event post

[endingpoint]

Who: Jane Doe - but Alice Kruger to you, now.
Where: Various places
When: Duration of event
Rating: PGish, tiny Alice walked through a crime scene so maybe a little about that.
Summary: Alice is 5 years old and her parents were just murdered. Now she's in Wonderland? Also she has a South African accent SURPRISE.
The Story:

[ The last time she saw her mother, she was putting Ian in bed with her and whispering to stay very quiet and still and lock the bedroom door. Quiet as a mouse, it was a game they played. "Take care of your brother, Alice." It's the last thing her mother said to her, and Alice takes it very seriously, wrapping herself around her two-year-old brother protectively. She doesn't know why, but she stays just the way she's supposed to, quiet as a mouse.

She hears a very loud bang, and then hears her mother scream before there's another very loud bang and then nothing. Alice is only five, she doesn't quite know what the bangs were, but she's afraid, clinging to Ian even tighter. Footsteps come up the stairs and she expects to see her daddy but once the door is forced open it's another man.

But, she knows him. He's been outside of their house before. He's nice to her. He holds out his hand and she gets up, taking it and leading her brother out of the room and down the stairs. When she looks in the living room, her mother and father are on the floor and the last thing Alice remembers is so much blood. She resists then, wanting to go to them, but she's picked up and hurried out. Closing her eyes tightly when she's in a car, she only opens them again when the rocking of the vehicle stops.

Opening her eyes finds her lying curled up in a little ball in the middle of a hallway. Frowning, she looks around, turning in a circle when she stands. "Mum? Daddy? Ian?" She doesn't know where she is, so she starts walking, knocking on random doors. ]

Kitchen

[ Wandering into a place downstairs that smells good, Alice is enticed by a plate she can just barely see. She doesn't quite know what the food is, but decides she's hungry. So, she stands on her very tiptoes and a little hand reaches up to the counter, coming back with half a sandwich. Taking a bite, she chews slowly and decides it's good, so she sits right there against the counter on the floor in her pajamas, taking slow bites and wondering where her brother is. ]

Just outside the mansion

[ Alice doesn't realize the danger of being outside, not yet, and in her bare feet it's too cold for her to stay anyway. But she thinks maybe her baby brother got outside somehow, so she goes looking for him, calling out his name as she wraps her arms around herself. All of that yelling draws the attention of a dinosaur, and as she walks unaware, a raptor stalks what could be very easy prey. ]

Tea Room

[ This as all been very exhausting, and Alice is confused and sad, finding an empty room and sitting down at the table there. Then, she starts crying, not being very brave, she knows, and wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. ]

I want my daddy.

[ It's a sad little declaration from a sad little girl who has no idea that Wonderland, even with its dinosaurs, might be the easiest go of it she'll have for quite a long time. ]

Comments

tea room »

[mucked]

[ they'd talked a big talk, peggy and jane, about having all the puzzle pieces necessary to best cope with how an event might exploit jane's past. the one rather big puzzle piece that peggy never got, however, was jane's childhood. her name, her family, her background beyond a throw away comment about a south african accent.

but, then again, a lot of people could be from south africa.

and it's all very far away from peggy's thoughts when she strides into the tea room on the fifth floor (hoping to grab a scone with sultanas in) and finds a crying girl. oh lordy. she clears her throat. ]

-- Are the petit-fours that bad?

[ a swing and a miss. peggy frowns; she doesn't really know what to say to a child. but there's more grace in action than in words, she supposes, and so she takes a seat beside the girl. peggy shakes out a cloth napkin and holds it out like a handkerchief. ]

[endingpoint]

[ Alice sniffles and looks up. This lady sounds kind of like her mum, but exactly. ]

What's a petit four?

[ It momentarily distracts her and she takes the napkin, not quite sure what to do with it. ]

[mucked]

This, [ she picks up a pretty little sweet and takes a bite, ] is a petit four. [ peggy doesn't wait to swallow before she talks through a mouthful of mostly-chewed cake. ] And I suppose that can't be the problem because these are rather delicious.

[ if the girl won't dry her eyes, then peggy will instead nudge the platter forward. ]

[endingpoint]

[ Alice sniffles a little and looks at the cakes, then takes one, taking a bite and chewing softly. Then, there's a tiny smile. ]

It's good. I like it. Can I have more?

dinosaurs oh my

[startingpoint]

[ Kurt hasn't had much time to process everything that's happening around them, but his first thought, always, is to get to Sarah when they're separated. He hasn't found her yet, though, and he's worried, searching the mansion for her. Innocently, he steps outside and discovers they're not alone. There are actual dinosaurs roaming around, and now both his confusion and his fears for Sarah have increased sharply. He needs to find her.

He hears a small voice calling out, though, and there's very little time to react as he runs forward, grabbing the little girl and carrying her. ]

Hold onto me.

[ There are obvious obstacles between them and the mansion, and he can't outrun the raptor but he's trying, looking ahead for a place to hide and finally noticing a ditch. He runs faster, jumping in and covering the little girl's body with his own. It's enough to startle the raptor, causing it to stumble and fall, and it apparently decides they're not worth the effort, running in a different direction. Kurt is breathing heavily as he sits up, reaching for the little girl's hand, ready to run again. ]

[endingpoint]

[ Alice shrieks loudly just before someone grabs her, and she holds onto him tightly, hiding her face away from the monster. When he covers her up she curls into a tight little ball but peeks at him when he reaches for her hand, shaking her head firmly. There are monsters out there and she is not going. ]

[startingpoint]

[ He's panting a little, his heart pounding fast as he whips his head over to look at her. They're not safe here for long. ]

We have to move, okay? We have to get into that building up ahead.

Random Door!

[townwithoutme]

[Perhaps Kayo should be a little more cautious about opening the door for strangers, since she knows that at home she'll be murdered by one, but it's more of an afterthought after she's already gone and done the thing (and an afterthought that she probably won't listen to later).

There's...a little girl at the door. Even littler than she is.]

Um. ...Can I help you?

[She isn't really sure what else to say, to be honest.]

[endingpoint]

[ Alice comes face to face with an older person and she looks up. ]

My name is Alice and I'm five years old and I'm looking for my baby brother Ian and my mummy and daddy.

[ Not exactly...helpful, but she's only five. ]

[townwithoutme]

[No, that wasn't helpful at all. Kayo awkwardly glances down the hall, hoping there's an adult nearby looking for her.]

I'm sorry. I don't know who those people are.

[It's absolutely not the right thing to say but it's what falls out of her mouth.]

Um. ...Do you know where you saw them last?

kitchen

[noreason]

[Seeing Jane Alice sitting in the kitchen is the first sign Naoki gets that there's an event going on. At first he thinks she's just some new kid--there seem to be more and more children around these days--but looking closer he sees the resemblance to Jane. There's a brief moment where he thinks she might be Jane's daughter when she was young, but he dismisses that. It's much more likely that this is an event.]

Jane?

[He keeps his distance at first. He...might be kind of frightening to a child if she doesn't remember who he is.]

[endingpoint]

[ Looking up with her mouth full of sandwich, she shakes her head. Once she's swallowed, she looks at him, not afraid but...wary. ]

I'm Alice.

[noreason]

...Alice.

[Well. Okay? If this is a little Jane, he guesses that makes sense, based on what she's told him about her past.]

Are you lost?

kitchen;

[thereporter]

[ Julia doesn't like staying cooped up in her room. She spent so much time out of the house in the weeks before coming to Wonderland, and she hasn't lived alone in years. Sleeping somewhere without Peter or Barbie to fill the silence was more unsettling than it was peaceful.

This event gives her less of a reason to keep herself cooped up. She gets a camera out of one of the closets, not unlike the one she used at home for the newspaper, and wanders around the mansion. She mostly avoids the grounds; the dinosaurs seem to be minding their own business for the moment, and Julia knows better than to mess with them. She still doesn't know many people, but it doesn't take her long to put together that the sudden influx of children isn't a normal thing, either.

Eventually, she makes a stop at the kitchen (having access to tons of food still hasn't lost it's novelty and Julia has been taking advantage of it) and finds a little girl on the floor. Julia glances around, hoping to spot an adult, but there isn't one in sight. ]

Hi there. [ Julia gestures to her pajamas. ] Didn't feel like getting dressed this morning, huh?

kitchen;

[endingpoint]

[ Looking down at her pajamas, Alice looks back up at the adult. ]

It was bedtime when then, I was here.

[ And she just doesn't understand magic closets yet or...really picking out clothes for herself. She could, but it'd be a tutu and leggings. ]

kitchen;

[thereporter]

[ Julia smiles, crouching down in front of her. ]

You just woke up here? That must have been scary for you. [ It certainly was for Julia, and she was a fully functioning adult. ] My name is Julia.

Kitchen

[morethan084]

[Skye was still trying to figure this whole place out, and despite knowing she should be in bed, Skye felt absolutely useless just laying there. Instead she was up, hunched over slightly because it still hurts a lot to walk. Spotting a young girl sitting on the floor in the kitchen, Skye looks around hoping to see her parents.

Cautiously she approaches her, just in case she's afraid. Which, honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if she was.]

Hey. You okay?

[endingpoint]

[ Alice shakes her head, sandwich gone now. And now she doesn't know what to do. ]

I'm lost.

[ It's the only word she knows for being somewhere so unfamiliar. ]

[morethan084]

You're not the only one.

[Yeah, that probably wasn't helpful. Skye carefully lowers herself so she's on her level, but it was hard to keep the pain she's feeling off her face.]

I'm Skye, what's your name?

[Skye asks gently, frowning slightly at how scared she looks.]

outside! so late but I promised dinosaurs

[dangerouslyunhip]

[Teddy had needed time and space to clear his head after his rude awakening that morning, but it turns out that even taking a walk across the grounds is a lot more complicated than he might have thought-- it's the theme for the day, he supposes, and he wonders what it says about him that while he thinks dinosaurs are cool, they're not all that surprising at this point.

Well. If he can shift himself to impersonate any VIP under the sun, dinosaurs might as well be a thing.

As fascinating as they are, he's not foolish enough to hang around outside of the mansion and make himself easy prey, and he's about to retreat back to the mansion and find somewhere else to get some time alone when he hears someone calling a name from a ways off. Yelling out here in the open doesn't seem like the brightest idea, but when he finally spots her and sees that it's a kid, he stops dead in his tracks-- just in time to notice a figure slinking towards her from behind.]

Hey! Hey, look out!

[He breaks into a run, unsure of what, exactly, he can do to fend off a raptor, but before he can give it much thought, he feels his body beginning to shift almost on its own, taking on a new form on instinct-- and moments later, a brilliant green Deinonychus skids to a stop between Alice and the raptor stalking her, tail swaying as it prepares to cut off the raptor's access.]

omg my hero

[endingpoint]

[ Alice turns around just in time to scream as she stumbles backward. Then, she falls down on her bottom and scoots as she watches.

The raptor, at first, seems ready for a fight, lunging and gnashing its teeth. But as Alice watches, the new monster is trying to protect her so she closes her eyes tightly, too scared to watch. There's no way to get to her, and the meal would have been small anyway. So, the raptor backs down, giving one more loud sound of aggression before turning and running off, into the hedge maze.

Alice, by now, has her knees drawn up to her chest with her face buried against them and her eyes still squeezed shut. ]

[dangerouslyunhip]

[By the time she opens her eyes, the dinosaur that had come to her rescue will be gone— instead, in its place, she'll see a teenage boy with a mussed mop of blonde hair, down on one knee with a hand against the ground as he catches his breath.]

That was— kind of a rush.

[He rakes his free hand through his hair, looking over to her. It's entirely possible that he'd scared her when he'd come running in covered in scales, but even if he has to make use of that strategy again in the near future, he wants to make sure she knows that he's just a person— and trying to help.]

Are you okay?

random doors

[directed]

[By chance, the small girl knocking at random doors happens to be in the same stretch of hall as the small, grimy boy who isn't so much knocking as he is trying to picking locks. It's a newer skill, one he's not perfect at yet--and all the more reason for Michael to be cross when another child wanders closer, calling out for her parents like some twit.]

Oi! You want to knock it off? Not all of us are looking to get nabbed out here.

[Because Michael may not know where he is--in fact, he doesn't have a bloody clue. But it's warm and it's posh and he's damn sure there's got to be something worth stealing and selling around here. Loads of it, and he's going to need it. All he's got left to his name just now is a shiner of a black eye and some hairpins that aren't doing much to get the door he's at open.]

[endingpoint]

[ Alice pauses, looking at him, definitely younger than him. She doesn't know if he can help her, especially as she watches what he's doing. ]

Do you live here?

[ She means Wonderland in general and she frowns. ]

I don't. I want my dad and my mum.

[directed]

[Do you live here, and Michael can't help but let out a mean little laugh. Maybe the girl's daft.]

Do I look like I live here? [The hallway is richly decorated in his opinion, carpet on the floors, mirrors on the walls, lights that aren't just candles in lanterns. Compare that to Michael, dressed in rags with a bruised eye, hollowed out cheeks and more bones showing than muscle on his lean little body.

He doesn't live there, no. He's got no clue how he got there besides. Already he half expects some adult to come wandering by, probably some pervert who's got a thing for snatched up kids.

And here he is, talking to a daft girl wandering the halls. Well. It's easy enough to act like he doesn't care.]

You'd be better off figuring out where they keep the goods in this place. People like this gotta have something worth stealing. [And to that end, he focuses once more on the lock. Not entirely though; he's still got sight of the child, just in the edges of his vision.

...She looks even younger than him.]