"Beauty is terror.
Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.
And what could be more terrifying and beautiful, to souls like the Greeks or our own, than to lose control completely?"
― donna tartt, secret history.
ALASKA GILBERT WAS ONCE A HOUSEHOLD NAME IN THE QUAINT TOWN OF MYSTIC FALLS. You didn't have to be friends with the effervescent brunette to hear all about her. She was the resident golden girl. A dedicated daughter, an academic prodigy and the mitigator of every callous affliction thrown at her loved ones- a girl composed of soft compromises and a heart as big as the moon.
With her long chestnut locks and a saccharine smile that was brighter than life itself- it was no wonder how she hopped to the top of the social pyramid. She didn't crawl. That action was too far beneath her. She had spun herself a crown of gold, and it was handed to her on a silver platter.
Luminescence personified, lips dripping off the purest forms of honey― Alaska was alive in spirit, inebriated with the transient idea of an iron grip on the social order. In the high school social hierarchy, people like her always, indisputably sat at the top.
From the boyfriend that everyone fawned over to the loving family and friends who gave her endless support, everything about the bright eyed girl's life looked like the zenith of perfection. Alaska Gilbert had built herself a fairytale kingdom. It was safe to say that she was living the American dream.
She told of a pristine life, dusted in gold and plated in silver.
She was happy.
Keyword: was.
Because like a crystal vase falling onto the marble floor, her once seemingly indestructible kingdom came crumbling down to a thousand pieces on the fateful night of May 29, 2009. A hazardous weather, a ditched family-night and succession of terrible choices made by four individuals led to a tragic car crash, where only Alaska and her twin sister came out unscathed.
Now orphaned and grief-stricken at the mere age of seventeen, Alaska is just getting by. But barely. Getting by, as in, one foot on the other side of the unsteady railing, holding on for dear life 'getting by'. Getting by, as in, composing her loss like an overused equipment, limiting every move to salvage herself from further damage 'getting by'. Getting by, as in, burning herself to ashes to keep people warm with a smile on her face 'getting by'. She has her heart on the ground, mismatched, misled and mistaken. She is whole apart and inbetween.
On top of it all, she's got these terrible, gut-splitting visions, memories of an archaic land she no longer recognizes and a myriad of vicious demons that threaten to ravage her mind. In truth, She is not handling the strain quite well― holding herself up to be the secret self-proclaimed queen of unhealthy coping mechanisms. The girl would do anything, literally anything to get her mind off of the dark absurdities . . . and an opportunity arises when an alluring new face shows up in Mystic Falls, called Stefan Salvatore. With a past shrouded in mystery and a smile that hides a feeling of belonging, he's the epitome of perfect distraction for the likes of Alaska. But trouble ensues when his precarious brother appears next, lugging with him a string of bizarre murders, all drained of blood.
And suddenly Alaska's starting to see through the iridescent illusion carefully crafted to hide the sinister things that lurk in the shadows. She's tossed out of her safe harbour, into a foreign storm― all the while struggling to protect her loved ones in a macabre world where she's barely keeping her soul aloft.
Thrust into a timeless, spiraling void, Alaska is drowning. But people do not really see that.
Why would they?
Alaska, to put it simply, is like a mirrorball. Like a mirrorball, she is designed to be always at the center of the stage, shining above everyone else, reflecting thousands of patterns and rays of light. Alaska Gilbert is luminary and she has many facades. The ones the world chooses to see and the ones she wants the world to see. But as just as pretty they are to look at, they are also quite fragile.
Nobody quite knows the real Alaska. The girl behind the facade is built up of extremes― a hurricane trapped within a cage of blood and marrow. They admire her for they only see the light, not the darkness. They see the softness, not the frayed edges. The graceful princess; polished & pretty, not the sharp edged steel, lone fragment of a shattered mirror, the broken bone reflection of an elusive smile.
But it won't be for long.
Because Alaska Gilbert is bidding her time. She is on the hunt, a fox in a girl's body, patiently waiting for the darkness to fall, finally starting to escape the gaping jaws of her demons, ripping through the glimmering tapestry that tries to trap her in the flypaper of mediocrity.
She is set out to emerge as the divine revelation she was always meant to be.
With ichor dripping from her fingertips and specks of golden glory glistening on her mouth, Alaska is determined to take to power like icarus took to the sky and she knows― she knows her fall would be just as sweet.
☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼
maude apatow • alaska gilbert
sagittarius. golden girl. illusionist. lionhearted.
Hell is a teenage girl.
✡
avan jogia • derek shroyer
ginnifer goodwin • georgia dubois, née gilbert
young!noah jupe • cassian fell
"I thought i knew hunger before this. I found that kind of touch unbearable. To witness. To want. Desire is ugly. Incessant. Shaped like two hands wrapped around a throat."
― SK osborn, a hunger like no other.
warnings : this story may contain triggering subjects such as death, murder, gore, trauma, ptsd, mentions of sexual assault. depiction of underage drinking, drug abuse. loads and loads of vulgar language, undiagnosed mental illness and a menace called damon salvatore
author's note : ok so first of all, i wanted to make some things clear since so many people messaged me about it. the plot is the saame. same goes for the characters and their dynamics. some chapters are gonna be pretty much the same too, except with hopefully a better execution and dialogues. tbh i don't exactly hate my writing in the previous version. i just have a lot of issues with how i developed the story after chapter six. it was inconsistent. it lacked substance. and it was messy as hell. so so many plot holes. and i tried fixing that multiple times in the past but i dont think it's actually possible until i rewrite this goddamn thing from the scratch. and i didn't have the heart to delete the previous version so and here we are.
also (i'm pretty sure you've heard me ranting about it million times before) english is not my first language. i'm still trying to improve my vocab tbh. so i may struggle w grammar and stuff like that. if you see me posting a chapter that makes you cringe or sends your eyes rolling back to another dimension, feel free let me know. but try not to be harsh 💀
the love interest is undetermined rn but ill figure it out as the story progresses lol
i have so many things planned and i can't wait for y'all to see. 💞
dedications : cermonials, skaikrurogers, marceIgerards, deviIinpink,siIkspun, voidsteffy, smexysimp, JunoesqueDaily, HuntressFreya, @KristyGirlz, quacksicle, sara14haha__, lilyparker7, -anxietysucks-, -starbounds, iamlaroush, athxnaprince, cosmicoswalds, jaassmmiinneeeee, morgank200, _rin_rinnie_, loversIand -medhuvadas i wouldn't have dared to do this if it weren't for your support. thank you💕
&
babies 💞 daisypetaIs, holybelova, recordplayer, dunbonnet, bloodyrippah, vaIIeyofdoIIs, tearsricochets, megpark15, -babydollzzzz sarahfiers
love you guys!