Chapter contains some adult language and themes.

CH.14 Crazy Caroline

Colette was in her small room, trying to use a glue stick to hold together her peeling brownish wallpaper. She hated that wall paper. It used to be pink with several yellow and blue elephants, and when she was younger she adored it, but now that she was older it was just another thing her many brothers teased her about.

Her small clock radio was blasting the newest Tears For Fears song. She just wanted to drown out the angry shouts between her oldest brother and his girlfriend. But still, she managed to catch a few sentences from it, and gathered that her brother's girlfriend was pregnant, but her brother didn't feel he was the father and wanted to break up with her anyway.

Colette sighed, her hands pressed against the wallpaper, smoothing it out.

She didn't mind the thought of being an aunt. Living with so many boys, she actually found the thought of possibly having a niece as being endearing. She could see herself playing with her during bath time, lightly pushing her in her little swing set, maybe even teaching her how to ride a bike…

"Crap." Colette muttered, "I left my bike at the Formans…" She then convinced herself that she would go back later on and get it. She'd retrieve it when Jackie was away. "Yeah, and I won't be anything like her. I'll be cool, and I won't try to turn my niece into me…I'll be a way better role model."

Colette gave a smirk at the last thought, so lost in her own thoughts she didn't hear her other brother accuse the pregnant girlfriend of being a whore. She also didn't notice it when the wallpaper unpeeled itself from her wall.

"Wow, I could have a niece…I wonder what her name would be." Colette mused, popping the glue stick top back on, crunching a roach as she stepped back. She hated living like this. She always cleaned up the small space her mother gave her, but there always seemed to be a roach or a spider lurking around. She blamed her brothers.

And then she heard a loud bang at her door which jolted her senses. Her oldest brother came in, a cigarette in one hand and a beer can in the other. He clicked off her radio, telling her sharply, "Runt, can't you hear me calling for you?"

Colette rolled her eyes, "Uh, not really. I heard you talking to your baby momma-"

"That bitch is a slut. And as far as I'm concerned, that kid aint even mine! So I don't give two shits what happens to it, but anyway-" He took a swig of his beer, before burping, "Some chick is at the front, waiting for you. She says you're in trouble, says someone is following you."

Colette sat down on her bed, the rusted springs crunching underneath her weight. Colette raised an eyebrow, "Following me? Who would be following me?"

Her brother shrugged, leaning against the doorframe, "Don't know, Runt."

"Who's the woman that's telling you this?"

He shrugged again, gulping down the last of his beer, "A hot chick."

"Oh yeah, that narrows it down." Colette replied sarcastically.

"Janice or something." He yawned, crunching his beer in his hand before tossing it at Colette's head. It lightly tapped her head before falling to her feet. Grumbling, Colette stood up, tossing the can away in her little trash bin, "You mean, 'Jackie'?"

He scratched his head, "Sure, whatever."

Colette walked out of her room, feeling weird as she passed her brother's girlfriend who was crying in the kitchen, "Uh…where is Jackie?"

Her brother, who had been following her, pointed at the front screen door, "Out there, waiting for you on the porch." He then turned to his girlfriend, snarling, "What the fuck are you still doing here?!" He tossed her a few dollars, telling her over his shoulder, "There. That's my alimony for the next 18 years. Now get the hell outta my house."

Colette made a mental note to herself that if she ever made enough money, to send some of it to what looked like her brother's ex-girlfriend and her child. When she opened the screen door, a loud creak was heard. She stepped out onto the empty porch, confused, "Um, Jackie?"

The door slammed shut behind her as she heard both of her older brothers begin to fight over who got to play Pong first as the girlfriends sobs were heard.

"Jackie?" She tried again, "This isn't funny."

She heard a muffled voice from around the corner of her house, "Over here."

Colette stepped down the front steps, getting upset, "Why are you playing hide and seek? What's going on?!"

Colette heard a giggle as she rounded the corner of the house, saying loudly, "For the record, I'm still mad at you! Trying to make me into a copy of you isn't fair to me! So, if you came to apologize-" No one was there.

She heard the same giggle, this time away from her house and toward the shed that was in the back of her home. It was a rundown, rusted shed, one that they never used. Still, Colette hesitated before she called out, "Jackie?"

She heard the same muffled voice, coming from the shed, "Over here."

Something was wrong. Colette felt it in the pit of her stomach. With her feet rooted to the spot, she shook her head, her voice cracking, "Why are you over there?"

There was no reply.

Despite herself, Colette took a step forward, her eyes glued to the shed, waiting for any sign of trouble, "You told my brother someone was following me."

No reply.

Colette forced herself to ask, "Who's following me?"

She heard the muffled voice, but this time it came from behind her, "I am…"

Colette spun around just in time to catch the fleeting glimpse of a shovel popping the side of her face. It was the last thing the teenager saw as she collapsed onto the ground, unconscious. Standing over her was a thin, petite, blond woman with wild eyes and a deranged smile. She planted the head of the shovel into the ground, giggling, "…Little Caroline."

(((())))

"Jackie, will you calm down!"

The former cheerleader swung around, snapping at Kelso, "No! I can't calm down! Little Jackie is in trouble!"

Laurie yawned, "Twerps probably fine."

In front of the church, stood four individuals, all in their twenties. While three seemed perfectly calm, the youngest member looked as though she were hyperventilating, "I need to get to Little Jackie!"

At that moment, a teenager in a blue bike rode over, seemingly recognizing Jackie. He wiggled his eyebrows at her, "Hello, beautiful!"

Laurie made a disgusted face, "Jackie, why is Alfalfa making googly eyes at you?"

Fez nodded, "Being creepy is my job!"

Jackie turned around, forcing herself to recognize the boy as Harold, the teenager that Little Jackie tried asking out at the mall who really wanted to go out with her instead of Little Jackie. Before he could string two words together, Jackie ran over to the pimply faced teenager, practically demanding, "I need your bike!"

"Uh, why?"

"My car is five blocks away- tanked, and I need fast transportation!"

He leaned in, smiling at her and revealing his mouthful of metal, "Okay, I'll let you ride my handle bars for a kiss."

Jackie quickly made a face, "Pucker up!" Harold leaned in, eyes drooping closed and his chapped teenage lips puckering out. Everyone's eyes widened, Fez remarking, "Damn, Jackie has really fallen from grace." But then, seemingly out of nowhere, the brunette's fingers curled to a fist that rocketed straight across young Harold's face.

He never saw it coming.

As he toppled to the ground, Jackie dragged the blue bicycle from under him, setting it right side up and hopping on, instructing her friends, "I'll be in Steven's old neighborhood! I just- I just have to check on her!"

As she rode away, the gang looked over at a knocked out Harold before Fez smiled, "Well would you look at that! Stealing bicycles, breaking boy's hearts as well as their jaws, sputtering strange lines of nonsense… Jackie Burkhart is back!"

((()))

When Colette awoke, she winced at the terrible throbbing on her head. "Uughh…"

The lights were so bright, they made her head feel dizzy. She blinked a few times, trying to make sense of her last memory, but all she could think about was her shed. She then felt something wet sliding down the side of her face, and when the drops landed on her chest, she deduced it was blood.

Then she heard a sadistic giggle, "Wakey, wakey…"

Colette let out a low groan, suddenly feeling a burning on her wrists. For some reason her hands were above her head. She looked up, her eyes blinded by the light momentarily before noticing that someone had tied her wrists to a meat hook.

"What the-"

She tried to stand, but could only feel the tips of her toes skim the floor. Which then had her wondering something: Where were her shoes? She looked down, realizing someone had taken her clothing and redressed her in a white and blue checkered dress, something that resembled Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

Then a sharp cackle split the air, "I'll get you, my pretty!" Colette tried to turn around, but couldn't. Her toes fruitlessly tried to move her, but in the end it wasn't necessary. The source of the cackle, a petite blond with a grim two sizes too big skipped around her, until they were face to face and a shovel behind her back. Colette's eyes widened as she recognized the woman.

But the blond merely finished her sentence, "And you're little bitch too!" She then waved the shovel in front of Colette tauntingly, "By the way, the bitch is Jackie."

"Caroline…" Colette gargled, "Yer…crazy."

At that the woman shrugged, "My old high school nickname, 'Crazy Caroline'! Gah, I hated high school, they made me out to be cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!"

"You are nuts."

"Oh yeah, grrreeeeaaaatt idea, Little Caroline. Bite the hand that has the shovel in it!" Caroline replied sarcastically, tossing the shovel casually from one hand to another.

"I'm not Little Caroline." Colette muttered.

"So yeah, I suppose yer Lil Jackie now, huh?"

"No!" Colette snapped, a spurt of energy briefly burst to life in her tired body as she snarled, "My name is Colette!"

For a moment, Caroline herself seemed touched. Then she seemed amused. And then she seemed devilish. She leaned in close to Colette, whispering in her ear, "It hurts, doesn't it. By the end of the day, no one will remember your name… Little Caroline."

Colette's body shook violently, wanting to hurl herself at Caroline.

The blond skipped away, "It's almost as if you have no name at all… Little Caroline."

Colette snarled, "What the hell did you do to my clothes and why do I look like Judy Garland?!"

At that, Caroline dragged a foldable chair from the far wall of whatever warehouse they were in, a loud scratching noise penetrating the air. She then unfolded it directly in front of Colette, and calmly sat down, laying the shovel on her lap.

"Why not, Little Caroline? The Wizard of Oz is, after all, a story of a girl who is just trying to find her place in the world, seeing as how the one she lives in is too black and white for her taste."

"The entire movie was a dream!" Colette choked, her head throbbing even more in her angered state.

"Wrong!" Caroline giggled, "It was a movie, based off a book!" As Colette groaned, Caroline mused loudly, "I almost went for an Alice in Wonderland theme. I could've been the Mad Hatter… but I just ran out of time." Caroline giggled, "Time! Oh, I'm late, I'm late! Better not follow me down the rabbit hole!"

"You're insane."

"Wrong again!" Caroline giggled, this time jumping to her feet, twirling the shovel in her nimble fingers as if it her a baton, "I'm just, well, hypersensitive to the normality of what you have accepted as everyday occurrence aka life!"

"What does that even mean?"

"You call me insane…" Caroline smiled greedily, pressing her face to Colette's, looking deeply into her eyes as she spoke softly, "But isn't it more insane to live in a roach infested flee bin with a bunch of misogynistic males who are pampered by their overworked mother and who disown their own children? Is it not insane to think you could ever escape a life destined for servitude? Is it not insane to believe that the woman who abandoned you as a child, Jackie, had changed? She didn't. Look around, Little Caroline. She left you…with me…again."

Colette looked down, pathetically looking ashamed of herself as Caroline rubbed the wound some more, "What did you think was going to happen? Did you honestly think she would save you?" Caroline leaned back out, giggling, "That train wreck can't even save herself."

((()))

The sun was beginning to dip behind the hills that surrounded Point Place, Wisconsin. But, Jackie ignored the late hour, using all her energy to peddle Harold's flimsy bike toward Little Jackie's house.

When she did make it, she practically jumped off the bike, her chest pounding with adrenaline mingling paranoia. With her trembling legs, she ran up to the screen door, pounding on it hysterically, replaying Big Rhonda's words to her. "…but I saw her eyes when she saw the girl that was with you. It was like she recognized her or something. I think she stopped stalking Fez, and started on someone else. It may be the girl."

"No…" Jackie mumbled desperately under her breath. If anything happened to Little Jackie, she would never forgive herself. Her fists were red with her pounding on the door, which only intensified by the minute.

The door opened slightly, revealing a shaggy haired young man with a stubble reminiscent to Steven Hyde's. He wore a loose T-shirt, and a pair of striped boxer shorts. He took one look at Jackie before saying flatly, "You're lost."

That took Jackie by surprise, "Lost?"

He leaned against the doorframe, and it was then when Jackie noticed the soft sniffles and gentle whispering coming from behind him. Perhaps they were coming from another room?

He must've noticed the way her eyes glazed past him because he explained, "My stupid brother got his chick knocked up."

Thinking of both Hyde and Betsy for some reason, Jackie felt compelled to ask, "…Are they keeping it?"

"He didn't want to at first…but now they're thinking about it." He then stood up tall, looking down at Jackie, "Now what is it? Yer car stalled farther up the road or something?"

"I'm looking for Little Jackie-"

He raised an eyebrow, "Little who?"

"Uh…I'm looking for a girl, uh, about-" Jackie held up her hand slightly above her own head, "-Yay high, and uh," she pointed at her face, "She has freckles and like, reddish-brownish autumn hair…bright eyes…she dresses like a tomboy," But then Jackie remembered Donna, and figured that Little Jackie didn't dress too much like her, so she tried to correct herself, "well, sorta, I-I mean that she dresses a little more feminine than a tomboy, though not by much…and she likes something called Madonna, and she's very feisty…"

"What's 'er name?"

"Uh…I…Uh," Jackie looked down, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt that she couldn't remember Little Jackie's real name, especially since Little Jackie shouted it almost half the time they were together.

Before Jackie could confess that she didn't know, the guy sighed and told her flatly, "Look, it sounds like you described my sister- The Runt."

Jackie looked up, eyes brightening, "Yes! Her!"

He nodded, "Yeah, some lady came by looking for her too."

Hearing this, Jackie's smile fell off her face. He didn't notice, and continued, "Some blond. Called herself Janice or Jeanie or something."

"Jackie?!" Her eyes widened in horror, realizing that Little Jackie was probably tricked somehow by Caroline pretending to be her.

"Yup."

"Where did they go?!" Jackie asked urgently, suddenly jumping up and down frantically. He shrugged, rolling his eyes, "Look, I'm not my sister's keeper. I don't do that. I don't look after her, I don't look after mom, and I don't look after my moron brothers. So, if you wanna find 'em, call the freakin' cops." At that, he turned on his heel and left.

Jackie wasted no time in hopping on Harold's bicycle to peddle back into town and do just that- tell the police everything she knew about Little Jackie.

The sky was a peachy orange, the day already melting into night by the time Jackie made it to the station. She was out of breath, and panting profusely, but she felt she owed it to both Little Jackie and herself.

With all the strength she could muster, and upset that all those months at the gym in Kenosha were wasted on yoga instead cardio building, Jackie staggered up the steps of the police station. She reached the front desk, gasping out, "Water!"

The police woman at the front desk merely rolled her eyes at her and continued speaking on the phone, "Yes sir…cat in a tree? We'll contact the fire department. Uh-huh…the cat's name is Tom? Only answers to his own name and not pet sounds?"

Jackie glared at her, panting, "Water!"

The woman said kindly, "One moment sir," she then turned to Jackie, snapping, "Get the damn water yourself!" She then pointed at a water fountain on the far side of the hall, adding, "Can't you see I'm busy here with a real emergency?"

Jackie looked down, her mouth parched so much that she would swear her saliva was turning to sand inside her very mouth. She mumbled, "Lit-tle…J-Jack-ie…"

The woman shot Jackie one last glare and returned to the phone call. Jackie hobbled over to the fountain and took a few quick gulps before hobbling back over to the desk, ignoring the burning in her chest due to her heavy breathing during her bike trek. She waved a hand in front of the police woman, saying in a raspy voice, "I need…I need assistance!"

"Ma'am," the woman snapped, covering the phone bottom with one hand as the pointed at Jackie with the other, "Please wait your turn and take a seat!"

"But-But Little Jackie! It's an emergency!-"

"This is a police station. There's emergencies here all the damn time." The woman then continued speaking the gentleman on the other line. With an unbelievable itching in her gut, Jackie slammed her fists on the counter, snarling, "Listen up, Deputy Fife! My friend is in trouble and I need someone to listen to me!"

At that the police woman raised her hand, signaling a male officer, "We have a disturbance here!"

Jackie told the other officer, "I'm not the disturbed one, she is! My friend has been kidnapped-"

The officer walked over, strutting over as if he was the most important man in the room, "Really? Did her next of kin file a police report?"

"Well, no-"

"Was she taken against her will?"

"I-I don't know exactly, I wasn't there…but I think she was-"

"Is she a minor?"

"Yes! Well, I think so…she's in High School!"

The officer stared at her for a moment before asking her gently, "Ma'am, perhaps you need to rest-"

Jackie stomped her foot, her cheeks reddening in anger, "NO! I did not peddle a stupid bike over fifty miles around Point Place so I could take a nap in the police station! I'm here to save Little Jackie!"

"Little who?"

"Jackie!"

He nodded sympathetically to her, him and the police woman exchanging looks, "You're friend is Little Jackie?" When Jackie he nodded, he bent his head a little, asking her as if she were a toddler to the point that he even used a baby voice, "Is Little Jackie you're imaginary friend?"

Jackie flipped out, shoving him as hard as she could- though he barely moved an inch. She shouted, "I'm not senile!"

"Ma'am, you said you peddled over fifty miles in this hot sun-"

But Jackie interrupted him, shoving him again, "For Little Jackie!"

The police woman ended her phone call, and had walked over to Jackie, asking her seriously, "Does this 'Little Jackie' have a name?"

"I-I, uh, uhgh!" Jackie fumed, unable to recollect Little Jackie's true name. The male officer talked to her again as if she were a toddler, "Now now sweetheart, just lay down…I'll get you a glass of nice, warm milk, and I'll call your daddy to pick you up, okay?"

Never before had the urge to kill someone with her bare hands had been so prominent in Jackie Burkhart.

Unable to stop the boiling ball of anger building in her stomach, Jackie screamed, "Will someone listen to me?!"

At that the police woman grabbed Jackie's arm, twisting her to the ground, telling the male officer, "Looks like we got another crazy one!"

Hearing this, Jackie screamed, "I'M NOT CRAZY! CAROLINE IS CRAZY! BUT I'M NOT!"

Another female officer soon came to the first one's aid as they wrestled a screaming Jackie from escaping their clutches.

((()))

Colette looked down, pathetically looking ashamed of herself as Caroline rubbed the wound some more, "What did you think was going to happen? Did you honestly think she would save you?" Caroline leaned back out, giggling, "That train wreck can't even save herself."

Colette then mumbled, "When did you get out?"

"Of the state mental institution?" Caroline giggled, "Never did- officially! I escaped awhile back… y'know, I had this crazy notion that I should come back to Point Place, and that me and Fez would be happy together!" Out of nowhere, Caroline suddenly turned angry and hurled the shovel toward a window. It shattered it, glass pouring everywhere as Caroline giggled suddenly, her eyes teeming with madness, "But then I saw him married to that skank, Laurie Forman! But then…" Caroline suddenly quieted down, slowly walking toward a chained Colette. She reached out, and with the back of her hand, slowly rubbed Colette's cheek. While Colette winced, Caroline smiled, "But then I remembered you. You were the only one who ever looked up to me."

Colette didn't want to admit it, but even as a child she thought Caroline was nuts and she did her best to escape her clutches. Still, the teenager thought it best not to let out the truth right then and there- no telling how Caroline would take it, especially since she apparently enjoyed throwing shovel around.

Caroline's face then contorted in anger, "But then Jackie took you away! Just like she took away Fez! Just like she takes everything away!" Colette yelped when Caroline suddenly smacked her across the face, seething with anger, "And you looked up to her! You little traitor!"

Trying to calm down Caroline, Colette blurted, "I had too!"

What the teen said seemed to intrigue Caroline. She lowered her hand, raising an eyebrow, "What do you mean 'had too'?"

Colette fumbled over her words, "She, she made me…she was sad and stuff…her life isn't what she thought it would be…everyone's gone!"

Caroline rolled her eyes, "The only ones gone are Eric and Donna."

"Yes!" Colette nodded, the tips of her toes barely scarping the floor, "They were friends, but now they're gone-"

Caroline shook her head, tapping her chin with a finger, "No they aren't."

"…what?"

Caroline smirked, as if she were the most superior being in the universe, "I know exactly where they are."

Colette couldn't help her interest, "Where?"

Caroline pointed at her temple, "In here."

"…what?"

Caroline clarified, "They're in my head! Everyone's in my head! Fez is in my head, you're in my head, I'm even in my own head." She then giggled, "The whole universe is in my head! I control it! I'm the only real person who exists, and everyone else is just figments of my imagination! So whatever I do doesn't matter, because I control everything! And when I get punished, it's me punishing myself- get it?!" She then laughed hysterically before turning on her heel and whistling the theme song to The Wizard of Oz.

Blinking, Colette mumbled under her breath, "She really is Crazy Caroline…"

On the far end of the warehouse, Caroline skipped around, talking to people who weren't there, "Will you come with me? For," She suddenly burst into song, "-we should be off to see the Wizard! The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!"

I do not own The Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland.