Dear Reviewers:
Phoenix72389: Aye! You'll just have to wait and find out. Ah yes, and just to let you know, you are my 13th reviewer! –Pulls out accordion and plays "Scream and Run Away"-
Nny11: They lie! They lie! Poor Sunny, a little too trusting for her own good...
QQuagmire: I happen to like cliffhangers. –Sticks out tongue- Lol, just kidding. It keeps 'em coming back for more!
MlynnBloom: Updating now! Hopefully some questions will be answered, aye...
Samela: Thank you Samela! I'm glad you like it.
Arden C. Evans: Believe it or not, I haven't seen any of the James Bond movies. –Gasp!- I know what most of them are though, so I'm not completely clueless. I just like my movies shaken not stirred. Lol. That made no sense... I was thinking up exotic names for some characters, and Bri-zheet came to mind.
But anyway, that reminds me; Arden has a pretty cool story she writing. It's got a touch of Snicket-Style, and it's really funny. If you go to her profile page, there should be a link to it. I say, keep up the good work Arden!
Here it is, Chapter the 3rd!
Chapter 3: T h e B o s s
Just when Sunny thought she had seen all that she could comprehend, more confusion was hurled at her.
It started when she met "The Boss."
She entered rather non-ceremoniously; there was no trumpet blast, no red carpet unfurled, nothing Sunny would have expected for the person Brigitte, Gwenyth, and Weasel described their leader to be. She actually entered so silently it was eerie, the way she crept down the stairs without a sound, the way she looked down at them all with her icy-cold gaze.
The Boss was actually a young woman who couldn't have been much older than Violet. She had wavy red-brown hair that fell down to her thin shoulders, and her lips were painted with red lipstick. She slinked down the stairs, sleek, black boots hardly making a noise as they touched down on the steps.
The others straightened as if they were soldiers in the army about to be inspected. She paused in front of Sunny, peering down at her like you would peer at a dish of chocolates at the candy store. And when Sunny looked back at her, she could see that the woman did indeed have an eye-patch that obscured her right eye. Her visible eye was a dull, blue, overcast sky color, and it stared down at Sunny in ghostly curiosity.
The woman's red lips curved in a smile. "So," she said, "This is the little Sunny Baudelaire I've heard so much about." She let out something of a laugh and lifted Sunny's chin up to get a better look at her. "My, you've grown since the last time we met."
Sunny frowned. "When did we meet?"
"Ah, that's right." The woman nodded understandingly. "Aye, you were probably too young to remember."
"Why am I here?" Sunny asked.
The woman looked at the others. "Didn't they explain it to you?" she asked Sunny.
"Well yeah..." Sunny replied. "But I was just wondering if I would be seeing my siblings again any time soon."
"Aye, you will be soon enough. But not until you're safe."
Sunny thought for a moment. "Do you really think my brother is a spy?" she asked. "Did you even know Klaus?"
The woman grinned slightly and something in her pale, blue eye flickered. "I while back ago, aye," she answered. "We just wanted to be sure. Just wanted to make sure you weren't in harm's way. You could be a very valuable Volunteer someday, you know."
Sunny blinked. "A Volunteer?" A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. "Really?"
"Aye."
Sunny considered the idea for a minute. A real Volunteer, just like the ones Violet described. The woman seemed nice enough, if a bit creepy, but that just made her all the more mysterious. Maybe she would stay for a little while, just to see if she was right.
"Okay," Sunny said.
The woman grinned and extended her hand. "Welcome aboard," she said.
Sunny shook her hand. "Glad to be aboard, Boss," she smirked, trying out the name.
"Aye," the woman said. "Call me Fiona."
. . .
"And so, this is where you'll be staying," Fiona said, showing Sunny into a long, narrow room.
Sunny was surprised to see that there was more than one bed in the room, several of which had the blankets sloppily falling down to the floor, although a couple were neatly made. A few articles of clothing were strewn about on the ground, along with some scattered papers and books.
She frowned. "Why-?"
Fiona grinned. "Are you ready to meet your fellow neophytes?" she asked.
Sunny's face lit up. "You mean there are other kids?"
"Aye. Come with me," Fiona said, and turned to walk out the door.
Sunny followed her down the stairs and into the dining room. Green wallpaper adorned with thousands of eyes decorated the walls, and a grand chandelier hung from the ceiling. An exquisite feast was laid out on the long table, steaming with the warm scent of dinner.
Fiona took out a shiny silver whistle, the kind gym teachers blow at their students when they run laps, and placed it between her red lips. The whistle emitted a high-pitched shriek as she blew it, and suddenly the floor began to rumble as if an earthquake had struck. Doors leading to every room around them swung open, and children of all sizes and appearances flooded into the dining room. They obediently formed a line and straightened up, just like Brigitte, Gwenyth and Weasel did the first time Sunny saw Fiona.
Sunny counted. 12 kids to be exact. She would be 13.
Fiona grinned and spread out her arms, as if she were showing off a collection of figurines instead of a troupe of organized youngsters. One by one she pointed at them and told Sunny their names.
Fiona gestured to the first boy in line. "Samuel."
She turned to the girl that stood next to him. "Virginia."
"Emily."
"Marcus."
"Danny."
"Lisa."
"Andrew."
"Matthew."
"Rory."
"Elizabeth."
"Mary Sue."
Fiona paused when she came to the last boy. He was very thin with dark, scraggly hair, and looked several years younger than Sunny. He looked up at them with dull, blue eyes that were almost the same shade as Fiona's.
"And of course, we can't forget Jacky," she said. "He doesn't talk much. Don't expect to get an answer out of him if you ask him something."
Sunny smiled at him. Jacky waved slightly.
"Kids," Fiona said, "This is Sunny."
"Hi, Sunny," the kids replied in unison.
"Um... Hi," Sunny said back.
"Well," said Fiona. "Shall we eat?"
The kids suddenly came to life and ran to sit in their chairs, pushing each other and reaching across the table to grab some food to put on their plates before it was gone. Sunny sat next to Jacky, hoping to get him to speak to her. She noticed how he waited till all the other kids were done getting their food before he served himself. Of course, there wasn't a lot to serve after the others were through.
"So Sunny, you went to France?" Rory asked after everyone settled down in their seats.
Sunny nodded. "Yep," she said, stuffing a forkful of roast beef into her mouth at the same time.
"Did you go up in the Eiffel Tower?" asked Marcus.
"No," she said shyly, shaking her head. "I'm actually afraid of heights."
"Really?" Andrew said.
"I don't blame her," said Mary Sue. "I think it would be frightening to be up that high."
"Why are you afraid of heights?" Andrew asked.
Sunny shrugged. "I guess something happened when I was little. I don't really remember what though."
"Oh! That reminds me. There was this one time..." Andrew turned to the boy on his left and started blabbing on about some near-death experience he had that involved a hair-dryer and a pair of roller-skates. Sunny wasn't too interested in hearing his story, so she turned to Jacky.
"Hi," she began.
"Hm," Jacky answered.
"So... Nice weather we've been having." Sunny blinked in surprise at what just left her mouth, mentally kicking herself. She could say anything and she chose the most clichéd phrase of them all.
Jacky gave her an odd look. "It's been raining all day."
Sunny shrugged. "I like rain."
He nodded slightly. "Yeah, I guess I do too," he agreed.
"You like it here?" Sunny asked.
This time he shrugged. "Sure. It's kinda lonely."
Sunny arched an eyebrow. "Even with all these kids?"
Jacky frowned. "I guess I just miss my parents." He looked down and traced designs in the gravy with his fork. "What about your siblings?"
She raised both eyebrows now. "How do you know I have siblings?" she asked.
Jacky opened his mouth to speak, but at first, nothing came out. "Uh...um..." he stammered. "I just... You know... Word gets around quickly..."
Sunny smiled. "My siblings were Volunteers," she said.
"My mom and dad were, along with most of my relatives," said Jacky. "On both my parent's sides," he added.
"So were my parents." She sadly glanced down at her plate. "They're dead now."
"My uncle was a Volunteer. He died before I was born." He paused. "Jacky is actually a nickname. I was named after my uncle, so my given name is Ja-"
"Attention!" Fiona interrupted. "I have an announcement to make."
All the children stopped eating, forks and spoons halfway to their mouths. Weasel froze while in the middle of pouring himself a glass of brandy, and now the drink was overflowing and making a mess. Gwenyth was silenced in mid-giggle, and now a petrified smile was spread across her face. Jacky's mouth still hung open. Sunny looked up and waited for their leader's declaration.
"How would you all like to begin tomorrow's lesson a bit early?" Fiona asked.
Several kids cheered. Others began chatting amongst each other excitedly. "What do we do?" Sunny asked.
Fiona met Sunny's gaze. An eerie smile spread across her lips, and her pale, blue eye shone as if she was telling a joke.
"We hide," she said, and suddenly Sunny's life became even more confusing.