Sabine froze, her eyes glued to the sign. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice Quigley was talking to her until he placed his hands on her shoulders from behind her. The sudden touch made her jump and she spun around. Quigley stepped back and held his hands up in surrender.
"Calm down! It's just me!" he laughed.
Sabine let out a sigh of relief. "Sorry, you just scared me." She shook her head, placing her hand on her forehead as if she might faint.
"What were you staring at?" he asked.
She turned back to the strange sign with her last name on it and pointed with her chin. "That," she whispered.
Quigley stepped beside her and examined the sign carefully, tracing his fingers along the rusty letters. "There was a sign like that near my house, but it said 'Quagmire' instead of 'Trillian'," he related quietly.
Sabine's eyes widened in excitement and curiosity. "Y-you mean that these are...."
"Directions?"
"Yeah."
They both stood and looked at the strange sign in silence for a while. "Sh-should we follow it?" Sabine asked nervously.
"I don't see why not..." Quigley said, still deep in thought as he examined the rest of the tunnel. There were multiple different signs that all looked similar to the one that said, TRILLIAN, but they had different names and they were pointing in different directions.
Quigley walked slightly farther down the dark hall and stopped in front of another sign. It was dusty, just like the one that Sabine found, but it was pointing up to another hatch. He rubbed the sign off and read the name, BAUDELAIRE.
"Hey, I read about them in the newspaper," he said to Sabine. She walked over to him and examined the sign as well. Her eyes widened in curiosity again.
"I know them. We met at Prufrock," she said sadly.
"Duncan and Isadora's school?" he asked. She nodded in confirmation and glanced at him for a moment, then looked up at the hatch. There seemed to be tiny cracks of light poking out of it.
"Let's explore," Sabine suggested, one hand on the metal rungs that made the ladder. Quigley said nothing. She broke her gaze away from the hatch and turned to him. His eyes were fixed on the hatch that Sabine had come out of earlier, the one that led to Duncan and Isadora.
"Quigley?" she whispered, softly resting her hand on his shoulder.
He shook his head as if clearing his thoughts, then turned to her with a forced smile. "Okay, let's explore." He nodded.
Sabine sighed and gave him a hug. "I know you miss your siblings, but I'll make sure you get to see them again soon."
"Thanks," he whispered when she pulled away.
"For now, let's see if we can figure out where we are." Sabine's tone became slightly firmer as she looked back at the hatch above her.
"That sounds reasonable," Quigley agreed, but his voice was laced with doubt.
"Unless you have a better idea?" Sabine asked softly.
He shook his head again.
"Well, then let's go," she said, and started her climb up the ladder. She reached the top quickly and hesitantly pushed on the hatch. To her surprise, it opened easily and she flipped it all the way over, dust falling on her face as she did.
"Come on," she called down. Sabine pulled herself up into the ashy remains of the Baudelaire mansion, and then gave Quigley a hand to help him up as well. They looked around the place, their eyes watery as they tried to rub the dust out.
YOU ARE READING
𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕨𝕠 ℂ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤 (ASOUE)
Fanfiction"Shh, don't cry, Sabine," Quigley whispered in her ear. "It's okay, don't cry." His hand slid down her arm, then gently landed in her palm. He slowly spread his fingers out, then carefully entwined them with hers, as if he were savoring every sweet...
