𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚗𝚍

Chapter 7

A Shadow of The Past

----Quigley's POV----
It was strange how quick the feeling of unease washed over Quigley as soon as Violet left the room, his heart rate increased ever so slightly as he became more anxious.

"Quig?" Isadora's voice broke his state of slight panic "You okay?" She asked, a hit of concern in her voice
"Yeah, yeah just thinking, that all," He brushed off her comment and pushed his irrational panic aside. He was being ridiculous, Violet was perfectly capable of going to the shops alone, she was 16 for gods sake.

"Hey guys, look what I packed," Duncan's face cracked into a goofy smile as he pulled a pack of cards from his pocket
"Go-Fish anyone?"
So the Quagmire triplets played cards and were so engrossed in their game 45 minutes flew past like a flash of lightning.

The expression time flew past like a flash of lightning is not one Violet Baudelaire would've used, she was the sort of person to say: Time passes, and little by little everything that we have spoken in falsehood becomes true. 
However Quigley Quagmire was one to say "time flew by like a flash of lighting"

When Quigley finally realised 45 minutes had past when he felt his panic creep up on him yet again. "Why is Violet taking so long? Where is she? Is she in trouble?" He felt his palms begin to sweat and his stomach fill with butterflies, not the good kind, the sort that one could describe as moths, the ones that instead of excitement brought fear.

The feeling of butterflies is due to neurons along the brain-gut axis let the stomach know when we're freaking out about something . And Quigley was indeed 'freaking out'.

----Isadora's POV----
"Quigley, she's probably okay, maybe she's just having trouble finding a store, after all this city isn't the most hygienic," Isadora said trying to comfort her brother. However Duncan seemed to share Quigley's feelings in the matter "Even so, someone should probably go check on her, just incase," it was obvious to the his sister, Isadora, that Duncan was attempting to disguise how unnerved he felt about Violet's absence.

This reminded Isadora of a couplet she once wrote:
Never again would I want to live with your absence
Alone with you far away. But it seems to me your home again
Let loneliness commence

"I'll go," Quigley said sharply, forcing Isadora to ignore her poetic thoughts and think about the current situation.
And with one quick movement he strides towards the door and walked straight out of it without saying anything else to his siblings. "If he doesn't come back in a half hour, we should go look for both of them," Duncan said to his sister before returning to the pile of cards lying in the centre of the rotted floor. Cards was a good distraction, it allowed the siblings to ignore the worry which now warped their thoughts.

----Violet's POV----
Violet was tied up between a shelf and one of the large boxes. Her mouth was taped, her hands were tied, she wasn't going anywhere, she was trapped.

Esmé Squalor had not gone into detail about her plan, she had muttered something along the lines of revenge and fortunes. Which made Violet furious that she had yet again gotten herself captured by one of Count Olaf's associates, but she was also saddened that even though Olaf himself was gone, the same monotonous schemes still occurred. Perhaps she and her siblings would never escape Count Olaf, even long after his death, perhaps this would always be the unfortunate tale of their lives.

But Violet knew that misery would get her nowhere, it never got anyone anywhere. And as Violet scanned her surroundings she noticed a tall vase balanced high on the shelf above her; she quickly devised a plan.

Violet leant forward and then threw her back against the shelf. The vase toppled, and Violet quickly moved out of the line of ambush as it shattered on the floor. Violet quickly found a shard of the vase (which proved to be rather difficult with her hands tied) and began sawing at her ties. As soon as she was free she ripped the tape off her mouth and inhaled a deep breath, the air that was previously limited was luxurious to her lungs. She then darted behind a shelf just as the door swung open.

"What in the name of fashion was that?" Esmé called menacingly. "My vase! You wretched girl, once I get my hands on you!"

Violet, unfazed by Esmé's threats, waited until Esmé was at the other end of the narrow room before she shoved the shelf she was hidden behind with all the strength she could muster, and hurtled herself out of the door. If this had gone according to Violets calculations the shelf should have fallen in front of the door, therefore she had trapped Esmé, or at least she hoped she had. There was no time to waste to see if her plan had worked so Violet ran out into the streets and down a dark and dingy alley. Hidden in the shadows Violet awaited her fate with her heart thudding in her ears, she waited to see how the events would unfold.

----Quigley's POV----
As Quigley ran out into the foul streets he glanced to the left and right, hoping to catch a glimpse of Violet.

He couldn't see her anywhere. She had gone to buy food, where would Violet go to buy food? Quigley calmed himself enough to think rationally, figuring out where she might be.

Perhaps she was simply lost? No, Violet wasn't the sort to get lost. Quigley felt the panic become more desperate. He could not bear the thought of losing her again. The idea made him feel as if he were losing his mind. Where could she be?

He rushed out into the middle of the street, cars honked their horns at him but he couldn't care less. He had to find Violet, it was his only priority. How could he have been so stupid? So naive? He knew that they were still in danger, people were still searching for the Baudelaires. Violet was still in danger. And he had just let her go.