Memento Mori {A Series of Unfortunate Events}

•TWO• In Which There is Another Orphan

WORD COUNT: 2085

You wake up in the morning to the sound of water dripping steadily onto your head. You looked up and realized that the water was coming from the crack between round metal trapdoor and the pavement surrounding it. It was also a colour water shouldn't be. "Ew!" You cringed and quickly scooted out from under the water. You squinted at your dim surroundings and remembered you were in a large underground tunnel, maybe seven feet wide and the same height. You picked your three belongings off the ground and looked around for a ladder or something to help you climb up to street level. You saw a sign on your left that read "Baudelaire." And that was the only sign around, so you followed it, hoping you'd find something helpful. The tunnel lead up to a dead end, and you were about to turn around and walk back, but you noticed a small ladder tucked into the corner, leading up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. It was round, metal, and had a golden eye insignia etched into it. You climbed the ladder and pushed open the trapdoor. You climbed out and coughed at the stench of burning wood. You opened your eyes, which started to sting from the smoke and looked around. It was the remains of a mansion, one that had burned up fairly recently. You checked to make sure you still had your belongings, then left the mansion's remains and walked down the strip of cement you guessed was the driveway. there was a newspaper there, you guessed it was new, because it didn't seem to be burned up like the rest of the house. You picked it up. It was from this morning. You unfolded the pages and started to read.

THE DAILY PUNCTILIO
THREE DEAD AND ONE MISSING IN AUSTEN HOME FIRE

Yesterday afternoon, the Austen home burned to the ground in a  raging fire. Neither the official or Volunteer Fire Department was there in time to stop the blaze. Ariadne and Cedric Austen, and their twelve-year-old son John perished in the fire. The forth Austen family member's whereabouts are unknown, so if anyone has seen Y/N Austen, please report to Mr Arthur Poe at Mulctuary Money management. Please contact Mr Poe. Mulcutary Money Management is a bank located in the banking part of the city near the Fountain of Victorious Finance. The Austen's fortune will be held in the bank until the only possibly surviving Austen, Y/N, comes of age, or, according to the Austen's will,  if she did not survive, the money will go to the local public library and to schools for children to enhance their literacy. If Y/N is found, she will be put in the immediate care of Vice Principal Nero,  the Vice Principal at the best boarding school around, Prufrock Prep. 
 

 Your eyes welled up with tears and your surroundings were blurred out. You scrubbed the tears away furiously and re-folded the newspaper. You placed it in your notebook and made up your mind to walk to Mulctuary Money Management, and maybe you could talk to Mr Poe about your situation. 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

You trudged down the street towards the banking part of town. Since your mom hated not knowing where she was, she had taught you and your brother to memorize streets and landmarks, so you had memorized the entire city. Unless you left the city, which wasn't likely now, you'd never get lost.

Around an hour and a half later, you arrived at Mulctuary Money Management. It was a grey building made out of smooth concrete and extremely dull. You pulled on the door, but it didn't open. You pushed the door, hoping it was an inward-opening door. It didn't open. So you sighed and pulled a bobby pin out of your hair. You picked the lock and pulled on the door. It didn't open. You let out a frustrated growl and pushed the door inward. When it finally opened, You stomped down the hallway as quickly as you could so your frustration wouldn't take over and make you kick the door down.

You reached the end of the hallway and saw a semi-transparent door with gold lettering. "Orphan Affairs." Underneath, clearly written in pencil was "Mr Poe" in handwriting much worse than yours, and that was saying something.