"Kids," Said Lynn Loud, Sr, calling up the stairs to his children's room. "You need to get down here. Your mother and I need to speak with you."
It had been a month since Lincoln's disappearance. The house of Loud was unbearably quiet these days. There was no laughter, sounds of music, no explosions, not even the sound of arguing. Only silence. The children had grown more and more despondent as the days turned to weeks after Lincoln vanished. The finger they had found had shook them to their core, and each of them were hoping desperately that it did not belong to their missing brother. That hope was shattered when the forensic report came back.
Racked with guilt, Rita and Lynn Sr. knew that if there was any chance of finding Lincoln, they would have to cooperate fully with the police, which included confessing to what led to him being outside in the first place. They were immediately apprehended and processed into the county jail. Once Albert had bailed them out, they had met with a lawyer to discuss their legal liability.
The Loud kids shuffled down the stairs from their rooms, taking their seats in the living room. Lynn Sr. sighed as he looked over his sullen children. It was hard to believe that just a month ago his children were stampeding through the house, happily pursuing their passions and causing mischief. He knew one day the halls of the Loud House would one day grow silent, but he could have never expected it would be so soon, and he never wanted it to be in these circumstances.
He knew he and Rita failed as parents. Raising 1 child was a difficult task for most parents, let alone raising 11. Until recently he always thought that he was doing a good job, but his convictions were now greatly shaken. Because there were so many of them, and he and his wife were working full-time jobs, they were already in over their heads with things to do. When each of the girls started developing interests in various extra-curricular activities, it only stretched the parents even more thin. A natural solution to this was to adopt a hands-off parenting approach. They would be there for their children to offer their love, guidance, and necessities, and do their best to spend time with them as often as they could, but advocated for little intervention when it came to most decisions in their lives. If the children had problems, they would allow them to work it out among themselves, only getting involved if absolutely necessary. This proved to work for a while, and helped the children develop a sense of independence and self-reliance. However, this situation with Lincoln proved to them that they had relied too heavily on their children not only to work out their own problems, but also to keep the house afloat in their absence. Despite all their skill and intelligence, they were still children, and they needed more from their parents than they were able to give.
The most damning and disheartening of this situation was the realization of how much the family depended on Lincoln. His presence served as a linchpin for them, and without him, they began to fall apart. His strategic thinking and organizational skills helped get them through the aspects of home life that the parents were either too busy to take care of or his siblings simply did not care to do, being distracted pursuing their own various activities instead. They all realized sadly how much they pushed their problems onto their brother, how much he had to serve as a problem-solver and peacemaker for them, and how much he did for them even when they didn't ask or were too busy to notice. And yet, whenever he needed something, they were usually too wrapped up in their own lives to notice or care, prompting him to go through drastic measures to satisfy his wants and needs.
Often, these measures would cause problems, and he would be punished severely for them. It seemed he was always taking the brunt of some sort of punishment on a weekly basis, but the girls would rarely face such punishment. He would bear them quietly for the most part, and would consistently push his goals and desires to the side to help those around him in their time of need. If they had just realized the reason behind his schemes and plans was because of neglect for his basic needs and his starvation for recognition and accommodation, instead of selfishly focusing only on themselves, perhaps he wouldn't have felt the need to pretend to be bad luck just to get some time to himself.
And none of this would have happened.
"We just got through talking with our lawyer, kids," said Lynn Sr. "And things. . . aren't looking good."
"What do you mean, pops?" Asked Luna.
"Your mother and I don't exactly have a good chance at beating this charge against us," Lynn Sr. replied. "So, we're going to take a plea deal."
"You mean you're going to ask the judge politely to let you go?" Asked Leni.
"No, elder sister," said Lisa. "They are entering into an arrangement with the prosecuting attorneys for a reduced sentence in exchange for a guilty plea."
"What?" Shouted Lynn Jr. "You're going to plead guilty?!"
"You can't!" Shouted Lola. "You'll go to jail!"
The girls began to panic as they spoke over each other, voicing their protests and concerns. "Girls!" Shouted Rita, silencing them. "You need to understand, this is the best option we have."
"The prosecution has informed us that if we proceed to court, they'll be pushing for the maximum sentence," said Lynn, Sr. "That's ten years in prison, and we'd be lucky if we could get parole. Not to mention we would lose custody of you completely." The girls gasped in shock. Ten years without their parents? Most of them would have already reached adulthood by that time. They would miss them growing up entirely. And the idea of their parents losing custody of them filled them with fear. That would likely mean that they would either have to live with their extended family, or they would be separated and put into foster care.
"Not only that, but you girls wouldn't get through this unscathed," said Rita.
"What do you mean?" Asked Lori.
"The prosecution has threatened to drag you into this," said Rita. This was not surprising to the girls, but it was still frightening to them. After all, this whole situation was their idea. They were used to pushing Lincoln around, and he rarely ever showed any signs of protest or resistance, no matter how invasive they were to his privacy or how much they sacrificed his dignity. It was one of the things that they took for granted with him.
"What are they gonna do to us?" Asked Luan.
"For the younger girls, probably nothing," said Lynn Sr. "But as for you older girls, they are arguing that you are at an age where you could have reasonably determined what was being done to Lincoln was wrong. If you were to go to trial, you could face time in Juvenile hall. Some of you could possibly be tried as an adult, which would mean a prison sentence."
"Regardless, this would be an end to your future," said Rita. "Even if we were found innocent, there's still the court of public opinion. The stigma of this situation will follow you wherever you go, and your life will become ten times harder for it."
The girls began to understand their predicament. If they were to be found guilty and sent to juvie or prison, it would be on their permanent record. It would make getting into college, getting a job, extremely difficult. Even dating and getting married would be hard, as who would trust them enough to raise a family with them when the very reason they were found guilty was child endangerment?
"But the prosecution told us that if we were to plead guilty, we would serve a reduced sentence of one year," said Lynn, Sr. "We would still keep custody of you, upon condition that we attend two years worth of parenting courses, as well as 5 years probation. In turn, you girls would receive immunity, and after that time the file would be sealed, keeping it from the public record."
"This would minimize your liability and prevent the most impact to your futures," Rita affirmed.
"But you would take all the blame," said Lynn, Jr.
"That's a price we're willing to pay," Said Lynn, Sr.
"It's wrong!" Said Lynn, Jr. "You shouldn't have to pay the price for what we did!"
"This isn't up for discussion, LJ," Said Lynn, Sr. "We already consulted with our lawyer and have agreed this is the best option."
"We don't care what happens to us!" Said Lana.
"We totally deserve it," said Lucy.
"We can't just give up and let you take the fall for us!" Said Lori.
"Enough, girls!" Shouted Rita. "It's bad enough we. . ." she paused, gulping down a breath. "It's bad enough we lost your brother, we don't want to lose you too." She finished, her voice cracking. They could see tears well up in her eyes. The girls immediately felt a pang of guilt. Their mother and father were both on board at first with their girl's idea about banning Lincoln from fun outings. They figured this would teach him a lesson in lying to them. However, Rita was having second thoughts the more the girls escalated the punishment. After they boarded up his room and made him sleep in the yard, that's when Rita tried to put her foot down. She had an argument with their father that night, saying that this was going too far and that they should put a stop to it. However, after a long discussion, Lynn Sr. convinced her to let the girls continue, as they have had good results in the past by allowing them to sort out their own problems.
However, when Lynn, Jr. was forcing him to sleep outside a second night is when they finally put their foot down, and informed the girls that the punishment had gone on long enough, and ordered her to bring him back inside. Lynn Jr. did as she was told, begrudgingly, as she was the strongest advocate for this punishment. But they could all remember the horror they felt when she ran back inside tearfully screaming that Lincoln was gone.
It was a night none of them would ever forget.
"Your mother and I have made our decision," said Lynn, Sr. "Our lawyer has already contacted the District Attorney's office, and they have already put everything into motion."
"You can't do this!" Shouted Lynn, Jr.
"Who's gonna take care of us?" Said Lana.
"Pop-pop is moving out of Sunset Canyon at the end of the week," said Rita. "He'll be moving in and taking temporary custody of you."
"I know this isn't going to be easy," said Lynn, Sr. "We all have to make sacrifices now to make this work. But all that matters is that our family stays together."
"But we're not staying together!" Shouted Lynn, Jr., tears streaming down her face. "You're taking the fall for something we did. Something I did!"
"LJ!" Said Lynn, Sr., shocked at his daughter's outburst.
"No!" Shouted Lynn, Jr. "This isn't right! This isn't right!" She jumped off the couch and bolted up to her room as fast as her legs could carry her, slamming the door shut behind her. Rita and Lynn, Sr. exchanged sympathetic looks. They expected something like this would happen. LJ has been taking Lincoln's disappearance the hardest. She has been refusing to go to school, hasn't been eating well, and suffering from nightmares. She hadn't been to any of her sports games since the incident started, instead spending all her time scouring the city looking for her brother, putting up posters, canvassing and knocking on houses to ask if they have seen him. Their parents tried to put a stop to it, fearful that she too might end up lost, only for her to sneak out on several occasions to continue her search. They finally had to assign Lucy as her handler, making sure to follow her around as much as possible to keep her from skipping school and sneaking out to look for Lincoln.
This didn't mean that they had given up finding him. Along with the police investigation, the family has paid thousands of dollars, exploring various different avenues, attempting to find their boy. An Amber Alert was issued, his picture and description was distributed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, utilized every social media platform they could to spread the news of his disappearance, as well as even hiring a private detective (an old friend of Albert's from the military). So far, every avenue, every lead, every clue, had only led to a dead end.
Lynn sobbed quietly on her bed, clutching Lincoln's stuffed rabbit, Bun-Bun. The first night of his disappearance, she had a frightening nightmare where Lincoln was calling for her name, desperate and scared, and she was unable to do anything to help him. She ran into his room, only to break down crying as the room was still empty. She had hoped beyond hope, hoped beyond reason, that maybe it had all been just a bad dream, and that her brother was still there. She crawled into his bed that night, clutching Bun-Bun, and cried herself to sleep.
There was a knock at the door. "LJ?" Came the voice of her dad. "Can I come in?"
"It's open," said Lynn glumly. Her father slowly opened the door, walking over to her and sitting next to her on the bed. They sat in silence for a few minutes as she continued to sob. He put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug.
"It's okay, LJ," he said softly. "It's gonna be okay."
"No, it's not," said Lynn, Jr.. "This is my fault, Dad."
"No, it's not, honey," Said Lynn, Sr.
"Yes it is!" Lynn, Jr. cried. "I was the one who forced him to come to my game. I was the one who called him bad luck. I was the one who came up with the plan, and I was the one who kept it going instead of ending it when he confessed. I should be the one going to jail, not you! I should have been the one to have disappeared, not Lincoln. I'm a horrible sister." She let the tears flow freely, crying into her father's shirt as he held her.
"Don't say that, LJ," said Lynn, Sr. "We all kept this thing going. We all took it too far. But we could never live with ourselves if you disappeared too. And if anyone is to blame for this fiasco, it's me and your mom. We shouldn't have let you girls get carried away. Heck, we should have stopped this the moment he was thrown into the yard. And it's not just this time either. There were several instances where we didn't intervene when we should have."
Lynn, Jr. pulled away from her father, sniffing and wiping her tears on her sleeve. "I just can't stop thinking about him, Dad," said Lynn, Jr. "How much I've hurt him and tormented him over the years. How much he has sacrificed for us, and how much we dumped on him for stupid mistakes that we would get away with in an instant. We were so unfair to him. What if we never find him? What if he never comes home? What if –"
"Stop right there, LJ," said Lynn, Sr. firmly. "We will find your brother. Just because we haven't found him yet doesn't mean he's not out there, and it doesn't mean we won't bring him home. Don't give up hope, LJ."
"Do. . . do you think he'll forgive me?" Asked Lynn, Jr. "Do you think he'll forgive us all?"
"Don't think about that right now, LJ," said Lynn, Sr. "Let's just find him first. But remember this: don't let your fear hold you back. Even if he never forgives us, don't let that stop you from trying. Don't let that stop you from becoming a better person."
Lynn would replay that conversation in her head a lot over the next ten years. Seeing her parents hauled off to prison was devastating for them. They made sure to visit them as often as possible, but it wasn't the same at home without them. It made Lincoln's absence more poignant, as their family began to fall apart around them. Without him and their parents, they would fight more often, they had a very hard time following their schedules, eventually leading many of them to quitting their various extracurricular activities. Lynn personally didn't want to look at another baseball, football, or any other sports paraphernalia for the rest of her life. Instead, she devoted all the time she had trying to fill the void that was left behind by Lincoln.
She discovered a newfound strength by following in her brother's footsteps. She learned how to be a more organized and patient person. Additionally, after years of her selfish and obsessive pursuit of sports, she never knew the kind of satisfaction that one could get by helping others, something that would eventually propel her to becoming a cop.
Despite her best efforts, however, as the weeks turned into months, and the months into years, her sisters began to grow apart. Some of their friendships stayed true, such as Lori and Leni, and Lola and Lana. Luna, however, was the first one of them that began to drift away. She began skipping school, sometimes leaving in the middle of the night. She started getting tattoos, as well as picking up drinking and vaping. Lynn remembered how her parents, after returning home from their 1-year prison sentence, would often have screaming matches with her as they confronted her on her actions. Eventually, she left altogether, dropping out of school and running off with her girlfriend, Sam Sharp, to start a band. She didn't speak to the family for nearly two years. They finally were contacted by Sam informing us of how she was abusing drugs and landing in and out of rehab. After getting into a car accident while drunk at the wheel, Sam had finally put her foot down. She gathered her family together for an intervention, finally convincing her to take her recovery seriously, and reconnecting with the family. She has now been sober for three years, eventually married her girlfriend, and managed to take the band to greater heights across the country.
Lisa was the next one to leave. Because she graduated high school at such a young age, she had offers to every college across the country, all with full scholarships. It was then she headed to Boston to attend Harvard University, where she was able to graduate top of her class, with honors, with two PhDs in biomedical and chemical engineering. It was after the family went to celebrate her graduation when she dropped a bombshell on them, telling them that she had been invited to work for CERN in Switzerland. Naturally, they were all against the idea. At the time she was only 12 years old, and despite her intelligence, their parents weren't going to allow her to move to another country. However, she then surprised everyone by declaring that she already had herself emancipated from the family, as well as changing her last name to "Morgan," their mother's maiden name. This broke Lynn, Sr. and Rita's hearts, and made several of the siblings extremely indignant. They had felt betrayed by her, like she was abandoning them, but Lisa said that there was nothing more to discuss, and left immediately for the airport. That night, Lynn could hear her parents crying in despair as they looked through the family photo album. Things only got worse from there.
After Lisa's departure, Luan had entered college, and eventually moved to California. Like Lola, Luan's personality completely changed almost overnight after Lincoln's disappearance. They were shocked at how she had destroyed her comedy props, including Mr. Coconuts, and often tried to get her to come out of her shell by setting her up for jokes or even telling her their own jokes, but she never participated or laughed. Sometimes, she would get very angry and shut herself in her room, not emerging for hours. While she was attending college, she started a business helping other talented performers across Royal Woods get their start, and quickly rose to become a top agent among them. After finishing school, she moved out to California, where her company grew to even greater heights. She rarely wrote to them, and never came back home for holidays, always claiming that she was "too busy." They all knew that she was avoiding the family and Royal Woods, but they didn't have the heart to call her to the carpet, out of fear of making her even more distant.
Lucy was the last one to leave. Like Luan, she had become more cold and distant after her brother's disappearance, something that they didn't think was possible, considering her already dark personality. She rarely spent time with the family and would even go long stretches of time without speaking to them, especially Lynn. Eventually, she became outright hostile to her roommate, arguing and picking fights to the point where they had to separate them, putting them in different rooms. This upset Lynn greatly, as she always felt she had a strong bond with Lucy, despite the differences in their personalities, but the latter seemed to want nothing to do with her. On the day of her high-school graduation, Lori entered her room only to find a note stating that she was leaving Royal Woods forever. Lynn had managed to make it to the airport before she boarded the plane, begging her not to leave and break up the family even more. Lucy simply looked at her and said she would no longer live with a murderer, and boarded the plane, leaving Lynn even more heartbroken. They had tried to get in touch with her, but she changed her phone number and disabled her social media accounts, and never told them where she was staying. Like Lisa, she had cut them out of her life completely.
Bringing herself out of her thoughts, Lynn stood on the porch of a small house. It stood out from the others in the neighborhood, as it was painted black and adorned with Gothic art and statues, such as bats and gargoyles. Haiku had originally gone to Europe with Lucy, but had returned home after a year. The family tried to get her to open up about where Lucy was and how to get in touch with her, but she wouldn't budge, informing them that Lucy did not want to speak with them. Lynn had long stopped trying to get it out of her, but now things were different. Lucy was in danger, and one way or another, Haiku was going to tell her where she was.
Her hands trembled as she rang the doorbell to the house, sounding like the death toll of a requiem bell. She waited patiently as she heard someone approaching, the door opening slowly to reveal a tall woman in a black dress reminiscent of Morticia Addams, her black hair draped over one of her eyes, obscuring it.
"Lynn," she said, her visible eye widening slightly, indicating surprise on her normally stoic face. "What are you doing here?"
"Haiku," said Lynn. "I know you probably don't want to see me, but I just -"
"Who's at the door, honey?" A voice came from behind her. Lynn stared in surprise as a man came into view. He was a tall, African American man looking to be in his early twenties. His head was short and buzzed and had a full beard on his face, his dark eyes covered with thick, horn-rimmed glasses. He wore a striped button-up shirt and sweater-vest, along with black slacks. He looked at Lynn in surprise, who stared back in earnest as she almost didn't recognize him, and certainly didn't expect to see him here.
"Lynn?" He said. "Is that you?"
"Clyde?" Said Lynn.
Lynn sipped at her coffee uneasily, sitting across from Haiku and Clyde in the parlor of the house. In truth, she hadn't expected them to invite her in, rather than slam the door in her face. Clyde poured himself and Haiku a cup of coffee for themselves. "Sugar and cream for me," he said, adding to his cup. "And black for you, as you're already sweet." He said to Haiku, passing the cup to her.
"You make my heart soar, my love," said Haiku in her usual monotone voice. Lynn had to say that she was extremely surprised at this turn of events. She knew these two had become friends since attending the Sadie Hawkins dance as kids, but the differences in their personalities were so radically different, she didn't see them ever becoming a couple, let alone married.
"So, how did this happen?" She said, gesturing to them. "I thought you had moved to Ann Arbor, Clyde?"
"I did," Clyde replied. "After Haiku came back from Europe, she had gotten a scholarship to the same university I was attending. She was studying English Literature, and I was learning psychology. We reconnected when we both shared a class, and began dating."
"My friends teased me for going out with a normie," said Haiku, stroking Clyde's chin gently. "But the darkness is nothing without the light. Isn't that right, Angel-pie?"
Lynn suppressed a laugh as the two cuddled each other. Angel-pie? She thought. This is a side of Haiku that she had never seen before. She was always more prone to positive emotions than her sister was, but hearing her coo to her husband in her monotone gothic voice was a sight to behold.
"This is nice," said Lynn. "I'm glad you were able to get over your crush on Lori."
Clyde's demeanor suddenly turned somber. "It wasn't difficult after. . . what happened," he said sadly. Lynn immediately knew she put her foot in it, looking down at her coffee cup with guilt. It was a sore subject for everyone, but Lincoln's disappearance shook the poor boy to his core. Lincoln was more than a best friend to him, he was more like the brother he never had. What's worse, Lori came to his house one day to apologize to him, and seeing how much he was hurting, and wanted to do what she could to help him, as he had always been there for her in the past. This turned out to be a mistake, as when he saw her, he showed her a side of him she never knew could possibly exist, screaming at the top of his lungs, telling her how she failed him as a brother, and that he never wanted to see her again, finally slamming the door in her face. This event had greatly upset the oldest sibling, and she had returned home in tears. Considering none of the other siblings would have imagined he was capable of this level of anger, none of them dared press their luck and go talk to him in her stead.
"I regret what happened that day," said Clyde, as if reading Lynn's mind. "I let my anger and grief cloud my judgment and lashed out irrationally."
"You didn't say anything we didn't already know, though," said Lynn.
"But it wasn't my place to remind you," said Clyde. "I made peace with what happened a long time ago."
"But. . ." said Lynn slowly. "It's actually because of what . . . happened to Lincoln is why I'm here today."
"What do you mean?" Asked Haiku.
Lynn began to explain the situation to them, being careful to leave out classified details about the case, but also about the more gruesome aspects she learned from Wild Card about her brother, trying to spare them any more heartache.
"So, you found the guy who did it?" Said Clyde, recapping what she had told him. "The guy who killed Lincoln?"
"Yes," said Lynn. "And now he has placed a target on the rest of my family. I wasn't able to save my brother from him, but I'll be damned if I let him take any more of my family from me."
"Why did you come to us?" Asked Haiku.
"It's because of Lucy," Said Lynn. Clyde and Haiku exchanged knowing looks. "She hasn't spoken to us since our grandfather passed away. If this maniac is going after my family, she could be in danger. I need to make sure she's safe."
"So you want us to help you get in contact with her?" Asked Clyde. Lynn nodded. A silence stretched between them. They have been in regular contact with Lucy since Haiku came back from Europe. She met with Clyde via video chat every week for therapy sessions. He had been helping her come to terms with her brother's disappearance. They knew that Lucy wouldn't want to talk with Lynn, and if they broached the topic of her family, it might open old wounds and damage the relationship they have with her. However, if she was really in danger like Lynn said she was, then they couldn't not talk to her about it, if there was any chance of keeping her safe from this madman.
"Okay," Said Haiku after a few minutes. "But let us be the one to tell her. She'll be more likely to listen to us."
"Thank you," Said Lynn.
"But even if she does listen, what do we say to her?" Asked Clyde. "Surely she'd be safe in Europe, wouldn't she?"
"Yes, she should," said Lynn. "But I just want to be sure she stays that way. This man is dangerous. He's already taken out some of the most dangerous men in the city, and I don't want to take any chances."
"I see," said Clyde. "Leave it to us, then."
"Thank you," said Lynn, standing to leave. "And thank you for seeing me, and for the coffee. It was good to catch up again." Lynn opened the door and began walking to her car when she was suddenly stopped by Clyde.
"What's up?" Asked Lynn.
"I just wanted to tell you," said Clyde. "Lucy doesn't hate you."
Lynn started in surprise, unsure what to make of what her friend told her. Clyde must have sensed her trepidation, and continued. "I know she said some harsh things to you when she left," he said. "She regrets doing that, but she still can't bring herself to speak to everyone yet. She's still grieving. But she doesn't hate you. She doesn't hate any of you. I just wanted you to know that."
Lynn felt a warm sensation spread throughout her chest. It was a sense of comfort, something that was rare for her to experience in the past ten years. "Thank you, Clyde," She said, turning to leave.
"And Lynn?" She turned back at Clyde's words. "Get this son of a bitch," he said.
Lynn smiled. "Count on it."