Fifteen-year-old Luan Loud rode along on her bicycle, pulling a wagon of supplies. It had been her best party ever. Though also her longest and most tiring. Nothing like being the entertainer for quintuplets to keep a girl busy. Lincoln had helped as long as he could, but Luan let him leave when she thought she could handle it on her own. Though it did still end up taking a little longer than she'd originally thought.
At the next crosswalk she got her phone and called Mom. She didn't answer, and it went to her voice mail. Luan shrugged it off. It certainly wouldn't be the first time her mother had been unable to answer.
"Hey, Mom. Sorry I'm running late. Things got even more out of hand than I thought they would. Be home soon."
At the next stop sign she tried calling Dad. Again, she left a message. After all, Lynn Sr. was a busy man. The third time she called the house phone. When no one answered she started to get worried. Someone always answered it. She called Lori, Leni, and Luna, but no one answered. What had been mild concern kept growing. If they'd gone out they would've called to let her know or offered to meet her and pick her up. She called Bobby. She felt some relief that he answered.
"Bobby," she asked, "have you talked to Lori lately?"
"It's the weirdest thing. We were in the middle of texting, and she stopped replying. It's been a while and now I'm on my way to your place to make sure nothing's wrong."
"Thanks. I'll be there soon."
She called the McBrides and luckily Clyde answered.
"Hey, Clyde? Have you talked to Lincoln recently?"
"Sure. We did few hours ago. He even talked about how grateful he was that you let him leave in time to see the trailer for the new Ace Savvy cartoon, but he still felt a little guilty about leaving you by yourself at such a big party."
Luan felt some relief. It quickly vanished with Clyde's next words.
"But after the trailer, I called him but he didn't respond. I tried calling your house, but no one answered, which is very concerning. I'm about to head over there now."
After that Luan peddled faster, even untying the wagon with all her supplies and birthday cake slices to not have the extra weight. She even almost hit some people. Some ambulances and police cars passed her, their lights flashing and sirens blaring. That's when she knew something was wrong.
It was just after dark by the time she got home. The neighborhood was lit up with blue and red lights…and the Loud house was surrounded by yellow tape. Luan's blood ran cold at the sight of the police tape around her house like a yellow and black fence, with ambulances and police cars all along the street, in the driveway and in the yard.
Clyde and Bobby were already there, talking to police officer frantically.
"You have to let me in!" Bobby told her. "My girlfriend lives here!"
"My best friend is in there!" declared Clyde.
"I'm sorry boys, but—hey!"
Luan ducked under the tape and ran past the officer.
"Wait, stop!" the policewoman called to her.
"This is my house!" Luan called back to her.
She ran into the door. Moments later, her screams cut though the air so loudly that half the neighborhood heard her.