"Are you sure this is all you want, Ms. Aedu?"
The girl pushed a strand of her messy brown hair behind her ear. She avoided all eye contact with the woman in front of her. Even though she herself had on sunglasses, for balance reasons, she kept her head facing the floor.
"I'm sure," the brown haired girl replied, quietly.
The cashier gave the girl a strange look, but handed her the small sum of money, nonetheless.
The woman watched, curiously, as the brown haired girl rushed quickly out of the building to a rickety old car parked on the other side of the street.
The girl held her hand up, keeping the sun out of her eyes, and picked up her speed as she headed towards the car.
She let out a long sigh as she planted herself in the driver's seat, putting the wad of cash in the lap of the person sitting next to her.
"Wow. I can't believe they actually gave it to you," the voice of a little blonde haired girl taunted, from the backseat.
"You really expect me to let you drive?" The man in the passenger seat said, with a frown, as he slid the cash in to the pocket of his torn jacket.
"I'm fine, Klaus," the brown haired girl mumbled, using her brother's real name...the one he hadn't heard, spoken out loud in public, for a while.
"No Violet, you're not fine," he sighed, "and I'm not letting you drive."
"I do this all the time. This time won't be any different," Violet said quietly, eyes still angled down, staring into her lap.
"Look, I don't wanna be the buzzkill here," another, deeper, voice added from the backseat, "but I also don't want my last memories to be in this busted ol' thing if we die in a car wreck. So...I think Klaus should drive."
"I'm not going to wreck the damn car, Sunny!" Violet snapped.
The other three inhabitants of the car jumped at Violet's sudden outburst.
The oldest girl buried her face in her hands, letting out a strangled sound of frustration. She felt her brother lay a comforting hand on her back.
She felt Klaus reach into her coat pocket and pull out her fake ID. The ink with the name Erial B. Aedu, which she'd chosen as a clever anagram of her last name, was beginning to fade.
"I gotta give Spike some credit," Sunny chuckled, sitting up to look closer at the Card, "he did a pretty good job on that thing."
"Of course he did," the blonde haired girl chimed in from her seat next to Sunny, "Spike can do anything. Plus, he gave us that discount, because he's in looooove with Violet."
"He is NOT in love with me, Beatrice," Violet groaned, giving the younger girl a small smile in the rear view mirror.
"Yeah yeah, that's what you say, but we all see the looks he gives you," Beatrice teased, "it's the same way Sunny looks at Baywatch."
Sunny shot Beatrice a dangerous look, causing the other girl to smirk.
"Well, I can't blame Sunny there, Bea. David Hasselhoff is pretty nice to look at," Violet giggled.
"Right...cause THAT'S who she's looking at," Beatrice teased sarcastically, earning her a nudge in the side from a very frantic and annoyed looking Sunny.
The blonde girl looked up to see her slightly older sister narrowing her eyes at her.
Beatrice let her innocent smile curl into a smirk as she reached up and kissed Sunny's cheek.
"Uhh...I uh don't even watch that much," Sunny chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck oddly, as she tried to think up a response, "I'm more of a Dynasty girl, myself."
"Well, now that Violet was able to get this money, we can at least keep the TV so we can watch all those things," Klaus reassured smiling.
Violet smiled as warmly as she could at her brother, despite her current despair.
"Yes it's great," she agreed, "but I'm still driving us home."
"What?! Vi-"
But Klaus was cut off as Violet quickly started up the car and swerved out of the parking space and onto the main road.
"Fine, but we better not die!" Beatrice shouted from the backseat, "I just turned 11! I have my whole life ahead of me! Remember that!"
Violet sighed and smiled, shaking her head at her younger sister's remark.
She often forgot how young Beatrice, and even Sunny, were. After all the 4 of them had been through, they always seemed so much older to her. Beatrice for different reasons than Sunny.
Sunny had always had, what violet called, an old soul. Even when she was an infant, she seemed to have a good understand of everything that was happening around her. Whether it was deciphering who was noble or wicked, or simply trying to escape each treacherous plot from Olaf, Sunny always seemed just as aware as she and Klaus were.
Even as the girl grew older and bigger, her brain remained just as advanced as it'd always been. Sunny wasn't the greatest student in school, but Violet has concluded that it had more to do with the structure of school itself, rather than Sunny's own intelligence. From what they could tell, Sunny even showed signs of having an eidetic memory and was stellar at solving puzzles. So Violet often decided to look at the C's she received in school as results of Sunny having a particular learning style that wasn't being pandered to.
Violet wanted more for Sunny than what she had for herself, and even though her grades weren't the most outstanding, she was still on track to graduate...which was more than Violet had been able to do.
She was proud of her sister pushing on, despite everything they'd been through. She was a wise girl.
Beatrice, on the other hand, was a completely different story. A story that often scared Violet and threw in many different, unexpected plot twists.
Beatrice was somewhat of a prodigy. She was only 11, three-ish years younger than Sunny, but was already taking classes at the high school Sunny attended.
She'd been skipped up many grades and barely had any friends her own age...not that she wanted any.
Besides the friends she'd made at during her years staying at the local orphanage, and the few others she'd made in her dance class, Beatrice wasn't one to have many close acquaintances.
It wasn't that Beatrice was anti-social. No, the girl was a social butterfly. She treated society like a stage to perform on, and its people were her audience. The girl was quite dramatic and often spoke loudly in public, as if to put a show on for her peers.
But Beatrice's lack of friends mostly came from her personality.
She frightened people.
Violet couldn't even count the amount of times Beatrice had been a suspect in the "strange" antics that occurred at her school.
Each day was something new. A trash can was lit on fire, a teacher had a nervous breakdown, a student was running down the hallway screaming something incoherent, etc.
And that was only a few.
Beatrice had never been punished for any of this, even though she had been a suspect for all these things. She always seemed to have an alibi, and there was never enough evidence to pin it on her.
But as soon as Bea was out of the school and earshot of those in charge, she'd let out a sinister chuckled and admit that she'd done whatever horrible action it was...proudly.
If Violet were honest, even she herself would probably steer clear of Beatrice if she wasn't her legal guardian.
Once Violet even swore the spirit of Olaf had leaped inside of Beatrice the moment he died, and Beatrice was born.
She knew the thought was crazy, but Violet genuinely questioned it some days.
Whenever Violet looked at Beatrice's calm sleeping face or happy smiling face, she saw the strong and noble Kit Snicket, Beatrice's mother who many, although they knew nothing of Beatrice's personality, compared Bea to.
But whenever Bea curled her face up into one of her infamous smirks, it's as if she and Kit weren't even related. Beatrice's aura would darken and it would send chills down Violet's spine.
She had no idea where Beatrice had gotten such a dark side from. Kit and Dewey were some of the most noble people Violet had ever met. But anytime Violet would bring that up, Beatrice would roll her eyes and Sunny would snicker...for some reason.
Beatrice was a genius though, enough to land her, basically, in high school at 11. And she was very good in school...whenever she wasn't skipping.
Violet tried to give her some freedom, since she wasn't technically her mother, but even she had a hard time keeping up with the devilish preteen.
Violet always just tried her best to keep Beatrice satisfied, in fear of her running away, again, or retaliating against Violet's authority.
Beatrice had threatened Violet before, and after seeing what Bea had done to some of her teachers, Violet really didn't want to be on the young girl's bad side.
But another part of Violet did feel bad for Bea. They were aware that much of VFD died or disappeared a long time ago, but those volunteers that were still around, and knew of the Baudelaire's existence, were obsessed with Beatrice and often encouraged her to be just like Kit was.
Everyone who met her immediately ran to embrace Beatrice and shower her with compliments, which always sounded less like compliments and more like "thank you for being related to Kit". None of them really knew anything about Beatrice herself, they only knew she was the daughter of the legendary Kit Snicket, and that was enough for them.
Violet could tell Beatrice was starting to resent her mother, which was saddening, but Violet understood why.
It was hard living in your parents shadow...she of all people should know.
She knew how it felt to be expected to live up to some predetermined standard and fail
Even now, as she attempted to drive her siblings back to their home, despite being very...high...she felt as if her own mother was looking down at her in shame.
"Well looky there," Beatrice snorted, "you managed to get us all home alive and in one piece."
"I told you I could," Violet replied softly.
She could feel Klaus' judging eyes staring at her as she turned off the old car's engine.
"If you do this again, I'm seriously not letting you drive next time," Klaus sighed.
"Damn Klaus, she just did all this proving that she can drive us places while stoned!" Beatrice chuckled.
"Watch your language, Bea!" Klaus huffed.
The blonde girl rolled her eyes at her brother's remark, but kept her mouth shut.
Violet slowly eased her way out of the vehicle and wobbled over to the front door of the small shack.
It wasn't much of a home at all, but it's what they could afford. Violet clumsily inserted her key into the lock, stumbling into the small room once she got it opened.
"Home sweet home," Sunny mumbled sarcastically.
Violet snickered slightly at her sister's words, even though she'd barely heard them. She was too busy standing in the middle of the room, letting the world spin around her.
It was how she spent most of her days now. Wake up, grab a joint, make breakfast and feel the high creeping up her back and making its way to her brain, then she'd bid her siblings farewell, as Sunny and Beatrice went to school and Klaus to his job at the ball park, then she'd lie around in bed for another hour, trying to get as many drugs into her system as she could, before finally heading off to her own "job".
It was a viscous and terrible cycle that she'd fallen into, but she was beginning to care less and less about life itself.
It was all bullshit anyway.
"Why don't we go for a walk?" Klaus suggested, with a hopeful tone, with his clear attempt at trying to lighten the dark mood that had befallen the group.
"We just got home," Sunny groaned, obviously tired.
"Yes, but I forgot that I need flour for what I'm gonna make for dinner," Klaus explained, "I was gonna have to go back out to get it anyways if we wanted to eat tonight."
"Eh Fine," Beatrice shrugged, "a walk doesn't sound so bad. Although I'm not sure violet can even do that much, right now."
"I-I'm fine," Violet stuttered quietly, blinking rapidly and twisting her face into odd contortions as she tried to regain some of her soberness.
"Vi, you can stay here if you want," Klaus sighed, smiling sadly at his sickly sister, "we won't be gone long."
"No! It's fine! I'm fine!" Violet said quickly, stumbling slightly as she whipped around to face her brother, "I-I want to come with you guys."
Klaus sighed again and looked into her wide, bloodshot eyes.
"Okay Vi," he agreed reluctantly.
Violet did her best attempt at a smile, which turned out to look more as if she were constipated, which of course made young Beatrice and Sunny laugh.
Klaus buried his face in his hands, walking over to go open the door for his siblings. He moved his hands long enough to gesture outside, leading the girls back out of their "home".
Violet glanced over at her brother as they all walked.
He was the one person who could make her feel bad about her life choices these days. She constantly felt as if she was letting all of her siblings down, but especially Klaus.
Their whole lives, the younger boy always looked up to his sister for strength, but she felt as if she were out of strength and encouragement to give him.
She was worn out and could barely take care of herself, and yet she knew he still expected her to take care of him and the others.
But Klaus had done well accommodating to his sister's current condition and their very unfortunate circumstances. He got his own job serving food at the baseball stadium, and made sure to keep Beatrice and sunny out of trouble as much as he could.
Violet really was thankful for her brother and she knew she needed to tell him that more. He'd told her time and time again that she didn't need to thank him and that was what family was for, but she always felt as if she were failing him and the others.
Deep down Klaus knew Violet had done everything for them when they were growing up, and didn't mind that she'd sort of crashed and burned. As hard as she worked could take a toll on anyone, and take its toll it did. Poor Violet was an addict and wasn't exactly on the right side of the law...but then again, none of them were really.
But Klaus did worry about her often. He was willing to accept her need for a break, but he'd seen many stories of people overdosing at young ages, which made him very nervous for his sister.
He could feel her slowly slipping away from them.
Violet knew this.
She knew that Klaus and the others were beginning to sense her lack of caring. Lack of will to live.
She hated that she worried them so much...but she always knew that they weren't necessarily wrong. She hated this whole goddamn earth and was close to being done with it.
She sighed to herself, not remembering when she'd gotten so bitter and cynical, but knowing that that's who she was now.
She wasn't the young hopeful teenager that she'd once been.
She was twenty fucking six years old and she hated the world and everyone in it.
She'd accepted her transformation into the doubtful, pessimistic, and angry person she'd become.
She EMBRACED it now.
Violet felt her lip curl up into a small smile and tried to spin on her heal to celebrate her little pity party, but felt herself stumble back.
It took hers minute, but she slowly realized that she'd tripped on something...err...someone.
Violet suddenly felt quite sober, much to her dismay, and brushed herself off as she stood to face the cause of her fall.
Violet gasped, slightly, as she came face to face with an older looking woman, sitting on the ground and looking up at her.
She gulped nervously and looked around to find the guidance of her siblings, only to find that they weren't there.
She looked around and saw that she was standing outside the small grocery store, realizing that Klaus and the others had gone inside, probably quite some time ago.
She was alone.
"Um...I'm sorry ma'am, I-I didn't see where I was going," Violet apologized quietly, letting out a nervous chuckle.
"Do you always do that?" The woman's high pitched, cracked voice asked.
"D-Do what?" Violet asked in confusion.
What did the woman mean?
"Walk around with your eyes closed and talk to yourself in public places," the woman explained, her voice sounding amused, as if she were taunting Violet.
"Oh...um, no. I was just...thinking about something...out loud," Violet explained, her cheeks becoming heated in embarrassment.
"Sure, you were," the woman sneered.
"Thank you! Have a good day!" Klaus' voice boomed as he and his sisters exited the store.
The three met up with Violet, who was still looking nervously at the old woman.
"Oh, um, hello miss," Klaus greeted awkwardly, yet politely.
"Hello, dear boy," the old woman smiled and returned the greeting.
"I accidentally tripped over her leg," Violet explained quietly, "I was just apologizing real quick."
"Yes," the woman agreed, "hey boy, whatever drugs your sister is on, i want you to bring some to me. I haven't been that far gone since I was in my twenties!"
Violet felt herself blush immediately. The woman was almost taunting her for it.
"Look ma'am, we really should be going-" Klaus began.
"Ha! I wonder what Beatrice would say if she could see you all pathetic children now!" The woman laughed as she cut him off, continuing to taunt.
The children all snapped their heads up and looked at each other at the mention of their mother's name.
"D-Did you know our mo?-"
"She'd disown you!" The woman teased, beginning to laugh harder and harder.
Violet felt her heart sink at the woman's harsh words.
"I can't believe Beatrice Baudelaire, of all people, raised a little druggie!" The woman snarled, her sharp eyes glaring judgingly at Violet.
"Leave my sister alone!" Sunny snapped angrily.
The woman finally stopped laughing, long enough to smirk at the young girl.
"You little volunteers were always so sensitive! Oh it must sting, mustn't it?" The woman asked with a chuckle.
"What must sting?" Klaus asked with a scowl.
"Oh I bet it does...I HOPE it does," the woman continued, her voice gaining a creepy tone, "I hope it bothers you. I hope it makes your skin crawl and keeps you up at night...knowing that you're living like dirt and the people who killed your parents are living like royalty."
Violet gulped and looked up at the familiar shiny eyes, looking down on her and the older woman.
She'd noticed them as the woman was speaking. The eyes. They watched her from a window sitting above the main area of the grocery store.
They glowed in a familiar hungry way, as if their only goal was to soon swallow her whole.
Even their color was the same.
It was the bright and sharp eyes of Count Olaf...watching her for the first time, she hoped, in 11 years.
She couldn't see the rest of his body, however, although she could tell from the way the eyes were squinted, that he was laughing.
The words of the old woman finally registered with her and it was if the world began to close in on Violet.
She was suddenly sick to her stomach and felt as if she were suffocating.
"K-K-Klaus, we have to go!" She shouted and turned around, running as fast as she could in the other direction, hearing as her siblings followed quickly behind her.
She was definitely sober now. Or maybe even higher...she couldn't tell. But was she did know was that she could hear Olaf's voice playing in her head over and over, getting louder and louder. The same words that he'd said to her so many years ago.
"I'll kill you and your siblings with my own two hands."