Chapter Twelve
The word
power has many meanings and interpretations. Power is a powerful word, and it's power is such that whenever the word power is used, people realize power can be a good or a bad thing. This is the case with political power, hierarchical power, and is
certainly the case with electric power. Because, electric power can be used for good things such as used by a volunteer in disguise to search an entire asylum for evidence of the Baudelaires' visit and the events that followed, in which I do have to say the volunteer in question was quite successful or else these very words would not have been written - and you, dear reader, would be doing something a lot more pleasant than reading this dismal story of the Baudelaires - but electric power can certainly be a bad thing. This was very much the case with the generator that was inside the room marked with the lightning bolt in the Addams Asylum map. When they arrived in the room, the Baudelaires were
shocked by three things. One, was the enormous generator in the room, with two large metal wires coming out of it, and beams of electricity rising up between the two wires in regular intervals. The generator was connected to a machine on a table, a table which was beside a bed, on which an unconscious Cindry Fulfillment laid. This was the second thing that shocked the Baudelaires. The third was the presence of Natalie and Nathan Finch, who were dressed as a nurse and a doctor. They had their backs turned to the door, and didn't see the Baudelaires come in; but the Baudelaires
saw them, and they realized Natalie and Nathan were
playing doctor.
'Doctor, the patient needs drugs. Or else she won't survive the high voltage of the electroshock therapy machine.' Natalie said, as if playing a nurse in a theatrical play. 'This is the only way to rid her of her insane and deranged obsessions. From what I read here, the subject presents severe obsessive behavior regarding useage of dinnerwares.'
Then, the Baudelaires noticed that Nathan had the
Fulfillment File; they
had stolen it! 'Doctor, how high should be the voltage?' Nathan smiled grimly behind his doctor's mask. 'One thousand volts. You know. The usual.' Natalie also smiled behind her mask. 'Yes, Doctor.' The two siblings approached each other slowly, but Violet had taken a step back and made noise when she bumped the door; the Finch siblings faced the doorway, their eyes encountering the Baudelaires'. 'You! What are you doing here? This is our secret room!' Natalie yelled, furious with the interruption. 'Natalie, it's okay. They can stay...and
watch.' Nathan said calmly, which, strangely, had a bigger effect on the Baudelaires than one would have imagined. Realizing what they were about to do, Klaus took an angry step in the Finches' direction. 'You're damn wrong if you think we'll stand idly by and do nothing while you torture a friend of ours! My...My
girlfriend!' Klaus shouted. It was the first time he ever used the word, but it felt official, even if all they did was exchange a few kisses, one time at Anwhistle Aquatics, then several at Casanova Casino, then never again.
'Oh, how very
heroic.' Natalie said, disgusted. 'We don't
plan to let you go anywhere. You
will watch this.' She said, grabbing the syringe, and with no preparation whatsoever, pierced the fair skin of Cindry's left arm, and injected whatever what was inside into Cindry's blood stream. Cindry frowned in her drugged sleep, as if she could feel the pain. Klaus charged at Natalie, but Nathan stood in front of him. He held an electrified electroshock therapy node.
One touch and Klaus would be doomed; the room was largely dominated by an enourmous puddle of water; an
excellent conductor, a word which here means 'something you'd rather stay away from if electricity is involved'. 'Don't you touch my sister.' Nathan said. 'Melanie. Sigmund. Carl. Phillipe. Ivan.' Nathan said. The Baudelaires were bereft, as they wondered who those people were, and their questions were answered in the worst possible way. Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice were
grabbed by four different people they couldn't see; people who had been standing behind them the whole time. 'The
Sanity Squad!' Violet said, whimpering as a large man held her in a tight grip. She couldn't see his face, and she couldn't turn her head to look, but she did feel the man breathing down her neck. A cold sweat broke on Violet's skin, as well as that of her siblings. Klaus still debated and tried to get out of the holder's grip; but one of them, a woman, according to her shape - they all were peculiar masks and goggles - approached him with what looked like a gun. 'Don't make me shoot one of these on your forehead, because I will.' The woman said. Klaus stopped, and the woman lowered the 'gun'. 'Trancquilizer darts are no laughing matter.' The woman said, breaking into a contained, but cruel laughter immediately afterwards. 'Nice to meet you, finally. Dr. Finch told me of you Baudelaires. I do
adore children.' She said.
'We have other guests with us tonight. Don't we, Melanie?' Nathan Finch asked the woman. She turned her head to him. With the lights on, they could see her raven black hair and her pale skin. 'Of course. They're right outside. Come in, Doctor Finch, Nurse Elle.' Dr. Finch and Nurse Elle entered the room, appearing from behind the Baudelaires and the Sanity Squad. 'Have you cured her of her insane obsession with breaking dishes yet? I don't have much time, there are urgent matters in Ophelia I must attend to.' Nurse Elle said. 'Nurse Elle, we haven't started yet.' Natalie said. 'This better work, Finch. Or else
she will be
very mad.' Nurse Elle said to Dr. Finch, who stood still right beside her, eyeing the disturbing scene that was Nathan and Natalie each by Cindry's sides. 'Oh, this will work. Now, Nurse Elle. Why don't you stop
acting? There is no more point in doing so. Arthur is dead, and he is the only one who knew of your
ties to...' Nurse Elle froze upon hearing this. 'Do
not speak of my
ties in front of
them, Finch!' Nurse Elle said, furiously. 'But now that you mention it, yes. It
is time to stop pretending.' Nurse Elle then removed her eyepatch. She had not lost an eye, as she had said before. Her right eye was still there, but, unlike her left eye, it was
brown. Using her index left finger, she
touched her left, blue eye. The Baudelaires squirmished, but then, she removed what they were realized was a blue contact lens. Nurse Elle then removed her nurse hat, and what the Baudelaires realized was a blonde wig. I do not have to tell you who she was, in fact, as you have probably guessed, but I will say what the Baudelaires shouted out next as they saw Nurse Elle's true identity, shocked, not only because they had considered it earlier, but because they were
right!
'
Esmé Squalor!' The three eldest Baudelaires shouted out in unison, except for Beatrice, who uttered '
Cruella!' which probably meant something along the lines of 'Esmé Squalor!'. It was, indeed, Esmé Gigi Geniveve Squalor, and not a nurse named Elle, that was indeed, Nurse Elle. Esmé looked at the Baudelaires with the usual contempt, and then turned to the Finches. 'Let's hurry along. Be careful though. Fix her, don't break her, or we're all dead.'
'Turning voltage to one thousand volts!' Natalie said, turning the machine's button to one thousand volts. 'Electroshock therapy machine ready.' Natalie added. 'Good. Let's put a protector so she doesn't bite her tongue off.' Nathan said. Natalie proceeded onto opening Cindry's mouth and putting a strange object which stuck out of Cindry's mouth, keeping it semi-open. 'Now, let's begin.' Nathan applied the two electric nodes to both sides of Cindry's head, and when they touched her skin, a disturbing electric noise was heard; Cindry's eyes opened and went to the top of her eye sockets and she contorted her whole body, which was bound by a straitjacket and belts and buckles that kept her tied down.
'Nooooo! Cindryyy!' Klaus screamed, horrified at what he was seeing. Seeing your beloved ones submitted to such torturous treatment is just as much torture; Violet, Sunny and Beatrice closed their eyes, but Klaus just couldn't. He saw his beloved's unconscious body being electrified; Cindry's blonde hair was raised; two round bruises formed near her forehead. 'Stop it! It is enough!' Esmé Squalor shouted, and Nathan stopped. 'This ought to cure her off her obsessive mania.' Dr. Finch said. 'I'm not so sure.
She died here didn't she?' Esmé said, clearly talking about someone else rather than the previously mentioned 'she' or Cindry. 'Yes, she did. But she couldn't be helped.'
'I'm not so sure of that either. Now remove her belts and buckles. I'm taking her with me. She'll get proper rest where I'm headed.' Esmé Squalor said. 'Where?' Dr. Finch asked. 'Not any of your business. This has nothing to do with
us, this is about
me now.' Esmé said, her arms crossed as she walked over to Cindry's bed and examined the girl. Cindry's muscles still twitched and contracted from the electrical shock. 'One of you. Take her upstairs. I'll be leaving soon.' She said to the Sanity Squad. The largest, the muscular man who held Violet, released her and proceeded to removing Cindry from her bindings; taking her in his arms, he left the room, followed by two other men of the Sanity Squad, who held Beatrice and Sunny. The last man then released Klaus, saying 'Do not attempt any funny business, mister.'
'Esmé! You've really outdone yourself this time! How can you be so cruel?' Klaus protested. Esmé looked at him with the usual contempt, but now a flame of hatred and an old grudge burned behind her eyes. '
Cruel? You haven't seen
cruel, Baudelaires. When I'm
cruel to you, you'll be able to tell the difference.' Dr. Finch then turned to Esmé. 'What do we do with them?' He asked. 'Well...The asylum is empty now. Let's just lock them up in one of the cells and leave. Your job here is done, and so is mine.' Esmé said. 'Are you sure you don't want the
files?'
'Files?' Esmé asked. 'Yes.' Dr. Finch said. 'Yes. Give them to me. I need to burn them.' Esmé Squalor said. 'And what file is that?' She pointed to the Fulfillment file, laying next to the electroshock therapy machine. 'The Fulfillment family. The map of their factory and their shop. Their family tree, profiles on Ferdinand, Victoria, and...'
'Father!' Nathan interrupted. 'What is it, Nathan?' The Baudelaires were
deeply frustrated. They knew Cindry's father was the brother of Ferdinand and Victoria Fulfillment, Cindry's uncle and aunt, whom they met not long ago, and who were either missing or dead. Not knowing exactly what had happened to them was as frustrating and exhasperating as not knowing the name of Cindry's father, because
everytime they were about to hear it, some sort of interruption took place. The Fulfillment was a family filled with mysteries, many more than the Baudelaires could ever suspect, mysteries to which all answers lied in a single file; the Fulfillment File, which Esmé Squalor now held in her hands. They wanted to read it as bad as they wanted to storm out of that room and rescue Cindry
and Audrey Addams, whom as far as they knew was still lying unconscious upstairs in Dr. Arthur's office, but they knew, just like they knew they were in
deep trouble, they had very little chance of doing so.
'We want to follow Miss Squalor in her mission.' Natalie said. 'Follow me?' Esmé looked curiously at the Finch siblings. 'I suppose that is allright, as long as Esmé is in the same page.' Dr. Finch said. Nathan and Natalie looked eagerly at Esmé Squalor, and the Baudelaires confirmed how bad a parent Dr. Finch was, but I'm afraid, in reality, the nature of Dr. Finch's relationship with his son and daughter is
far more disturbed than the Baudelaires, who had had such loving parents, could possibly fathom. 'Well. I
could use more assistance. Felix has returned to Luck Island, for the reading of his father's will, and he will be there for a while.' Esmé said. Felix Casanova was
The Chameleon, a master of disguise who had helped Esmé in her every scheme so far. He was also the former lover of one Lars Gabriel, a valuable sailor the Baudelaires had befriended, and whom they missed deeply. When Lars was with them, they had a friend, and they saw a father in Lars, in a level, too. Their minds wandered off to where on earth all the good people they had met so far had gone to. Lars, Charles, Elizabeth Anwhistle, Wayne, the Boreas sisters - Juno, Jane and Jessica -, Colette, Kevin, the camp kids, and Sookie, the kind waitress who was fired from In'N'Out Burger after years of service - to her
grand luck -. Thinking of good friends you miss might make you miss them even more, but it was the only thing keeping the Baudelaires on the edge of sanity in that moment. Because, in dark times, all we have is our memories, and if we don't hold onto them as hard and whole-heartedly as we can, we might lose them, and in turn, ourselves in the chaos of trouble.
'You can return to your father after my final assigment has been accomplished, of course. Although I do have to say, Carmelita won't be pleased.' Natalie and Nathan then looked very surprised. 'Carmelita
Spats? You know her?'
'
You know her?' Esmé Squalor asked, surprised at this. 'Yes, from Prufrock Prep. We attended the school, but we were expelled. Carmelita was our friend.' Natalie said. 'Oh, how lovely! How
in! Reuniting old friends is very
in right now, I'm glad I'll get the chance to do it.' Esmé then finished with her characteristic laugh, which the Baudelaires knew oh so well. 'Let's all go upstairs. But, before we go, let's lock these fool Baudelaires up.' Esmé then said, and I don't have to say what happened next. The Baudelaires were taken to a dark and damp cell in the basement, and locked inside. Esmé opened the small window on thick, metallic door. 'If you're
any smart, Violet, you will know to take yourself and your siblings out of Ophelia, and
soon. That is,
if you get out of here, which, recent events considered, won't happen anytime soon.' Esmé cackled evilly. 'Get out of Ophelia, stop chasing Cindry Fulfillment, and I'll let you live your lives. If you keep being such sticks in the mud for me, I'll see to it that you really will be sticks in the mud!' Esmé threatened. 'So. This is our farewell. If you're smart, we'll never see each other again. Bye bye, Baudelaires! And stay out of trouble! Ha ha!' Esmé closed the small window, and the Baudelaires were left in total darkness, feeling as if they had no
power at all..