"Kit." He acknowledged the woman stiffy, although Klaus could detect relief behind the stolid words. "Baudelaires," he continued, as though they were all his cousins from Georgia that he saw once a month, and offered no further explanation as to whom he was, or how he knew who the siblings were. He walked forward, and we followed.
The man in the fedora led them through a steel door at the very back of the hall. "I suppose you're hungry?"
"Of course, you know how long that ride is!" Kit replied with a fervor. Klaus looked at his siblings in dissapointment. He'd been hoping that Kit would reveal the man's name when she finally spoke to him.
The steel door led to what was unmistakably a kitchen and a dining room combined, although the Baudelaires had never seen any kitchen or dining room this busy and full of life.
Most of the people racing back and forth, or sitting down to eat, or cooking, or typing away at a typwriter, were unfamiliar to Klaus, but he did spy one familiar face out of the crowd. This particular familiar face was sitting in a corner, watching people with a frightened look in her eyes.
Pleasantly shocked, he nudged Violet with his elbow. "Aunt Josephine," he whispered into Violet's ear with a fervor. "Alive!" Sunny had apparently also spotted her. "Talk?"
"I don't know, maybe we should wait until we are seated or something.." Klaus was happy to see Josephine alive, but he couldn't help but harbor a slight grudge at her all the same. She valued her life over ours, over anything, off went Klaus's insistent inner voice inot a particularly good person.
"Aren't you starving, Baudelaires? Feel free to help yourself to anything on the table. It's late, we should save the explanations for when you've had a good night sleep." Kit looked down at them, "if that's alright."
Explanations? Of course. So many questions. Like, where are our parents? Are they alive? And why is there some passageway leading from 667 Dark Avenue to their burnt mansion? What was this whole schism thing about? Klaus needed to get his questions in a nice tidy bundle, ready to be asked. Right now they were swarming in his head like a frenzy of snow gnats. A quick glance at his siblings told him that they felt exactly the same way. So they made their way over to the long table, which was suprisingly wooden, and didn't match the steel floors, walls, ceiling, and various appliances.
They took a seat in the corner of the table closest to where Aunt Josephine was sitting, with the intention of asking her how in the world she managed to get away from the leeches.
She spotted them and her eyes widened. "Baudelaires! How are you-what-I'm so sorry!" The look on her face was one of seemingly genuine regret, and their currently harsh expressions softened.
"Yes, well... How in the world did you manage to escape those leeches in Lake Lachrymose?" Violet eyes as wide as Josephines, though Violet's were considerably more lovely.
Shaking off that thought, he listened as Aunt Josephine laughed, the lines in her face deepening. "Well, don't look at me as if I'm so talented. I was rescued. Yes. I actually don't remember much, I was close to passing out what with the fear, and being eaten alive with Leeches and all. I do remember some sort of odd submarine," at this point she frowned, as if attempting to recall something.
Apparently she'd blacked out soon after entering the submarine, and the next thing she remembered being in this hotel, injured. The siblings dug into the marvelous array of food that was before them as they listened to Aunt Josephine's story. Besides the soups, stews, salads and puddings that Klaus and the others all recognized, there were some delicacies that they'd never tried before, and were eager to do so.
"The past week or so, after I was fully recovered, I've been questioned quite a bit on what I remember, especially in regards to the submarine. But I really don't remember much," she finished, at the same time the sibings were finished eating as well.
"Klaus, where are we to stay tonight?" Violet asked, as if suddenly realizing that none of them were thinking about even the immediate future.
"I can answer that," Josephine interrupted. There's only one room left in the hotel, the hotel is quite full, you see. I've heard them saying it was reserved for three siblings that were to arrive soon. Of course, I had no idea that those siblings were you three!"
"Where?" Sunny spoke what Klaus part of what Klaus was wondering for him. He wasn't going to speak the other parts, anyway. He was trying not to think the other parts.
"Hmmm. Well, I don't know the room number, but I know it's at the end of the hallway where I'm staying. I'll show you. I was going to be heading up to my room myself, anyway."
"Thank you," Violet pushed out her chair and stood, and the rest followed. The eldest woman of the group led the way back through the steel door to the steel hall, and to a rickety-looking spiral steel staircase. "Oh, my. Do you Baudelaires have no luggage? What are you going to sleep in?" Klaus grip tightened ever so slightly on the handrail. There went one part.
"I'm not sure. I suppose our clothes?" Violet was yawning. Too tired, Klaus supposed, to wonder about clothes..or sleeping arrangements.
They were now walking along a hall, where the patterened carpet floor contrasted oddly with the steel walls, steel doors, and steel numbers upon the doors.
"Well, here we are. I believe this is it." Josephine tried the door to what she believed to be their room, it opened relatively easily.
The decor wasn't steel, which was a relief. Steel was hard on the eyes after so long. It was carpeted, and the walls were wallpapered. Probably over steel, Klaus ventured. There were several lamps, and the last part of Klaus's question was answered as he saw that there were two queen-size beds.
"I'll be going into my room, now. In the mornings I've noticed breakfast is always in the kitchen-dining room - er, thing," Aunt Josephine grinned sheepishly, "See you in the morning!"
"Goodnight," the Baudelaires replied almost in unison, and shut the door.
"Tired." Sunny looked tired, too. "Bed?"
"Good idea, I'm tired as well. Sunny and I will take the far bed, and you can take the other one, Klaus. You get your own bed. Lucky." She smiled at her own contradiction.
None of them were lucky.
Hours later, Klaus still wasn't asleep. Much to his dismay. A vision kept flitting across his mind just when he was getting to sleep, as if to warn him as to what he would be dreaming of. Where he was lying was only a few feet from the other bed. Ah, the other bed. The other... That antagonizing voice that he hated always had to have the last word before he drifted off. Freak.