𝓑𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 - ₐₛₒᵤₑ [𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐄𝐃]

♖ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗲

"Klaus?" Alice whispered, voice low to avoid waking up Violet and Sunny. She gently nudged the boy lying next to her on the cold, hard floor, trying to catch his attention. "Are you still awake?"

"I am." He responded in an equally soft tone, turning around to face her. "What's wrong, Ali?"

"I was thinking about what you said earlier..." The girl confessed, a quiet sigh leaving her lips. "You know, about this not being better than nothing."

Klaus waited for her to continue, a puzzled look on his face. Alice gently bit her lower lip as she pondered her following words.

"I agree that the situation isn't ideal, but at least we have each other, right?" The Everleigh asked, hopeful. "I can't imagine how I'd stand these circumstances if I didn't have you, Violet, and Sunny."

"I don't think we would manage without you, too," Klaus replied delicately, snuggling a little closer to the girl, but still maintaining a respectful distance between them. "I wouldn't manage without you."

Just like that, all the terrible things that happened during the whole day they spent in Count Olaf's care slipped away from their minds, too consumed in thinking about each other. Small smiles were exchanged, lulling them into a somewhat peaceful sleep.

⋅ ❴ ⋈ ❵ ⋅

"Put some elbow grease into it!" Count Olaf exclaimed, leaning carelessly against the rotting doorframe that led to the small backyard of his horrible house. He watched as the children did another one of his hideous tasks: chopping wood.

Violet and Alice both held dusty axes, while Klaus organized the chopped wood into a pile against the vine-covered stone wall that separated the backyard from the outside world. Sunny was sitting inside the wheelbarrow since she was too young to perform that hard work.

"Mr. Poe must have made a horrible mistake when he took us here," Violet stated as she swiped her ax against a chunk of wood. "There's no way our parents would want us in Count Olaf's care, if we can even call it that."

"As soon as Count Olaf's back is turned, we must leave this house." Klaus declared, looking firmly at his fellow orphans. "I'd rather take my chances on the streets than stay here any longer."

"As long as we're all together, I'm all in. We need to get the heck out of here." It was Alice's turn to chime in.

"Who knows what would happen to us on the street?" Violet questioned, searching her brain for a better solution. "At least here we have a roof over our head..."

"I wish our parents' money could be used now, instead of when you come of age," Klaus confessed with a sigh. "Then we could buy a castle and live in it with armed guards patrolling outside to keep out Count Olaf and his troupe."

"With a large inventing studio," Violet pitched in, voicing her idea for their fantasy home.

"And a library," Klaus added, smiling softly.

"And a beautiful garden..." Alice suggested, placing down her ax on the ground.

"And chewable objects." Sunny concludes.

"Hurry up, orphans. There's reupholstering to be done." Count Olaf ordered, leaving the children to ponder how they could escape their situation.

⋅ ❴ ⋈ ❵ ⋅

"Shall I let them off the hook?" The Hook-Handed Man asked, holding Violet and Alice with one arm and Klaus, who was protectively holding Sunny, with the other. Count Olaf sat at the end of the dining table, looking at the orphans with amusement.