Subject Zero (Book 1)

Chapter 27: See You Soon

Wednesday, December 5, 1984
6:50p.m.
The Snicket Household

Third Person's POV
Alio, Anne, LeAnna, Naomi, and Norman looked at Jesper as the television was still on. It was still making a staticky sound and was still filming the mirror on the floor, and was still in the point of view of a camera.

     "Uhh, 'gateway'?" Rei pressed her lips together as she rapidly blinked, feeling awkward.

Jesper just looks at her, then at Zero, then at his friends, and sighs. "Yeah, um... That mirror is a, uh, gateway, or a, uhh... I dunno, it's hard to explain."

LeAnna then comments, "Listen, kid, I've been around the world, okay? Whatever it is, I'll understand, and I'm sure everyone else will, too."

He looked at Zero, then back at the others as the television turned off.

A few minutes later, Jesper had finished explaining what he meant by "gateway." Everyone was just sitting in confused silence.

     "There's nothing about this I understand," LeAnna said before she pressed her lips together.

     "Okay, let me get this straight... This mirror is a portal or 'gateway' to another dimension, and you know this because you saw another subject at the lab get killed by one of the monsters from that dimension, Klaus is stuck in that place, and those things we came across when we were looking for him were from that dimension, too?" Rei recapped what Jesper had explained, sounding very curious but skeptical.

Zero was only surprised by the part about Jesper witnessing the death of one of the lab subjects.

Jesper nodded his head. "And I'm pretty sure when those lights flickered in Morse Code, it was one of the monsters. They can't talk — as far as I know — so I think they use Morse Code to talk to each other. Since they eat humans, I think Klaus is one of their targets... But as long as we know he's still alive, we can find him."

"How come you didn't tell us any of this in the first place?" asked Anne.

"I was going to tell you on the bus, but you guys interrupted me and asked another question... Sorry."

Norman then asks, "Wait, so, do you know how to get to this mirror, Zero?"

Zero turned to him and slowly nodded her head. She used the back of her hand to wipe the blood from her nose.

"Can you help us get there?" asked Anne.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no. No 'us'. I'm going," stated LeAnna in a serious tone. "There is no way I'm allowing you kids to go to this place. You are all staying here while I find your friend."

Alio groaned in disappointment.

Rei sat up and argued, "But you can't go alone! If there are monsters at this place, there's a chance you'll die before you even find Klaus."

Then there was silence filling the air for a moment.

     "What if I go with you?" Jesper asked LeAnna.

     "What? No-"

     "Think about it! I could help you look for him, and when we find him he'll have a friend with him. And I can keep us safe. And Zero stays here so these guys can protect her in case the bad people find her. She can't go with us — she should instead try to talk that Liam guy into getting out of her head so we don't have to deal with another problem later."