[OPEN] If you count falling stars to be a bad sign

[mypartnerincrime]

Who: Chloe Price plus [OPEN] to everyone else!
Where: In the woods, just outside the mansion
When: Evening of March 2
Rating: PG-13??
Summary: Chloe finds herself in Wonderland but thinks she's somewhere else. *dundundun*
The Story:

Chloe is backing away from the edge of the cliff, her sight obscured by the heavy rainfall. All she sees are blurred outlines of the trees, the lighthouse, of her... she who had given her new hope and new happiness over the past week. I'm leaving her, Chloe thinks desperately. The realization came to her, quick and piercing like a blade to the heart that the blue-haired girl is reduced to tears. She puts her hands to her face and closes her eyes. "I'm so.... sorry," she cries out.

And then--

Silence, as if the someone had muted the world. The only thing Chloe hears now is her own crying.

She opens her eyes while the tears continue to fall and looks. There are trees all over the place, their dark silhouettes looming over Chloe. But they are standing still, undisturbed. The rain had indeed stopped, but the lighthouse had disappeared too. So did the cliff and--

Chloe calls out to the woods. She calls out a name again and again until she is hoarse. Has it happened? Has fate finally successfully separated them, after so many failed attempts over the week? Chloe makes her way through the forest, fighting off broken branches and thorny bushes. She keeps calling, half-shouting, half-sobbing. She is lost...

And then Chloe hears something other than her own weeping. A few feet away from her she hears a low rumbling sound, not unlike a thunderstorm. As Chloe moves faster, the rumbling grows louder and louder. At last, she is out of the woods. In the distance is a beautiful mansion, illuminated only by the sudden bursts of light that are falling from the sky but the sky is becoming darker and darker, as if being robbed of all heavenly light.

Are those... stars? Chloe wonders as she continues to watch the shower of light. Maybe it has happened and she 's actually in, you know, heaven (or hell, if you count falling stars to be a bad sign). Chloe stops walking and stares at the mansion. She did it. It's done, she thinks.

"I'm finally dead... And alone again," Chloe mutters bitterly but feeling calmer than she had ever been that night. She gradually stops crying as the reality of death hit her; there is no longer anything she can do. Death has finally caught up to her. If she is indeed dead, then Chloe no longer sees any reason to continue her search. In fact, she doesn't want to find her in this place.

After what seemed like hours, Chloe starts walking towards mansion basked in light and darkness. "Might as well check out my new crib, then," Chloe sighs. "Since it looks like I'll be staying here for like... forever."

[Chloe can be found wandering near the the entrance of the mansion then eventually exploring the first floor.]

Comments

[mypartnerintime]

If Wonderland really is going through an event, then Max can't believe she's lucked out enough to have three good ones in a row. At the same time, the pile-up of bad juju she's missed out on is bound to hit her full force when she does get to a bad event. So she's not very inclined to push her luck for long (especially if Chara's outdoors too). Besides, she's run out of film after taking tons of photos of cool ghostly visions, and it's time for a reload at the nearest closet.

She makes her way back into the Mansion, eyes running over her camera, trying to figure out if the auto-focus needs slight adjustment. After making some tweaks (not without a fair share of frustrated sighs) she holds it up to her eye, staring down the first floor corridor. The camera whirs, lenses turn, the blurry image comes into focus - and makes her freeze.

For a moment, it's just an image in a viewfinder, a corridor framing the figure of a girl.

But just for a moment. Black boots scuffed from overuse. Eyes widening, she holds her breath. Suspenders hanging lazily around jeans. Lowers the camera, hands feeling strangely light, sensitive. Leather jacket. Stows the camera away in her bag, purely on muscle memory, and steps forward, one, two, three, until she's running.

Blue hair.

It must be- it is, there's no way it isn't- No golden, hazy dust here- No mere vision of some Chloe she barely knew- But it seems too good to be true, some trick- But no one would dare, no- And she's waited patiently this long-

Thoughts race through her mind until they all get jumbled together and the only real thing she thinks and hears is a strange pounding in her ears, a rhythm to her shoes squeaking on the floor, until she launches herself forward against the back of the figure and wraps her arms around it- and oh, it's so very real, oh it's not disappearing, it's not retreating into just another vivid dream before a rude awakening, so she grips tight, not caring for subtlety of any sort, and she feels for this moment that she truly can't let go.

And words tumble out, strange and unbidden from the tightness of her throat, high pitched and too loud.

"...You're such a dork-!"

[mypartnerincrime]

Chloe is standing in the first floor hallway, trying to figure out where to head next. She feels hungry now but misses her medication even more.

"Damn. I should've brought some to the lighthouse," Chloe mutters. "Would have some now if I did." She reaches into her pockets, hoping that she'd find at least one small bag of dope wedged between the creases of her jeans. Nothing. Chloe sighs.

Then suddenly, someone knocks into her and hugs her from behind, so strongly that she momentarily loses her balance. What the f--- But before the thought is even completed in her head, Chloe hears a quivering, high-pitched but very familiar voice in her ear.

No fucking way. Waves of shock course through her, as if suddenly electrocuted. Chloe turns around huriedly.

"MAX?" she shouts. Her best friend is right there, clinging on to her just like when they were in her room. This is not good. Chloe grabs Max's arms and squeezes them, as if to check if she was real. Unfortunately, she feels very real. Chloe is panicking now. "Max, what are you doing here?! Did something go wrong? Please don't tell me you're dead too," she pleads.

[mypartnerintime]

Max can't quite hear Chloe properly as she starts to become incoherent, determined not to let go however sore her arms become. She digs her face against the other girl's shoulder and struggles to make herself sensible. It's a small success, but her voice is still hoarse and tight. "Chloe, oh you're here- you're here! Oh, you're safe!"

She angles head back and to the side to look up into her best friend's face. "We're safe, Chloe. Not dead." She can't fight down the stupid, dopey grin on her face- not that she wants to. To drive the point home she practically shakes the other girl, pulling them both side to side because she has no other idea what to do with herself. "You're not dead!"

With the last words the implications of their one week together in Arcadia Bay spring back into her mind, and there's so much to say, so many apologies to make and so many words of affection, but her mouth can't seem to keep up. So instead she continues to smile her silly smile, continues to pull Chloe into a bear hug (or what passes for one as Max), and not even try to calm down.

[mypartnerincrime]

Max is hugging her-- practically breaking her ribs actually-- and Chloe has her arms around her too, only not as tightly. She is still in a daze, confused with what her best friend had just said."What do you mean I'm not dead?" Chloe asks in disbelief.

And then suddenly, as if realizing something just now, she pulls away from the embrace to face Max once again. "Holy shit, Max!" she shakes Max's shoulders. "You can bring back dead people too, can't you? That is awesome, Super Max!" Chloe even pumps the air for emphasis.

[mypartnerintime]

Wow that is. Completely wrong.

Max stares up at Chloe with an incredibly silly but blank grin because that might be the worse possible guess Chloe could have made. Then she bursts out laughing, digs her face again into Chloe's shoulder, shakes her head.

"No, no." She shakes with more laughter. It's not even that funny but laughing comes easily right now. And she realizes she hasn't really laughed like this in a long time.

"We're not in Arcadia Bay anymore. This is just some... other dimension. Wonderland." It's a pretty crazy explanation, but Max trusts Chloe to believe her, as she did before. As she always will, now that they're together- and being in the same place seems way more important than what the place is, anyway.

[mypartnerincrime]

Chloe looks at Max then raises an eyebrow. Really, Max is just so full of bad jokes sometimes. Trust Max to laugh at her own joke. "Oh Max," Chloe tells her best friend as she rolls her eyes this time. "Even in the after life, you still have your sense of humor... which is to say no sense of humor. I mean, really?" Chloe gestures to the hallway they're standing in. "Wonderland? As in Alice in Wonderland? Come on Max, what are you, 6?"

[mypartnerintime]

After another moment of laughter, Max finally lets go and holds the other girl at arm's length. It seems a little pointless to struggle explaining this all to Chloe, at least at the moment. The importance of the situation seems to lessen compared to the fact that they're in a situation at all... together.

"In a day you're seriously gonna regret saying that," she says, squeezing Chloe's arms. But after a moment her smile starts to fade- it lingers only slightly. Her voice takes on a softer tone, too. "I... knew you'd come. But we have loads of catching up to do."

[mypartnerincrime]

Chloe scratches her head because Max is reaalllyy making no sense at all right now. Maybe Max and I smoked some joint that night in the lighthouse and I don't remember and now we're still pretty fucking high.

But... Chloe's been high so many times that she knows when she's out of it and when she's right in the head. Granted, none of this is making any sense right now but Chloe feels pretty sober as of the moment and if there's one thing she's certain of right now, is that she is not fucking high.

Which means... for once, it's Max who's acting all crazy. "Max," Chloe says it slowly, to make sure that Max understands every word she's saying. "What do you mean we need to catch up? We we're just together a few hours ago."

"The lighthouse? The tornado? The... you know," Chloe clears her throat. "The kiss?"

[mypartnerintime]

Uhhhh, what.

What.

Max definitely doesn't 'wake-and-bake' like Chloe does, so if anyone's high it's just Chloe. And based on what she just said, she's from the exact moment that she- that Max loses her. Max is from one week later, so she should know everything that Chloe knows, but there wasn't any kiss.

The surprise wipes the smile off Max's face entirely. Her grip on Chloe's arms becomes tighter as she shakes her head in a small side-to-side motion. "Y- you're joking right?" That's a terrible joke. Literally enough to get Max really pissed if Chloe's just pulling her leg. "We're talking about when I had to... use the butterfly photo?"

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper is on the first floor when she comes in, currently sitting on the stairs with a notebook and rapidly clicking his pen. He looks up when she comes in.]

Did any of the memories hit you? I don't think they'd hurt, but I haven't gotten any proof yet.

[A beat.]

Oh hey, you're new, aren't you?

[mypartnerincrime]

[Chloe comes in from the huge, grand doors in front of the mansion. She sees a boy with a notebook and pen sitting on the stairs a few feet away from her.

Out of the blue, he suddenly asks her a question. Chloe raises an eyebrow and simply looks at him. Then he asks another question. This time she has an answer.]

Uh yeah, I'm pretty much new to this freak show. Just arrived a few minutes ago...or hours...

[Chloe stops talking for a while, looking slightly lost.]

Shit, I'm not exactly sure.

[She shrugs.]

Well, whatever. The name's Chloe.

[krmvgivv]

Dipper. I arrived almost a year ago. [He tucks away the notebook and pen, though he doesn't get up.] I'd say Welcome to Wonderland, but honestly, I don't expect anyone to feel welcome after being dragged to another dimension against their will.

[mypartnerincrime]

[Chloe sits next to Dipper on the stairs and looks at him.]

Wonderland, huh? Is that what you call this place? Sounds like a shitty way of making people feel better about being in here in the first place.

[She stares at the wall in front of them and mutters to herself.]

Wonderland, my balls. There's nothing wonderful about dying then getting sucked into the afterlife. Not fun at all.

[Chloe faces Dipper and starts talking normally again.]

So what's your story, Dipper? How'd you end up here?

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper looks over at her and raises an eyebrow.]

...this isn't the afterlife. And it's called Wonderland because that's... where it is. Does the story Alice in Wonderland exist in your world?

[mypartnerincrime]

[It's Chloe's turn to raise an eyebrow. Her mind is suddenly filled with questions, all of which she decides to shoot at Dipper.]

Okay, back up. What do you mean "your world"? How many freaking worlds are there? And duh, of course I've heard of Wonderland. Who hasn't?

[Chloe's voice gets a tiny bit louder.]

But most importantly, how can this creepy place not be the afterlife? I was literally seconds away from getting killed before I wound up here.

[krmvgivv]

Lucky you, you get to put the afterlife off for a little while then. [Dipper shrugs.] There are a lot of worlds. And you're not the only person who'll be dead if they go home. But I'm not anywhere close to dying. [Yet. If what Ford's said is true he isn't sure how long he'll have, but at least he knows it's more than seconds.] And I have people here from the future who can confirm.

Also? Some people from those other worlds haven't heard of it. So it's always worth checking.

[mypartnerincrime]

[This time, Chloe raises both of her eyebrows, as if amazed.]

Well, you know a lot for a little kid. [She grins.] What are you, some kind of kid wonder who's super smart and knows everything that's going on?

[Her smile falters a bit.]

So tell me then Detective Dipper, if this isn't the freaking afterlife, then what the fuck am I doing here?

[fulllifeconsequences]

Chara doesn't like to stay put for long, and these falling memories littering Wonderland... they're just extra motivation. They don't mean anything, but the novelty of falling stars is worth enough as it is.

They've already taken a look around the mansion, so they're heading for the entrance hall when they run into someone new.

They stop. It'd be easy enough to just move to the side, let her pass. But Chara's... Chara's an inconvenient child like that. They just stand in her way, smiling their bright little smile.

"Howdy," they announce. "I have not seen you before."

[mypartnerincrime]

Before Chloe can explore the first floor further, she finds herself in front of a little girl who is just standing in the middle of the hallway... or is it a boy? She is unsure but quite intrigued.

Howdy? Who the hell says "howdy" anymore? Chloe thinks incredulously. Well... after a second, I could think of one person who'd say something as dorky as that. The thought makes her grin.

"Well, you're pretty cute." Chloe greets the child. "What's your name, kid?"

[fulllifeconsequences]

Wowie! This is a novelty. They're cute. They're a kid. How utterly... humanizing. This person absolutely must be new. Chara doubts she'd say something like that to something like them otherwise.

"I am Chara," they announce, watching Chloe keenly. Will that name in particular get a reaction? Maybe it would have been more fun to refuse to give one. Let her name the fallen human! "Who are you?"

[mypartnerincrime]

Chloe smiles at Chara. It's been a while since she's seen a kid. There aren't that many in Arcadia Bay. It's actually kinda sad seeing a kid here, Chloe thinks.

"I'm Chloe," she tells Chara. Chloe squats so that she's now face-to-face with Chara. She looks kindly at her. "So Chara, what's your story?"

[fulllifeconsequences]

Now Chara knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that Chloe must not be from around here. As much as any of the mansion's residents can be from here, anyway. She's smiling, she's getting on Chara's eye level, she's asking about a story nobody in their right mind would ask about. Nobody wants to hear about Chara's story. It's creepy. It doesn't have a happy ending.

So they fold their hands behind their back and rock back on their heels playfully. "Mine? It's not interesting at all. I'd much rather hear yours. You must be awfully new, right? I can tell because you look lost."

[mypartnerincrime]

Chloe's smile falters. Her story? Wow, where do I even begin? Flashes of the past week rush in her mind-- Nathan, the gun, Frank, the swimming pool, the dark room... Rachel's body. Chloe lingers for a moment in that last memory; the smell of rotting flesh hits her nose but she dismisses it. Chloe knows it not real. It's just her mind playing tricks on her.

And now she sees the tornado in her head, vivid and haunting, just as it had been when she first saw it by the lighhouse. Chloe didn't want to re-live it; especially not to some little kid she just met. Instead, she lets out a little chuckle. "Yeah, I am lost. I just got here," Chloe tells Chara. Although not really willing to share her story, Chloe actually likes Chara. Chara reminds her of herself and Max when they were little kids themselves: always exploring on their own, so keen on discovering everything they could. She winks at the child. "Mind giving me a tour of the place?"

[fulllifeconsequences]

Not giving an answer is an answer unto itself. Chloe's story, then, must be creepy too. Must also lack that perfect happy ending. So Chara doesn't push it. Knowing won't change anything for them -- it's not their world, it's not their story to meddle in. No point souring the conversation right when it's just begun. There will be time to pry, if they must, down the line.

So instead they wear their bright smile, and turn around. "Certainly. Let me show you the kitchen. It's the first place that I learned, and it's probably one of the most important." Gotta eat to live, right? And anyway, kitchens are a grounding, comforting place. White fur stuck in the drain, the warm smells of pastry and butterscotch and cinnamon. The warmth of a cup of golden flower tea. Chocolate bars in the fridge, where they won't melt. Even the containers of snails. All of them had a soothing power. Made you feel real, part of the world again. None of those things would exist in this kitchen unless asked for, but memory alone can be a powerful thing, right?

And there's one thing that's always in a kitchen, anyway. One bastion of security and safety.

Knives.

[mypartnerincrime]

Chloe is relieved that Chara is not insisting to find out her past. Maybe her story isn't exactly a fairytale, too. So she gets it, Chloe thinks. Smart kid. She is even happier to hear that there's actually a kitchen nearby. She hears her stomach grumble as she starts daydreaming of all the pancakes and bacon she used to eat at the diner in Arcadia Bay. "Sweet Jesus, there's a kitchen here?" Chloe rubs her hands together. "Oh man, I hope they have some pancakes... and sausages...." Her voice trails off as she starts looking around longingly for the entrance to the kitchen. She even sniffs the air hopefully, trying to get a whiff of the salty aroma of bacon sizzling on a pan or the sweet, thick scent of maple syrup drizzled on a stack of pancakes. Her mouth begins to water.

"Okay Chara," Chloe's voice suddenly businesslike as she snaps out of her reverie. She stands up and gestures to the hallway. "Where is this kitchen that you speak of?"