Through The Shadows - Klaus Baudelaire FF

XXI

Arms sore. Legs cramped. Back aching. Klaus, Violet, and I have been rowing the boat for hours. With -of course- absolutely no help from Olaf.

All he's done is sing off key, threaten us, and demand we row harder. As if it's our fault we're literally stuck in the middle of the ocean.

Well, technically it is our fault. We did decide to dive off the side of the Hotel Denouement.

But that's besides the point.

After complaining once again, I wish I had something to whack Olaf with. "Push?" I'm the only one to snort and agree with Sunny.

"We can't push him off." Damn the Baudelaires and their moral compass.

I groan and roll my eyes. "Oh screw your moral compass, he's a horrible person. We finally have a chance at getting rid of him, so let's take it."

Hesitantly, the older siblings agree, and the three of us slowly inch towards the man. However, before we can shove him, he turns around. "Well, well, well. Looks like a storm in brewing." Following his gaze, we glance behind us. For once, Olaf is correct. There is in fact a storm behind us.

Ginormous waves form, lighting crackling, thunder rolling. Everything's gone dark. The boat rocks against the sea hardly, water splashing us all.

I grip onto the mast, one arm wrapped around Violet as she holds Sunny.

Another wave forms. It rises higher and higher. Soon, it's looming over us. We have a second to breathe before it's crashing onto us.

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"Why is the sun so damn bright?"

My hands reach up to cover my eyes. That's weird, I don't remember having sand on my face. I don't remember laying down in the sand either.

With lots of groaning and moaning, I push myself into a seating position. Counting to five, I flutter my eyes open.

Where the hell am I?

"Klaus?" Violet. Good, she's next to me. "Sunny!"

"We're good. We're here." Klaus. Oh thank goodness. Standing to my feet, I reach a hand to help him up as well. "We're okay. We survived the storm."

Turning my head from side to side, I survey the area around us. "Where are we?" A coastal shelf of an island surrounded by a seawall.

And look, Olaf is here, too. Great.

He looks dead, and I mentally cheer for a second.

But of course, nothing ever goes the way we want it to.

Olaf jolts awake, spitting sea water into the sand. He begins demanding we make him coffee, and points to an espresso machine.

When we look in the direction, we don't find a coffee maker. Instead we find a young girl.

The Baudelaires and I hurry to the girl. "Don't be afraid. I'm Violet Baudelaire. These are my siblings Klaus and Sunny. And this is our friend Ellis King." The brunette introduces. "What's your name?"

"Friday." The girl speaks softly and quietly. "I live on the island."

Friday agrees to take us to the facilitator, apparently that's the person in charge. We follow her to Ishmael, who sits on a makeshift throne. All of the residents show him objects they found by the sea wall after the storm.

"This is our facilitator, Ishmael." Friday brings us closer to the older man.

Violet introduces us again, and Klaus informs Ishmael that Olaf is a threat to them all. Olaf swipes the harpoon gun from one of the residents, pointing it at Ishmael. But he has no power. There's only one of him, and like thirty of us.

It's very easy stuffing him inside the unusually large birdcage. And he's soon being taken to the seawall, where he will be hopefully for the rest of his life.

We watch the islanders carry Olaf away, before turning our attention back to Ishmael. "Is there a way off the island? We need to get back."

"The seawall shelters us from the storms, but I'm afraid sailing over those sharp rocks is nearly impossible."

The four of us sigh. "So we're stranded."

"Not quite." Ishmael shakes his head. "Once a year, the tide rises high enough to launch a boat by sailing it through the lowest point in that wall." He points to a group of rocks in front of us. "That day happens to be tomorrow."

We come across the tents. Everyone is so happy. It's nice, refreshing. One of the ladies hands us robes, and Ishmael leads us to an empty tent, where we are finally able to get a little sleep.

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Ishmael may seem like he's protecting the islanders, but there's something odd about him. He got angry at Violet for offering to build a filtration system. He referred to us as orphans, but we never told him we lost our parents. He's hiding something from us. And we know someone who might know what.

Olaf.

It's ironic seeing him trapped inside the birdcage. Finally, he gets a little taste of the five course meal of torture he's served us.

Violet reaches inside and yanks the cloth from his mouth. Klaus moves behind him to free his arms. "You said you had something to tell us." Klaus gets right to the point. "It's about Ishmael, isn't it?"

Olaf leans closer. "I didn't recognize him at first, but he recognized me. That's why he's locked me in here. So I don't spill his secrets."

"What secrets?"

Olaf smirks and sits back down. "Let me out, and I might tell you."

Snarling at the man, I kneel down before him. "No. We've played your games far too long. You're not the one calling the shots anymore. You either tell us what you know, or we leave you here to die." Still, he doesn't budge.

Shaking our heads, the Baudelaires and I leave.

We enter Ishmael's tent, but he's nowhere to be found. All that's there are his boots and a set of footprints.

We follow the prints, leading us to a vine covered wall -which turns out to be a decoy.

We push past the vines, making our way to the giant tree in the middle. Many books, ingredients, and materials lay around the treehouse. One particular book resting on the table catches our attention.

Klaus and Violet flip through it, gasping at a note on one of the pages. "It can't be."

"Yes, Baudelaires." Ishmael. He descends from the stairs. "That's your mother's handwriting. Your parents lived on this island."

"Did you know them?"

"Who are you really?" Klaus' voice shakes, and I place a hand on his arm to commodity him.

"That's an interesting question." Ishmael comes closer. "I used to be a principal, many years ago, at a school called Prufrock Prep." Prufrock Prep. The school we went to. The school both of our parents, the Quagmires and their parents, and Olaf all attended. He recruited them into a secret organization. V.F.D. He's the founder. "We could make the work a quieter, safer place. But when the schism broke out, I abandoned my creation, and I failed here to live in exile. Later on, your parents sailed here, too. They built this house." But then they left. And now they're gone. "It's almost Decision Day. And you all have a decision to make."

Okay so this chapter was like super boring. I'm sorry. Hopefully I can figure out how to add more Ellis to the next chapter.