fic: swallow me whole
Title: Swallow Me Whole
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Characters: Caroline centric, includes most of the ensemble.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me and the quote I used belongs to Margaret Atwood.
Word Count: 1431
Summary: All stories are about wolves. Even the ones you don’t expect. (Spoilers up to season four)
All stories are about wolves.
She read that somewhere, remembers it, highlighted it even, for reasons she doesn’t understand.
(Only, she really does, she just prefers not to think about it.)
All stories are about wolves.
Damon is the first to come into Caroline’s life. Sharp teeth and blue eyes that catch the light and hold her own like no one before him. He draws her in and circles around her until his teeth are in her skin and all she can think about is little red riding hood.
The color red is all around her, she can see it swirling behind her eyes, and she wonders when she had gotten so far off the path. (She never even liked wild flowers, she has always preferred roses.)
Then she is waking up on cold hard ground and she doesn’t remember-
champagne toasts and teeth and ‘I am so over you’
-how she got there. She doesn’t, she doesn’t, she doesn’t.
She can’t. Because if she does, then the world stops making sense. And she needs it to make sense.
All stories are about wolves.
Even the ones you don’t expect. Matt Donovan is supposed to be her high school sweetheart. They’re supposed to take their time and he’s supposed to get over Elena and they’re supposed to live their happy high school after.
Head Cheerleader and the Quarterback. They were destined in the stars.
But Matt doesn’t stare at her like he does Elena. He calls her petty and neurotic. He declares (promises) that they will never work out right before he kisses her. His mother hates her and he thinks its somehow Caroline’s fault. He tells stories of Elena and her parents and he smiles like he never smiles at her.
Matt’s teeth are sharper than they first appear. Sharper than anyone realizes.
Caroline has the scars to prove it.
All stories are about wolves.
Katherine is the worst kind. The kind dressed up like something else. The kind you don’t see coming. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. A monster wearing her best friend’s face. A mouth full of teeth and a pillow that snuffs out all of Caroline’s light.
When Caroline wakes up the world is a darker, scarier place.
When she wakes up, Caroline is all those things too.
Katherine is the worst kind of wolf. She bites down just hard enough to leave the scent of blood in the air.
All stories are about wolves.
Stefan is different. Stefan is the exception.
Stefan holds her close and washes away the blood on her hands. Stefan invites her into his world and he never lets go.
She doesn’t even notice when he stares her down and claims his place as alpha. Doesn’t even notice his stance.
She’s far too worried about the blood running down her throat.
Far too busy wanting more.
All stories are about wolves.
Tyler’s teeth don’t appear at will, instead they appear on the full moon and aim to kill. Tyler disappears and in his place is something that can kill her. Something that wants to.
Caroline thinks she should be used to that. That it should have sunk in by now.
Wolves come in all forms. They all want something from you. They will do anything to get it.
With Tyler comes more wolves. Wolves that cage her, torture her because they can. Wolves that like to play with their food before they sink their teeth in its flesh. Wolves that laugh as she screams.
(They teach her how to hate wolves, how to say the words out loud.)
All stories are about wolves.
She wakes up in chains and it should be inevitable now. She’s been waiting for it, she thinks.
The wolves keep finding her. She can’t escape them.
But then Damon saves her and she thinks maybe she can’t escape them, but she can hide from them. From the damage they want to cause. She can hide and stop the blood flow for as long as possible.
All stories are about wolves.
Some people try to tame them, domesticate them and take them home.
Her father straps her to a chair and tries to make her into something she isn’t. Says she’s a monster as she screams in pain. Says she needs fixed as she cries out for the man she once used to know.
He cages her and expects her to behave. Expects a big fat thank you for it.
It doesn’t work.
(She doesn’t thank him.)
All stories are about wolves.
Even love stories. Tyler becomes something more. Tyler becomes her everything, but she tries to pretend that’s not the truth. Because being someone’s everything is giving them too much power. Caroline has learned this lesson. Hard and painfully.
Love stories end badly. She forgets about that part. (She always forgets about that part.) She forgets that Tyler is just another wolf.
But then the needle of vervain is in her neck and Tyler is walking away again. Tyler is on Klaus’ side and she can’t be on his. Tyler’s lips become his teeth and she’s left alone in the woods to die.
Little Red Riding Hood wasn’t as foolish as people think she is. At least she questioned the wolf in her bed before he ate her whole. Caroline was too distracted by the disguise.
She doesn’t die of course. Another wolf saves her and the story isn’t over. But someone new has inserted themselves to it.
All stories are about wolves.
Not just the fairy tales or gothic fiction. Though her life is more like both than Caroline would like.
Klaus ply’s her with jewelry and fancy gowns and anything her heart could desire-
but not Tyler’s freedom or Elena’s agency or Aunt Jenna life; those are things not to be discussed, those are things to be put behind her and forgotten
-he makes promises and looks at her like maybe she hung the moon or is the sun and not like she’s the same girl she has always been. (Shallow, neurotic, control-freak Caroline Forbes, amped up since she became a vampire. Turned into something better and worse all in one.) He makes her want to believe the words he’s saying.
But he is still a wolf. He will eat her if she lets him. He will lap up her blood, just like Katherine once planned.
Caroline knows how this story ends.
All stories are about wolves.
Even if the man does not start off as a wolf, he can easily be turned into one. All you have to do is add a little blood.
Then you have a wolf and ghost in one. The face of someone else’s loved one and the cruelty of all those who hate you. Alaric is the most terrifying wolf she’s faced.
Some days she likes to pretend he never existed at all.
Some days she can think of nothing else but him.
All stories are about wolves.
Sometimes you have known them all your life before you see their teeth.
Elena was never supposed to be a wolf. But then, neither of them were ever supposed to die.
(Your stories are no longer your own.)
Elena turns off her emotions and she becomes something unrecognizable. She becomes someone new. She will throw Caroline to the wolves or she will eat her herself. She’s not picky. Not anymore.
She wants to hurt someone and Caroline is standing in front of her.
Now Caroline has claw marks in her back.
(Elena was never supposed to be a wolf. Neither was Alaric or Stefan or Tyler or Matt.)
All stories are about wolves.
Wolves wearing the skin of someone else you love. Wolves biting into your neck. Wolves claiming you and claiming you for their own.
Wolves circle you. Circle and circle until you’re the one who’s dizzy.
Caroline knows this story will end in blood.
All stories are about wolves.
And eventually you will have to realize that sometimes that wolf is you.
Sometimes it’s you tearing into the throats of those you love. It’s you with blood on your hands and on your mouth. It is you who people are afraid of, it’s you they back away from in fear and heartbreak because this was never supposed to be you. You were never supposed to become something that hides in the dark.
Caroline doesn’t want to be a wolf. But everything points to the fact that she is.
All stories are about wolves.
But you can learn from them.
(Someday Caroline will smile and people will know to run away.)
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Characters: Caroline centric, includes most of the ensemble.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me and the quote I used belongs to Margaret Atwood.
Word Count: 1431
Summary: All stories are about wolves. Even the ones you don’t expect. (Spoilers up to season four)
All stories are about wolves.
She read that somewhere, remembers it, highlighted it even, for reasons she doesn’t understand.
(Only, she really does, she just prefers not to think about it.)
All stories are about wolves.
Damon is the first to come into Caroline’s life. Sharp teeth and blue eyes that catch the light and hold her own like no one before him. He draws her in and circles around her until his teeth are in her skin and all she can think about is little red riding hood.
The color red is all around her, she can see it swirling behind her eyes, and she wonders when she had gotten so far off the path. (She never even liked wild flowers, she has always preferred roses.)
Then she is waking up on cold hard ground and she doesn’t remember-
champagne toasts and teeth and ‘I am so over you’
-how she got there. She doesn’t, she doesn’t, she doesn’t.
She can’t. Because if she does, then the world stops making sense. And she needs it to make sense.
All stories are about wolves.
Even the ones you don’t expect. Matt Donovan is supposed to be her high school sweetheart. They’re supposed to take their time and he’s supposed to get over Elena and they’re supposed to live their happy high school after.
Head Cheerleader and the Quarterback. They were destined in the stars.
But Matt doesn’t stare at her like he does Elena. He calls her petty and neurotic. He declares (promises) that they will never work out right before he kisses her. His mother hates her and he thinks its somehow Caroline’s fault. He tells stories of Elena and her parents and he smiles like he never smiles at her.
Matt’s teeth are sharper than they first appear. Sharper than anyone realizes.
Caroline has the scars to prove it.
All stories are about wolves.
Katherine is the worst kind. The kind dressed up like something else. The kind you don’t see coming. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. A monster wearing her best friend’s face. A mouth full of teeth and a pillow that snuffs out all of Caroline’s light.
When Caroline wakes up the world is a darker, scarier place.
When she wakes up, Caroline is all those things too.
Katherine is the worst kind of wolf. She bites down just hard enough to leave the scent of blood in the air.
All stories are about wolves.
Stefan is different. Stefan is the exception.
Stefan holds her close and washes away the blood on her hands. Stefan invites her into his world and he never lets go.
She doesn’t even notice when he stares her down and claims his place as alpha. Doesn’t even notice his stance.
She’s far too worried about the blood running down her throat.
Far too busy wanting more.
All stories are about wolves.
Tyler’s teeth don’t appear at will, instead they appear on the full moon and aim to kill. Tyler disappears and in his place is something that can kill her. Something that wants to.
Caroline thinks she should be used to that. That it should have sunk in by now.
Wolves come in all forms. They all want something from you. They will do anything to get it.
With Tyler comes more wolves. Wolves that cage her, torture her because they can. Wolves that like to play with their food before they sink their teeth in its flesh. Wolves that laugh as she screams.
(They teach her how to hate wolves, how to say the words out loud.)
All stories are about wolves.
She wakes up in chains and it should be inevitable now. She’s been waiting for it, she thinks.
The wolves keep finding her. She can’t escape them.
But then Damon saves her and she thinks maybe she can’t escape them, but she can hide from them. From the damage they want to cause. She can hide and stop the blood flow for as long as possible.
All stories are about wolves.
Some people try to tame them, domesticate them and take them home.
Her father straps her to a chair and tries to make her into something she isn’t. Says she’s a monster as she screams in pain. Says she needs fixed as she cries out for the man she once used to know.
He cages her and expects her to behave. Expects a big fat thank you for it.
It doesn’t work.
(She doesn’t thank him.)
All stories are about wolves.
Even love stories. Tyler becomes something more. Tyler becomes her everything, but she tries to pretend that’s not the truth. Because being someone’s everything is giving them too much power. Caroline has learned this lesson. Hard and painfully.
Love stories end badly. She forgets about that part. (She always forgets about that part.) She forgets that Tyler is just another wolf.
But then the needle of vervain is in her neck and Tyler is walking away again. Tyler is on Klaus’ side and she can’t be on his. Tyler’s lips become his teeth and she’s left alone in the woods to die.
Little Red Riding Hood wasn’t as foolish as people think she is. At least she questioned the wolf in her bed before he ate her whole. Caroline was too distracted by the disguise.
She doesn’t die of course. Another wolf saves her and the story isn’t over. But someone new has inserted themselves to it.
All stories are about wolves.
Not just the fairy tales or gothic fiction. Though her life is more like both than Caroline would like.
Klaus ply’s her with jewelry and fancy gowns and anything her heart could desire-
but not Tyler’s freedom or Elena’s agency or Aunt Jenna life; those are things not to be discussed, those are things to be put behind her and forgotten
-he makes promises and looks at her like maybe she hung the moon or is the sun and not like she’s the same girl she has always been. (Shallow, neurotic, control-freak Caroline Forbes, amped up since she became a vampire. Turned into something better and worse all in one.) He makes her want to believe the words he’s saying.
But he is still a wolf. He will eat her if she lets him. He will lap up her blood, just like Katherine once planned.
Caroline knows how this story ends.
All stories are about wolves.
Even if the man does not start off as a wolf, he can easily be turned into one. All you have to do is add a little blood.
Then you have a wolf and ghost in one. The face of someone else’s loved one and the cruelty of all those who hate you. Alaric is the most terrifying wolf she’s faced.
Some days she likes to pretend he never existed at all.
Some days she can think of nothing else but him.
All stories are about wolves.
Sometimes you have known them all your life before you see their teeth.
Elena was never supposed to be a wolf. But then, neither of them were ever supposed to die.
(Your stories are no longer your own.)
Elena turns off her emotions and she becomes something unrecognizable. She becomes someone new. She will throw Caroline to the wolves or she will eat her herself. She’s not picky. Not anymore.
She wants to hurt someone and Caroline is standing in front of her.
Now Caroline has claw marks in her back.
(Elena was never supposed to be a wolf. Neither was Alaric or Stefan or Tyler or Matt.)
All stories are about wolves.
Wolves wearing the skin of someone else you love. Wolves biting into your neck. Wolves claiming you and claiming you for their own.
Wolves circle you. Circle and circle until you’re the one who’s dizzy.
Caroline knows this story will end in blood.
All stories are about wolves.
And eventually you will have to realize that sometimes that wolf is you.
Sometimes it’s you tearing into the throats of those you love. It’s you with blood on your hands and on your mouth. It is you who people are afraid of, it’s you they back away from in fear and heartbreak because this was never supposed to be you. You were never supposed to become something that hides in the dark.
Caroline doesn’t want to be a wolf. But everything points to the fact that she is.
All stories are about wolves.
But you can learn from them.
(Someday Caroline will smile and people will know to run away.)