Chapter Five
The next morning, Violet Baudelaire woke up. It was still very early, and when she looked out the window, she couldn't see anything much further than one of other wards of Addams Asylum, as fog shrouded everything. Looking at the antique clock, Violet realized how early it was. She got up as her siblings slept and put on her clothes. The room was big enough for the four of them, with two beds for Klaus and Violet, and one bed that was enough for Sunny and Beatrice, and a bathroom, and a walk-in closet. Violet grabbed her coat and silently exited the room. She remembered that the sugarbowl was still in the motorcycle, in the secret compartment. Treading through the dark asylum at that hour of the morning in autumn was harder than it sounded. When Violet made her way to the main door at the entrance, it was locked. Frustrated, she decided to look for the keys in the adjacent reception booth. There were no nurses around and no one was to be seen. Violet jumped over the counter and knocked over a flashlight that fell to the floor with a metallic, loud sound. Violet was deeply scared, and stood completely still for a few moments, expecting Nurse Ratched or Dr. Finch to show up, but neither did. She picked up the flashlight and turned it on; it was still working. 'Good. Now I can look for the keys.' Violet carefully examined the receptionist's counter, and she noticed a semi-open drawer. Opening it, Violet found a bunch of keys. 'Jackpot.' Violet said. She picked up the keys, and kept the flashlight. Jumping back over the couch, Violet headed towards the door. Before opening it, she took a moment to analyze the door and see if there were any alarm systems connected to it. An alarm would wake up everyone at the Asylum, and she wouldn't be able to get back to her room before she got caught. There was no visible alarm system, so Violet Baudelaire decided to try the keys.
Violet tried several keys, until a silver key worked. She opened the door, and the chilling air of the outside invaded the entrance of Addams Asylum. She was thankful for having her coat; the coat Rusty had given her. Still, it was very cold, and she had forgotten her gloves. 'Brr.' Violet said. She walked a few steps towards the gate of Addams Asylum, and saw her motorcycle behind the gate, in the entrance. Stopping in the middle of the front yard, she turned back and looked at every window of the asylum, to see if she was being watched. Seeing nothing, Violet walked towards the gate. She picked the largest, oldest key and used it; the gate opened instantly. Not believing her strike of luck, she quickly made her way to the motorcycle. She examined it; it hadn't been touched. Opening the secret compartment, she removed the package contaning the sugarbowl. It was small enough to fit inside her coat without calling too much attention but if anyone decided to take a good look at her, they would notice the bump the sugarbowl formed. Violet noticed the tank was half-empty. This reminded her of a time when her father showed her a glass with half as much water as the glass could contain. He then asked her whether to her the glass was half-empty or half-full. Violet then responded; 'Half-full', to which her father replied; 'Very good, Ed. You are an optimist.' Ed was the nickname Violet's father had for her, after Thomas Edison, a famous inventor. Now, all Violet could think was the tank was half-empty, and she wondered if she would ever think anything was half-full in her life again. 'Mental note; find a gas station in Ophelia as soon as we get out of here.' Violet said to herself, as she retraced her steps and locked the asylum's gates behind her. She headed for the ominous building, now barely visible as the fog had thickened.
Heading back into the Asylum, Violet locked the door behind her, and carefully jumped over the counter again to put the keys in their place, but decided to keep the flashlight. She would probably need one if she wanted to find Cindry, and this gave Violet an idea. As she climbed the two flights of stairs in the main hall, she heard two voices whispering above. She walked up a few stairs and stealthily hid behind a corner. 'We will begin my plan today. I'll need the help of
you know who.' Said a female voice Violet recognized as that of Nurse Elle, the newly hired nurse of Addams Asylum. The other voice, a male voice, replied, 'Of course.
They will be glad to help you. If we suceed,
she will be very pleased when we hand her the girl and will see fit to reward us.' Violet recognized, to her shock, the voice of Dr. Finch. She covered her mouth with her free hand to not let out a whimper of dark surprise. She knew there was something a little off with Nurse Elle
and Doctor Finch, but she never would have guessed they were in league working with her. Who was this 'she' they were talking about? Violet guessed that the 'they' refered to either the Addams siblings, or the Sanity Squad. But Audrey seemed very wholesome and level-headed, and Violet did not want to believe that kind woman was in league with whatever plan Nurse Elle an Doctor Finch were cooking up. 'Well. It is time for the inmates to be awakened and let out of their rooms for their sun bath. Go have breakfast, we'll meet later.' Nurse Elle said. Violet heard steps, and just when she expected Nurse Elle to walk right by her as she was almost at the top of the staircase, Nurse Elle walked past the stairs towards the eastern area of the asylum, somewhere Violet had not yet been to. She heard Dr. Finch's heavy steps walking away, and from the noise, she could tell he was headed to the northwestern part of the asylum's second floor, where Natalie and Nathan's room was, along with the room where she and Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice were staying.
Violet decided to wait a few minutes before heading to her room. She carefully treaded the hallways and held her flashlight nervously. It was
very dark at that hour of the morning in the asylum, and all lights were out. Violet's thoughts went to the darkness inside Montague Manor, a large estate that belonged to an eccentric, yet valorous volunteer. Violet only felt relieved as she arrived at the door of her room. She opened and entered; Klaus was up, and Beatrice and Sunny were just waking up. 'Violet, where have you been?! I woke up with the sound of you closing the door, and when I went outside, to check the hallway, you were gone!' Klaus said. 'I went to get the sugarbowl. It was still inside our motorcycle. We
really shouldn't leave it where anyone can take it. But, something else happened when I was coming back.' And then Violet told Klaus and the drowzy Beatrice and Sunny about the exchange she had overheard. 'So Nurse Elle is up to something...And since they mentioned a girl, we can only assume that Cindry
is here, and that they are supposed to
hand her to a woman. Esmé?' Klaus pondered. While it was not entirely impossible, Esmé Squalor still hadn't shown up to make the Baudelaires' lives miserable again.
'I don't think so, but it could be. When people talk of Esmé, they generally use her name. She is
that hard to forget.' Violet said. Her least favorite person in the world, now with Count Olaf dead and gone, was Esmé Squalor, and Violet would
never forget her. Neither would anyone who ever met Esmé Squalor. 'You're probably right. Couldn't Esmé be Nurse Elle though?' Klaus asked. 'They share the same height.' Klaus added. 'They do. I don't know. I think Esmé doesn't know where this asylum is, or even if she does, she would never guess we were here. It was the Sanity Squad, and not her, that brought Cindry here.' Violet said. 'Ambulance.' Beatrice said, using a word which here meant something along the lines of 'They did run away when the Sanity Squad's ambulance arrived at In'N'Out Burger.'
'You're right Bea. I guess not every dreadful person in the world is connected to Esmé.' Violet said, sitting down on her bed. 'Here's what we're going to do. We wait for nightfall, and then we search for Cindry's cell. If we are granted permission to visit her today, then probably some way or another we can find out where she is confined, and I know where the keys are. There were a
lot of keys in that drawer, I wouldn't be surprised if they opened every door in this place.' Violet said. 'I think Dr. Audrey or Dr. Arthur would give us permission. Dr. Finch is the problem.' She added. 'Yeah, I don't trust him either. Remember how creepy he was in Dr. Arthur's office? Gave me the chills.' Klaus said.
'Still, we must ask them for permission to visit Cindry.' Violet said. 'Let's just wait for a while, then we can...' Violet was interrupted by a knock on the door. Walking slowly towards the door, Violet asked, 'Who is it?'
'It's me, Dr. Audrey. It's time for breakfast.' Said the voice of Dr. Audrey Addams. Violet opened the door, and was surprised to see Doctor Audrey with her shoulder length auburn hair loose, without so many hair pins. Despite the dark circles around her eyes, Audrey was very pretty. 'Come, Baudelaires. We have bacon, eggs, and many other things for breakfast. Let's head to the cafeteria. 'Sure.' Violet said. The Baudelaires followed Dr. Audrey, and after descending to the first floor, they ran into Nurse Ratched and Dr. Arthur, who were talking. 'There's no point in letting the patients out of their rooms and cells for their sunbath if there is no
sun.' Nurse Ratched said, while Doctor Arthur looked deeply annoyed. 'I know, Mildred, but we can't keep them
in at all times, can we?' The nurse spared a disdainful look. 'They shouldn't even be allowed to be out in the open. Remember what happened years ago?'
'As if any of us could forget'. Dr. Audrey said, surprising Nurse Ratched. 'Doctor...I didn't see you there. You almost scared the life out of me.' Audrey sighed. 'Let's not exagerate things, alright, Mildred? Also, Arthur, will you join us for breakfast?' Audrey asked turning to Arthur. 'In a moment, sister. I've a ton of things to do this morning, I haven't time to eat now.' Audrey frowned. 'You have to keep your strength, Arthur. If you continue to sleep only two hours a night and don't eat anything, you'll waste away, and I don't want that fate for you. Let's go, Baudelaires. I want to introduce you to some of our patients.'
'Patients?' Klaus worryingly asked. 'We're going to meet the patients?' Audrey responded in a calm manner, 'No, just some of them. Don't worry, they're all on their meds, nothing will happen.' Audrey said, leading the Baudelaires away from Dr. Arthur and Nurse Ratched. 'There are Lisa, Susanna and Mr. Maillard, who are not at all dangerous. Well, Lisa
can be dangerous, but she's on medication, there's nothing to worry about. I work with them everyday, you know.'
'We believe you, but couldn't we just have breakfast by ourselves?' Klaus said. 'I don't mean to be rude, by the way, but I don't feel particularly thrilled right now.' Audrey laughed. 'For such a smart kid, Klaus, I could swear you would look past other's mental conditions.' Klaus then spent the rest of their walk to the cafeteria.
As they arrived to a set of double, revolving doors, Dr. Audrey said, 'We're here.' And she opened the doors. The place was empty save for three people, a blonde girl, a short-haired brunette girl and a gray haired, middle aged men that set in the same table as the two girls, but several seats apart from them. They were eating with plastic utensils; forks, spoons and knifes, they were all plastic, and the plates were of paper.
'Lisa, Susanna, Mr. Maillard, these are Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice Baudelaire.' Dr. Audrey said to the three lunatics. Susanna and Mr. Maillard looked at the Baudelaires. 'It's
Doctor Maillard, Doctor Audrey. You forget I work here.' Audrey smiled. 'No, you don't, Maillard. You're commited here. You worked here, but now you are an inmate.' Mr. Maillard said nothing, losing any interest in the conversation. 'Are they new patients?' Susanna asked. 'They don't look crazy.' Audrey sat at the table, making a gesture for the Baudelaires to do the same. 'No, Susanna. They are merely visiting a relative of theirs here, and are staying here for the time being.' Susanna then frowned. 'So they get to leave, and I don't?' Audrey sighed. 'No, Susanna. You're not cured yet. You still have to stay here until we see any progress, progress you're not making.' Susanna crossed her arms and looked aside, clearly disgruntled by Audrey's answer. 'It's not fair. I signed myself in, I should be able to sign myself out.'
'You signed yourself into our care, and now we are taking care of you.' Audrey said. Susanna looked at her. 'It's
still not fair.' Audrey then shifted her attention towards Lisa. 'Lisa, how are we doing today?' Lisa had wicked smile on her face, and she stared at the Baudelaires. Then, she answered Audrey. 'I don't know about you, Dr. Audrey but I'm still the same mess I was yesterday and will be tomorrow.'
'Don't say that, Lisa.' Audrey said. 'So, let's eat, shall we?' Audrey asked the Baudelaires, who nodded in agreement. As they rose from their seats, Natalie and Nathan Finch materialized behind them. 'Good morning, Baudelaires.' the Finches said in unison, scaring the Baudelaires to death,
figuratively. 'Damn it, Natalie! Nathan! I told you to stop that horrible custom of your father's to creep up other people!' Audrey yelled. Nathan and Natalie smiled. 'Sorry, Doctor. We just wanted to be polite.' Then, hand in hand, the Finch siblings went to the breakfast buffet. 'I
hate it when they do that.' Audrey let slip. Then, Audrey called the Baudelaires to the buffet, and they each filled their plates with their favorite breakfast foods. Just when they were about to sit, they noticed Natalie and Nathan sharing the same plate of food, two tables away, while still holding hands. Natalie used the knife, and Nathan, the fork, to eat. 'Dr. Audrey...' Violet whispered. 'Yes?' Audrey whispered back. 'Why do Natalie and Nathan almost
never let go of each other's hands?'
'Oh,
that... It's unsettling, isn't it? I love my brother, but we don't even hug we are so different.' Audrey said while putting a waffle on her plate and covering it with a bit of whipped cream. 'Natalie and Nathan were raised here in this Asylum, but they were raised
separately. They never saw each other until their going to Prufrock Prep. I don't know why Dr. Finch would choose to raise his children that way, but that's what he did.'
'When was that?' Klaus asked. 'Well, three years ago. Natalie was thirteen, and Nathan, fourteen. When they came back after being expelled from school, their mother, she...She had gone insane. She was commited to this very asylum, and died shortly after their arrival. She was found in the ruined ward. Electrocuted.' Audrey whispered. 'Don't tell my brother what I just told you. He would tell Dr. Finch and that's the last thing I need, more confrontation with him.'
'But that's...
awful!' Violet whispered. 'Yes, it was. It was a mystery shrouded death. No one knows how she escaped from her cell and got into the ruined ward, or how she electrocuted herself, but...Nevermind.' Audrey interrupted her narration, as Dr. Finch, Nurse Elle, Dr. Arthur and Nurse Ratched arrived at the cafeteria. They all sat at the same table, two tables away from the three patients' table, in the opposite end of the room to where Natalie and Nathan enjoyed their shared breakfast. 'Whatever you do, don't mention this...
Specially to Nathan, Natalie, or Dr. Finch.' Audrey warned them. 'They tend to...over-react when confronted with what happened to Agnes.'
'Agnes, was that Dr. Finch's wife's name?' Violet asked, Audrey nodding afirmatively in response. 'You can go sit at that table. I have to seat with my brother, to arrange for you to meet your relative. Who is she again?'
'Cindry Fulfillment. She was brought here by the Sanity Squad.' Klaus answered. 'The Sanity Squad?' Audrey seemed surprised. 'Gee, sometimes I forget they even work here. They spend most of their time in the basement, working with our most dangerous inmates. Anyways, see you later.' Audrey then took her plate to Dr. Arthur's table, and the Baudelaires decided to sit in the table next to the three patients' table, thankful to be left alone for a while. 'Did you hear that? Apparently the Finch family has their fair share of skeletons in the closet!' Klaus whispered. 'Are you kidding? This whole place is an enormous closet
filled with skeletons.' Violet whispered in return. 'This place just keeps getting worse...As soon as we learn where Cindry is, let's get her, and then get out of here,
pronto.' Violet said. The Baudelaires were very excited to talk about what Audrey had just told them, but to their great dismay, Natalie and Nathan Finch appeared right next to them. 'Come sit with us, Baudelaires. Aren't we
friends? Nathan said. The Baudelaires froze. 'We never have any company for breakfast. Come sit with us.' Natalie added. 'Actually, Natalie, Nathan, we'd prefer to stay here, if you don't mind.' Violet tried to say as politely as she could, but the expression on Natalie and Nathan's faces was of a contained, disguised anger. 'You don't want...to sit with us?'
Nathan said. 'You...don't
like us?' Natalie added. 'It's not
that, it's just that you seemed perfectly comfortable by yourselves.' Klaus observed. 'You
must sit with us.' The Finch siblings said in unison. 'Now, now, children. Leave the Baudelaires alone, alright?' Said Dr. Finch, appearing right behind Natalie and Nathan. 'Father...' Again, in unison, said Natalie and Nathan. 'Go back to your table.' Dr. Finch ordered. Natalie and Nathan walked back to their table and resumed their shared breakfast, once in a while turning back their heads to eye the Baudelaires.
'Forgive my Natalie and my Nathan. It's just that they haven't been around people their age in a while since their expulsion from school.' Dr. Finch said. 'I'll leave you alone.' Dr. Finch returned to the staff's table. The Baudelaires noticed Susanna, Lisa, and Mr. Maillard whispering unnintelligible nonsense. The air inside the cafeteria was now heavier, and the Baudelaires needed fresh air. Violet noticed another door on the opposite side from the entrance, and pointing to it, she along with Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice went outside for a breath of fresh autumnal morning air.
'Where are you going?' Dr. Audrey shouted from the table, while the others were distracted by a story Nurse Elle was telling. 'To catch some fresh air. We'll be right back.' Violet shouted back. The Baudelaires went outside, and caught their first breath of fresh air in a long while.