|
Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 18, 2013 6:32:49 GMT -5
Sorry that the next chapter is taking a lot longer than planned. Ive got the next three all but completed. Its just finding the energy to read through and post them!
|
|
|
Post by Dante on Mar 18, 2013 13:00:05 GMT -5
I'm sure that's a fairly laborious process. Your chapters are generally pretty respectable in length.
|
|
|
Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 19, 2013 13:42:25 GMT -5
Chapter Nine
Sometimes words are not enough.
But, sadly they must suffice. I could attempt to draw an image of the following scene, but alas, I am not a trained artist. I can however attempt to paint a vivid picture in your mind. The sun was setting on that fateful afternoon, and it cast long shadows deep across the streets of the city. The streets were considerably busier than earlier, as many people had begun to return home for the day, and the roads were heavily packed with cars. But that didn’t stop Mister M from running through the crowd, across roads, and tripping over several dogs to get back to the courthouse.
When Mister M eventually burst through the large glass doors he tripped and fell, banging his head on the floor.
When he had picked himself up of the floor he ran through several doors, up some stair’s through several more doors, then down some stairs, before eventually finding the Baudelaires, who were currently waiting for the trial to resume.
‘Oh no.; said Klaus.
‘Is she here yet?’ Mister M asked.
‘Who?’ Sunny asked.
‘Esme. She’s disguising herself as a judge.’ Mister M replied.
‘You knew?’ Klaus walked over to him ‘You knew she was here and you never told us?’
‘Yes. Because if Esme thought something had happened to you, she would have contacted her spy at the prison, which would make things very difficult for your sister.’
‘Where is she? Where is Violet?’
‘She’s.. Busy. Listen I need..’
‘But what is Esme doing?’ Sunny asked.
‘What do you mean?’ He asked
‘She means.’ said Klaus ‘How and why is Esme disguised as a judge?’
‘Ah. Right. Well, you see, Esme is still working with VFD - the bad side, and we all know that they have been fiddling with the high court for years. And with the death of the Woman with Hair but no beard, someone had to step in. And Esme is supposedly the best woman for the job. God only knows why. But the she needs you to lose this case, Baudelaires.;
‘Why?’ All three of them asked
‘Because she wants your fortune. Now, I need..’
‘Why?’ Justice Strauss asked. ‘She’s the city’s sixth most important financial advisor. Why does she want more money? Revenge?’
‘Partly. But…. Listen. I cant tell you why. Not yet. Now, I need…’
‘But what do we do?’ Sunny said ‘How do we get away from her?’
Mister M sat down on a vacant chair and put his head in his hands ‘Listen…. I need you to trust me. I know its difficult, but you need to stay here and let what happens, happen. But I need..’
‘What do you mean ‘what happens’?’ asked Klaus
‘Listen, I need..’
‘Tell us.’ said Klaus ‘What happens to us.’
‘’Look, it doesn’t matter. I’m changing the future so what happens in the future wont happen any more.’
‘Just tells us.’ said sunny
‘This moment, now, is just the starting point. The events of today lead to more evens which leads to… bad things happening. Esme Squalor’s plan fails You go free. And then one day, Klaus, you die. And that… that doesn’t need to happen. It wont happen now, ive changed things already. Now I need…’
‘What do you mean? How do I die?’
Mister M got up to leave ‘Look, ti doesn’t matter, because hopefully ti wont happen. Now, I need You.’ He turned to look at justice Strauss..
‘Me?’ she said ‘Well, why on earth would you want me?’
‘Lets just say, I need to got to the bank.’ he replied
Justice Strauss thought for a moment ‘Okay. I’ll go with you.’
‘But what about me, and sunny, and Beatrice?’ said Kalud
‘You’ll be fine. We wont be long Baudelaires.’ Said Mister M.
And he and Justice Strauss left without saying another word.
He had lied. When he had first got there, he had said he didn’t now what it did. But then he had shown him the truth. And he couldn’t take it any longer. It was funny, the way they looked know. Why had he lied? He had no choice, he needed to have left. Coming here was a mistake though. There was no reason for him to lie. But there had been an intruder, and another of the….. He should have gone back to Daniel. Surely lying just made it wore. And then…. Oh god, but how could she have been there. Coming here would just cause more trouble. Lying had made him so angry. And…. But …. He just didn’t understand They would find him here soon. He should have stayed. And/……… how could ….. He Need to leave. But it was the way he smirked at every word he had said. They looked so strange like that. ………..but….. He….. He had If he didn’t leave soon, they would find him. He shouldn’t have smirked. They looked almost happy. ……he had…… he’d Leave now. Why did he laugh? Look at their faces. … it had been an accident/ Leave. Stop laughing. ;Look at them .. Why? LEAVE Stop laughing! Look He’d been so angry. LEAVE NOW STOP LAUGHING LOOK AT THEM! LEAVE!!!!!!!
Just leave me alone.
Please.
Violet Baudelaire felt ashamed, but there was nothing she could do. She had to leave David to get himself out. That was sort of the plan, but she still felt guilty. She had to get to the bank though, so she had no choice.
However, as she made her way through the strangely empty corridors towards the fire exit, she heard a noise she had not expected to hear.
She could hear crying.
It seemed to be coming from another corridor, which led to somewhere unknown. She tentatively walked down the corridor, and found herself at a door. She pushed it open, and surprisingly found a a man she had not expected to see.
It was the man from the bank, Joseph, his name was. He seemed dishevelled and like he hadn’t slept in days. And he had blood over his shirt. And he was crying.
She knocked on the open door;.
Joseph jumped and gave a shriek ‘Oh… I I I, I, er, didn’t expect to ah….
‘What are you doing here>‘
‘I….er, um.. Well, I er.’
Are you okay.’ violet asked nervously.
‘Well. Erm…’ He tries to stand up, but his legs started to shake, so he sat down again. ‘No, er, I’m not‘
‘Do you remember me?’ she asked
‘Remember you? Why would… oh. We met at the bank d-didn’t we violet. I forgot that.’
‘Well how else would you know me!’ she said, almost laughing
‘He knew you.’ Joseph said, his eyes staring at the wall, as if he was expecting someone to burst through it. ‘All he ever did was talk about you three.’
‘Who?’
‘It Doesn’t matter anyway. Nothing he said was ever true.’ This time, when Joseph stood up, he manages to walk over to violet ‘He liked you. He liked you a lot’
‘Erm… is it okay to ask why you have blood on your shirt?’ she said uncomfortably.
‘Yeah. Ask all you want. But you wont get an answer!’ He laughed horribly, and walked back into the small office. He Picked up a near empty bottle of alcohol, and swallowed the rest, before throwing the bottle across the room where it smashed against the wall.
Violet gave a shriek, and Joseph sat down on the chair behind the desk, swivelling around, and he began to scratch at his beard.
‘listen.’ Violet said. ‘I need your help.’
‘My help?’ he said. ‘How can I help you?’
‘I need to go to the bank.’
He laughed ‘S-so how can I help?’
‘You work at the bank, don’t you?’
‘Not anymore. He took me away, and I don’t work there anymore…
‘Well… can you still help me.?
‘I could. But why should I help you?’
Violet didn’t know what to say to that, but after thinking for several seconds. She thought of exactly what to say. ‘Because you’re a good person.’
Jospeh thought for a moment. ‘Okay. alright then. I’ll change my shirt and then we can get a taxi.’
|
|
|
Post by Dante on Mar 19, 2013 13:50:36 GMT -5
Wow. That stream-of-consciousness part in the middle was very effective. Almost disturbing in its disorder. Quite amusing how the Baudelaires kept on interrupting Mister M (you) in the first part of the chapter - I like that you are able to keep some of the humour of the series.
|
|
|
Post by Teleram on Mar 19, 2013 14:58:02 GMT -5
My fave part of this story? Whenever Mister M is talking in the third person.
|
|
|
Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 19, 2013 15:56:59 GMT -5
'I agree', said Mister M
|
|
|
Post by Charlie on Mar 20, 2013 4:05:16 GMT -5
I like.
|
|
|
Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 25, 2013 9:58:41 GMT -5
Sorry this is so short, but my aim is to finish 'book' 1 before the end of the week, and the next few chapters will ALL be huge.
Chapter Ten
There are some things, I simply do not know.
I have tried, to th e best of my abilities, to research the journey of the Baudelaire orphans since their return to the city many years ago, and even though I was there most of it, although for some it i wasn’t. I am still unable to know everything. I don not know whether my brother say Justice Strauss and myself running to the bank, even though am I sure he did not. I do not know how many people survived the imminent explosion of the bank, but fear the number is low.
And I do not know how David Faraday came to be in the same room as Klaus Baudelaire on that very same night. David Faraday, as you may recall, is a confused man at the best of times. My research shows he was at the police station, with Officer Guffin, after having convinced him to go and talk to Mister M, despite the fact I had already escaped. But, alas, I do not know what he did next.
But, as you may or may not already have realised, something terrible happened there, involving a man called Joseph, and I am unsure of how many people were killed that day, though Anka assures me The number was not low.
But, somehow, David Faraday survived
And, somehow, he ended up in the same room as Klaus Baudelaire.
I do not know how he got there, and I do not know why he went to visit Klaus Baudelaire.
All I know, is that he most definitely went there, and He spoke to Klaus Baudelaire, shortly before the trial restarted. And I do know what he said to Klaus, and I can tell you.
But not yet,
Sometimes, words are not enough.
But, sadly they must suffice. I could attempt to draw an image of the following scene, but alas, I am not a trained artist. I can however attempt to paint a vivid picture in your mind. The sun had already set on that fateful day, and as the streetlamps began to slowly light up, the streets were considerably emptier than earlier, as many people had already gone home for the day, and the roads were almost empty of cars. But that didn’t stop Mister M and Justice Strauss from running desperately to the bank.
But when they arrived there, I am said to say, The bank was closed
‘So now what? Do we go back?’ Justice Strauss asked.
‘We can’t… He should be here.’ Mister M said
‘Who?’ Se said
‘Joseph. He should be here.;
‘Why? Its late. Everybody’s gone home’
Mister M sat down on the marble steps ‘Yeah, but Joseph should be here anyway. I was told this I could find him here.’
‘So.. Are you really from the future?; she said, as she sat down on the steps
‘I suppose I am yes. Not… not that far from the future. Two of Three weeks, give or take.’
‘And do you think you’ve… changed the future?’
‘I hope so. But I need to get something from the bank before…. Well before something happens, and then I think I Can say I’ve saved the world.’
‘But how can you be here?’ she asked ‘How can you travel in time?’
‘Its not a regular thing. One off. One way trip.’
;But how did it work.?’’
‘Lets just say, there was an… incident, and It gave me an opportunity to travel back and stop the incident from ever happening. And the incident is caused by… well, I might as well say. The Baudelaires cause this incident, and by changing their… course, I can stop any of this from happening.’
‘What incident?’
‘If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.’
‘I’m believing this,’
He stood up, and began to walk up and down the steps as he talked ‘What I told you that death wasn’t the end? Every day, people die. Someone you know, someone you don’t know. A man in a street gets knocked down by a car, a starving man dies of hunger, however they die, people die. But what truly happens to someone when they die? They rot and they decay, but what happens to your mind, and your thoughts, and your feelings. Well.. I don’t know. But I do know that I have spoken to the dead.’
‘Oh please.’ Strauss said. ‘You don’t get ‘messages’ do you?’
‘No.’ He said ‘I get threats. ‘Don’t try and stop us. Let your brother talk to you, Don’t push the button. ‘ Well, I ignore them. And I was right to ignore them. Because the button is what’s stopping it, I know it in my heart. The Dead are rising, and I need to---’
Mister M stopped talking, because he had turned to look at Justice Strauss, only to find a man standing in one of the glass doorways of the bank. The man was called Mister M’s brother, and his name was Issac.
|
|
|
Post by Teleram on Mar 25, 2013 13:23:15 GMT -5
Three more chapters left... already??
|
|
|
Post by Dante on Mar 25, 2013 16:23:26 GMT -5
Oh golly, some pretty exciting plot elements introduced here. "I get threats" - excellent turn on our expectations. Not hearing the advice of the dead but hearing their vengeful threats must be quite traumatic, and it's certainly fairly original purely in the context of hearing what they have to say rather than sensing their presence in other ways.
|
|
|
Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 25, 2013 17:37:23 GMT -5
Well, I'm glad that i'm keeping you on your toes! But I'm rather satisfied with the way the first book will end. I hope that people will be satisfied with the closing of some lose ends, but mainly the setting up of the next five books. This first was always going to be a bumpy ride. The basic aim is 'Baudelaires remain inside the city while I set up the cast for the rest of the series in their various locations.', and Because of that I think the main story is weaker. However the next book will be more focused, and has a much stronger plot than the first, built less around set-pieces and character introductions and more on awnsering a question that Im sure you all want awnsered - what state is VFD in, and what if OFD?
|
|
|
Post by Dante on Mar 26, 2013 2:14:49 GMT -5
I think that's a judicious way to start the series, Mister M. I believe that the remainder of the series probably will be stronger for it.
|
|
|
Post by Charlie on Mar 26, 2013 3:51:39 GMT -5
I like this one too
|
|
|
Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 27, 2013 14:26:43 GMT -5
Chapter 11
‘If you try to do anything Klaus, then Esme will win. You just need to let her do what she want’s.’
‘Well brother, this is nice.’
‘What are you doing here? I thought you couldn’t leave that hatch?’ said Issac.
‘Ah, of course. Yes. I can’t but… I;m here.’ Said Mister M ‘Now, could you let us in please?’
‘What are you doing here?’
‘I could ask you the same thing,.’
‘I’m here because…’ Issac hesitated ‘Well, I’m not exactly going to tell you, am I?’
‘I know why you’re here, don’t worry.’ Said Mister M. ‘You’re safe guarding the sugar bowl. Now, could you please let us in?’
‘I’m not just going to let you walk in here.’
‘You are.’ said a new voice ‘Or I’ll shoot you.’ Joseph and Violet Baudelaire had just walked out of the taxi that had pulled up outside the bank.
‘Violet!’ said Mister M ‘you’re here! But where’s Mr Poe?’
‘I think he’s hidden somewhere inside the bank.’ she said
‘So lets go inside then’ Said Justice Strauss
‘Ah.’ said Joseph laughing ‘Hello mother.’
‘Mother?’ said Violet ‘What do you mean?’
‘Er….. ‘ Justice Strauss looked rather awkward ‘Well, you see..’ Listen’ said Mist er M ‘we haven’t got time for this now. Issac let us in.’
‘Yeah Issac.’ said Joseph, In a mocking voice ‘Let us in. Or I’ll blow your f*cking head off.’
Issac reluctantly stepped aside, and Justice Strauss, Mister M, Violet Baudelaire, and Joseph Strauss entered the lobby of the bank.
‘So. Joseph.’ Said Mister M ‘Any idea were we can start looking. Its just im on a bit of a tight schedule and..’
‘Let me stop you right there.’ said Joseph ‘I’m going to break into Poe’s office. See If we can find some appropriate information in there. Who’s with me?’ He raised his hand up in the air as if he was a school kid trying to catch his teachers attention.
‘Right okay.’ said Mister M ‘Justice Strauss, Issac, You stay here and tell me if anything happens. Violet, you can come with me and Joseph to Daniels office.’
‘No.’ said Issac.
‘Listen, I haven’t got time for this okay.’ said Mister m ‘We need to get the sugar Bowl from the Baudelaire fortune before Esme Squalor or anyone else from VFD finds us, and we don’t have much time, okay? We’re on the same side here.’
Issac thought for a moment before saying ‘Okay then.’
But just before Mister M had a chance to run of to Poe’s office, another voice spoke, a very hoarse voice, and a voice nobody had expected to hear.
‘I don’t think so.’ Said The Man with Beard but No Hair, who had managed to walk though the glass doors of the lobby relatively unnoticed, and he was accompanied by none of other than Daniel, the man who seemed to have two jobs at once, as both a banker and a policeman. ‘Nobody move.’ he said, as he pulled out a gun and started aiming it at random people.
‘And so we meet again.’ said the man.
‘You.’ said Issac. ‘You monster!’
‘Yes.’ he said ‘I think I rather am. Now, all of you are going to -
’ They would never find out what they were all going to do, because The Man with A Beard but no hair has was suddenly knocked unconscious by a man who had also managed to sneak into the building unnoticed, The Man, whose name was Jerome Squalor, had been alerted to a situation arising in the city due to a plume of green smoke emanating from the police station, and after contacting a mysterious man, had been ordered to go to the bank. And when he had arrived there, he had knocked the Man with a beard but no hair unconscious, and somehow managed to apprehend Daniel with the help of the others.
Several minutes later, Daniel and The Man with a beard but no hair where tied up, With Jerome, Justice, and Issac keeping guard, whilst Violet, Joseph, and Mister M began their search for Mr Poe and The Sugar Bowl.
Meanwhile, across town, Klaus and David discussed what to do, Sunny and Beatrice investigated, and Esme ordered Samuel and Carmelita to go and investigate something else entirely
‘So now what?’ violet asked.
The search of Mr Poe’s office had, of course, proved fruitless, with no indication at all to.. Anything.
Mister M sat down in the chair behind Daniel’s desk and sighed. ‘I don’t know.’
‘I suppose we could always just go home.’ said Joseph ‘Back to your… hatch.’
‘That’s enough Joseph.’ said Mister M
‘We could all push that button of yours.’
‘I said that’s enough!’ shouted Mister M, banging his fist on the table.
‘Alright. Easy.’
But a second later, however, a strange whirring noise was heard and the wall against which violet was leaning began to slide away, revealing another wall, with a small safe built into the centre of the wall, with a keypad to type a code.
‘Yes! Come on!’ said mister M jumping up and running over to the safe. ‘This must be it.’
‘What? The Sugar bowl?’ Violet asked.
‘Not the Sugar Bowl, but your fortune. The Sugar Bowl has been hidden in the same place as your fortune… here,’
‘What’ Said Joseph, whose attention seemed suddenly regained ‘It cant be.’ He moved over to look at the safe ‘Yep, though so.;
‘Thought what?’ said Mister M, turning to look at him..
‘it’s a safe you idiot. doesn’t mean the fortunes in there.’ Joseph sat down on the floor, laughing to himself.
‘Joseph, you’re right. It is just a safe, But I reckon, when someone like Mr Poe is worried about the safety of the fortune, what with the growing interest in it, and the location of the sugar bowl, I think he might move it to somewhere more secure.’
‘Are you sure?’ asked violet
‘No.’ Mister M said truthfully. ‘But it’s the best hope we have. Now, lets try and find out what the code is.’
Justice is a funny thing, in a way. The Baudelaire trial was long and arduous, and rather boring, so I will not bore you of the details of the trial in the pages of this very book. I will however, warn you, that at this exact moment, Klaus made a decision.
The trial had been considerably delayed due to the fact that Violet was absent from it, but now that the trial seemed to be nearing is unfair end at the hands of Esme Squalor, Klaus decided he had to do something.
Justice Strauss and Jerome Squalor had a lot of catching up to do. Since Strauss’ return to The city following the disbandment of VFD, They had barely seen each other for more than a few minutes, which is hardly time to chat.
So whilst the Issac kept a close eye on the prisoners, Both JS’ had the perfect opportunity to catch up on what was currently happening in their lives, both VFD related and Non-VFD related.
And it was because of this that all five people in the lobby of the bank suddenly jumped when a loud knocking came from the entrance, and one man and two women walked in.
‘Ah, here we are then.’ Said Dante ‘Now, Issac, am I to believe that Mister M is here?’
‘What?’ said Issac, in disbelief ‘But how could you…. Yes. He is yes.’
‘Well, run along and tell him I have the code to the safe, but I will give it to him if he does something for me first.’
‘Erm.. What?’ said Issac
‘He gives Me the Sugar Bowl.’ Dante said smiling ‘and the Baudelaire fortune.’
Two more chapters to come over the next two or three days!
|
|
|
Post by Dante on Mar 27, 2013 16:48:45 GMT -5
Well, who better to entrust with those vital plot devices? Interesting to see how things are moving here. I look forward to seeing what Klaus is up to.
|
|