A One Shot Book of Unfortunate Events

The Beatrice Letters Part 1

*Bea's POV*

"Okay, Millie, it's time for your lunch now. You're probably so hungry," I smiled at my pet bat as it flew through the window onto her perch. She squeaked happily as I left to get her food. It was early morning and not quite everyone was up this Saturday. Aunt Sunny, currently at the age of 11, was crashed in the couch since she fell asleep watching television. Uncle Klaus, who was 23, I noticed was up in the library looking over a dark blue notebook and smiling fondly, a copy of Anne of Green Gables that he was reading to me last night on the coffee table. I peeked in and said hello.

"Morning, Bea," he smiled, closing it slightly, " Is Millie back?"
"Yep! I was grabbing her food now! What's in the notebook? I've never seen that one before."

He hesitated. "Something I kept when I was young. Wow I wrote lots of poetry..."
" Well I'll bet! But not as much as that girl Izzie you and Mom always talk about, huh? "
Uncle Klaus chuckled, ruffling his hair a bit. "Yeah I bet that too. She was a great poet: I'll tell you that. If things go my way, you should get to meet her someday. Now run along; I bet Millie's hungry." He smiled.

I giggled and left the library. We kept an ice chest in the kitchen specially used for the food of Sunny's and my rather exotic pets. I brought back a small container of insectivores to my room for my pet bat. I checked on Arthur, Sunny's snake. He was still curled up sleeping in his habitat. In Mom's room, I saw her moving back and forth frantically, still dressed in her pajamas.

"Momma? Everything alright?" I asked. Her eyes went wide and she was clutching a letter.
"Oh. Everything is fine. Promise!" She lied. If it was that serious, I was sure she'd tell all of us. She was clearly shocked by whatever was on the telegram. I frowned, nodding and leaving.

Millie squeaked, seeing my face as I walked in. "Mom's upset with something and she didn't tell me what." I told her, giving her the food. I was able to tell what her squeaks meant most of the time. I love bats— I knew I'd be a baticeer, like Violet, Klaus, and Sunny's mother. I knew they missed their mother tragically.

"I wonder what Mother was like— my real mom. I she was probably real kind, and strong, and brave... They told me her name was Kit Snicket. Ring a bell?... No? Well, I guess it wouldn't. I just wish I knew more, compared to how little they've told me about her, despite not knowing her for long... Millie, do you think I'll ever know more?"

~*~

"I have something to announce..." Mom finally confessed after her stiffness at breakfast.
All of us turned our attention to her. There was a moment of silence, which was interrupted by Sunny crunching on a carrot stick. I giggled a little, but quickly regained my composure.

"I received a letter saying that someone 'important to us' was spotted in town. There's no return address or any way to tell who sent the letter is, but... "
"But what?" Klaus asked.
"But the person is... It's Lemony. Remember him? It was a long time ago but we met him."

Uncle Klaus and Aunt Sunny looked at me, then back at Violet. She nodded. Their eyes widened.
"What? Wait who's Lemony?" I asked, looking at each one of them.
"Your uncle..." Sunny said in a quiet voice. "You have two living relatives."
" Two? I haven't met one! "

"Your parents both had two brothers. Your Uncle Jacques and Uncle Ernest aren't around, and Lemony hasn't been around for so long... Your Uncle Frank... Well... We're just not sure where he went. He used to co-manage the Hotel Denouement. He's never tried contacting us and now this letter appears, telling us it's possible Bea could meet a blood relative... I don't know."

" I think we should try to contact him, " Sunny suggested.
"How? There's no contact information for the sender or Lemony Snicket." Klaus told her. "Violet, this should have been a conversation for just the two of us."
Violet frowned.

I looked at the two of them and this seemed to not be the topic of conversation anymore. 'Hotel Denouement, huh? I wonder if I could go and find some clues to one of my uncles' whereabouts...'

The next day after school, I went to a trolley station (I told my family to expect me at 5-ish, being "out with friends"; I felt bad lying though).

"Excuse me, Sir, " I began, "Does this trolley let off anywhere near the Hotel Denouement?"
" The Hotel Denouement? That hasn't been standing for ten years — It's in rubble and ashes. "

I nodded. "Does it let off by the site of it?"
"About a twenty minute walk to it."
"That'll do nicely," I smiled, paying the fee and sitting.

~*~

I got to the location of the Denouement ruins and tried to imagine what it might have looked like... I even drew my idea of it out in my English notebook. I shoved it  back in my backpack and started climbing through the rubble. Mom would ground me for a year of she saw me doing something so dangerous... But I made sure to be extra careful to avoid possible perils. I didn't want to be stabbed, scratched, cut or something because A) That would hurt. and B) Uncle Klaus would go crazy worrying about me. Not to mention the wounds could get infected.

After looking around for a while, I peeked around a corner of broken wall and saw a man in a dark grey suit standing at the beginning of the lot. He was tall, with dark hair and dark eyes. 'Why would he be here? Maybe he's looking for something... Or someone. Maybe we could help eachother..'

"Excuse me, Sir!" I began, running towards him. He looked at me and started quickly walking away. I tried following him, but he was faster than me. Curse my short, 10 year old legs! I notice he dropped a couple small papers. Instead of trying to follow him, I picked up the items. One was a photo of three familiar faces: A girl with dark hair that was tied back, fiddling with a mechanism in a picnic basket; A tall boy wearing glasses, reading a book on tides; and a small baby girl, biting a rock. They were my mom, uncle, and aunt about half a year before I was born. The other was a business card that read: Lemony Snicket. Author.

"Snicket?" I mumbled, astonished. 'That was my uncle! Uncle Lemony! He's an author? Wow!'

I figured the first place I could learn more about him was the library, since he might have books there. I decided that since I still had plenty of time, I'd actually go grab some ice cream, or even a root beer float...

'I will go to the library tomorrow...'

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