saudade - Klaus Baudelaire x Fem! reader

Chapter Five

We walked down the road, nearing Justice Strauss'. We stopped in front of her house and looked up at it. It was very different from Count Olaf's. It wasn't as big and menacing nor was it as dark and brooding. It was yellow, with pretty white curtains in the windows instead of dirt and grease. There were flowers out front and a little fence around her well-kept yard.

We walked up to the front steps and Violet rang the door bell. Nothing. She rang it again, just to be sure. Still, nothing happened.

"No answer," she said.

Violet then proceeded to open the door and walk inside, Klaus following. I looked at them, unsure of whether I should follow. Klaus noticed I was still outside and walked back over to me.

"It'll be fine," he said, "Justice Strauss is probably just in her library and therefore can't hear us. She's a very nice lady, she won't get mad, I promise."

I nodded my head and followed him inside, shutting the door. We walked through her house and out of her back door. We kept going until we reached her library. The doors were wide open and she was sitting inside, reading a book. When we reached her, she looked up at us.

"Hello, children! Is this your new friend?" she greeted us.

Violet answered her. "Yes, she lives with Count Olaf."

I got nervous. What if Violet told her about my being kidnapped? Then, all of a sudden, a thought came to me. I knew my birthday and what year I had been born, so I knew I was twelve. I had read books on law, and what happened if a missing person wasn't found. I had been hidden from the public for over seven years.

I must have been pronounced dead. Everyone thought I was dead. That's why Olaf was no longer worried about me going places. I was dead. My stomach churned at the thought.

As I had been lost in thought, Justice Strauss and the Baudelaires had still been talking, and were now talking about why we had come here.

"Well, what books did you children need?" Justice Strauss asked.

Violet asked if she had an cookbooks. I was assuming she wanted a wider range of recipes since we only had a few in Olaf's library. Klaus asked if she had any books on law. Once Justice Strauss was done showing them their books, she turned to me.

"What type of book would you like, y/n?" she asked.

I had to know.

"Do you have any local death records?" I inquired.

Klaus looked up at me, seeming concerned.

"Why, that's a curious thing to ask, but I suppose I do, they're right over here. Why would you want to read such a book?" she replied.

"I have some dead relatives that I would like to learn more about."

"That does make sense. Well, what time range do you need?"

I did some quick math in my head. I had been with Count Olaf since I was around three years old, so three plus seven would be ten. I needed a book that showed the death records from two years ago.

"The last two years," I answered.

She pulled a book from her shelf and handed it to me.

"Good luck finding out about your family," she spoke with a sorrowful smile.

I smiled back and took the book from her before sitting across from Klaus.

I looked at the table of contents.

"Missing persons pronounced dead ............................. page 57"

I flipped nervously through the pages, trying to recall what I looked like when I was small, to no avail. No matter. My name had a unique spelling, and not many children as small as I had been went missing, I might even have a picture of me as a baby.

Then, I found it. It had my exact name and a picture of a small child.

"Y/n Snicket

Unknown age of death

Y/n Snicket went missing when she was three years old. She was never seen again after that. No one knows what happened, only that she mysteriously disappeared. Her parents were m/n l/n (see page 35) and Lemony Snicket (see page 83)."

There was no more information, but I was sick to my stomach. Not only did people think I was dead, apparently my parents were dead as well. There was no hope to find them.

I dog-eared the page and flipped to page 35.

-TW: SUICIDE-

"M/n l/n

age 32

M/n l/n reportedly went insane after her daughter went missing. A few months after y/n Snicket disappeared, she was sent to a mental hospital. None of the treatments helped her, and she hung herself three weeks later."

I fought myself not to throw up or cry. My mother had cared so much about me that she couldn't stand to live without me. I hoped that nothing like that had happened with my father.

-END OF TW-

I dog-eared that page and flipped to page 63.

"Lemony Snicket

Unknown age of death

No one knows how or when Lemony Snicket died. He left behind a brother, Jacques Snicket, and a sister, Kit Snicket, as well as a young daughter named y/n, who was pronounced dead four years after he was."

I still had an aunt and an uncle! Maybe I could live with them!

All of a sudden, Count Olaf burst through the door.

"Justice Strauss, may I talk to you for a moment?" he interrupted.

"Oh, of course!" she replied.

"Children, go on home and wait for me in the dining room. I will be there shortly."

I dog-eared the page and closed the book, slipping it under my coat. You never know when Olaf might get mad at something small. I noticed Klaus do the same thing.