Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

FOR BEATRICE—
MY LOVE FLEW LIKE A BUTTERFLY
UNTIL DEATH SWOOPED DOWN LIKE A BAT.
AS THE POET EMMA MONTANA MCELROY SAID:
"THAT'S THE END OF THAT."

~ Lemony Snicket

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THERE WAS A BIG divide on the Lucky Smells Lumber-mill truck. The three Baudelaire children had pushed themselves towards the end of the trunk, leaning on the wooden railing. The bumpy road that drove through the forest caused the vehicle to shake an uncontrollable amount and yet they chose to sit where they could easily fly out of the truck; they wanted to be far away from the girl in front of them.
Julia Olaf—or was it Julia Crowe now?

Ever since Julia had gotten her hands on The Incomplete History of Secret Organisations, she had managed to clutch onto another journey—an open door to a side of her life she had never knew of. Cecelia Crowe could possibly be her mother but not only that, she is apart of some organisation—associated with the Baudelaires' family and guardians, as well as Olaf. There were also some other faces like Larry and Jacqueline who she didn't know very well.
It only made her hungrier for more answers. A question repeat in her mind as she picked apart each information: Was this organisation good or bad?

However, mostly importantly, it had granted Julia an escape from her old ways. The guilt still simmered inside her limbs, memories burning at her flesh. She dug her nails into her thighs to make the feeling cease. Now, she doesn't have to be in cahoots with Count Olaf—to not be associated with such an evil man.

The sad and heartbreaking epiphany had already crashed on Julia's head. He had used her as a pawn to get to the Baudelaires. Olaf never cared for her wellbeing and she had scars to prove it, faded or not, the pain would forever remain there. She pulled her knees to her chest as she sighed shakily—Julia had killed Monty.
Regardless or not that it was done with Olaf's help, her hand still held the contraption.
In the future, Julia would have sleepless nights, wondering if she could've done anything to stop it. She pondered and sulked over different scenarios where she was brave enough to fight back—to attempt to save the only man who cares for her.

Julia had now turned pale, digging her chin into her knees. Her eyes were planted onto the tarp, taking in its rustic, maroon shade. She had learnt to soak in the silence, find a way to not let her past mistakes consume her like a vicarious fire. The Baudelaires fire was her fault too—and she knew it. Julia had killed them in cold blood. Though the shame remained, she couldn't find the energy to keep caring. She barely knew them and they barely knew her. From Olaf's devious ways, Julia figured that they had it coming sooner or later.
Nevertheless—as much as she told her this—the deepest parts of her still clung to the sadness she had for them; there was also an intense pity for the children in front her.
Floating in the sea of her endless thoughts, the Baudelaire children had been conversing quietly—barely under their breath as they eyed Julia down.

They had noticed the girl's stillness and reluctance to talk. It had made Violet to stare at her in sympathy, wondering what had occurred before. However, Klaus had moved himself further away after seeing her state, knowing now to trust anything she says. Sunny on-the-other-hand had laid her head on Violet's chest, trying not to fall asleep.
"What do we do?" Klaus discretely asked his older sister, nudging her in the shoulder.

Violet hesitated but then replied, "We can't do much now—I guess we'll just have to stay here until we reach Lucky Smells Lumber mill."

"But she's here with us," Klaus grunted out the first part then glancing back at Julia, his voice now soft. "She could be here as a tracker for Count Olaf."

Violet gave him a brief glare. "Do you really think she's with Count Olaf anymore? I mean look at her, we've never seen her this upset."

"It's probably a part of one of their ploys also you know we can't risk it!"

"Klaus, stop panicking so much."

"How can I not?" He spat out, glaring eagerly at Julia. "She killed Uncle Monty in cold blood and not only that—she helped you get married to Count Olaf. She also helped kill Aunt Josephine and she might as well have burned our house down too!"

Violet seethed at her brother's long list of Julia's actions. However, the longer she held his stare, she started to soften up; her eyebrows bunched together, knowing that he was right. "We don't know if her and Olaf were associated with the fire, it's very unlikely," she then paused and sighed. "Julia did attack you back at Aunt Josephine's place."

Klaus's hardened expression had fell, as if he had forgotten of that moment. "Yeah—that too."

There was a brief moment between the two children, eyeing at anything but each other. Violet then held Sunny closer to her chest, as if the action would ease her pain. "I agree with you Klaus but we have no other options now—all we can do is stay here until this truck stops."

Klaus's eyes had started to look around for any ideas on how to get out of here, while making sure his eyes didn't land on Julia. "We could try and jump off of the truck."

"Don't be silly, Klaus. This truck is going at a fast rate and we have Sunny with us—we'd only get her hurt in the process."

Klaus nodded, crossing his arms at his sister's disapproval. He then sighed and started to press his teeth together, not wanting to spend any longer with the traitor in front of him.

Julia gathered on what they were saying but was too tired to say something back. They had every right to be mad at her—even if Klaus's relentless speech kept piercing at her ears. She stayed quiet and fought to stay awake.

After a couple of seconds, Klaus decided to strike. "What is your plan here?"

Julia heard no reply from his siblings and eventually realised that his tough and harsh question had been towards her. Slowly, she rose her head up to meet his angry gaze. "I don't have any."

"Don't lie—we know that you're up to something. You always are."

Julia rubbed at her temples, wanting nothing but for the Baudelaires to be gone. She wished she hiked instead of jumping into the truck. "I said I don't and it's not my problem if you choose not to believe me."

This only made Klaus more furious. "Are you serious? We have many reasons why we shouldn't believe someone like you—"

"Yeah I know!" She spat back out. "I heard you making a list over there, maniac."

Klaus scoffed, taking in her anger, being very familiar with it. "So tell us what you're planning with him!"

"I left him and his stupid troupe, okay?" Julia yelled at the top of her lungs, overflowing with disdain. She kept glaring at him, holding his now shaky stare. Julia didn't know if he believed her or not. "I don't want to be near him ever again."
She murmured, now choosing to look away. Julia immediately felt her cheeks flush, her vulnerability out for show. It was hard to hold eye contact with him; she found that he had a tactic of making her unravel.

There was no immediately retort back, which only made Julia feel worse about her. Shouting out her troubles made her feel very worthless; having to scream them out in front of the boy she disliked didn't make her feel any better. Suddenly, the truck had came to a stop—a voice echoed from the driver seat.
"What the gum?" A male voice said in shock. All of them children sprouted upwards, the Baudelaires edged their head to spot the person. Julia did the same, groaning to herself as she took in the man glaring at the Baudelaires and her.

He came closer with his hands on his hips. The person was a bulbous man with dark skin. He wore a cap which had Lucky Smells Lumber-mill on the front. From head-to-toe he was green, due to his uniform which had dust markings and wood shavings on it. "Get a job, hitchhikers!"

The Baudelaires didn't try to beg for help, they had a small inkling that he wouldn't believe them. So they made their way out of the truck. Julia wanted no more but to fight for this spot—to attack the man and steal his keys. However, as she thought of this, an evil face with tall grey hair had appeared in her mind, forcing her to surrender and get out.

The worker then hurried back into his truck, lowering his window to scream, "Shame on you!" He then drove up, speedier than before.
The Baudelaires and Julia were now stranded on an empty road, nothing around them but tall trees and bark.

"What now?" Klaus sighed, staring into the natural abyss awaiting them.

Julia answered him, making a head-start into the trees. "We walk."

Reluctantly, the Baudelaires stared at her figure disappearing into the woods. Their first thought was to find another way—a path different from hers. Though watching her confident strides and unwillingness to rely on the children behind her, they decided to follow Julia into the forest.

The children had walked and walked, their movement had distracted them from the eerie silence that followed. Birds would chirp an outlandish tune while the flies around them would buzz annoyingly, sometimes landing on the Baudelaires' vibrant raincoats.
None of them knew how long it took for them to finally see Lucky Smells Lumber-mill, but it was a great sensation that none of them wished to wear off.
"We almost out of the woods," Violet had called out, a sigh leaving her lips.

However, as each of them drew near to the building—that relief had immediately dissipated. Lumber-mills aren't supposed to be the happiest place on earth—all of them knew it couldn't rival an amusement park or mansion but a bad feeling had still came over them from its sights.
The factory had stood tall, its dark-grey exterior was a haunting sight. Buildings that stood before the factory were placed to the side, though those buildings were in ruins, only the wooden framework had barely survived; it held up a view of what had been. Amongst the floor were piles of ashes that had mixed in with the rubbles, turning anything that once had colour into a melancholic midnight. The only bright hue that conveyed from the area were its tall smokestacks, its patterned white and faded-red had been the thing that caused the Baudelaires and Julia to come here.

Julia stood beside the Baudelaires, just as shocked as the children. Klaus then pulled out the photo of his parents and their friends standing in front of the lumber-mill. He compared it to what stood in front of him. It was a drastic difference—to what looked like a happy area with tall, bright shops with a large banquet on a picnic table in the middle of the image was now gone. Julia glanced over at Klaus's disbelief, putting down the photo as he shared a look with Violet and Sunny. They looked to had the same reaction as him.

Now, the Baudelaires were the first to start walking, with Julia now forced to follow them.
Klaus kept observing the destruction, pushing his glasses up his nose. "It looks like there was a fire here. Everything is gone."

"Not everything," Violet sadly said, staring right at the structure in front of them.

Klaus then sighed out, "Lucky Smells Lumber-mill."

Julia started to chew on her lip, confused on how a fire had started here. Images can only capture one moment, so she knew that it couldn't have represented the entire scene; but she knew that from looking at it that everyone was happy and there seemed to be no troubles. She wondered who would be cruel enough to start a fire. At this thought, she pushed away the visions of the Baudelaires' house and their parents.

Violet then murmured. "Maybe this is where all the clues lead us. The secret safe and the strange photographs at Aunt Josephine's."

"The secret message and the strange statue lady at Uncle Monty's," Klaus added.

Julia's ears perked up at the mention of this. The Baudelaire had now confirmed that they looked through the safe—however, she still didn't know if they had read through the book like she had.
So she remained quiet, wanting know more of their findings.

"Count Olaf," Sunny babbled in baby language. "He's just strange."

"The only thing standing between us and all our parents' secrets..." Violet muttered and stopped at the huge wooden wall that surrounded the lumber-mill. In big, tacky writing were the words LUCKY SMELLS on either side of the huge door which bored the logo of the lumber-mill, matching the one as the logo on the truck.

"—is an enormous wooden wall," Klaus finished her words for her. He then spoke quickly, uneasy about this whole situation. "What if we don't like what we find? Knowing can be a terrible thing."

"But not knowing, isn't that worse?" Violet prompted him.

Julia then stopped beside Violet, agreeing with her point of view. She had agreed with her statement. For her, there was nothing better than to know a whole history about yourself that deemed you more as Count Olaf's relentless daughter. Besides the fact that Olaf seemed to know about the organisation, she knew that if people like Monty and Cecelia were apart of it then it had to be good. She relied on that hope.
Julia wanted nothing more but to erase her past, to rub out her actions like they were words on paper. However, it wasn't that simple. So now she wanted to know everything about the adults' secrets—knowing it couldn't be worse than Count Olaf.
Klaus sighed in return, his head now back to the tall wooden wall. Each of them now trying to figure out how to get past it.
Violet then gently placed Sunny on a wagon of rubble and making her way back to Klaus, tying her hair up with a red ribbon.

"I bet I could invent a catapult to get us over," she offered, the gears in her mind started to move.

Klaus then started to reach into his mind for a solution, his thought process spilling from his mouth. "I read about walls. The wall of Jericho, the Great Wall of China—"

"All I need is a lever, a counterweight and a very large spoon..." Violet trailed off to herself, gazing up at the gigantic wooden barrier.

"—Pink Floyd's The Wall." Klaus then chuckled to himself. "Although Mother wouldn't let me watch that one."

As the Baudelaires were pondering on a way to get over, Julia had decided to try something that required less work. She moved forward and pushed the wooden door, smiling at it moving forward and granting all the children access.
Out of nowhere, she glanced at the Baudelaires with a faint smile—happy that she managed to contribute.
To her surprise, they each gave her one back—even if it was a quick one. Violet then went to go pick up Sunny from the wagon and trudged towards the entrance.

On the inside of the door was a square sign that had bright, bold red letterings that read:

WARNING
TRESPASSERS WILL BE PUT TO WORK

Klaus then glanced at his sister, pointing at the sign. "Does this make us trespassers?"

"Who cares," Julia called out, making her way inside. "We're children."

Following behind Violet, Sunny, and Julia, he had nervously shouted. "Those aren't mutually exclusive!"

Violet then glanced back, slowing her pace to reassure her brother. "If we get caught, we'll just say we were on a school trip. Come on."

Klaus then reached for her shoulder and gave Julia a look. "It's not only that I'm concerned about..."

Violet then nodded, glancing back at the girl who was exploring the area. "We'll figure something out. Now, she has been nothing more but helpful. She opened the door for us."

"That's not that helpful, even Sunny could've done that—"

"Hey!" Sunny barked at Klaus which he replied back in an apologetic way.

"No offence, Sunny," he then sighed, letting go of his sister. "I just don't want to be wrong about this."

"She admitted that she wasn't apart of Count Olaf's troupe anymore and I kind of believe her," Violet remarked. "Maybe she's changed."

With an unsure expression on his face, he had started to keep moving forward. "I wouldn't count on it."

Behind the three Baudelaires, the wooden door had made an unexpected close by itself. The factor had the essence of a lumber-mill, having everything that Julia would expect. There were millions of wooden shavings on the floor, with more piles of wood kept to the side, stacked and held together but a thin string.
The entrance to the workshop was built with metal, another sign of Lucky Smells hung at the stop. In front of them was a large rustic door, with fans scattered on the walls beside it.

Julia then turned around and started to converse with the Baudelaires. She found it strange how easily it felt talking to them. "What exactly are we looking for?"

Violet then spoke, absorbing her brother's hesitance to be beside Julia. "Well—it was like what our father said about fine art. We'll know it when we see it. I think we're in the right place."

"Or the very, very wrong place..." Klaus responded, glimpsing at a towering and lanky building from outside the lumber-mill's wooden fencing. They spotted a familiar eye shape that Count Olaf had on his ankle. Julia took in the structure, unknowing what significance the symbol holds.

"It could just be a coincidence," Violet insisted.

Without any consideration for the girl near him, he spat out. "It could be Count Olaf!"
Julia flinched at the mention of him, not noticing Klaus's nervous gaze at her. He then took in her slouched figure and awkward countenance.
"Maybe we should leave—"

Out of nowhere, Julia felt an unknown weight on her shoulder, fingers wrapped around her sailor uniform. She then screamed, causing the Baudelaires next to her to yelp as well and turn around.
Behind them was an average-looking man in a formal uniform. A tie was wrapped around his neck with a tan jacket covering his broad shoulders. He looked to be about in his late 30s.
The man sighed and spoke in a crisp Australian accent. "Forgive me. I thought you might be trespassers. But now I see you're just children."

Klaus then sighed, a squeamish smile to his face. "They're not mutually—"

"We're on a school trip!" Violet cut him off.

"Right," he remarked, straightening himself. "B-because we're schoolchildren."

The man then smiled, Julia could tell he had friendly demeanour. "Well, this Lumber-mill is hardly a safe place for children. And I should know, I run it. I'm Charles." He introduced himself, his arms held together at his sides like he were a penguin.

Klaus then dug in his pocket for the picture, unfolding it and showing it to the owner of the lumber-mill. "Do you recognise any of these people?"

Charles then took it from Klaus's hands and glanced over it, his previously relaxed features had now hardened. He tried not to make it obvious but kept giving continuous glances from the image to the children. He then handed it back with a shaken appearance. "I think you should go see my partner."

Charles then started to walk slowly towards the building, a frown on his face. Julia then found this a perfect time to interrogate him, hoping he'll have useful information.
"Do you know what happened to the town over there?"

"Well it's a sad story," he informed them. "Paltryville used to be booming. We had a world food market, two hot yoga studios, and there was even talk of a water park!"

The five of them made their way towards a smaller building that already look better than the rest. Its walls were smooth and clean and had four pillars at the entrance; the architect might have wanted it to mimic a structure from Roman times.
Charles continued to talk about Paltryville.
"The name Paltryville was a misnomer. And then one day, the whole town burned down in a terrible fire. Luckily, the lumber-mill survived—and the eye-shaped building, which actually belongs to...oh, look, here we are!"
He then opened the door, leading the children inside.

They were greeted with a cozy environment. Julia and the Baudelaires had thought they walked into a nice cabin, making their way down a short hallway while being greeted with framed artworks of many men working at the lumber-mill, which Julia deemed meaningless.
Charles halted at two wooden doors, opening them with a jolly smile to his face—the same expression a child would have when about to present their show-and-tell item. "Uh, children, I'd like you to meet..."

Inside the room was a fireplace and a desk next to it, positioned towards the corner. The table had many trinkets and papers scattered across the surface. Placed in front of the desk were two comfortable, brown chairs that took up a lot of area.
In the middle of the space was a man who had the same build and outfit as Charles, though a little shorter yet looked to be a few years older. With a cigar in his hand, he pivoted towards the children and spoke in a gruffly manner. "Call me Sir. Everybody does 'cause I tell 'em to. I'm the boss."

The children stared at him in a weird way, slightly intimidated by his presence. They found it strange how different the two men were, even when they just met them. Julia stood there, eyeing him down. She stared at his cigar, hearing its negative side-effects woven into his harsh speech.
"They have to do what I say," Sir grunted out, nudging at Charles. "—even my partner here."

As Sir brought the cigar to his mouth, a small spark of flame emitting from the butt, Charles started to cough.
Klaus then inquired, "Doesn't 'partner' mean 'equal'?"
There was a pause between the two men, glancing at each other as they tried to formate an answer.

Sir then explained, "I do all the work. He irons my clothes."

"I also cook your omelets," Charles scoffed, exchanging a teasing glance at his unknowing partner.

As Klaus stood there, his face scrunching up from the lazy explanation; Julia now knew what Klaus meant by not mutually exclusive. It was conveyed through their definitions of 'partnership'.

"I found them wandering unsupervised," Charles informed Sir. "Poor dears."

"You know what we do with trespassers, don't you, Charles?" He grunted out, keeping the cigar close to his lips.

"They're only children! I thought we could take them in. Give them a loving, normative home."

"Nonsense!" Sir barked out. "I believe you treat children like grown-ups. Put 'em to work in the mill. It'll teach them responsibility. It'll teach them the value of hard work. And it'll teach them how to make flat wooden boards out of trees."

"But Sir—"

He then snapped at Charles. "Don't agree with me, we're partners."

To disrupt the two mens' disagreement, Violet then asked. "If we work in the mill, do we get to stay here?"

"Get to?" Klaus scoffed out at his sister's question.

Sunny then babbled, "stay here?"

Sir then pointed at the baby, eyebrows raised. "This one gets it. In this economy, children are lucky to have a job at all. What's your name young lady?"

Julia and Violet had both spoken at the same time, their names overlapping the other.

"Violet Baudelaire," Violet answered.

"Julia Crowe," she forced out, though liking the change in her name. At this answer, the Baudelaire glance at Julia in confusion.
However, Sir wasn't happy with either of their last names, he pressed his lips together as he gave the two girls a dirty look.

"A Baudelaire and a Crowe," he scowled.

"You know those names?" Julia pressed on, more eager to know about her mother than the Baudelaires' parents.

He then shivered. "Of course I do. Every man, woman and child in Paltryville knows the names Baudelaire and Crowe."

"Why? Did you know our parents?" Violet urgently asked.

Klaus then drew closer, aiming the photograph at his face. "Who are the other people in this photograph?"

"What's with the eye building?" Sunny then asked, each syllable not making any sense to Julia.

She then stepped forward, standing a few inches away from Klaus Baudelaire. "So you knew a woman named Cecelia?"

He then waved away the baby's words. "I don'to now what that means, but if you want to know about those people, they—" Sir then started to gag, pressing a hand to his chest as he coughed out more smoke.

Klaus then snapped, shoving the photo in his pocket. "Every time we're about to get some answers, seriously?"

Sir then picked himself up—with the help of Charles—and waved the cigar around. "Where was I? Oh, yeah. There's a reason this town will never forget those names. They're the very people who burned it down."

All four of the children gasped, glaring at him is disbelief. The three Baudelaires had looked like they were splashed with cold water, shocked at his words. For Julia, it felt like someone had shoved her head into the sea, causing her to drown. Her knees unbuckle as she started to blink through the news.

No, she helplessly thought. It can't be.

Knowing this, Julia's hope had started to grow thin. She had thought that Cecelia was someone to look up to—a person that wasn't like Olaf; a perfect guideline Julia could use so she could finally fix herself.
Now, it turned out that they were the same. If it hadn't been for the thought embarrassing her, she would've collapsed and started vomiting.

Charles had looked stunned by the news, taking in the children's sorrows. He had remained there, standing tall and filled with tension.

"Our parents did what?" Klaus repeated, shaking his head at the revelation.

Sir then shouted, "I'm an important man. Don't make me repeat myself. They burned down the town!"
"They're, um...not anywhere nearby, are they?" He asked nervously, backing away slightly.

Violet then solemnly replied. "They died...in a fire."

Julia didn't want to answer him, knowing that her mother had suffered the same fate. She didn't want anyone else to know what had happened—Julia didn't owe it to the Baudelaires, Sir or even Charles. So like a child trying to hold in a tantrum, she dug her nails into her palms out of anger.

"Good!" Sir barked out, not caring that Violet's expression had fell from his response. "What goes around comes around. It's a terrible thing, startin' a fire."

Sir then turned around and waltzed towards his fireplace, throwing in wooden logs to make the flame grow larger and larger, basking in the heat. Charles went over to go and help him, though shared swift sympathetic glances over at the Baudelaires and Julia.
The four children were stunned, mouths agape as they stared at the man who had ruined their view on their parents. Julia felt a tear fall down her cheek which she aggressively wiped away.

"Why're you still standing there?!" Sir bellowed out. "You got work to do in the morning."

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Down at the dormitory was not what the children had expected to find. To combat their surprise at the lifeless workers barely forming proper sentences, what was inside the building had made sense to them. There were bunk beds lined closely against the other, barely providing room for a person to get out of bed. In the centre of the room were five wooden tables and benches, a few centimetres away from each other.
Dawn had already creeped onto the Baudelaires and Julia as they had tried to settle in, though they figured even in the daylight the room's dark aesthetic would remain.

A stranger thing was that there were no windows in the space—where the only light source they got was from wax candle that were nearly run out of wax.
The people were given food by Charles who offered to prepare small meals to keep them full, just enough so they could sleep without worrying about their growling stomach.

Klaus, Violet, Sunny, and Julia had taken a table towards the door, staring down at their plates of plain bread and bland soup. The Baudelaire had decided to sit opposite Julia, which she tried to convince herself she didn't mind. However, what irritated her the most was the table beside them.

There were three individuals who ranged from ages though all of them looked completely drained. Each of them were covered in stains and was still in uniform. One of the workers there—a woman with her brown hair tied up into an untidy knot started to talk out loud to the two men beside her.
"Did you hear about the new recruits? The Baudelaires," she spat the name out like it were a sin.

"And that Crowe—how disgusting," the man in the middle grunted, itching at his frizzy head of hair. "I heard their folks were arsonists."

The man on the very end who looked to be the oldest out of all three of them then spoke in a slow manner. "I hear they checked out library books and never returned them."

The lady then added, "I heard they drank blood from the skulls of chupacabras."

"You mean they drank from baby skulls like chupacabras," the frizzy-haired man corrected her."

"I know what I heard," the female worker snapped.

Violet Baudelaire then moved her head to face the three workers, a frown evident on her face. "That's ridiculous. Did any of you actually meet our parents?"

The man in the middle then picked up his bread and held it in the air. "I think Jimmy did," he then nudged at his old worker.

Jimmy then looked over at the woman. "Norma Rae is here longer."

"Don't look at me. Look at Cesar," she spat out and rolled her eyes.

Julia was sick of the meaningless words they were saying. She was eager to figure something out, to prove that her mother wasn't like her. "Do you know anything about what happened to this town?"

Jimmy then cooly replied, "We're not allowed to talk about that stuff."

Norma Rae then joined in. "It's too terrible."

"Also we don't know," Cesar muttered, jamming the bread into his mouth.

"Then you shouldn't be spreading rumours," Julia seethed at him, annoyed that they thought they had the right to talk about her mother like that. Also, she further disliked how she got to know nothing more of the town's history.

"I never believed those rumours anyway!" A voice came out from the entryway and revealed a stubby man with a beard covering his entire chin and jawline. He carried a tall pile of files in his hands, setting it onto the table and taking a seat next to Violet. "So...where are your parents now?"

"We're orphans," Klaus glanced over at Julia, hesitating at his answer. The three Baudelaire still never got an explanation of what had happened between her and Olaf, also they started to wonder if their parents and the person Julia knew knew each other. However, they didn't think she owed them an immediate answer.

Julia felt Klaus's eyes and glanced up to meet Phil's gaze, wanting to answer for herself. "It's...complicated, but no I don't have anyone looking after me at this moment."

He then gave her a wide smile, his eyes bulged out. "Lucky you! The unsupervised life: no rules, no curfews—"

A staticky ringing bursted from the white speakers above their heads, emitting a croaky voice. "Lights out. Two seconds."

Julia didn't think it could get any darker, not realising that they were several lamps and lights that hung from the ceiling; they just didn't provide enough luminance. The lights then finally turned off, where everyone could only see each other through the minuscule flames from the candles.
"But it's only six o'clock," Klaus complained.

"Oh, boy, more time for dreaming," the man beamed, then erupted in a wheezing squeal. "I'm Phil, and I am excited to work with you kids."

"Thank you," Violet gave him a small smile. "I'm Violet. These are my siblings, Klaus and Sunny. And uh, that's Julia."

"Listen," Phil's happiness had now drifted into a weaker state, empathy now coating his features. "I...I know things seem dark. But you have to look on the bright side. So your parents burned down towns. You don't have to be like your parents!"
"My parents were Olympic athletes and look at me," he waved at his roundish physique. Julia assumed he was talking at his build before he stated, "I work in a lumber-mill."

Klaus, Violet, and Sunny knew what Phil was. From his unnaturally ecstatic nature and endless words of encouragement—they knew that he was an optimist. Julia had figured that he was someone who was crazy. The two definitions weren't that different.

Phil then reached over to his pile of papers and picked it up, slamming it in front of the children. "Who wants a welcome packet?"
The man then fled, going towards his bed bunk to try to sleep at six o'clock.

Julia's eyes glazed over the welcome packets, picking one up from the pile and flipping through the pages. Some sections of the booklet were interactive, meaning that some parts of it were meant to be taken out. Julia then pulled out a large map in which Violet's eyes glittered over.
Eagerly, she pointed her finger at the map which had a very small building that was labelled Library.
"Look, the mill has a library," Violet smiled to her brother. "Maybe you can research what happened here and clear our parents' names."

Klaus then smiled at the find and decided to get his own booklet, persistent to become as optimistic as Phil. One of the sections had detailed descriptions of machinery used at the mill, with diagrams pointing to certain parts that gave even more further information. He chuckled at the sight. "Look, the mill has machines. Maybe you could invent a way of making wooden planks out of trees faster."

"Are you guys serious right now?" Julia sighed at their odd figments of hope. She hadn't had wanted to work in his lumber-mill, instead what she wanted was answers to all of this. The library sounded like a good idea but Klaus's mention of machinery to help them do a better job made her head hurt. "You shouldn't be sulking around here doing a job that is not even beneficial to you."

Klaus then looked up at her, a frown stitched to his face. "They're giving us free hospitality, it's only fair if we give something back in return."
He knew that what he was saying was a stretch, but agreeing with Julia made his stomach turn.

"Wow what a surprise—Glasses gets deceived once again. No wonder why my father kept finding you," Julia then paused at how she addressed Count Olaf, despair washing her face. The words didn't seem to flatter Klaus either.

"We still don't know why you're here. It's not right to intrude but can you at least tell us who Crowe is?"

Julia's eyebrows raised. She didn't want to start spewing out the information she gave, not when doing this won't solve the conflict between them. As much as Julia didn't want to torment the Baudelaires anymore, saying her inner turmoil out loud didn't sound appeasing. "She's—Cecelia Crowe, the woman that Monty talked about."

The word Monty had made the Baudelaires' posture melt, now sulking in the memory of their guardian. Julia saw that his name had the same effect on many people as it did her. She then kept speaking, not wanting to tell the entire truth. "I wanted to learn more about her so I can make amends with...with him." Julia then felt through her pocket, feeling the cold charm from the bracelet Monty gave her: the letter C.

"You're not with Count Olaf because of this?" Violet asked.

"I grew sick of him and I think he felt the same way about me. There was nothing much going on for myself when spending time with him...and I don't wanna keep doing what he's doing."

This change of heart had surprised the Baudelaires; though they breathed in her sincerity, it was still hard to stare at her without remembering what she had done towards them. Julia looked at each of them, reading their expressions.
"I'm not asking you to forgive me, I just want to get away from him. He doesn't know where I am...I promise you."

Sunny then decided to interrupt Julia's words, pointing at a coupon on the file. "Look. It's that eye building."

The three children then looked over at the piece of paper, shivers running down their spine.
"What does it say it is?" Violet inquired, squinting her eyes at the tiny writing.

"I can't read," Sunny shrugged, chewing on her words.

"Optimist's office," Klaus stuttered. "I meant optometrist's office. Father always said he didn't trust either."

"He didn't trust optimists?" Julia prompted, confused at the opinion.

Klaus then shrugged. "I didn't get it either but I guess everyone has their own irrational fears."

"But what does an optometrist's office have to do with to Count Olaf?" Violet questioned, trying to piece everything together. "Maybe Phil was right. We should look on the bright side. But since we got here, we haven't seen Count Olaf once."

Julia nodded at the observation, enjoying the time away from his presence. Klaus and Sunny couldn't agree more.

"What if the eye really was a coincidence?" Julia suggested, not wanting him back here.

Violet then breathed out a possibility. "What if we finally found a place where Count Olaf won't find us?"

Klaus looked at her with uncertainty, knowing in his bones that would never come true. It radiated off of him and was sensed by Julia, who was very familiar with that feeling too; the memory of Stephano breaking into the house had haunted her every move.

So they let the hope linger in the air, while Julia and the Baudelaires kept investigating the files to see if there was any other important information they could use. They continued this until they thought it would be an appropriate time to sleep.

───── ⋆୨ৎ⋆ ─────

"Is Sunny still asleep?" Klaus softly asked, his cheek planted into the pillow; the boy's attention was at the wall, unblinking even when fatigue hurled at him. Violet swivelled her head over to her side, finding a sleeping Sunny snoring next to her. This tugged a smile from her lips. Slowly, she went back to her side, cheek resting on her cold palm.

"She's dreaming about biting something," Violet chuckled. "Why?"

Julia had woken up from their quiet chatter, though she wasn't actually asleep. The Baudelaires had taken one bunkbed: Klaus on the bottom bunk while Violet and Sunny were propped on the top. Julia was beside them on another bed, which Phil had eagerly taken the top.
Her eyes had been glued to the wall, a storm of mixed emotions had forced her awake. Every slow blink had made her switch to another thought, pondering with a strong vigour; however, all of them had been about Cecelia.

Julia felt like the world was ending, that there was no way for her to be a better person. She had thought that Cecelia was the solution to her mess—an opportunity to live a better life. Now, she was all alone, spending time with three siblings who didn't want anything to do with her and a father who didn't even bother looking for her after her mysterious escape.

Hope had started to fizzle out, which now bombarded her with helpless wonderings on what to do now. She didn't want to stay in this place forever. Now, as sleep failed to chase her, Julia had wondered what had happened to those specific dreams she had that revealed small figments of peoples' pasts.
It had first deluded her—made her feel like she was going insane. Now, she figured that it gave her a push to start a new journey instead of mindlessly going after the Baudelaires.

The woman who grappled at her still didn't strike any familiarity. All she knew was that she had black hair and had wisdom about the choices she was going to make. Julia didn't believe in the supernatural or symbolic signs, but she found it interesting how now when she was without Olaf the dreams had ceased.

Julia's ears then perked up at Klaus's mumble. "What Sir said about our parents. You don't think it could be true—"

"Of course not," Violet immediately responded.

Klaus then crossed his arms. "Then you know what we have to do."

"Of course. Clear their names," Violet confidently said.

"—Get out of here," Klaus spoke at the same time, taking in her opposing stance. "Wait, what?"

Julia then gulped at their disagreement. Right at this very moment she understood Klaus, she was thinking the very same thing as him. However, Violet's persistence had made her look up, hoping to catch the girl's eye.
The girl with brown hair then continued talking. "If we clear their names, maybe we can finally get some answers."

"Maybe they wouldn't want us here," Klaus interjected.

Violet retorted briskly, "Then they shouldn't have left us alone."

At this remark, Julia closed her eyes and shifted towards her side, not wanting to face Klaus and Violet. She didn't think that the mention of the Baudelaire parents would ever make her feel indifferent. What she had committed was a cruel and unforgivable crime, that she deserved relentless punishment. Now, they managed to haunt her profusely just from the mention of their name. She wished that this turmoil would fade away, that all the thoughts in her head would disappear and for her to be unconscious forever. At this wish, Julia then fought for sleep.

Klaus scoffed quietly, a frown now evident on his face. "You know that's not what they did."

There was a slight pause before the eldest Baudelaire spoke. "I'm sorry. I know it's not their fault. And I know you're just trying to be cautious."

Klaus then started to move from his side to his back, sadly staring at the wooden planks above him. "I guess we're not seeing eye to eye."
The boy had sucked in a breath before continuing his words, struggling to utter his next sentence. "I wish they were here. Our parents."

Julia pressed her hands to her ears, wanting to nothing more than to just disappear.
Violet then sighed out, "I know. I don't like this place either, but staying is the best way to find out what our parents were hiding."

"The best way to find out would be to ask them." The boy with glasses then pushed himself upwards, now sitting on his bed. His eyes locked onto a window that looked to be of the night sky, the moon illuminating over the darkness below. However, if you look close enough, anyone could see the stroke marks from a crayon. It was a drawing—a beautiful interpretation of what the outside world looked like. Klaus seemed entranced by it as he muttered, "But we never can."

Luckily as he said these words, Julia had fallen into a deep sleep. If she were to have heard him, the girl would've never been able to close her eyes and let her thoughts roam freely, knowing that it would only torture her with their memory.
As Klaus continued to stare at the illustration, picking at its faint indentations that revealed to be from accidental human scratch marks—Violet had dozed off into a slumber.

No one knew how long Klaus had stayed up that night, but if he did manage to fall asleep, the dreams he had raced at the moments with Bertrand and Beatrice Baudelaire; a state where he could pretend that they weren't dead.

───── ⋆୨ৎ⋆ ─────

Many mornings are spent with being showered with delicate kisses from the sun and a greeting from your butler, serving you breakfast in bed. However, most of those mornings are experienced by children who have parents.
On the other hand, the sound of metal pots banging together had reverberated across the small dormitory, its aching noise blasted from the intercom. The voice from last night then came out, screaming at the drowsy group of workers.
"Get up, lumber workers! This is your new foreman, and you've got a new shipment of logs to turn into flat wooden boards!"

Immediately, the Baudelaires and Julia jolted upwards from the cacophonous sound, their fatigue had turned into alertness. Julia rubbed at her eyes as she groaned out, already annoyed by this lifestyle.
The bunk bed beside her had Klaus sat up, adjusting his glasses on his nose. Violet had pressed her hands against Sunny's ears, afraid that the banging would create irreparable damage to her baby sister's hearing.
"What's that horrible noise?" Klaus shouted, his voice barely audible from the banging.

"It sounds like someone banging metal pots together," Violet forced out, suppressing a yawn.

Julia then got out of bed, glancing over at the welcome pack on her bed side table—containing a fresh pair of the Lucky Smells uniform. She then stared at the Baudelaires, seeing that they had already changed. It was now only Julia who didn't wear the correct dress. Fighting against the sea of workers, she shoved them to the side as she went to the bathroom, quickly changing into her new clothes. Julia didn't want to look at herself in the mirror, knowing that she'd look the same as everyone else.

Her previous sailor outfit had been dumped on the ground, pockets still full. Julia stared at the pile, biting down at her lip as she crouched to retrieve the items in the dress pockets. There was the half of a spyglass, shining under the bathroom light. After lightly fiddling with it, she shoved it into her pocket before pulling out the charm. Julia's expression had lightened up, glad that she still had it. The girl made sure to keep this close, not wanting to lose it.

Exiting the bathroom—not caring that she left her past costume on the floor—she got swallowed back into the sea of workers. Apparently the Baudelaires didn't get too far in the line, as Julia could see Klaus's straight wisps of hazelnut hair. She then inched closer, not caring that she stepped on peoples' feet and shoved someone in the face.
Phil's jolly temperament came crashing down on the children, behind the three Baudelaires and Julia. "I believe everyone has a good side. But I have to admit, our last foreman was a lot nicer," the optimistic worker stated, swinging his arms back-and-forth like a kid.

As they left the dormitory, being splashed with smokey air, Klaus turned around and asked, "What happened to your last foreman?"

"He must've quit in the middle of the night," Phil shrugged. "It happens a lot around here."

"Hurry up!" The foreman demanded, his voice harsh but strangely familiar to Julia's ears. "It's log day."

"I hate log days," Julia groaned under her breath, crossing her arms as she followed the Baudelaires  down to the warehouse.

As they entered the huge building, the children were met with many different kinds of machinery, ranging from mediocrely small to towering mechanisms. To the Baudelaires' and Julia's lack of surprise, there was bark scattered all over the floor with wooden planks and giant logs filling up the area. All the workers trotted in a robotic way, as if they had already gotten used to this sad routine. Each person immediately went to a spot, knowing exactly what to do.

Violet's and Klaus's eyes trailed over each section of the warehouse, not knowing where to go and start. However, Julia's attention was at a small, squarish box that seemed to hold a person inside. Through the glass, she could make out a tall man with a black gas mask on. In front of him was a microphone, making Julia suspect that he was the new foreman.
"Now grab a debarker and start debarking," the foreman coldly said, his eyes pointed towards the children. "Especially you—lumber midgets."

The foreman aimed his head at the line of workers towards the middle of the room. At the front of the line was a rectangular dispenser that was labelled in black writing: Debarkers.
Quickly, the children joined the line, watching as the people in front of them pulled a lever down in order to retrieve the item.

Klaus gazed up at the machine and slightly shivered, forcing himself to pull down at the rusty lever. What came out was an L-shaped piece of metal with a squarish hole in the middle that was bigger than his head. Violet and Julia did the same thing, pulling the lever to retrieve the equipment and proceeded to follow Klaus.

The job wasn't fun at all. In the past few hours, Klaus, Julia, and Violet had been using the debarker to shave down the outer skin of the log. Using an incredible amount of force had tired them out quickly but there wasn't any chance that they could have a break.
If one of them had stopped to catch their breath, the foreman would immediately call them out through the intercom—then receiving dirty from their co-workers afterwards.

Sunny, however, had an easier job than them. Due to her shockingly sharp teeth, she glided on the piece of wood, making pieces of wood fly off from the sides. What was worse was that her log looked so clean and neat while the other childrens' were uneven, regardless of how much work they put in. Julia would roll her eyes at the action, wishing that she could do the same thing.

Finally, the foreman called out, "Lunch-break, lumber slowpokes!"

At this announcement, the children made their way over to a row of benches at the back of the building, sitting down and breathing heavily. Julia had slumped beside Klaus, fighting the urge to collapse onto him. Throughout her life she had been doing chores and training, yet this was the worst thing she has ever done in her life.
"I hate log days," Klaus sadly said, staring down at the floor.

"I told you," Julia spat out, rubbing off the sweat on her forehead.

Violet then rolled her shoulders and held Sunny closer to her chest. "We finally get a break."

"Even I'm tired of biting things," Sunny babbled, earning a nod from Klaus and Violet.

"Lunch break," The foreman spoke loudly through the speaker. "Five minutes!"

With a wooden tray in Cesar's hands, he started to hold it out for the other workers where they grabbed a small piece of something pink. "Oh, boy, five whole minutes!" Phil smiled and happily threw the thing into his mouth.

The wooden tray was then handed to Violet, showing off pieces of gum lined in rows. Julia scoffed at this sight.
"It's gum," the girl drawled, staring at it with disdain. "This is gum."

Klaus then shook his head and glared at the workers. "Gum isn't lunch. It's not even a snack."

"It's not very filling, but it's all they'll let you eat until dinner," Phil informed them, the smacking of his lips getting louder and louder.

Violet's eye furrowed. "Can we use our wages to buy some sandwiches?"

A chuckle left Phil's lips, leading for Cesar to stare at her in disbelief. "Lady, we're not paid on wages."

"We're paid in coupons," Phil explained.

Norma Rae then added, "I got one for 20% off a shampoo at Ed's Haircut Palace."

"I got a free refill of iced tea," Cesar said.

Jimmy then spoke, "I got Buy two banjos, get one free. 'Course I can't buy any banjos 'cause I don't have any money. Just coupons."

The four children stared at them in shock, though it was Julia who looked more pitiful of their situation.
"That can't be legal," Violet pointed out.

"It's not like we have a constitution," Phil laughed out loud.

"If this place is so miserable, why don't you leave?" Klaus asked.

Randomly, all of the workers stood up and stared at the wall behind the children. Their shoulders were rolled back and posture straight—as if they were reciting a pledge. They all spoke in synchrony. "Lucky Smells in our life. Lucky Smells is our home."
Then as if nothing had happened, they all sat back down again with their regular expressions planted on their faces.

"Holy shit," Julia whispered to the children beside her who were too stunned to even say anything back.
Violet and Klaus then turned themselves around, eyes wide open and lips parted.

"We need to find those answers and get out of here, fast," Klaus urgently said.
Violet and Julia nodded, the four of them leaving the table and making their way out of the warehouse.

───── ⋆୨ৎ⋆ ─────

They entered the same cabin that Charles had introduced them to, finding that the library they needed to go to was just opposite Sir's office. With a map in Klaus's hands, he then said, "According to the map, the mill library should be just behind...behind this door."

Julia then nodded and pulled open the two wooden sliding doors, revealing bookshelves upon bookshelves which seemed to be only filled with books that had the exact same spines. In the middle of the room was a table with a taxidermied beaver on top of it.
Suddenly, the sliding of doors had erupted from behind them, revealing Sir and Charles.
"Trying to get out of log day, are you?" Sir barked out, holding his cigar near his chin.

"We wanted to visit the library on our lunch break, sir," Violet replied.

"Oh, what a lovely idea!" Charles beamed. "I told you a library would be good for morale."

"Nonsense." Sir brought the cigar to his lips and breathed in the tobacco. "Lunch breaks are for chewing gum, not sneaking off to libraries—that's why you only need five minutes."

"But sir—" Charles tried to interject but failed.

"You're not gonna cause trouble for this mill, are you?" Sir questioned out of anger.

"Trouble?" Charles squeaked. "I'm your partner."

Sir then rolled his eyes and threw his hands out at the children. "I'm speaking to the Baudelaires and the Crowe!"

"—Right."

Sir then pointed at each child with a firm look on his face. "I took a chance on treating you like grownups. Don't make me regret it, now get back to work!"

The man with the cigar then retreated back into his office, leading a trail of smoke to follow behind him. Charles then sighed and looked at the children like they were lost puppies. "You'll have to excuse Sir. He recently cut down on the smoking."

Julia couldn't believe how Charles was letting himself be manipulated by this man; it made her think of her relationship with her father. She then angrily asked, "Do you know he feeds the workers gum and pays them in coupons?"

"Yes, well, I've tried to discuss that."

Julia then proceeded to scold him. "If you guys are partners, you should be able to stand up to him!"

"It's complicated." Charles placed his hands on each wooden door. "I know Sir can be prickly, but you have to understand, he had a very terrible childhood."

"I understand," Klaus forced out, watching as Charles slowly slid the doors shut. He then walked forward and glared at the man through the small opening left between the doors. "I'm having a terrible one now."

"Okay," Charles whispered before closing the doors shut.
Julia watched as Klaus's body shrivelled up softly, a strange feeling now overwhelmed her, making her rub furiously at the back of her neck.
Drenched in disappointment, the Baudelaires trudged down the corridor and out of the room, with Julia following closely behind.

───── ⋆୨ৎ⋆ ─────

This had meant the same routine had now fallen onto the Baudelaires and Julia—their energy wiped from the endless pushing motion when it came to shredding off pieces of wood. Julia had started to put more force into the action, glaring down at the metal.
The library was now off-limits for them and the chances of them getting near it were near-to-impossible. It was a huge convenience that Sir's office was right next to their destination.

The three children were sharing one huge log, with Julia propped to the right side while Klaus and Violet were on the other end. Sunny was working on another log by herself. Klaus was staring intensely at the wood, a faint glimmer in his eyes. His sister immediately noticed it.
"You're thinking someone," Violet called out, which made Julia turn her head over to them.

Klaus then said, "It's the new foreman. Phil said he just showed up last night. What if he's Count Olaf and being a foreman's his new disguise?"

"He's as cruel like Count Olaf, but Count Olaf runs a horrible theatre company, not a lumber-mill."

"But isn't it suspicious how we never see his face?" Klaus prompted, causing Julia to respond.

"He's right," Julia motioned over to Violet, earning her gaze. "I don't know what it is about him but he just seems so familiar—in a bad way."

Klaus then nodded towards Julia, glad to see that she was thinking the same thing. "And we only ever hear his voice over the loudspeaker."

"The mill is noisy," Violet retorted. "Besides, it's probably the only way anyone could ever hear him. I know what you're trying to do."

"Keep us safe," Klaus said sternly, looking harshly at his sister. Julia backed away slightly, not wanting to get in the middle of their argument.

"No—find a reason to leave," Violet corrected him. "And we will, I promise, as soon as we clear out parents' names!"

The boy then paused before waving his debarker in the air, avoiding his sister's eyes. "I...I need a new debarker."
He then retreated, making his way off of the platform and down to the dispenser.

This left some alone time for Julia and Violet, in which Julia chose to indulge in conversation.
"He's right—Violet, there's something fishy going on here and I don't like it either."

"I didn't say there wasn't entirely," Violet battled back, a sigh leaving her lips. "This lumber-mill is hiding something and our parents are connected to it. We owe it to them to clear their names, Julia."

"As much as I don't wanna take your brother's side, getting out of here sounds like a good idea." Julia's eyes gestured over to the co-workers. "I want to clear Cecelia's name myself but there is nothing much we can do. That stupid, useless old man is blocking the only way we can get information—no one in this dump knows anything, and if they do, they're refusing to share it."

Violet then took this into consideration, pressing her eyes shut. "I know you're right but the idea that Count Olaf is here doesn't make sense. He can't have known where to go—we all managed to sneak off without him knowing."

Julia then glanced over at the foreman's box, looking at it accusingly. "Whoever is under that mask can't be Count Olaf—trust me, I would know." The girl then sighed, pressing her lips together in fury at the old memories with him. "However, I still wouldn't go near him with a ten-foot pole."

Violet could sense Julia's disdain, watching as it radiated off of her with no trouble. This pulled an apologetic expression on her face. "About Count Olaf—I'm really sorry."

Julia's head swiftly faced hers, her face now morphed into a mix of feelings that she couldn't name. "It wasn't your fault—or Klaus's and Sunny's. To be honest, I should be the one apologising to you three."

"Him being near us was already horrible enough, okay?" Violet inched closer, her eyebrows furrowed. "But you having to live with him constantly, I just can't fathom what you had to go through."

What she had said made Julia's heart flutter, an acknowledgement to the pain that her father had caused her. Feeling seen by Violet Baudelaire made her gulp and look away. As much as the girl's words made Julia feel less at fault, there was still the reminder of the massacre at the Baudelaire mansion. She didn't have the courage to bring it up.
"You didn't deserve that."

Violet smiled at Julia's attempt at words, her hand reaching for her wrist. "Neither did you."

The unexpected grunted from Klaus Baudelaire had pulled both Julia's and Violet's attention away from each other, then landing on the boy who was on the ground and the foreman who stepped on his glasses. Immediately, the two of them ran towards the Baudelaire.
"Klaus!" Violet screamed, landing on her knees beside her brother. "You're glasses, they're—"

Julia stopped a few inches behind her, her eyes then going into the foreman in his box. They met in the heat of the moment and Julia swore that the man looked stifled at her appearance, as if she wasn't meant to be there. Before Julia could run over and give him a piece of her mind, a circle of workers had closed in on her—their eyes glazing over at Klaus.

"Twisted," Jimmy grunted out, finishing Violet's sentence.

"Cracked," Cesar spat out.

Norma Rae then joined in. "Hopelessly broken."

Phil then forced out a smile, a thumbs-up in the air. "That look A-okay to me!"

Klaus then pushed himself up, grabbing his broken glasses beside him and placing it on his face. The lens had many cracks in it, making it almost impossible to see through when put on.
Violet then gushed out in shocked gasps," The foreman kicked him and stepped on his glasses!"

"How could I kick him when I'm up in this booth?" The foreman questioned, a wicked smile hidden beneath his mask. "It was probably karma."

"I'll show you karma!" Julia yelled ferociously at the man's forced aloofness. She felt huge arms wrap around his waist which seemed to be Phil's. As much as she tried to claw her way out of them, the strong grip held her back.

Klaus then looked at Julia's angry state and blinked several times, astounded by her reaction. Violet then came closer to him, staring into his eyes. "Can you see?"

"A little," he muttered softly, holding the handles of his glasses.

The foreman then bellowed out, "He'll live. Now get back to work! Especially you—traitor," he glowered at Julia who was glaring back at him.

After a few seconds, Phil let go of her and made his way to the foreman. "He can't work if he can't see! He needs an optometrist."

The foreman then pushed himself further into the box, not wanting to converse with the man about his subject. Phil then shimmied over to Klaus. "Lucky for you, we've got a great one right here in what's left of our town."

Klaus then asked, "You mean the building shaped like an eye?"

"Oh, yeah. Dr. Orwell treats all the workers." He then slapped Klaus on the shoulder, giving him a friendly shake. "You probably saw the coupon in your welcome packet. I better get you there—"

As Phil started to walk off, Julia started to shake her head. "Don't be an idiot, you're basically walking into a trap."

"I'll be fine," he forced out, adjusting his glasses. "Maybe I can find some answers, for you too."

Violet then sighed, nodding at his suggestion. "Maybe we'll find some answers, too."

Julia then took a step closer and felt her hands go numb at what she did next. She placed a palm on his shoulder and gave him a stern look. "Stay safe, glasses."

"That nickname might not fit me anymore," Klaus pointed at the broken pair on his face. Julia didn't know if he sounded annoyed or amused. "Might need to think of another one for me."

"Are you softening up to me, Baudelaire?" Julia chuckled, as much as she wanted to sound confident—the words came out shaky and gooey.

At her words, his eyes didn't explore her face like it usually did—the look that made Julia question if he was pitying her scars. Instead, the boy looked straight into her eyes and smiled softly. "I need to go—optometrist calls."

She nodded and quickly pulled her hand away, watching as he followed Phil out of the warehouse. Julia then walked towards Violet, sheepish grin on her features. The eldest Baudelaire noticed this scene and nudged at Julia's shoulder. "You two seem to be getting along."

"He—he doesn't have the right to," Julia rolled her eyes as they made their way back to the logs. "Klaus has every right to still be angry at me—and you too!"

"I already told you," Violet then grabbed Julia's hand. "You don't need to ask for my forgiveness."

"Thank you," Julia breathed out, a fuzzy feeling enveloped her heart and held her tongue.

"Now let's go find some answers," Violet pulled her hand away to go and retrieve Sunny from the log.

"You mean?—"

"The library? Then yes." Violet then started to rush out of the warehouse with Julia quickening her pace.

"But Sir—"

"We'll just have to be quick then."

───── ⋆୨ৎ⋆ ─────

Stepping back into that library had been a startling experience. However to Violet's and Julia's surprise, there was no sign of Sir or Charles. Both sliding doors to both opposing rooms had been left open, granting them an easy access without creating any noise.

With Sunny propped to Violet's chest, she heaved out an exhausted sigh as she tried to keep her arms from shaking. Julia was beside her and only had her eyes on the rows of books.
"We better hurry, before the foreman realises we're gone," Violet blurted out, her eyes glancing over at Sir's office. "Or before Sir gets back."

"Right," Julia nodded in response, wiping away wood shavings from her chest. As the Crowe made her way to a shelf, Violet placed Sunny on one of the arm chairs before assisting Julia.
The Baudelaire started to trail her fingers on each title, taking on the same title and symbol from each book.
"They're all The History of Lucky Smells Lumber mill."

"Who would want so many copies of the same book?" Julia scoffed out, calling out to Violet from the other side of the room. She then pulled one out and looked at the back of the book, finding Sir grinning back at her devilishly; it seemed that her question had been answered.

The two girls took one book and placed it on the long, wooden reading table, Violet quickly opening it up. It had many pages with the words to be in a very small font, which pulled a sigh out of Julia.
"This is gonna take forever."

Violet then started flipping to the front of the book. "Well, whenever Klaus reads a long, difficult book, the first thing he does is reads the table of contents."

The contents page had a long list of chapters with page numbers beside it, indicating where the information starts. Julia's eyebrows rose at this discovery. Immediately, she pointed at the centre of the paper. "Chapter 12. The Paltryville Fire."

Swiftly, Violet grabbed a huge chunk of the book and flipped it to the other side, eager to find page 321. When they landed on the exact page, they were met with disappointment. The words had been crossed out with a black marker; Violet then read out the only readable phrase left.
"The Baudelaires and Cecelia Crowe were unequivocally responsible—the rest is crossed out," she drawled, turning to Sunny and back at Julia.

The Crowe didn't like this at all, an urgency taking over her. She bit the side of her cheek as she ran over to get another copy of the book, slamming it onto the table and searching for Chapter 12. "This one is crossed out too," Julia spat out.

This then became the girls' mission. Both Julia and Violet were picking out random copies and opening the books up to Chapter 12, hoping that the page wouldn't be crossed out. After several minutes of relentless searching, Violet's eyes bulged out at the sigh of a clean page—where every word was legible. "This one's not crossed out!"

The Crowe sprinted towards her, glazing over what Violet found. A drop of adrenaline had fuelled her to celebrate out of joy, her mouth wide and a smile present as she prepared herself to read the whole paragraph. However, the sound of a door opening had forced Violet to gasp and rip Julia away, then taking Sunny and making them hide behind the arm chair.

Heavy footsteps had stopped to where the library was. Julia then peeked her head out to find a cream-coloured suit make its way into the room, taking in a glimpse of a hand with a cigar in it. She tried very hard to not scream out of frustration and fear.
The man looked shocked at the piles of books, his pace slow as he glared down at every page. He then spotted one that looked cleaner than the others—his hands reaching over to turn it to face him. Worry then coated his features, his eyes darting around the room before ripping the page out of the book, folding it in disdain.

A voice then came ringing out, "Sir, your goat cheese and beef jerky omelet is ready!" It was muffled and hard to understand, but the children knew that it had come from Charles. Sir then warily pivoted his stance and started making his way out of the library, shoving the piece of paper into his pocket.

Violet then gasped for air, who apparently had been holding her breath the whole time. "We have to get out of here."

Sunny then babbled out, "Found something."

Violet's and Julia's eyes scanned over the book next to Sunny, it was an extremely thick book that had a dusty cover. It read: Verified Functional Dictionary.
Julia's eyes squinted at the letters in bold, being reminded of the organisation. Suddenly, everything started to make less sense at the weird use of the acronym.
Violet, however, cut off Julia's thinking and said, "A dictionary. But why are you showing this to us? You can't read."

Sunny then kept tapping at the front cover, babbling something else but was failed to be understood by Violet. The action was however clearly communicated to Julia. The girl then opened the book to find a short phrase at the centre of the page.

In every library, there is a single book that can answer the question that burns like a fire in the mind.

As Julia read the passage, she found it to be very beautiful. The person who had wrote this had found a way to woven the perfect set of words to encapsulate a feeling that she could never ever name that stilled at the bottom of the heart. She trailed her fingers lightly at the edges of the paper.

Violet's breathing had changed and grown more intense, causing Julia to look at her. "Are you okay?" She asked her but was met with no response. The Baudelaire had instead trailed her hands over the passage, her thumb caressing the swirly L's and confidently closed loops of the O's; the idea of who wrote it had already settled into her mind, however as she snatched the library check-out card, it had only confirmed her thinking.

At the very bottom of the card was a name that the children were very familiar with. Violet then read it out softly, like the letters would break if she spoke in a harsh way, "Bertrand Baudelaire."

"Da-da!" Sunny then shouted out, causing Violet to wipe away a tear from the corner of her eye. As the girl continued to read over the name again and again, each time it pulled a chuckle out of her.
Julia could only just sit there and observe the sweet moment, selflessly ignoring the drowning feeling that occurred inside of her. Whatever she did to find peace in Violet's and Sunny's happiness, all she could be reminded of was the brutal death of Bertrand Baudelaire; the scene had only solidified the possibility in her mind: the Baudelaires cannot find out what she did.

From the room across where the children were, Sir was smoking a cigar on his desk. Charles then came over and set down a cup of tea in front of his partner, a frown on his face. "They're good children," he pointed out, giving Sir a look of disapproval. "I don't see why we have to lie to them. The truth is right there in your book."

"Not anymore," Sir coughed out through the cloud of smoke covering his face, pulling out the ripped page from his blazer pocket. "I had it redacted."

Charles gasped out, "Sir, you defaced your own book?"

"I didn't have a choice!" Sir barked out and stood up from his seat, waving the piece of paper around as he got closer to his partner. "Charles, we made certain deals to keep this mill open. And if she wants us to cover up the truth and blame the fire on the Baudelaires and Cecelia Crowe, well...that's the cost of doing business."

Julia, Violet, and Sunny popped their heads out to peek at the two men, the hairs on their necks standing up from Sir's words.
Charles then sighed and asked, "Is it really worth it?"

The two partners were only a few centimetres apart, their breaths clashing with each other. Sir's tone had lower and turned incredibly soft, his eyes locked on Charles. "This mill is all I have, Charles."
He then scrunched the page into a ball and threw it into the fireplace, causing Julia's hands to turn into fists.
"And you—" Sir placed a hand on Charle's shoulder. "Of course I have you."

From the hand placement, Charles had started to move his head closer to Sir's face but immediately paused at the man's quick retreat; the Australian's eyes had dilated as he watched his partner leave the room.
"How could he—" Julia muttered angrily, pointing over at the fireplace as she stared into Violet's eyes. "Violet—that was all we had."

The Baudelaire then sighed as she pressed her lips into a firm line, not knowing what to say or do.

However, as the three children quietly sulked at the predicament, they miss the quick movement from Charles as he swiped the piece of paper from the fireplace, unfolding it as he blew on his fingertips.

───── ⋆୨ৎ⋆ ─────

"I'm sure he'll be back soon," Phil reassured the children as Julia and Violet stared at a spot in the wall. It was very dark out, which they assumed since they had no access to windows. The three children found it easier to sneak out of the building and not get caught by Charles. When they stepped out, they felt a cold breeze wash their face, their eyes gazing up at the dark sky that was sprinkled in stars.

Now it had been several hours since that and there was still no sign of Klaus. Violet had been staring at the doorway for some time, thinking that the next moment she would see her brother waltzing through it. Julia, however, had been worrying about something else.
She would fiddle the C charm in her pocket as her eyes remained on the table, disassociating and thinking about Cecelia. From Sir's words, it had confirmed that the Baudelaires and Cecelia weren't exactly involved.

However, their names were still clearly on the book and it haunted her. She wanted so badly to see living evidence, to read any jumble of words that formed a clear sentence that states that it wasn't Cecelia's fault. Julia would only ever believe it if she saw it; the blood that stained her hands may rub off if Cecelia wasn't deemed to be a horrible person.
However, she wished so badly that she could ask Cecelia herself—to have a proper conversation with her. Julia had never heard her voice before, or heard her name roll off of her mother's tongue. She wondered what it would sound like; Monty had provided a beautiful description of her that Julia indulged in through her imagination, nevertheless, she so wanted to feel it.

Phil absorbed the childrens' state and pointed to his set of cards. "Why don't you two play a game of solitaire to pass the time?"

In response, Violet had gazed out into the fake window—where an uncanny resemblance of night sky was drawn on instead.
Phil then said, "Violet—"
The girl jolted from her trance. "That's not a window." Phil then stood up and sighed, a smile still barely hung from his face. "Lights out."

After he said this, the lights and lamps were turned off, leaving Julia and Violet sitting in the dark. Beside them was Sunny who had already succumbed to sleep, in which Violet wrapped the girl in a thick blanket. She then patted Sunny's head and smiled at her.
Julia was still staring at the table, her hand switching to from the charm to the spyglass.

The sound of footsteps approached, alarming Julia from her thinking. The wooden door had creaked open and introduced a silhouette of a young boy without glasses.
"Klaus?" Violet asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

Julia didn't speak out his name, the words held back at the sight of him. It was strange that there wasn't a pair of glasses that sat on his nose but what she found to be disturbing was his chilling stance and face of indifference.

The eldest Baudelaire stood up and ran to her brother, her sadness now replaced with relief. "We were worried! You were gone so long."

A pause was left by Violet as she got a proper look of him, taking in his lack of glasses and expression. "You're not wearing your glasses," she lightly pressed him. "Are they still being fixed?"

Without an answer to her question, Klaus Baudelaire had coldly moved away from her and made his way to the Bunkbed. Out of confusion, Violet kept asking his questions. "What was it like inside the eye? Klaus?"

The boy then halted and turned around to meet his sister's eyes, a smile now on his face. Violet's face morphed into uncertainty and said, "You're smiling."

"I'm happy to be here, sir," Klaus said in a monotonous tone.

Violet was stunned at the nickname. "What? I'm not Sir. I'm your sister."

Julia then butted into the conversation, standing up and nudging him on the shoulder so he could face her. As she got a better look at him from standing so close, it was like the chance of any emotion to seep through had been eradicated.
"Hey? Glasses—say something."

Klaus stood there and continued to smile and said, "Of course, Sir."

"Do I look like a Sir to you?" Julia scoffed, continuing to nudge him harder in the shoulder. "You know—when you were having the time of your life at the Optometrist's office, we were risking getting caught by Sir," she spat out, a sickly feeling taking over her. The way he gazed at her with no eagerness to react had made her grow colder. "We heard Sir talking to Charles—"

Klaus then moved away from Julia and sat on his bed, causing the girl to raise her voice at him. "He said he made a deal to cover something up!"

"Shh—" someone grunted out from their bed, earning a slight sneer from Julia that was mainly directed to Klaus. The boy then laid down on the bed and stared at the wooden ceiling.

"Are you even listening to me? That means your parents might not be involved in this," Julia blurted out, annoyed that he didn't give a response—not even a retort. "Klaus? Klaus!"

Julia then felt a hand on her shoulder, turning around to find Violet shaking her head. "What the hell is wrong with him?" She cried out, her brows furrowed together.

Violet's eyes then glazed over her still brother and sighed. "Maybe he's had a long day," she then faced Klaus and asked him, "Would you like to go to sleep?"

The boy then closed his eyes and replied in a dry tone. "Yes, sir."

"Your shoes are still on—Klaus?" Violet remarked but got no reply; the boy seemed to have already fallen asleep. She then started to pull Klaus's shoes off as Julia scoffed.

"Who the hell does he think he is?!" She mumbled ferociously as she watched Violet untie Klaus's shoelaces. "He can't just waltz in here at nighttime, mute, and have no reaction to any of our words."

"He's probably tired," Violet quietly responded, taking off Klaus's boot and moving onto the next one.

"Tired?" Julia retorted. "We were searching endlessly in that stupid library and trying to find good news about his parents while he does nothing!"

Violet then snapped, "I was the one who wanted us to stay here."

Julia then pressed her lips into a line as she backed away, fearful of Violet's sudden anger.

The eldest Baudelaire then kept scolding her. "Klaus has been out there for a while—of course, he's tired. Procedures can take up so much energy. Stop with your vendetta against him, it's not helping any of us!"

"I don't have anything against him, Violet—"

Violet cuts her off. "Are you sure? Because from what I saw before, you didn't even try to greet him. Instead, you kept shoving him and demanded for a response. You know how draining that is?"

"He wasn't saying anything, what did you want me to do?"

"You're being so loud!" Jimmy cried out which earned groans of agreement from the other workers. Violet then sighed from their response and glared at Julia.

"Just go to bed."

The Crowe then clenched her teeth together at the command, her eyes squinted shut as she turned around and jumped onto the bed, throwing a silent tantrum. Julia drowned herself under the sheets and made her back face Violet and Klaus.

Out of anger for the Baudelaires and unwanted self-hatred, Julia fell asleep.

───── ⋆୨ৎ⋆ ─────

"Get up, lumber labourers!" The Foreman's voice screeched at the workers, forcing them awake. Julia's face was slightly puffy from last night's sleep, making her extremely grouchy. Many people had already gotten out of bed and left the dormitory, eager to work and look forward for their piece of gum.
"Lucky Smells had no time for dawdling!" His voice kept crying out, which woke up Sunny. "Klaus Baude-lair, would you like to get out of bed this instant?"

Klaus immediately rose out of bed, scaring Julia and made her fall out of hers. "Yes, sir!" He exclaimed, happily getting up and climbing up the bunk-bed.

"Would you like to bring your baby sister?" The Foreman asked him directly through the speaker which blossomed a suspicion in Julia, who was rubbing at her eyes. Klaus obeyed and quickly grabbed Sunny, making his way out of the dormitory.

"Klaus?" Violet sprung out of bed, taking in the view of him following the crowd of workers leaving the room. Julia then shoved her shoes, hopping after the boy as she struggled to put the other boot on her foot. Her eyes then trail over his feet, finding that he was only wearing socks.

"What the hell..." Julia muttered, finally managing to put both shoes on her feet. She then started to chase after the boy. "Klaus!"

Julia had caught up to Klaus and was walking beside him, pointing her finger at his shoulder for a response. To no surprise, he kept looking forward and didn't speak.

"Lucky boy!" The Foreman's voice carried over to Klaus and Julia. "It's wood chipper day. Would you like to make some mulch?"

It seemed that the Baudelaire only responded to the Foreman's request, climbing up the steps towards the shredder. With Sunny still in his hands, he pulled the lever which made an unearthly noise rip into the air. There was a tub of long wooden planks beside him, where he grabbed one and would throw it into the large tub, watching its wooden pieces fly out and get demolished.

Julia ran up the steps and stole Sunny from his hands, hearing the baby's insistent cries. It was Julia's first time holding a baby and she really struggled with it. Though, as she slumped against the weight, Julia tried to straighten her back and hold Sunny close to her chest. "What is your problem?! You're scaring Sunny!"

Behind her came Violet who glanced over at Julia trying to hold Sunny properly. They locked eyes and Julia immediately gave her back to her sister. Violet's attention then went to Klaus.
"Klaus! You're frightening the three of us, what's going on?"

The male Baudelaire didn't utter a word back. He kept on doing his job in a robotic manner, grabbing a piece of wood and chucking it into the shredder.

"Stop it and we can leave!" Violet grabbed a hold of his wrist, which finally caused him to halt.

"Lucky Smells is our life. Lucky Smells is our home," Klaus responded, no emotion on his face.

"No, it's not!" Julia spat back. "A home is where people take care of you, not make you work in a mill for gum."

Violet's face grew sadder and sadder as she stared at her brother. "I should've listened to you when you wanted to go. If you're still in there, I want you to know I miss you an inordinate amount!"

It was as if a switch flicked inside him, the once oddly still and unblinking boy was now vigorously checking his surroundings. Phil then appeared behind the children and pulled the lever, turning the machine off.

"Inordinate?" Phil cried out. "What...what the heck does that mean?"

Julia had been meaning to ask the same thing, wondering what on earth that word meant.
Klaus—the book-worm he is—had explained.
"It can mean many things. Immoderate, irregular, but in this case, I think it means you missed me a lot."

Violet's head swivelled back to her brother, her eyes widening at his returned state. This pulled a smile out of her and Sunny. Julia still held her breath, finding it hard to believe.
"Klaus," Violet breathed out. "You're back!"

"Where was I?" Klaus chuckled out, his head then going to his feet. "Why am I not wearing shoes?"

"So—so you don't remember acting like a complete zombie?" Julia prompted, stepping closer to him as she breathed in his expression, the one that didn't convey indifference.

"Zombie?" The boy shook his head. "What are you talking about?"
Immediately—to confirm her suspicions—Julia started to poke him relentless in his chest which caused him to grab at her wrist in annoyance. "Julia—stop!"

Julia immediately paused and gazed at him with wonder. She then glanced back at Violet, her expression now giddy. "He's back! Violet, he's really back."
The girl didn't find any anger inside her that would usually lash out if Klaus told her off, nor did she feel uncomfortable at how his hand wrapped around her wrist; it all felt really good.

"Can someone please tell me what is going on?" Klaus sighed out, his grip on Julia growing loose.

"I don't know what's going on here, but we need to—" Violet tried to answer him but was immediately cut off by the Foreman's voice.

"Baude-lairs!"

The Baudelaires then glanced over at the box where the voice rooted from. However, Julia tried to speak. "Something—something made you act very weirdly and—"

The Foremean interrupted her again, "I'm talking to all of you—lumber brats!"
Finally, this caught all of their attentions, making Julia pause and glare at the box. "Go to the very fancy door. You have visitors."

The children each gave each other surprised looks, finding that the idea of visitors had grown foreign to them. However, curiosity had gotten ahold of them and made their pursue their chase, guiding them down the stairs and out of the factory.

Making their way down, they spotted Charles standing in front these two large wooden doors, nervously fiddling with his clothes. His eyes then met theirs, a smile painted on his face. "Ah, children! Now, I know your time here hasn't been peachy, but your luck is about to change."
Charles then reached into his pocket and pulled a colourful fruit out, "Because I brought you...this peach!"

Julia then hesitantly took it, and held it in her hand; neither one of the children were impressed with the gift.
Klaus then asked, "But who's visiting us?"

"Oh, I don't know!" Charles said. "But they can't come inside because that would be trespassing and then they'd be put to work."

While Charles was explaining this, Julia noticed drool dripping onto her shoulder, grimacing at the youngest Baudelaire staring down the peach. Immediately, Julia shoved it in Sunny's mouth to stop the saliva from escaping.

Charles then added, "But I can tell you they are just on the other side of that very fancy door."
He pointed to the other side of the mill, an alleyway that was built from wooden logs stacked together had been leading to his vibrant yellow door. Above it had a sign that said: Visitors Area.

The children then made their way down the alleyway, their eyes locked onto the door. The description of the door was deemed correct by Baudelaires and Julia since it looked very fancy. The double-doors had a smooth wooden border surrounding it, while the doors itself had 10 small square shapes lined up even, around it were these silver gems that illuminated greatly.

As they drew closer and closer, the Baudelaires and Julia finally stopped—just a few inches away from the door. They had many questions in their head like: How can the factory afford these kinds of doors? Why hadn't they've seen this before? Who is behind these doors?

If this narrative wasn't a series of unfortunate events, maybe what happened next wouldn't have struck fear down the Baudelaire children and Julia. There was just something so oddly sad about the Baudelaires tale—how no good things ever lingered its way through.
However, many people around them were still able to breathe in the bliss of fortunate events. An example of this would be a family finally reuniting with each other. A set of parents—a formidable couple—had been away from their children for unknown reasons. They were insistent of reaching their children that they were willing to fly across Lake Lachrymose and fight a group of thugs with a stick typically used for billiards.

And it has offered. As they opened the bright yellow doors, they found their group of children—specifically a set of triplets—a few steps away from them, where they all embraced each other in a series of hugs and kisses.

However, that sort of fantasy doesn't occur in the Baudelaires' and Julia's life. So when the doors started to open, the childrens' minds were overflowing with ideas of who might be on the other side.
Though, none of those that popped into their heads were the ones that should've been considered. As a matter of fact, the children had missed a question that they should've been asking from the very start: Where is Count Olaf?

Two tall figures were stood at the door, moving closer and closer. Julia froze at the sight—taking in the view of one unfamiliar lady and a man in a woman's costume. She held at her stomach as she fought the urge to not vomit. The woman—well, man—had wore a tight, pink blouse and a flowy skirt, hair rolled and pinned back into a pleasant hairstyle. What made Julia the most disturbed was the extremely red lipstick that stained the lips of the lady in front of them, moving closer with a pair of glasses in her hands.

She then stepped forward and placed the pair onto Klaus. Julia glanced over to find that he had realised what was going on and who was in front of him—Violet and Sunny found it easy to see through Count Olaf's disguise.

"My, my, my, my, my!" Olaf uttered in a high-pitched voice. "Aren't you a lucky boy?"

Julia scoffed at the nickname, trying to find something positive that could made the horrible situation less suffocating. However, Julia's eyes locked onto Klaus's stance—how it immediately stiffened from the sentence.

"Yes, sir," Klaus replied, a smile now replaced his shocked expression.