Begin!

Universe*

~Olivia's POV

I've looked everywhere for that book and I still haven't found it! I should be ashamed to call myself a librarian! Those wonderful children were so patient though. They had said it was important; I've never even heard of this book. The Baudelaires and the Quagmires were the only students here that went to the library for fun. It was just after the last class let out today and I had noticed that Klaus and Isadora were here to read. I was putting away some books as I overheard their soft conversation.

"Hey, Izzie, is that a book about Lord Byron?"

"Yeah it is; he's my favorite poet. Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious; he's not my favorite, but I've always admired him."

Isadora began gushing about her interests to her friend. I glanced at them and couldn't help smirking at the way they looked at each other as they talked. I've seen that look before. Ah, young love, how cute!

"So who's your least favorite poet," Klaus asked.

Isadora groaned, "Edgar Guest."

"You hate him too?"

Isadora perked up, "Yes, his work is so tedious."

"And his topics are overly sentimental."

"Wow, finally someone agrees."

"Yeah, my mother used to threaten to read his poetry to me whenever I misbehaved," Klaus said.

"Ouch, that's a pretty terrible punishment. She must have been really strict."

Klaus shrugged, "Not usually. She just did it to get us to behave. Thankfully, I never got in trouble for staying up late reading with a flashlight under my pillow."

Isadora giggled, "I did that a few times too. But since Duncan and Quigley shared a room with me I'd still get caught."

Klaus chuckled, "Did they tell on you or something?"

"Yes, well Quigley would. So who's your favorite poet then?"

"You."

Isadora's eyes widened at him and she breathed out a quiet, "What...?"

I then heard the sound of scuffling, and Klaus had bolted out of the library, leaving behind the book he had been reading. Isadora stood and put away her book before grabbing her school bag. I walked over to her.

"He's certainly charming, isn't he," I joked.

"I swear I heard him say I'm his favorite poet," The young girl smiled, "I must have misheard him."

"I don't think you did. You'll forgive me for my unintentional eavesdropping, but I heard him clear as day."

"I'm his favorite poet..." She said quietly, her cheeks went red.

I chuckled, and went back to my work as she turned to leave the library. Those two are adorable together. They seem so perfect for each other; maybe they'll get married someday.

~Duncan's POV

"I hate reviewing Mr. Remora's stories," I groaned from my spot on the hay bale beside Violet, "They're so dull."

"I don't know how you got down all this stuff from his last ones I'm pretty sure we were passing notes for most of class today," Violet replied.

"I'm good at multitasking. Besides as a journalist, you get really good at taking notes."

"Oh, I'm sure," Violet went back to reading from her own notes on the subject; we have a quiz tomorrow so we were studying.

I looked through my notebook and subtly glanced at her as she read quietly. God she was so heavenly. I couldn't help myself. I'm in love with her. I just know it. But she'd never like me that way right? It'd be too awkward to ruin our friendship now. But I couldn't stop the feeling in my heart whenever she'd smile at me, or how happy I was just to see her every day. My eyes went back to my book and I turned to a specific page. As a journalist I take notes on everything.

Notes on Violet Baudelaire: Beautiful, intelligent, creative, inventor, passionate, caring, loyal, kind and wonderful...

The list went on from there, all observational descriptions on things I loved about her. I decided to add something to the page. I wrote D.Q+V.B at the bottom. I can never show this to anyone. Isadora would laugh at me and immediately tell Violet. She is her best friend after all. Sunny can't read yet so I don't have to worry about her. But Klaus; I'm not sure how he'd react. Violet is older than him, but that doesn't mean he probably wouldn't still be protective. And after everything they've told us about their unfortunate experiences, I would think that Klaus would be as protective of his sisters as I am.

Suddenly the door to the shack opened and Klaus was standing there carrying Sunny, "Come on you guys we don't want to be late for dinner."

Violet and I stood and followed them to the cafeteria. Throughout dinner, Violet and I couldn't help noticing that Klaus and Isadora were avoiding eye contact with each other. And they would stutter whenever they tried to talk to each other. I felt my overprotective brother instincts kick in. I'll ask my sister what he did later.

"Attention students," The voice over the loudspeaker rang, "This is Vice Principal Nero, and I have an announcement. Your gym teacher Ms. Tench has fallen ill while she was at the away game the past few days. I have been approached by a new applicant who will be taking over. There will be a pep rally tomorrow to introduce him meaning classes are cancelled. And after that will be my violin recital as usual."

The speaker turned off and the five of us groaned. Pep rallies are awful.

"I don't know which I hate more, the word 'pep' or the word 'rally,'" Violet said.

"Same here, but we'll try to sneak in some fruit for you guys," Isadora said casually.

Violet smiled, "Thank you."

"It's not a problem," I added, "Our broom closet is right by the fruit bowl where all the fresh fruit is."

"I don't mean for the fruit," Violet continued staring directly at me, "I mean for making us feel at home."

"We haven't felt at home for a long time," Klaus spoke up, "But with you two, we feel more at home than we have since we lost our parents." Sunny voiced her agreement.

Isadora and I smiled at them and she said, "Well that's what friends are for."

~...

After the recital that night, Isadora and I were walking back to our broom closet. But we were stopped by someone. A tall, creepy, man with one long eyebrow, shiny eyes, and I noticed a tattoo of an eye on his left ankle. He was exactly as the Baudelaires had described: this was Count Olaf.

He started talking to us, but it seemed he must have mistaken us for the Baudelaires. Once he corrected himself, he had realized who we were. How does he know about our family sapphires? Did he know our parents? How does he know our names? Oh, I guess he doesn't know since he mistakenly called me Quigley; we all look alike, but my brother and I always tried to make our appearances more distinct. He got distracted by the sound of a cafeteria worker talking to Carmelita. Isadora and I took the opportunity and ran to our broom closet, locking ourselves inside.

"What do we do," Isadora asked worriedly.

"First we have to warn the Baudelaires at the pep rally tomorrow."

She looked scared, and I wasn't fairing much better. We went to bed for the night contemplating how to deal with this situation tomorrow.

~Normal POV

Duncan and Isadora rushed to the pep rally where the Baudelaires were already waiting. They hadn't seen any sign of Olaf since last night, but that only made them more worried. Once they reached the athletic field they quickly sat down beside the Baudelaires.

"Guys, we think you're in terrible danger," Duncan said.

Unfortunately, right before Violet could ask what was wrong; Vice Principal Nero started the rally. Duncan and Isadora tried to tell them what was going on, but the rest of the students' cheering drowned out their voices.

"Now, please welcome your new gym teacher, Coach Genghis!"

The Baudelaires felt their blood boil as they looked at the stage and saw the man they dreaded so much, Count Olaf. The Quagmires could only watch as the Baudelaires tried several tactics to reveal him to the crowd but none of them worked. Olaf then announced that he would start an exercise program for orphans called S.O.R.E. He only chose the Baudelaires for it, much to Duncan and Isadora's dismay. When the rally let out Duncan and Isadora joined the Baudelaires at the shack to discuss the situation.

"Don't worry Baudelaires; don't feel disgraced, the Quagmire triplets are on the case."

"You're kind and generous friends," Violet started, "But we can't let you get involved."

"If Olaf tried to hurt you," Klaus didn't finish his sentence but everyone could tell what he meant.

"We're going to help you," Isadora said.

"And there's nothing you can say that will change our minds," Duncan added with a smile, "But for now, let's get to the recital and we'll talk about a plan tomorrow."

At the recital, Duncan noticed how Violet was trying not to panic about Olaf showing up. He calmed her down by holding her hand and telling her stories about terrible concerts he's been forced to go to. Isadora wrote a couplet that she hoped would help Klaus feel better about the situation, "It would be an incredible stroke of luck, if Coach Genghis were hit by a truck." Klaus had smiled at her and replied, "That would be an incredible stroke of luck." In the back of his mind, Klaus realized in that moment that he wanted to marry Isadora someday.

When the Baudelaires went to sleep that night in their shack wondering what Olaf would have planned to do to them tomorrow, they each had the same thought in their heads: they would not let Count Olaf hurt Duncan and Isadora Quagmire.

~...

If only they had been able to keep that promise when he kidnapped the two triplets ten days later; Violet, Klaus, and Sunny swore that they would save the people they cared about. And as the three were taken back to the city by Mr. Poe to live with their new guardians, the Squalors, they knew they would find them and solve the mystery of their families' pasts together.

~The End!

The ending of my short prequel story! See you!