One Kiss Later (K. Baudelaire)

Chapter 26

Candie

"I love her and I can't lose her again!" I hear Klaus yell. I turn back to him. Without thinking I walk up to him, placing a hand on his neck and giving him a kiss. He places his right hand on the small of my back.

He rest his forehead on mine. We smile. "I've been waiting too long tell you that." He laughs. I smile too. "What about Fiona?" I ask. "Let me guess, you aren't great at sensing emotion that people have for you." He guesses. "Not as well." I say smiling. "Well then, now you know how I feel toward you so, how do you feel about me?" He asks. "I love you too." I say lifting my forehead from his and look at him. "Thank God, that would be annoying if you said you didn't." Klaus laughed. "Wouldn't dream of it." I assure him. "So will you come with me?" Klaus asked. My smile fades

"I'm sorry, Klaus. I-I just can't." I say. "Candie, please." Klaus starts. "Like I said, You have a family to stay by your side, I don't." I say. "You have us." Klaus whispers. I give him a sad smile. "I know I do. That's why I know I'll be okay without you." I said as I took off my bracelet. "Here." I said handing it to Klaus. "Give it to whomever you fall in love with. And who you end up having children with." I said as I walk toward Violet and Sunny.

"Thank you, Violet." I say, "for everything." I smile at her. She smiled back. "Goodbye, Sunny. I'll miss you." I say kissing her forehead. "Bye-bye." She babbled.

"Goodbye, Baudelaires."

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I spent the day at Mr. Poe's house. It had been rough, already. The Poe's were nice, I suppose. Mrs. Poe continuously asked me about my time with the Baudelaires. I stayed quiet about it and where they were. Mrs. Poe gave me some clothes that were nice. Nice to get out of that bodysuit. "Candace, you got a letter in the mail." Mr. Poe called to me. A letter? I walked down the stairs to the front door. "Thank you." I say taking my letter.

I sat on the steps of the staircase and opened my letter.

Candace,

Please be present at the Hotel Denoument tonight at 11:00. The reason is classified currently but your presence is highly desired.

Kit Snicket

Kit Snicket? The Baudelaires had to be there. It was the Last Safe Place. Right? I had to be there tonight. "Um, Mrs. Poe, Do you mind if I got to the Hotel Denoment tonight?" I ask. "The Hotel Denoment? Isn't that where the Baudelaires are?" She asks me.

"Oooo, she's having a little rendezvous." Albert says in an annoying tone. "Better yet with Klaus." Mr. Poe says. I give him a fake smile but on the inside I was screaming. "Oh my goodness! Just wait until the readers of the Daily Punctilio hear about this! 'Candace Spats and Klaus Baudelaire! Young and in Love'" She says. "Oh, no. Um, it's a different Hotel Denoment." I lie. "Well then I'm sorry, you can't go." Mrs. Poe says. My face falls. 'Perfect. Just perfect.' I think stepping up the stairs.

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9:28. The last ride on the rickety train to the Hotel Denoument is 9:30 pm. It's now or never. I get up from my bed, trying my best not to make any noise. I get up and make my way to the door. "What are you doing?" Edgar asks as I open the door. "oh, I'm... going to the restroom." I lied. "But you just went like 5 minutes ago." He said. Crap. "Oh, uh, it's a girl thing." I say praying he doesn't question me. "Gross. He says turning in his bed. I close to door behind me and sigh. 'Okay.' I think as I walk down to the kitchen. I open up the window climb out. I take on final look at the clock on the wall. 9:26. Shi- I shut the window and make a run to the rickety train.

"Are you going to the Hotel Denoument?" I ask the conductor. "We're making one more round trip. Hotel Denoument is the last stop before coming back here." He said. I sighed in relief and hopped on the train.

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"The Hotel Denoument." The conductor said. I rung the bell signifying that I was getting off. The train stopped and I stood up, I looked around the train and saw a five dollar bill on the floor. "Thank you," I say handing the bill to him as I got off. "And you wouldn't happen to know what time it is would you?" I ask. He looked at his watch. "It's 9:57." He said. "Thank you." I say as I walked up the hotel.

I looked around the hotel. Scanning the room for a woman that might be of the name Kit Snicket. But I saw something better. Klaus, Sunny and Violet Baudelaire. They were sitting with a woman with a judge wig on.

"Well, our troubles won't be over until we find a home.... And Candie." Klaus says. "You found one." I say with a smile. The Baudelaires shoot their heads up. "Hello, Baudelaires." Violet stand up, engulfing me in a hug. "Candie! I thought you weren't coming." Violet thought. "I got a letter. It told me my presents was valued, so I came." I explain to them. "Candie." Klaus says under his breath, giving me a kiss. "I thought I'd never see you again." He said. "You can't get rid of me that easily." I laugh. "Why, hello." The woman in the judge wig greets. "You must be Candie." She smiles. "I am." She smiled at me.

"Well Baudelaires, my home could use three lovely, clever, talented children." She says to the Baudelaires. "That is, if you'll forgive me." She finishes. "We'd love to live with you." Violet says. "Do you really mean it?" The woman asked. "Of course!" Klaus exclaimed. "Then this night is different than other nights because the story is finally over." She says. We all smile.

"Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!" The clock rings. I cover my ears. "It's late. We should get to sleep. But rest easy, Baudelaires." She said as she walked to the Elevator. "I'm so happy for you." I say giving them a hug. "How's life with Mr. Poe?" Violet asks. "He says I'll have a permanent guardian in the next week or two." I say. "I hope your luck is better than ours." Klaus said. "um, Is that woman Kit Snicket?" I ask. "Oh, no. That's Justice Strauss." Violet explains. "Oh, um, well do you know where she is?" I ask again. "No, we're waiting for her too." Klaus said.

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Klaus shook me awake. "Come on. We have to find something." I rubbed my eyes. "What?" I ask. "Come on." Sunny babbles pulling my hand. I smile and stand up. We walk to the elevator. "Remember when we stayed the night at that hotel and we thought it would be fun to press a bunch of buttons at the same time?" Violet asks Klaus. "Father said when you do that, you'll never know where you'll end up." Klaus recalled. "Let's see where we end up." Violet says pushing random buttons down. "We're going down." Klaus remarked. "The laundry room." Violet said. "It isn't stopping." I said still a little tired. "There must be a sub-basement." Violet concluded.

A door opened up behind us. We walked in slowly. "It looks like a library card catalog." Klaus connected. "Someone's been repairing a book." He said looking at the desk in front of us. "The paste is still wet." He observed. "The tea is still hot." Violet said. "Someone's in here." I remark, feeling a presence near.

"Kit, is that you?"