~a/n: wowie wow wow!! SEVEN WHOLE CHAPTERS!! That's a lot! the only story I've ever written over FIVE chapters was a really bad original fiction story.but I don't wanna talk about that. Anyway, this chapter returns to the magickal Klaus subplot, so if you don't like that bit I'm terribly sorry.

C h a p t e r S e v e n

"I don't like that look," Violet said worriedly.

"Brother?" Sunny asked, using one of the new words the kitchen staff had managed to teach her. She poked Klaus in an attempt to get his attention. "Brother?"

Klaus made a small noise. He was sitting stiffly in the chair of room 664, and other than the little noise he hadn't moved in quite a while.

"Klaus, wake up," Violet said loudly, clapping her hands in front of his face. It had no effect. She turned to Sunny. "What happened?"

She shrugged. "No sai," she said helplessly, resuming her prodding.

"Klaus?"

"Brother?"

He was looking pretty bad right then. His face and arms were littered with bruises, and the way he was sitting loosely in the chair and staring forward was very alarming. She snapped her fingers in front of his face. "KLAUS!"

He sat up straight and looked around. "What?"

"What happened?"

"I-I dunno. I don't remember anything after I put Sunny to bed last night. Why?"

"Have you seen yourself yet? You look like you fell down a flight of stairs."

"Owe," Sunny added, pointing to his face.

"I bet it was Esme. She did something. Was it like when you were hypnotized?"

"No, not really. That time I didn't remember anything, but now everything is just muddled, like a wet photograph. What about you, Violet? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she responded numbly, lying again. She knew that what had happened to Klaus was directly linked to whatever had happened last night. We'll discuss this tomorrow, Olaf had stated angrily, and now she remembered exactly how dangerous he was when he was angry.

"Atoce no waank," Sunny asked hopelessly, which meant something like "How do we explain this to the Winters?"

"We can tell them I fell down the stairs," Klaus suggested without much conviction.

"They know you're not a clumsy person. They'll see through it eventually."

"I just hope Esme stops beating me up before that happens. How do we tell Mr. Winters that one of his guests is actually someone who used to have custody of us who decided that I remind her of someone she used to know and she decided that she has to take her anger out on me? Won't THAT be a fun discussion."

"They have no reason to think that Esme and Olaf are anything less than model citizens. They wouldn't believe us anyway."

Klaus knitted his eyebrows. "This is a rather difficult situation. I think all we can do-and I hate to admit it-is cross our fingers and hope for the best. If there's a logical choice, I have no idea what it is." He rested his head painfully in his hands and rubbed his temples.

He's growing up too fast, Violet thought suddenly. He shouldn't have this much to worry about. None of us should.

***

As the day was winding down, Violet went into the bar to check on Klaus. He silently served an old fellow a beer and turned to her.

"Hi," he said, not looking up at her. What she could see of his face looked horrible in the dim bar lighting.

"You look horrible."

"Gee thanks, that makes me feel a lot better."

"Are you two planning to sleep in my room tonight?" she asked. Please, she pleaded secretly, please say yes.

"If you want to know the truth, I'm afraid to. I think Esme's catching on about Olaf, so she's none too fond of you. I'm afraid that if I sleep in there she'll hurt you too. But can Sun-I mean, Sammy-sleep in your room tonight?"

"Sure."

"Mmmkay, well I'm gonna take care of these last few customers and then I'm heading up."

She heard him announce, "Last orders, ladies and gentleman" as she left the room. She stopped in the kitchen, picked up Sunny, and started up towards her room.

She curled into her bed beside Sunny, who was asleep nearly as soon as she hit the pillow, and waited. She knew he was coming, and she didn't want him to watch her again.

True to form, he slipped him into her room around two thirty. She sat up and Sunny stretched luxuriously onto her pillow.

"Ah, you're already up. Good morning, Violetta. How are you feeling on this fine autumn morning?"

"I've been better," she said, wrapping her arms around herself.

"That's too bad. Have you made up your mind about the little agreement we discussed yesterday?"

"I don't know yet-I haven't had a chance to discuss it with Klaus yet. He's been a little distracted all day."

He sighed and smiled. 'I did my best, but Esme is very strong willed. It's practically impossible to get her to do anything she doesn't want to. "

"Right. So what are the conditions of this agreement?"

"Oh, we're all business tonight, are we? Well, it's very simple. You and your cute little siblings get away again, and I'll find you a nice little place to stay. They don't even have to know I'm involved. I'll protect them, and you, and all you have to do is talk to me every once in a while. Like this-a nice, easy conversation. Would that be so difficult?"

"What else?" she had a hard time believing that was all there was to this deal. He always had a trump card, something up his sleeve ready for an unsuspecting victim to fall into his trap. She waited for the smile, that sick smile like someone telling a joke at her expense.

The smile didn't come. "What else? That's it. You don't need to worry about a thing." The grin that followed this was sweet, almost pleasant, and he seemed at least mildly sincere. "Pleeeaaaaase?" he pleaded, folding his hands like he was begging.

"I.I don't know. I just don't know." She threw up her hands and repeated, "I just don't know."

"Alright," he said amiably, "well, I'll come see you tomorrow night and see if you've made up your mind yet. No pressure."

He got up and walked over to her, brushing the stray hairs off her forehead and smiling. He leaned down and kissed her softly, then left her alone and very confused.

"Just when I think I've got him figured out," she whispered, standing and rubbing her hands against her arms to encourage her circulation to get back to work, "he goes and does something to make everything I've learned mean nothing."