☂ 𝑰𝑵𝑺𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 || 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚡 𝙾𝙲 || 𝑩𝑲. 𝟐 ☂

00. MERRY CHRISTMAS 1962

One moment ago, everyone stood united, hand-in-hand, looking up at Five's vortex only to have it suck them up and close up behind them. It was a blur of blinding lights and flashes of white and blue as the group of eight felt their bodies glide through time. Suddenly, there was an opening within the crackling electricity, allowing the teenaged girl to fall through it.

Elaina could first feel the sudden cool sting of the puddle she landed in before the hard concrete made contact with her back-end. With a hiss, she let out a, "Ow," as she rubbed her behind, getting back on her feet, staring up at the shrinking blue vortex overhead. The heavy downpour of rain caused her to look up with one eye shut as she used a hand to hover over her eyes. "Five! Klaus!" she screamed as she felt panic raise within her seeing as no one else was coming out and the electric blue mass was rapidly disintegrating. "Allison!" she gave a final yell before it shut close with a zap.

Elaina dropped her hand and opened her other eye, screwing the feeling of the water stinging, as she looked up in disbelief at where the vortex once floated.

"Guys?" she called out weakly, feeling the weight of her hoodie increase at the absorption of the rain drops around her. She spun around, taking in her surroundings. It was night time, late night. She could tell she was in an alley as she walked forward to the opening a couple of feet away, not aware of the pair of eyes that watched her from the nearby building's rooftop, taking a snapshot of her. Elaina could tell just by taking a look at the buildings, she knew she wasn't in her city anymore, and a closer look at the posters, she knew she wasn't in 2019.

She took in uneven breathes as her shivering fingers pulled the damp pink poster from the wooden post. "Christmas Jamboree, December 24th... 1962..." she breathed out the date as she dropped the paper. "I'm in freaking 1962!" she screamed as a flash of lightning lit up the dark sky.

Elaina pushed back her wet short locks, now noticing the apparent Christmas decorations that covered the street of businesses: flashing red and green lights, stickable Santa and reindeers decals on shop windows with cotton snow, and candy canes. There wasn't one soul out in the streets, probably due to the weather or probably due to people being at home enjoying the festivities with their own families. But not Elaina. She ran around the Texan city for hours in the pouring rain, screaming out the names of her family, hoping that someone, anyone would answer her calls, but no one did. She was completely and utterly alone.

Elaina hugged herself as she felt her hair stick to the back of her neck, her steps beginning to get sluggish as she came to the inconceivable realization that she was now stranded in 1962 completely by herself. Elaina continued her trembling steps as she came face-to-face with her crestfallen reflection in a clouded window. The Bird's Nest was the name painted on the sign over the bar. The rain relentlessly came down on the teenager as the shining red and green Christmas lights flashed around the border of the window, mocking her.

She gritted her teeth as she balled her hand into a fist and punched through the clouded glass, shattering it. Her bleeding knuckles found the lock and unlocked the door from the outside as Elaina let herself into the establishment. It was a pretty cozy spot, she supposed. The inside of the bar had different colors of tinsel on the beams and corners, in the far corner there was a Christmas tree that was decorated with cans of beer and bottle caps with the occasional ornament ball thrown in, the counter had white Christmas lights and a plush Santa toy that sat right in the center.

The drenched girl's bowling shoes squeaked against the floor as she walked over to the empty bar counter and ducked underneath the wooden divider to get to the bartender side. She felt a sting as she nonchalantly pulled out a stubborn piece of shard and inspected her knuckles for any extras. She wiggled her fingers once she found no more pieces of glass, the injury was already starting to heal. Elaina's eyes skimmed the bottles of liquor that were displayed on the wall as she spotted her favorite bottle of scotch and pulled out a shot glass from under the shelf. Elaina jumped up on the counter and sat down, dangling her legs off the ledge as she carefully popped the scotch open and poured it into her shot glass, filling it to the brim.

Elaina brought the shot to her lips before looking over to the side of her, tipping her glass to the stuffed Santa doll as she chuckled humorlessly. "Merry fucking Christmas." she said bitterly as she threw back the shot, feeling the liquid burn comfortably down her throat as she slammed the glass cup upside down on the counter.

What was she going to do now?

~.~

Prologue out! I'm still piecing together the rest of the story, but I think I got something that fits in everything (I hope lol). I just need to fine-tune some lose ends and I'll start publishing the chapters like regularly. Chapter one should be out no later than 2 weeks. Honestly, possibly, before that, but around that time I should be posting weekly. :) Enjoy and let me know how you guys liked this chapter!

The outfit Elaina wore when she got stuck in the past.