A/N: Shoutout to the awesome Shiranai Atsune for reviewing! You rock, man! :) \m/

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Shiranai Atsune ––– Yeah, it's a rewrite. I wanted to incorporate Season 3 into this, and the other version was written before it came out. The two wouldn't mesh with each other exactly like I wanted them to. This should be the last rewrite though. Nothing too different from the last version. Although this storyline will follow more along the line of the books.

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Disclaimer: Me no own ASOUE. So jelly right now. :/

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Chapter 2:
The Tunnels Below
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I rubbed my eyes with an uncomfortable grunt. Man, what a nightmare. Our mansion caught fire after Mother and Father put us to bed. In fact, the nightmare was so vivid I could feel my skin burn from the heat, hear Duncan and Isadora's terrified screams. I stretched and opened my eyes. Wait. What the––? I wasn't in bed. My room would've been bright from the morning sun by now. Where am I? Panicked, I shot up and looked around frantically at my surroundings, desperate for a clue. Black. Everything was black for as far as the eye could see. My heart sank. Everything in that nightmare, sights, sounds, sensations…

It was real.

And to add to the horror, none of my family was in sight. Easy, Quigley, I thought. Of course they're not in sight––it's so dark down here you can't even see your hand in front of your face. They probably are down here, they're just sleeping.

"Hello?" I piped up.

Silence.

Okay, maybe they were awake, but off exploring. But then again, why would they explore a basement, especially without a light of sorts? It was only so big. Even the biggest of basements had boundaries. Even if I was in the biggest of basements, they surely would've heard me...and I would've seen a light. And Mother, probably even Father, knew about this place, so they weren't off exploring––they already knew what was down here, so they had to be closer to me than Duncan and Isadora. They had to have heard that. Nevertheless, to be safe, I tried again.

"Hello?" I hollered, much louder this time.

Echo.

My heart stopped. They weren't down here.

I was all alone.

No… No, I can't be alone. They had to be alive. Just because they weren't down here didn't mean that they didn't make it. They wouldn't just leave me down here and forget about me. But something must've gone terribly wrong if they didn't come back. Immediately, I scrambled off the ground and up the metal ladder. I had to get out of here. I had to find them. The fire had to be out by now, either by the fire department or just burning in general. It should be safe enough to find out what happened to them, and how the fire started. When I reached the top of the ladder, I felt the trap door with the back of my hand to make sure my hypothesis was correct first, then I pushed.

It didn't budge.

Okay, maybe the door was a little heavier than I thought. I pushed harder.

Still wouldn't budge.

By this point, I began to panic further. The door couldn't have been that heavy. It's a trap door, not a bank vault. Mustering up every ounce of strength I had while maintaining balance, I gave the door the hardest push I could.

Nothing.

My heart began to race. This day just kept getting worse.

I was trapped.

Oh, God, no… Not only was I alone down here, but I was trapped down here. Try shouting, Quigley, I thought. Maybe they're still up there, trying to figure out a way to get you out of there.

I hesitated. It was too much of a stretch, a longshot. If they couldn't hear me down here, how could they possibly hear me up there? I sighed. That was the only way I hadn't tried yet. Time was ticking, and I was running out of options. It was worth a try.

"Mother? Mother!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, banging as hard as I could on the trap door. "Help! I can't get out!"

Silence.

"Father? Duncan? Isadora?" I tried, still banging on the trap door. "Anyone? Heeeeelp!"

Nothing.

Horrified, I let out a strangled sigh, gaping up at the trap door helplessly. The peculiar eye carved into it merely stared back. I was all alone, trapped. I had no supplies to survive, no morale support. Nothing to help me in this cold, cruel world.

I was officially on my own.

Wait a minute…an eye?

I stopped looking at the trap door and looked around. The basement had suddenly become illuminated. Apparently, somewhere during my conniption, something had kicked the lights on. Whatever triggered them, I was grateful. That darkness was beginning to give me the creeps. At least I could see where I was now. Relieved, I looked back up at the eye on the trap door, puzzled. What an odd design… Of all the designs you could put on a trap door, why an eye? It just added to the creepy factor. Did it mean something? It was carved into the trap door Mother and Father made sure to keep a secret from us.

Well, whatever. It's probably nothing. I need to stop being such a conspiracy theorist about things. But then again, Quigley, the house did catch fire out of nowhere, my mind was quick to tell me, and the nervous pit in my stomach grew worse. Maybe I did have some permission to think that way, considering the past twelve hours. Well, whatever the case, I couldn't stay here. The trap door wouldn't budge, and my family was somewhere up above. I had to meet up with them. I ain't stopping until I find them, and the only way to find them was to find a way out of here.

I took a final, reluctant look at the trap door, then climbed back down the ladder and looked around. All around me were pipe-like hallways made entirely out of brick and stone, the puddles on the floor glistening in the light of the storm lights bolted to the walls. What the––? This isn't a basement––it's a series of tunnels! We had tunnels under our mansion this whole time? For what? Okay, the trap door made sense to a degree if it was a basement, but tunnels? My inner conspiracy theorist was having a field day inside my head right now. Ugh, if only he'd shut up so I could think. After some observation, I realized I had three ways to choose from. Without a map and knowledge about this place and what was going on, I could only pick a direction and pray. Pray I found a way out and pray that I found my family. I took a deep breath and started walking straight.

An eerie silence hung in the dank air as I pressed on, looking around. Other than my nervous breathing and my footsteps echoing off the walls, the only sound I heard down here was the occasional drips of water from the ceiling plopping onto the floor. My heart thudded in my chest as I passed the first intersection of tunnels. Normally, I loved exploring. It was in every cartographer's blood to answer the call of adventure, and I always answered eagerly. My adrenaline would skyrocket every time I entered a new place I wasn't familiar with, such as this tunnel system I was in, and I wouldn't stop until every inch of the place was as familiar to me as the back of my hand. The thrill of recording uncharted waters––that's what I lived for.

But this time was different.

My heart wasn't pounding with excitement, but rather, trepidation. Our mansion had caught fire and burned to the ground, and I was trapped in an unfamiliar place against my will. But more importantly, my family's lives were at stake, and I had no form of communication to contact them with to see if they were alright. Considering these circumstances, it was obvious why cartography hadn't consumed me at the moment. It was impossible to focus on my hobby with such weight on my mind.

I finally reached the next intersection, which happened to be a four-way intersection this time, and paused, contemplating which direction I should take. All three looked equally convincing. But, as with mazes, one was the right way, and the others were wrong.

Weren't they?

I was about to randomly choose a tunnel when something on the wall caught my eye––a directory of some kind. Signs with names on them, arrows pointing off yonder in particular directions. Puzzled, I walked up to investigate, but before I could, another directory caught my eye––similar to the other one but with more name signs. I looked around. These signs were everywhere! But that wasn't the shocking part. The shocking part was that kiddy-corner from me, in between the names Anwhistle and Squalor, was a sign that read Quagmire, pointing in the direction I just came from. I felt my heart stop again, my jaw dropping. The people who built these tunnels…they knew who we were? But, if they knew who we were, why did Mother and Father hide this place from Duncan, Isadora, and I? They obviously weren't a threat if they knew where we lived. But still, why hide it from us? And these other names on the walls. Did these tunnels lead to their houses, too? Wait, were these directories actually telling me that these tunnels led to more places than just our mansion? That these tunnels were citywide? That's insane! Genius, even. I'd love to pick the brain of the one or ones who built this place.

But there were so many names to choose from. How did I know which one to pick? I examined some of the names. Anwhistle, Squalor. Those two were on my left. I looked to the right. Baudelaire, Snicket, Montgomery. Huh. So many names, so little time. But, I guess it didn't matter, right? They all led to someplace above ground. I guess I could just pick any one and follow the signs from there.

I was about to make a decision when I heard faint footsteps coming from directly ahead. My head snapped in the direction of the noise to find a shadowy figure dressed in a crisp dark suit and dark fedora making its way toward me, a thick, worn briefcase in hand. My eyes widened, my heart picking up the pace. A feeling of both relief and terror washed over me. This guy knew about down here––he wasn't looking all around trying to figure out where he was. Maybe he could help me get out of here.

"Hey!" I shouted.

The shadowy figure stopped dead in his tracks, staring at me like a deer in headlights. I began walking toward him. Immediately, he turned tail and ran back the way he came.

"Wait!" I cried, chasing after him, pouring everything I had into my legs. "I need help!"

This chase continued for quite awhile, the pair of us zigzagging through the tunnels like a couple of sewer rats. This guy was faster than I thought. If anything, I thought I had an advantage because I wasn't carrying a big suitcase. But I was wrong. This guy ran like his life depended on it. Almost as if…he'd been doing it for quite some time.

I couldn't do it anymore. My sides were splitting and I was completely out of breath. I never realized how out of shape I really was. "Wait!" I panted before hunching over to catch my breath. I watched him bolt off into the distance and out of sight. Great. I didn't catch him and I was lost. How far did we run? Where was I exactly? I looked around for another directory. At the next intersection on my left, I found two signs: Montgomery, pointing to the left, and Baudelaire pointing straight ahead in the direction the man disappeared. I sighed, aggravated. Don't even bother with people down here, Quigley, I thought. Just pick a name and follow it until you can't no more. Montgomery was closer, so that was a no-brainer.

I walked up to the next intersection and took a left. Hopefully the Montgomerys didn't mind me in their house.

The walk to find the Montgomerys' place was even longer than the chase between me and that man. But just as I was about to give up hope, I followed one last sign to find a metal ladder in the middle of a tiny room, a trap door awaiting me up top. My heart sped up. Finally! I thought I'd never get here. Without hesitation, I scampered up the ladder to the trap door, which had an eye carved into it as well. I flinched. That was the same eye on our trap door!

What was going on here?

Ehhh, probably just a coincidence. The conspiracy theorist inside my head really needs to chill out. I prepared myself for an unwelcome visit, took a deep breath, and pushed on the trap door. Immediately, it swung open and sunlight poured in. I winced, both blinded by the sudden change in brightness and caught off guard by seeing natural light instead of artificial light. Regaining my sight, I climbed up and out of the tunnel system before the trap door could change its mind. I closed the door, stood up, and looked around, astonished.

I apparently was in the front yard of a gorgeous house with a cobblestone driveway. Behind the house, but still connected to it, was a giant glass room, probably a greenhouse, and all around the yard were the oddest of shrubbery: all of them had been pruned to look like different reptiles. Judging by the shrubs only being in the shapes of reptiles, I assumed at least one of the Montgomerys was a herpetologist. I took a deep breath of fresh air, happy to be out of that musty, nightmare-inducing maze, but it was short-lived, however, as the air was tainted with the putrid smell of horseradish. I wrinkled my nose. Those tunnels took me from the suburban outskirts of the city all the way out to Lousy Lane. I couldn't believe it. My hypothesis was wrong––they extended far beyond the city limits. And that was impressive. Never had I heard of such a complicated tunnel system this vast. This was a first.

But it was odd, though. Why did these tunnels lead to all these people's houses? All these different places? And most importantly, why did Mother and Father keep it all a secret? The Montgomerys had a trap door identical to the one we had, quite hidden behind all these shrubs, and the tunnels did connect our homes together. Did Mother and Father know the Montgomerys? Were they friends even? Oddly enough, none of my siblings or I have ever met any Montgomerys at our dinner parties, so I could only guess their connection to Mother and Father. But they had to be connected somehow. Why else would they have the same trap door design? I was beginning to think that there was more to all this than just the tunnels being "just in case of an emergency".

I guess the only way I'd find out for sure was to knock on the door and ask.

Maybe the conspiracy theorist inside my head was onto something after all…

I walked across the lawn until I reached the cobblestone driveway, then I made my way up to the house. I trudged up the stairs, straightened out my burgundy sweatshirt, and rung the doorbell, my insides quivering again. At least I didn't pop up from below inside the house. I could make it look as if I was just taking a walk down Lousy Lane, which nobody did for recreation. But it was better than just magically appearing in a stranger's house. That would lead to trouble alone, aside from my crazy circumstances. When no one answered, I rung the doorbell again.

Nothing.

Well. I guess that question wouldn't be answered today. That's fine. It could wait. I was more concerned about finding a ride back to the city so I could look for my family. But, at least I wasn't trapped anymore. I was just alone.

Right as I was about to turn around and make my way back down the driveway, I felt a hand on my shoulder and immediately I froze, stiffening in fear.

Or was I?