Loud Visions

Chapter 6

The next day they went to Gus's Games and Grub. Lincoln wore his new loose jeans and one of his new T-shirts, and a grey hoodie with a pair of sunglasses to disguise himself to keep a low profile. However, Leni and Lori were easy to spot, and everyone put two and two together to figure out that Lincoln was the boy traveling with them. He got crowded, and everyone wanted a selfie with him, but the upside was that he got unlimited free tokens with a free meal that day. He patiently got with everyone as they took selfies with him. He even got kissed by a few girls.

"Fifteen minutes. Fifteen long minutes of selfies and congratulations," Lincoln stated.

"We're sorry, Linky," Leni said.

"Never in all my years have I known ways to make minutes last longer than they had to."

"Well, it's over now. So, come on, Lincoln. Let's have some fun. Umm, Boo-Boo Bear, what's that game you guys talked about yesterday?" Lori asked.

"Dirty Drivin. It's over there," Bobby pointed.

The game was everything Bobby promised it would be. It was intense. It was a rush. It was filled with non-stop action. There were many unique tracks to race on with a wide variety of monster trucks. Lincoln rammed into other monster trucks, shot miniguns and rockets, and ran them over with giant spiked tires blowing them up.

"You're a wrecking machine, bro!" Bobby praised.

"Yeah, this game's too intense for my taste," Leni said, cringing.

"It's such a guy's game," Lori added, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, that's why Mario Kart is my favorite!" Leni stated.

"Which truck is your favorite, Bobby? Mine's BattleAxe," Lincoln said.

"I like Go-Rilla. You have a giant gorilla bobblehead in the back. How do you compete with that?" Bobby asked.

"Oooh, the dance game is open! Come on, Lincoln!" Leni said, grabbing her brother's hand.

They got on the dance game together. Lincoln and Leni were on a winning streak, which brought attention from other people in the arcade. Lincoln focused on the game and tried to ignore everyone around. Leni didn't keep up with key arrows. She pulled off some sweet moves while playing. Lincoln also busted some nice dance moves, but not to show off too much. When they won, Leni jumped up excitedly and cheered before embracing her brother in a tight hug. Seeing her happy was enough to make Lincoln smile, but he felt no joy for himself. Of course, she took several selfies to remember the moment.

As Lincoln played with the pinball games, Lori approached him, "You having fun, Lincoln?"

"Yeah, I am," Lincoln answered.

"How's your head? Any pain?"

"Only small headaches, nothing major."

"Good, good."

After a long moment of silence, Lori spoke again, "Some cool pinball machines, huh? I like the one you're playing, Haunted Hill. It's got some neat design and features."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Are you excited to go to college?" Lincoln asked.

"Oh yeah! Totally. I was thinking of Bobby and me living in the city together for when I move to Fairway. I was looking for some neat apartments, and there's—"

As Lori explained, Lincoln felt a deep dread that took hold of him. All noise around him slowly faded, and only a deafening high-pitched ringing sound replaced the silence. It was eerily similar to what they used in scenes when someone learned they had cancer.