Loneliness. Solitude in my world of darkness.
My Sanctuary from a world and it's harshness.
Loneliness. Now I see a dark I fear,
A pain and emptiness I feel creeping near.
Loneliness. No longer as a light touches my heart,
And fills in this void, a light that I will not part.
Lucy Loud let out an exaggerated sigh and reached out for the door knob to the front door of her house. She opened the door, closed it quietly and quickly ran upstairs. She may have been getting older, but her special brand of silence and surprise kept with her, as no one could even notice that she had already made her way through the walk way, and the staircase and into her room. Luckily, Lynn Jr. was in class that afternoon so she didn't have anyone in the room to catch her.
Dropped off at school by her older brother Lincoln earlier, she took off like a bat out of hell after the final bell rang, keeping it only to herself.
She dropped her backpack onto the floor and sat on her Victorian style bed that she had worked on since she was a young girl.
Letting out another sigh, she curled up into a ball by her pillows. Most days, she wanted to be alone; today was no different. Without a single soul knowing she was even home, she got her wish. Normally that was how the young Goth girl's life was, and she preferred it that way...but today had shown her a whole new reason for being alone. Sighing, she sniffed faintly and let out a small whimper that only she could hear.
At Royal Woods Highschool, Lincoln Loud stood by his old, beat up van his father had given him the previous year after his older sisters had gotten their own. The family had always referred to it as 'Vanzilla' and it was a name Lincoln intended to keep and carry with pride, even though it wasn't always the coolest name or vehicle.
He had always wondered how the van has still managed to last this long, even with the help of his auto mechanical expert sister Lana, having outlived one junker car of Luna's, and two almost new but totaled cars of Leni's.
Of course to him at the end of the day, he was just happy to have something that ran when he needed and was always roomy.
He shivered in the winter air, waiting around for Lucy, hoping that they could get on the road already and get over to the middle school where the twins were waiting to be picked up. After taking a deep breath, and exhaling to see his breath made visible by the cold, he pulled out his cell phone and began to text Lucy.
(Hey Lucy, where you at?)
After waiting for a moment, he had still not seen a response.
(Luce, come on I'm freezing, hurry up.)
Still nothing...
(Please don't make me go into your mortician's club again...I was almost EMBALMED last time, so let's get going.)
Lincoln growled impatiently.
He was standing out by Vanzilla freezing, and she was still nowhere to be seen or heard from.
Normally, this never really bothered him, as he knew Lucy had her own agenda, and rarely told anyone of what she was doing. This time though, Lincoln couldn't really take it, as there is one thing that he couldn't stand, and that was waiting outside in the freezing cold. And Lucy was usually considerate enough to let him know if she was going to be on her own or continue to ride home with him.
He took his phone out again and selected her number in his contacts, and soon as he was about to press the 'call' button, he felt a presence colder than the air around him, and a somber voice speak out behind him, scaring him in a similar fashion as Lucy would.
He jumped up and immediately turned around defensively and gasped for air. At first he thought it was the missing spooky sibling, but only for it to be her best friend, Haiku, who stood in front of him, unmoved, wearing a purple overcoat with fake fur over her darker purple dress, her hands together down by her waist.
"Lincoln," she said in a monotone voice that all of Lucy's friends had.
"AH! H-Haiku, y-you scared the hell out of me! I'm still not used to that sometimes," Lincoln blurted out as he tried to collect himself. "Where's Lucy? My butt is going numb out here waiting for her."
"She stormed off after class and went home. I figured I'd inform you."
"What do you mean 'went home'? I'm her ride home."
"She didn't give me any reason, she just got up and left. I saw her leave the school grounds right around the time I caught you exiting your classroom. I figured she had become inspired by the harsh, cold breath of death that the winter brings."
"And you didn't stop her?"
"I completely understood and did the only sensible thing: Not stop her."
Lincoln groaned and slapped his forehead in frustration, then calmly looked back at Haiku.
"Well...thanks for letting me know, I just wish that she told me so I wouldn't be out here."
"You're welcome."
A moment passed and a brief silence occurred between the two of them. Lincoln rubbed his neck awkwardly, and cleared his throat as Haiku continued to stare at him.
"Did you...uh, need a ride home?"
"No thanks, my house is right down the road. And this air is quite chilling to the bone."
"Right...well, see you around Haiku. Thanks again."
"You're welcome. Goodbye Lincoln," she grinned unsettlingly, then started to walk away. Lincoln got into his car. He made a quick glance behind him, only to be surprised that Haiku was already out of sight. Lucy and her friends were always capable of disappearing like that, so he just shrugged the abnormality off and pulled out of the parking lot.
He picked up the twins from school and the moment they got into the van, they were at each other's throats, as if they held it all in at school, just to unleash it in the comfort and privacy of the family van.
Even though he was used to their constant bickering, he couldn't help but get a little annoyed by it as he drove.
He was still upset that Lucy didn't tell him that she went home by herself, but that feeling quickly left in favor of concern.
"Lucy is always going on about being miserable, but she's never done something like this before since I've been taking us to school," Lincoln thought puzzled, "I wonder what could have sparked it. Maybe Haiku was right, but I just hope that she's alright and at home, then maybe I can talk to her about it."
While many things had changed for the Louds in recent years, one thing remained the same: Lucy and Lincoln. They didn't always show it and they didn't always stick around each other, but they always had each other in mind.
Lincoln would always be a bit more concerned and protective of her and Lucy would always act as a listener and private person for him to open up, and now was no different he hoped. All Lincoln could really think about was Lucy and thought about how he would try to help. Now that he picked up Lola and Lana, that's exactly what he planned to do.
"Hey Linky," Lola asked in her sweet, princess like tone from the middle row of the van, snapping Lincoln out of his thoughts. Without taking his eyes completely off the road, he gave a quick glance through the rearview mirror.
"What's up Lola," He responded.
"Where's Lucy? She always drives back home with us."
"Not today, Lucy decided to walk home today and not tell me."
"What's her deal? Being around us is finally too lively for her?" Lola's tone immediately turned sour and snotty, as she let down her earlier form.
"Lola."
"I'm just sayin'! She's never done this before, so why start now?"
"I know, which is why you're not going to say anything and let me handle it."
"Why not just let Lynn handle it when she gets home," Lana jumped in after bringing her head in from the open window, "they're still roommates."
"Or just let her mope all day like she does every day. It's never stopped her before."
"Because she normally wouldn't do something like this, so I need to check up on her."
He took another quick glance through the mirror and saw Lola roll her eyes, then look out the window. He gave a stern scowl then rolled his eyes back at her, but without her noticing before giving his full attention back to the road.
After several minutes and a couple of stops signs, they arrived on their street and pulled into the driveway. The moment he put Vanzilla in park and turned the engine off, the twins nearly ripped the doors off and bolted for the front door. Lincoln chuckled and shrugged as he got out of the driver's seat and put the keys in his pocket. He walked over to the passenger side to take out his backpack, but felt a sudden frown go across his face as he looked at the empty seat.
It was unexpected and he wasn't sure of where it came from or how it came to be. Once more, he just shrugged it off, and closed the door. He walked toward the front door when he caught something at the corner of his eyes when they began to wander. Up in the second story, he noticed someone in the edge of the window looking back at him. Someone with long black hair and bangs covering her eyes completely. As soon as he noticed, the girl in the window stepped away from the window and away from his sight. Lincoln squinted at the window as she left, and then rushed to get inside, hoping to catch up to her.