Categories > Books > A Series of Unfortunate Events > The Ferocious Fire
Chapter Two
"No..." Violet whispered. "No..." Klaus said. "No..." Sunny screamed.
The figure just nodded its head. I say "its head" because it was a person that looked neither man nor woman. It was a very large person. The reason the Baudelaires had said "No..." very fearfully because this person was a person they had wished to never see again: one of Olaf's assistants. The last time they had seen it had been at an old hospital called the Heimlich Hospital. They had believed that it had perished in a fire at the hospital.
After a few stunned seconds of silence, as the person walked closer to the Baudelaires, Olaf finally shuffled down the ladder.
"Well, well, well..." Olaf said. "You made it!"
The person just nodded its head, for it never spoke. It motioned for them to follow it. They followed immediately. The three siblings looked around their gloomy surroundings, wondering where they were headed for.
Without any other lights lighting the passage way, the torch cast an eerie flickering glow on the walls. The walls were painted a shade of green that the Baudelaire's old home was painted. As they walked, the corridor started weaving around, wriggling around under the beach that was just above the low ceiling. Suddenly, distant voices could be heard, though muffled by the walls. After one more turn, the group saw the archway entrance to a gigantic hall.
"This is called the Vestibule Full of Delinquents. It is where all of the villains associate and gather in times of need. Actually, this whole underground place, not just this entrance hall, were constructed before the days of the schism. It was once used for volunteers." Olaf said.
"What does vestibule mean?" Violet asked uncertainly.
"It's another name for a--" Klaus started before Olaf rudely interrupted, "It's another word for entrance hall or lobby. I'm surprised at you, Violet; intelligent children like you should know that."
Violet blushed a deep red at this snide remark. Klaus just glared at Olaf from behind Olaf's back, and Sunny, crunched her teeth together, wanting to sink them into Olaf.
Count Olaf led the siblings into the hall, where many long tables were. He told them to sit at one particularly long table, jutting into the side of one of the walls. They sat, and then realized that the person who looked neither man nor woman had wandered off to another table.
One good look around the hall told the siblings that this crowd was a tough and mean crowd. All of the seats were filled, probably about 300 people in all. They even recognized a few faces here and there. Across the hall, Violet noticed a man the siblings had just met recently: Ernest Denouement. Actually, it could have been his identical triplet, Frank, but Frank was working for the volunteers. Ernest was the triplet working for the villains, so the orphans deduced that the triplet here was Ernest, the villain. On the opposite side of the hall was another person they had seen recently: a man who went by "Sir". His face was always covered by a large cloud of smoke from his cigarette. A few tables away there was another person that the children had met recently. They did not know his name. All they knew was that he was a taxi driver. He was smoking a cigarette when they first met him, and his hat had hid his face. Apparently, this was the man's style, because at the hall, he looked the exact same.
As the children were looking around the room, Olaf hissed "Stay still! The meeting will begin soon, I think."
Sure enough, as soon as he uttered those words, a door at the opposite end of the archway slammed open. In its opening stood two more villains. These villains were the worst villains of all: the man with a beard, but no hair, and the woman with hair, but no beard. The villains walked silently but steadily up to the center of the hall. In the center of the hall stood a platform raised by small steps, on which two podiums was located. The villains proceeded up the steps, and stood behind each podium.
"Silence!" roared the man with a beard, but no hair. "Silence!" roared the woman with hair, but no beard. Immediately, all of the murmurings and mutterings throughout the hall faded away.
"We are here to discuss them. We don't know what to do with them. It seems as if they keep foiling our plans. We are on the verge of victory, yet they keep stopping us! We are open to discussion about what to do with them." the man with a beard, but no hair stated loudly and hoarsely.
Although the children didn't know for sure about who "them" referred to, they could guess. As you probably guessed, the villains were talking about the Baudelaires. As this realization dawned on them, their hearts started beating very fast. All of a sudden, the children felt scared, although any other kid their age would have been scared from the very beginning, being in a crowd of villains.
"Burn them at the stake!" cried a woman the Baudelaires also recognized. It was Mrs. Morrow, from the town of V.F.D.
"Lock them up! Put them in a jail where they can't escape!"
"Kill them!"
"Steal their money!"
"Send them away!"
"ENOUGH!" the woman with hair, but no beard said. Then came instant silence. "We are looking for ideas ONE AT A TIME!" the man with a beard, but no hair said.
Instantly, the taxi driver man shuffled around and stood up. "I propose that we keep them here. We force them onto our side. If they don't comply, they will suffer consequences. That is my idea."
"Yes! I agree!"
"I do too!
"And me!"
"Count me in!"
The Baudelaires realized mob psychology was taking place again, for they had witnessed it many times in the past
"SILENCE!" called the two head villains. "We agree too. That has been one of my recent ideas. In fact, I was going to propose that if no one else spoke for it." the woman with hair but no beard said.
"We shall have a vote. All those in favor of keeping them here, of converting them to our cause, our side, say 'Ay'" the man with a beard, but no hair said.
An instant roar of "Ay" chorused throughout the hall.
"All those not in favor of this plan, say 'Nay'" the woman with hair, but no beard said.
Only a few people shouted "Nay". Obviously, the plan was liked throughout the crowd.
"Then it is done. We will convert them. We will force them to comply, and if not, we shall kill them. A long and slow death." the man said.
"This meeting is adjourned." the villains said, and they walked away, through the doorway.
Immediately the crowd came to life again: everyone discussing the meeting. Many villains kept shooting mean glances at the Baudelaires, some even with nervous glances. It had been an extremely short meeting, and no one knew what to think. The Baudelaires were in a similar situation. Right now their life was a big box of books; they had no idea what they were going to get or to expect. On one hand, their lives were being spared...for the time being. On the other hand, they didn't know what they were going to be forced to do, and their lives were to be taken if they did not comply.
Violet immediately began thinking of a plan of action for her and her siblings to take, to escape their predicament...
"No..." Violet whispered. "No..." Klaus said. "No..." Sunny screamed.
The figure just nodded its head. I say "its head" because it was a person that looked neither man nor woman. It was a very large person. The reason the Baudelaires had said "No..." very fearfully because this person was a person they had wished to never see again: one of Olaf's assistants. The last time they had seen it had been at an old hospital called the Heimlich Hospital. They had believed that it had perished in a fire at the hospital.
After a few stunned seconds of silence, as the person walked closer to the Baudelaires, Olaf finally shuffled down the ladder.
"Well, well, well..." Olaf said. "You made it!"
The person just nodded its head, for it never spoke. It motioned for them to follow it. They followed immediately. The three siblings looked around their gloomy surroundings, wondering where they were headed for.
Without any other lights lighting the passage way, the torch cast an eerie flickering glow on the walls. The walls were painted a shade of green that the Baudelaire's old home was painted. As they walked, the corridor started weaving around, wriggling around under the beach that was just above the low ceiling. Suddenly, distant voices could be heard, though muffled by the walls. After one more turn, the group saw the archway entrance to a gigantic hall.
"This is called the Vestibule Full of Delinquents. It is where all of the villains associate and gather in times of need. Actually, this whole underground place, not just this entrance hall, were constructed before the days of the schism. It was once used for volunteers." Olaf said.
"What does vestibule mean?" Violet asked uncertainly.
"It's another name for a--" Klaus started before Olaf rudely interrupted, "It's another word for entrance hall or lobby. I'm surprised at you, Violet; intelligent children like you should know that."
Violet blushed a deep red at this snide remark. Klaus just glared at Olaf from behind Olaf's back, and Sunny, crunched her teeth together, wanting to sink them into Olaf.
Count Olaf led the siblings into the hall, where many long tables were. He told them to sit at one particularly long table, jutting into the side of one of the walls. They sat, and then realized that the person who looked neither man nor woman had wandered off to another table.
One good look around the hall told the siblings that this crowd was a tough and mean crowd. All of the seats were filled, probably about 300 people in all. They even recognized a few faces here and there. Across the hall, Violet noticed a man the siblings had just met recently: Ernest Denouement. Actually, it could have been his identical triplet, Frank, but Frank was working for the volunteers. Ernest was the triplet working for the villains, so the orphans deduced that the triplet here was Ernest, the villain. On the opposite side of the hall was another person they had seen recently: a man who went by "Sir". His face was always covered by a large cloud of smoke from his cigarette. A few tables away there was another person that the children had met recently. They did not know his name. All they knew was that he was a taxi driver. He was smoking a cigarette when they first met him, and his hat had hid his face. Apparently, this was the man's style, because at the hall, he looked the exact same.
As the children were looking around the room, Olaf hissed "Stay still! The meeting will begin soon, I think."
Sure enough, as soon as he uttered those words, a door at the opposite end of the archway slammed open. In its opening stood two more villains. These villains were the worst villains of all: the man with a beard, but no hair, and the woman with hair, but no beard. The villains walked silently but steadily up to the center of the hall. In the center of the hall stood a platform raised by small steps, on which two podiums was located. The villains proceeded up the steps, and stood behind each podium.
"Silence!" roared the man with a beard, but no hair. "Silence!" roared the woman with hair, but no beard. Immediately, all of the murmurings and mutterings throughout the hall faded away.
"We are here to discuss them. We don't know what to do with them. It seems as if they keep foiling our plans. We are on the verge of victory, yet they keep stopping us! We are open to discussion about what to do with them." the man with a beard, but no hair stated loudly and hoarsely.
Although the children didn't know for sure about who "them" referred to, they could guess. As you probably guessed, the villains were talking about the Baudelaires. As this realization dawned on them, their hearts started beating very fast. All of a sudden, the children felt scared, although any other kid their age would have been scared from the very beginning, being in a crowd of villains.
"Burn them at the stake!" cried a woman the Baudelaires also recognized. It was Mrs. Morrow, from the town of V.F.D.
"Lock them up! Put them in a jail where they can't escape!"
"Kill them!"
"Steal their money!"
"Send them away!"
"ENOUGH!" the woman with hair, but no beard said. Then came instant silence. "We are looking for ideas ONE AT A TIME!" the man with a beard, but no hair said.
Instantly, the taxi driver man shuffled around and stood up. "I propose that we keep them here. We force them onto our side. If they don't comply, they will suffer consequences. That is my idea."
"Yes! I agree!"
"I do too!
"And me!"
"Count me in!"
The Baudelaires realized mob psychology was taking place again, for they had witnessed it many times in the past
"SILENCE!" called the two head villains. "We agree too. That has been one of my recent ideas. In fact, I was going to propose that if no one else spoke for it." the woman with hair but no beard said.
"We shall have a vote. All those in favor of keeping them here, of converting them to our cause, our side, say 'Ay'" the man with a beard, but no hair said.
An instant roar of "Ay" chorused throughout the hall.
"All those not in favor of this plan, say 'Nay'" the woman with hair, but no beard said.
Only a few people shouted "Nay". Obviously, the plan was liked throughout the crowd.
"Then it is done. We will convert them. We will force them to comply, and if not, we shall kill them. A long and slow death." the man said.
"This meeting is adjourned." the villains said, and they walked away, through the doorway.
Immediately the crowd came to life again: everyone discussing the meeting. Many villains kept shooting mean glances at the Baudelaires, some even with nervous glances. It had been an extremely short meeting, and no one knew what to think. The Baudelaires were in a similar situation. Right now their life was a big box of books; they had no idea what they were going to get or to expect. On one hand, their lives were being spared...for the time being. On the other hand, they didn't know what they were going to be forced to do, and their lives were to be taken if they did not comply.
Violet immediately began thinking of a plan of action for her and her siblings to take, to escape their predicament...
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