A/N: Hello! This is my first fan-fiction. I do not own A series of unfortunate events, only the plot. This is based on the Netflix show. Also, if it bothers you that I use mainly British spellings, then click off now. :) I know the series is probably set in the 1950s or something, but I want this in the 80s so deal with it. I hope you are safe during this time. Anyways, enjoy!

-A


Chapter 1 - After the island.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Violet told herself. The Baudelaires have spent the last 2 days out at sea. Rowing and rowing and rowing. They were unsure of what they would find, who they would see, if they were still wanted. As the morning sun rose, marking their third day, Violet took over the rowing. She and Klaus made an agreement: they switch everyday between taking care of the children, and rowing. It felt like work shifts, but in this case there was no money or boss involved. Just 4 kids out at shore.

Violet liked to use this time to think. Think about everything. Think about how they would survive, her parents, new inventions, her friends, and the tragic year they went through. The year they were chased around by Count Olaf, a miscreant, a murderer, a deceiver. His wicked schemes that left scars literally and figuratively. However, she still felt lucky that she and her siblings were still alive. But they were not okay.

They were making their way back to the City. To Briny Beach. After leaving a hotel on fire set by Count Olaf, what were they going to find? Would they be recognised? Were people still looking for them? These thoughts worried the 16 year old. She and Klaus spent the last year raising Sunny, who was now 4, and Beatrice, a 1 year old baby whose mother died shortly after her birth and her father being unknown and hidden from the world, shot the night before her birth.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a worried Sunny,
"No worry, but we have no more food." Violet appreciated her attempt at keeping them from panicking but this was an issue. Violet was starting to have trouble breathing when Klaus answered,
"That's okay Sunny, I think I see the Beach from here." Violet looked up, her tears evaporating into relief and nervousness when she saw what indeed seemed to be Briny Beach. She looked at the sky.
"Klaus what time is it now?"
"I think it's around 6 or 7 in the morning."
"Do you think there'll be crowds in the beach and visitors going for a swim?" Klaus paused before answering.
"I'm not sure, but I hope not. The sky is as blue as the dress that mom wore on her 6th anniversary, so I doubt it."
"Let's hope we won't gain any attention. People are bound to recognise us." Indeed, the sky was a vibrant blue, resembling the beautiful dress their mom wore to the Ball during her 6th anniversary. The ocean mirrored the way her dress moved when she danced gracefully. It was as if their mother was still there. Still looking after them, even if it didn't seem like it.

Soon, they were close enough to shore, was this really Briny Beach? It was a beautiful day, the beach was always filled with visitors on days like this. It was quite surprising, but the Baudelaires didn't question. They'll find out why one way or another. The children waited for the rickety trolley to arrive, but It didn't. They decided to just walk to the City themselves, but it would take at least an hour. They found the trolley, beaten up and rusting. On the side of its tracks, like it was thrown to the ground.

"What happened?" questioned Sunny Baudelaire. The little girl clapped her hands to her mouth in shock.
"It looks like it was thrown off its tracks. Violet, can you fix it?" Violet bent down and observed the trolley.
"It looks like the chain broke, it also seems pretty rusty." She sat and tied her hair with an orange ribbon that she found on the island. "If we had some strong string or a thick rubber band, I think it can be enough to get us to the City at most." They looked around for anything that could help. Sunny came running out of a small hut that was for renting beach chairs with a thick rubber band. "Good job Sunny!" Sunny beamed at her. They got the trolley back on its tracks and started to move to the City.

What they found however, was not a city. A city would have beautiful buildings with interesting architecture and buzzing streets filling in every shop. What they found were ruins of what was once a city. Ashes covered the ground as the buildings that did not survive just crumbled further into the ground. The remaining buildings were made of metals, but seemed to be unoccupied. The children wandered amongst the place they used to call their home town. If anything, it was a ghost town now. Wretched and doleful. They continued their stroll, looking at and recognising the remains of the "City". Beatrice however, pointed at the actual City.

Oh yes, the City. The one that looked like it. Skyscrapers filling in the area, malls and restaurants filled with crowds of people. They made their way through the buildings, looking at all the new technology and things they had never seen before. Mesmerised, the children almost didn't recognise some of the buildings.

"Woah. This is awesome." Klaus mumbled. Their moment was disrupted by a shout across the road.
"Hey you!" A man shouted. He had a long beard and a disgusted face. "Aren't you those murder orphans?" A few people looked back in confusion. The Baudelaires started walking faster, ignoring comments until almost after everyone was watching their every move. They started sprinting as cameras were pulled out and photos were taken. Left and right, photos were taken. They could hear it now: "Sighting of Baudelaire murderers after one year". The children ran and ran until they found themselves at their old mansion.

"They didn't do anything to it." Klaus said, staring at what remained of his home. You could see all the burned books. Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, War and Peace. You could see the closets which once held Violet's most incredible inventions, laying on the ground. The photos of Sunny and her dishes, and all the solids she used to bite. Tears formed in their eyes. Knowing they would never feel the parental love and care they once had, reality slapping their faces almost as hard as when Count Olaf slapped Klaus. Klaus lifted his hand to where the bruise used to be, leaving a mental scar.

They heard something. Looking to their left, they could see cars driving their way. The children bolted into the house and hid in cabinets in the kitchen. They waited and waited. After hearing nothing but silence, they slid out of the dusty remains.
"Do you think they're gone?" Violet whispered to Klaus, cautiously making their way to the entrance.
"I don't know, but if they aren't, we can hide in the underground tunnel." Suddenly, they heard voices coming from the living room and car doors shut.

"Those children are rats. Gag me with a spoon." The children glanced at each other and quickly but quietly made their way to the activities room. They opened the door on the floor and slid in very carefully, making sure to not make a sound. They heard footsteps walkover the hidden door.

"I coulda sworn I saw 'em here boss!" A second voice came.

"Do you see them now? No duh. C'mon, lets go back to the station." They heard a camera shot. They heard a very familiar voice.

"Wait 'til the Daily Punctillio magazine hears about this!" Mrs. Poe chuckled. The children looked at each other, each feeling quite apprehensive.

They started around the underground tunnels. They followed a sign that read: "Julienne". They found themselves in a wealthy looking home. It reminded them of their own mansion, still laying on the grounds. Untouched. They found their way out of the house, getting lost and almost caught by people they weren't sure were butlers and maids or the "Juliennes" themselves. They walked along the streets of the area that seemed to be deserted, until they saw a dump. Piles and piles of garbage wasting away. Klaus and Violet wanted to turn the corner, however Beatrice crawled into the dumps and they had to go in and catch her.

"Beatrice is quite fast for a 1 year old. We have to get her soon before anyone sees us." Panted Klaus. Violet agreed with a nod, she couldn't say anything as she was focused on getting the baby. They finally caught her after finding her sitting in front of a big pile with a car sitting on top, lopsided.

"Car!" She giggled. The older children understood what she meant.

"I don't think we can use it. That's why it's in the dumps." Klaus said as he watched Violet's face inspecting the car.

"I mean, it's our only chance. I'll see what we can do." Klaus sat with Beatrice and Sunny, feeding them pieces of an apple he kept in his pocket. "I don't think there's anything wrong with it!" Came Violet's voice.

"Why would they throw away a perfectly good car? There has to be something wrong with it."

"People don't like old cars.", joined Sunny.

"But that doesn't make any sense. They could just sell it to a second-hand shop, can't they?"

"I think sunny has a point. The shop could have gone out of business, and no one would've wanted a car from the 50s. There are a lot of better cars now. We just need gas and I'm sure we can get this going." Violet said trying to pull the car back down. They looked around for anything that could help.

"Here!" Sunny yelled from behind the car. Violet came, carrying Beatrice and Klaus followed, picking up Sunny.

"You're right Sunny, there's an extra bottle of gasoline here. It looks like it's only half-full, but it can do us at least 1 or 2 hours." Klaus explained.

All of a sudden, they heard sirens coming from a car. They all looked to their right, in front of the fence was 5-6 police cars, flashing their red and blue lights passing by. The children ducked, avoiding the lights and any attention. They hid behind the car, hearts beating so loud, it was all they could hear. They didn't even notice that the cars were gone, and so were the lights and sirens. Klaus slowly stood up, looking out.

"They're gone." He told them, pulling up Violet. They filled the car with the gas and Sunny drove them out of the dumps, and anywhere they could find. Sunny sat in Klaus's lap, so it would look like he was the driver. They sat in silence, driving on the streets , going nowhere as the moon followed.


They've been out driving for 4 hours now. The gasoline held up longer than they thought. But they knew they would run out of luck soon, just as the fuel will. Sunny notices a gas station nearby.

"Gas." She points. Klaus squints and fixes his glasses, trying to get a closer look.

"We need gas. We'll stop by and grab some snacks too." He tells her. They run out of fuel just as they arrive. Violet awoke from her nap, and felt relieved that there was a sign of human civilisation in the middle of the desert. Klaus and Violet get out of the car and try to push the car closer to the station. Violet decides to stay with Sunny and Beatrice in the car, while Klaus headed inside.

"Hello, sir. Do you-"

"Aren't you that orphan that killed someone a year or two ago?" questioned the man behind the counter. Klaus averted his eyes and looked around the shop.

"Uh, no. I'm just looking for a snack or two."

'Well, you look an awful lot like 'em."

"Yes, I-I've been told." Klaus gulped. He realised he didn't have any money and neither did his siblings. " Do you happen to have any food for free?" He asks. The man gives him a suspicious look. His eyes light up, Uh-Oh.

"Yes. I believe I have a stock of expired food in the back. I'll go get 'em."

"N-no, it's okay I'll just look around-"

"Nonsense! I'll grab you some grindage in the back. You stay right here.", he tells Klaus, leaving to go to the back of the store. Klaus got a sick feeling in his stomach. His guts told him to go close to the door. He slowly creeps up to the door, leaning his ear against the crack between the door and the wall. "Yessir. I think I got me a murder orphan right 'ere. Uh- Short hair, glasses, seems a little scared and suspicious to me-" Klaus's heart dropped. He ran out and opened the car. Violet, noticing the panic on his face, dreadfully asked,

"Did they recognise you?"

"Yes, he's on the phone with someone right now. We need to go."

"There's no gas!" scolded Sunny.

"We don't have time. We can try to-"

"WAIT, do you hear that?" Violet interrupted Klaus. All three went silent. Was that the sirens again? The Baudelaires looked over to their right, where the car was facing the rising sun. Or was it light from a car? Whatever it was they quickly left the car and tried to find a place to hide. Klaus went to the back of the store, hoping he might see a bottle of gas - or somewhere to hide.

"Klaus!" he looked at where the voice came from."There's a stall that's 'out of order'" Let's hide there!" Violet said grabbing his bicep and leading him into the toilets. They opened the door to find Sunny and Beatrice already waiting. They heard voices outside. Violet pushed Klaus in and went in herself. They all crouched on the closed toilet, uncomfortable, anxious, squashed.

"Those bastards. They better be in here."

"Sir, are we sure we can trust this man? You know what happened last time."

"We need to catch those criminals. It's this or nothin'." Violet covered Beatrice's mouth as she, Klaus and Sunny held their breaths. Stomp. Stomp Stomp. They could now see the footsteps waiting outside their door stall. Suddenly the door knob started shaking vigorously. Like someone was trying to open it. It was almost open when suddenly a noise was heard from the stall next door. The man stopped and opened the other door wide open. Violet looked at Sunny's mischievous smile. She threw something in. "Darn it. where are those kids?" They heard the man step into the stall trying to see if they were hiding somewhere there. Klaus saw an air vent on the ceiling and took this as a chance to escape. The vent was rusty and weak. He forced it open and pushed Sunny in. Next, Beatrice. He helped Violet in and as he climbed in himself, he looked down to see the officer straightening up and in the last moment, he made eye contact with Klaus. " Hey!" he shouted, standing on the toilet and trying to grab Klaus's foot, missing just by a centimetre. The man jumped up trying to get up and get in the vent himself. However, he did not have the 'bod' for this and got stuck.

Klaus crawled through the tiny space and followed his sister out of the vent, She helped him out and they found themselves in the store once again. They ran out, looking behind as they heard the voices come from the toilet as the other officer and cashier tried to help the man out of the vent. The children ran to the back of the store, panting but not relieved. They sat against the wall, catching their breath.

"I feel like I've just broken a rib", moaned Violet while she rubbed her side. Suddenly, a car drove by and parked. A wealthy looking man stepped out. He had a lily-white top with a pink sweater tied on top of his shoulders. He had sky-blue pants on and curly brown hair that went down to his neck.

"Hey there kids! Gosh, your outfits really aren't choice. Here, 100 bucks.", he said handing them a hundred dollar bill and walked into the store. The children looked at each other in astonishment. Sunny was the first to get back on her feet and run inside. The others followed, taking a few snacks and giving themselves the change from the cashier register. The men were still in the toilet. They then filled up on gas and started back on the road. As they drove away, Violet watched as they got further and further away and the men running out, looking from left to right. They were lucky that there were more cars on the road now. Klaus couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he thought about how as soon as they returned, they were once again on the lam.