Wow! I've discovered that the longer you wait to write a chapter, the more reviews you get! But don't worry; I'll try not to take as long with the rest of the story.
Dear Reviewers:
Fufulupin: I really liked those, as you called them, "Reassurance in the Night" fics you wrote. Your other fic is pretty good so far also, just…so sad… Poor, poor Sunny… -Sniff- Anyway, I'm glad you like this story. :)
Smartlilazn: Awesome. Thanks. Dude. ;)
MlynnBloom: Ah, I can't wait until I finally get to tell you all about the mystery behind Jacky! Hopefully you won't be disappointed. And Merry Christmas to you too!
Arden C. Evans: Yeah, Fiona rocks! –Looks around quickly, then whispers- (You see, I'm trying to be nice to Fiona so she'll give me my accordion back. I miss it. :'()
LolliPopsAreTears: Thank you, thank you. –Bows before her audience- I would like to thank- ACK! Hey, who threw that fruit at me?! Hmph… Anyway…Well, I'll say that Jacky has some connection to a certain writer, perhaps the one you speak of, but I'm not saying what it is…
SaturnStorm: Oh, ooh ooh thank you! And more you all shall have!
Lady Emily: Nope, Mr. Jacky's Dad's identity has not yet been revealed. Well, actually his name has. It's Mr. Jacky's Dad. ;)
Samela: Howdy Sam! Thanks for stopping by! And I'm updating, don't you fret.
Phoenix72389: Thank you! But you know, Fiona's not evil, just misunderstood. She's actually a nice person once you get to know her. (I'm still trying to get my accordion back, in case you couldn't tell.)
Ed the Giant Racoon: My computer was doing that a while ago. My dad finally had to upgrade some virus protection program and it's been fine ever since. Oh well, I hope you get it fixed! And thanks!
As I said before, it took me a while to get this chapter up, and I'm really sorry it took so long. It's just, you know, the holidays are coming and everything and everyone's been so busy, including me. At first I was writing the two parts in this chapter separate, but I figured, "Well, they're both short, and you guys have been so nice and patient too, so I might as well put 11 and 12 together and give you a good long chapter!" Looking back at it now, I'd definitely have to say that this is the longest chapter I've ever written!
So here it is! I'll try to get the next chapters out sooner
Chapter 11: D i z z y
There is a way.
There has to be a way.
Klaus stared at yet another blank page of typewriter paper. The typewriter had gathered dust, and the only clean keys were the ones Klaus's fingers were resting on. It was hard for him to believe he hadn't written anything since Sunny had been kidnapped.
No…Not kidnapped. Recruited.
He sighed.
Think, Klaus, think.
Klaus thought. For a very long time. Finally, with a groan of defeat, he let his head fall into his hands. All of this was making him dizzy.
"There's no way…" he murmured to himself. Klaus looked up when he heard a knock at his apartment door.
Klaus adjusted his loose tie and attempted to tame his unkempt hair. When he figured he looked presentable enough for company, he stood up and opened the door. He wasn't expecting to see the slender, dark-haired presence of Isadora standing there, shivering slightly in her long coat.
"Isadora! Uh…I…I wasn't expecting you," Klaus said.
She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry if I came at a bad time. I just stopped by to say hi, but I'll go if you're busy."
"No, no, I'm not really doing anything anyway," he replied. "You can come in if you want. I was thinking of making some coffee, you want some?"
"Okay, I guess so. It's cold out there. Been raining a lot lately, you notice that?"
"Yeah, it has," Klaus said, preparing the coffee.
Isadora glanced sadly at the typewriter, observing the dust. "Haven't been writing much?"
"No…not lately."
"What about that book you were starting?"
Klaus shrugged and poured Isadora a cup of coffee. "I don't know… I just haven't really felt like writing. Right now it seems kind of…" He shook his head.
"…Unimportant?" Isadora finished quietly.
"Yeah." He sat down at the small table and stared at a picture hanging on the wall. "…Compared to what's happened."
Isadora followed his gaze. It was a photograph of Klaus and his sisters. From the miserable looks on their faces, she figured it was probably taken not too long after the fire killed their parents. Isadora knew there was one particular little girl Klaus was looking at.
She sighed and sat down next to him. "Things have been hard…"
"She probably hates me," Klaus said. "She believes all those things Fiona has told her."
"How could Sunny ever hate you?"
"Because it's all true!" Klaus said, his voice getting louder. "You know I started that fire. You know what happened, Isadora!"
"Quit blaming yourself for everything!" she replied. "You know what else I know? I know that you weren't the only one who helped with it. I was out there with a torch too."
"But I was the first one out there…"
"Klaus, it's perfectly understandable. I know you liked Fiona. You were angry. You wanted revenge. We all did. And it was for a good cause."
"But V.F.D. wasn't exactly proud of it either, if you remember that too. I mean, there we were, Volunteers, and we had purposely burned the whole place down! I think it was that fire that eventually led to the destruction of V.F.D.; you saw how bad it got near the end." Klaus sighed and stared down into his coffee. "And it was all for nothing anyway."
"What do you mean, 'nothing'?" Isadora asked. "If we hadn't gotten rid of the rest of the Medusoid Mycelium, who knows how many others could have died?"
"That's my point, Isadora. Like you said, I wanted revenge. But to me it was all for nothing because Fiona was never dead!" He shook his head in bewilderment. "I just don't get it. Fiona was poisoned. I'm positive about that, I practically saw her die. But…" Klaus's voice trailed off. He rubbed his forehead with his fingers, trying to make sense out of it all. After a few silent moments of pondering, he shook his head. "It kinda sent me for a loop, you know? Just to believe something, and then find out it was all a lie…"
Isadora smiled understandingly and squeezed his shoulder. "Yeah, I know. But, as I was going to say, I don't think Sunny could ever hate you, really." Klaus looked up at her, doubt still clouding his normally pure eyes. "There's kind of an instinct," Isadora continued, "that you're there to protect her, that you'd never do something like this on purpose. I know, she hasn't really known you for very long, considering all those years she and Violet were gone, but she even said herself once, that she remembered she had a brother who cared for her. I think she still remembers that."
Klaus couldn't help but let a small grin twitch at the corners of his lips, partly at the possibility Isadora could be correct, and partly in wonder at her amiable personality. "How do you stay so positive all the time?" he asked, his smile growing.
Isadora smirked. "I took optimism lessons from Phil," she sarcastically joked.
They both laughed.
She sighed contentedly. "I guess you just have to keep it in your mind that everything works itself out eventually. We'll get Sunny back. Just keep thinking that."
Klaus nodded slowly, not letting his gaze leave her face. It seemed like her lips were perpetually in the form of a smile, even when she wasn't trying; there was always that slight curve at one side. How could someone who's been through so much be so hopeful? Isadora had endured the tragedy of her parent's deaths at such a young age. There was a time when no one was sure if Quigley had been trapped in the same fire. It almost didn't matter anyway; he never visited and was rarely in contact with his siblings. Isadora's years as a Volunteer had constantly thrown her in the path of danger; she had been faced with her own possible death and the deaths of others numerous times. So many things must have been haunting her, yet somehow she managed to keep a confident face on for his sake.
Klaus's amazement deepened.
For his sake.
The way she always smiled when he entered the room, how she seemed to always have something positive to counter his negativity, how he had managed to keep his sanity all these years… Isadora was just worried about him.
How had he missed it?
Klaus couldn't help but let his hand stray forward and brush a strand of her hair from her cream-complexioned face. He remembered that day at the grotto, seeing Isadora, a flaming torch in her hand, how she had looked at him, tears streaming down her face. He realized it now; she wasn't crying because of what they were doing.
She was crying for him.
Isadora must have known that something in him had been fatally wounded that day, the same part that died when his sisters disappeared. She saw him fall apart and she didn't want to see it again, now that he was finally healing.
Klaus gazed into her innocent, concerned eyes for a long time. There he was, wallowing in his own sorrow, alone and forlorn, and he had never even suspected that someone was watching out for him the entire time. Shameful tears pooled in his eyes as he realized how much he had taken for granted. "Thank you," Klaus whispered.
"For what?" Isadora asked.
"Everything."
She returned his wistful gaze, yet another warm smile gently quirking up the corners of her mouth. "Thank you," she replied.
"What have I ever done for you?"
"Well," she said, "you were the only one who stayed with me when the others disappeared."
"I was knocked unconscious. Olaf thought I was dead."
"Yeah, but the point is, you stuck around. You had the opportunity to leave with Mr. Snicket, remember?"
He shrugged. "Brazil didn't appeal to me."
Isadora's grin became sly and teasing. "No, you stayed for another reason, didn't you?"
Klaus smiled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, I think you know," she laughed.
"Come on…" Klaus looked away, pretending to roll his eyes, hoping that they wouldn't tell her that she was right.
Isadora stood up, her unending smile still brightening her face. She sighed. "I guess I should go now. I've got errands to run, people to see, etcetera, etcetera. You know."
Klaus stood also and nodded, somewhat regretfully. "It was nice talking to you," he said, meaning every word.
"Anytime." Isadora stopped at the door and turned to gaze at him. The pitying look that shaded her eyes had changed. There was something more serious in them now, something that created a resolve between the two. It told him what "Anytime" really meant; that it was her way of saying that she would always be there if he needed her.
That she hoped he would.
After silently staring at him for several moments, Isadora wrapped her arms around Klaus's neck and hugged him tightly. "Remember what I said," she whispered in his ear. "We'll get Sunny back."
Klaus nodded, savoring the feeling of Isadora's dark silk hair against his cheek. She pulled back slightly and looked up at him. Sighing, Isadora brushed a finger across his cheek under his left eye. "Thanks for the coffee, Twitch," she said, and turned and opened the door.
"Anytime," Klaus replied as he watched her leave. The door closed and Klaus put a hand up to his face. A new, genuine smile began to shape his lips. Somehow he knew it, somehow he could feel it.
His twitch was gone.
Klaus walked over to his desk and blew the dust off the typewriter. He sat down and started typing.
There is a way.
"Jacky?"
Silence.
"Jacky, please come out."
More silence.
Sigh.
Sunny turned the doorknob and crept quietly towards her friend. He was sitting at the window, staring at something in his hands. As he slumped on the window seat, his back looked slightly curved as if the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders, as if he had been forced out of his childhood and shoved into a life he didn't deserve. Jacky reminded her of how Fernald had looked the last time she saw him; something greatly burdensome had been plaguing his mind. What it was, Sunny never figured out. It didn't seem right to ask.
But if you don't ask, how can you ever know something for sure?
"Jacky," Sunny said again. "What's wrong?"
Jacky continued to gaze at his hands, not turning away from the window. Sunny sat down next to him and leaned closer so she could try to read the expression in his eyes. If there was one thing she had learned over the years, it was that eyes could tell stories. You just had to look hard enough.
Again, she saw the blue ice. The color could be misleading if you were meeting Jacky for the first time. It could look like Fiona's cold, piercing tone or Fernald's softer, yet still fierce and determined hue.
Now, well, it was hard to tell. It almost looked like both. But there was something else in those eyes. Something that was close to letting tears spill. Something that was hurting him.
Something that was ready to surrender.
"You didn't come down for lunch today."
Jacky didn't answer.
"Or breakfast."
He offered something of a shrug and leaned his head against the rain-spattered window.
Sunny finally glanced down at the object in Jacky's hands. It was the photograph she had stolen from Fiona, the one he had asked to keep. She looked pityingly up at Jacky when a tear landed on Kit's face.
"Jacky…" she started. Sunny remembered those long-ago days of hiding with her sister, how she had almost given up so many times. She would find a comfy place to sit and pout, and Violet would come in to find her sulking silently. Sunny had always been so stubborn, not even looking up when her sister gently prodded her to say why she was so sullen. "Sunny, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong," Violet would say. Then, it had seemed annoying to Sunny. Now, she would have given anything to hear her sister's motherly voice again.
"Jacky," Sunny said again, "Please talk to me." She tried to look him in the eyes. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."
Finally he lifted his head and glanced away from the picture. He sighed and shrugged. "I guess I just want to go home," he said quietly.
Sunny nodded. "Yeah. I do too. Although I've got a lot of explaining to do when I get back…" She didn't mention that there probably wasn't any way to escape. "Hmm," she mumbled thoughtfully. "I wonder what Klaus thinks of me now." She frowned and looked out the window. "I wish I could tell him I'm sorry."
Jacky nodded. "Me too."
Sunny arched an eyebrow. "You wish you could tell my brother you're sorry…?"
He grinned slightly and shook his head. "No, I mean my parents."
"Thought so." There was a momentary pause. "Jacky," she said, "You never told me how you got here."
"Well, I ran away from home," he replied. "I felt like my mom and dad were keeping too many secrets from me. Secrets about V.F.D., ones they wouldn't tell me about." Jacky shook his head again. "My dad said, 'There are things in this world that are too terrible for young people to know.' I didn't think that there could ever be any secrets I couldn't handle, so I ran away to this place, hoping to find out what they were from Fiona." He looked away and hugged his knees, as if it had suddenly gotten very cold in the room. "I know now. I guess my dad was right," he whispered.
Sunny turned and watched the cars on the street far below them. For a moment, the world was suddenly quiet again.
Sunny reached into her pocket. Maybe she should show him the vial now. After all she had put him through, it was probably about time he knew why he was going through it.
Sunny frowned. Strange…Where is it?
She checked her other pocket.
Hmm…I must have left it in my coat.
She glanced back at Jacky. He was looking down at the photograph again.
Jacky…Jack…Jacques…Jacques. Was that his real name?
Why is it so familiar? she pondered.
"What are your parents' names?" Sunny asked.
Jacky opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. The eye-shaped doorknob turned and the door swung open. Leaning against the doorframe was Fiona herself.
She directed her cold glare at Sunny. "Dinnertime," she said. There was a moment of tense silence. After several seconds of the three just staring at each other, Fiona smirked and walked out the door.
"That's weird," Jacky said. Sunny didn't have to ask what he was talking about. They both knew that Fiona usually sent Gwenyth upstairs to call the kids down for dinner. Fiona was always up in the tower and was always the last one to sit down at the table.
"Why did she look at you like that?" Jacky asked.
Sunny shook her head. "She's been looking at me like that a lot today."
The two exchanged a brief sense of concern.
"She's plotting something."
Their suspicions did not ease as the meal began. Weasel gave Sunny the same look as Fiona had when he served the cucumber soup. Gwenyth wouldn't make eye contact with anyone and didn't even crack a smile throughout the duration of the meal. She looked up at Sunny once, though. She didn't say anything. It was just a glance.
There was pity in her eyes.
The other children carried on as if nothing was out of the ordinary; it would have been hard for them to notice it anyway. The only hints as to what Fiona had done were so subtle, so clever, not even Sunny suspected she had done anything at all.
But she would find out soon enough.
Finally, dinner ended and the children dispersed. Then Brigitte, Weasel and Gwenyth quietly exited, leaving only Fiona at the table. Sunny and Jacky were about to leave the dining room when Fiona called after them.
"Sunny," she said. "Why don't you stay a little longer?"
Sunny eyed her warily and reluctantly inched back to the table.
"Um…I'll just wait here," Jacky said, leaning against the wall.
"Leave," Fiona ordered.
Jacky frowned but nodded timidly. Sunny watched him solemnly make his way up the stairs.
Fiona waited until she heard the sound of the door close before she spoke.
"You didn't finish your soup."
Sunny silently sat down in her chair and obediently sipped another spoonful of soup, not taking her eyes off the sinister grin that was forming on Fiona's face.
"So," Fiona said in a casual, conversational tone, "How do you like it here so far, Sunny?"
She shrugged and scooped some more soup into her mouth.
Fiona nodded and picked some dirt out from under her fingernail. "Aye. Been making friends?"
Sunny shrugged again. "Jacky, I guess."
"Jacky, hmm? I'm not so sure about him. Aye, he's a troublemaker. Not sure why I let him stay." Fiona shook her head and glanced back up the stairs. "I might have to do something about him!" she shouted, as if she was talking to the slightly opened door. The door slammed shut.
Fiona grinned at Sunny and sighed. "Don't you just hate it when people eavesdrop on you?"
Sunny gulped down some more soup, almost choking on it at first. She glanced cautiously up at Fiona. "Uh…Yeah."
She chuckled quietly and narrowed her pale-blue eye at Sunny. "You know, you should really have that hole in your pocket fixed."
Sunny dropped her spoon and shoved her hand into her pocket. Her finger stuck out the other side.
When she looked up, the vial was dangling in front of her face.
"I saw it fall out of your pocket this morning," Fiona said, winding the string around her fingers. "I must admit though, the lock-picking thing was quite clever. Violet must have taught you well."
Sunny eyes were wide and she had broken out in a cold sweat. Oh no, what is she going to do now?
"How's the soup?" Fiona asked, that familiar smirk spreading across her face.
Sunny looked down at her bowl and then up at Fiona again. Her jaw dropped and she stared back down at what was left of her cucumber soup. She paled.
"You…You put something in it, didn't you?" Sunny asked, beginning to panic.
Fiona tilted her head to one side and raised her eyebrows at her in mock-sympathy. "Feeling dizzy?"
Sunny put a hand up to her head and found that it had become harder to breath. She jumped up from her chair and stumbled backwards. Fiona stood up also, not looking very concerned that Sunny was about to dart out the door. Sunny turned around and found out why.
Weasel was standing in the doorway, a nasty grin revealing all his metal teeth. He was poised to reach out and grab her if she tried to escape.
Then the room started to spin.
And the last thing Sunny saw before everything went black was the terrified look in her own eyes, reflected in his silver smile.