NOTE: Wow, thanks for all of those cool reviews. I love them. Now, this chapter is going to have some flashbacks, hope it is ok. I couldn't put them in the Quagmires' chapters, since they are supposed to be totally blank of old memories.

Chapter 4: Klaus's Dilemma

Klaus Baudelaire…

The wind was slowly humming a soft tune. It was the perfect lullaby to those whose heads are calm and problem-free. Not for this boy sitting on the roof of a silver trailer. Yeah, your right, that boy was me. Only a few months ago my siblings and I were calm. Certain events had again triggered the old tension we used to always feel everyday about 2 years ago. It all started about a week ago, when Violet bought the Daily Times. The Headline was about some escaped prisoners from the Woman's Prison a few miles from where we are now staying. We thought everything was over. I guess we were wrong. We would forever be plagued by miseries wherever we go. I gave a long sigh and a terrible memory appeared in my head.

Flashback…

I ran as fast as I can with my sisters behind me. I could hear Count Olaf hot on our trail.

"I'll get you, Baudelaires. You can't run anymore. Tee hee tee ho tea cosy!"

I started coughing and chocking. Not only had we been running a lot, the smoke was starting to get thicker and thicker. We stopped at a dead end.

"Cul-de-sac!" Sunny shrieked, which means "We're trap! It's a dead end!"

"What are we going to do?" I asked Violet frantically. She started tying her hair up in a ribbon, while we all continued gagging.

"Where are you, orphans?" A loud evil voice said from distance. Violet produced a pocket knife from her pocket, but it was close. She threw it out the window and for a brief moment we were able to breathe.

"T-there's some sort of ledge o-outside. T-Then t-t-there's a ladder l-leading downa-at the edge!" Violet said her voice breaking down.

"S-squeez?" Sunny choked out, which means "It's a bit too small to fit through for you and K-Klaus."

"We could squeeze through," I said. "I'll go first." I pushed myself out of the tiny window and fell out on the ledge. I gave a loud cough as I caught Sunny in my arms.

"Quickly, Violet! He's coming!" I shouted out to my sister. The ledge was not very wide, but it was wide enough to stand on. Violet immediately appeared on the window. She tried to squeez through but, "Oh no, I'm stuck!" she muttered.

"No, you can't be," I said frantically.

Sunny and I started pulling her out as hard as we could.

"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE NOW!" It was Olaf who had finally reached us. Violet gave a scream as Olaf started raising his knife above her.

"I'll get you and your fortune if it's the last darn thing I do!" His psycho face was exploding with anger and triumph. "PULL!" Sunny screamed.

With one hard tug, we managed to get Violet out. As she fell onto the ledge, large debris fell from above, in front of the window. We heard Olaf scream in fury and agony. We climbed down the ladder and fell hard on the ground. We looked up and saw the Hotel collapsed as the large flames engulfed it's once magnificent structure. It was then we realized that Count Olaf was gone…forever.

"VIOLEY, KLAUS, SUNNY!" We all looked around and saw all 3 Quagmires running towards us. We all shared warm hugs and tears for we didn't expect to live through that.

"Let's go, what is left of VFD will take us to somewhere safe," Duncan said after a few minutes.

What we saw on the road was not very nice. Esme was trying to get free from some police men while crazily screaming Count Olaf's name. When she saw us approaching, her eyes widened with anger and madness.

"YOU! YOU KILLED HIM!"

"We didn't kill him. He tried to kill us!" I said to her, my blood preasure rising.

"YOU'LL PAY YOU FOR THIS, BAUDELAIRES!" she screamed at us. "I'LL GET YOU, MARK MY WORDS. I'LL GET YOU ONCE I GET OUT OF THE PRISON THEY'LL SEND ME TO." She pointed to the Quagmires and gave an evil smirked. It seemed that her time with Olaf had paid of. "YOU'RE LITTLE FRIENDS WILL BE THE FIRST ONES TO GO! I SWEAR IT, BECAUSE SWEARING IS VERY IN!"

Those last words of Esme Squalor still echoed in my head as I sat on the roof of Kit Snicket's trailer. The complete menace on her face said everything that she would really do it. Now that she had escaped and brought a few others with her. Kit Snicket gave us the key to this trailer, so that we could use it if we need to run from people who threatened us (before she was killed in the fire). We had used it to run away from the angry crowd who still thinks (Village of Fowl Devotees) that we are murderers a few villages away (our names had been cleared ever since the blaze at Hotel Denouement). We also used it to escape versatile VFD members from erasing our minds with a queer machine. Now we are using it to find our friends, who were currently in trouble. If Esme found them before we did, then we just don't know what would happen. If we did find them, then they'll be coming with us. It was better to live in a moving home than just stay on one place where anyone could find you, including escaped arsonists.

Suddenly, I heard a loud clang that made me jump. I turned around and saw my older sister climbing the roof with ease. Sitting on the trailer's roof is one of our hobbies, and I guess doing it everyday gave us a lot of experience.

I looked at her and asked, "Violet? Why aren't you asleep yet?"

She sat down next to me. "I think I'm the one who is supposed to ask you that."

Isighed and looked back to the horizon. Suddenly, another thump was heard.

This time it was Sunny, who was now 2 years old and could speak better than before. Though she could not make proper sentences, she could still say words that could be understood by everyone.

Sunny, with the help of her 4 (still) very sharp front teeth, managed to climb all the way to the top of the trailer.

"Klaus not sleep?" she said sitting on Violet's lap.

"I'm not sleepy," I said absent mindedly.

"Are you still worrying about the jail break, Klaus?" Violet asked, going straight to the point.

"I-I am…yes….no-" I seemed to lost the ability to answer as I stare out into the wide, open space of the dark plains, completely oblivious to my surrounding.

Suddenly, I felt a soft, sharp prick on my left hand. I gave a start and looked down. Sunny looked up at me and giggled.

"Klaus wake up!" she said cheerfully. I grinned at her and started tickling her. She started laughing. If only we could always be this happy, then maybe my siblings and I could live without any worries or misery just like before our parents left us.

Sunny gave a big yawn.

"Sunny, go back to bed. It's late," Violet said in an older sister tone.

"Alec," Sunny said which meant, "I'm not sleepy yet."

"Still, it's really late. I'll tackle our brother alone," Violet said slowly lowering Sunny down the trailer. Once she was sure Sunny wassafe in her bed, Violet came back up, towering over me.

"Now it's your turn, Klaus Baudelaire. Go to bed."

I gave Violet a look thatshowed her my reply. I picked up a book I'd been keeping next to me and started reading. It was Violet and Sunny's 15th birthday present. Violet gave a heavy sigh.

"What's the matter?" Violet asked sitting down next to me.

For the first time that night, I answered her, "I can't sleep. Too many things had gotten into my head."

"Things like what?"

"Things too numerous to mention."

"For example?"

This time, I gave the heavy sigh, "Violet, what if Esme Squalor gets the Quagmires before we warn them? This is all the VFD's fault. Why did they have to erase their minds? If the Quagmires could at least remember something, they will be safer."

"Klaus," Violet started, "you should know by now that no one is perfect. Even a respected organization could make a mistake."

"I know that," I muttered.

Many things had happened after Count Olaf's death. The remnants of VFD had all been destroyed to smithereens. The 'bad' side of the schism had been gone. Theworse thing was, even the 'good' side had barely any members left. There are a few people left. Though I don't want to say it but, the few members left had been, shall we say, versatile (including a person I'm very willing to forget about). They had decided that people knowing about VFD (even the members themselves) had lead to many risks on both sides. The only way for everything to end was to erase everyone's mind. So that was how the machine VFD members had secretly been inventing became handy. After trying it with the Quagmires, we saw what great damage it could do to our lives. After every single memory from the triplets' heads had been erased, the story of an amnesia that resulted from the accident, the same accident that led to the Quagmires's parents deaths was made. The machine even erased the memory of their parents, including all precious memories. My siblings and I couldn't risk it. The memory of our parents was the only traces of them left for us. We ran away before they could take us, with the help of Kit Snicket's trailer. So, here we were sitting on the roof of the trailer, trying to find our friends' current location.

"Don't worry, Klaus. We'll find them. Only one more discovery and we're on our way to Duncan, Isadora and Quigley. What's more, it only took us barely a week."

Violet's way of encouraging really amazes me (it's up to you to find out if I meant that in a positive or negative way).

I just grinned at her, "Thanks, Violet. I'll go to sleep in a moment. Just go, before Sunny decides that she has to join us."

"If you say so, then I will. But you have to go to sleep. I wouldn't have you or Sunny staying up all night."

"Believe it or not, Vi, you are starting to sound like mom," I told her jokingly.

"Funny, kiddo," she retorted ruffling my hair. After saying goodnight, she slowly climbed down the trailer.

Just the thought about our mother made me feel down. But I know it would be worse for the Quagmires. I couldn't imagine me painfully trying to remember at least my parents' name. Anyways, thinking about their dangerous situation was not the only reason why I was still up. For weeks now I had been having the same dream. It consisted of a white room and a girl in a flowing white dress. I don't need to be told who the girl was. It was definitely Isadora Quagmire. The dream was peaceful, sad, and very frustrating (considering me having it every day!). What makes it sad was that she was always crying, telling me that she couldn't remember us. She was telling me that she couldn't wake up from the nightmare VFD had given her. I couldn't sleep any longer. It only made me want to go to our friends' aid more, to make them remember and comfort them. After the terrible fire almost 3 years ago (the fire that killed our parents), we thought that we were alone in this world with only each other to protect. After we met the Quagmires and found out how similar their situation was to ours, we felt that we finally found happiness and comfort. They were the only friends we had, and they still are.

NOTE: Well, how was it? There's only one way I could find out…REVIEW!