Author's Note: I hope everyone had a great Christmas and new year. I've taken a long enough break so it's time to start the presses once again. I particularly enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy it too. Most importantly, please review.
Disclaimer: If I owned ASOUE, then this wouldn't be a disclaimer, would it?
Those of you who have an interest in filmography may be familiar with a term called 'cross-cutting'. This term refers to when a movie alternates between two scenes to give the impression that they are happening simultaneously. When something unfortunate occurs in a movie, you might end up sobbing and weeping so much that you need a whole box of tissues. However, when a movie contains the horrible act of cross-cutting, two equally miserable things can happen at the same time, which makes your depression so much worse that you might end up needing ten boxes of tissues. For that reason, it can be deduced that those who take part in cross-cutting are evil and should never be trusted.
I hope that you can find it in your hearts to think of me as an exception to the rule, rather than another evil cross-cutter. I must engage in cross-cutting in this chapter, despite the fact that this is a book, not a film. It is not my fault that the events thats happen to Klaus and Beatrice in the burning bank happened at the same time as the events that happened a safe distance away from the blaze, with Violet and Sunny. I will have to cross-cut a couple of times, so let's get it over with. I will start by describing what happened to Klaus after he entered the front door of the bank.
Klaus tried to ignore the thoughts about how foolish he was running back in the bank. He knew that he was simply walking into the slaughter house, meaning he was willingly running to his possible death, not that he was a cow or a pig being killed for his meat. Klaus just wasn't willing to lose Beatrice. For all he knew, Fiona and the rest were dead. The Quagmires and Captain Widdershins and Hector and Phil could all be dead. He made a vow to himself not to let any more of his loved ones die. He promised himself that Violet, Sunny and Beatrice would all be okay. Now, we was living up to his word.
The fire had already spread across most of the hotel. Luckily enough, there was a clear path up to the stairway which Mr Poe took them up earlier. On the other hand, the first was spreading quickly and soon there would be no means of escape. Klaus realised that if he didn't run out of the bank soon, he might never leave at all. However, he ran up the stairs with haste, thinking of Beatrice and the promise he and his sisters made to Kit Snicket as she died back on the island, which felt so far away.
Cross-cut #1
I warned you that I was going to cross-cut to the situation with Violet and Sunny outside the bank and now I shall stay true to my word. The eldest and youngest Baudelaire orphans were in distress, a term which here means 'distraught'. Violet place Sunny on the ground and held firmly onto her arm.
"I have to go and stop Klaus. There's too much at stake."
"No," Sunny stuttered, "Please don't leave me".
Violet opened her mouth, possibly about to tell Sunny that she had no choice. However, whatever noise may have come out was drained by the noise of a siren. Violet and Sunny both turned around to see from where the noise originated.
"What's that noise?" asked Sunny.
Violet shrugged, "Probably just a first truck. It's about time they arrive. Now, I need to stop Klaus from blundering to his death. Stay here and don't move a muscle. I'm not losing either of you. I... I love you, Sunny. Remember that."
Violet never got the chance to run in after Klaus, because she was wrong about the siren they heard. It didn't come from a fire engine after all. The source of the noise was a police car. The car parked right next to the two Baudelaire sisters and before they could react, the door opened and a woman in police uniform walked out.
She stopped in her tracks, "Oh my! It's the Baudelaires!"
Cross-cut #2
Klaus Baudelaire wasted no time running towards the door behind which he leave Beatrice. He hesitated as he realised his mistake. He remembered the whole reason they had to exit the bank through the window in the first place. He had felt the door and concluded that there was fire on the other side. Unfortunately for himself, he was right. Klaus felt so stupid. He completely forgot about his observation in the bank. It felt so far away from him once he became anxious over Beatrice. He was so stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
Klaus muttered to himself, "There's no turning back now", and crawled right into the inferno.
He held his breath to avoid breathing in the smoke. That would protect him from the most deadly aspect of bank fires, the smoke... until his lungs run out of oxygen, of course. When he finally made it it reached up and grabbed the door knob.
"Ah!" he shouted.
The door knob was too hot to touch. He now had a burn mark on his hand, but considering how much he was suffering now, that was the least of his worries. He summoned what little strength he had left and charged into the door, hitting it with his shoulder. The fire had weakened the door's stability, so it completely fell off its hinges. Klaus lied there for a few seconds, coughing. He was so weak... so utterly weak.
Then, he forced himself onto his knees, which was certainly a difficult task to say the least. He let out a whimper as the muscles in his arms pushed against the floor to pick himself upwards. Then, he notice Beatrice. She was coughing wildly. She managed took a deep breath, enough to allow her to call out to Klaus when he saw him.
"Kla!"
Klaus shouted back at her, "Beatrice!"
Beatrice coughed some more and Klaus noticed each and every individual tear on her face. She struggled to speak.
"...Kla..."
Cross-cut #3
Violet looked at the policewoman, shocked that she recognized her. It had been a long time since their photographs were published in 'The Daily Punctilio'. She wasn't expected to be recognised, particularly when Klaus wasn't present. It was too late to run after Klaus. She looked at the policewoman suspiciously.
"Who... are you?", she couldn't resist asking.
The mysterious policewoman smirked, as if she were amused by the question.
"My name is Faith Wecem and you, Violet and Sunny, are coming with me."
She grabbed Violet and Sunny by the wrists and began to pull them into the police car. Both Baudelaire sisters struggled, Sunny held on to the side of the car with her teeth, which even now were a bit sharper than the average person's teeth.
"No!", she cried.
Faith Wecem pulled Sunny into the back seat of the car, even though it meant leaving two scratch on the side of the car, where Sunny's incisors were pulled away from, making an ear-shattering screech.
"I think it would be best for everyone, Baudelaires," Faith started, "if you stop struggling and come with me!"
Cross-cut #4
Klaus was trapped in Mr Poe's office and his lungs were in desperate need for air. He gasped again and again, while Beatrice tilted further and further over the edge of life. The fire had now spread across half of the office. Klaus desperately thought. He couldn't signal to his siblings as all of Mrs Poe's clothes were now black sheets of ash. He backed up and hit the back of his head off something.
Sometimes, when someone says that something hits them, they mean that they had something collide with their body, usually causing them a lot of pain. Others might say that something hit them, using a metaphor which means that they were struck my inspiration. Unlike being struck by a fist or being struck by lightning, being struck by inspiration is a very good thing and it can be a huge relief when it happens in a dire, seemingly-hopeless situation.
The back of Klaus' head was yet another part of his body that was in pain. He turned around to see what he had backed into. It was a bookcase. Klaus was always happy to see a bookcase, but never as much as he was now. Something hit him. Some would argue that the bookcase hit him. Others would say that an idea hit him. Some would say that he was struck by the bookcase. Others would say that he was struck by inspiration.
He looked through some of the books that were in Mr Poe's bookcase.
The Official Oxford English Dictionary
Edgar Guest – The Biography of a Reasonably Okay Poet.
Banking habits of Winnipeg – Volume F
An A-Z of How to Care for your Larynx
The Unofficial Oxford English Dictionary
The Bible – Banker's Version
He ripped a few pages out of the Edgar Guest book. It hurt him to have to desecrate a book, but it would be worth it if it would save his life and Beatrice's. He coughed into the pages twice, then got back down to his knees. There was only one way out and that was to crawl all the way back through the flames and back out of the front door, using the pages of the biography to cover Beatrice's face and prevent her from inhaling and smoke.
Klaus only managed to whisper the words, "This is a long shot, that's for sure," under his breath.
"Yet it just might work."
Cross-cut #4
Violet protested, "Please, officer, our brother is still in the bank!"
Faith turned around and stared at the repulsive sight of the bank, with an orange light protruding from the downstairs windows and an accumulation of smoke escaping through the upstairs windows. All three of them wondered what chances Klaus might have of survival.
Faith turned back at Violet and Sunny, "Klaus is in there?" she asked quietly.
Sunny responded impatiently, "Yes!"
Violet noticed a tear descending down her check, "Please, Officer Wecem, he's went back in there and I haven't seen any sign of him since. I know you probably recognise us from those articles in the Daily Punctilio saying that we are murderers and arsonists, but you have to believe me. We're good people and so is our brother. Please let me go in after him and look after Sunny while I do."
Faith took a deep breath, before reaching a conclusion, "Sorry, but no."
Sunny began to cry silently. Violet crouched down to give her a hug. She looked up at Faith. She was hoping for the policewoman to change her mind, but she only shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Violet. I'm not going to let you run in there to your death. We'll wait here for a couple of minutes for your brother, but if he doesn't come out then you'll have to accept that he's dead and we'll go without him. I'm really sorry, but that's how the world works. I lost a brother in a fire just like this, although it was in a cake shop instead of a bank. It will be hard, but you'll get over it."
Violet sobbed. She knew that she would not be able to convince the officer to let her go back into the bank. She just stared at it and hoped for the best. She hoped that her genius of a brother would work out away to escape. She even started muttering under her breath.
"Come on, Klaus."
Cross-cut #5
Klaus crawled through the fire and embers. Beatrice was already unconscious by this point. For all Klaus knew, she could have been dead. He could check later. His first and foremost priority was to get out of the bank. He crawled through the heat and ash and burning fire. His lungs were screaming, demanding air. He wondered if he would be unconscious by the time his body gave in and surrendered his life, or if he would have to face the agony awake.
When he reached the stairs, the middle Baudelaire ended up not crawling down them but falling down them. He rolled down each step and hurt his torso every time he dropped from one step to another. Holding Beatrice tight, he shielded her from the impact of each and every bounce. By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs, he could see the exit. It seemed to be moving around him, along with the rest of the room. He kept crawling, shielding Beatrice from the brunt of the heat. He had burns everywhere, but he soon stopped feeling them as he faded into half-consciousness at the point. Barely able to see, he followed his instincts. He honesty thought that this was the end. He was going to go down the same way Beatrice and Bertrand Baudelaire met their demise.
He crawled and crawled and crawled.
Desperately, he crawled for his life.
And for Beatrice's.
He didn't even notice when he reached the exit. He kept crawling until he was lying still on the ground, with Beatrice lying beside him.
Cross-cut #6
There was a long silence, which was eventually broken by Faith.
"There are no signs of any life in there", she stated, though Sunny and Violet both already knew this.
Violet shook her head, "No."
Faith looked into Violet's eyes. "Maybe we should just accept that Klaus is dead."
Violet tensed her shoulders and shook her head again, "No!"
Faith put one hand on each of the Baudelaires sisters' shoulders. She opened her mouth to say something, but Violet interrupted.
"NO!"
She screamed defiantly. She wished that she had stayed on the island where Kit Snicket and Count Olaf died. Klaus would have still been alive. Beatrice too. She never would have started the mess that ended with all the rest of her friends possibly dying. Duncan and Isadora Quagmire. Fiona and Captain Widdershins. Phil and Hector... Quigley.
She tried to imagine living without her brother. She couldn't, but maybe it was time to face the facts and the facts said that she was never going to see her brother again.
Then she saw a Klaus crawling out of the doors of the Mulctuary Money Management bank.
Could it be?
The final cross-cut
Klaus couldn't crawl any more. The world fell silent. His muscles wouldn't work any more. He stared at the ground, as he couldn't gather the strength to turn his head. His vision turned blurry. He regained his hearing for just a moment. He heard footsteps, running over to him. He heard shouting.
"Klaus! Klaus! Klaus!"
He recognised the voice. It was his sister, Violet Baudelaire.
Klaus passed out, wondering whether or not he was dying.
