Erika Fane

**Erika Fane** is the only child of Schraeder Fane and Christiane Alders, and heiress to the Fane fortune. She has a half-brother Damon Torrance, and is married to Michael Crist.

## Personality

Described as *"the dutiful, self-sacrificing daughter for her mother"*, along with *"the pleasant, agreeable girlfriend"* (referring to her first boyfriend, Trevor Crist), and finally: *"a shining student and beauty in our seaside community growing up. Everyone loved her"*.

## Physical Appearance

Rika is of Dutch South African descent through her mother's line. She is described as having blonde hair and blue eyes, with full lips, a mesmerizing smile, and sun-kissed skin. Furthermore, she is referred to as alluring, but sweet, with a hint of mischief in her eyes. She is about 5'5", or about a foot shorter than Michael, with a strong, toned body from years of fencing. It is frequently noted that she stands out.

She has a scar that runs diagonally, about two inches along the left side of her neck, from when she was in a car accident at age 13. It has faded with time.

## Relationships

### Romances

#### Michael Crist

Michael is Rika's husband and childhood crush. She has known him all her life, and at the start of *Corrupt*, she describes Michael as the person she dreamed about, thought about upon waking up, and the person who haunted her, but that she wasn't nice to her and made her feel "small" in many ways.

Their romance really began three years prior to the start of *Corrupt,* when Rika was sixteen and Michael was returning to Thunder Bay to lead the celebration of Devil's Night with the high school's basketball team. Throughout the course of the night, Rika and Michael allowed their mutual attraction to each other draw them closer. When Michael brought up their age difference, considering that Rika was a minor, Rika became angry and left the group to go home. After that night, they rarely spoke to each other until the events of *Corrupt* begin.

At that point, Rika has moved to the Meridian City to find more independence from her mother and the Crist family. However, she moves into the building that Michael lives in while he plays professional basketball. Her paths cross with Michael and his friends often, and during this time, their mutual attraction is reignited. Rika finds it harder to stay away from Michael as his reasons for avoiding her for three years are revealed.

Once the issues are clarified, Rika makes it clear that she is still interested in a relationship with Michael. By the end of *Corrupt*, they are engaged to be married.

#### Trevor Crist †

Trevor is Rika's ex-boyfriend and the younger brother of Michael. They had been friends since birth, and attended school together their entire lives. They dated for almost the entire of their first year at college, but Rika ended it six months prior to the start of *Corrupt*. Trevor has difficulty accepting her decision and continues to pursue her throughout until he dies.

### Friends

#### Alex Palmer

Alex is one of Rika's best friends. Rika meets her for the first time at Delcour, the luxury apartment and penthouse building at which they both reside in Meridian City. Rika thinks Alex is dating Michael upon first encountering her, but it is later revealed that Alex works as a high-end escort to pay for her college tuition. They attend the same school and eventually develop a close friendship.

#### Nikova Banks

Nik is one of Rika's best friends. She is married to Kai. Their relationship starts off in a bad place, as Banks is aware that Kai and Rika have a close friendship and have previously engaged in a threesome along with Michael. At one point, this jealousy leads them to a physical fight until Kai intervenes. They do eventually come to an understanding of each other and are able to start to form a positive bond.

#### Kai Mori

**Kai is one of Rika's best friends. He is married to Nikova Banks. He is at least three years older than her, and has known of her since she was a freshman at Thunder Bay Prep..**

Kai starts *Corrupt* wanting to avenge himself, but he has a soft spot for Rika that leads to them having a very warm and trusting friendship throughout the series. Rika often confides in Kai, and seeks out his company and advice. Kai also takes the lead in training Rika in hand-to-hand combat and self-defense. He considers her to be an equal part of their group.

#### Winter Ashby

Winter is one of Rika's best friends and her sister-in-law via Damon.

Rika and Winter meet when Winter returns to Thunder Bay at the start of high school. Since they are in the same grade, Rika was assigned to show Winter around the school, and welcomed Winter into her group of friends. There isn't a lot of information provided after their freshman year, but they quickly pick up their friendship during *Kill Switch* when Rika wants to help her with Damon. Rika is interested in helping Winter to pursue her dancing as a career to help her maintain her independence.

#### Damon Torrance

Damon is one of Rika's best friends and her half-brother.

As a teenager, Damon scared Rika. Since she was a freshman during his senior year, most of her experience with him comes from the time they both spent in Michael's home. She feels unnerved and uncomfortable in his presence. Damon is also jealous of the attention Michael gives Rika. This eventually leads him to plotting with Michael's brother, Trevor, to scare Rika into staying away from the Horsemen. Trevor wears Kai's mask and the two of them pretend to attempt to rape her, though Trevor goes too far and Damon has to stop it. Overnight, the videos of Damon, Kai, and Will committing various crimes are released, and Damon accuses Rika because he saw her with the jacket that had the phone.

After he is released from prison, Damon joins Michael, Kai, and Will in their plot to get revenge on Rika. He aids the other three in drugging her mother and putting her in a rehab facility so that Rika couldn't reach her, burning down her family home, and taking all of her inheritance. The Horsemen challenge Rika to come to face them so they can settle the score, and Rika arrives at the Crist's home. Damon wrestles her to the ground, where she stabs him. Kai, Will, and Damon want Rika to confess to releasing the videos and to pay what they think she owes them. Rika accuses them of attempting to rape her, which Kai and Will have no idea about, leaving the blame on Damon. Damon explains what he planned with Trevor, resulting in the Horsemen losing their trust in Damon, and he is ousted from the group.

Damon again turns to Trevor to plot against Rika. They kidnap her, set sail aboard the *Pithom*, the Crist family yacht to lure Michael and the others out to sea. While he has Rika, reveals that he's been watching her sleep as well as have sex with Michael in her apartment. Rika tries to reason with him, but he is convinced that women are nothing and she is the reason his friends have abandoned him. He tells her he is going to kill her, and then Trevor for what they've done. In the confrontation on deck, Damon is able to escape on the *Pithom's* speed boat.

In *Hideaway*, Banks doesn't understand why Damon is obsessed with Rika. Damon sends Rika an envelope of matches, teasing her with his possible location. While the Horsemen are angry, Rika insist that Damon won't do anything to them. Her reasoning that every time he's tried to hurt her, he's managed to stop; he enjoys the mind games, but not actually hurting them. Kai accuses Rika of protecting Damon, and Rika leaves. Later, Rika asks Banks about the abuse Damon experienced at the hands of his stepmother, as told to her previously by Trevor. Banks tells Rika about what she saw, and how Damon eventually handled it.

Once the group realizes that Damon has been lurking at the Delcour, and that he's been watching Rika again, Rika defends him by saying that he hasn't done anything. In the final, confrontation, Damon lures the men away from the girls, and brings two men who are directed to secure Alex, because he knew "they wouldn't last five seconds trying to take [Rika] on." Rika charges up to him and reminds him of the pain he's caused, to which he replies he knows. Damon tells Rika that he hated change, and she was change. He cages her against a wall, and tells her that she's always judged him, always been scared of him, but she's does fight him off. Banks sees him whispering something to Rika that makes Rika freeze in terror. When Damon is distracted, Rika swings a bottle across his head and his able to get away from him.

Damon saves Rika from dying in a fire, causing her to be conflicted when it comes to Damon's punishment. Before anyone can do anything to him, she tells Damon to leave.

## Notes

* Erika's blood type is B-negative.
* Rika wears a katana strapped to her back for Devil's Night.
* She is Dutch South African-American.