Lincoln waited near the door. His back was against the wall, his arms crossed and his head down. His mind was racing. He could hear the kids screaming and laughing in his head. The clattering of plates and cups filled the air. He really didn't want to show Lori to everyone else because they'd just make things worse.
Would they freak out?
Doubt it. His sisters already know how Lisa is. They'd make a big deal out of it for five- ten minutes tops, then they'd go on their way doing their own little things. Times like this really made him appreciate his sisters' ignorance and simple mindedness. I mean, it has to be an art for someone to be on your nerves one moment and then played like a fiddle the next.
Dealing with Lori would be the hard part. Getting her to leave the house was obviously forbidden. He didn't want another soul to lay an eye on her, didn't want her name to escape anyone's mouth. As long as Lincoln was concerned, Lori didn't exist. Not until Lisa fixed her.
Lincoln was betting all his hope on Lisa. He needed her to fix Lori before Mom and Dad come back. And the last thing he needed is another stress filled week with hell at the end of it. But it's fine. It's okay because he's been through worse.
Actually, this might take the cake.
All his sisters ever did was annoy him and bother him. It made his head boil and his blood run. They always asked so much from him, took so much from him, and the only thing he ever wanted was a minute of silence. It feels like he hasn't gotten a single moment of peace ever since Lori was born. And even then she was a handful. Now, with all eleven of his younger sisters, he felt drained and lifeless.
He wasn't a kid anymore. That part of his blessed youth was taken from him little by little every time his parents brought home another fucking kid. He had the mind of an adult in a kid's body.
The door beside him clicked and opened. Lori stepped out. A gentle foot snuck out of the room and she crawled out with her head low and back hunched. She closed the door behind her with a light tug. Lincoln raised a brow.
"Are you-" Lincoln began. Lori squeaked out before he could finish. "Okay?"
Lori spun on her heels and faced Lincoln with a needy hand on her chest. Her eyes were wide with shock and her mouth hung. She saw her brother and sighed.
"Oh, God. You scared me." She laughed anxiously. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"And the clothes?" Lincoln asked.
"It's fine," Lori looked down at her loose tank top. The fabric wrapped around her soft skin and brushed against her sensitive nipples. "But I need a big girl's bra." She scratched and tugged at her butt. "And some big underwear too."
"Bra and underwear," Lincoln told himself, juggling the thought in his mind. Did he really need to buy her that stuff? She wouldn't stay like that forever. Buying it would be useless. She just needed to go through the week with her… attire. Lincoln looked at his sisters and noticed her soft nipples pressing against the thin shirt. He blushed. "Okay, fine. We'll go tomorrow."
He turned to the obnoxious chatter. He sighed. He looked at the kitchen for a bit then turned to Lori. She looked down at her brother with a warm smile. Lincoln stared back at her but didn't return the gesture. Whatever. Fuck it.
"Don't say a word," Lincoln hissed. He walked behind the couch and stopped under the stairs. He shot a glance at Lori and noticed she wasn't following. He nodded over his shoulders and Lori got the hint.
They both stopped at the threshold of the dining room. Lincoln took in a shaky breath and mumbled a prayer. He walked into the room. The kids immediately went silent and turned their focus to Lincoln then to Lori.
Luna's eyes widened and she shot up from her chair. Luan and the twins shrunk. Leni gasped and began.
"Linky," Lincoln hated that nickname. "You know how Mom feels about guests. Especially when she's, like, not here."
"Dude, can you probably take her somewhere else," Luna said forcefully. "We can't really have anyone else inside the house."
"Who's that, Lincoln?" Lola asked.
"Probably his girlfriend," Lana tried to mumble but came out loudly just as everyone went silent. Luna's face flushed and dropped. She shot a skeptical glance at Lana, shock running down the rocker's face. Luna then turned her focus back to Lincoln and the girl, her mind racing with the dirty things she saw on the TV.
"Everyone shut up and listen," Lincoln commanded. "I don't want you to freak out or anything but this is Lori. Lisa's been messing around wi-"
"That's not Lori," Leni blurted out. "Lori's way smaller and younger."
Lincoln growled and glared at Leni. He hates being interrupted. He sighed and brushed away his rage. No, now was not the time to get mad.
"Look," Lincoln continued. "Lisa's been messing around with aging or something and turned Lori into an adult. I don't really understand it myself but I really don't care either."
Lincoln walked over to the table, carelessly pulled out an empty chair and passed Lori a knowing glance. Lori walked over to Lincoln and took the seat. She sat between Luan and Luna. They looked at her nervously, their shoulders tense and brows raised. Luna cleared her throat and looked at Lincoln.
"Okay, so what do we do?" Luna asked.
"Nothing," Lincoln said. "Literally do nothing. Just pretend like everything's normal. Lisa's finding a way to fix this so don't worry too much."
Lincoln walked into the kitchen, rattled some dishes, and came out with a plate of spaghetti. He walked over to Lori and set the plate down. He looked around the long table and tried to find empty dishes. He saw Lana and Lucy were done with their food, grabbed their empty plates and wordlessly walked back into the kitchen. The hissing of running water and clattering plates was deafening.
The kids were silent, staring off into space and waiting for Lincoln to come back. Lori looked at the red noodles with a blank stare. She didn't have a fork. Which meant she couldn't eat. What now?
Lori looked up from her plate and looked straight ahead. She met Lana's glance but the little girl looked down at the table. Lori turned to Lynn. The tiny athlete cleared her throat and shoved down her nerves.
"So, how did you end up like that again?" Lynn asked.
"Lisa," Lori answered. "She did something to me but I can't remember what."
"So," Luna spoke up at her side. "Does anything feel… different?"
Lori glowed. A smile stretched across her face and she felt a jump in her chest.
"Oh, yeah." Lori said cheerfully. She raised her arm in front of her, her arm falling limp and her slender fingers dangled like worms. "It feels kinda weird to move but I got kinda used to it. Oh. And I'm really tall. Look,"
Lori scooted the chair back, the wooden legs scrapping on the floor. She lifted her leg but she accidentally kneed the bottom of the table. The wooden table boomed and shook dangerously, making some of the kids jump and others gasp. Lori hissed at the pain. She forgot her legs were longer now.
"Okay, wait." Lori placed the hands on the table and tried lifting herself. She jumped off her chair and balanced herself on her feet. Her stance was wide and her hands out, grabbing on the table for support. She looked like one of those bad guys on those cop shows mom liked watching. You know, when the bad guy's stand in front of the cop car and spread their legs. She looked like that and it made her giggle.
Lori shook her head. No, no laughing right now. She was trying to show he sisters something but she was making herself look dumb. Ugh, it was so much easier a while ago. Moving came naturally. But to be fair, when Lincoln was hurting Lisa, she acted without thinking. Huh, maybe that was it. Just don't think about it.
Lori pushed herself off the table and balanced herself on her feet. She planted her feet flat on the floor and held her arms out cautiously. She waited till she stopped shaking and then stood up tall. She glared off into the distance with the same mad look she gave Lincoln. She placed her hands on her hip and closed her feet together.
Lana and Lola started with shock and awe at Lori's mature look. Luna scanned Lori from head to toe, a brow raised and mild curiosity running through her young mind. Lynn and Luan held their lips closed as they fought back their laughter. Lucy didn't care. Lily was babbling and Lisa wasn't there.
Lori broke from her tough facade, raised a hand to her mouth and began giggling.
"You should've seen Lincoln too. He was so scared of me." Lori added.
Her mind went back to when Lincoln shuttered away from her hellish stare. Well, maybe she wasn't scared of her face but he was definitely scared of her height. When she stood up, Lincoln looked away and did as he was told. She towered over him like a giant and it made her feel strong.
"Lincoln? Scared of you?" Lynn asked with a hint of doubt. Lori nodded with that warm smile still on her face, her locks flailing over her face and shoulders. "Um, I don't think anything can scare Lincoln."
"No, I'm serious," Lori pleaded. "When we were upstairs, I told him to stop picking on Lisa and he listened."
"Have you tried doing it again?" Luan asked.
"No," Lori said innocently. She looked down at her plate and wondered. She gasped as an idea came to her mind. "Okay, watch this."
The kids went silent and kept their eyes on Lori as she walked back to her seat, sat down and straightened out her back. Her eyes were closed and her smile remained. She intertwined her fingers and kept them on the table, mimicking a fancy and polished girl. She cleared her throat and called out.
"Lincoln," she shouted above the running sink. She waited but got no answer. "Lincoln!" She called again, a bit louder. The sink went mute and dishes rattled for a moment. He walked back into the dining room with a small towel in his hands and looked over at Lori.
"Yeah?" the boy asked.
"Can you get me a fork?" Lori requested.
"Huh?" Lincoln looked over at Lori's plate and saw no fork. He gave a meaningless pass and shrugged his shoulder. "Yeah, sure. Wait a minute."
He walked back into the kitchen and the sound of clattering metal danced in the air. He came back with a fork in his hand, walked over the edge of the table and handed it to Lori. She took it with a soft thank you and Lincoln walked back into the kitchen.
The kids stayed quiet with disbelief, Luan gasped and Leni held her hands up to her mouth in shock.
"Oh my God," Lynn mumbled. "You're right."
"See," Lori said with a smug smile. She sank the fork into the noodles, twisted the fork as the points were covered in red and raised the noodles to her mouth. She chewed and swallowed with a blissful hum. "I've got him around a leash."
Lincoln walked out of the kitchen again, marched passed the kids and stopped. Everyone went quiet and kept their eyes on him. He turned around, crossed his arms and looked at the kids with a dangerous scowl.
"Alright, listen up," he growled. "I know a lot of you are worried about Lori, so am I, but that doesn't change anything. I've said it before and I'll say it again, no one is leaving this house till mom and dad are back." Lincoln raised a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. "That being said, some stuff came up so Lori and I are going to the mall tomorrow morning real quick."
All the kids erupted into an uproar of whins and complaints. Lori looked around and sunk into her chair, embarrassment burning the back of her neck. She can safely say, without a doubt, that Lincoln was the most hated sibling amongst them all. Even Lincoln knew that but he didn't care. He hated them too. And whenever he showed any one of his sisters signs of favoritism or interest, they'd get made fun of by the others.
It happened to Luan once. She started practicing dirty jokes so she can get Lincoln to laugh for once. She said jokes about Mexicans, stuff about twenty-five year-olds, and… something else. No one really understood Luan's jokes expect Lincoln. He would giggle at some and wheeze uncontrollably at others but the kids watched hatefully as Lincoln and Luan got closer.
I mean, one would think that there was nothing really wrong with getting closer to Lincoln. Especially since he was so cold and distant, like, all the time. But there was. He would let Luan slide with most of her pranks and annoying jokes. She picked on the other's just to get a reaction from Lincoln and it really bothered all the sisters.
So, one day they all ganged up on Luan and gave her a little scare. Nothing really much. They just called her out and gave her the cold shoulder. That took care of things. Then after that, no one ever tried what Luan tried.
"That's not fair," Lola cried out. "I wanna go too."
"Yeah," Lana cried out. "I wanna hit up the arcade. I heard they brought in a new game."
"What? No. We're not going there to mess around. Lori needs clothes and taking care of you guys is the last thing on my mind." He turned to Luna. She noticed, jumped and looked away bashfully. "Luna's in charge while we're out. You think you can do it, Luna?"
"I-I don't know. I think it'll be better if we all stick together." Luna shrugged and kept her eyes down to the side. "You know, just in case something happens."
"What do you mean in case something happens? Just make sure no one leaves the house, it's easy."
Everyone whined again. Lincoln looked at the crowd of his annoying sisters and glared at them. Lynn groaned and rolled her eyes. She put her hand on the table and held her head up in her palm. She pouted and sulked while Lincoln and the others kept arguing.
Lynn really wanted to go with Lana. She wasn't really much of a games fan but one store over was a sports center that she was dying to check out.
Mom and Dad never let her in because there were mostly bulky men buying iron or shady adults trying to buy guns. But she didn't care. She had her eyes on baseball bats, soccer balls, basketballs. She had her eyes on all the balls. But now that idea was out the window.
Her eyes widened and her head lifted as an idea popped up in her mind. She looked up at Lori, the older girl was sitting in her seat and watching patiently. Lynn slightly got up from her chair, leaned a bit over the table and whistled quietly but didn't get Lori's attention.
"Hey," Lynn hissed at her sister. The older girl turned to Lynn and nodded her head in confusion. "Do something?" Lynn whispered. Lori leaned over the table too and got closer to Lynn.
"Like what?" Lori asked, her voice below a hush.
"You said he listens to you, right? Convince him to let us go." Lynn suggested.
Lori looked over at her brother, his arms were crossed, back straight and his eyes looking down at his sisters with a sense of superiority. His grip on his arm was tight, his knuckles turned white and his fingers dug into his skin. His eye twitched and a crude upturned smile was painfully etched on his face. Lori turned to Lynn, keeping her eyes on Lincoln, and whispered.
"Um, I don't think that's a good idea." Lori pointed out. "And besides, I think he's right. There'll be too much of us in the mall for him to take care of."
Lori really wanted to go to the mall by herself.
"What?" Lynn said harshly. "Come on, don't be like that. It's not fair that you get to go and not us."
Lori began to get nervous. She never liked facing Lynn when she was angry. Lynn was the second strongest Loud and her punches hurt like a motherfucker. Probably because she played sports and played around like she was a boy. Lynn and Lincoln roughhouse a lot even though it was very one-sided.
Lincoln would practice wrestling moves on her, slamming her on the couch and pinning her to the floor. And Lynn flailed her arms and legs around, getting in a good hit or kick but nothing much. After all that was done, Lincoln and Lynn walked around with small bruises on their bodies like it was nothing.
Lori began to quiver and sweat. But before she got a chance to answer, Lincoln erupted.
"No," he shouted. "I don't care if you guys wanna go or if it's unfair or if you guys are mad. Lori and I are going by ourselves tomorrow. We'll be in and out before you even know it so there's no point in all of you tagging along. No one is going and that's final!" Lincoln shot a mad glance over to Luna. "You're in charge." He said.
The kids went silent. Some stared at him and others kept their eyes away as Lincoln marched out of the dining room.
"It's getting late," Lincoln shouted from the living room. "Clean the rest of the dishes when you're done and go to bed!"
It was barely five.
The sun started to set on the horizon and the lamp posts lit up like fire. The trees and leaves fluttered in the cool breeze and the clouds crawled slowly across the sky as if running away. The stars sprinkled across the desolate night and flickered beautifully.
The chirping of the crickets was more of an annoying click than a lullaby in the dark. Some lost, odd cars passed by with a low zoom and a dog barked in the far distance.
The house was coated in a layer of darkness. The lights were off and everything seemed still and fragile. Lincoln laid in his bed, his hand behind his head and his eyes pointed to the bland ceiling. He was thinking- thinking of what to do.
Lisa still hasn't told him anything about the antidote or when it'll be finished. He just hoped sooner rather than later. Even now, in the dead of night, Lisa was up and working. She was probably tired as hell but that's what she gets for fucking around. Lincoln sighed.
Lori would be a problem if anyone saw her with him and his sisters. They be like 'oh, who's that?' and what would Lincoln say. 'She's a friend? My sister?'
Ugh, then they'd ask where Lori was. Or how the others are doing. The wrong person could ruin everything in a second. Then Mom and Dad would come home and scream and get mad and… and he didn't want that to happen. If he had a nickel for everytime his parents screamed at him because of his sisters he'd have… thirty cents.
And those weren't just minor incidents, those moments were full of anger and hate. It made him scared of his parents a little.
One time, Lynn broke a vase in the living room while trying to play hockey indoors. When Mom found out, she cried because supposedly it was a gift from her Mom that passed away. She asked around who broke it and Lincoln, being the older and responsible sibling, took the blame. And Lynn never said anything about it. Never said sorry or thanks, she went up to her room and forgot about it.
Another time was when the trophy case fell. But at the time it wasn't a trophy case. I mean it was but it only ever had souvenirs- glass cups with a state fancily written across. It was a family trip kinda thing. They'd travel around, Dad would buy little glass cups from a tour shop and that'd be a little memento or something like that.
Well, it fell one day, broke the trophy case, the glass cups inside and made a huge mess. Lincoln was home with the kids at the time and his Dad pointed the blame at Lincoln. But Lincoln got mad too and started shouting at his Dad and cursing at his sisters to confess. Then his Dad slapped him. It was a real shocker. Lincoln kept a tender hand on the red print on his cheek. His Dad told him to go to his room and Lincoln went with glazed eyes and bared teeth. Eventually, Lincoln and Dad made up and the whole incident was forgotten.
Turns out the twins did it.
Lincoln growled and turned to his side. Okay, plan time. Tomorrow morning he and Lori would have some breakfast, head to the mall and pick out some clothes, then make it back before noon.
That's it…?
No! There's always something that goes wrong. It can't be that simple. What was she missing? What wasn't he seeing that'll turn an easy tomorrow into hell on Earth. Checklist, checklist, checklist.
Make sure the kids are home. Okay. Luna'll be in charge so it's okay. Actually, no. It's not okay. He only put Luna in charge twice. And all she did was… nothing. Honestly, she just kept an eye on the kids and made sure nothing bad happened.
Luna never commanded them like a fearless general. She never screamed at them or ever told them what to do. But it was fine, this would be another time that she'd do nothing. It's fine. She just needed to make sure no one left the house.
Um, Lisa's gonna keep working on the- the thing. What if something blows up? That'll be another mess he'll have to clean up. Lincoln was honestly surprised that the little genius hasn't managed to kill herself yet. With all these failed experiments and explosions, he'd expect it to happen some time ago. It was short of a miracle but who cares. It was only a matter of time before everything goes back to normal.
Someone knocked on his door. His eyes opened and he pushed himself up. He turned to the door with a raised brow. He was surprised anyone was still up this late.
"Who is it?" He called.
"It's Leni," Leni called from the other side, her voice low and rough.
Lincoln went dour and he groaned. He never liked talking with Leni. She was the most difficult to deal with. She was narrow-minded and slow but she was funny to mess with.
Lincoln go up from his bed, his feet touching the icy floor with a thud. He walked over to the door, unlocked it and opened it. He looked down at Leni with a frown. She held onto her blanket in one hand and rubbed her tired eyes with the other, her lids were hung with fatigue and her body swayed lightly.
"What?" He asked.
"I can't sleep," she said drunk between sleep and awareness.
Ugh, this again.
He was so used to following this routine. His sister can't sleep, he'd ask why, they'd give him a dumb reason and he'd say 'you're a grown up. There's nothing to be scared of,' then they'd go back to their room and sleep. Unless they kept complaining. Then he'd be forced to do something about it.
"Why?" Lincoln said, his voice monotone and dead as if reading from a script.
"Lori's…" Leni yawned. She squeaked like a cat then gently rubbed the tears from her eye with the palm of her hand. "Lori's scaring me."
"Scaring you?" Lincoln fought back the urge to yawn too. "Scaring you how?"
Leni hung her head and shrugged her shoulders. Lincoln groaned. Looks like he had to do something about it. He stepped out of his room and gently closed the door behind him.
Leni grabbed onto the back hem of his orange pajamas as he marched down the corridor, following close behind. The blanket was kept close to her chest and slithered behind her like a pet. Lincoln stopped at Lori and Leni's door and slowly pushed it opened.
The door creaked painfully and swung open. The room was dark, as expected, but the window let the moonlight creep in. Light snoring filled the room.
And for a minute, Lincoln thought Leni fell asleep standing up, but it was Lori. He looked at the figure deep in the room. The moonlight outlined her side and brought the golden color of Lori's hair to life. Her back was facing them like she shunned him for some odd reason.
He looked around but there was nothing else.
"What?" Lincoln looked down at tiny Leni. She got closer and gripped his shirt tighter. She quivered and kept her eyes down. Lincoln looked back at the sleeping Lori. Her heavy breathing was entrancing.
He really needed to get some sleep.
"I can't do anything if you don't tell me what's wrong," Lincoln whispered, brows pinched and eyes scornful.
"She's scaring me," Leni mumbled, burying herself shamefully into his leg. Leni's warmness was… weird. Lincoln didn't like it.
"How?" Lincoln raised a hand and aimed at Lori, keeping his slitted eyes at Leni. "She's not doing anything."
"I-I don't… " Leni stuttered. He eyes darted around the floor like a scurrying mouse. "I don't know her."
"What do you mean? It's Lori, how can you even-" Lincoln looked back into the room. His eyes landed on the same shadowy figure. Her body and limbs were elongated and her chest rose and fell peacefully. Her silky hair pooled over her shoulder and back like rippling water. Her smooth skin reflected the moonlight perfectly and the shin outlined her side in a heavenly grace. "Oh."
Lincoln stepped out of their room on the tip of his toes. He closed the door behind him gently until he heard a click. He turned to Leni, the bags under her eyes pulled on her face and she looked somewhat pale. Lincoln marched over to the stairs.
"Looks like you're gonna have to crash on the couch," Lincoln told her.
"But I don't wanna," Leni whined and moaned. "It's, like, super uncomfortable and cold."
"Well," Lincoln put his hands on his hips. "You can go sleep in your room. It's one or the other."
"I don't wanna," Leni said. Lincoln raised a hand to his face and sighed. Ugh, this again.
"What do you want me to do then?" Lincoln raised his voice, evident that Leni was annoying him. The little girl looked down and hung her head.
"Can I sleep with you?" Leni asked quietly, her hand clenched to her chest like a prayer. The blanket running down her body and feet like a gown gave her the appearance of an angel.
"No," Lincoln said. Leni looked up at his eyes with her innocent and wide own.
"Please," she tried again.
"No," Lincoln repeated with venom and spite. "You're too old to be scared of stupid stuff. And there's not enough space on my bed anyway. Just go sleep on the couch if you're so scared."
Leni's lips quivered. She didn't want to go downstairs because there were monsters there. Especially when it's dark but she didn't want to say it. She'd turn on the lights but Lincoln would just get mad at her. She dropped her shoulders and sighed in defeat.
"Okay," Leni said shyly.
She looked at the stairs and dragged herself to it. She shivered and placed a persistent hand over the wooden handrail but she turned back to Lincoln and pleaded with her eyes. His nose flared and he rolled his eyes.
Leni focused on the descending steps again and saw no end. Below was a mimic of an endless abyss full of despair and loneliness. Jesus Christ, she really didn't want to go. Lincoln could see that and it pissed him off. They always did that, always got what they wanted.
"Wait," Lincoln spoke up. Leni turned and her heart fluttered with hope. Her eyes met Lincoln's but he flinched and turned away. "Fine, you can sleep in my room."
Leni gasped and a shining smile stretched across her face. She ran up to Lincoln and hugged his leg. She buried her cheek into his soft thigh and purred. She pulled away and looked up at him. Lincoln's eye twitched and the corner of his mouth turned up in disgust. He wanted to push her away.
"Thank you," she blurted out.
"Uh, yeah, don't worry about," Lincoln said nervously. "Just go to bed. I'll be there in a bit," He nudged her with his leg and she took the hint. She let go and stepped back. Lincoln pointed over his shoulder. "Bathroom," He said as he turned and headed to the bathroom.
He heard giggling and scurrying footsteps behind him, then his bedroom door opened behind him. He turned nervously and saw that his door was left slightly ajar… for him.
He stared daggers down the hall and at his room. He shuttered and shook his head. He went into the bathroom, closed the door, waited for ten minutes then got out. But it felt like an eternity. He knew Leni, though. She was tired and exhausted and all he needed was time.
Lincoln walked back down the hall and to his room. He pressed an ear at the crack and listened carefully. A light snoring greeted his ear. He pulled away and reached for the knob. He turned it and closed to door, avoiding the nasty click of the lock. Then he maneuvered down the stairs and to the small couch. He dropped his weight and sighed in relief as he laid down, taking up as much space as possible.
He closed his eyes and waited. Then something of a slight remembrance struck his mind.
Leni was both right and wrong.
The couch wasn't uncomfortable but…