Sorry this one took so long to get up. I like it though, I think you will too.
The Spectrum Sings: Thanks for the advice, it helped me write this one out a little better.
Mansfield Reformatory was a juvenile detention center on the outskirts of the state. Thanks to the woman with hair but no beard, it was now our new home. Corruption in the system allowed her to keep orphans like us there without a trial or a conviction, allowing them to hold us prisoner until we came of age and they could steal our fortunes. As for life in Mansfield, well it was about as miserable as you would expect. Duncan and I shared a cell, which we were stuck in for most of the day. There was a girls side and a boys side, with separate yards where we ate meals and even made a couple friends. The best part about Mansfield was the library. Not because the books were particularly great, but because the boys and girls could intermingle there, giving us our only way to stay in touch with Isadora.
"Wanna play rummy?" asked Francois, one of the friends we made in Mansfield. He stood about six foot five, and he must have weighed at least 250 pounds. He had dark black skin, a shaved head, and wore his jumpsuits with the sleeves ripped off, showing off his big arms. Despite his intimidating appearance he was one of the funniest people I knew, a goofy kid who could make a joke about anything. The only thing you couldn't talk to Francois about was his family, which we wouldn't talk about, ever.
"Hell yeah Frenchy, deal me in" Rico said, our other friend in Mansfield. Rico and Francois were cellmates and best friends, but whereas Francois was massive, Rico was tiny, a scrawny little kid with olive skin and long shaggy hair, who wore jumpsuits that looked two sizes too big. Rico had a chip on his shoulder and an endless supply of conversation, or at least of things to say. The two of them were also volunteers with VFD, and while they made a strange pair, the two of them were the most trustworthy people we had. We played the game for a while in prison yard before shouting from across the yard caught Rico's attention.
"Yo guys there's a fight about to start" Rico said excitedly, jumping up from the table and running over to a crowd of people forming on the other side of the yard. Francois slowly pushed himself up from the table to join him, and Duncan and I soon followed. I know, dropping everything to watch kids fight is pretty immature, but we were bored and needed some sort of entermainment.
"You got a problem with me four eyes?" I heard a voice shout from the center of the circle. By now most of the prisoners had gathered around to watch the fight, and I had to push through the group to get a view of the fight.
"What's you problem?" another voice said as I got to the front.
"Oh you're never gonna look at me like that again once I'm done with you, the first guy said. His name was Sid, a violent kid who loved picking on anyone who was smaller than him. The poor guy on the other end was a little bit smaller than me, with dark hair and big glasses. 'Poor kid doesn't stand a chance' I thought as Sid shoved him to the ground before he got a chance to say anything, much to the excitement of the crowd, who started cheering at the sudden onset of violence.
"That's Klaus!" Duncan yelled "we have to help him!" Instantly I recognized him, and I quickly followed Duncan, who had already ran into the circle. As the crowd was chanting for a fight Duncan ran up right behind Sid and punched him in the side of the face. Sid grabbed his face in pain, now it was my turn to strike. Before Sid got a chance to retaliate I charged into him, tackling him to the ground like a football player.
"I'm gonna kill you rat!" Sid yelled at me, violently thrashing beneath me as I knelt on top of him trying to pin his arms to the ground. The crowd was screaming in excitement, begging for more violence.
"Quigley look out!" Duncan screamed, and I turned my head just in time to see one of Sid's buddies coming at me, looking straight into my eyes with his right arm wound up and clenched into a fist. With no time to defend myself I flinched, turning my head to the side and raising my arm to defend my face, anticipating the blow that was sure to follow. The blow never came. I turned my head to see Sid's friend dangling in the air, thrashing his arms and legs as Francois held him up in the air. I looked around witnessing the mayhem around me. I still had Sid underneath me, who was staring at Francois in fear, as Duncan and Rico held back another one of Sid's goons.
The fight was over and everyone scattered as Francois dropped the kid to the ground, effectively breaking up the fight. Relieved, I got up and walked over to Klaus, who was sitting on the ground dusting off his glasses.
"Need a hand buddy?" I asked him smiling.
"It's good to see you again Quigley" he replied, taking my hand as I pulled him up to his feet. I embraced my long lost friend, a moment which felt so surreal, almost too good to be true.
"Are your siblings here as well?" Duncan asked as he ran over to greet him.
"Violet and Sunny are here, but they're being held on the other side" he said "where's Isadora?"
"Isadora is on the other side too" I said "with Violet and..." but I didn't finish my sentence. 'Violet is here' I thought 'I'm going to get to see Violet again!' My mind flashed back to the kiss we shared on top of Mount Fraught, the happiest moment I had since my parents died, possibly the happiest of my whole life.
"Alright lunchtimes over for you, back to your cells" a guard yelled, interrupting my daydream. There were four of them, putting Sid, Klaus, Duncan and I into handcuffs.
"Meet us in the library after dinner" I yell to Klaus as I'm pushed down a corridor leading to the cells. "We have a lot to talk about."
I laid down on the cot in my cell, my mind completely preoccupied by Violet Baudelaire. I had crushes before, but this was so much different. The way she tied her hair up while thinking up her inventions, the way she stood up to Count Olaf and those dastardly villains on top of Mount Fraught, the way she carried herself with such beauty, such grace, was just so much different than anyone else I had ever met.
I remember pulling away from her lips on top of that waterfall, the first time I'd ever kissed anyone. I felt so warm, like it was a summer day, even as freezing winds cut across my face. That's when I knew I was in love. I wish I said it then, but after that kiss we just kind of awkwardly laughed and decided to start climbing again. After losing her down the Stricken Stream it tortured me not knowing where she was, not knowing if she truly did love me. Something about what happened before I washed up on the beach calmed those feelings; lessened their intensity so I wasn't so preoccupied with her. Now that I knew she was here they came back, and they felt good.
We were let out of our cell for dinner. Klaus sat with us as we plowed through taco night as quickly as we could before going up to the library.
"So Violet and Sunny are going to be there too?" Klaus asked
"I hope so" I said "Isadora should have told them." Of course I didn't actually know that, in reality a whole number of things could have gone very wrong. I had been waiting all day to see her, in reality I had been waiting for quite a while longer, and I cringed knowing there was a very good chance I'd have to keep waiting. I flung the library doors open, scanning above the metal carts turned bookshelves to find where they were sitting. Our normal spot in the back right corner was empty, no sign of anyone in the other corner either.
"Izzy… Violet…" I called, scanning all around the room for them. I had seen this coming, part of me knew that it wasn't going to happen, and I felt stupid for dreaming about something that was never going to...
"Quigley" a voice says, interrupting my thoughts. I look forward and see Violet standing right in front of me, holding Sunny in her arms with Isadora by her side. She looked tired and distraught, but damn, even in a prison jumpsuit she was beautiful. She ran forward and embraced me, her tears pressing through my shirt as I held her tight. It wasn't how I wanted it to happen, but for the first time since our arrest I forgot I was even in jail.
"I thought I would never see you again" she said to me as the tears stopped falling. We pulled apart and I bent down to hug Sunny, who had grown significantly since I last saw her. I looked up to see Klaus and Isadora holding each other in the same way that Violet and I just did. It felt natural for us to be together, it felt like we were all one big reunited family.
"We're going to need a few more seats" Duncan said, pulling over a couple more chairs to the table. "And how did they get away with bringing Sunny here, she's too young to be in jail!"
"I'm doing fine" Sunny said, as Violet reached down to pick her up.
"Of course she's doing fine" I said "Sunny's the toughest one out of all of us." and everyone laughed. Sunny blushed at this comment, but it was true, I'd seen her survive by herself up on top of Mount Fraught surrounded by Count Olaf and his disgusting henchmen.
"So what happened to you?" Klaus asked as we all sat down "How did you survive The Great Unknown?"
"The what?" Duncan replied.
"Truth is we don't really remember much of what happened to us after we came down from Hector's hot air balloon home" Isadora continued. "All we really remember is waking up on a beach in the middle of the night, where we met Quigley."
"After that, we found shelter in the basement of a church, where we met a priest who claimed to be a member of VFD" I continued. "He asked us to run an errand for him to help him clear his name, but it turned out all he did was set us up in a sting. We got arrested for drug possession, and we've been here ever since."
"Did you ever go to court?" Violet asked.
"No" Duncan answered bitterly. "The woman with hair but no beard had us sent straight here. She told us that we'd be kept here until we turned eighteen and they could steal our fortunes. There are more orphans here like us who they are doing the exact same thing to."
"Oh my god" Sunny said, as the Baudelaires shuddered at the realization of what was actually happening to them.
"What happened to you though?" Isadora asked them. "Maybe you can help us answer our own questions."
"We washed up on a beach, like you" Sunny said. "Kit picked us up in a taxi, and brought us to Hotel Denouement."
"Kit!" I said in excitement. "Is she alright?" No one answered; the Baudelaires just put their heads down as the mood became much darker.
"We didn't see Kit after she dropped us off at Hotel Denouement" Violet said. "She left us there while she went to help with a situation at Anwhistle aquatics. She told us that she helped you steal a helicopter to rescue your siblings, who were being attacked by VFD eagles."
"So that's what the helicopter that I saw in the distance was" Duncan said.
"We must have all fell out of the sky, and that explains how we all wound up on the beach together" Isadora said as well.
"Well there's more to it" said Klaus. "After the Hotel Denouement burned down, we washed up on an island in the middle of the sea. Kit floated to the island on a raft made of books. She told us that she had escaped from The Great Unknown on that raft, while you three were sucked into The Great Unknown. Somehow you must have escaped, and washed up on the beach from there."
"Wow" I said, shocked by the confusing and downright scary series of events that I couldn't even remember. "So what happened to Kit?" I asked. Once again, nobody responded for a while.
"Kit was hurt, very badly" Sunny finally said. "We were all alone with her when she went into labor" Sunny's eyes began filling up with tears, as Violet leaned over to comfort her. "Kit died" she choked out "after giving birth." I looked at him stunned, unable to speak, unable to react.
"Is her child alright, at least?" Isadora asked, her eyes filling up with tears as well.
"A year passed before we left the island" Klaus said. "We took our old boat out, but it crashed and sank in a storm like the one that brought us to the island in the first place." We swam to shore and wound up once again on Briny Beach." He stopped and sighed, gathering composure before finishing his statement. "With nowhere else to turn, we went to go find Mr. Poe. We never even saw him, when we got to his bank we were arrested on the spot. We told Kit before she died that we'd take care of her child, but when they took us to jail, they took her from us as well. We have no idea what happened to her."
For a while we could only sit there, too saddened by the series of unfortunate events that brought us to Mansfield to speak. I bit my lip, fighting back tears as I clenched my fists in anger. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, locked up for crimes we didn't commit, waiting for the villains on the other side of VFD to put us out of our misery. Violet hugged Sunny, and Klaus and Isadora held each other. I turned to Duncan, who looked at me, fighting back tears as well.
"It can't end like this" he said, "we have to do something." He was right, what if we were all killed on our eighteenth birthday, our lives holding no meaning other than the fortunes stolen from us? What if the last moment I spent with Violet was spent in the library of Mansfield Reformatory? Something had to be done.
"When you were in jail in the Village of Fowl Devotees" I whispered so that nobody else would hear me, "how did you escape?"
"It was an invention I made" Violet said, "using bread and water to dissolve the mortar holding the bricks together. But the walls here are made of concrete, and we don't get any bread in our cell."
"I had read something a long time ago about a group of Frenchmen who had escaped from prison by impersonating the guards" Klaus continued, but I have no idea how we could do that." It was a longshot, but it also gave us a spark, a chance to escape from the horrible fate awaiting us.
"Klaus" Duncan said under his breath as we all leaned in even closer, "What other books have you read about prison escape?"
Please review!