Who: Caroline and Stefan What: An attempted Rescue? When: 10/20 Where: Upside Down Warning: High Status: Completed via Gdoc
Caroline had lost track of how long she’d been in this hell. At first, she’d tried to reach anyone from Madison Valley, but all she received in return was a dial tone. Then, she’d used her vampire speed to dart around this dark version of Madison Valley, in search of any way out, but all she found was plants and creatures that wanted to chow down on her. The vampire wasn’t a stranger to being hunted, but it had been a while since she’d been involved in a fight for her life.
On top of all of this, she was scared for her two daughters. What if they were here too? The thought terrified Caroline more than her own death. Lizzie and Josie were strong, capable young women, but they were also human. Caroline could take a few hits and keep going, but her daughters could not. Unless it was a stake to the heart, Caroline would most likely survive it. Lizzie and Josie had so many more ways this place could end their lives. And right now, there was nothing Caroline could do about it.
All her focus had been on the creatures hunting her that she hadn’t spared much attention for the plants. It didn’t take long for them to make their presence as a potential apex predator known. They grabbed Caroline by the ankle and dragged her down, impaling her on a stray sharp branch and wasting no time encasing her in a cage made from thick vines. They wrapped around her limbs, immobilizing her and gagging her to keep Caroline from calling out for help. Injured and incapable of healing with the branch in her gut, the blond couldn’t break free.
She was trapped and the vines kept twisting around her, squeezing her tight, and mummifying her until only golden strands were visible from the top of her head.
Stefan wasn’t sure what to think about this Upside Down... except that he didn’t like the sound of it. Word was spreading about the darkness and the danger, and he was planning on staying put and riding this one out… but then he heard from Caroline. Her voice might have been the only one that would drive him into that dark and dangerous copy of Madison Valley.
Off he went. He had speed on his side, and power, but then again, so did she. If something had happened to her, he might… well. He didn’t want to think about what might overcome him if something were to take her away from him. (Even though she wasn’t his, and he wasn’t hers--though, he’d always be hers in one way or another…)
He went to the last place he thought she would be, considering what she’d said her message, and started the hunt. Soon, he came across her covered in vines of some kind. Like a rabid animal, he began to ferociously tear at them to get them away from her. “Caroline?! Caroline, I’m here!”
Stefan’s voice reached her through the darkness. It tugged at her heart and urged her to start to struggle against the vines that bound her tightly. Around her, she felt the vines start to loosen and then completely give way. The blond blinked against the dim lighting and relief washed over her at the sight of Stefan’s face.
“Stefan…” With her hands free, Caroline reached down and ripped the piece of wood free from her gut. A scream erupted past her lips, but the brief pain was worth it. She would heal now at least.
“You are definitely the best thing I’ve seen in a while,” Caroline said, breaking into a brief smile as she attempted to stand.
Stefan would never let her give up. He would fight with her, for her, against her if he had to. He wasn’t going to give up on her, and wasn’t going to let her give up, either. The vines were putting up quite a fight, but Stefan wasn’t going to surrender, either.
“Caroline,” he repeated her name after she said his. The rest of the branches and vines were ripped away, and then she was free. “Define a while...” he teased with a smirk, reaching down to wrap arms around her and help her to her feet.
“Uh, however long I’ve been here?” Caroline allowed Stefan to help her to her feet. Once she was vertical, Caroline immediately pulled him into a hug and buried her face in his shoulder. His smell, the feel of him solid and real beneath her arms, allowed Caroline to feel safe and she relaxed momentarily in his embrace.
“As much as I would love to keep hugging you in sheer relief, we should probably find a way out of here,” Caroline said, pulling back. With the obstruction removed from her stomach, her wound was already beginning to heal, but Caroline was still weak. She needed to feed and soon.
“Do you remember which way you came from?” This place was very confusing and what one thought was real often turned out not to be.
Soon enough, Caroline’s arms were around him. Stefan held her close for a long moment, feeling a familiarity that he didn’t realize he’d missed--and wanting to provide her sturdiness and comfort after her ordeal.
“Probably,” he responded as she withdrew. “I’m sure we’ll be able to get back.” --at least, he hoped. “Are you all right?” Stefan added, watching her critically for a moment. She was bloody, but not broken. So long as she gave a thumbs-up, he’d be fine.
Then he lifted his head to glance around. “This place looks so different--and yet the same as the street above.”
Caroline glanced down at her bloodied shirt and then back up at Stefan. She gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s fine. I couldn’t heal before, but now that I’m free, my healing factor should kick in. I am starving though.” Caroline didn’t know how long she’d been trapped in this place. Part of her believed that time passed differently here.
The blond followed his gaze as he took in the flipped, darker version of Madison Valley. “I know. It’s weird and, obviously, far more dangerous, but let’s ponder that later. Let’s get the hell out of here.” Caroline wanted to check in on Lizzie and Josie. “I feel like the longer we stay here, the better chance we have of becoming a meal.”
Or just dead.
Caroline took his hand firmly. “I’ll let you take the lead.”
“We’ll have to find you something to eat, then.” Stefan responded with something of a nod. He wasn’t sure where they were going to find her something to sake her hunger, but he knew staying right here wasn’t going to do any better. He certainly wouldn’t find any food in this place. If there were humans here, he wouldn’t partake in that… and he wasn’t about to eat any of the creatures in this world. Whatever it was.
“Definitely don’t want to be a meal for one of these creatures.” He wrapped his hand around hers. “This way. …I think,” he said, then turned to lead the way back the way he came. Hopefully they could find the way back easily enough. Quickly enough.
This place was dark and dreary, dimly lit, with… snow. Ash? Something floating in the air. Stefan wasn’t sure what all this was, and he was pretty sure he wanted no part of it. While he was hoping they’d make it out of this god-forsaken place without further encounters with the monsters, he didn’t have his hopes up.
“I think I can make it till we get out of here.” Caroline had perfected control over her hunger faster than vampires far older than herself. She owed a lot of that to the man whose life she’d take upon first making the transition. After that day, she’d made a vow to always make sure she was well fed before being around humans and to always remember they were people, not animals. They had lives. Someone loved them as someone loved her.
“Because there is no way in hell I’m taking a bite out of any of the gross things running around here.” Caroline cringed at the thought. If the situation became desperate enough, she knew she wouldn’t have a choice. Her body would desicate if she didn’t feed and then she’d be no help to Stefan at all. However, they would fall off that bridge when they came to it.
Caroline followed Stefan as he started leading them back the way he came. Even though Caroline didn’t need to breathe, she took note that the air was heavier here and that there was something floating in it. Ash? Snow? Whatever it was, Caroline did want to find out.
Suddenly, the vampire picked up on the sound of footsteps. “Stefan…” The blond trailed off, pulling the other vampire to a halt beside her. “Did you hear that?”
Why the hell was she experiencing shades of Jurassic Park right now?
"I hope so," Stefan said, a tark tint to his voice as they started to move together through this upside down world. He had fed before he came here, and though animal blood didn't satisfy for as long as human blood did, Stefan could carry her out of here if need be.
"No." He wasn't sure if any of the gross things running around here even counted as food.
Were those footsteps? Stefan thought he heard something only a split second before Caroline said his name. He stopped with her, and turned to look around. Something felt ominous--like there was something hunting them. Watching them. "I--" he said, but then trailed off as something came into view.
It was huge. Caroline’s eyes widened as they took in the sight of the creature slowly coming towards them. As it unfurled its face(?) and let out a primal cry, Caroline shivered. She’d seen a lot of creepy, deadly things in her time as a supernatural being, but this was definitely different. She could almost sense its bloodlust. It wanted to make a meal out of them and for once, the vampire didn’t feel like she was at the top of the food chain.
Turning to Stefan, she could tell he was just as surprised as she was at the sight of the thing standing before them. “I think we should run. Like now. I don’t know how we’d beat it and I’m still healing.” Caroline didn’t want anything to happen to Stefan; this was his second chance and like hell was he going to lose it in a nightmare place like this.
“We can beat him with a vampire speed and get to the portal opening.” Caroline squeezed his hand reassuringly before taking off as quickly as she could. The two of them would be a blur to the beast and once on the other side, Caroline swore she glimpsed a spec of light that might mean the portal was close.
Stefan had never seen anything so... huge and terrifying. It reminded him of the black and white films with the giant bugs and... Godzilla. That was the name of the giant creature. This was like Godzilla, only considerably more horrifying.
The fearsome shriek made Stefan recoil. He tugged on Caroline a step away from the thing. It wasn't that he was afraid. He was terrified.
"Now. Run." Stefan returned. He didn't release her hand, though, as he took off toward the portal opening just after the squeeze. Together they could outrun this thing. They were vampires, after all. It was large, but seemed considerably slower than they were.
Even with Caroline injured, the two of them managed to squeak past the Godzilla-like creature and, with everything Caroline had, she propelled herself through the portal opening. Caroline winced as her body crashed into the ground. If she wasn’t a vampire, she would have bruises on top of her bruises for that little stunt. Still, it was worth it to get away from that creature. From that place.
Pushing herself up on one hand, Caroline flipped her dirty blond hair back over her shoulders and looked over at Stefan. He looked a little worse for wear from their exit, but he would survive. Gently, Caroline tugged at his hand. Despite the rough landing from the portal, their fingers are still interlocked.
“Come on, Stefan. Let’s get away from here before that thing comes after us.”
Stefan followed her through the portal opening, crashing and rolling beside her. He turned around, quick as a whip, half expecting the thing to come thundering through after them… but so far so good. He waited for a moment, the world tense and frozen.
“Yes,” he responded, eyes still on the portal. After another brief moment, he finally turned to look over at her. Even covered in dust and muck, disheveled, with clothes torn and muddy… she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Ever known.
“Let’s get you home.” He climbed to his feet, giving her a gentle tug, using his free hand to help her up to hers.