Lincoln groaned as he trudged up the stairs to his room, his backpack full to bursting. Most Friday afternoons had him looking forward to the coming weekend, but this weekend would be nothing but drudgery from beginning to end. Mrs. Johnson had assigned him to read George Orwell's Animal Farm in its entirety, and write a five-page report on it by Monday. He would have to get started on it right away if he wanted any chance of finishing it by Sunday night.

To make matters worse, he lived in the Loud House, where it was nigh-impossible to commit to any course of action without being interrupted. On some days, he couldn't even make it inside his room uninhibited- and much to his chagrin, this was one such day. Just as he was putting his hand on the doorknob, he was startled by a scratchy monotone voice coming from directly behind him.

"Hello, Lincoln."

Lincoln yelped and spun around to see his sister Lucy standing inches away from him.

"D-don't scare me like that!" he cried. "You know I hate it when you do that!"

Lucy shrugged. "Sorry," she said, her tone static and unwavering.

"It's okay. It's just that I have a lot of work to do this weekend and I'm kind of stressing out over it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to-"

"Wait," Lucy interjected.

"What is it?" Lincoln groaned.

"I need a favor," she said. "It won't even take a second."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Lincoln sighed. "All right."

In all fairness, Lucy did have a pretty good track record when it came to making promises, and he had already read the first couple chapters of Animal Farm on the way home. He figured that there was no harm in humoring her for a few minutes.

Lucy took him by the hand and lead him to her bedroom door, which was already ajar. He looked inside to see the kiddie table from the kitchen set up in the center of the room, surrounded by a circle of candles, with a red pentagram drawn over it in magic marker.

"I've finally discovered how to enter the Netherrealm," said Lucy.

"The what now?"

"The Netherrealm. The dimension where all the souls of the dead convene, socialize and celebrate for eternity, presided over by the Dark Lord Onivas. The problem is, Onivas won't grant entry to any mortal soul acting alone, so I need a second person to complete the ritual."

"So then why don't you ask-"

"And the second person needs to be a human male. Dad's at work, so you're all I have. Do me a favor and go lay down on that table."

Lucky me, thought Lincoln as he carefully lowered himself onto the table. While he was getting himself comfortable, he overheard the faint sound of snoring from the far side of the room. Glancing over, he saw Lynn lying on her bed, wrapped up in her blanket, dozing away.

"We won't wake Lynn, will we?" asked Lincoln.

"No, she's a heavy sleeper. I've seen her nap through rituals way more chaotic than this."

Lucy grabbed a CD from atop Lynn's nightstand, popped it into their shared stereo, skipped forward a few tracks, and hit the play button.

"Speaking of Lynn, she was generous enough to lend me one of her albums for the occasion."

Lynn listens to music?, thought Lincoln. He seldom heard her use the stereo to play anything aside from jock jams. He chuckled at the thought of crossing over into the Netherrealm to the strains of "Slam Jam" or "This Is How We Do It."

He stopped chuckling once he heard the deep, resonant bong of a church bell echoing throughout the room. This was followed by another bong, and then some eerie minor chords played on a pipe organ. Lincoln recognized the track as the Undertaker's theme song from WWF, from the occasional times he and Lynn would watch wrestling together.

"So is the music part of the ritual, too?" he asked.

"No. But it does help set the mood."

She retrieved a lighter from the top of her dresser, flicked it on, and started walking around the circle of candles, letting the flame caress each wick as she passed. Lincoln had to admit that the collective heat of the candle circle was rather comforting, especially since it had been a rather cold December so far.

Once each candle was lit, she walked over to her dresser, put the lighter back and exchanged it for a black, leather-bound book that was lying beside it. She then flipped to a random page, propped it open with one hand, and started chanting in some bizarre, indecipherable language. It sounded like some haphazard blend of broken English, Spanish and beginner-level Latin.

Lincoln rolled his eyes. As soon as he heard that Lucy's school was offering third grade Latin classes, he knew that she was going to milk them for all they were worth. Still, her chanting did sound rather ominous when it was backed up by those pipe organs and church bells.

After a few verses, Lucy flipped to a new page and began a different passage- this one in plain English.

"Eternal flames of immortality;

Jump, dance and flicker for eternity.

No mud or rain or foam or wind or gust

Can quell your flame; bright, lively and robust."

She then closed the book, set it down, leaned forward toward one of the candles, and blew it out. A few seconds later, the wick reignited itself, burning just as brightly as before.

Luan must've lent her some of those trick candles, thought Lincoln.

Lucy then proceeded to walk around the circle, repeating the process for every single candle, all while that gloomy, gothic music continued to drone on in the background.

Soon after the last candle was snuffed and relit, the song finally came to an end, closing out with a few more church bells…at which point, Lucy wordlessly walked over to the stereo and hit the repeat button, starting the track over again.

"Come on," whined Lincoln. "I really need to get started on that assignment."

"Lincoln, I told you that this wouldn't even take a second," said Lucy.

"It's been seven minutes!"

Lucy shook her head. "No, Lincoln, it hasn't. I've taken us to a dimension beyond space and time. It feels like seven minutes, but not a second has passed by in the mortal realm."

With a roll of his eyes, Lincoln hopped off the table and ambled towards the door. "Lucy, I'm serious," he said. "I've let you have your fun, but now it's time for me to get… started?"

He opened the door to find that an impenetrable silence had washed over the house. Not the slightest noise could be heard in the hall, or on the stairs. Lincoln's eyes scanned over the hallway, expecting to find it empty. Instead, he saw some of the other Loud sisters scattered around the scene, engaged in different activities… or, rather, frozen in different activities.

Everyone outside the room was locked into an awkward stance, as if they were playing freeze tag. Lana had been chasing Lola down the hall, trying to dangle a salamander in front of her face, and both of them were frozen mid-run. Luna had her guitar strapped around her shoulder, and her strumming hand was fixed just above the strings. Leni had tripped over a knot in the carpet, and was locked in place mid-fall.

"Very funny, guys," Lincoln grumbled. "I don't know how Lucy convinced you to set this up, but you need to cut it out. I've got homework to do."

But every time Lincoln's eyes passed over the hall, he noticed another detail that gave him pause. All the clocks were stopped. Leni was somehow balancing herself on a single toe. The salamander in Lana's hand wasn't moving an inch.

Lincoln looked back over his shoulder to see Lucy standing perfectly still in the center of the room- hands folded in front of her, feet shoulder width apart.

"O-okay, Lucy, fun's over. This was a pretty neat trick, but you need to let me go back to my room."

"I'm sorry, Lincoln, but I'm afraid I can't do that," said Lucy, her tone and expression unchanging. "There's no going back. We're in the Netherrealm now. This is our new home."

Lincoln's hands balled into fists as he marched up to his sister. That was the last straw.

"Lucy, I've had just about enough of this!" Lincoln snapped, using his most authoritative voice (his "big brother voice," as he liked to call it). "You've done some freaky stuff to me before, but this is crossing the line."

He grabbed her by the hair and swept her bangs away from her face. "So knock off the goth talk, look me in the eyes, and start talking to me like a normal human be-"

Then, underneath that hair, he saw something that turned his face as white as his scalp.

Her eyes.

She didn't have any.

Lincoln just saw a blank patch of chalk-white skin in the middle of her face, where her eyes should be.

"Is it sinking in yet?" Lucy asked, her mouth twisting into a malicious grin. "And all this time, you thought I was just some creepy little girl playing Halloween dress-up."

Lincoln scrambled for the door, only to see it slam shut on his face with a thundering clang.

"You ungrateful, small-minded little worm," Lucy snarled. "I'm finally giving you the chance to become part of an exciting new world, and you just want to go back to your mundane, humdrum daily life. You disgust me."

Frantically, Lincoln grabbed the doorknob and rattled it back and forth. It was no use; the door was locked down tight.

"Lucy, please, let me go!" he cried. "I… I have to get back to my room! I have to do my homework!"

Lucy's smile reappeared. "You're in the Netherrealm, Lincoln. There is no homework in the Netherrealm. See for yourself."

She pointed towards Lincoln's backpack, which he had left just to the right of the door. Lincoln snatched it up, unzipped it and ripped out all the notes he had taken that day. To his horror, as soon as he pulled it out, all of the text on each page sloughed off the paper and fell onto the floor in a heap. He threw the pages aside and tried to pick the letters back up, but by then they had congealed into a black, gloppy mass.

With that malevolent grin still plastered on her face, Lucy started creeping towards Lincoln, arms outstretched. "Now come over here and give your little sister a hug."

As Lucy was closing in on him, his eyes darted all over the room for a possible escape route. Suddenly, he caught sight of an auburn ponytail at the head of the bed opposite Lucy's.

Lynn!

Lincoln had completely forgotten that she was still in the room. He leaped to his feet and barreled past Lucy towards Lynn's bed. As soon as he got there, he grabbed his big sister with both hands and gave her a vigorous shaking.

"Lynn, wake up!" he cried. "Lucy's gone berserk! You've gotta help me!"

When Lynn didn't respond, he ripped off her comforter, grabbed her by the side and flipped her over onto her back.

"Lynn, come on! Wake…"

Lincoln's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach as soon as he saw Lynn's face. Her jaw was hanging open like a ventriloquist dummy's, her skin had turned a sickening shade of grey, and her eyes were replaced with black, hollow voids.

"It's too late for her, Lincoln," said Lucy. "And now it's too late for you."

Lincoln swiveled around, collapsed to his knees and clasped his hands together, groveling in front of his eight-year-old sister.

"Lucy, please let me out of here!" he pleaded, tears seeping through his clenched-shut eyes. "I'll do all your chores! I'll do all your homework! I'll buy you all the Edwin merchandise you could ask for! I'll do anything! ANYTHING!"

Then, suddenly, in the midst of his begging, the entire room fell silent.

I SAID I'LL DO… wait, what?

Lincoln opened his eyes to find himself in his room, sprawled out across his bed, with Bun-Bun under his arm. A cold sweat had broken out across his body, and some of his perspiration had soaked into Bun-Bun's fur, making her cold and wet to the touch. He muttered an apology to his stuffed companion before seating her on his nightstand to let her dry.

So… is that it? Was it all just a-

"Hello, Lincoln," spoke an all-too-familiar voice at Lincoln's bedside. Lincoln let out a high-pitched shriek, skittered to the opposite side of the bed and hid behind his blanket.

"You really shouldn't yell like that," said Lucy. "It's 1 a.m. There are people sleeping."

Lincoln tried to maintain his composure, but the sight of Lucy's grotesque eyeless face was still echoing through his mind. There was only one way he could placate himself.

He scooted back towards Lucy, grabbed her bangs and swept them to the sides. To his relief, he saw a perfectly normal pair of eyes- two of the biggest, bluest, saddest eyes he had ever seen, in fact. He sighed, let go of her hair and let her bangs fall back over her face.

"Lincoln," Lucy asked in a stern, measured tone, "what have I told you about touching my hair?"

Lincoln yelped. "I-I-I'm sorry, Lu-Lucy!" he stammered. "I just- I just- I-"

Lucy placed a finger over her brother's lips, pacifying him. "It's okay, Lincoln. I can tell you were having a nightmare."

She climbed up onto Lincoln's bed and took a seat next to him, letting her feet dangle off the side.

"I heard you mumbling in your sleep as I was going downstairs to raid the fridge. Speaking of which…"

She reached into her pocket, pulled out an Oreo and popped it into Lincoln's mouth.

"…have a cookie."

A wave of comfort passed over Lincoln as he chewed, savoring the taste of his favorite treat.

"T…thanks," he muttered after swallowing.

"Now, please tell me about your dream. Preferably in exhaustive detail."

And so he did. Lincoln described every moment of his dream as graphically as he could remember it, from the ominous chanting to the time-frozen hallway to the horrifying sight of that God-forsaken eyeless face.

"A-and then I saw Lynn," Lincoln whimpered. "She looked like… like a zombie. And then you said it was too late for her, and too late for me."

"And that's about when it ended?"

"Yeah."

Lucy's lips curled up into a quasi-smile. "Cool."

"No, Lucy! Not cool!" cried Lincoln. "It was… it was…"

He curled into a fetal position and buried his face in his lap. "I was so…scared…"

Lucy scooted closer to Lincoln and draped a hand over his shoulder. "It was just a nightmare, Lincoln. It's over."

"But what if- but what if- but what if-"

"Lincoln," Lucy said sharply. "You do know that I'm not really a witch, right? I could have taken over the block by now if I had that kind of power. Probably the neighborhood."

She took both of her hands and clasped them over one of Lincoln's. "And even if I did have that kind of power, I would never use it to hurt you. Ever. And it breaks my heart to hear that you think I would."

Lincoln lifted his head to see his sister trembling as she clutched his hand in both of hers. Her bangs had been tucked behind her ears, giving him a full view of her sad, pleading eyes, piercing the darkness with their radiant glow. It had been so long since Lincoln had seen them, he had forgotten how wide and expressive they were.

"I care about you so much, Lincoln. Please don't be afraid of me."

A long silence passed between them as Lincoln let her words soak in. His eyes began to mist over, and his breathing rhythm grew sharper, jerkier and more erratic- almost as if he was choking.

"Lincoln?"

As soon as his name left her lips, he burst into tears, wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," he sobbed. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I know you love me."

"Shh," Lucy whispered, caressing his back. "It's not your fault. Sometimes a nightmare can warp the way you see the world. You just have to remind yourself that it's not real, and it'll go away. Trust me, I've had plenty."

She released the hug, backed up, looked Lincoln in the eyes and gave him the warmest, most comforting smile she could muster. Her eyes, which were starting to get a little misty themselves, shone even brighter than before.

"I'm not a demon, and I'm not a witch. I'm just your spooky little sister, and that's all I'll ever be."

She then leaned in and kissed away a tear that was running down Lincoln's cheek.

"Now go back to sleep," she said, picking up Bun-Bun and tucking her back into the crook of Lincoln's arm.

"Okay," whispered Lincoln. "Thank you, Lucy. But can I just ask you one more question?"

"Of course."

His gaze broke away from hers. "Have you ever thought about wearing a headband? You know, to… show off those eyes? They're really something."

Lucy giggled and untucked her bangs, letting them fall back over her eyes. "I'll consider it."