Hi, welcome back! I don't really have much to say, but I'll make it quick. Sorry if Lori and Lucy seem pretty random in this story, but I feel like they'd have an interesting bond in real life, and I wanted to explore it.
So Lincoln seemed to have constructed himself a team. Let's see how this goes.
Lucy frowned deeper than she already was. All she wanted was some nail polish blacker than her soul, and now Lincoln was dragging her into one of his dumb 'operations.'
Lincoln's face stretched into a grin, "Lucy, Luan, Luna, meet me in my room for a meeting. But first, go get Lola and maybe Lana if she wants to come."
"Sure thing, brah."
"Okay, Stinkcoln."
"No."
"Excellent! If everyone agrees, I'll go get..." he paused, realizing there was a refusal in his symphony of agreement, "Wait, who said no?"
"I did," Lucy said.
Lincoln's face morphed into a glare. He had assumed Lucy actually cared about finding out who wrote the note, and just showed it in a different way. But he supposed Lucy couldn't be Lucy without stabbing him in the back during a mystery.
"Why not? This is important." He tried to sound patient, but he could still hear the bitterness laced in his words.
Lucy looked down at her shoes, "I'm going to hang out with Lori."
Lincoln scoffed, "Lucy, that's a pretty trivial reason for not wanting to come. Can't you just do it later?"
Lucy took a deep breath, slowly looking up at her brother until they were facing bangs-to-eye. "Lincoln, for my entire life I've never had someone to hang out with that willingly likes what I like. I always had to force you guys to listen to my poems, and you all got really annoyed with me whenever I was myself," Lucy glared at each of them individually, "But, now Lori actually wants to spend time with me. She even told me she always thought my darkness was cool. Not only does she listen to my poems, she helps write them," She gave a quick exhale, like even she couldn't believe what she was saying, "I actually got one of my sisters to like the things I like, and I'm not going to take advantage of it. I finally have an older sister who's actually cool."
"HEY!" Luan and Luna shouted, crossing their arms.
"You know what I mean," Lucy said, "Now, do you guys have black nail polish or not?"
The older trio standing before her each shared troubled looks. Lincoln narrowed his eyes, as if to say 'This is ridiculous.' Luan just looked down at her shoes, like Lucy's speech stunned her. Luna, however, was the only one that seemed to understand. She walked over to her drawers, pulling out some black nail polish and tossing it to her.
"Here you go lil' dudette, knock yourself out. If one of my siblings became as pysched about Rock 'N Roll as I was, I wouldn't take advantage of it either," Luna gave her a small smile, which Lucy responded to with a nod as she walked away.
Lincoln sighed, guilt tugging at his sleeve. He couldn't blame Lucy for wanting to spend quality time with her sister. Lori was about to go to college, there wasn't much time left.
"Girls, grab the twins," Lincoln ordered, "It's time to meet in my room."
Luan and Luna saluted him, running downstairs to capture the twins on the couch.
Lincoln walked into his room, hiding his poster of suspects under the bed. He didn't need the girls to see all the comments he made about them. He had to let some of his investigation remain secret. While waiting for the twins, he changed out of his pajamas and put on his normal attire, deciding he wanted to look presentable so his siblings would take him seriously.
Suddenly, he heard a pair of screams coming closer and closer to his room, until Luna and Luan kicked his door open, one twin in each of their arms.
"PUT ME DOWN, LUNA!" Lola screamed. She was draped over the rock star's shoulder, slamming her fists against Luna's back. Luna gave a little smirk, before dropping her on her face. The diva of the family pulled her face out of the floor, hissing threats to her older sister.
Luan was holding Lana like an infant, which the latter didn't seem to mind. She hopped onto the floor, burping loudly before greeting Lincoln with a nod.
Lincoln smiled, "Hello, team! I decided that I can't solve this mystery alone. So, I've gathered you all-"
"Wait, what?" Lana asked.
Lincoln sighed, "Oh yeah, you don't know." He bent down on one knee to get on the same level as the six year old, "Well, one of our sisters wrote this note, and we need to find out who." he pulled the note out of his pocket and handed it to her, letting her read it.
As Lana looked at the note, before scoffing and giving it back to him, "It's Lucy, case closed."
Lincoln sighed, putting the note on his dresser "Actually, I asked Lucy if it was her, and she said no. This note is serious."
As Lana took in his words, her pupils widened, her bottom lip beginning to quiver. "S-S-S-So...you mean...s-s-s-someone WANTS TO KILL THEMSELVES!" She fell backwards on her butt, bursting into to tears like Lily whenever she wanted attention.
Luan sighed, scooping up the older twin. She sat on Lincoln's bed, placing Lana on her lap as she bawled. "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay," she whispered. The comedian bounced her knees, turning Lana's bawling into giggles and small sniffles as she recovered.
With Lana's fit was over, Lincoln cleared his throat, "So, we need to figure out who could've done this. Lori and Lily didn't enter the kitchen when the note was dropped, Lucy doesn't write in green, Lola-"
"Woah woah woah!" Lola held her hands up, "Why are we ruling out Lucy? She's clearly hiding something."
"She's got a point, dude," Luna said, "She was so eager to get out of this meeting. Plus, why would she want to hang with Lori?"
"I've actually seen Lori and Lucy hang out yesterday, and she mentioned something about Lori before we even invited her in the first place," Lincoln said matter-o-factly, "Besides, I don't think Lucy really did it. Also, you guys need to stop interrupting-"
"Why? Because it was written in green pen?" Lola scoffed, "Is that what you call evidence?"
Lana widened her eyes and turned to her sister, "Wait, he seriously ruled Lucy out just because of a green pen?"
Lola nodded, "Yeah, he's crazy. He also thought-"
"I'm right here!" Lincoln barked at the gossiping twins, "Besides, I'm the head detective. You're not supposed to be making fun of me."
"Would you like some cheese with that whine?" Luan asked, giggling until Lincoln's glare sent her sinking backwards.
"Well, Leni was in waterworks all night," Luna pointed out, "That could mean something."
Lola smirked, always excited for an opportunity to gossip, "I heard that she slapped Lori in the face."
Everyone sans Lincoln and Lola gasped at the news, each chattering like birds.
"The sound of a slap woke me up, but I didn't know it was Leni!" Luna said, in awe. She put her hands to her cheeks, "Tell me more, lil' dudette."
Lola motioned her audience to lean towards her, obviously enjoying the attention, "Well, a little birdie told me it was because Lori thought Leni was seeing Bobby behind her back, so Lori blew up at her. And then Leni slapped her silly."
The eleven year rolled groaned in exasperation at Lola's lie, "A 'little birdie' told you nothing," Lincoln bit, "Leni told me that she slapped her because of a dream she had."
His siblings looked at him, each giving him an expression of confusion.
"Dude, that makes no sense," Luna said.
Lincoln blinked, "Y-Yes it does. She told me."
"Yeah, told you," Luan said, raising an eyebrow, "You really think that makes it true?"
"This is Leni we're talking about, she's a little too...erm...simple to lie." Lincoln scratched the back of his head, suddenly unsure of his own claim. Yes, Leni was a little ditzy, anyone that ever met her could tell him that. But was she too ditzy to lie?
"Why is Leni slapping Lori a clue?" Lana asked.
Lincoln sighed, "Because 'sudden outbursts' and 'out of character behaviors' are symptoms of someone being suicidal." The twins gasped, each giving each other a worried look.
Luna, reading Lincoln's conflicted expression, spoke up, "Maybe you should find out both sides of the story."
Lincoln looked up at her, his eyebrows drawn towards each other, "What do you mean?"
"You should ask Lori about the slap," Luna explained, "If you wanna know the full scoop, you gotta hear it from everyone's POV."
Lincoln blinked, his eyes widening, "That's...a great idea."
Luna pat herself on the back.
"Okay, I've got to go talk to Lori immediately!" Lincoln reached under his bed to look for a stack of papers, when he suddenly saw Mr. Coconuts staring back at him. A knot in his stomach began to form as the puppet stared at him. 'Giving away prized possessions is a symptom of suicide' A voice echoed in Lincoln's head. 'Luna explained exactly why she was in such a bad mood yesterday. Luan just avoided the question.' He began to wonder if bringing Luan in was a mistake. What if she came just to avoid being seen as suspicious?
"Uh, Lincoln. Why is your head under the bed?" Luan asked.
Lincoln jolted out of his trance, "Sorry, just looking for something." He pulled out a stack of papers and rose up. "I've printed out Suicide Hotline numbers," He held up twenty one of them, splitting the pile in two between Luna and Luan, "I want you to slide four under each bedroom door."
Accepting the stack of papers, Luna asked, "Including the 'rents?"
"Negative," Lincoln pointed out towards the hallway, "NOW GO GO GO!"
Luan and Luna saluted with their free hands, before marching out the door to obey Lincoln's orders. Lincoln closed the door behind them.
"Good, they're gone," Lana sighed, relieved, "Now I can finally say that Luna totally did it!"
"Nuh-uh!" Lola said, "It was Luan!"
"Luna!"
"Luan!"
"Luna!"
"Luan!"
The two wrestled on his bed, pulling each other's hair and biting.
"STOP!" Lincoln yelled, pulling the two off of each other. Lola and Lana glared at him with fiery eyes. Lincoln leaned into them both, whispering, "I like your instincts. Now, don't tell Luna and Luan, but I want you two to be in charge of investigating them."
Lana and Lola exchanged sly smiles. "Can we spy on them?" Lola asked.
Lincoln nodded, "We have to do anything we can to make sure we find out who did this as soon as possible. Now GO GO GO!"
Lola giggled with glee, "I'll put my wired tiara in their room!" She swung open the door, sauntering down the hall.
Lana scoffed, "I can check on them way better than Lola can." The six year old climbed on Lincoln's bed, hoisting herself up to the vents and crawling through them like Lucy would.
Lincoln put on a face of determination. He had sent his entire team on assignments, now it was his turn. Lincoln pulled a clipboard out from one of his drawers, and a pencil from another. He walked out of his room, walking towards Lori and Leni's until half way through he realized Lori in Lucy's room.
He sprinted into Lucy's room and turning on the lights, causing both girls to hiss. Lucy and Lori were on the former's bed, Lucy painting Lori's nails black. They both looked up at Lincoln with annoyance.
"Sigh. Lincoln I told you I didn't want to be a part of your-"
"I'm not here for you," Lincoln snapped, still annoyed at the goth for ditching the meeting, "I need to ask Lori some questions."
Lori tilted her head, "Wait...me?"
Lincoln nodded, "Yep. It's about Leni. And I figured since you're her roommate, you'd be an expert. Well, technically it was Luna's idea, but still."
Lori's shoulders slumped. "Make it quick," Lori said, "Lucy and I were going to tell our deepest darkest secrets to Grandma Harriet using her ouija board."
Lincoln's eyebrows drew towards each other, perplexed by Lori's desire to actually hang out with Lucy. Still, he brushed it aside, eager to prove Luan and Luna wrong.
"Lucy, you don't mind if I ask Lori a few questions, do you?" Lincoln asked.
"Knock yourself out," Lucy gave her permission.
Lincoln looked up at his older sister, "Lori, I know you're not going to want to hear this, but do you know why Leni slapped you?"
Lori clenched her jaw, trying her best to maintain her poker face. "I don't know."
Lincoln glared at her, she was not going to shoo him away that easily. "Lori, that's not helpful. Can I have specifics?"
Lori bit the inside of her cheek, looking up at the ceiling as if she expected the answer rain down on her. "I kind of deserved it," Lori shrugged, examining her newly polished nails like she couldn't care less about Lincoln's presence.
Lincoln pulled up his clipboard, readying his pencil, "Care to elaborate on that?"
Lori rolled her eyes, "I've been kind of a bad sister to her lately, to be brutally honest. I guess she just eventually snapped. She was stirring in her sleep like she was having a nightmare. I was starting to get worried, and yelled at her to get up. The moment she opened her eyes, she just stood up and...sl-" Lori faltered, as if admitting what happened out loud ruined shattered her pride, "She stood up and went crazy."
Lincoln scribbled 'Lori provoked Leni' on his clipboard. The idea didn't surprise him, but he had a feeling that wasn't the whole story. "How were you being a bad sister?"
Lori gave Lucy her left hand so she could put on another coat of black, "I think she thought I was being dismissive of her. She was trying to help me, but whenever she does that, she becomes a hover board and I push her away."
"You really think that's why she slapped you?"
Lori narrowed her eyes, visibly becoming increasingly annoyed, "Lincoln, I am only going to say one hundred more words to you about this."
"She just said fifteen words," Lucy said, "She only has eighty five left."
Lincoln began to panic, "Uhh...has Leni ever slapped you before?"
"Nope, now that I think about it, it was really weird," Lori admitted, "We would get into physical fights by wrestling like everyone else does, but those were never personal. This one was."
"Forty six words," Lucy updated, "Fifty four left."
Lincoln scribbled in his clipboard, "Did Leni seem fully awake when she slapped you? 'Cause I heard she had just woken up when it happened."
"Does Leni ever seem fully awake to you?" Lori asked him, blowing on her nails.
"Fifty four words"
"Fair point," Lincoln said to the blonde, "Now, have you ever slapped her?"
Lori shook her head, "Of course not. Although now that she's slapped me, I might want to return the favor..."
"She has thirty more words left," Lucy said.
"Do you think Leni wrote the note?" Lincoln asked. For once, the seventeen year old was at a loss of words. She looked down at her knees, like the possibility had just crossed her mind. Lincoln could understand her pain, the two were very close, and knowing someone close to you was suicidal was a difficult thing to learn. Difficult was an understatement, it was haunting. He couldn't even imagine what Lori was thinking when he had said that.
With tears threatening to rise in her eyes, Lori demanded, "Get out."
Lincoln frowned, "No fair, you still have twenty eight words left."
"Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out." Lori said, her irritation rising with every word.
"That's one hundred." Lucy said.
Lincoln clenched his teeth, he almost shouted 'NO FAIR' and demanded she answer his questions. However, when he saw the pained look on her expression, he decided to leave her alone. If Leni did write the note, it would defiantly give Lori some things to think over. Decided to let it be, turning around to leave. He found Luan and Luna sliding suicide hotlines under the door right across from Lucy's room.
"Girls," Lincoln said, getting Luna and Luan's attention, "The note is on my dresser, in case any of you need it for any reason." Luan and Luna gave him a thumbs up, before walking to the next door.
"Lincoln," a voice lisped behind him. The boy spun around, only to find the genius in a green sweater looking up at him with her enormous glasses.
"Oh, hey Lisa," he greeted.
"Save your salutations," Lisa crossed her arms, "I am aware you conducted a meeting about that note without inviting me."
Lincoln pulled on his collar nervously. It never occurred to him that Lisa actually wanted to be of use in this, he had just assumed she had offered her help just to be polite.
"Sorry-"
"Oh, hush!" Lisa snapped, "Just know that you will regret not having me on your team. I could be a valuable member, and you will fail without me!" She spun around, her fists clenched by her sides as she stormed down the hall and into her respective room.
Lincoln gulped, Lisa was not someone you'd want to make mad. Feeling apprehensive, he walked downstairs to get a drink as the mystery note sat unguarded on his bedroom dresser.
Thanks for reading blah blah sorry about the typos blah blah stay tuned!
