1 † [ SANCTUARY : HOLO ] and all of these hard times have faded 'round the bend

[disparage]

Something is wrong.

Caroline tries to wrap her arm underneath her pillow, expecting to kick Bonnie’s leg and knee Elena in the back, but she feels nothing on either side of her or underneath her head. “Bonnie? Elena?” she says it sleepily, expecting to get an elbow in the back for talking. “Where’s m’pillow?” She frowns, her eyes still closed, and begins to realise that she’s no longer wrapped in the warm sheets of her bed but lying on a cool, hard surface in her pyjamas.

She bolts straight up, rubbing a hand furiously over her face to wipe the sleep from her eyes and from her limbs, and takes in the room she’s woken up in. Her heart hammers inside her chest. This wasn’t like the cage the werewolves had stuck her in—what with the lack of bars and Brady sitting outside her little cell, pointing a gun in her direction and firing without blinking—as it was expanse, bare, and circular.

That still didn’t mean there weren’t any werewolves.

Caroline tries to stand up straight, bracing herself for the bullets or vervain. She takes in deep breaths, trying to see something within the room that will give someone away—or give her something to fight back with—when she looks down and notices the bracelet on her wrist. Her attention now on the bracelet, she frowns and tries to pry it off, only to have her fingers slip over it. “What the hell is this thing?” Exasperated. What kind of sick joke was this? Hadn’t she been taunted enough?

Her fingers were still trying to pry the bracelet off her wrist as she looked around. “Stefan? Elena?” Surely Stefan would know, right? He was the walking encyclopedia of fangs. Inhaling deeply, she looks around the room once more, looking for anything when she notices a pedestal a few feet away from the platform she’s currently standing on. Biting her lip, she takes a few tentative steps towards the stairs, looking for any oncoming bullets or surprises that may be sent her way.

Nothing came.

Feeling a touch bolder, she speeds up her pace by a second, hesitantly approaching the pedestal and frowning at the tablet sitting upon it. She didn’t dare touch it, her fingers slipping over her bracelet as she tried to peel it off during her walk towards it. “What is this thing?” She isn’t sure what she is referring to, exactly, but with another second frowning at the tablet, Caroline turns her back and takes a few steps back towards the platform. There has to be a way out. She continues to glance around the room, fingers eventually coming to a halt with fiddling with the bracelet.

Taking in a deep breath, Caroline let go of her other wrist and tried to calm down. “Okay, Caroline, this isn’t as bad as it can be. It’s just a rabbit hole I’ve fallen down. Not one I’ve been put into by a pack of fur who have nothing else to do during the month.” That was a touch comforting, at least.

Despite that, her heart still hammers wildly in her chest. Some rabbit hole this is.

Comments

[ visual ]

[virtued.livejournal.com]

"--Caroline?"

Stefan's been checking the tablets this morning to see who the latest glitch's latest victims were. What seemed like something that had just affected him and Elena at first had spread across the city, unwillingly chaining other people together -- friends and strangers alike -- against their will. He'd been expecting to see another unfortunate pair caught on camera as the tablets broadcast their misfortune across the network. He hadn't anticipated seeing Caroline returned to the city.

[ holo ]

[disparage]

"Stefan?" Her face may light up when she realises her mind isn't playing tricks on her. That's Stefan Salvatore's, the broodster extraordinare, voice. Just the vampire friend she wanted to see. Or hear. She turns to the tablet and frowns when she realises she's in this room by herself. Caroline crosses her arms over her chest. "You can see me?"

[ holo ]

[virtued.livejournal.com]

She doesn't remember, then. It's hit or miss with people; some remember their time in Taxon, others don't.

"Yes, I can see you. The tablet's recording." Sometimes a blessing, more often than not a curse. "It's over on the pedestal. Follow my voice to it."

[ holo ]

[disparage]

Bummer.

"Like a video camera?" Tablet. Weren't those things that had no recording function? She isn't quite sure, but nonetheless, she does as he says. There's no reason not to trust Stefan. As much as she hates the thought, she's glad that he's here. "Okay," she reaches the pedestal and frowns at the tablet. It looks normal, and there's no red recording button she's used to seeing on a video camera. "Where are we, Stefan?" Or more specifically, 'where am I and where's your serious vampire face?'

[ holo ]

[virtued.livejournal.com]

"Sort of. It works more like the built-in webcam some laptops come with."

Now it's time for serious vampire face. "Taxon. This is going to sound ridiculous, but you've been abducted by aliens."

[ holo ]

[disparage]

Caroline waits a moment for the punchline. She looks at him, recognising the face she dubbed the serious vampire face, and frowns. He's off his rocker. Her expression mimics the thought; eyebrows pinched, head tilted. She speaks slowly, "Aliens. Like green, long-limbed, want-to-probe-you aliens?" Great. She'd prefer the werewolves right about now. "Yeah, that's definitely ridiculous."

[ holo ]

[virtued.livejournal.com]

"More like fuzzy, tiny armed, want to glitch you aliens."

Stefan would prefer werewolves, too. As unexposed to them as he is beyond their suspicions of the Lockwood family and what Katherine's told him of the curse, that would still make a lot more sense than aliens. It took being glitched himself for Stefan to settle on the idea that this was the genuine article and someone wasn't just messing with him.

[ holo ]

[disparage]

"Glitch?" If that's a new type of probing, Caroline hopes Stefan lies or dresses it up a bit. Or she gets sent home. "Why are they fuzzy?" Her image of aliens is being shattered as they speak.

[ voice ]

[whoneedsrules.livejournal.com]

[ katherine will just sigh with something akin to heartfelt exasperation. or perhaps resignation. some people were just impossible to get rid of, it seems. the hamsters have a strange sense of humor. ]

Missed us that badly, hm?

[ holo ]

[disparage]

[ Your life is so hard, baw.

Couldn't she get a break? First werewolves, now vampbitch.

She jumps, startled for a moment, before she realises she recognises the tone. Spend a few months hating one individual with every core of your being, while playing Pinocchio to their Gepetto, and you start realising a few things about them. Caroline wasn't expecting to hear Katherine, of all freaking people. She's come to realise that despite looking alike, Katherine and Elena speak in different tones. Elena's is warm while Katherine's is ice cold. ]

Not you. [ Caroline frowns, momentarily. She's unsure by what Katherine means, but she supposes she should play along. Asking Katherine questions means wanting to be told to jump off a bridge into an active volcano. ] If you're here, this must mean I'm in hell.

[ voice ]

[whoneedsrules.livejournal.com]

[ katherine's answering chuckle is a slow, smoky sound suffused with amusement, a kind of non-verbal mark of superiority. caroline is very right - a laugh like that would never come out of elena.

it's all good and well to be a smart mouth over the tablets, but taxon was only so big. eventually, they'd cross paths in person, and katherine hasn't forgotten the part caroline played during the masquerade ball at the lockwood mansion. she had something of a bone to pick with the vampire barbie. one day.

in the meantime, she'd just entertain herself by watching the blonde stew in confusion while she could. obviously, caroline has no recollection of her previous visit to the hamsterland. ]

If it's hell you're after, I'm sure that can be arranged. It's not exactly all rainbows and unicorns, here - although I do hear there's one in the zoo.

[ holo ]

[disparage]

[ brb sobbing. ]

[ Caroline makes a face. Zoo? What. The. Fuck. ] What are you talking about? [ And instantly regrets it. Asking any type of question, especially to Katherine, is stupid. And dangerous. And whatever she's going to walk into, whether it be minutes from now or days, Caroline's going to have herself to blame.

And Katherine, of course. It was always Katherine's fault. ]

[ voice ]

[whoneedsrules.livejournal.com]

[ ffff why so judgy, caroline? you're not a witch.

katherine rolls her eyes in her end. this is why she doesn't do the welcome wagon thing, too many damned questions. ]

You've been kidnapped by aliens into a city you can't leave. The city has a zoo. Zoo has animals in it. The unicorn is one such example. [ she pauses, and the smirk is audible in her tone when she speaks up again. ] Did you understand, or should I repeat more slowly?

[ holo ]

[disparage]

[ She's in the I Hate Katherine club. The criteria is to be awfully judgy.

Caroline narrows her eyes at her. ] No. I got it. [ Though the aliens thing ... not going to really understand that for a while.

And she is not going to ask 'where the hell am I?' because it's Katherine and she's not that dumb. ] Is everyone from home here? [ Possibly not the safest question, but it's safer than the alternatives. ]

[ voice ]

[whoneedsrules.livejournal.com]

[ but does this club have badges, is the important question.

while katherine can actually be mildly helpful at times, and by all means could give caroline the straight answer to her question... she just chooses not to. she'd dealt with caroline enough before getting pulled into taxon to have gained a good insight into what made her tick, and katherine resists temptation rather poorly. ]

If that's your roundabout way of asking whether or not Matt is here, I'm afraid you're out of luck.

[ that is almost a pity, really. he did have those pretty blue eyes, after all. ]

[ visual ]

[secretshame]

Oh thank God - literally the first thing that flashes through Jenna's mind when she sees the transmission. She breathes a sigh of relief and immediately picks up her tablet to respond.

"Caroline! Are you okay?"

Poor girl looks like she'd been through a lot and Jenna knows there's a chance she won't remember anything, but it's still good to see her back. One more vampire on their side.

[ holo ]

[disparage]

"Jenna?" Oh, well, this is kind of awkward. Caroline runs her hand through her hair, as if that's going to erase the look of utter exhaustion from what she's been through the last few hours - prior to the sleepover - away. "I'm - I guess I'm okay?" Not really. She's utterly confused. Why the hell was Jenna here? Did Elena know? Was this some new ploy from Katherine to harm Elena? Well, Caroline wasn't going to let that happen. She'd been beaten down earlier that evening, she wasn't going to let it happen again. "Where are you?"

[ visual ]

[secretshame]

Oh boy. There's so much Jenna wants to say, to ask Caroline, warn her about if she doesn't remember, but none of that can be said over the tablets. So she settles for other ways.

"This is going to sound so strange - trust me, I freaked out when I first got here, too - but this is an alien city and I'm at home. Somehow, I brought the whole house with me. Who knew that was possible?"

In an effort to calm Caroline down, Jenna reached a hand up to her neck and turned her necklace over in her hands. It had been given to her by Elena a while ago and it had vervain in it, to keep Katherine from trying to compel her. With any luck, Caroline would be able to figure it out. And if not, they could talk about it later.

"Have you talked to Elena yet?"

[ holo ]

[disparage]

Caroline's about to ask how the hell Jenna's home is here when she watches her reach for her necklace and show her. Caroline's face freezes for a moment, and then she knows. Jewellery. Vervain. At least Jenna's being looked after. But does she know?

"Elena's here?" The answer would be no. And the question about how Jenna's house is here slips her mind momentarily. Caroline's face scrunches up as she says, "Katherine's here."

[ visual ]

[secretshame]

Oh she knows, but it's not something that can be talked about freely, not on the tablets. So she just nods and rolls her eyes at the mention of Katherine.

"Yep, Katherine's here, too." Time to play up the cover story without freaking Caroline out so much that she blows the whole thing. "You should probably stay away from her. I don't think she's in a good mood."

Which is... putting it mildly. At least Caroline has a better way of dealing with Katherine than Jenna does.

"Well, if you haven't talked to Elena yet, she's here and she can fill you in on a lot of things that I can't. If you want, you're welcome to come to the house or I can come find you. The little map on your tablet should show the house's location and mine, too. It's pretty handy for stalking people."

[ holo ] i am going to assume she has made her way out of the sanctuary for this tag /facepalm

[disparage]

Caroline scoffs and mumbles, "When is she ever?"

She can't help but laugh. "Had any success with stalking, Jenna?" She looks down at her tablet and sees the map. "I can't believe your house is really here." She still can't brain the idea of being anywhere but Mystic Falls, but usually when someone's kidnapped, you can barely bring your phone.

She smiles. "Are you sure? About me staying with you? I don't ... want to be a bother." She's not used to having invitations from Jenna, of all people, but she doesn't want to be a charity case, either. A pain in the ass, if you will.

[ visual ] works for me \o\

[secretshame]

Jenna offers an understanding smirk at the quip about Katherine before she chuckles. "Oh lots when I actually remember to look at it. I wouldn't believe the house is here if I wasn't actually sitting in it right now. But here it is and here I am."

The tentative questioning gets a warm smile from Jenna and she nods. In her view, she'll be very happy to have the extra set of hands keeping Elena safe, especially since the ones she trusts the most aren't here and the second best ones are currently keeping Katherine occupied, responsible for tearing her niece up emotionally in the first place. Elena might not talk about it, but Jenna knows how it feels. She knows it well.

"Perfectly sure," Jenna answers, shaking off her thoughts. "I'm sure we can work something out so you can earn your keep."

[ visual ]

[biverbam.livejournal.com]

"Isn't a hole."

River recognizes her, vaguely between her last stay here and Stefan's descriptions (in his journals and in his head). Welcome, Caroline, to River trying to be helpful.

"Structural differences are inexact but solid."

[ holo ]

[disparage]

Oh! Someone not from home. Maybe Mystic Falls isn't the centre of all things crap, after all.

Caroline frowns. Confused seems to be the emotion of the day.

But the girl seems harmless. And she's not Katherine. So bonus. "... I don't understand what that means exactly, but I've been informed I've been brought to this place by aliens." She bites her lip for a moment. "And you're not from Mystic Falls."

[ visual ]

[biverbam.livejournal.com]

"Different planet," she explains. Poorly and with a vague air of annoyance, as is her usual fashion. "New system. You're all late." Not that River minds dealing with the initial explanations of time discrepancies, she's just exceptionally bad at doing it clearly.

After another few moments spent considering Caroline and she continues.

"The sky hides characteristic rock formations."