Chapter Text
~*~
if you've ever lost someone important then you already know how it feels
If you haven't ... you cannot possibly imagine it.
- L. S.
~*~
Most people disliked dreary, rainy weather. But to a brilliant mind like Klaus Baudelaire, it was a perfect time to read or to head to the beach. When it was hot and sunny, people overcrowded the beach, and it was hard to find a decent spot for just him and his siblings to play without being disturbed by the noises of other kids shrieking with laughter as they played in the water. Dark and cloudy days like this were absolutely perfect.
"Gah!" Sunny's intelligent shriek catches his attention. Who is that mysterious figure in the distance?
Klaus's heart skips a beat as a shadow approaches him, Sunny, and Violet from within the fog. He's read too much of Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelly, and HP Lovecraft's works to know what happens next.
"It's only scary because of the mist," he isn't sure if he was trying to comfort his siblings or himself. He doesn't believe in ghosts.
The coughing gets louder, and the plump figure gets clearer and clearer, revealing a dark skinned man wearing a top hat and fancy tuxedo with a handkerchief pressed to his mouth.
"It's Mr. Poe," Violet says,and she picks up Sunny who had been sitting on the picnic blanket.
Mr Poe? Klaus frowns as he squints at the tall man. From the bank?
"What are you children doing playing in dreary weather like this?" Mr Poe asks. His face scrunches from distaste at the fog around him, and he shudders from the cold. "It's absolutely terrible weather! You could catch a col--!"
A fit of vigorous coughing interrupts him as if to prove his point.
"But that's the best time," Violet smiles.
"Children," Mr Poe smiles back at them once the coughing subsides. "I'm so sorry to have to tell you this ... but ... your parents have perished in a terrible fire."
It's a joke. It's a cruel joke. They've just left their mansion this morning and there was no signs of any fire. They were careful to turn off everything before heading for the train. How could Mr Poe play a sick joke like that?
"Please, follow me," Mr Poe leads them back to his small, vehicle. He and his siblings were cramped in the back. It isn't until they see their mansion in the distance, missing a roof, and windows, that he realizes that maybe Mr Poe wasn't playing a cruel prank on them after all.
He didn't know what to think. He must have gone into shock, only waking at his sisters heartbreaking cries.
Everything is gone. All the books, their family's books, Violet's inventions ... everything that they've collected over the years. Something glittering in the light catches his eye. He rushes towards it, and finds a golden telescope, what's left of one, at least. He's never seen it before. No ... not completely the truth. He remembers his father waving one around near the windows.
A flash of light from nearby catches his eye. Frowning, he whirls around and sees something shimmering in a pile of ash and fallen debris. It's calling to him only. He glances over at his siblings who are still looking around at their former mansion, tears in their eyes. He pushes away some of the ash, coughing as dust enters his nose, and finds a letter, completely unharmed by the fire.
To Klaus Baudelaire ...
it's addressed to him. He glances back at the others, and decides to hide it in his vest so that they can't see it.
As soon as his siblings and Mr Poe's children were asleep, Klaus pulls the letter he found in his mansion. It only says his name and didn't say who it was from, , sealed with blue wax. He opens the letter carefully, and pulls out a piece of parchment.
Dear Klaus Baudelaire,
By the time you get this letter, your home has burnt down and you might have received the news that your parents have perished in a fire. My condolences. I'm truly sorry I couldn't get this letter to you faster to warn you, but you and I both know deep down that an inciting incident has to happen in order for certain events to take place. And the fire is that inciting incident.
You are going to be taken to a relative of yours named Count Olaf, and when you do, pay close attention to the neighbors home. Justice Strauss is going to be an important figure in your life, as well as her niece. Keep a close, careful eye on her niece, please. Once you two meet, you're going to understand everything that's happened to you, I'm sure of it.
Her niece is going to die because of Count Olaf. I couldn't save her, but you have a chance to, and I envy you for it. I wish I can tell you everything. But I'm not entirely sure how much is going to change in your world because I told you this.
I truly wish you and her niece a new, happy life.
Sincerely,
K.B.
P.S. The World Is Quiet Here.
Now that he's read the letter over and over again, over and over again, he's glad he didn't show it to his siblings. He didn't know. Violet didn't believe in fate, just as highly logical as him. He still didn't understand.
Mr Poe stops at a warm, inviting home with a lovely front yard that looked cared for and healthy. Klaus is hopeful for a second that he and his siblings were going to live here, and hopeful that whoever that lived in this home is just as warm and inviting. He's read novels where orphaned children were sent to a relative that abused them, or to an orphanage where they were put to work every day.
"Hello, shalom!"A woman wearing an old, powdered wig he's only seen people from the supreme court wearing, and a long, black robe approaches them. She's carrying mountains of groceries in her arms, figuratively,of course. "It's so nice to meet you children!" She seems friendly enough. "I'm Justice Strauss of the high court!"
And it seems as if his suspicions were correct.
"How do you do?" Violet asks politely, smiling weakly. "I'm Violet," she inclines her head in his direction, "this is Klaus," and lifts Sunny closer towards her, "and this is Sunny."
"Are you Count Olaf's wife?" Klaus asks.
"What?!" Justice Strauss asks with alarm, and a hint of pink in her cheeks. "Oh no, no, no, no! He's my ... he's my neighbor!"
He, Violet, and Sunny glance over to where she's pointing. Disbelief isn't the word he'd describe the moment he's seen Count Olaf's home. It's something akin to the horror novels he's read. Dark, and eerie compared to Justice's Strauss's colorful, lively home. A harmless blue jay flies past them, singing happily, until a crow from Count Olaf's mansion attacks it without a moment's hesitation. Klaus, and Violet stare at each other, horror in their eyes.
Please don't tell me this is the home we'll be living in, Klaus thinks with dread.
"Oh, this must be the house you children will be living in!" Mr Poe exclaims. "I can't believe I got the two mixed up!"
Of course.
He glances back at the warm, inviting home of Justice Strauss, and notes the bright contrast against Count Olaf's cold mansion. Why couldn't they have lived there instead? Wait... Something odd catches his eyes. It's something he felt when he, Violet, and Sunny first stepped in Justice Strauss's home, but didn't want to acknowledge.
There's a girl, wearing a frilly, black dress sitting by the windowsill in the second story, book in her lap, staring right at him. The irrational thoughts whirling in his mind believed that she was a ghost. He had to remind himself that ghosts weren't real, just a figment of imagination. The only ghosts that might be real were ghosts of the past. He blinks, and the girl was gone. His heart beats fast against his chest. Just a coincidence ...
But what if it wasn't. She was oddly familiar. A sense of dejavu washes over him. No ... he would have remembered meeting someone like her. Just another coincidence.
"How odd," Mr Poe's bright, cheerful voice spooks him, and he catches Violet's look of concern. "Count Olaf said he was very happy to meet you children."
As if on cue, the door opens, revealing a tall, scrawny man, with grey hair that stuck in every direction and a grey goatee, wearing a black and white striped suit.
"Hello, hello, hello, children," Count Olaf's friendly smile is anything but friendly. "I am your beloved Count Olaf."
He's lived through this before. In another time, another place. He'd recognize Count Olaf from anywhere, and he didn't understand why he recognized him so strongly, and why he felt such dread the minute he and his siblings stepped in the home.
And then, it isn't until he and his siblings are locked in their room, that he realizes that everything in that letter he received from KB came true.
Maybe ... maybe there weren't such things as coincidences after all.