Chapter 22

When Holly awakened from her slumber, she found herself in the back seat of a vehicle and that they were still driving. Her heart fluttered in a panic as she wondered where she was and what had happened to get here.

The moments that occur when a person cannot remember who they are or where they are after having awoken from sleep, can be particularly frightening and almost sickening. A knot will form in the pit of your stomach, your heart will pound like the authorities at your office door, and your brain will race like the film on a projector as you wonder about the events that led you to this moment of stirring. It is as though you have suffered a bump on the head that caused complete amnesia or lost in the deepest part of the woods with no way of knowing how to escape. The fear that fills your entire body is not something that is easily forgotten, falling back into the unknown and the uncertainty of whether you will be okay. Even as your mind and memories rapidly catch up to you like the dreadful recap of a streaming series or fast-forwarding of the film to get to a particular moment, that feeling will linger long after your day has begun. However, this is a feeling I've long since attempted to recapture in the years following a great number of tragedies that befell people whom I cared about very much; I have done this in hopes that I would be given temporary release from the memories and guilt I have felt for my participation in their misfortunes.

It had taken Holly S. a few moments to remember where she was currently and what had happened the night before. She glanced down at her lap to find the notepad where she had written all her questions and then next to her to find the music sheets which had held a coded message. Like the rapid whirring of a roll of film on a projector, the memories of the past few days come back to her. The appearance of a treacherous villain named Count Olaf, his threats and knowledge of her family, her date with Duncan Quagmire, receiving a strange package, saying goodbye to her friends, decoding said package, jumping into a taxi cab with a man named Thursday Caliban, and then writing down all her questions before sleep took her mind. Her heart raced as she sat up and looked out the window to confirm that these recollections were indeed accurate.

Like the filtering of light in a projector onto a screen, the morning light illuminated the young girl's suspicions and had also revealed a very flat landscape, not unlike the backdrop of the horrendous boarding school known as Prufrock Prep, yet it somehow felt a little different… as if almost familiar. For a moment, she had wondered if the driver Mr. Caliban had changed his mind about helping her and was driving her back to the school. If such a thing were to happen, Holly would be completely heartbroken and even more confused because her quest to find the truth about her family and mother's death would have been brought back to the beginning again. Much like her friends, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny being forced to run laps in a circle every night, the young musician would have been brought back to the beginning again, getting and going nowhere.

However, this thought left her mind when she saw saying:

The Hinterlands: 2 Miles (3.2 kilometres)

Visit Last Chance General Store

(It may be your last chance)

This was a sign that Holly recognized. She had seen it many times before! She sat up more attentive when she realized what direction the taxicab was likely heading.

She turned to the driver.

"Mr…Mr Caliban…"

"Yes, Miss?"

"Are we by any chance heading to the Fidelis Fjords?"

"That is the intended destination," he nodded, keeping his eyes firmly on the road, as was required by law.

"You…you mean that I'm going home?" she said, her eyes filling with tears.

For a moment, her heart soared in happiness, she was going back home… where she truly belonged! The thoughts of being back in their tiny seaside home filled her mind and then memories of her time there rotate through like the images of a projector, being able to relive her happiest and saddest moments. The time when she received her first violin from her mother on her fourth birthday, the times that her father would chase her along the beach while the waves washed over their bare feet, and the times the family would snuggle up on the front porch and drink hot cocoa while watching the sun set behind the Mortmain Mountains. The times her mother would allow her daughter to play with the musician's old stage makeup and costumes, allowing her to dress up like old film and theatre stars, the first time she swam on her own without any assistance, and where she performed her practice pieces for her father, her most captive audience member. Deep down, Holly had secretly wished that she had been given the opportunity to perform for her mother and father, but someone's devious and selfish act of murder stole that from her… Her stomach turned when the memory of her mother's poisoning came up in the reel and she did her best to bite back tears of sadness. Nine years and a day ago she was left with only her father. If it could be a comfort to the young girl that at least her mother had passed in the comfort and safety of her own home, not in a strange village filled with birds or on an island far away.

The thoughts of her mother's poisoning brought back the reminder of the promises K.S. had made, to give her answers about many things, including her mother's death. The mysteries and secrets surrounded her, and seemingly everyone…

Holly's mind went almost blank as those recent memories of Prufrock Prep return; the girl had left her friends behind… If only she had told her friends what the coded letter said… if only she had asked them to come with her… if only she had asked the driver if he could take more passengers. Her heart figuratively dropped into the pit of her stomach as guilt filled her. She should have said something to her friends, but instead, she had selfishly left them behind.

The girl turned back to look out at the approaching Hinterlands, wishing that her friends were with her, then maybe they could all be safe.

"Those were my instructions," the driver responded, pulling the girl back to the present moment.

Despite his desire to keep information from her, Holly became determined to know more as to why she was being brought home and who had told this man to do so.

"Was it K.S. who told you to bring me home? Or was it my father? Is my father waiting for me at home?" A wave of hope washed over the girl at the thought of seeing her father and confronting him about all these secrets.

The man's dark eyes look at the girl from the rear-view mirror and he wished he had more to tell her than what he knew. The puzzle was much bigger than the child realized, and he was only a piece of it. He knew he must give her something.

"Yes, K.S. told me to fetch you. She was originally going to come herself, but something came up involving several pounds of gelatin and a large brass teapot that had her change her plans… There was supposed to be another man to take her place, he is a much better driver being ambidextrous and he was eager to finally meet you, but something came up at his work and he had to take a raft out to a distinctively coloured lighthouse. So she called me and I borrowed her taxi cab to come and get you. I do wish that I could tell you that she had done this on the orders of your father, but unfortunately, he is also out on an important errand for our organization."

"What organization?" the girl pressed, very tired of all these riddles and ridiculous.

Thursday Caliban sighed, he knows he should not be the one to tell her this, it was certainly not his place and it was the whole reason that he and Miranda were no longer together, but the girl deserved answers.

"A secret organization that many of us are apart of."

"What do you mean by us?"

"There are various types of 'us' that can be found from agents to scholars, researchers, inventors, scientists, explorers, cartographers, poets, journalists, naturalists, herpetologists, optometrists, receptionists, chefs, waiters, taxi drivers, sea captains, film directors, ballerinas, children's book authors, mountaineers…" The man paused "And there were formally musicians too, but some desired to be in the spotlight rather than work in the shadows… but your mother, she desired to be so hidden in the shadows that she no longer existed… unfortunately, her music spoke louder than her words."

The girl sighed in frustration, this man knew her mother from school, but what was this that he was talking about her wanting to hide in the shadows. The fact that all these people that had been listed were allegedly part of this organization, along with her parents, was extremely hard for her mind to comprehend. Again, the reel of memories rolls to light to illuminate her father and mother's involvement in this organization. Did this perhaps explain her father's frequent absences and his insistence that she learn certain phrases? Is this why he encouraged her use of disguises and changes in appearance? Is this why her mother was poisoned?

Like the ending of a film roll, Holly S.'s mind clicks as several of her memories fell into place and made more sense, except for her mother's death. If this organization was good, why had her mother died?

"So all these people around me are part of this organization?" she ventured, trying to rearrange the pieces of her thoughts.

"Most are, in one degree or another."

"And my parents are a part of it?"

"Your father is and your mother used to be."

"Why did she leave?" the girl blurted out, wishing she had asked another question instead.

"That is something that I do not know Child, but I am sure your father can answer that."

"Is it a good organization or a bad one?"

Thursday Caliban swallowed a heavy lump in his throat when this young girl asked him this. He should have known that she would ask that eventually. He, like myself, knew that the complicated question had a rather complicated answer that had many contributing factors involved, including a separation that was the result of a murder which was the result of arson, a moving violation, a misdemeanour, two poison darts, three civil suits and a stolen object. Several of those, I am sad to say that I witnessed or had a hand in myself, but for the first time, the man driving the taxi through the Hinterlands towards a small seaside town had a question and wanted an answer of his own… one that I am sad to say, had no real answer. "It's… it's rather complicated," he explained turning the wheel as a dusty sign beside the road read:

Fidelis Fjord: 13 miles (20.9 km)

Mortmain Mountains: 17 miles (27.4 km) Beyond that

V.F.D 13 miles (20.9 km) In other direction

"The organization was once a united group of volunteers that believed in an aristocracy. Not an aristocracy of power, based on rank or wealth, but an aristocracy of the sensitive, the considerate, and the plucky. The members were once found in all nations and classes, and all through the ages, and there is a secret understanding between those when they met. It once represented the true human tradition, the one permanent victory over cruelty and chaos. It was once an invincible army, but not a victorious one. It did have different names throughout history, but all the words that describe it are false, and all attempts to organize us fail… unfortunately, now it is a group of bitter enemies that has left very little for the world hope for. It is certainly not a perfect organization, but the struggle now is to keep these values alive and make the world quieter."

Holly was rather surprised at this speech made by Mr. Caliban; it was the most he had spoken since she climbed into the cab. She felt rather impressed by his dedication to memorizing what sounded like a detailed motto or aphorism, a phrase which here means a statement that usually contains a general truth or a particular principle. Despite all the fancy and seemingly upstanding morality behind this aphorism that made it appear like a good organization, the girl was still skeptical of the ending of the speech, that the organization had become a group of bitter enemies, which made it seem bad. Could this group be the reason her mother was dead? Had they done it themselves? Who were the bitter enemies?

While these questions whirled on like an empty projector, Holly asked one more question.

"What is this organization called?"

After a long pause that allowed the taxicab to run over a bump as it approached a small seaside town, the man who was part of the organization answers.

"V.F.D."

A/N: Thank you for your patience, here is a new chapter. Holly is slowly getting some answers to everything. The speech that Mr. Caliban gives is almost the same as what young Lemony says in ATWQ, but unfortunately, the organization is not what it used to be. We all know that 13 is an unlucky number, but several other numbers in this chapter are unlucky to certain cultures. Maybe you can figure it out and there are a few mentions of familiar locations too. I challenge you to find them.