Theme Songs: Hear Me Now By Secondhand Serenade, Happy By Leona Lewis, Say (All I Need) by One Republic
Chapter 1: The Fire
Every ember dies eventually. But ashes don't. My doll didn't burn but I did. I felt it. But I didn't die. Just like the doll. It even looks like me. But it's eyes are glassy and faded. Not like my blue eyes. Ocean blue eyes. I didn't know I had these eyes. I thought mine were like the dolls when I got it. Her name is Helen. My name is Jane. That's all I know about myself. My name, Jane Rumary. I'm blonde. My hair especially wasn't singed by the fire. It's whiter than ash. Madame Bovary (Emma) loves me. But she couldn't save me. Mr. Poe is the executor of my affairs. I didn't know what that meant until she explained it to me. She told me I have a fortune that I'm going to inherit an enormous fortune from my parents. There's something I forgot, no I'd never forget to mention. They perished in a fire that destroyed our entire home. That's all she would tell me about my parents. I know their names, Abigail and Henry and I know what they look like. But that's it. I begged her to tell me. I implored her to tell me. Anything. At first she didn't say a word. She would tell me she was my mother but I would cry and scream at her because I knew she wasn't. She raised me, she did. But she wouldn't tell me. She never told me. For years. For years I was left sitting and crying on the front steps of the Headmistresses building hoping my parents would come. She told me they left me there. Just left me there. When I was five. I couldn't believe it. How could they be…gone?
The day's last one-way ticket train pulls in
We smile for the casual closure capturing
There goes the downpour
There goes my fare thee well
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
'Cause I'm already gone
There's so many words that we can say
Spoken upon long-distance melody
This is my hello
This is my goodness
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
'Cause I'm already gone
Maybe in five or ten
Yours and mine will meet again
Straighten this whole thing out
Maybe then honesty need not be feared as a friend or an enemy
But this is the distance
And this is my game face
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
Is there really no way to reach me?
Am I already gone?
So this is your maverick
And this is Vienna
(Vienna, The Fray)
A tender tear fell onto the palm of my hand, crystalized and wet. A shimmery drop of my pain. My wounded, crushed soul. I never imagined feeling so much pain. Of course not. No one expects their parents to die. I didn't. I sat on the steps of Mulctuary Money Management waiting for Mr. Poe to finish his affairs. I'm waiting for Mr. Poe to deliberate on who would raise me as a guardian. I was scared to find out the verdict. Terrified. I've only ever lived at my boarding school, the Ontario Boarding School for Girls. It was strict. Because my parents weren't alive, I was forced to do chores to pay for my attendance there. They hated me there. The teachers told me scary stories and we read scary books. I love to read though so the reading saved me. There were bullies too. One named Carmelita Spats who was my worst enemy. I didn't hate her. I just didn't like her. She was the one who did it. I knew not to hate her. I knew it was wrong. But she did a terrible, evil thing to me. She knew my parents died in a fire. She knew. She tried to kill me the same way. In a shed. The whole forest was ablaze but I didn't know why or how. It was an angry fire. Like an apocalypse. But I didn't burn. Carmelita did. I didn't burn at all. When I saw Carmelita she was scarred on her back. When she turned her back on me she must have burned. That's how it all started. That's how I got kicked out. They blamed me. Carmelita too. We both got kicked out and sent to different places. That's how I got here. I have to have a new guardian instead of Headmistress Bovary. Even she couldn't save me. She was jealous when I left and when she heard I have an enormous fortune that I'm going to inherit when I'm eighteen. I didn't want to live with anyone else but I had to because Mr. Poe said she was having breakdowns but I didn't know why. But I felt sorry for her. I didn't know what would become of her when I left but I didn't get the chance to ask. She looked ill. She told me I'd never see her again. I cried. She was like a mother to me but not really. She stopped the chores when she came. They weren't as bad. She didn't even kiss me goodbye. I lost her just like I lost my real mother. She left me there before the fire. That's what she told me. She abandoned me before the fire. She told me she didn't abandon me. But I refused to listen. She did. She left me with no one. No relatives. No family. She told me she loved me but I didn't believe her. How could she leave me? I was safe but she still left me. It still pains me today. I didn't die with them. I had to live alone without them.
Tears poured down my cheeks and my hands shook, gripped around my journal. I kept a journal ever since I was seven to record my thoughts. That was my number 7777. It was on my library card that I used to check out my favorite books at school like Lord of the Rings. I loved the hobbits and thought Frodo was mysteriously like me. It must have been his eyes or the way he loves to read. I thought I saw a wizard like Gandalf in the fire. He appeared there and then in an instant the fire was gone. I was left in ashes. They were the only remains. The forest was gone too. It was so big they couldn't have blamed me. Carmelita locked me in the shed. She dared me to go in with her friends or else they would tell the teachers I was out of bounds. I was only there because Carmelita threatened to kill me if I didn't go with them. She got bad she did. She started as just a bully but she ruined all my birthdays and gave me a fake cake for my birthday that was made out of a cardboard box.
Here's the thing
We started out friends
It was cool, but it was all pretend
Yeah, yeah
Since you been gone
You're dedicated, you took the time
Wasn't long 'til I called you mine
Yeah, yeah
Since you been gone
And all you'd ever hear me say
Is how I picture me with you
That's all you'd ever hear me say
But since you been gone
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on, yeah, yeah
Thanks to you
Now I get what I want
Since you been gone
How can I put it? You put me on
I even fell for that stupid love song
Yeah, yeah
Since you been gone
How come I'd never hear you say
I just wanna be with you?
Guess you never felt that way
But since you been gone
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on, yeah, yeah
Thanks to you
Now I get what I want
Since you been gone
You had your chance, you blew it
Out of sight, out of mind
Shut your mouth, I just can't take it
Again, and again, and again, and again
Since you been gone (Since you been gone)
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on, yeah, yeah
Thanks to you (Thanks to you)
Now I get, I get what I want
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on, yeah, yeah
Thanks to you (Thanks to you)
Now I get (I get)
You should know (You should know)
That I get
I get what I want
Since you been gone
Since you been gone
Since you been gone
(Since U Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson)
I got up from my spot and started walking. I decided I would head back myself since Mr. Poe still wasn't finished and I couldn't stomach the thought of who I would live with. I didn't know but I knew it would be bad. My life as an orphan was always bad and dreary. I wanted to change it. Somehow. I was determined but I didn't know how. I kept walking while I cried down the street past the Fountain of Victorious Finance and down a busy city street lined with townhouses with autumn leaves blowing around me. I saw a black automobile pass by with a shadow of a long lean figure with a head that resembled a dragon. It creeped me out but I kept going. The wind swept my hair up as I walked and turned down a neighborhood with huge mansions lining the street. The biggest one was burning, smoke was pouring from the chimney sweep. A man came bursting out of the house in tears as well. Just like me when I came out of the shed from my own fire. I stood there paralyzed in shock. I couldn't move. The man was running but when he noticed me he stopped and stared. Then he turned again and ran away off into the forest and I never saw him again. I reached into my pocket and called the fire department but they were busy. I didn't know why but they told me they were coming except they didn't believe I could have escaped with my life. I told them it was a different fire and they didn't believe that. It took so long that I decided to rush in and save them myself. But when I got to the entrance a figure emerged from the house covered in smoke and ashes like I was after I burned.
"What on earth are you doing here?" the man asked. "There's a fire."
"Exactly," I said. "There are people's lives at stake."
"You're a fine young woman," he said. "But there's nothing you can do. I've tried to save them. I have tried everything. I'm sorry. They are gone."
"Who are they?"
"Beatrice," he said first, looking at something faraway. He stares back at her. "The Baudelaires. But that's all I can tell you. Except that you're in danger. I can't save you. I can't afford to do so. But I can tell you one thing. V.F.D. Remember that. And I see you've got a journal. Use it to write everything down so that he can be brought to justice. You'll meet the Baudelaire children Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. They'll be happy to meet you young woman. You need to save them. I know you can do it. Just write it down and whatever you do don't sign it with your right hand. Sign it with your left."
"What do you mean? How do you know I'm right handed?"
"I can't explain," he said, "I have to leave you. They can survive with you. Like your mother knew you would. If you notice anything mysterious and strange happening around you, don't be alarmed. You're like Matilda you know. But different. I can't explain. But in time you will know. That will save you. But until then your life will be wrought with misery. There's hope. It's you. Not just for this world though. For the whole world. I will see you again. My name is Monty Kensicle. Find me under that name if you ever need to do so. There are others out there who are trying to save you. You need to know who to trust. Readers. They're the noble ones like you. One day I'll publish books all about it to stop him."
"Who?" I asked.
"Count Olaf," I said.
"Be careful, Jane. Jane Rumary. That's your name, isn't it?"
"Yes." I said. "How do you know me? How do you know all of this?"
"V.F.D.," he said. "That's all I can tell you. That's all I have time to tell you. Why don't you go back to Mr. Poe? I'm sorry for this but you must do this. It stands for Volunteer Fire Department. They're a secret organization of volunteers fighting for good. Fighting fires. Like the one you survived. But you survived it mysteriously. No volunteer could help you because it wasn't a normal fire. It was a magical fire. You're a witch."
"I'm a witch?"
"Yes," he said. "But you can't use your abilities to save you. You have them though. I'm not sure about the Baudelaires but I know Klaus could do things like Matilda. You were both called to save the world both volunteer and Wizarding world alike. That's all I know. That's all I can tell you. You will be saved when it's time for you to go. I can't save you now. No one else can take you in. There was a robbery at the bank. Unfortunately, it was mine. I probably won't get it back but what can I say. We all have bad luck and misery in this world but only you can stop it. Your journey will be dark and it won't end well. But you can survive it. I know you can. You're brave. You can write. You can sing. You can act. Use your talents. Read whatever you can find. And trust other readers too. They can save your life. Trust me. I know."
There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
Tears drying on their face.
He has been here.
Brothers lie in shallow graves.
Fathers lost without a trace.
A nation blind to their disgrace,
Since he's been here.
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore
Only sadness
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore
Only sadness
Only sadness
Houses burnt beyond repair.
The smell of death is in the air.
A woman weeping in despair says,
He has been here.
Tracer lighting up the sky.
It's another families' turn to die.
A child afraid to even cry out says,
He has been here.
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore
Only sadness
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore
Only sadness
There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
But no one asks the question why,
He has been here.
Old men kneel and accept their fate.
Wives and daughters cut and raped.
A generation drenched in hate.
Yes, he has been here.
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore
Only sadness
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore
Only sadness
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore
Only sadness
Only sadness
(No Bravery, James Blunt)
"How will I manage on my own?"
"You'll have the Baudelaires," he said. "They're resourceful and smart. They love books and most of all they'll love you."
"Thank you for saving me—us," I said.
"I have to go. I have to leave," he said as he looked behind me. I turned to look and saw the a fire truck with firemen rushing into the building and Mr. Poe standing with them. When I looked back he was gone. He disappeared into the shadowy forest and I wondered if I'd ever see him again. I knew he said but with the life he described, I knew I was doomed. I turned to Mr. Poe who was waiting for me and he put a hand on my shoulder.
"You ran away, Jane," he said. "I can't have you going for walks when there's danger. But don't worry I have peppermints for you on the car ride to Count Olaf's. We're going right away."
I sighed and followed Mr. Poe into his black old-fashioned automobile.