A/n: When I started this recollection of the events I had no idea how terrible a mistake a certain Baudelaire female would make later on in my research. I started this story therefore I have to finish you however do not. I urge you to bypass this story and go to another site this instant. You have been warned.
Chapter 2.
"Who is it?" asked Duncan yawning. Violet stepped aside to let Quigley in. There was a mixed reaction from the two remaining triplets. Isadora sat down looking pale with her hand clasped to her mouth. Duncan took a more direct approach and fell off the bed. Violet raised her eyebrows. Duncan tried to force his way through the piles of bedding that had fallen on top of him.
"Woah who died? Oh yeah... me." Laughed Quigley. Violet shook her head and rolled her eyes. Isadora suddenly threw herself into her brothers arms in tears.
"I don't believe it... I really don't. Klaus told me but... I didn't believe it."
"Izzy calm down for god's sake you're going to strangle me." But Quigley, despite his protest, didn't have the heart to pry his sister away from him he just smiled. Duncan was finally freeing himself. Violet laughed and pulled the covers from him.
"What did I miss?" Quigley asked noting the fact Violet's hair ribbon was laying on the covers.
"Nothing happened." Violet said quickly. She didn't know why she was denying it so suddenly. Perhaps she secretly didn't want Quigley to know. No, that wasn't it.
"Great to have you back." Duncan muttered. Quigley nodded. Violet knew boys didn't show emotion as well as girls but she knew each was thrilled to see the other. "Ugh we only ordered five breakfasts so you'll have to share with one of us."
"Can I get dressed first I'm soaked." In all the excitement everyone had totally forgotten Quigley was still wet from his trip down the river. Everyone except Duncan and Quigley went down to breakfast.
"I told you so." Now when one says 'I told you so' it is often in a rude tone however when Klaus spoke to Isadora it was in a quiet well mannered tone. Isadora gave him a weak smile.
"I know...It's just a bit of a shock that's all." Isadora then did something that perhaps would have been better done in private, she kissed his cheek lightly. "Thank you." Klaus nodded his face crimson. Violet just smiled to herself.
"Kiss?" questioned Sunny to her sister. Violet smiled.
"Yeah," She said. "they kissed."
"You kiss?" Violet looked puzzled for a moment her sister said the oddest things sometimes. Violet knew she wasn't calling her a kiss [as Duncan usually thought along those lines] she was asking...
"You mean have I ever been kissed?" Violet asked curiously. Sunny nodded and smiled showing all of her razor like teeth. Sunny's teeth had saved her on numerous occasions.
"Yes."
"No Mummy!" she said suddenly. The toddler still spoke in a high screechy voice which made Duncan [who had just descended the stairs] look over at her.
"Family not included eh? Still yes." Violet muttered. Sunny didn't question any further but perhaps this was because her mouth was clogged up with cornflakes. Violet was glad she didn't question any further as she didn't feel like discussing her private life with her sister at this moment. Much less Duncan.
"Who?" Violet jumped and knocked her spoon to the floor she quickly ducked under the table to retrieve it.
"Pardon?"
"I said who." He sat down next to her. Quigley Isadora and Klaus were sat on the other end of the table.
"Nevermind, it was no big deal ok." Violet glanced over at Quigley who raised one eyebrow in puzzlement. "It didn't mean anything."
"Hm." Duncan said awkwardly. Violet shook her head and continued with her breakfast. She knew full well he didn't believe her but there was nothing she could do because she didn't know if she believed herself.
Violet couldn't help but dwell on her dream. Mostly the second part of it. What if she truly was to be the last Baudelaire standing. She sat alone in the bedroom while the others played in the lobby. Her fingers traced the titles of the books on the bookshelves. If I could rewind time I should very much like to remove one particular book from this collection however I cannot remove it and Violet Baudelaire happened to find it.
'Legal rights in the case of the deceased.' Was the title of this book. Violet pulled it across to the desk and opened it pages rustled in the wind and it landed open on page 62.
"If the inheritance of a deceased is in jeopardy the next of kin automatically inherits anything the deceased owned or was due to acquire." Violet assumed Klaus and Sunny were her next of kin as they were the closest members of family she had. But if she truly was to be the last of her siblings this would be of no help. "A will can only be made by someone above legal age." So she couldn't leave anything to the Quagmires should something happen to her or her siblings. There were a lot of complicated words in the book after this section Violet felt sure her brother would know. However she didn't want her brother to know what she was doing. She hated working behind their backs but... "If a woman is of the deceased." That referred to her right? Was she classed as a woman? Or still a child? 14 was pretty old. "Then a child of that woman would inherit anything the woman owned." That was the piece of information that could prove fatal to fourteen year old Violet Baudelaire.
"Violet?" asked a voice.
"Hm?" Violet replied vaguely 'The child does not have to be conceived within marital status.' Violet assumed that meant she did not have to be married. 'nor does it have to be christened. All the requirements are that the child has the name of either the mother or the father on the birth certificate'
"What're you reading?" Violet shut the book quickly.
"Nothing nevermind, it's not important." She avoided Duncan's eye contact. He looked at her quirking his eyebrows as he did so. He took the book from her hands. She didn't object.
He flicked to the page she'd been on. The page marked 62 was dog eared. A phrase which means 'the corner of the page was rather ragged' and not 'the page suddenly sprouted fluffy ears in an exact replica of my Labrador'
"Second Paragraph." Violet whispered, she had a sudden fixation on her shoes. As I have previously stated shoe laces are amongst the most boring things on this earth. The shoe laces of Violet Baudelaire were no different to the shoe laces of Isadora Quagmire they were simply a way to divert her mind. I shall once again opt not to bore you with a description of Violet's shoe laces.
"If a woman is of the deceased then a child of that woman would inherit anything the woman owned? So? You already know that."
"If I truly am to be the last member of my family..."
"Oh no! Nuh uh no way... you can't." a look of dawning comprehension on his face. The use of this sentence here means 'he had just figured out what Violet was up to and was now going to try and dissuade her.' Dissuade is a fancy word meaning 'to talk someone out of something' or in this case 'talk Violet out of her simply ridiculous idea'
"I..." It was very rude to cut someone off but Duncan thought he'd stop her before she got into her stride.
"No Violet." He said firmly. She still avoided eye contact.
"If I'm going to die I need to set up a secure..."
"You're not going to die!" Duncan said furiously. He sat on the bed and chewed his lip.
"You don't know that." Violet whispered sadly.
"You're right. I don't, Nobody knows. But that's no cause for... for... for...this!" he smacked the book with the palm of his hand. Violet hung her head. She then told herself 'Sunny and Klaus aren't here' and then burst into tears.
"Oh god, Violet don't cry." Duncan looked very concerned. He knew she didn't like to cry. He put his hand shakily on her shoulder. It was then Violet said those four words. Those four words were going to change her life forever.
"I want your help." I shall leave these two here for this moment in time and instead I shall turn to Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire and Isadora and Quigley Quagmire. Now I am sure you shall all hate me for leaving these two at that particular moment in time, but I shall explain now that this story has to remain at the safe content of PG-13 so no more shall be mentioned for the meantime. I shall leave it up to you to guess what happened next.
Isadora picked Sunny up and swung her round. Sunny shrieked in pleasure. For the Baudelaire/Quagmire orphans it had been so long since they had REALLY enjoyed themselves. No they were in the lobby of the hotel listening to music on the radio. There was no worry about disturbing the other guests as there were no other guests as of yet. Klaus and Quigley laughed as their sisters made spectacles of themselves. Isadora was doing some ridiculous dance while Sunny was chanting her own words to the song. Isadora grabbed Klaus's hand and tried to drag him to the makeshift dance floor.
"No I... I... I don't dance..." he forced himself back to the sofa, a red tinge creeping up his face. Isadora stuck out her tongue called Klaus a spoil sport then dragged her brother to the floor. Sunny laughed and, not able to dance on her own- barely being of walking age, took a seat on her brothers lap.
"Kiss?" she asked.
"Pardon?"
"Kiss Isadora Kiss." She said pointing repeatedly at Isadora. Klaus looked at Isadora then back to his sister. She was no longer a baby [as she constantly reminded them] and was starting to notice how people felt. She had most certainly seen through Klaus's mask. This does not mean Klaus was wearing a mask it merely meant he was trying to hide something.
"Yes, I do like her... happy?" he asked.
"Ecstatic." Anyone who is fluent in English knows that words means over the moon with joy [not literally of course], Klaus was just surprised Sunny knew. He smiled.
"You know, sometimes I underestimate you Sunny." She smiled and gave her brother a small kiss on the cheek.
"I'm not a baby." She whispered. Klaus nodded. He knew she wasn't a baby. She had been forced out of a happy infanthood by Count Olaf and now her childhood was in jeopardy too. She wasn't as helpless as she seemed. As most of us know it can be very dangerous to underestimate somebody or something. Something such as a sugarbowl may seem like a perfectly innocent thing to take yet the taking of that sugarbowl may lead directly to your death. It may also be dangerous to underestimate someone's knowledge, if someone tells you not to climb the preliminary fence of a tigers enclosure you may meet a sticky end should you choose to underestimate their knowledge, or you should know better next time [should you survive].
"I'm exhausted, is it dinner time?"
"Yes. I think, come on."
"Wait a moment, where are Violet and Duncan?" Quigley asked suddenly. He appeared to be the first to have noticed the disappearance of the two. When having fun children can often be very unobservant.
"Uh oh..." Sunny said. "Find." She clambered off up the stairs.
"She means she'll go get them." Klaus assured the confused couple. Isadora accepted this and took Klaus's hand in an attempt to drag him to the dining room. The dining room wasn't full as it was to be just the 6 of them.
"Knock knock." Sunny said and hammered her tiny fists on the door.
"Should we answer her?" Duncan asked in puzzlement.
"Tell the others I'll be down in a minute Sunny." Violet said. She was sat on her bed beside Duncan.
"Two?" Came Sunny's reply.
"Yes Duncan aswell." Violet answered.
"Are you ok Violet?" There was that annoying question I have previously mentioned.
"Hm?" Violet asked vaguely. "Oh yeah I'm fine." Violet blew a strand of hair from her eyes. Her ribbon was in her jacket pocket having been rescued from the covers.
"Come on." Duncan tucked the strand behind her ear. Here I shall use the expression 'too close for comfort' which means Violet felt threatened by how close he was to her. She wasn't frightened of him. She was frightened of herself, what she'd just done and what she might do yet.
"Come on." She stood up leaving a very dazed and confused Duncan sat on the bed. "And remember... Shh." He nodded in response. He understood what she meant. Sometimes girls were more confusing than a toddler who was only just grasping speech.
"Hello." Chirruped Violet. Sunny stared at them both and giggled. She puckered her lips and made kissy noises which made Isadora laugh.
"Oh shut up." Muttered Duncan his face now a bright shade of crimson. He looked as though he had just run a marathon or had just escaped from the lions of Caligari Carnival when doing the research of the Baudelaire orphans.
"Violet can I have a word... in private." Quigley stood up and walked out. Violet shrugged her shoulders. She personally had no idea of what Quigley could want. Or did she?
"So are you two..." He started. Violet bit her lip. Typical boy, ask the awkward question at the exact wrong moment.
"No...yes...sort of." Violet was unsure of what her and Duncan were exactly.
"So the slippery slope.." Quigley paused. "Meant nothing to you... nothing at all." He looked very forlorn.
"Hey back off!" she said moodily. Being fourteen she was prone to mood swings and with everything Violet Baudelaire had been through in the last few months she felt she was entitled to a few temper tantrums. "It was you who started the whole Slippery slope thing off!"
"I didn't see you complaining!" Quigley said furiously. His eyes flashing menacingly.
"I was confused, ok? The only reason I didn't push you away is because I thought in a few moments I could be dead!" That was not entirely true Violet had not thought she was on deaths door at that moment and truth be told she really had no idea why she had kissed him back.
"Oh I get it." He muttered. "Substitute me until you can get back to my brother eh? I'm not my brother."
"I know you're not I'm sorry Quigley." She put her hand out to touch his shoulder but he flinched away.
"Leave me alone."
"I'm really sorry I shouldn't have lead you on." Violet said shifting her weight from her left foot to her right and more dominant foot. Quigley wandered off up the stairs. Violet chewed her lip. She could follow him and probably get into trouble with her friends and siblings or she could go into the room and eat her dinner.
She chose the latter decision.
"Hey where's..." started Isadora worriedly. It was no secret Isadora was a bit clingy with one of her triplets and it was no surprise considering she had spent the last two years believing him to be dead.
"Don't ask." Violet muttered she jabbed her thumb to the ceiling.
"Uh oh..." Sunny said. She could read her big sister like a book, she crawled off Klaus's lap and onto Violets.
"Poor baby." She said brushing her sisters hair out of her eyes. "Poor Violet baby." One may think this was an odd thing for Sunny to say to her elder sister. Violet however didn't think it that. It was what mother had always said to her children when they were upset. Sunny evidently had an impeccable memory.
"I'm not a baby Sunny. Just puzzled." Violet whispered. Her little sister seemed to accept this as an excuse and stole a raw carrot off of Klaus's plate. He rolled his eyes. It was common knowledge Sunny's favourite hobby was biting things. Anything from raw carrots to walls. I would like to take this moment in time to say to any of my older readers with younger siblings, please do no attempt to race your sisters or brothers up walls by sticking their teeth in it, it may result in temper tantrums and a possible punishment from your parents, unless your parents happen to be busy in which case by all means let the races begin.
"Why does Sunny call Violet baby?" Isadora queried.
"It might be private ok Izzy drop it." Duncan did not want to hear any more on the subject of babies.
"Don't call me Izzy!" Protested Isadora.
"She called her 'Violet baby' because it's what Mum used to call us all. Her babies. Even when I was 12 and this whole thing started she still called me and Violet baby." Klaus smiled at the memory of his father tucking him in while his mother whispered. 'Goodnight Klaus Baby.' It was not that long ago in comparison.
Night time drew the day to a close around the friends.
"Who's sleeping where?"
"Can we fit three in a bed?" asked Duncan doubtfully.
"If we squash up we could." Quigley said surveying the size of the bed. The problem was there was one more than yesterday so last nights awkwardness would probably be tripled.
"Quigley you know I love you but there is no way in hell am I sharing with you, you're worse than Duncan." Quigley smiled sheepishly as though this sufficed as an apology.
"Sorry Izzy." There was a brief moment of awkward silence during which several odd glances were exchanged.
"Me and Violet and the three boys?"
"Not going to work, boys are bigger than girls." Klaus shrugged as they all looked at him "I read it in 'a journal of anatomy' anatomy means..."
"To do with the human body." Finished Quigley.
"Quigley Klaus and Violet... no because that would leave me with Duncan... er..."
"Duncan Quigley and Violet and you and me?" Suggested Klaus with a slight pink tinge to his cheeks. Violet bit her lip. She was in danger of bursting it the amount of times she'd bit it but a little blood was nothing. Nothing compared to speaking her mind.
"Sure." Isadora said. Quigley nodded and looked over at Violet, Violet looked away only to find herself facing Duncan. Although it had been her idea she wasn't too comfortable around him either at the moment. The girls got dressed in the en suite bathroom. Tomorrow was Tuesday. They would have to wait til Thursday before anything major happened.
Quigley spent ages brushing his teeth which meant Violet had to get in the middle. It was rather cramped between the two brothers and Violet found herself hardly daring to breathe.
"No more nightmares tonight?" Whispered Duncan. Violet was glad it was dark as she now thought her name should be Magenta as it was the colour she had turned.
"No more... ever." She whispered.
"What nightmares?" Intervened Quigley.
"Never you mind know it all." Duncan hissed. It was only meant to be playful. Brothers have a way of teasing one another. Worst is when a brother bullies a sister. My brother seems to think it a waste of a visit if he doesn't hang me by my ankles everytime he sees me.
"Ah," Said a voice in the dark.
"The love of my brothers
a bond like no others." It was the first poem Isadora had recited since the Baudelaires had arrived at the hotel. Quigley grinned.
"Same old Izzy."
"Who else would I be!" Violet gave a small smile. Isadora and Quigley were back together. Duncan seemed to like the fact his brother was back but he didn't seem as thrilled as Isadora.
"Go on Izzy one more." Duncan's and Quigley's voices were identical so it was hard to tell who'd said it.
"The signs that things are ok from above
is falling asleep beside the ones you love." Violet could only imagine the look on Klaus's face then there was a thud. Klaus had apparently fallen out of bed.
"Oh brother." Said a voice from the left of the room. Violet knew Sunny wasn't referring to her brother more like his antics. She smiled as everyone around her laughed. She hoped this moment would last yet she knew deep down, it couldn't.
I shall now let the Baudelaires and the Quagmires sleep peacefully although you should know that Klaus got back into bed, he did not opt for sleeping on the floor. You may also find it a great comfort to know, if you are a big fan of Violet and Duncan, that Duncan held her hand all night. It was a way to try prevent the nightmares and also to see if they were still talking. It came as a great relief to the tired out teenager that she squeezed back.
