The Horrible Hotel

6

Violet and Quigley Plan

Quigley picked up the phone, dialed some numbers, and waited. After all, he really should check before flying up there.

"I'm sorry, but your call cannot be completed as dialed."

Quigley tried again.

"I'm sorry-" Quigley hung up, worried even more. He tried again, this time a different number.

The phone picked up. "Good evening. Forest Service."

"Hello, I'm Derek Forrest, the head chef at the Overlook Hotel."

"Good evening, Mr. Forrest. What can I do for you?"

"Well I've been trying to make an extremely urgent phone call up there but I can't seem to get through!" Quigley began pace back and forth, listening to the creaking of his floor.

The forest ranger sighed. "Yeah, I'm afraid a lot of lines are down around here due to the storm." He said.

Quigley sat down. "Well would you mind giving them a call on your radio? Just to see if they're ok?" he began to bite his nails.

"I'd be glad to do that sir. Why don't you call back in about twenty minutes or so?"

"Thank you very much! I'll do that."

"Goodbye."

Quigley hung up, only slightly relieved. He prayed that Violet and Sunny and Klaus were ok.

Especially Violet.

XOXO

Meanwhile, Violet was also pacing back and forth in her bedroom, muttering to herself and crying slightly.

"We have the Snowcat. If the weather breaks, we might just be able to get down the mountain in that." She said, hands trembling.

She walked into the living room.

"I could call the Forest Rangers first and then tell them that we're coming so that they could start searching for us, in case we didn't make it." She walked back into the bedroom.

"If Klaus won't come with us, we'll just have to tell him that we are going by ourselves. That's all there is to it."

She stopped and bit her bottom lip. What was happening to Klaus?

"Red rum. Red rum. Red rum."

Violet turned around. The croaking voice was coming from Sunny's room! She ran out of her own room into Sunny's.

"Sunny?" she asked.

"Red rum. Red rum. Red rum." Sunny repeated, over and over, in that creepy croaky monotone. She was sitting upright in bed, staring blankly out.

Violet came over and sat next to her. "Sunny! Sunny wake up! What's the matter?"

"Red rum. Red rum." Sunny simply repeated.

"Sunny? Sunny?" Violet whispered, running her hands through Sunny's hair. "Sunny, what's wrong?"

Sunny turned to look at Violet.

"Sunny's not here, Miss Baudelaire." She croaked.

Violet closed her eyes, tears running down her face. "C'mon Sunny wake up! You're just having a bad dream… wake up…"

"Sunny can't wake up, Miss Baudelaire." Sunny croaked once more.

"Sunny, wake up! Wake up right now!" sobbed Violet. This couldn't be happening! It couldn't! First Klaus, now Sunny.

"Sunny's gone away Miss Baudelaire." Sunny said.

Violet embraced Sunny, rocking back an forth. "Sunny… wake up…"

XOXO

Klaus walked past the reception desk into the office and switched on the lights. The little radio in the corner was squawking. Someone was trying to contact them. The Forest Service most likely.

"KDK 1 calling KDK 12. KDK 1 calling KDK 12. Do you read me?"

Klaus walked over to the box.

"KDK 1 calling KDK 12. KDK 1 calling KDK 12. Are you receiving me?"

Klaus tried to jimmy the cover off. Didn't work. He turned the thing over.

"KDK 1 calling KDK 12. KDK 1 calling KDK 12. Do you read me?"

Klaus unscrewed the back and took off the cover. Now he could see all the little gadgets inside. He touched one of the components.

"KDK 1 calling KDK 12. KDK 1 calling KDK 12."

He ripped it out.

"KDK-" the radio went silent. Klaus ripped out a few other parts as well, before putting them in his pocket and walking calmly out of the office.

XOXO

Quigley picked up the phone again and dialed the rangers. It picked up after a few rings.

"Good evening. Forest Service."

"Hi this is Derek Forrest again. I called about the Overlook Hotel?"

"Oh yeah. We tried to contact them several times by radio, but they never picked up."

Quigley's heart sank. The ranger continued, "Now, maybe they've got their radio turned off or they're in a place where they can't hear it. If you like me to, I'd be glad to try them again later on."

"Thank you. That's be great." Quigley said faintly. "I'll call you back later. Good night."

"Good night."

Quigley hung up the phone.

8:00 am

Quigley was sitting on a plane, exhausted and worried. What on earth was happening over there in that hotel? Obviously nothing good. He shouldn't have left; he should've found some way to stay! What was happening to the siblings? Had Count Olaf found them?

That was wishful thinking. If it was something as earth-bound as villains, he would not worry as much. It was the hotel that had him worried. After all, the images Sunny had sent him...

He sighed and called a stewardess over.

"Excuse me miss, when will we arrive?"

"8:20, sir." She replied.

"Thanks." He said, looking at his watch.

XOXO

Klaus typed feverishly at his keyboard, writing his book. Books could be fun to write as well as read.

XOXO

Quigley sighed as he leaned up against the phone booth. The other side was ringing. Finally it picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Joe! It's me, Quigley."

"Oh hey Quig! Wussup?"

"I just flew in. I need a Snocat to get up to the Overlook Hotel. Got anything?"

"Overlook Hotel? Why do you need to get there, and in this godforsaken weather?" asked Joe.

"Well, between you and me, the caretakers have turned out to be completely unreliable. Real a-holes. I need to go up there to see if they need replacing."

Joe chuckled. "How far away from here are you?" he asked.

"About five hours. I'm going to rent a car." Quigley replied.

"Ok. I'll have one ready for you when you get here."

"Thanks Joe. I owe you one."

"Sure. Drive carefully." Joe hung up.

XOXO

Quigley was driving down the highway, snow hitting his windshield, listening to the radio.

"…bad day out there. Heavy snow throughout the entire metro area. Many mountain passes such as Wolf Creek are already closed. The national weather service has declared a stopmans and travelers advisory... for all areas outlying the metro region - get the cows in the barn."

XOXO

Violet and Sunny sat in the living room watching cartoons on TV. Violet sighed and stood up.

"Sunny." She said, and Sunny looked at her.

"I'm going to talk to Klaus for a while. You stay here and watch your cartoons, ok?"

"Yes, Miss Baudelaire." She croaked.

Violet gave her sister a teary hug. Sunny turned her head back to watch her cartoons.

Violet walked towards the door, stopping to pick up a baseball bat. Then she left, with a final look at Sunny, blankly watching cartoons, before closing the door behind her.