ASOUE - Wish It Went That Way || Quigley x OC

The Secret Tunnel

Audrey's POV:

Quigley led us through the labyrinth like he had gone through it hundreds of times. There were hedges as walls, and they were so perfectly trimmed and pruned, that I reached out with my hands to brush over them. But as I did, several sharp thorns slashed into the skin of my fingers.

"Shit! The fuck?" I yelled in confusion.

"What happened?" Eddie asked in concern.

"You touched the hedges, didn't you?" Quigley presumed as he walked over and examined the cuts.

"Yeah, how did you know?" I asked.

"Well, let's just say that I've to learn not to touch the hedges to many times." Quigley said.

"Okay? Is there something– AH SHIT!" I yelled again. I had shaken my hands to relieve the pain but it had only made it worse.

"Yeah, don't move your hand." Quigley said. "I have a special balm that can help." He said as he pulled something wrapped in a canvas cloth out of his bag.

"Can't you just bandage it?" I asked. I didn't feel like having the sticky feeling on my fingers.

"No, the hedges are poisonous. This balm will get rid of the poison." Quigley answered me.

He unwrapped the cloth and opened a small metal container with a yellow-ish paste inside of it.

"Can I?" Quigley asked, motioning to my injured hand.

I nodded and held out my hand to him. He carefully grabbed it and put a glob of the balm on it. He rubbed it around and on my cuts and grazes and then wrapped them with bandages.

I stared at the floor, trying to act as if I didn't care about him doing this, but I slightly blushed. His hand were actually really soft for someone who could climb ropes and walls, and I was glad that he cared about me even if we just met today.

"That's finished." He said.

I sighed and said, "Thanks. It feels better already."

He gave me a relieved look and pointed at the ground m. "We're here by the way."

I followed his finger and saw a gold painted trapdoor with an engraved eye on it.

"We're going down there?" I asked.

"Yeah. Come on." He said.

He walked forward and crouched down to open the trapdoor. He opened with a creak and then climb in, waving for us to follow.

Quigley's POV:

I kinda liked getting to hold Audrey's hand, even if it was for a few seconds. They were soft and pretty, and they felt comforting. I shook that off anyways, because what was I doing? I had only met her today, even if I had been researching the string of strange fires, particularly hers, for a while. I waved over to the two siblings to follow me into the trapdoor.

I had recently discovered these secret tunnels after reading The Incomplete Book of Secret Organisations, which led to different key points in the city and around the world so the volunteers could move to the fires quickly.

Audrey and Eddie walked over to me and climbed down the ladder into the tunnels.

"Tunnels?" Audrey asked.

"Yep. We're going to go to Prufrock Preparatory School." I answered.

"Why?" Eddie wondered.

"My siblings are there. And the Baudelaires too." I told him.

I led them through a series of twists and turns in the tunnels until we reached the sign that said Prufrock.

I climbed up the metal ladder swiftly and heaved to open the trapdoor. I pulled myself out of the opening and sighed as I found myself on the sidewalk in front of a huge gate with a sign that said 'Prufrock Preparatory School: Memento Mori'.

"We're here." I said.

A/N

Sorry for the short chapter! I've been kinda busy lately. Hope y'all liked Quigley and Audrey's relationship development! Also sorry if there's mistakes, I was too lazy to edit...

Byeee <3