagonist and one of its most complex characters. A former Natural who chose Vigor’s side after watching humanity destroy the Natural race. Her alley dialogue with Nichole is the book’s most philosophically rich exchange. Survives the entire book. Steps through a portal with Mischief in the final chapter, leaving the Book of Vigore as a parting gift. Complex, tragic, fully realized.
Appears on the Chapter 1 rooftop. Demands “XV36-VI78” from Nichole. She rolls under him and drives a hollow silver stake through his heart.
Appears in the alley sequence. Named by fellow Black Coats calling out to him as he searches for the invisible Nichole.
Appears at Maxim’s housewarming party. Approaches Nichole at the beverage table, introduces himself. She spots immediately that he has no reflection in his glossy blue eyes. She escapes through the bathroom.
Blond Black Coat on the Chapter 1 rooftop. Carries a katana, fights with extraordinary skill. Kills her own dying partner by severing his head. Hurls her katana at Nichole, who catches it. After a sustained duel, Nichole decapitates her.
Nichole’s Human World
Housewarming party host. Known Nichole since they were fifteen. Warm, social, matchmaking.
Opens the door at Maxim’s party. Flirts immediately: “I heard you say ‘I love Derek.’” Handles rejection with good humor: “There is always hope.”
Takes Nichole to Pierre Maudreau’s mansion. “I like the mystery in it.” Speaks fluent French, smokes, handles Nichole’s wit and the gun-lighter trick with genuine pleasure. Worries the mansion looks haunted. One of the book’s warmest side characters.
Eccentric, elderly, half-naked in his garden reciting Hamlet while drinking wine through a straw from a real human skull. Gives Nichole the skull of Fresonia De La Fe after she beats him at War. Ages rapidly and dies peacefully: “Watch me die. It’s the most beautiful part of life.” One of the most memorable minor characters in the trilogy.
Met on a train to France. Overhears Nichole’s thoughts, apologizes, and they have a quiet philosophical conversation about love and forgiveness. One of the book’s most human moments.
Imprisoned in a mansion since childhood by shadow creatures. Survived by not resisting. When Nichole destroys the shadow statues and frees her, she collapses the moment she steps outside — the house’s binding remains. Left behind, still a prisoner of her own home, with the doors now open. Tragic.
Scientist at the XV-36 underground facility working on a brain-collapse bioweapon using human tissue. Reveals the mechanics to Nichole before telling her to kill him. She does. She extracts a tissue sample and a secret ring with a chip.
Works alongside Patrick on the Chapter 11 aerial mission. Notices blood on Nichole’s face. Killed by a Black Coat blade through the aircraft — his death escalates the sequence to full chaos.
Facility guards. Nichole impersonates a woman interested in Steve, manipulates him into removing his uniform, and uses it to infiltrate. Chung warns Steve about the broken door lock and walks on.
Takes Nichole to Maxim’s party. Compliments her intelligence. She overtips him and he calls her out for it.
A child at the orphanage in the Chapter 4 flashback. Opens a door for Sister Josephine and tells her to take good care of Nichole.
Referenced & Lore Figures
Priest empowered by the Priesthood of the Third Division who unified multiple factions into a global super-power in 2006. Rumors say he is dead; others say he has been encased in armored form and lives forever. Never appears directly.
Killed by Melonnie with her own dagger. Nichole digs up his casket in Chapter 5 — heart removed, only a note and a ring with a secret compartment remain. Present throughout in memory and grief.
Appears in ancestral memories, in Augra’s knowledge, and in Chapter 7’s “Melonnie’s Prologue” section. Her sacrifice and her love for Brahnt define the emotional backstory. Protagonist of her own book in the trilogy.
Decapitated and imprisoned in spiritual stasis, his skull serving as Pierre Maudreau’s wine vessel. Nichole resurrects him at sunrise using the Book of Vigore ritual — her blood, the sword, the skull, the sun’s ray. He awakens angry and powerful, acknowledges her, gives her a gold cross on a ruby rosary, and departs. The climax of the mythological mission thread.
Cross-Universe & Trilogy Links
Steps through Zethia’s portal at the end of Chapter 12. “Hold on there, Pistolera. We come in peace.” Warns Zethia it’s time to leave. Relaxed, amused, a force unto herself. The same Mischief from DreamCatcher — confirmed cross-universe character connecting the two series.
Appears in Chapter 13 (“The Librarian”) as an older priest at a church on Kaiser Strasse, Karlsruhe. Nichole delivers a heavy briefcase to him. The young priest from Tooth — now in his full role as a keeper of things that should not be lost.
The young woman who opens Father Brobova’s church door. Nichole asks “Katia? Is it?” — she says she hasn’t gone by that name since childhood. The fearless girl from Melonnie — taken in by the pack after the car ambush — now grown, working alongside Brobova. Closes the book on a note of trilogy continuity.
Java Café Characters
From an unused chapter included in the Special Features.
Stands outside the Java Café smoking. Sensual, confident, funny. Embarrasses Nichole loudly by announcing she hasn’t been laid.
Counter waitress at the Java Café. Small-framed, warm, enthusiastic. Leans over the counter to hug Nichole, calls her “terminator women,” gives her “the usual.”