InsaneJournal

(day 245) open action / open video + private messages
open action / sector three.

[ the drone of the wardens announcing a new day isn’t jarring to elena in the least. it’s the day’s number, through her fog of sleep, that snags her attention. the repetition of her list of crimes. she awakes slowly and all at once, her eyes on the ceiling of a quiet apartment, in a familiar room. she seats up with a start.

she ignores her welcome basket with a burst of disquiet in her gut, her mind already adding this up despite her reluctance to believe it. she gets up out of her old bed, devoid of sheets. moving into the hall, into the living room and adjoining kitchen doesn’t help. it’s empty. she made sandwiches with damon in that kitchen that first day here. curled up on that couch with caroline countless times.

it’s the thought of caroline, damon, everyone she’s left and who isn’t here -- that prompts her to abandon the emptiness of the apartment and recheck the morning messages for one thing.

day 245. she’s been -- where? lost in the stabilizer? -- for three days. her jaw tightens around the belated fear, anger, and frustration towards this place clawing her throat. the devastation of knowing she’s returned or even that she hasn’t gone anywhere. she squeezes the communicator in her hands, nearly hard enough to break, but she doesn’t. can’t. wouldn’t.

she slips it onto her ear instead and heads for the building’s exit. ]

Care? Bonnie? [ she doesn’t think to call anyone else first. her need to get through to them is a tight ball of nerves in her gut. it’s for this place, for herself, for them. it’s from hopeless anger. this has reminded her what the wardens are capable of: loss. pain. fear. through it all she wants to see them, know they’re not going to disappear either. ] I’m here, okay? I’m - back. I woke up in Sector 3. [ she doesn’t include the specifics; she realizes they don’t hear the morbidness of where she woke up. ] I’ll be home soon. [ it’s the closest place to home she has here. ]

[ it's immediately after she leaves a message to caroline and bonnie that she pulls in a breath and reaches out to stefan. because it's stefan, because three days is a long time to have just disappeared. because she wants to hear his voice too. ] Stefan. Hey. I, uhm. I'm back. [ she swallows hard, sorry and angry for disappearing in the first place, despite how little control she had over it. ] I thought you should know. [ her voice is soft. she hangs up. ]

[ there's a part of elena that would like to go straight to damon, but she doesn't, somehow. instead, she calls him, her breath hitching lightly before she speaks: ] I woke up in our old apartment. They stitched my name onto my prison jumper this time. [ she pauses, licks her lips. ] I'll be at Caroline and Bonnie's.

[ it’s after she’s back at her apartment and talked to everyone she needs to that elena curls her feet under herself on her bed and makes a network-wide video. her eyes are glassy from all the reunions, but her smile is as reassuring as she can make it. ] Hey. It turns out I’m back. I guess the wardens weren’t done with me yet. [ there’s some weak wryness to lighten the mood. ] I thought everyone should know. [ and considering it’s newbie day: ] For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Elena.

I’m still up for that movie night if you are. [ reaching out to zatanna is kind of on top of her list here. she wants to go home more than anything, and yet... to think she could have been separated from the other girl both scares and devastates her. ]