Hello again! I didn't feel very confident about this story until I had gotten so many wonderful reviews, and now I have that little surge of energy in the back of my head which is the urge to write. Thus, I update sooner! Thanks Everyone!

Lemony the dragon: You're absolutely right, I can't wait for October 18! Less than 2 weeks, now!

Zavi: Of course I'll write one about Quigley! He'll probably be sixth or seventh, though. I loved your V/Q oneshot, BTW!

Proud shipper: Thanks! I did try to keep her in character.

Spyzeh: You really like it? Thank you so much! (Gives you big, fluffy cookie)

By now you have probably fainted from boredom. If not, however, please enjoy!

Disclaimer: "Beauty is truth, truth beauty… that is all ye need to know." And the truth is, I don't own ASoUE. (Nor do I own that quote by John Keats.)

Chapter 2: K l a u s B a u d e l a i r e

"I cannot live without books."

A man by the name of Thomas Jefferson once said this. Thomas Jefferson went on to become an architect, linguist, drafter of The Declaration of Independence, and third President of The United States. I think that this goes to show that people really cannot live without books – or, at least, shouldn't live without books. I, personally, can't.

Books have always been my passion. From the age of three, baby toys, such as stuffed blocks and rocking horses, never particularly caught my fancy. No, it was always books, even if they were filled with bunnies and bears. I remember my mother, who was so impressed with my premature literacy, reading me to sleep with such books as Anna Karenina and The Odyssey. I also remember a book about a lake explorer. A rather mundane story, really. (A/N: Ivan Lachrymose, Lake Explorer!)

And then, when I was finally old enough, my father introduced me to my first love: the library. This was the one place that, I felt, really was perfect. This had to be the one thing that didn't have a flaw, or a catch. To me, it had every book in the world, and then some. Anything that interested me, anything, was at my reach literally. And if it wasn't, there was always a ladder. It was truly my heaven on earth.

Until that day, on Briny Beach, that our lives were changed forever.

And then, it was all gone. I realized, then, that not everything is flawless. The library had one flaw, and that was that it could just go up in flames, leaving me standing there in its ashes, never giving me the chance to discover all its secrets. That had been my life ambition, at that young age. To learn everything I possibly could, and after that, use it for good.

But soon, my perfect childhood dream was whipped away, replaced by my new life goal: survival. At no age should that have to be the ultimate goal, for then you miss life itself.

In life, I compared everything to books. One of my favorite thrillers had been "The Count of Monte Cristo". If you have ever read it, you know of the villain, Fernand Mondego. And in the case of Count Olaf, he was a living, breathing Fernand Mondego, having become a Count through murder, being in debt, and always seeking out the young, beautiful women. And Violet had been intended to be a pawn in his chess game of money, fame and greed.

I understood Violet's pain through all of it. I was miserable, but I knew she was beyond that. You could see it in her eyes, the skin of her face dry, cracked and pale from silent tears. She is still the strongest person I've ever known. And, of course, the cleverest.

And even though my life was far from happy, I did sometimes have the familiar jolt of excitement that only reading could give me. Although now, every book I read, I read to keep Violet, Sunny and I alive. Books were the one thing that saved our lives.

And there was always so little time. So little time…

And so, my sisters and I continued our lives in complete, uninterrupted misery. That is, until we went to Prufrock.

When I first saw Prufrock Preparatory School, I thought that any school that named itself after one of T. S. Elliot's characters couldn't be a very happy place. But when we met the Quagmires, my attitude changed. Especially when I met Isadora.

When my parent's library still stood, I read many mythology picture books. Mythology picture books always had pictures of Venus, Aphrodite, Helen of Troy, who were said to be the most beautiful women in the world. And they were quite beautiful, with rosy cheeks, golden curls and sparkling blue eyes.

But when I met Isadora, Venus and all the others, I realized, may be beautiful, but not like Isadora. Not only was her skin flawless and hair the most breathtaking I've ever seen (how I longed to run my fingers through it), but more importantly, she had a beautiful, poetic spirit. I now wish, more than anything, that I had told her how I felt. But there was always so little time…

And then, just like that, my one source of happiness was gone, because of Olaf. If I had had any happiness before then, any at all, it was now gone, replaced by the worst emotion of all: nothing. I felt nothing anymore. I didn't want to live anymore. But I needed to live. For Violet's sake.

And when we (well, actually Violet) found the ersatz elevator, I honestly thought that climbing down that dark, depressing shaft would get us nothing, but Violet knew otherwise. "There's always something", she always says. (A/N: Yes, I did take that from the movie.) But I don't think even she knew that our only friends and my first crush were waiting at the bottom.

But when we came back for them, they were gone. And that horrible feeling of emptiness engulfed my soul, blocking my mind from thought. She was gone. Gone.

And I failed to realize, I felt so empty, that Olaf would probably know what the Quagmires told us, and so he would know to put something in the auction catalog to fool us. And thus, I was fooled by "Very Fancy Doilies".

And I still couldn't feel anything. Violet felt rage, Sunny felt pure sorrow, but I, I felt nothing. The worst of all.

I don't think it really hit me until we were in the V.F.D. town prison, and I was staring at the sodden loaf of bread in my hands, that it hit me. Our parents were gone. And replaced with nothing, not even a decent guardian.

And so, it was then that my childhood left me, both literally and figuratively. After that, the empty feeling was gone. Replaced by something beyond rage. Wrath, perhaps? Loathing? I really don't know.

I remember the last time I felt I had heaven on earth, when Isadora threw her arms around me, jumping out of the V.F.D. town fountain. Which made losing her again just minutes later a living hell.

But I don't think I had ever experienced horror fully until I had thought I had lost Violet. I understood, then, the pressure she felt, watching out for Sunny and I, always ready to sacrifice herself for us. And then, those criminals, those monsters, wanted me to cut off her head myself. They did think I was Flo, but that is no excuse. But, of course, I didn't do it. I would never cut off anyone's head, not even Olaf's.

Caligari Carnival was carnage, pure carnage. Sadistic people laughing, lions thrashing, it really was a slaughter house, meant to entertain. Well, it sure didn't entertain me.

But one does not realize what they have, until they think it's gone. So is the case with Sunny, when she was kidnapped by Olaf. Watching that long, filthy car wind up into the mountains, as we toppled down the hill, out of control, I was sure that it was the end.

But it was not the end.

Very soon after that, we met Quigley. Quigley looked just like Duncan, but he was quiet and more emotional, just like Isadora. Quigley really was my best friend, someone I could really identify with. I could tell, right away, that Violet and he had a crush on each other. It was impossible not to.

When we lost Quigley (temporarily), Violet was, once again, desolate and isolated her feelings from Sunny and I. I felt so sorry for her, for all of us.

But then, I met Fiona.

I really liked Fiona, but I could never feel the same about her as I did Isadora. It was just – different. She was more like a sister, a mother. And so, when she kissed me goodbye, it felt like kissing Violet, which would be really, really weird. I just feel so confused toward Fiona. I don't know what else to say.

And then, we returned to where it all began: Briny Beach. It felt like a sort of reunion. A depressing, icy reunion. But then, we met Kit Snicket.

The rest, you've probably heard before. About Hotel Denouemont, about our trials, about all the interview requests that plagued us, and still do. I will never, ever accept one. Ever.

But now, I wonder whether our series of unfortunate events was, really, fruitless. And that's a tough question. We lost our parents, our life, our beloved library. But we gained friends, had our first loves, and even read a few books and learned a few secrets along the way. Over all, I wouldn't call those few years of misery worthless. I wouldn't call it anything. It is, as Robert Pinskey entitles his famous poem, Impossible To Tell.

So there's what I think Klaus thinks! I'm not as proud of this chapter as the first, and I may come back and change it, but I hope you liked it! Sunny Baudelaire's next!