A/N: Click that little red "X" on your screen. Make this story go away. Spare yourself from the misery and woe that comes along with it.

Chapter Four

The Lucid Lake

*****

Beginning at Count Olaf's old house, I found nothing but an ashy plot of land.

I continued on to where Uncle Monty's house once stood. I found that a brand-new house had been built in it's place. Gathering all of the courage I had, I knocked on the door.

As I was waiting for someone to answer, I saw a hand-made sign near the door. It was made of stone, and it read in plain, simple, block letters written with chalk: The world is quiet here. As I read this, I suck in a deep breath. Okay. So Isadora definitely knew what she was talking about when she told me to take my journey again.

A middle-aged woman answered the door, and I repeated what the sign by her door read. She looked at me carefully for a few seconds, and then said,

"For or against fire?"

"Against. I'm Violet Baudelaire," I answer quickly, and she smiles.

"Welcome."

*****

Inside, she led me to a library, and then handed me two papers that were sitting on a table.

"The first telegram arrived describing you, and telling me to give you the next telegram, and then lead you in the right direction." I read the second telegram, which tells me to not go to Lake Lachrymose. "The lake is no longer a headquarters for V.F.D. For the first time in nearly three decades, it truly is quiet there," it read.

"So I go on to Paltryville, right?" I ask. The woman, who had introduced herself as just "Khloe," shook her head.

"You will go in the tunnel under the house, and on to the Quagmire's old mansion. After that you will continue on to Paltryville. Do you understand?" she asks, and I nod. "Do you need the telegram anymore?" I shake my head no, and she wads it up and throws it into the fire. She does the same with the first telegram. "Now, be on your way." She pushes a rug into the corner of the room, and opens a trapdoor. I hesitantly step inside, and begin the terrifying trek through the tunnel.

It took me a couple hours to reach the old Quagmire house. When I came up through the trapdoor, a young man was waiting for me. He smiled when I made my way into what looked like another library, and stood up.

"Violet Baudelaire. A pleasure to meet you. I'm Ishmael." I blinked when he said his name, and tried to calm my racing thoughts and push the troubling memories from my time on the island with that person of the same name. Now was not the time to fall apart.

I nod, and he hands me a piece of paper.

"The Denouement was not your fault. Continue on, and remember the gum."

*****

The snakes were speaking to me.

Speaking to me?

I really was loosing my mind.

"Don't be afraid, darling. We'll be extra careful. We don't like Count Olaf, either," The big, black, familiar one said. I wondered why it was familiar. It seemed that I couldn't completely recognize a lot these days.

Pushing the thought from my mind, I stroked the slick snake carefully. It's tongue slithered between it's jaws quickly, and then sucked back in even quicker.

"You're incredible," I murmured, and then moved on to the cage next to the dark snake. It was a giant toad with many eyes, and it was green and slick-looking like it had been out in the rain for a while. It croaked at me, and I giggled. It turned it's head to the side in a confused manner, like it had never heard the noise before.

I looked at all of the reptiles in their various cages, and was surprised with the variety. When I was done memorizing each of their appearances, I sat down in one of the chairs and flipped through some books. They were all about the reptiles in the cages and the ones that were not featured here, and it was all very interesting.

"Darling…" I heard from behind me, and I jumped up, dropping my books to the ground in the process. I looked all around, wondering who had spoken, and realized that it was the black snake.

"What?" I ask, wary.

"Come closer." Like a magnet, I felt that I had no choice but to comply. I drifted closer and closer until I was practically nose-to-nose with the cage.

"Yes?"

"I can't believe I've finally got you. It's truly too amazing for words!" It laughed in a triumph. My eyebrows furrow, and I look at the serpent, confused. "Truly awe-inspiring." It shakes it head in wonder, and I take a step back as the snake's eyes turn greedy and evil-looking. "I've finally got you!" It shouts one more time. In the split second that I had to blink, the snake turned into him.

Count Olaf.

As I screamed, the wretched man slipped through the bars and jumped towards me.

*****

I awoke in a fright, and, thankfully, I remembered where I was, so I suppressed the screaming.

The train ride to Paltryville was a long, terrible one. Though the surrounding towns had changed dramatically, they were still as dingy and bleak looking as it had been over a decade before.

When the train stopped in Paltryville, I got off. I put on my raincoat, and stopped to think for a second. Where was I supposed to go first? The town had gotten bigger, so there were tons of places to start.

I began walking in a random direction, down wet streets and dirty sidewalks. People lurked on the corners, and every time I passed someone, my heart sped up and I walked faster, afraid that someone evil had figured out what was going on (though I hadn't yet) and was coming to stop me. But then I was struck with the realization that someone here was probably waiting for me, and then I just got confused and frustrated all over again.

And then I remembered Isadora's note. Remember the gum.

The gum. I thought hard, and remembered.

Suddenly I was running- no, sprinting- towards where I remembered the Lucky Smells Lumbermill being. I slipped on a puddle of water, and pitched forward, landing hard on my knees and hands. But that didn't phase me. I just sprinted even harder, getting soaked in the process as the hood of my raincoat fell off my head.

And there I found it.

Lucky Smells Lumbermill had been shut down after everything that happened while we briefly worked and resided there, and had been just left to rot after. I kicked in a window, and crawled through, cutting my hand on the glass as I did. I picked the piece of glass out, and ignored the pain.

I found a huge pile of boxes and boxes of gum, and begin opening them all, looking for any clue of why Isadora had asked me to do this. Halfway through the stack, I found what I was looking for.

I opened the brown box, and out fell a little scrap of paper.

"The world is quiet here,

Now take a moment to dry your tear."

It was obviously Isadora's handwriting and poem style, but I didn't understand. My hand reached up to my eyes, and sure enough, tears were flowing. I was so perplexed, so worried, so terrified that I felt like breaking down.

I pulled my handkerchief out of the pocket of my coat, and wiped my tears just like Isadora had told me to.

I got an inkling of something, and stared hard at the handkerchief for a long time.

And then I understood.

*****

Isadora and I were sitting on the beach on the island, just talking. I had a cold, and kept pulling the handkerchief of Quigley's that I always stole out of his pocket. I blew my nose, and Isadora looked upset.

"What's the matter, Isadora?" I asked, concerned.

"Nothing," she says quickly, and then shakes her head. "Actually, it always makes me sad when I see a handkerchief, because it always reminds me of the Hotel Denouement." I look at her quizzically, and she continues. "When we saw the smoke from the Hotel Denouement, Quigley pulled out a handkerchief. He was crying, and he wanted to wipe his tears away. It just makes me sad whenever I remember him being so beat up about it, it made me sad that so many noble volunteers lost their lives, and it made me sad that the last safe place is gone."

As she said this, my heart constricted and tears rushed to my eyes. None of the Quagmires knew that it was us Baudelairs that burned down the Hotel Denouement. It would have upset them, and none of us could bear to let our dear friends know that we were the terrible fiends that had let Count Olaf escape, and the terrible fiends that had killed innocent people.

Isadora smiled reassuringly at me. "Don't worry about it," she said, and then promptly changed the subject.

*****

The handkerchief… Hotel Denouement.

That was where she wanted me to go next. She never said anything about making the journey in order… She just said make the journey. So it looks like I'm taking a little detour. I remembered her note at the Quagmire mansion: "The Hotel Denouement is not your fault." Okay, so the Quagmires- or at least Isadora- knew that we burned down the hotel. In that note, she was not only giving me a hint to what I was looking for in the gum, but was trying to relieve some of the guilt that I'd obviously be feeling when I figured out where I was going.

Taking a deep breath, I realize just how badly I don't want to go back to the site of where the Hotel Denouement once stood. I didn't want to have to feel the guilt, didn't want to have to relive that horrifying experience. To be honest, I wanted to go home. I wanted to see Quigley, see my brother and sister.

That option was irrational for two reasons. One: Isadora had said that I couldn't go home, that it wasn't safe. Two: I could not fail my family. Nope. I sure couldn't.

A/N: Interesting chapter, huh? This mystery thing is fun to write! Hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm having problems with Chapter Five, so I'm not sure when I'll be updating again. Hopefully next Friday, but if i can't get inspired... Yep.

Review, review, review! Reviews are love, and I think you all have a lot of love to give out right now *wink, wink*

Last thing, I'm a beta reader so let me know if you're interested.