Despite the Pain -Klaus Baudelaire FF

Chapter 1

If there were ever anything I could hate about my parents, it would be putting it in their will to send me to live with my Aunt and Uncle if they were to pass before I became an adult. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents, but I absolutely hate my Aunt and Uncle. The Spats. On the outside, they may seem like horrible, retched people, but they are exactly the same on the inside. There's no sliver of light, no patch of happiness, nothing good. In all fairness, they could be worst, but I wish they were better. It doesn't help that my younger cousin Carmelita is a spoiled rotten brat who loves to torment others. Especially me.

But the one thing I hate the most, is that they sent me to this terrible school. Prufrock Preparatory School. It's placed in a gloomy town and run by an awful man. Vice Principal Nero. My Aunt and Uncle call him a genius, but he is anything but a genius. He is a cruel man who likes to torment orphans. Years ago, when I first attended this school, he made me live in a shack. I lived their for almost a year before a new set of orphans came, then I was moved to a broom closet, where I've been rooming for the past three months.

Today seems to be my luck day, though. Some more orphans are attending so I will be upgraded to the vacant janitors closet. Yay me.

As I'm gathering my few belonging, someone knocks on the door. I shout for them to come in, and Isadora and Duncan Quagmire enter, their belongings in their hands. "Hello, Isadora and Duncan." I greet, a small smile on my lips. "I'll be out of your way soon."

"That's alright, Ellis. No need to hurry." Duncan tells me. I gather the last of my things, waving bye before heading to my new room. On my way, I pass Nero and three siblings. Those must be the new orphans. As I survey them, my eyes connect with the boy. He appears to be around my age, maybe a tad bit older. I give him a smile, walking away to the janitors closet.

~

News traveled fast about the arrival of the new orphans. Few people pitied them, mainly the Quagmires and myself. Others, like Carmelita, laughed at their despair. This school doesn't just have horrible teachers, it has horrible students as well.

I didn't see the siblings until lunch. I was standing in line, trying to ignore Carmelita as she threw insults at me. I quickly grab my tray, hurrying away from her. She stomps her foot, calling me a cake sniffer as she turns the other way.

"Ellis!" I look around for the voice, smiling when I see Isadora and Duncan waving me over. I'm not surprised to find the siblings with them. "Ellis, these are Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. Baudelaires, this is Ellis King. She's like us." Isadora introduces us.

"If by 'like us' you mean an orphan, than yes. I'm an orphan as well." I tell them. I see the look on their faces, the pity look. "You don't have to pity me. It was almost a year ago, I've learnt to deal with the pain."

Before anyone can say anything else, my dreadful cousin appears. "Baudelaires, there's seats at my table, but I'm afraid it's a cake sniffer free zone." Carmelita smiles innocently, and I roll my eyes.

"Go away, Carmelita." I tell her. "No one wants you here."

Carmelita glares at me. "Cake sniffing orphan."

"Leave us alone." Duncan says to her. "You're the cake sniffer." Carmelita stomps her foot angrily, marching away to her table.

I turn to the Baudelaires. "I'm sorry about her, she's incredibly awful."

Klaus smiles at me. "No need to apologize, it's not your fault she's like that."

The Quagmires and I share a look. "Actually, it might be. Carmelita and I are cousins." The Baudelaires look at me in shock. "She doesn't like me and makes it her mission to torment those who are seen with me. That and, for some reason, she despises orphans."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did your parents pass?" Violet asks me.

I sigh, moving my gaze to my untouched food. "They passed in a boating accident. There was a storm and their boat tipped. The police couldn't find their bodies, so they were declared dead."

Isadora grabs my hand, holding it tightly. "I'm so sorry." Klaus says to me. "Ours died is a fire."

"So did ours." Duncan speaks up. They begin talking about the crabs and how to get rid of them. Violet, who appears to be an inventor, asks everyone to empty their pockets. I reach into mine, pulling out a piece of paper and some spare thread. Isadora pulls out half a piece of a spyglass, and Klaus does as well. They put them together, and the pieces click together perfectly.

"Two fires, two halves of a spyglass. This can't be a coincidence."

"Why would your parents' deaths be a coincidence?" I question the four of them, well five counting Sunny. "Fires happen all the time."

They all share a look. "Weird things have been happening since our parents died. We believe it's all connected." The Baudelaires begin to tell us their story, of how horrible it has been since their parents' passing. They tell us everything. Count Olaf, his murder, his goons, their parents, the secret organization.

"And here I thought television was where the action was."