(Serious) Author's Note: Thanks to richards25, krikanalo, Don't leave me hanging and Theonewhoweaveswords for reviewing the last chapter! :)

Chapter Eleven

Klaus was confused.

The last thing he remembered was falling through the sky in Jacques Snicket's broken helicopter, and now he was alone again. He was in a small room, stone-built with a bare wooden floor, not that different from the room he'd awoken in at the V.F.D. base in the Verdant Valley. However, he could tell (mostly due to the bare wooden bunk he had just slept on, the thick metal door and the small, high, barred window) that he wasn't here as a guest.

As for where here was, Klaus could only guess. He assumed that this was the feared Firestarter base at the edge of the Mortmains, near to where their helicopter had undoubtedly fallen. As for his comrades Jacques and Arlo, and his sister Violet, again he could only guess. Hopefully, wherever they were, they were safe.

Klaus could see the sunlight shining in through the small window in his room, and assumed that no nights had passed since the helicopter crash. The day dragged on, and by evening, he had read through his only possession, his commonplace book, countless times. But upon inspecting his ruined coat that sat at the end of his bunk that evening as the pale blue light of the Hinterlands sunset shone into the room, he found a ballpoint pen in one of the pockets. Having nothing better to do, he decided to record his situation in the small, royal blue book.

Date: August 17th

Time: Evening (there's no clock)

Sitrep: Everything's gone wrong, basically. I'm stuck in a small, locked room, presumably held prisoner by the Firestarters. For what purpose, I don't know. Maybe they know who I am, or more likely, who my parents are. Maybe they are after the same thing as Count Olaf; the sugar bowl, whatever that is. Or maybe Count Olaf runs this base. Maybe he's got mother and Sunny captured here? No, that sounds unlikely. Whatever the reason is behind it, I'm completely at the mercy of my captors.

I don't know where any of my friends or family are. I've not even had a chance to contact any of my friends in the fortnight since the fire. Even that feels so long ago now. The confrontation at the petrol station, the car chase, losing mother, father and Sunny, and then that long journey through the Hinterlands with Violet.

Mother and Sunny are missing, presumably captured by Count Olaf and his vicious associates. Father was harpooned by that horrible man who worked for Olaf. He's alive, at least, but seriously injured. He's safe in the Mortmains, but by attempting to reach him, I've put myself in more danger than before.

As for my travelling companions, I have no idea as to their fate. For all I know, they might be dead.

Klaus stopped writing and looked up for a moment, accepting the grim reality as to his sister's situation. One by one, Klaus had lost everyone and everything in the past two weeks. With tears in his eyes, Klaus forced himself to carry on writing the entry in his commonplace book.

I hope Violet is safe, wherever she is. Hopefully either Jacques or Arlo is with her. I can't imagine that Arlo has any business with the Firestarters, but I can imagine them putting a lot of effort into capturing Jacques Snicket. Maybe that was why they attacked us. Jacques said that he had some important files with him that he was taking to the Headquarters with him. Maybe they contained information that could change the course of the schism? Or maybe I'm just making this sound dramatic. I'm certain that the Firestarters must be after something if they went to the hassle of shooting us down. They must have recognised us. They wouldn't shoot civilian (even though really, we are civilians) aircraft.

I hate how we've all been dragged into this schism so suddenly. Violet and I don't even fully understand the motives and ambitions of both sides. All I know is that my parents fought for the Volunteers, and we have to do everything in our power (which, I'm afraid, isn't much in my case) to get them back, There is still hope. The Firestarters may have won the battle, but they are far from winning the war.

I just need to find a way out of here.

Klaus put down his pen and realised that almost complete darkness had fallen outside, and that he could barely see what he'd been writing. Feeling tired, he shut his commonplace book, put it back in his coat pocket along with the pen, curled himself up on the cold, hard bunk, and tried to get some sleep.

Klaus slept fitfully that night, and finally felt ready to rise from his bunk at (what he thought was) mid-day.

He had little to do in his small room, but he quickly realised how hungry he felt. He hadn't eaten since the previous morning, and among other things, he was starting to get a headache from dehydration. Finally, at what Klaus thought was the middle of the afternoon, he heard someone fumbling at the lock to his room. The swung open quickly, blinding Klaus with the bright sunlight. Two scruffy-looking but sinister men came quickly into the room, and Klaus could see tattoos of the V.F.D. eye on their bare left ankles. Both men had harpoon guns, and they made Klaus feel insecure.

"You will come with us," one of the men barked, and Klaus had no choice but to obey. He followed the first man out of the room, and the second man followed Klaus, offering the middle Baudelaire no chance of escape.

Leaving his room behind, Klaus found that he was in the Firestarter base that had shot down Jacques Snicket's helicopter. His room had been inside one of the two turrets on the twenty-foot-high stone wall that protected the base. He walked out onto a walkway by the top of the wall, and he could look down onto the base and see a handful of small buildings between himself and the sheer sides of the mountains a few hundred yards north of him. Looking out over the Hinterlands on his right, he could see the charred mass that had once been Jacques helicopter roughly a mile away. However, there was no sign of life near it. Hoping Violet was safe, Klaus turned his attention to possible escape routes, and was quickly stuck for options.

However, as he was paraded along the top of the wall by the two men, he spotted a weakness. At the ends of the wall, where the wall met the side of the mountains, it was possible to hurdle the wall and land on the side of the mountain. At one end of the wall, the mountain side was almost vertical, but at the other, although it was still steep, a downward climb would be manageable. However, Klaus could see no way of getting there. Maybe with a distraction, he might have been able to get onto the mountainside, but the climb down would be so slow that the Firestarter men would be able to harpoon him easily.

And he definitely didn't want to end up like his father.

Soon the two men led Klaus down from the wall and into a large open space between the main buildings - some sort of courtyard - where ten or fifteen men (who all looked similar to the two who had came for him) waited. He found himself being taken to the centre of a circle of men, all of whom had harpoon guns except one; a middle-aged man, who was bald yet had a thick beard. As soon as a terrified Klaus reached the centre of the group, this man adressed him in a high, scratchy voice.

"Klaus Baudelaire," the man said matter-of-factly, and Klaus had no idea how to answer to that.

"Who are you?" he asked quietly.

"My name, and who I am is not important," the man said with a voice of authority. "Now when you are in no position to ask questions," he said, gesturing to the men with harpoon guns all around the middle Baudelaire. "What is important is your knowledge."

"My knowledge?" Klaus said, bewildered. If this man wanted to know all the King and Queens of England or which planet is furthest from the sun, then the man didn't need Klaus. He just needed an encyclopedia.

It turned out that Klaus had merely misunderstood the man, who quickly continued speaking.

"Yes," the man confirmed. "So, tell me, Klaus, where is the Snicket file?"

"The Snicket file?" Klaus asked, even more perplexed. "I have no idea. I've never even heard of it," he said truthfully.

"Don't play dumb with me, Baudelaire," the man said forcefully. "I know fully well that we shot down Jacques Snicket's helicopter. You may have been the only person we found, but we know that Jacques Snicket was flying to the Mortmains to deliver the Snicket File to your headquarters, after being given it by Daniel Thursday in the Verdant Valley."

Klaus remembered Jacques carrying some important files, but he was never told what they were. Evidently they really did mean a lot, if this man (who Klaus found very intimidating) was after them.

"I don't know what happened to Jacques Snicket," he said, remaining honest but deflecting the answer. "I passed out on the way down. The next thing I knew I was here."

The bearded man frowned angrily, but one of his men called out.

"He's telling the truth, boss," the man said. "When we found him he was unconscious."

"Very well," the bearded man conceded. "What can you tell me about the Snicket File?"

"Nothing," Klaus replied. "I hadn't heard of it until two minutes ago. Does it have anything to do with the sugar bowl?"

At this the bearded man's eyes lit up, apparently forgetting that Klaus wasn't meant to ask questions.

"How do you know of the sugar bowl?"

"My mother spoke of it when Olaf found us," Klaus said honestly. "Olaf thought that we had it, but I've never seen it, and my mother denied having it."

"Interesting," the man muttered, then turned to face a man who stood behind him, his second in command. "Send word south to Bladeridge Castle. Tell Olaf to keep Mrs Baudelaire and her child there until we get more information."

"You know where my mother is?" Klaus asked loudly, having overheard the bearded man. The bearded man, however, did not answer Klaus' question, but instead advanced upon him menacingly, as though he meant to strike Klaus for the cheek of listening in to the man's private conversation. But Klaus already knew what he needed. Bladeridge Castle. He knew where his mother and younger sister were. He knew that they were still alive. There was hope for them yet.

The bearded man lunged towards Klaus, but stopped halfway as cries sprang up around the base, and everything descended into pandemonium.

A/N: Please review! Constructive criticism is welcomed :)