Memento Mori {A Series of Unfortunate Events}

•SIX• In Which We Find the Book

Word Count:

When you got to the broom shack, the Quagmires retreated to the far corner, which was not very far away at all, considering it was a broom closet. You could hear them whispering to each other, and you could catch the phrases "Baudelaire" and "Y/N" and "Incomplete history of secret organizations." You walked over to talk to them. "What's the Incomplete history of secret organizations?" You asked. "It's a book we're looking for," Duncan replied.
"It might help us understand our problems and how to solve them!" Isadora added. "We asked the librarian to get it for us, but she doesn't have it." You thought for a second. "Hold on." You said. You reached into your book bag and took out the book your mom gave you before she died. You brought it over to the Quagmires and brushed the thick layer of dust off the cover. Sure enough, gold lettering on the cover read "The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations."
"Y/NNNNNNNN," Duncan whined. "You've had that the whole time, and you didn't tell us?"
"I didn't know it was The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations, and I didn't know you were looking for it. Anyway, we should go to the library and read it, we might be overheard here."

The triplets agreed and you walked quickly towards the library. When you got there, Olivia the librarian was outside locking the doors up. "Hi, we really need to use the library right now." You said to her, but she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Y/N, but the library's closed right now, I wish I could let you in," You sighed. "Oh, okay. We'll-''
"HOW DARE YOU NOT ATTEND MY NIGHTLY VIOLIN RECITAL!" Principal Nero shouted from behind you all spun around, startled. "Vice Principal Nero, these children just came here to see if the library was open, and-"
"WELL, It's not, and it will be closed until further notice by order of the Gym teacher." He held up a sign that read. "CLOSED. (By order of the Jim techer.")

(That's actually what the sign says in the TV show, typos and all! *Hypocritically shudders at bad spelling*)

"WHAT!" You shouted. "You can't close the library!" Nero smirked. "Actually, I can! Get moving triplets!" The Quagmires looked astonished. "You actually called us triplets!" Isadora exclaimed. "Well, yes, there's three of you. Her, him, and you." Nero said as if it was obvious. "I'm not related to them." You pointed out. "The reason they're triplets is that their brother Quigley-"

"Brother Quigley died in a fire. Try to work up some pleasant small talk for a change." Nero prattled, walking away. Olivia went back inside the library, and you, Duncan and Isadora were left alone in the hallway. You looked at the triplets, who had tears in their eyes. "I'm sorry, Quagmires." You said. "I know how hard it is to lose a sibling." They smiled sadly. "It's mostly just awful that people keep calling us twins now that Quigley's... dead." Isadora choked out. "And to have someone finally call you triplets, and then have it be for another reason than to honour our brother......." Duncan added. "No matter; let's go find another place to read."

You walked down another series of hallways until you came to the cafeteria door. "We could read in here. No one ever comes in here in between meals, it smells so bad." You wrinkled your nose at the memory of the stench. "Okay," Duncan said, his face giving away that he disliked the smell too. You pushed open the cafeteria doors and stepped inside. You walked to the nearest table and set down the book. You spun the book around to Isadora on the other side of the table. She opened to the first page and began reading the table of contents out loud. "Contributing writers, page 4, History and Activity, page 30, Recruitment, page 102, VFD codes, page 120, Disguise training, page 130, The Schism, page 170, The Fire-Fighting side, page 200, The Fire-Starting side, page 210, The Unknowns, page 240, Safe Places, page 290, Mottoes, page 300, V.F.D Insignia, page 301, Behind the scenes, page 302." Isadora looked up from the table of contents and asked: "What should we read first?"
"I would start at 'History and Activity'. You guys stay here and take notes on things you figure out, I'm going to try to break into the library. I noticed some suspicious persons hanging around there, so I'm going to check for abnormalities." You told them. "Okay," Duncan muttered, he and Isadora were already two pages into the book.

You snuck out of the kitchen and walked down the hallway, your shoes making slight tapping noises as you tried to walk quietly. You reached the Library five minutes later and took the Bobby pin out of your hair. You checked the hallway and the surrounding classrooms, making sure nobody was around. Then you slid the Bobby pin into the lock as far as you could, then wiggled it around until you heard a click. The door handle turned and you stepped into the library, re-locking the door behind you. You quickly scanned the library to see if anyone was there, which they weren't. Then, you checked all the dark, supposedly empty corners, then moved on to see if there were any helpful, informative books on the shelves. You placed a finger on the spine of each book in turn, mumbling the title.
"To kill a Mockingbird, City of Ember, The Dictionary, City of Avalon, King Arthur, and the kid who would be king." You muttered. "Nope, Nope, Nope." You moved on to the next set of shelves. "Nope, nope, no, nah, no way." You were halfway through all the shelves before you heard a creak from the other side of the door. You peered over the top of a short shelf and saw a black silhouette through the half-transparent door. You quickly ducked back down and made your way to the far corner of the library, where there was a small space between two bookshelves to hide. You crawled inside and sat down.
It grew later and later, but the person stayed standing outside the door. You kept wondering whether they knew you were there and were waiting for you to come out.  You eventually found a clock and discovered it was almost eleven-thirty, way past lights-out. If you managed to leave the library now and someone spotted you in the hallway, you could be expelled. And you didn't want to leave your newfound friends. So you took a pillow from a library chair and a blanket you found boosting up a table leg, and brought them back to your corner. You curled up in the nook between two bookshelves and went to sleep.