Jalivia (Jacques Snicket+Olivia Caliban) ASOUE

Olivia's Point Of View (Chapter 10)

We walked arm in arm back to the hotel room, grinning from ear to ear. Passing 667 Dark Avenue on the way, we noticed a man that was with the Baudelaires at the auction.

"Hello there." Mr Squalour said. "Am I right in saying that you are the Baudelaires new guardians?"

"You are correct, sir." Jacques said, still smiling.

"Am I also correct in saying that you have not got a large sum of money to use to provide for them?" He asked again.

"Unfortunately so." Jacques replied.

"I would like to let you know that I live right next door at the top of 667 Dark Avenue, and I will be happy to let you and your group live there and use our facilities." The kind man said.

"Thank you very much! You do know that we are a party of 11? Two infants, four children and five adults." I told him.

"Yes, that is fine."

"When can we start using your facilities...? I'm sorry, I haven't caught your name."

"I'm Jerome. Jerome Squalour. You can start tomorrow if you would like."

"Thank you so much." Jacques smiled gratefully.

We continued to walk, smiling a little wider than before. When we reached the hotel room door, we stopped. The voices inside the room were hushed and secretive, and Beatrice was not wailing. We dropped to just be holding hands, and opened the front door.

"Congratulations!" They shouted in unison.

"How did you know?" Jacques asked awkwardly.

"We were walking, and you were still there. We were just in time to see you." Klaus said.

"You didn't happen to watch us... did you?" I asked. This became very awkward very quickly.

"Uhh no." Violet stammered. "We didn't have enough time to look at you closely." Jacques and I both blushed bright red. The Baudelaires did too.

"Well, thank you everyone." I announced.

"We do have more good news." Jacques told the group. "Mr Jerome Squalour, in the top floor next door, is willing to let us live there!"

"Jerome?" Klaus asked.

"Yes. Do you know him?" I answered.

"He was our last guardian before VFD." Violet said. "His ex wife is Esme Squalour. The one who threw us down an elevator shaft."

"That woman threw you three down an elevator shaft?" Lemony asked angrily.

"Count Olaf and Esme kept us in a cage at the bottom of the shaft." Duncan said. The entire room besides the children had their mouths wide open.

"You children don't seem shocked." Jacqueline said sadly. "This shouldn't be your norm."

"In a world too often governed by corruption and arrogance, it can be difficult to stay true to one's philosophical and literary principals." Isadora quoted.

"We all wholeheartedly agree." Kit responded.

"I'm more than a school Librarian." I told Olaf, while standing, my back facing the badly dug lion pit. "I'm a volunteer." I lifted my spyglass that Jacques had given me before he died, and glared at the Count's scowling face.

"Thank you." Olaf said with an evil grin. "Thank you for volunteering." Olaf shoved me into the pit, his nails digging into my chest, when I felt the starving animals tearing at my skin and shaking my limp body. I was being eaten alive. I screamed throughout my last breath.

I awoke, still screaming, in a pile of my own cold sweat.

"Olivia!" Jacques said slapping my face to wake me up. "Olivia, what is it?"

"Nnnn-Nothing." I stammered, still in tears. "Iiiit was jjust a ddream. Don't worry. Ggo back to sleep."

"Tell me what happened in it." Jacques said firmly, reaching for my hands.

"Let's go for a walk." I insisted, sliding on my shoes. We walked out of the door, the children staring at me with worry.

"Sleep." Jacques whispered to them. Once I reached the fresh air, I began sobbing again. Jacques put his arm around me and wiped the tears away from my hair.

"Tell me what happened." Jacques said, lifting my chin up with his hand. "What's troubling you?"

"The dream was horrific." I told Jacques vaguely. "The pain seared through me in real life, like all of the events were coming true."

"You aren't saying everything." He pointed out, stopping so we could sit down. "Tell me the things that happened in your dream."

"You and I had followed the children to VFD. You stayed there while I went on, and Olaf had murdered you." I told Jacques, pretending it was the end.

"Olivia. Something worse happened in your dream." Jacques remarked.

"I can think of nothing worse than you dying." I said, truthfully.

"You said something about pain, you charmer." Jacques said with a smile, remaining serious at the same time.

I laughed, before saying "I can't lie to you, can I?"

"I just want you to be okay."

"I left VFD to take up the position of 'madam Lulu', some fortune teller, when Olaf arrived. He ran the the 'house of freaks' and dug a lion pit. He was going to throw the Baudelaires in, but I pushed them away. Just a bad word choice made him throw me in." I said without breathing. Without warning, I fell into Jacques arms and cried.

"Oh, darling." Jacques sympathized, while rubbing my sweat covered back. "That is a more than horrible thing to experience. That disgusting Olaf won't get to you now, Lemony scared him off."

"That disgusting Olaf won't get to you know, Lemony scared him off!" Olaf mimicked, coming out of the shadows. " Well now he is here. I'm unstoppable!"