And It Went Up In Smoke

Chapter 21: The Most Annoying Gnat

Duncan POV

The Sun had set around an hour or two ago, and we were still travelling up a winding road. Violet had switched on the headlights, and was driving almost as slow as my grandma used to. But it made sense. There was no barrier between the edge of the mountain road and our imminent deaths. 

Violet's face was scrunched up in concentration, and she was biting her lip so hard I was surprised she hadn't drawn blood. Klaus and Izzy were awake in the back seat, whispering to each other. 

Sunny was the only one asleep. She had curled up against my arm, head resting on my chest as she let out soft little baby snores and curled her fist tightly around my thumb. I smiled to myself, and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. She sighed in her sleep.

I went back to looking out of the window. The fall was pretty steep. I think I must've zoned out for a couple minutes because all I remember after that is the car shuddering violently, and the headlights going out. 

"Oh no, no, this is not good, no..." Violet was pressing buttons frantically, her voice soft and breathy. Then I felt the car move backwards. We were rolling down hill. 

"Oh!" she exclaimed and slammed her foot on the break while pushing this lever thing to the ground. The car jerked to a stop again. 

Her hands were gripped around the steering wheel, face pale. Klaus and Izzy had stopped talking. Sunny was beginning to stir in my arms. 

I reached out for Violet's hands. "What's wrong?"

"Uh...we're...we're out of fuel..." she said, trying to compose herself.

"We're...out of fuel?" I echoed.

"Yeah."

There was silence. And darkness. Sunny squirmed in my lap, irritated at being woken, and began fisting my shirt in her little hands.

"Oh, here, I'll take her." Klaus offered. I handed her over to him slowly. "So, what now?"

"We can't let Olaf catch up to us, we have to keep going." Izzy said.

"You're right. We'll just have to walk." Violet replied.

"Walk? Here? What about the snow gnats? We don't have any covering!" Klaus put in, looking positively frightened.

"It's our best bet for now, Klaus. Look, I think I saw a cave up ahead. It's around the bend of the mountain and we might have to make a run for it if there are any gnats at this time—"

"It's mating season!"

"Klaus." Violet interrupted. "If there are any gnats, we'll run. We'll hide. There's not much else we can do. I'm sorry."

"Besides, they might be, like...sleeping right now." I offered. Klaus turned even paler, eyes widening in realisation.

"They breed AT NIGHT!" he exclaimed. "We can't go out—"

Isadora slammed her mouth on his. My jaw dropped open. So did Violet's. She did not need to see this. Sunny did not need to see this, though she was wide awake and rolling her eyes now. I did not need to see this. Again.

They pulled apart, flushed. "Sorry," Izzy said. "You weren't shutting up. And it'll be okay. I'll be there with you. We all will be."

"I- yeah- okay." Klaus said, blinking at her in confusion and awe.

"Right, then, let's get a move on. Please." I said.

"Good idea." Violet replied, shaking her head and turning her head back to the front. "Duncan, there should be some flashlights in the glove compartment. I pulled open the box with a tug, and reached inside. There were three flashlights. I handed them over to Violet.

"Alright, ready? Here, Klaus, I'll take Sunny. You and Izzy both share a flashlight."

"Hang on." I said. I leaned forward and reached further into the compartment. My fingers caught on some mesh and I pulled it out.

"SNOW GNAT MASKS! OH, DUNCAN, THANK YOU!" Klaus shrieked, and shoved one over his head. He looked ready to go fencing. "I could kiss you, but I don't think any of us here would appreciate that."

"I appreciate the sentiment." I replied, grinning at the younger boy. I handed out the other four, and left two in the truck. Putting mine on carefully, I turned to Violet. "Ready when you are."

"Let's get going then." she said, and jumped out of the van.

I followed her out, and she grabbed hold of my hand in the dark, one hand supporting Sunny against her.

"Look, there!" Izzy said, pointing to the other side of the mountain. "Is that the cave? I think there's a fire in it."

"Yeah, I think that's it. I suppose we can walk now, Klaus?" Violet asked. He shot her a thumbs up. "Great. Stay together, you two." 

We began walking to the glow of the cave, making sure to stay on the mountain side of the road. It was quite peaceful, another walk with her. And Sunny, of course. But three-fourths of the way there is when we began to hear the buzzing. All of us stopped in our tracks. 

"Snow gnats..." Klaus whispered. 

"It's okay. We're safe for now, keep walking. We're almost there." Isadora whispered back.

We set off again, increasing our pace as a few snow gnats began to follow us. Pretty soon, there was a whole swarm. 

"Can we run now?! Please!?" Klaus shouted over the incessant buzzing. "Yeah, go quickly!" I yelled, and all of us sprinted to the cave, reaching just before they caught up to us. As soon as they came into the warm glow, the gnats turned back. A warm fire greeted us. As did about 30 other children. 

Almost all of them had removed their fencing — sorry — snow gnat masks, except for one who was sitting at the back of the cave. As we entered further, a girl in a frilly pink dress turned around to face us from the dance she was performing. A very unwelcome sight met our eyes. 

"Who are you cakesniffers? What are you doing here? Take off your masks, now!" she squealed, almost like a pig. Her red corkscrew curls were bouncing angrily.

Oh, God. Just our luck, honestly. 

Carmelita Spats. The Most Annoying Gnat.

Hey, that kind of rhymed. Izzy would be proud.