My reviewers! Thanks for being so faithful throughout the story.
Alania- Nice prediction. But I'm not saying its true… I'll be seeing you later today!
Evil Grinlord- You're already dead? How did that happen?
PearlGirl- I wonder why you can't review the chapter you want to… well, my chapters are usually about 3 pages on Microsoft Word (except this one, which is 6), I don't use Works anymore. Yes, I think Lemony is quite sick of getting captured. I want your LS story to be posted NOW! But that won't happen. I guess I'll just have to wait. See you later today!
A/N: Many of you believe this to be the last chapter in this anguishing tale, but I am sorry to say, it is not. I shall be posting an epilogue after this so that I can tie up some loose ends and make chapter 13 a bit shorter. Sorry, you'll just have to wait.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Baudelaires, Quagmires, Snickets, villains, or anyone else in my story. They all belong to Lemony Snicket and Daniel Handler.
The truck drove on and on, and while the terrible people in the front seat discussed Lemony's fate, Lemony sat in the back and listened in on their conversations, which were drifting out through the broken back window.
"Why exactly did we hang on to the Lemonhead for so long?" Esmé asked Olaf, as she jabbed a long-nailed finger towards the back of the truck to indicate she was talking about Lemony.
"We got a lot more information from him by making him trust our comrade here."
At this Ignacia batted her eyelashes and smiled at Olaf. He grinned back at her, which reminded Lemony of a rat with gingivitis, cavities, and yellow teeth opening its mouth to devour a piece of moldy cheese. Olaf continued.
"I was sorely disappointed when we weren't able to burn him alive in the theatre, but I now realize that we can extract even more information from him before he dies."
"What information?" Ignacia asked. "I already got a bunch from him. What's left?"
"The location of the sugar bowl," Olaf said quietly. "He lied to us last time, and I don't intend to let him outsmart us again."
Esmé let out a bone-chilling laugh and the other two despicable people joined in as well.
Lemony felt sick.
Olaf settled down and stopped chortling, but continued to smirk. "I've decided to throw the sneak into Lachrymose Lake! That seemed like the most tortuous and violent death I could think of."
Lemony felt really sick.
The three started laughing once more as they continued their conversation. He noticed Ignacia and Olaf kept looking at each other dreamily, and whenever they did this, Esmé would look disgusted and butt in on their discussion. She seemed very angry that Ignacia dared mess with her boyfriend. Lemony hoped her jealousy would fade away soon, or he was afraid she would do something nasty to Ignacia or Olaf, which he did not wish to witness.
After another hour of driving, queasy stomachs, bad breath, and evil conversations, Lemony fell asleep upon the truck bed; a word which when used here does not mean a soft mattress, but the hard bottom of the back end of a truck.
When Lemony awoke, the truck was coasting to a stop. The sun had risen, and Lemony guessed it must have been around 9 o' clock A.M. Olaf jumped out of the front seat and looked about their surroundings. Lemony watched as Olaf did a little celebration jig, clearly extremely pleased.
"This is perfect! The perfect spot!" he laughed gleefully.
Lemony finally turned his sore head and looked around. His eyes widened as he saw where they were. Lemony was right next to the fragmented remains of a house, blown off of a high cliff from the winds of a hurricane… The pickup truck was parked exactly where the house of Josephine Anwhistle had once stood. The steep cliff outcrop was to Lemony's right, hanging perilously above the icy waters of Lachrymose Lake.
Olaf danced a while more, until he was huffing and puffing. Then he went inside and searched the truck, and emerged holding a bottle of wine and some cracked champagne glasses. Pouring his comrades some wine, they all drank to Olaf's triumph over V.F.D., even though he had not successfully taken it over yet.
While they celebrated, Lemony struggled to free his hands. It was useless. The knot was tied far too tight, and the back of the truck was closed so he was unable to roll over or climb out.
Olaf strode over to where Lemony was being held captive, opened the back of the truck, and gave him a huge grin. "Here Snicket, I figured you should be rejoicing with us as well. Eat and drink this." Olaf held out a crust of bread and a small cup of wine. Why would Olaf give him food and let him drink something like this?
"I'm sure you're hungry." Olaf grinned even wider, if that was physically possible. Lemony looked cautiously at the food, over at the deadly lake, and back at Olaf. "No thank you," he said calmly.
Olaf's eyes got very, very shiny as if he had just told a joke. When he finally spoke, his voice was strained and rising every second. "It was not a choice Lemonhead. EAT IT!"
Lemony reluctantly took the food and drink that meant his own death sentence. Olaf watched him as he ate slowly, until the last drop was drained, and the final crumb was gone.
"Good," Olaf said, "Now its time to play a little game. It should be quite familiar." Olaf reached into his filthy coat pocket and pulled out a long shiny knife, the same one he had used to threaten Lemony with before.
"Now, where's the sugar bowl," Olaf asked in a sickly sweet voice.
Lemony looked around in panic. He couldn't lie to Olaf again, that would just make him angry, and he could find out. What should he tell him?
"I'm waiting." Olaf said annoyingly.
Lemony sighed and opened his mouth to answer, but a commotion on the cliff distracted both him and Olaf.
Esmé was shouting on the top of her lungs at Ignacia, who actually looked frightened. The actress was in such a rage that even though she was so loud, Lemony could only understand half of what she was yelling.
"HOW DARE YOU….EVIL…MY BOYFRIEND…KILL!" Esmé was screaming.
Olaf glared at Lemony. "Don't move Snicket." He ran over to the cliff and joined the fray.
Lemony realized this was his only chance. Olaf had left the back of the truck open, and Lemony started to hop out. He tripped, and rolled over onto the ground. Wincing at the impact, he kept rolling, until he was concealed behind the overgrown hedges of what was once Josephine's small garden. Lemony picked up a sharp stone and hacked away at his ropes, until he was able to untie them, and soon his feet were free as well.
Peeking through the leaves, Lemony watched a gruesome scene unfold before his eyes. Olaf was shouting now, trying to calm the women down. It had no effect, as a fuming Esmé started kicking Ignacia. Lemony almost cried out, until he remembered how she had betrayed him.
Esmé began to shove Ignacia with her long-nailed hands, closer and closer to the cliff's edge. Olaf kept on shouting, and Ignacia was trying to reason with Esmé, but neither of their pleas made any difference.
Lemony watched silently with wide eyes as Esmé gave Ignacia a good hard push, and Ignacia toppled over the edge of the cliff, a look of pure shock and disbelief on her face.
This time Lemony really did cry out, but Olaf and Esmé were too busy screaming at each other to hear. Ignacia was gone. Dead. Lemony sat completely still, a single tear running down his cheek.
Olaf finally calmed down and told Esmé it was alright that she had murdered his other henchwoman, because he hadn't really needed her anymore anyway. Lemony listened in repulsion. How could he be talking about another human being that way? The evil people finished the wine and hiccupped in celebration.
Esmé, looking smug, and Olaf, strolled tipsily back over to the truck. They must have drunk a bit too much wine, for they were extremely intoxicated. Olaf climbed in the driver's seat without even checking to see if Lemony was still in the truck, because of his clouded thinking.
The two villains laughed and chatted as they drove away. "I once pushed a rich widow off a cliff," Olaf drawled. The last thing Lemony heard was Olaf saying, "Hey, now we can even blame the woman's death on Snicket…" The truck turned a corner and Lemony watched it disappear in a cloud of dust.
Lemony couldn't believe he had escaped from Olaf so easily. But Ignacia… even though Lemony had known her to be evil, he still felt a pang in his heart. She had almost seemed to have a change… maybe joined Lemony's side… if only she had survived. Lemony felt two more tears slide silently down his cheek.
A fierce cry suddenly pierced the afternoon silence. Lemony jumped up and searched for the sound of the scream. He stayed partly hidden behind the hedges, just in case it was a dangerous wild animal. Glancing over at the rocky cliff, Lemony's eyes met an astounding sight.
Ignacia was climbing up the cliff's side, blood flowing freely from a gash on her head. She struggled to pull herself up unto the even surface that meant salvation. Whenever her fingers tried to get a grip on a rock or stone, it fell away from her down into the waters.
She looked up at Lemony, who was staring unbelievingly at her through the overgrown bushes.
"Lemony!" Ignacia screamed desperately, "Lemony please! Please help me! I'll change, I promise! I'm sorry, Lemony! I'm so, so sorry!" She started to cry as she clung to the rocks.
Lemony just sat there and stared. This woman had been so kind to him… but then she had betrayed him, left him to die at the hands of Olaf. Did she really deserve to live? She had promised to change. She said she was sorry for her actions. But could Lemony trust her this time?
Suddenly Ignacia's hand slipped and she was hanging from one arm over the freezing waters below. "Please!" She cried, with the small amount of air left in her lungs.
Lemony jumped out from behind the hedges and ran as fast as he possibly could to the gasping figure on the cliff. He slid in the dirt over to the edge, reaching out for Ignacia. He was almost there… he could save her! Ignacia stretched her free arm out to Lemony's. He moved to the very verge of the cliff, inches away. Lemony felt his fingertips brush Ignacia's…she was going to make it!
But then, Lemony watched in horror as Ignacia Davis lost her grip, and plunge towards the deadly waters below. She let out a blood-curdling scream as her body hit the icy cold waves, and Lemony stood, paralyzed, as he saw her limp body bob up and down.
She was still alive! Lemony could see her lifting one of her arms. Then he saw the writhing mass of shiny bodies descending quickly on Ignacia through the water. The Lachrymose Leeches smelled the wine Ignacia had drank with Esmé and Olaf, and they were slithering over to devour her.
Lemony continued to watch, helpless, unable to warn her or run away. Ignacia lifted her head and saw them coming, and she screamed again, louder than ever before. Then the wall of leeches hit her. Lemony couldn't stand it anymore.
He ran, stumbling back over behind the hedges and started to sob uncontrollably. He could have saved her! He shouldn't have hesitated and doubted the sincerity of her apology. If only he had jumped out a moment earlier… he could have saved his friend's life.
Lemony sat there, crying until his face was red and puffy, sobbing all afternoon and into the night, until he finally cried himself into a nightmare-filled sleep. When Lemony woke up, he was sore all over and very stiff from sleeping on the ground. His eyes were still swollen from his tears, but he was unable to cry anymore.
He felt like an empty shell, a bottomless pit. The only thoughts running through his head were full of sorrow and regret. I could have saved her- but I didn't…it's my fault…
Lemony started to walk absent-mindedly away from the murder site and unto the road. He kept walking and walking, until the soles of his shoes were worn out. But even then, Lemony continued. He walked until the sun was setting behind the trees. He walked until finally, Lemony spotted the graveyard in the back yard of his home.
Breaking into a run, Lemony ran all the way unto the steps of his house. Fumbling with the keys, not really even trying, Lemony eventually got the door open. He rushed into the house and breathed deeply. Lemony was finally home.
A/N: Remember, there's an epilogue! The story is not over. Reviewing is very 'in' right now…