~a/n: damn, here I am all out of jell-o, playing my CKY CD again, and thinking about the Quagmires. Well, if you've enjoyed the story so far, settle in for some more of the same. If not, then please accept my humblest apology. But hey, at least this chapter title almost makes sense.

T h e O n l y W a y O u t

The two Quagmire orphans huddled together in the little cage at the bottom of the elevator shaft, shivering. They looked awful--their faces streaked with dirt and mud, clothes torn, and brains swollen with a thousand terrible truths that would haunt their dreams for years to come.

Isadora had come to a conclusion: there was no way out of this. Even if the Baudilares could find them down here, how could they get out? Who else in the world could help them? She realized that she and Duncan were here indefinitely, taking notes and discussing what they heard when they were alone only to kill the eternity of time that stretched before them.

Duncan had come to his own conclusion: the only way out was death. And he knew that with a man like Olaf, death could take many shadowy forms. There was brutality--the man was vicious, and Duncan had a feeling he was more than capable of beating them to death. If that didn't kill them, starvation and thirst would set in soon. They were only barely being sustained now--if they weren't needed, he felt the troupe would have no problem simply allowing them to starve down here. And they may be here when winter came-- and it was cold down here already. What would they do when the snow fell? They were probably deep underground, where no one would find them. Their bodies would rot down here until the building was condemmed. He sat for a moment, imagining a wrecking crew finding two identical skeletons in a small cage.

The Quagmire triplets each resolved themselves to their own theories as they heard a loud clunk. Isadora prepared herself for endless hellish minutes, hearing the horror stories, threats, and angry swearing of Olaf and his horrible troupe. Duncan prepared himself to die, waiting for an end. Something clunked again, and they peaked fearfully out of the cage. Who was it now?

Numb shock washed over them as they stared back into the three faces they had never hoped to see again.