I'm baaaa-aaaaack! Laura V. Bleediote here with my second fic! This is a sequel to "After All: By K. Baudelaire" if you couldn't tell. It takes place not too long after the first story does. A warning: There will be spoilers to The Grim Grotto, Book the 11th of ASoUE, just in case you haven't read it yet. Rated PG for some violence and for people getting angry and yelling at each other. For lack of better title ideas, I'm calling this one "The Second Story" to stay with Snicket's theme of using two words beginning with the same first letters...I think they're called alliterations...Not sure though.
Oh yes! And a very special "THANK YOU" to Arden C. Evans, who came up with plot for this story. I was stumped for ideas, when Arden came along and saved the day! To express my gratitude, I shall play for you, Arden, the very first "Scream and Run Away" of this fanfic! –Pulls out accordion and plays song-
Disclaimer: Like I said last time, this is FANfiction, a word which here means, "Of course I don't own it!"
So, without forcing you to wait any longer, here it is!
The Second Story
By K. Baudelaire
Chapter 1: G o n e
"The Daily Punctilio"All the news in fits of print."
Baudelaire Butchers Gone Forever(Really)
By D. Quagmire"The infamous Baudelaire Murderers were confirmed dead yesterday evening. Authorities believe that the three were in the Ned H. Rirger Theater when it was destroyed by an act of arson.
"Veronica, Klyde, and Susie Baudelaire were first accused of murder, arson, and a wide variety of different crimes approximately a decade ago. The siblings were merely children when they committed their earliest felony, the murder of former Punctilio journalist Jacques Snicket. Veronica was aged at roughly 14 years of age; Klyde, 13; and Susie at about 2-3 years. Susie was supposedly the actual murderer, her siblings being accomplices. How this makes sense, I have no idea.
"Whether or not the Baudelaires were responsible for the burning of the theater, investigators are not positive. Private detective Klaus B. has been reported signing on to the task of uncovering the truth behind the matter. Perhaps we can finally put the Baudelaire case to rest, without losing any sleep ourselves."
"Huh? Well? What do you think?" Duncan smirked. "Did that sound utterly genuine or not?"
Violet sighed. "We appreciate everything Duncan, but I'm just not sure that this will have the general public convinced."
"Hey, it makes sense," Duncan said. "The theater burns down; Klaus is hired to investigate it. Some people really think you guys did it. Why not just end this whole fiasco right here?"
"It's a good idea Duncan," Sunny piped up. "But won't people still recognize us?"
"I dunno, get a makeover or something. Girls like that, right? And everybody already thinks Klaus is just a detective."
Violet hesitantly agreed, wanting to be as positive as Duncan. She wasn't sure if she and her sister were completely safe just yet.
"Of course," Klaus added, "there's still the fact that somebody really did burn down the theater. And I've got to figure out who did it."
"Are you sure it was arson?" Violet asked.
"Violet, you'd think that by now I'd know arson when I see it," he replied smugly.
Duncan frowned and leaned back in his chair. The Valentino Family Diner was, once again, emptier than the beach in the middle of winter, giving the friends the place to themselves. The three Baudelaires, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, (who were not, in fact, murderers, despite what you may have heard,) and two of the Quagmire Triplets, Duncan the journalist and his sister Isadora, who worked as a waitress there, were crowded around two small tables to discuss the matter.
"Well, if we're going to get anywhere, we might as well start the investigation," Violet said.
"Oh! Oh! Can I come?" Sunny asked eagerly, bouncing up and down in her chair. "I'll be good, I promise! I won't talk to strangers, I promise! I'll stay close by, I promise! I promise, I promise! Pleeeaaassse?"
"Okay, who let Sunny drink the coffee?" Duncan asked.
"Sunny," Klaus said, "This could be dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt."
"How could I possibly get hurt? I've been around long enough to know that the first part of an investigation is just separating facts from rumors," Sunny said.
"Well, Sunny, sometimes it isn't just that. Sometimes things can come up, things you don't expect. Sometimes it can be risky," Klaus replied.
"But you never let me go!" Sunny protested. "I really want to know what it's like, what it's like to be a detective. Violet says it's a little bit like how it was to be a Volunteer. I want to see how it was." Her voice became quieter as she finished. Sunny looked up at him with her dark, sad eyes. "Please."
Klaus sighed. He wished he could let her, but he knew he couldn't risk losing his sister again. "I'm sorry, Sunny. Not this time."
Sunny frowned and hung her head, staring silently into her glass of chocolate milk. "Fine..." she murmured.
Klaus looked down also. "Violet we better go."
"Go where?" Isadora asked, emerging from the kitchen. "Are you starting the investigation?"
"Yes, exactly where are we going?" Violet inquired.
Klaus shrugged. "Anywhere, I guess. The ruins of the fire most likely."
Now everyone turned their gazes to the floor. That's where most mysteries began, at the wreckage caused by a fire. That's where it often ended, also. They knew that all too well.
Isadora smiled gently. "Well, good luck," she said. "We'll be back at my house when you're done."
"Okay," Klaus said.
"I hope you figure something out," Duncan added.
"Goodbye," Sunny whispered, not looking up.
Once again, Klaus was reminded of the scared, suspicious little girl Sunny was when he found her not too long before. Was he really doing the right thing, protecting her from things she should know? Or was he hurting Sunny instead? He pushed the disturbing thought to the back of his mind, telling himself that he should be concentrating on the case, not his little sister's complaints.
And I'm sorry to say that Klaus should have been more worried.
. . .
"You've been awfully quiet lately," Violet remarked as she and her brother walked down the empty street.
Klaus shook his head. "I don't know... It just feels like we shouldn't be keeping so much from Sunny."
"She knows a lot more than she did before," Violet said, "about V.F.D. and Olaf and the Schism."
"Yeah, I know that, but what about everything else that's been going on lately?"
Violet had to thing for a brief moment before realizing what he meant. "You mean...how the Volunteers are considering the Reunion?"
Klaus nodded solemnly, deep in thought. "Do you really think V.F.D. could work again? After all that's happened?"
"I think that it's definitely worth a try," Violet replied.
"But Violet, it's not just that," Klaus said. "It isn't something we can just try. This is a now or never situation. If this doesn't work, V.F.D. will be dead forever."
"I know it's hard right now, for you especially, Klaus-"
"Violet," Klaus interrupted, "I don't think you get how risky this is. Innocent people have lost their lives for V.F.D. The Schism was dangerous enough, how fatal do you think the Reunion could be?"
Violet put a comforting hand on her brother shoulder. "If V.F.D. does try and get working again, I'm sure it won't be for a long time. You shouldn't be so worried."
Klaus sighed, looking down at his boots as he walked. "Do you think there are still V.F.D. enemies out there?" he asked quietly, hesitantly. "Do you think there are still ex-Volunteers out there, waiting for an opportunity like this to get their revenge?"
Violet shrugged indecisively. "Try not to think about it, okay?"
Klaus nodded silently, although it was the only thing he could think of until they arrived at the ruins of the devastated theater.
It was evening, and the Ned H. Rirger Theater was in a rather deserted district of the city. Since so many fires had been mysteriously burning down many of the fancier, more prestigious buildings in the area, such as the elegant mansions or luxurious apartment buildings, nobody was very eager to spend their time in that part of town. The theater had been somewhat rundown, and no one had given it much notice until its destruction. Old bricks and crumbling cement blocks were scattered here and there, lining the foundation of what had once been a prominent establishment. And with the smell of smoke still hanging in the air and the only surviving items burnt beyond recognition, the two Baudelaires couldn't help but think about their childhood home.
"Remember that one time," Violet reminisced, "when Mother was in that play here?"
Klaus nodded, lifting up a singed board with his foot and glancing underneath.
"It's a shame really," Violet said. "It's too bad about what happened to this place."
Klaus sighed. It was going to be hard to concentrate on a case such as this.
Violet halted abruptly and tilted her head to the side, listening intently for something.
"What is it?" Klaus asked.
Violet opened her mouth to speak, but before she could utter a syllable, the floor beneath her cracked and, with a yelp, she fell through.
"Violet!" Klaus cried. He ran over to the gap in the floorboards and peered down into the darkness. "Violet, are you okay?"
Silence.
"Violet, answer me!" Klaus called.
"Oh, wow! Klaus, you've got to see this!"
He frowned, perplexed at what she could be talking about, yet relieved that his sister seemed all right. Klaus carefully lowered himself into the shadows.
He gasped when he saw what was around him. One thing was Violet, who was standing up and brushing dirt off her dress. Everything else was, well, it was hard to tell, but it looked like the two were inside a mineshaft. There were several other tunnels branching off from the one they were standing in, and each one was so tall and wide that you could easily see around you. Parts of the ceilings in many of them had fallen in, so there was plenty of light pouring down from the surface.
"More tunnels," Violet breathed.
Klaus didn't speak, still too astonished at what was in front of him. Cautiously, he took a step forward, straining to see down the shafts. Violet followed silently.
"I don't remember V.F.D. digging tunnels here," she commented. "And why are there so many tunnels branching off from this one? And why would it be leading here? I thought there weren't any Safe Places left."
"I thought so too," Klaus said. He turned to observe a lantern hanging from the dirt wall. It was lit. "Something tells me that these tunnels aren't that old."
Violet squinted in the dim lighting, partly frowning in bafflement. "Are you saying that someone else created them?"
"Yeah, and I'm saying it wasn't too long ago." Klaus stopped walking and warily peered around a corner. "Like maybe after the Schism."
"But all the V.F.D. tunnels were made before that!"
"I know, Violet. I'm just as confused as you are. I'm sure it will be a while before we have any answers."
Violet sighed and stared down the nearest shaft. Suddenly, she started and straightened her back in watchfulness. Klaus turned to see that her eyes were wide.
"What?" he asked.
Violet put her hand up to silence him. "Shh..." she hissed.
"Did you see someone?" Klaus whispered.
"I thought I did," she replied quietly. "But I know I heard something."
The two heard a faint rustling, a noise that sounded very much like a footstep. They whirled around, senses alert. Klaus pulled out his gun.
There was a click! followed by a flash of light. He turned and saw the lantern behind him flicker and go out.
Ch-chk!
"Hey, I heard that one!" Klaus said.
"Gun!" Violet screamed. She grabbed her brother's sleeve and pulled him to the ground just as the lantern's glass casing shattered in a torrent of bullets behind him.
"You go down that tunnel, I'll take this one!" Violet ordered, instinctively taking charge. The two ran down the separate shafts, both knowing that if they split up, it might buy them time to escape while the gunman figured out who to aim for.
Klaus sprinted, leaping over fallen rafters and mounds of collapsed ceiling. He knew an underground tunnel was the most dangerous place to be at a time like this. Here, you were cornered with no place to run, and there were plenty of opportunities to be crushed in a cave-in. Klaus cocked his own pistol and quickly glanced over his shoulder. He caught a glimpse of someone rushing past one of the shafts, a dark, hooded figure shrouded in a long coat.
Klaus heard Violet cry out. The gunfire stopped.
He froze. "Violet!"
Klaus dashed down the dimly lit tunnel, retracing the path he had just used. All precautions he would have taken before slipped his mind. He didn't consider the fact that it could have been a trap; something the gunman could have done to lure Klaus out into the open. The only thing was that was running through Klaus's subconscious was the possibility of losing his sister for good.
He found Violet kneeling on the dirt ground, clutching her left shoulder. "Violet, what happened? Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.
Violet cringed and squeezed her eyes shut. "It's just my shoulder," she said through clenched teeth. Klaus saw blood dripping through her fingers. "I'm fine, it's probably not that serious."
"Are you sure?" Klaus asked. "Do you think it went through any bones or did it just graze your shoulder?"
"Klaus, seriously, I've been through this before. I know how to take care myself," she said.
"Really? I mean, you have?" Klaus asked.
Violet didn't answer. "Do you think that guy has left yet?"
Klaus looked around warily. "I don't see anyone. I think he has."
Violet was silent for a moment. "He was here for me, I know it," she said. Her eyes widened. "He was here for me," she repeated quietly.
Klaus looked back down at his sister. She stared back at him, and he could tell something was haunting her. "If he was here for me," she whispered, "and he didn't get me..."
Her brother leaned forward to hear what she was about to say.
"...He'll be going for Sunny next."
Klaus paled. She was probably right.
"Klaus, you have to go!" Violet said, wincing against the pain as she gave him a slight push. "You have to make sure she's okay!"
He stood up. "But Violet, what about you?"
"Don't worry about me," she said. "You have to hurry before it's too late!"
Klaus turned and ran; not wanting to think about what he might be too late for.
. . .
He ran until his legs felt as though they might give out, ran until his lungs couldn't take it, but finally he reached Isadora's house. Sunny should be here, Klaus thought. She has to be here. He swung open the front door to find the place deserted. No, don't tell me she's been alone all this time!
Panting, he raced up the stairs. A light was on in one of the rooms, and he prayed that that meant someone was still in it.
Klaus burst into the bedroom. A Simon and Garfunkel song was playing softly on the record player. The desk lamp was turned on, shining on a copy of Oliver Twist. A chair was lying on the ground, as if whoever was sitting there had gotten up in a hurry. And several papers were scattered on the hardwood floor.
He slowly walked across the room, stopping in front of the window. Rain had begun to pour, and through the sheet of water that was dripping down the glass, Klaus could see below him a long, black car driving away into the evening.
Sunny was gone.