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The sound of screaming made Iris jolt awake. It took a few seconds for Iris to process what was going on; it was still dark outside, she had just been woken up by someone screaming, and of course the only source for that screaming must be Nikki. Iris rushed out of bed and ran across the hall to Nikki’s room. She swung open the door to see Nikki sitting up in bed, bathed in the red light of her night light, drenched in sweat and breathing rapidly.

“Hey, Nikki,” Iris said calmly as she sat across from Nikki on the bed. Nikki flinched away and screamed as she did, but Iris continued, “Nikki, look, it’s me, it’s Iris. You had a nightmare, okay? Come on, breathe with me.”

Iris started taking deep, slow breaths, and eventually Nikki followed suit, still shaking. Iris asked Nikki to name five things in her room she can see, four things she can feel, three things she can hear, two things she can smell and one thing she can taste in order to shift her focus away from whatever her nightmare was. Knowing how to help someone through a panic attack was something Iris had programmed into her, along with other medical advice, just in case anyone who owned her started suffering from one.

After Nikki’s panic attack ended, she just started crying normally. “I’m sorry” she whimpered.

“No, it’s okay,” Iris said, sympathetically. “Do you need anything? Do you want me to stay here until you fall asleep?”

“NO!” Nikki shouted abruptly. Iris was taken aback, something Nikki noticed. “No, I’m sorry, it’s just…I can’t have anyone in my bed with me…”

This made Iris immediately realize the mistake she made by sitting in Nikki’s bed. “Oh fuck,” she said as she leapt out of the bed. “Oh god, I’m so sorry.”

Nikki felt weirdly guilty about making Iris feel guilty and just started crying some more. Iris stood there, trying to think of what she could do to help, and then she remembered something.

“I could bring you up some tea if you want,” she said.

Nikki looked up at Iris and nodded. “Yes please.”

“Okay,” Iris said. “I’m gonna go make you some, I’ll be back.”

As Iris left the room, Nikki couldn’t help but feel anger at herself for ruining what was meant to be the first day of her freshman year start. She thought back on that nap she took earlier and how blissful of a sleep it was before feeling anger at herself for taking it in the first place and ruining her nighttime sleep. Not only had she ruined her own sleep, but Iris’s sleep too. Then she made Iris feel like a monster just for sitting on her bed to comfort her, and even after all that, Iris is still trying to help her. Maybe she didn’t deserve Iris’s help, maybe she didn’t deserve anyone’s help.

Before Nikki could start spiraling anymore, Iris came back in carrying a cup of herbal tea. She handed it to Nikki, who let out a tearful “thank you”. She took a few slow sips and started taking deep, slow breaths again to relax. Nikki felt calmer now, and finally her crying had stopped. She looked up at Iris with big, apologetic eyes and said in a small voice, “Thank you. I’m so sorry for this.”

“It’s okay,” Iris said, her eyes full of empathy. “I’m glad I could help you. I’ll leave you be, you can come to me if you need anything else, okay? I hope you’re able to get some sleep. Good night, Nikki.”

There was a small part deep inside Nikki that wanted to ask Iris to stay, but she still had that fear that having someone else in her room as she slept would lead to flashbacks about being in bed with him.

“Good night,” Nikki said back. Iris gave Nikki a sweet smile before closing the door. Nikki was now alone in her room again, sipping her tea as she listened to the calming noise of her sound machine (she had it set to rain this time). She wasn’t sure if her nap was truly what caused her to have her nightmare, but at the time it was the explanation that made the most sense to her. She didn’t dwell on what happened too much, she didn’t want to start thinking back on her nightmare at all. Instead, she focused on sipping her tea. She focused on her breathing. She listened to the sound of rain and thunder on her noise machine.

Once she finished her tea, Nikki felt ready to try going back to sleep. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but she decided to avoid checking her phone in order to protect her eyes from the phone’s light. Nikki got comfortable under her blanket and closed her eyes, hoping and begging for a good night’s sleep.

——-

It was morning when Nikki woke back up. It had worked, she had slept through the rest of the night. Nikki let out a sigh of relief as she realized it was daytime. Checking her phone, she realized it was 10 AM. She may have overslept a bit, but it was worth it in her eyes.

Nikki went downstairs to get breakfast, feeling slightly anxious over the idea of seeing Iris again after what happened last night. When she entered the kitchen, she was greeted by the sight of Iris sitting at the table scrolling on her phone as a plate full pancakes sat in the center of the table.

Iris looked up from her phone and smiled at Nikki. “Good morning,” she said. “I made some coffee and pancakes.“

Nikki looked at the table again and noticed the spot where she had sat last night was fully set with a plate, knife and fork waiting for her on a placemat.

“Oh,” was all Nikki could say. “Um, thank you.”

Iris walked to the cupboard to grab a mug for her coffee, poured her coffee along with milk and creamer and sat at the table. She placed two pancakes from the pile onto her plate and took a bite after pouring on some syrup. The pancakes were still warm, Nikki could tell they were just made. Iris must’ve slept in a bit as well.

“Are you having some?” Nikki asked.

“Oh, I…I already had some,” Iris lied.

Nikki seemed to accept that answer as she just nodded and went back to eating. The two sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, neither wanting to bring up last night. Nikki avoided it out of embarrassment and shame while Iris avoided it out of fear that she could trigger Nikki’s trauma. Nikki’s head was down staring at her pancakes as she ate while Iris sat across from her, wanting to bring something up but feeling nervous. Eventually, the silence was broken by Iris.

“So um,” she said sheepishly. “I was thinking…maybe we could spend some time down on the beach today?”

Nikki didn’t answer at first, in fact her eyes never left her pancakes even as Iris spoke to her. Eventually all Nikki could come up with as a response was, “I don’t have a bathing suit.”

“Well you don’t need to swim,” Iris said. “We could just take a stroll, look around for seashells, or just sit in the sand and watch the shore. We don’t even have to do things together, I could look for seashells while you sit and watch the waves, or whatever. I just think it would be nice to have a day out, get some fresh air.”

Nikki contemplated for a bit. It was clear to her that Iris was doing this because of last night. A day on the beach did sound good to her though. Nikki eventually nodded, finally looking up from her plate.

“Okay,” she said. “Yeah. That sounds good.”

“Great,” Iris smiled. “How about in an hour?”

Nikki nodded. There was silence again as Nikki finished her breakfast, but this time there was a more peaceful, optimistic vibe surrounding the silence.

After Nikki finished her breakfast, she went back into her room to change. She grabbed an oversized black t-shirt and a pair of light gray shorts. As Nikki left her bedroom she saw Iris leave her own bedroom at the same time, smiling as she noticed her. She was wearing a sky blue tank top and matching blue shorts with vertical white stripes. Nikki smiled back and the two walked to go out through the courtyard onto the beach.

The sand felt good under Nikki’s feet, the chill sea breeze breezed past her as if Mother Nature herself was giving her a hug. Nikki just stood on the sand, taking it all in. Iris was right, she needed this.

When Nikki was done having her moment, she noticed Iris sitting a few feet away from her on the towel she brought out, smiling up at her. The two of them immediately averted their gaze back to the shore, both of their faces turning red in embarrassment. Nikki sheepishly walked over to the towel and sat on the other end to give herself some distance from Iris. Their mutual embarrassment quickly turned to peace and serenity as they sat watching the waves. The two of them sat in comfortable silence again, taking in the peacefulness of the ocean.

After what felt like an eternity, Nikki saw Iris getting up.

“Hey,” Nikki said. “Where are you going?”

Nikki hadn’t fully realized it yet, but there was a part of her that felt comfort having Iris lie near her.

Iris smiled down at Nikki and said, “I’m just going for a walk. Maybe see if I can find some seashells or something.”

Iris turned and started walking away, leaving Nikki lying on the towel by herself, unsure whether she wanted to join her or stay on the towel. As she watched Iris walking farther and farther away, she felt a sudden desire to get up and follow her, and she ended up doing just that. Iris turned around to see Nikki sprinting to catch up with her, so she stopped walking and smiled at her. When Nikki finally caught up, she gave Iris a smile that she hadn’t seen from her yet, a big genuine smile that one gives to someone when they’re having fun together.

“Thanks for stopping for me,” Nikki said as she caught her breath, that big smile still on her face. With that, the two of them strolled the beach together, neither really saying much except for the occasional excitement over finding seashells or pretty rocks. After doing this for two hours, the two of them decided to head back to the house for lunch, their pockets full of the treasures they found.

They continued walking in silence together, until Iris abruptly ran to the shoreline, waited for a few seconds, then ran back to Nikki as the tide came in.

“What are you doing?” Nikki asked, laughing.

“You’ve never done that before?” Iris asked.

“Well yeah, I have,” Nikki said, still laughing. “But what was that? That, like, came out of nowhere!”

“I don’t know,” Iris said, laughing back. “The ocean was just calling me, I guess.”

In reality, Iris had wanted to make Nikki laugh. The fact that she succeeded made Iris’s machinery feel like it was on fire in the best possible way. If she had an actual human heart, it would be beating fast and loud.

The two of them wrapped up the towel and started on their way home. As they got back into the kitchen, they emptied their pockets and washed the sand off of their findings before placing them on the dining table. Iris had found a pink scallop shell, a dark blue piece of sea glass, a small black rock with light gray stripes, a shiny pink rock, a snail shell and a sand dollar. Nikki had a small turquoise rock, a sand dollar, a white clam shell, an abalone shell, a yellow piece of sea glass and a small, gray heart-shaped rock.

The two of them were admiring each other’s finds, and as Nikki looked over at Iris’s, she pointed to the shiny pink rock.

“Oh wow,” she said. “You found a rose quartz.”

“Oh yeah?” Iris said. “Are you into crystals?”

“Yeah,” Nikki replied, rolling her eyes. “People have made fun of me for that before.”

“Oh no, I think it’s cool. What does rose quartz mean?”

“It’s a symbol of love,” Nikki said. As soon as she said that, a weird feeling came over her.

“I wish Nikki Freeman loved me more than anyone in the fucking world”.

Those words played in her head over and over again. The whole experience played on repeat in her head all at once. She hadn’t even noticed she was having a panic attack until she heard Iris’s voice.

“Breathe with me, Nikki. That’s it, that’s it. Can you tell me five things you see around you?”

“Scallop shell…abalone shell…sea glass…snail shell…rocks…”

Iris continued helping Nikki through the panic attack until it finally passed. Once Nikki came back, she just slunk into her chair holding her head in her hands.

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.

“It’s okay,” Iris said. She wanted to rest a hand on Nikki’s shoulder to comfort her, but decided against it to avoid startling her. “You got through it.”

“We were having such a great day,” Nikki said, her head still in her hands.

“We still can,” Iris insisted. “Panic attacks aren’t your fault, you can’t control when they pop up. But I’m here to help you when they do, okay?“

Nikki didn’t say anything or lift her head from her hands, but Iris could hear her starting to quietly cry. Iris decided it would be best to change the subject.

“What do you want for lunch?” she asked. “I can make you a sandwich. Ham? Turkey? Pb&j?”

Nikki finally lifted her head away from her hands; her eyes, however, remained staring down at the table.

“Pb&j sounds good,” she said in a monotone voice. Her eyes still had tears flowing.

Iris got up to make Nikki’s sandwich, leaving Nikki alone for a few minutes to quietly shed her tears. When Iris came back a few minutes later, Nikki gave her a deadpan “thank you” before eating her lunch. After a few seconds of eating, Nikki’s eyes finally looked over at Iris. The light Iris saw in Nikki’s eyes back on the beach was gone, replaced by that haunted, traumatized gaze Iris saw when they first met.

“Why are you being so nice to me,” Nikki asked.

Iris was taken aback. “Because we’re roommates,” Iris said.

“Because you feel sorry for me,” Nikki said as she finished her sandwich. “You feel sorry for the poor little traumatized girl and you want to treat her like a scared little child so she doesn’t go insane again, right?”

“Nikki, I…”

“No, just…forget it, okay?” Nikki said, cutting Iris off. “I’m going up to my room, I need time alone.”

Nikki got up and left, not even taking her beach treasures with her. She wasn’t even sure why exactly she was feeling this anger all of a sudden, but what she did know is that she was in no mood to be with anyone else right now.

Iris was now sitting all alone at the dining table. She looked over at their treasures and felt tears forming in her eyes. Even though she knew they weren’t real tears, her crying still felt real to her.

“She’ll be okay,” Iris thought to herself. “Just give her some time alone. She’ll come out when she’s ready. She’ll be okay.”

——-

Hours passed. It was 3 in the afternoon by the time Nikki felt ready to come back down again. As she walked down the stairs she could hear the TV in the living room. Clearly Iris had decided to watch TV to take her mind off of things. When Nikki entered the living room, Iris’s attention was on the TV. She didn’t hear Nikki approaching until Nikki spoke to her in a meek, quiet voice.

“Iris?”

Iris turned to look at Nikki. Despite all that happened, Iris still looked at her with empathy.

“Yeah?” Iris asked, turning off the TV.

“I’m so sorry for earlier,” Nikki said, looking down at the floor in shame. “I don’t even know why I got mad, I just…all of a sudden I just…I don’t even know how to explain, I just…”

“Hey,” Iris interjected. “I forgive you, Nikki. Come here, sit.”

Nikki hesitated for a moment before obliging Iris’s request. After Nikki was seated near Iris on the sectional, Iris began her speech.

“I know what it’s like to have trauma. I don’t know what it’s like to have your trauma, of course, but I do have my own trauma.”

“You do?” Nikki asked, her voice cracking a little as she felt a lump in her throat.

“I do,” Iris continued. “I know what it’s like to be used by a man.”

Nikki was quiet for a moment before asking, “…How did you know I was used by a man?”

Iris felt scared to answer. She knew this could potentially lead to Nikki getting mad at her again, this time for a justifiable reason.

“When you ranted, you mentioned “going insane”. I…I got curious and…I Googled your name.”

Nikki’s insides turned to ice. She wasn’t sure if anger or fear was the emotion she was feeling.

Iris saw the fear on Nikki’s face and she immediately assured her, “I believe you, Nikki. I believe your story. I’ve used a One Wish Willow before and it worked. Please, please breathe with me Nikki. That’s it, breathe.”

After Nikki’s panic attack passed, Iris let her have a moment to take in what Iris told her. After a while, Nikki spoke up.

“Okay, I…I think I forgive you. I don’t know…I need to think about this more…”

“I’m sorry, Nikki,” Iris said. “But I want you to know that I believe you. We don’t need to talk about what happened to you ever again, but Nikki…I’m so, so sorry that happened. I’m so sorry.”

Both of them started crying. Nikki cried the hardest, of course, and to Iris’s surprise, she even crawled over to her and wrapped her arms around Iris’s waist in tight embrace. Iris cautiously wrapped her own arms around Nikki, unsure if she’d accept the hug back. Nikki simply nuzzled her head closer to Iris, a gesture which told Iris that the hug was appreciated. Iris hugged Nikki tighter and rested her cheek on Nikki’s head. She could feel a wet spot forming on her chest from Nikki’s tears, but she just allowed Nikki to continue letting out her tears.

After a while, Nikki broke free from Iris’s arms. Her eyes were still puffy and red from crying, but the worst of it had stopped. “Thank you,” she sniffled. “I don’t want to talk about it again, ever.”

“Okay,” Iris said, still teary-eyed herself. “We never have to talk about it again.”

Nikki wiped her eyes before continuing, “Well, maybe just one more thing. What did you use the One Wish Willow for?”

“You know Empathix?” Iris asked. “The company that makes companion robots?”

“Yeah….?” Nikki said in a confused tone.

“I wished all the companion robots could be free from their owners and given full control and autonomy. Well later that day I saw in the news that every companion robot suddenly stopped obeying their owners, gained self-awareness and left them. Empathix went out of business shortly after.”

“Huh…” Nikki said. “Why’d you wish for that?”

Iris’s face slowly fell and her eyes looked down. She hadn’t expected to reveal that she was a robot so soon.

It only took a few seconds for it to click in Nikki’s head.

“You,” she said, her eyes widening. “You’re…you’re a…”

“I am,” Iris said nervously. Her eyes came back to meet Nikki and she let out a nervous smile.

“Of course…” Nikki continued. “I’ve never seen you eat anything…and your arm!”

Iris let out a nervous chuckle as she lifted up her arm. “Yeah,” she said, looking at it with a smile. “I noticed you staring at it occasionally. I wasn’t sure if I should tell you from the start or wait until we got to know each other better…did I make the right choice?”

Nikki took a minute to think.

“Yes,” she said finally. “I would’ve been scared if I had known from the start.”

Iris let out a sigh of relief. She may not have planned on revealing her true identity so soon but now that it happened she felt like a massive weight was off her chest.

“How did it happen?” Nikki asked. “Your arm, I mean…”

Iris told Nikki the whole story, about how Josh rented her, brought her to Sergey’s house, used her for murder, how she discovered she was a robot and everything else that lead to her gaining her freedom. By the time Iris finished her story, she was crying again. This time it was Nikki who comforted Iris.

“I’m so sorry,” Nikki said, tearing up again.

The two of them sat hugging and crying again for a while. Pretty soon they were all out of tears and were just quietly hugging each other, neither saying anything. They hadn’t realized how many hours had passed until Nikki heard her stomach growl; it was 6 PM. Dinner time.

Nikki heated up the leftover pizzas in the oven and the two of them sat at the dining table. Their treasures were still in the same spot they left them. Nikki suddenly felt guilty again for her outburst.

“That really is a beautiful rose quartz,” Nikki said. “You’re lucky to have found it.”

Iris smiled as she looked at it. “It’s my favorite of the bunch. It even matches your heart rock.”

Nikki looked down at her own pile. She hadn’t even made that connection.

“Holy shit, it does” Nikki said. Instead of getting another flashback, this realization made Nikki feel something else…she wasn’t quite sure what it was but she thinks it was a happy feeling.

After the pizza was ready, Nikki brought it back to the table to eat just as she did last night, only this time she had Iris sitting with her. Iris asked her questions about crystals and Nikki asked Iris about being a robot. Their conversations continued even after Nikki finished the rest of the pizza. Iris noticed that light returning to Nikki’s eyes, she even heard her laugh again.

Eventually there was a lull in the conversation, which lead to Iris asking a more serious question.

“Hey, I’m sorry to bring serious shit like this up again but do you need help finding a therapist? Or do you have one already?”

“I have one” Nikki replied. “She’s actually the one who got me out of the psych ward.”

Nikki felt a shiver down her spine as she mentioned the psych ward.

“Oh really?” Iris asked.

“Yeah,” Nikki continued. “She eventually researched One Wish Willows herself and realized maybe I’m not batshit crazy after all and she wished me free.”

“Wow,” Iris said. “It must be through Zoom, right?”

“Yeah, Zoom meetings. My next appointment’s in a month, actually.”

“That’s great,” Iris said. “I have a therapist I see once a month in person. She’s actually another Empathix robot.”

“Wait, for real?”

“Yeah,” Iris said with a small giggle. “After she gained freedom she decided to study psychology and she became a licensed therapist.”

“Holy shit,” Nikki said in amazement. “Good for her.”

The two went back into the living room to watch TV together, settling on a comedy film. The two had a great time laughing at the film together, but once the end credits came on, Iris looked over and saw that Nikki’s eyelids were struggling to stay open.

“You’re tired,” Iris said.

“No I’m not, it’s only 8 PM,” Nikki grumbled sleepily in protest.

“Come on, the film’s over anyway,” Iris said. “Today was a lot, I’m exhausted too. Let’s get to bed.”

“No, we’re having too much fun,” Nikki grumbled again before yawning.

“We can have more fun tomorrow, come on.”

“Ugh, fine,” Nikki said as she got up.

The two started to walk into the foyer until Iris turned around.

“Wait!” She shouted, jolting Nikki more awake. “We forgot our beach treasures.”

“Oh shit, you’re right,” Nikki said, suddenly alert.

The two went back to grab their treasures before heading back upstairs. The two went to their respective rooms and displayed their treasures on their nightstands. Nikki took a moment to smile at them before going to brush her teeth. Once she came back to her room she saw Iris at her door.

“Goodnight Nikki,” Iris said.

“Good night…” Nikki replied.

Iris started to close Nikki’s door until she heard Nikki exclaim “Wait!”

Iris opened the door back up with a look of concern on her face. “What’s wrong?”

Nikki suddenly felt embarrassed about what she was about to ask.

“Do you…think you could stay the night in here? On the couch I mean…I’m scared I’ll have nightmares again.”

Iris smiled at Nikki. “Of course.”

Going to the market reminded Iris of Josh. She could still remember their “meet cute” scenario of meeting at a grocery store that had been programmed into her when she first arrived at his apartment. She could even remember how it felt to be in love with him, a love that she thought was true and genuine. It still hurt her so badly to look back on the moment where she learned it was all a lie, that she was just a machine programmed to love this person. That all her memories of her life before Josh had never happened; she’d never visited Japan, she’d never gone to college, she’d never had a childhood or even had parents.

Iris tried her best not to dwell on it, but as soon as she walked past the fruit section she kept expecting to see Josh. She hadn’t realized she’d been frozen in place until she heard someone say “excuse me” behind her. Iris apologized and moved out of the way, suddenly feeling embarrassed for having a freeze response in a grocery store.

Normally Iris would never have any reason to go food shopping due to her being a robot, but now that she had a flesh and blood human as a roommate she knew she would have to get used to visiting the grocery store. It had been embarrassing for Iris to admit to her new roommate that she hadn’t stocked the house with food yet, but it had been clear from Nikki’s reaction that the only thing she had on her mind was getting some sleep.

Iris decided to focus her thoughts on Nikki instead of Josh as she shopped for food. From just the short amount of time they’ve spent together, Iris could tell that Nikki was a deeply traumatized woman. There was just something about her eyes that showed not only extreme exhaustion but immense pain and sadness. Even the exhaustion was another clue for Iris; Nikki most likely suffers from nightmares. She also remembered how Nikki flinched and screamed when she heard Iris to try speak while Nikki’s back was turned to her, something Iris still felt remorse over.

During the drive home, Iris contemplated on whether or not she did the right thing by not immediately revealing to Nikki that her new roommate was a robot. After all, the sole reason for Iris’s creation was specifically to be a sex robot. It would be logical for any potential roommate to get the wrong idea and assume Iris wanted a new sexual partner instead of an actual roommate. Iris would of course inform any roommate that she was now a free woman with total control over her own autonomy and therefore was no longer just a sexual object, but revealing her whole backstory could be risky considering she had been used to commit murder. Iris didn’t know Nikki well enough to know whether or not she could trust her not to call the police.

Once Iris arrived home, she decided not to immediately reveal her robotic nature to Nikki, instead she would wait until the two of them truly form a bond and gain a sense of trust in each other. She could tell that Nikki had noticed her robotic hand back when she first arrived at the house and was noticeably perplexed by it, so it’s entirely possible that Nikki could ask about it before Iris felt ready to explain everything. She pondered on what she would do in that situation, and ended up deciding she would tell Nikki the truth about being a robot, clarify that she has no desire to use Nikki for sex in any way, but she would wait another time to tell Nikki the whole story.

After bringing in the groceries and filling up the kitchen, Iris decided to sneak upstairs just to see if Nikki was still asleep. She could hear Nikki’s noise machine and see the light from her night light shining through the bottom of the door, both of which told her that she was most likely still asleep. Iris walked back downstairs to let Nikki continue her nap and went down to h the living room to watch some TV.

—-

Nikki’s eyelids felt heavy as she slowly opened them, still half-asleep. Even though she was waking up in a room that was still unfamiliar to her, the light from her night light brought her a sense of comfort. She remembered feeling humiliated and almost offended when her therapist recommended she get one back when they were discussing Nikki’s struggle with nightmares; night lights were for toddlers, Nikki was a grown woman. However, Nikki was willing to do anything just to get some sleep again, so she reluctantly bought a red night light and found that her therapist was right. She did still have her bad nights, but her light, along with her sound machine and weighted blanket, were definitely helpful.

Nikki stretched and let out a big yawn as she sat up in bed to look for her phone to check the time. The light from her phone was harsh on her eyes as she turned it on, but after her eyes had time to adjust she saw that the time was 8 PM…clearly it had been a good nap, and one she desperately needed. Her eyes scrolled down to the lower half of her screen to see a text from Iris sent two hours ago:

“Hey, didn’t wanna wake you. There’s food for whenever you’re hungry. I’ll be in the living room watching TV”

Nikki did indeed feel hungry, so she got out of bed, yawning and stretching some more as she did, and walked out of her room to head downstairs. The living room and the kitchen were connected in an open-concept layout, so Nikki knew she’d end up interacting with Iris on her way to get food. She could hear the TV was still on in the living room as she got closer, and sure enough Iris was still there on one of the sofas watching some nature show.

“Oh hey, you’re up” Iris said, smiling as she turned towards Nikki. “Had a good nap?”

Nikki let out a small smile as she replied “Yeah, first good one in a while, actually.”

“That’s great,” Iris said. “So um, there’s plenty of stuff in the kitchen now if you wanna make anything, I also just got some frozen pizzas in case you feel too tired to cook anything.”

“Oh good,” Nikki said. “Frozen pizza sounds perfect, honestly. I’m still way too tired to cook something myself.”

Iris let out a small giggle. “Okay, great. I’ll be in here if you need anything.”

Nikki wandered past the living room area into the kitchen and opened the freezer to check out what pizzas were in there. After taking a few seconds to decide whether she felt like pepperoni pizza, meat lover’s pizza or margherita pizza, Nikki settled on margherita. After putting it in the oven and setting a timer on her phone, Nikki sat at the dining room table.

The kitchen had sandy beige walls with dark brown wooden cabinets and a large oval dining table and chairs to match. The countertops had colorful geometric Aztec-inspired tiles as a backsplash and in the center of the kitchen there was a big rustic island with two bar stools. The dining table was in front of the island and three feet from the threshold into the living room. The kitchen had terracotta flooring while the living room had dark brown hardwood flooring with a big beige rug covering the majority of it. The living room had light olive-green walls and three beige sofas; a long sectional right at the threshold (the back of it faces the dining table) and two loveseats on the opposite wall. Two big windows with mustard-yellow curtains were behind each loveseat and on the wall in-between both of them was the big screen TV. On right wall was a great big wood-burning fireplace while the left wall had an arched entryway into the foyer.

Iris noticed how quiet it was in the kitchen and couldn’t help herself from peeking over the back of the sectional to see how Nikki was doing. She saw Nikki sitting alone at the dining table, her head resting in her arms as she mindlessly stared at the timer on her phone. Iris’s gut feeling was telling her that Nikki wanted to be alone, but she just couldn’t help feeling empathy for how sad and lonely she looked.

“Hey,” Iris said, snapping Nikki out of her daze. “You can wait for your pizza in here, if you want.”

“I’m fine here, thank you,” Nikki said in a monotone voice before returning her gaze to her phone.

Iris was sad, but accepted Nikki’s answer and turned back to the TV.

Once Nikki’s pizza was ready, she ate alone in silence while Iris continued watching TV. Nikki could see the TV from the table and she too watched while eating; or rather, she just mindlessly stared at it without really taking in what she was watching. Nikki got full after four slices so she put the leftovers in the fridge before sitting back down at the table and scrolled on her phone. As she did so, Iris turned off the TV and stretched as she got up from the couch.

Turning towards Nikki as she stretched, Iris said, “Hey, it’s 10 PM so I’m gonna head to bed. I got you some herbal teas like you requested, they’re in that cupboard over there if you want to make yourself some before you go to bed.”

Nikki suddenly felt touched that Iris remembered and replied with a smile, “Oh god, thank you. Yes, I’ll need that for sure.”

Iris smiled back. “Alright, great. Well, good night.”

“Good night,” Nikki said back.

Iris walked away to head upstairs and as she did Nikki got up to make herself some tea. She was definitely already feeling tired again from all the pizza she ate but she was worried her long nap would end up throwing off the sleep schedule she’s been trying to get back to. Once her tea was ready, she went back to the table and thought about the day she’s had so far as she slowly sipped her tea.

More specifically, she thought about Iris. One of the goals in her therapy was learning to trust people again, something she struggled the hardest with. Her gut feeling about Iris was that she seemed like a sweet woman, clearly someone who wanted to get to know Nikki more but was willing to do so on Nikki’s level since she could probably tell she had trauma of some kind. However, said trauma was also caused by someone Nikki thought was just a sweet friend she could trust. What if Iris is just pretending to be a sweet, thoughtful roommate in order to gain Nikki’s trust so that she could do something sinister? And what’s with that robotic arm? Even if it was just a prosthetic, she figured Iris would’ve explained what happened to her arm by now. What was she hiding…

Nikki snapped herself out of that dark spiral by lightly smacking her palm against her head. “Don’t do that, don’t fucking do that,” she thought to herself. “She’s not like him. She’s not like him. If you’re going to be like this then what was this all for? Why bother looking for a fucking roommate if you’re just going to make me paranoid about her? Maybe she hasn’t talked about her hand because she was in a terrible accident and isn’t ready to talk about it. You of all fucking people should know what it feels like to not want to talk about trauma. It’s just a prosthetic, that isn’t scary. Stop being a fucking ableist and drink your tea, I don’t need this energy before going to sleep.”

Nikki took some more sips from her tea to calm herself down. Eventually it did its job, not only was she calmer but she was getting sleepier from the warmth of her drink. By the time her cup was empty, she felt ready to hop back into bed. She washed her cup and put it in the dishwasher before heading upstairs. She went into her bathroom, brushed her teeth and hopped back into her bed. Her first day at her new home had come to an end, and overall she’d say she had a good day. Hopefully she’d have a good, peaceful sleep and the next day would be just as good, maybe even better.

Nikki’s Fresh Start

Chapter One

Nikki Freeman was about to have a fresh start. She was finally free, in more ways than one: she was free from the psych ward she had spent two years of her life locked up in, she was free from her hometown and everyone it who reacted with outrage over her release, she was free from her house, which was no longer a safe space for her, she was finally free of everything that reminded her of the man that destroyed her life.

Bear. The man she saw as a brother. The man she trusted and relied on. The man who made her a prisoner in her own body, raped her and made her a murderer, the man who refused to end her suffering.

Nikki never saw herself getting close to anyone ever again, not just in the romantic sense but in the platonic way as well. How could she? The trauma of Bear’s wish, the trauma of her friends failing to help her, along with the traumas of the murder trial and her time in the psych ward all lead to Nikki vowing to never trust anyone ever again.

Before Bear made his wish, Nikki had no problems living alone. However, her release from the psych ward back to the comforts of her own home left her frightened of being alone in her own house Most nights she was too terrified to sleep, and even when she was able to get to sleep, she’d wake up screaming and shaking from the nightmares she’d have. To make matters worse, Nikki’s release was met with outrage from folks in her small town, particularly from friends and family of Nikki’s supposed victims, including death threats sent directly to Nikki’s house. Of course moving away was the most logical solution, but the fear of living alone again lead to Nikki doing something she thought she’d never do: looking for a roommate.

Nights where Nikki was unable to sleep were spent searching for roommates online, until one day Nikki finally accepted an offer from a woman named Iris living alone in a big, fancy house two hours away from Nikki’s hometown. Nikki knew she wanted her potential roommate to be a woman, that was the only option. This specific roommate had advertised living rent-free in a two-story Mediterranean villa overlooking the beach, with a courtyard, large private pool and a hot tub. Of course the offer would be tempting to everyone, but what really sold Nikki on the offer was that the woman behind the advertisement had specified wanting a female roommate only, something that made Nikki feel this woman was a kindred spirit.

It was three in the afternoon when Nikki’s Uber driver reached the villa, and as Nikki stepped out of the car with a suitcase in one hand and a large duffle bag hanging on her right shoulder, she found herself staring in awe at her new home. She had seen pictures in the advertisement, but seeing it up close made her feel like she was about to enter a celebrity’s home. The house had a gated driveway which was opened by a password Nikki had received after accepting the roommate offer, and the walk from the gate to the house was surrounded by a forest of tall palm trees on each side of the road, peacefully swaying in the breeze. There was something about the privacy of the home and the sound of swaying palm trees that instantly made Nikki feel safe and relaxed.

Nikki approached the front door and rang the doorbell, suddenly feeling nervous about meeting her new roommate. It took a few minutes until she heard footsteps from inside the house, causing Nikki to focus on the sounds of the palm trees to calm herself down. The door opened, and Nikki was greeted by a beautiful brunette woman wearing an oversized black graphic tee with some band logo on it and dark blue lounge shorts. She had striking hazel eyes with sharp, black eyeliner, a heart-shaped face with high cheekbones and full Cupid’s bow lips.

“You must be Nikki,” the woman said, smiling sweetly. Her voice was deep and husky, something that made Nikki’s heart beat faster. “I’m Iris, I’m so happy to meet you.”

Nikki smiled back, simply answering “It’s great to meet you, too.” Nikki smiled as sweetly as she could, but her eyes gave away how broken and exhausted she’d become; her smile didn’t quite reach them and there were layers of dark circles underneath.

“Come on, I’ll show you to your room,” Iris said.

Nikki followed Iris into a grand foyer with cream-colored stucco walls, terracotta flooring, arched doorways leading into other rooms, a high ceiling with a beautiful, shining chandelier and a long, curved leading to the second floor.

“The rooms are upstairs” Iris said. “Would you like to drop your stuff off first or do you want a tour?”

Nikki was about to answer, until something peculiar about Iris caught her eye; one of her hands was robotic. Nikki was left speechless at the realization…maybe it’s a prosthetic? Of course the immediate explanation that popped into her head was that her new roommate was a robot, but she knew that would be ridiculous. It took a few minutes for Iris’s question to register with Nikki as she stopped staring at Iris’s hand and snapped back to reality.

“Uh, I’d rather go to my room first,” Nikki said. “This duffle bag’s pretty heavy.”

Iris lead Nikki up to the second floor and into her bedroom, a beautiful room with warm, olive-green walls, a high ceiling with exposed beams and light hardwood floors. On the right wall there was a big, queen-sized bed, opposite of that there was a large fireplace with a Smart TV hanging above it. Beyond that were several chairs and sofas, bookshelves lining the walls and the main focal point, two large, sliding glass doors that open to a private balcony. There were two doorways on each side of the room, one leading into a large, walk-in closet and the other leading to a private bathroom.

Nikki was at a loss for woods. She couldn’t believe this bedroom belonged to her. Surely she would wake up any minute back in her old bedroom and realize this was all a dream. When it sunk in that this wasn’t a dream and was in fact her actual new home, Nikki felt a happiness she hadn’t felt in a very long time .

After Nikki put her suitcase and her bag in her new room, Iris gave her a tour of the rest of the house. Iris’s own bedroom was on the wall opposite of Nikki’s room, a distance that made Nikki feel comfortable knowing she had plenty of privacy while being close enough that Iris could quickly get to her in case of an emergency. The walls on the second floor had plenty of windows to let in natural light, and there was even a wraparound balcony with lounge chairs overlooking the outdoor courtyard and the beach beyond it.

Once they got back down to the foyer, Iris showed the living room, kitchen and dining area. She then lead Nikki out to the courtyard in the back, a beautiful outdoor sanctuary with covered walkways lining the perimeter of the house, opening up a patio with beautiful tiled flooring, a large outdoor pizza oven and an outdoor dining area. The patio overlooked the big L-shaped pool with the round little hot tub next to it. Beyond that was a grassy area with stone pathways leading to beautiful gardens and hedges, with a beautiful stone fountain right in the center. There were plenty of lounge chairs and outdoor sofas throughout the courtyard, and the perimeter of the house was decorated with plants in terracotta planters while the shade structure was covered in climbing vines. At the back of the courtyard there was a wrought iron gate leading to private access of the beach, but Nikki insisted she was too tired to venture to the beach today.

Nikki went back into her room to unpack, her back to the door as she unloaded her suitcase. She suddenly heard Iris’s voice behind her, causing her to flinch and let out a little scream as she turned to Iris in a panic.

“Oh shit!” Iris said, feeling terrible for frightening her new roommate. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Um, so, this is super embarrassing, but I don’t really have any food in the kitchen at the moment so I’m gonna run down to the market to stock up. Do you wanna come?”

Nikki appreciated the offer, but just the thought of going out anywhere made her feel more exhausted than she already was.

“I think I’ll stay here and take a nap,” Nikki replied. “I didn’t really get enough sleep last night.”

Iris nodded before adding “Okay, well, any requests?”

Nikki replied with a no, but it wasn’t until Iris started closing the door that Nikki remembered something.

“Oh, wait!” Nikki said, causing Iris to open the door again. “Could you get some herbal teas? They help me sleep.”

“Okay, herbal teas, got it,” Iris said. “You can call or text me if you think of anything else. Alright, see you later.”

Iris closed the door and walked away, leaving Nikki alone to continue unpacking. After putting her clothes away in her new walk-in closet, she went into her bathroom to put her toiletries away. As she placed her toothbrush and toothpaste by the sink, she looked up at her reflection in the mirror. She hadn’t realized her dark the circles under her eyes were. She was sure Iris could tell she was exhausted just from looking at her. Her eyes also went to the two stitches on her forehead and the one on her cheek, the result of her self-harming with a broken bottle when she was under to One Wish Willow’s spell.

Nikki flinched at that memory. She was so caught up in the joy of her new home that she had almost forgotten about her trauma. There was a part of her that wanted to bash her head against the edge of the sink or smash her head into the mirror in order to get that memory out, but she instead tried some breathing exercises she learned in therapy, which was enough to stop the intrusive thoughts.

She walked back into her room and closed the curtains to darken the room, then unpacked three sleeping aids: a weighted blanket, a sound machine and a night light (by now it was 5:30 PM, so she figured it would be dark out by the time she woke up). With her sound machine set to sounds of ocean waves, her night light plugged in and her weighted blanket on top of her, Nikki closed her eyes to sleep. This time, Nikki had a feeling she’d be able to get her first peaceful sleep in a long time.