~a/n: ta-da! The shockingly scandalous and mystical magical sequel to "walk
with me my little child"!! Aren't you pleased? *giggles* Just to fill you
in if you skipped that one, Violet finds out that Olaf is quite viciously
obsessed with her after her captures the Bauldilare orphans. Then they run
away and.oh hell, just read the damn story.
T a k e T h i s P r o m i s e f o r a R i d e
"Where exactly are we going?" Klaus panted. The three had been running for what felt like hours, and probably was, on very little food. Apparently, it was not customary for evil theater troupes to feed their prisoners. The bit they had been spared was from the hook handed fellow, who was quite fond of Sunny.
"I don't know," Violet cried hopelessly, gasping for breath herself, "we just have to keep moving, that's all. Until we find someplace where we can find help."
"Pardon me," Klaus pointed out, "but do I need to remind you that we are still wanted for Jacques Snicket's murder? Where ever we go, that will follow us. We'll be turned in the moment we reach civilization."
"Maybe we'll meet more people who don't read the papers, like the VFD from before."
"Maybe we'll all sprout wings and fly," Klaus spat, sitting heavily on the ground.
"When did you get so cynical, Klaus? I remember you as an optimist."
"I'm only cynical when I'm tired, hungry, or frustrated, and this moment meets all of those criteria."
"Now is not the time to be cranky!" Violet hissed.
"It is also not the time for wild optimism! We need to think things out a bit more carefully than just crossing our fingers and hoping for the best!"
"STOP!!" Sunny shrieked tearfully.
Klaus stood slowly, like he was about fifty years older than his 12 years, and picked her up. She sobbed into his shoulder for a little bit, then straightened and began chewing on his glasses.
"Come on," Violet said, "we need a plan, yes, but we need to keep moving. They may notice at any minute we're gone." She knew, of course, that they wouldn't, but she didn't want her siblings to know that the whole time Olaf had been letting them escape. He had taken steps to ensure that they could get away, and she was even more terrified of what would happen when he found them again.
"What if we tell them we're someone else? Disguise ourselves somehow."
"How? We have nothing but the clothes on our back. We can't exactly provide an accurate disguise like that."
"Hang on," Klaus said thoughtfully, and fell silent. He thought for quite a bit, and Violet wondered if he had fallen asleep walking. "I read a book once," he began, and Violet smiled to herself. Any time Klaus began a sentence with "I read a book once" a fairly good idea would soon follow. "It was a detective novel. In it there was a police officer who let an entire gang of murders go because one of them had a very good disguise. They didn't fit the description they had. I was thinking that maybe, if we told them Sunny was a little boy and changed ourselves just a bit, we wouldn't fit the description in the papers."
"Do you think they'll fall for it?"
"If they're daft enough to trust such a wildly inaccurate paper, they'll fall for that. Sunny, you are now Sammy. Violet, you're Veronica-"
"No! I am sick of being called Veronica! You're Klaus, you're Sunny, and I'm Violet! VIOLET!!"
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't stay Violet. Anyway, we can't call you Veronica, because that's what you were called in the paper. How about Violetta? It's close enough to Violet."
Her eyes flashed open in the darkness. Violetta. That was what Olaf had called her more or less every time he came to talk to her. That was far too creepy. "No. No way. Victoria. Call me Victoria."
She saw Klaus' glass flash in her direction. There was something about the way she said it that made him shudder. "Okay and I guess I'll be Kenny. Vickie, Sammy, and Kenny. Three runaways-no accused murderers, no criminals, just a couple of runaways. You think we can do that?"
"We pretended to be attached at the hip. I think we can handle a simple name change."
"Violet, put your hair up higher than you usually do. I'm sure I can do without my glass for a while.
Violet reached into her pocket. "I lost my ribbon," she said.
"It probably fell out of your pocket when we were being kidnapped a few weeks ago."
"No, I was trying to think of a way to get down from the fire escape we were stuck on. My hair was up, but the next thing I remember is that my hair was in my face and I couldn't think straight."
"You don't think that that half-crazed maniac stole your hair ribbon, do you?"
Violet shrugged, but her heart was sinking. "Maybe."
"Oh, Violet, this isn't good. This is very bad. I read an essay once, a case study on kidnap victims. Most kidnaps are premeditated, and the really dangerous obsessions usually include taking something that the victim was fond of. This one guy had a shrine of all this stuff he stole from her. A week after he managed to get her hairbrush she was found dead in the bathtub. One gunshot to the head-kapow! She's history."
She suddenly felt her stomach turn over. There was something inherently wrong with this. "There is something inherently wrong with this," she said.
"Yeah, I know."
Klaus knitted his eyebrows. Violet took a few deep breaths. Sunny snoozed obliviously against Klaus' shoulder.
In the dead of the night, they wandered on.
T a k e T h i s P r o m i s e f o r a R i d e
"Where exactly are we going?" Klaus panted. The three had been running for what felt like hours, and probably was, on very little food. Apparently, it was not customary for evil theater troupes to feed their prisoners. The bit they had been spared was from the hook handed fellow, who was quite fond of Sunny.
"I don't know," Violet cried hopelessly, gasping for breath herself, "we just have to keep moving, that's all. Until we find someplace where we can find help."
"Pardon me," Klaus pointed out, "but do I need to remind you that we are still wanted for Jacques Snicket's murder? Where ever we go, that will follow us. We'll be turned in the moment we reach civilization."
"Maybe we'll meet more people who don't read the papers, like the VFD from before."
"Maybe we'll all sprout wings and fly," Klaus spat, sitting heavily on the ground.
"When did you get so cynical, Klaus? I remember you as an optimist."
"I'm only cynical when I'm tired, hungry, or frustrated, and this moment meets all of those criteria."
"Now is not the time to be cranky!" Violet hissed.
"It is also not the time for wild optimism! We need to think things out a bit more carefully than just crossing our fingers and hoping for the best!"
"STOP!!" Sunny shrieked tearfully.
Klaus stood slowly, like he was about fifty years older than his 12 years, and picked her up. She sobbed into his shoulder for a little bit, then straightened and began chewing on his glasses.
"Come on," Violet said, "we need a plan, yes, but we need to keep moving. They may notice at any minute we're gone." She knew, of course, that they wouldn't, but she didn't want her siblings to know that the whole time Olaf had been letting them escape. He had taken steps to ensure that they could get away, and she was even more terrified of what would happen when he found them again.
"What if we tell them we're someone else? Disguise ourselves somehow."
"How? We have nothing but the clothes on our back. We can't exactly provide an accurate disguise like that."
"Hang on," Klaus said thoughtfully, and fell silent. He thought for quite a bit, and Violet wondered if he had fallen asleep walking. "I read a book once," he began, and Violet smiled to herself. Any time Klaus began a sentence with "I read a book once" a fairly good idea would soon follow. "It was a detective novel. In it there was a police officer who let an entire gang of murders go because one of them had a very good disguise. They didn't fit the description they had. I was thinking that maybe, if we told them Sunny was a little boy and changed ourselves just a bit, we wouldn't fit the description in the papers."
"Do you think they'll fall for it?"
"If they're daft enough to trust such a wildly inaccurate paper, they'll fall for that. Sunny, you are now Sammy. Violet, you're Veronica-"
"No! I am sick of being called Veronica! You're Klaus, you're Sunny, and I'm Violet! VIOLET!!"
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't stay Violet. Anyway, we can't call you Veronica, because that's what you were called in the paper. How about Violetta? It's close enough to Violet."
Her eyes flashed open in the darkness. Violetta. That was what Olaf had called her more or less every time he came to talk to her. That was far too creepy. "No. No way. Victoria. Call me Victoria."
She saw Klaus' glass flash in her direction. There was something about the way she said it that made him shudder. "Okay and I guess I'll be Kenny. Vickie, Sammy, and Kenny. Three runaways-no accused murderers, no criminals, just a couple of runaways. You think we can do that?"
"We pretended to be attached at the hip. I think we can handle a simple name change."
"Violet, put your hair up higher than you usually do. I'm sure I can do without my glass for a while.
Violet reached into her pocket. "I lost my ribbon," she said.
"It probably fell out of your pocket when we were being kidnapped a few weeks ago."
"No, I was trying to think of a way to get down from the fire escape we were stuck on. My hair was up, but the next thing I remember is that my hair was in my face and I couldn't think straight."
"You don't think that that half-crazed maniac stole your hair ribbon, do you?"
Violet shrugged, but her heart was sinking. "Maybe."
"Oh, Violet, this isn't good. This is very bad. I read an essay once, a case study on kidnap victims. Most kidnaps are premeditated, and the really dangerous obsessions usually include taking something that the victim was fond of. This one guy had a shrine of all this stuff he stole from her. A week after he managed to get her hairbrush she was found dead in the bathtub. One gunshot to the head-kapow! She's history."
She suddenly felt her stomach turn over. There was something inherently wrong with this. "There is something inherently wrong with this," she said.
"Yeah, I know."
Klaus knitted his eyebrows. Violet took a few deep breaths. Sunny snoozed obliviously against Klaus' shoulder.
In the dead of the night, they wandered on.