A/N: Hiya everybody...sorry for keeping you guys waiting another month or so. My grandma passed away mid March...on my birthday of all days and it's been hell trying to find it in me to write... But, at last, I've finally gotten my mojo back. Hope you guys enjoy! But before we begin, gotta thank all my awesome reviewers out there: Guest. You rock, man! :)
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Guest ––– Thanks! :) This's my first try at horror, so forgive me if it's a li'l crappy. I'm trying to challenge myself by writing stuff out of my element every now and then. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless, though! ^_^ Thanks again for the feedback. It's always appreciated. ;)
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Disclaimer: Me no own ASOUE. Just an obsessed fangirl. ;) \m/
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Chapter 2
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"Thank you. Thank you. Thanks again," the pilot said with a warm smile as each volunteer passed by him and headed down the steps to the rickety, rotting dock.
Klaus and Fiona headed up the dock with the others, taking in their surroundings. The dock was hanging on to a cracked, overgrown sidewalk for dear life, as if the ocean were going to rip it away from the island against its will. And up and down the faded, pothole-polka-dotted street were buildings of all shapes and sizes, swaying in the damp wind together like a sullen flash mob, their windows either shattered, boarded, or dusty.
A bark-like snort slipped Fiona's lips. "Ebullient Isle my ass," she said, and Klaus giggled.
"I love you," he drawled dreamily, lost in her sarcastic, dark eyes. Ever since they'd reunited at HQ a couple years ago, he knew he'd found his soulmate. He didn't care that she betrayed him anymore. He was way over that. Besides, her motive was logical, perfectly understandable–––he'd have done the same for Violet and Sunny.
Fiona cocked an eyebrow at him, unconvinced. "You're drunk."
Klaus laughed, his cheeks on fire. Intelligent, tough-as-nails, and hilarious? She was the whole package…and with that fat expensive rock on her left hand, she was all his. Finally, after nine years of Hell on Earth, things were starting to go right…his way. And for once, he was actually happy to be alive. "No, I'm not," he replied. "I'm perfectly sober."
"After how much you drank at the HQ party last night, I'm surprised you are," Fiona said with a smile.
"I didn't drink that much," Klaus protested coolly. "Just enough to outdrink Sam MacMiller."
"He drinks like a fish, it takes a lot for him to get drunk. And since you outdrank him, I'm surprised you're still alive and walking around without whining about a hangover."
Klaus grinned. To be honest, his head was splitting, ready to explode, but he never dared show it. Of course, Fiona told him last night that he was going to regret it in the morning, but his spiteful pride never turned down a bet to her logic. She was going to lose this bet, and he was going to make sure of it. "'Cause I'm magic," he told her quietly, leaning in to her.
Fiona rolled her eyes, a shiver racing down her spine. Although she didn't admit it, it drove her crazy when his voice deepened that many octaves. Hell, it took everything in her power not to jump him right now in the middle of the dock he had her so wound up. And he knew she wouldn't be afraid to, either. "Whatever," she snorted.
"You know you want me," Klaus slid in front of her and gestured to himself.
"Yeah…to knock it off," Fiona said with a wry smile.
"You said 'up' wrong."
"I'll say 'up' however I want," Fiona shot back playfully, hands on her hips.
Klaus beamed devilishly. He just couldn't one-up her in a conversation, end of discussion. No matter how much he thought he could, it wasn't going to happen. "What was that thing my father said? Happy wife, happy life?"
"That's right. And if she's not, watch out."
Klaus nodded in agreement, then took her hand in his and they continued down the dock in content silence.
Violet, Quigley, Duncan, and Isadora followed behind them, Violet stabbing Fiona in the back with a dissatisfied squint. Oh, if only looks could kill…
"That's gotta be rough," Quigley remarked, catching her in the act.
Violet looked at him, puzzled. "Hm?"
He nodded at Fiona. "Them married."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Violet sighed tiredly. "I still have nightmares about it."
Duncan's ears perked up. "You can sleep in my room tonight if you want," he offered immediately.
Violet chuckled. "Thanks," she said gratefully. "But I'm good. Gonna be inventing most of the night anyway. Don't wanna keep either of you up."
Duncan smiled. Never was she an inconvenience. Heck, he'd stay up as long as she wanted him to if she offered. "Can I watch?"
Violet shrugged. "If you want. It's gonna be pretty boring though. Just gonna put the finishing touches on it."
"That ain't noisy at all," Quigley said. "You never bother us, even if I was sleeping."
"That's true. He's a heavy sleeper," Duncan agreed, nodding. "One night before the fire I went to the bathroom, tripped and knocked over one of our big vases, shattered and woke everybody up. Not him, though. He was out like a light."
"See?" Quigley looked at Violet. "Not everything's my fault."
"Oh, bite me, Quigley," Duncan growled. "You were the reason we couldn't go into the library for a week!"
"Hey, I didn't know those books were off limits," Quigley shot back. "Mother and Father didn't hang a sign up that said, 'Hey Quigley, don't read these, they're off limits.'"
"So? They were hidden behind a top row of books!" Duncan pointed out heatedly. "If Mother and Father didn't mind us reading them they wouldn't have hidden them!"
"Yeah? Well, I never broke a thousand dollar vase from Mumbai by tripping over my feet like a dork!" Quigley retorted.
"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot money is more important than someone else's privacy!"
Quigley's eyes flickered, his upper lip stiffening. His hands had balled into tight fists and were ready to fly, but when he caught the nervous eye of his beloved, his glare softened at once and he remembered his assignment. He squinted darkly at his brother before dropping the subject and buttoning up for good.
Duncan flinched. That was the second time today his brother refrained from putting him in a headlock. Quigley never hesitated to put him in one when he'd had enough. What possessed him to take the high road all of a sudden?
Violet felt her stomach tying itself into Devil's Tongue knots at the hostility in the air. Why was it that every time the three of them were together Quigley and Duncan always got into it? …Well, whatever the reason was, it was getting old…and making her uneasy. Quickly, she racked her brain for a harmless topic to take their minds off each other. "So, where is Maidenly Manor?" she asked, looking up and down the ghost town's street. Not a building in sight looked worthy of the name, and just behind the town, up the shallow hill, was one of the vastest, greenest forests she'd ever seen.
To her relief, Quigley and Duncan looked with her. "I don't know," Quigley said. "Place looks pretty dead to me."
"It's probably hidden," Duncan speculated. "It's one of the few safe places we have left, and I bet the volunteers don't want our enemies finding out where it is."
"Oh…never thought of that," Violet said.
"The world is quiet here, volunteers," a middle-aged man greeted from the driver's seat of a long, long trolley when they reached the sidewalk. "I'm Mason, your chauffeur to Maidenly Manor. Climb aboard, make yourselves comfy. Should be there in about ten, fifteen minutes."
Obediently, everybody did as told.
"That everybody?" Mason asked over the intercom a couple minutes later, looking up in the mirror at his passengers.
The volunteers looked all around them. "Yes sir, Mason!" a tall, bearded volunteer called with a smile. "Anchors aweigh!"
Mason returned the gesture along with a playful salute. "Aye aye, Captain Luke." Slowly, the trolley began to roll forward and chug up the hill.
Resting her head on her hand, Fiona looked out at the scenery, scanning the woods for any sign of her specialty. After all the chaos that happened last night she was definitely craving her some fungi to dissect and study. Well, it was either that or dissect Violet and see why she hated her so much. But then again, she didn't major in biology…not in human biology, anyway.
"Hey," Klaus said, nudging her.
Fiona looked at him. "Hey," she replied, then looked back out at the woods.
Klaus's face scrunched. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Fiona said, almost hurriedly.
"You don't sound it."
Fiona sighed. He wasn't going to let this go, she just knew. "I'm just thinking about last night is all."
"Look, Violet didn't mean–––"
"No, it's not her, it's…something else," Fiona explained, then looked down at her lap with a disheartened smirk. "Last night after that, I was just about to jump in the shower when I found 'Dead Woman Showering' written on the mirror."
Klaus blinked at her, dazed.
Fiona sighed tiredly. "The mirror, Klaus."
Klaus snapped out of his trance. "Oh yeah, sorry, that's terrible," he apologized quickly, then smiled sheepishly. Seeing how convinced she was, he decided to try again, but with more sincerity. "Who did it? Do you know?"
"Katey Brazz," Fiona answered immediately, looking back at the woods, an inferno raging in her eyes.
"Wow…that was quick," Klaus acknowledged, treading as lightly as he could. Fiona was a big marshmallow, the best one he ever tasted, but when someone crossed the line… "How'd you know it was her?"
"I'd recognize her handwriting anywhere," Fiona growled chillingly, shaking her head slowly, surprised half the forest wasn't burning down already. "Between her and Violet I don't know who's worse."
"Violet's very protective of me," Klaus explained with a shrug.
"I never noticed," Fiona glanced at him. "Why does she hate me so much? She ever tell you?"
Klaus shrugged again. "My guess is when you joined Count Olaf and Esmé that one time. To be with your brother."
Fiona groaned as she leaned back in her seat and glared at the ceiling. "She's still not over that?" she said testily.
"I am," Klaus said at once. "Violet's trust is worse than mine, and it's been broken since the fire."
"Well, what can I do to show her I'm sorry? Nothing I do seems to work."
Klaus's brow furrowed in thought. "Honestly? I don't know. Violet may never forgive you, but that doesn't matter. You're married to me, not her."
"Technically, I am…if you think about it," Fiona pointed out.
"And if your brother and stepfather were still alive, I'd be a good husband to them, too."
Fiona rolled her eyes playfully, but Klaus could feel that she still wasn't over what happened to the two a couple years ago. Between that and half the V.F.D. headquarters harassing her, he was surprised at how well she was handling it. Sure, she'd let an insult or two slip now and then, but other than that, she took it like a champ. And for that, he was extremely proud of her. "I know you would." She looked back out the window. If only she knew how to end this nightmare for good… What she wouldn't do to end this nightmare for good…
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"A, it's M. The volunteers are here," Mason spoke into an intercom fastened just above an elegant doorbell.
"Thank you, Mason," a feeble voice wheezed back.
Mason looked around at the group of volunteers with a smile. "Enjoy your stay, everyone. Mason out." With that, he tipped his hat and walked down the stairs back to his trolley.
Violet, Klaus, and the others' eyebrows rose at the magnificence of the front doors. They didn't have a ruler on them, but to their guess the carved mahogany doors must have been twenty feet tall at the least, if not more.
Wow, Klaus thought, his eyebrows rising. He looked over at Violet. "Think you could invent something to open these doors without pulling your arm outta its socket?"
"Challenge accepted," Violet replied, smiling slyly.
Just then, one of the doors creaked open to reveal a butler whose face had so many wrinkles that they could've sworn a shar pei had come to greet them in formal attire. "Ahh, hello there," he said with a cordial smile, and they recognized him to be the one Mason was talking with over the intercom. "Come in, come in."
Each volunteer wiped their feet on the elegant welcome mat before heading inside after him. The group of a hundred looked around, marveling its breathtaking decor. Why, it was so enormous that King Kong and Godzilla could bunk there without worrying about breaking anything.
"It's beautiful," Violet complimented, a smile spreading across her face.
"Yeah…reminds me of our home." Klaus agreed, looking up at the thirty foot, diamond-encrusted chandelier dangling over the foyer.
"Well, our home is your home, volunteers, if ever you need one, whether temporary or permanent. I'm Abe by the way, but everybody calls me A." The butler turned around on his heel to face them. "Well, I won't hold you guys up. Although I will say the meeting is at eight o'clock sharp, and dinner is at six o'clock sharp in the dining room, which is this room right here." He gestured to the pair of polished double doors directly behind him. "See you then." With one final smile, he turned and strode down the hall.
"So where to?" Klaus asked, turning to look at his sister, his soulmate, and the Quagmires.
"Well, I'm off to finish Edison," Violet said. "Should have him done by dinner. Maybe he could help set the table tonight."
"And we're going to watch her," Quigley added, nodding at Duncan.
"I'm going to the woods. See if I can find some reishi," Fiona said with a shrug.
"Mind if I tag along?" Klaus tipped his head curiously.
"I'd mind if you didn't," Fiona told him with a crooked smile.
Klaus returned the gesture, then looked at Isadora questioningly. "Isadora?"
Isadora was silent, staring intently down at the floor, as if it would disappear if she took her eyes off it.
"Sis?" Quigley nudged her.
Isadora jumped and looked at him. "Hm?"
"Where are you gonna be?" Klaus repeated.
"Oh, um…" Isadora flushed, embarrassed as all eyes fell on her. She'd been so wrapped up in her own little world that she didn't really think about her plans for the afternoon. "Uh…I guess I'll, uh…go watch Violet," she managed to stutter.
"Alright. We'll see you guys at dinner," Klaus nodded at Violet.
"Well, that's rude," came a mild sneer from behind. "Not going to watch Violet finish another mind-blowing invention of hers."
Fiona's eyes flickered. She knew that voice anywhere. She and Klaus whirled around to find a slim siren about their age smiling wryly at them. "No, what's rude is butting into somebody else's conversation," she retorted, balling her fists.
"Touché," the girl said with a flip of her long, radiant red hair. "I'm impressed, Fiona. Your mind's still sharp as ever even after those goons scrambled it."
Fiona's upper lip curled into a snarl, her blood beginning to boil. She was going to bring this up again?
"But, I can't give you all the credit," the girl continued. "If I hadn't have come to save the day, you'd be blubbering like a caveman." Her vindictive green eyes wandered over to Klaus. "What do you see in her?"
Klaus opened his mouth to speak, but Fiona beat him to the punch (almost literally). "That's the wrong question," she growled. "The right one would be 'Why am I still trying to steal another woman's man? I guess I don't value my life very much.'"
The girl threw her head back, laughing.
"You think this's funny?" Fiona snapped, getting in her face.
"Funny? I think it's hilarious. Dramatic irony anyone?" The girl laughed again before leaning in to Fiona. "If anybody deserves to be Mrs. Klaus Baudelaire, it's me."
"You?" Fiona snorted with an amused smirk. "Enlighten me, please."
"I wasn't the one who betrayed him when he needed someone the most."
"That was eight years ago! And I did it for my brother!"
"Betrayal is still betrayal," the girl sang.
"Oh, and you're such a saint, forgive me," Fiona barked sarcastically, holding her hands up.
"Okay, that's enough," Klaus cut in, threading his arms between them. "Let's go, Fi."
"You're gonna pay for what you did to my mirror," Fiona pointed heatedly at her before Klaus drug her off in the direction of the entrance. "That marker don't come off!"
The girl flinched, puzzled. "What about your mirror?" she retorted.
"I know your handwriting anywhere, Katey! Don't lie to me!"
Katey blinked at her for a moment, trying to fathom what was going on, then she rolled her eyes at Fiona's stupidity and looked over at Violet. "Mind if I come with you guys?"
The Quagmires looked at Violet. "If you want," she replied calmly with a shrug. "I'm still not letting you date Klaus."
The girl fought not to glare. "I know," she forced herself to say sweetly. "I just wanna watch you invent is all."
Quigley and Duncan shared a puzzled glance. Anything to score brownie-points with Klaus's "guardian".
"Okay. C'mon," Violet nodded at the hallway.
Katey followed closely behind, but what they didn't see was the raw wrath seething from her eyes, stabbing Violet square in the back.
