Next chapter is up, now we see the family comforting each after a long, painful day. Though not all of the siblings might see eye to eye at the worst of moments. Plus an old OC enemy of theirs finally shows up again...
Lynn came back home, hoping her sister would be there. Given the humiliating and frankly life endangering experience she had just went trough, Lynn was worried that the comedian, in her emotionally frail state, might have ran off to somewhere secluded, far away (and possibly dangerous), and that she wouldn't come back.
Lynn entered the apartment and shot a quick, disdainful look at the little pit hole that her family was calling home now. It appeared to be completely empty, until Lynn noticed that the bathroom door was left opened. Lynn darted towards it and saw moisture all over the walls and the shower base, and next to it, lying scrunched up on the floor, were Luan`s white shirt and her ripped yellow skirt, both dirty and reeking like they had just been dipped in a dumpster. Lynn felt a wave of relief.
"Well there's only one place she could be now." she deduced the obvious. If there was one upside to living in a tiny apartment like theirs, it was that no one could find a place to hide.
The jock walked towards her shared bedroom and grabbed the door knob, worrying that it would be locked, but luckily it wasn't. Lynn cautiously peeked inside and saw her sister curled up on her bottom bunk. Luan stayed there motionless, seemingly unaware that someone had opened the door. As Lynn walked towards her she saw that Luan was garbed in her orange bathrobe and had a towel wrapped around her head. She was barefoot and Lynn noticed some rash on her sisters feet, and on her hands as well, Luan`s cheeks and neck were also visibly covered with it.
Luan remained quiet and unresponsive, so Lynn sat down next to her, feeling a bit nervous, as she had no idea what to say or do right now. Consoulting people wasn't exactly her strong suit.
"You `re back early..." Luan suddenly muttered in a meek tone, not moving an inch from her resting position.
"Yeah, somethin` came about and I got to leave early..."...Lynn started awkwardly "...eh lucky me, right?" she forced a small chuckle hoping it would lighten the mood a bit, only to be met with dead silence. Lynn sighed and placed a comforting hand on her sisters shoulder.
"Luan..." she said as softly as her rough voice could allow "...I...know about what happened at school today. And...I`m sorry sis. That was terrible...what those scumbags did to ya, it was really heinous."
Lynn sighed. "I know how you feel. Being thrown in a dumpster and having jackasses toss crude comments at you, been there." she humbly recollected. She understood the kind of demeaning humiliation her sister had just gone trough quite well. Ironically, one the "jackasses" she was referring to was currently trying to atone for mistreating her and be her friend, something the jock wasn`t expecting to see from the other students any time soon.
Also no one saw her getting trashed, Luan on the other has had an audience watching and her humiliation was caught on tape.
"If you want to talk about it, I`m here for you." she reassured her older sister.
Luan finally looked up to meet her sisters compassionate gaze, at which point Lynn noticed her sisters bloodshot eyes. No mystery how they got that way.
Lynn stretched her arms out and the weeping Luan took the invitation to embrace her. Resting her head against the jocks shoulder, Luan couldn't stop herself from sobbing again and held her sister in a tight hug. She needed to let it all out. She quickly spilled out all the bottled up thoughts of hurt and anger and Lynn patiently listened to her.
"Feel better now?" she asked softly. Luan didn't answer, as she had a diffrent question boggling her mind.
"Lynn...you said you were dismissed early? You didn't..."
"Nah, don't worry about it..." Lynn calmly interjected.
"But believe me, I was this close to stomping that conniving wench into burger meat, but Ryan stopped me at the last second and talked some sense into me." she elaborated.
Luan was quickly relived. As much as she liked the thought of Kathleen getting brutally maimed, she would never have wanted it at the expense of her sister getting suspended, or worse.
"I came back to see if you were alright..." Lynn gently admitted, still hugging her sister.
Luan didn't answer, she just sniffed dejectedly. No, she wasn't alright, she had just been humiliated, nearly injured, she skipped classes and is soon to become a viral laughing stock on the internet. She couldn't take this anymore, she just wanted to lock herself up at home and never have to face the cruel and merciless world that lay beyond it.
Lynn, meanwhile, took her silence as a sign that she didn't want to talk anymore. "Lu, if you don't want to talk anymore, it's okay..."
"Why does everyone hate me..." Luan blurted out in a croaking voice.
"W-What?" Lynn blinked in confusion.
"Why does everyone want to see me in pain? Why am I so hateable? What have I done wrong to deserve this?" Luan sobbed frantically. Lynn finally caught on about what her sister was rambling about.
"Don`t be ridiculous! I love you. We all love you..."
"You`re my family, you're obliged to. Why does everyone else hate me..."
Lynn paused for a moment to think, before scowling with contempt.
"Why? It's because that Kathleen is a pathetic, cowardly, miserable bully with no life and has nothing better to do than to pick on someone who she knows can't defend herself, and everyone else who sides with her is nothin` but a braindead sheep following the "pretty, popular" girl around. Luan, you should be proud of yourself, you`re a much better and smarter person than any of that worthless filth that infests our school."
Luan looked down bleakly from her sisters shoulder. "I don't feel very proud right now..." she mumbled "...I skipped school today and dad`s gonna be furious."
Lynn petted her on the back. "Don't worry. After we tell him what happened, he`ll understand, he may be strict, but he wouldn't punish you after the ordeal you just went trough. As for the school staff...we`ll just say you had an allergic reaction and had to leave, it's not like its that far from the truth anyway."
"I guess..." Luan mumbled. Smiling a bit, Lynn finally released her from her embrace.
"So? Feel any better now?" Lynn asked her again.
"A bit, I guess..." Luan answered feebly. Talking with one of her siblings honestly did help her, and now that she looked back it, she had faced plenty of pain and mysery at the hands of her peers before, why would this be any worse? The inevitable viral video was coming, but it's not like she had any sort of reputation to lose and she had more important things for this weekend to do, more important than wallowing in self-pitty, like earn some extra cash which her family certainly needed at every opportunity.
"Good, so how about we go get a drink, I...eh have some spare money." Lynn offered.
"No thanks. I don't feel like going out." Luan declined. "Besides I have to treat my rash."
Luan reared back up and removed the towel from her head, and grabbed a hairdryer. But before she couuld turn it on she saw her sister looking at her with a devious glint in her eyes.
"Okay, so why don't we talk about some more important matters." Lynn started in a sharp tone.
"Huh?" a puzzled Luan responded.
"I`m talkin` about getting payback on Kathleen. If she thinks she can get away messin` with the Loud sisters she's sorely mistaken! So what's the plan?"
"A plan?" Luan asked.
"Yes, we`ll punk her even harder. Just you and me, we`ll humiliate her so badly that she`ll never be able to show herself in a public ever again. So what's your plan? Conductin` elaborate pranks is your speciality." Lynn eagerly clarified.
Luan sat there in silence, unsure about what to say, until she suddenly hung her head down and shook it weakly.
"I won't be planning any payback." she said sullenly.
"What?" Lynn was caught by surprise.
Luan looked her in eye with a serious glare. "I`m not gonna bother with it, it would be pointless and just add even more fuel to this forest fire of a feud. Besides, I`ll be busy getting dad to let me be homeschooled."
"Homeschooled?" Lynn was shocked. "Luan, you can't be serious? That's only done by, like, creepy, friendless, reclusive weirdos?"
Luan gave her a small irritated glare.
"Well aren't I one of them already?" Luan retorted with a hint of dry sarcasm. Lynn blinked in confusion. She then flailed her arms up defensively.
"What-No-I mean...I`m sorry, that came out wrong!" Luan, however, didn't seem angered by it. If anything she seemed to begrudgingly accept the accusation.
"No, you hit the nail on the head." she replied plainly. Lynn grew agitated.
"No I-ugghhh, stop twistin` it! I didn't mean any of that. There's nothin` wrong with you sis, you're just a bit...eccentric. And you can't just run away from your problems."
Luan kept the same exasperated expression.
"Facing them won't do me any good either. I`m afraid not everyone is a popular athlete with lots of friends who can tame the wildest of bullies with a combination of her feminine charm and tomboyish roughness." Lynn was confused before she blushed involuntarily.
"What does that-Wait, we`re not goin1 back on that crap again!" Lynn snapped. Luan felt a small tinge of amusement and smiled weekly.
"Oh don't worry Lynn, I haven't forgotten about helping you prepare for your date tomorrow. I`ve texted the others about it hours ago." Lynn`s eyes widened in disbelief and started twitching in agitation. She barely contained herself from exploding.
"Stay calm Lynn, relax, don't lose it. You can kill her for it latter." she told herself.
"Don`t you have more important things to think about? Like homeschooling being a bad idea!" Lynn asked sharply, intent on changing the subject. Luan`s smile dropped and she turned serious again. This wasn't the moment to tease her sister.
"Bad idea? Try looking at it from my 's the better option? Being stuck for five days every week with people who hate you and torment you just so you won't end up being some uneducated dropout, or you can do your studies at home with the same effect, but minus all the abuse? I won't gain anything by staying there?"
Lynn stayed quiet, where could she argue with that. "But what about Kathleen? You can't just let her win this battle and get away with it?"
Luan glared at her with a hint of irritation. "I never wanted to be in this "battle" in the first place. Kathleen forced my hand, I never wanted this and I also have nothing to gain by going on with this pointless and petty feuding. I`m sick and tired of it all! If I can pull the plug on it somehow I`ll gladly take the chance."
"But Luan? You...you can't just stay alone here, locked up..."
"I won't be alone, Lucy will keep me company, we talked about it together." Luan stated in a normal tone.
Lynn`s eyes widened."What? You dragged Lucy into this ridiculous idea too?" she asked in disbelief. Luan scowled at her again.
"I didn't talk her into it, she was the one who suggested we take cues from Lola, and given all the crap she gets at school, I think this would be the best for her. And I don't wanna sound entitled or anything but I do believe that I'm better qualified for judging her situation than any of you, and I don't want her to go trough the same hell like I did."
"But, Luan...?"
"I made up my mind Lynn." the older sister stated firmly and got off the bed.
Luan then walked over to a small table which had two jars of rash cream on it. One had been emptied already and so Luan took the second one.
"Now unless you wanna talk about you're upcoming date, this conversation is over."
"For the last time! It's not a freakin` date!" Lynn jumped up and yelled angrily.
"Sure, just keep telling yourself that." Luan retorted in a hushed, slightly amused tone.
But then she looked at her sister with a tired expression.
"Now, if you don't mind, I have to ask you to leave. I have to treat this rash if I`m going to have any hope to be well enough by tomorrow to attend my next gig, and I have rashes literally everywhere." she explained in an exasperated tone.
Hearing that, Lynn calmed down.
"Kay, okay, I get the memo." Lynn replied understandably and uncomfortably, while trying to block out the horrifying mental images that were likely lying under Luan`s robe, and left their bedroom.
Once she closed the door, she heard it getting locked and sighed sadly.
...
One they had reached the bus stop, Lucy and Lana had to take a short walk back to their apartment. For the first time, Lucy had to be the one escorting her younger sibling instead of Lincoln, and considering they had to go trough the same alley where she had seen her brother getting grabbed, dragged away and threatened by Taylor, Lucy definitely wasn't looking forward to be being here out in the opened.
"Come on..." she told Lana somewhat hastily, while holding her head as they descended down the bus stairs.
The bus soon drove off, and Lucy was eager to reach home as fast as possible. Holding hands, she led her sister home, not feeling like chatting about anything.
"Are you okay?" the little blonde asked with concern, noticing how the goth seemed to be at unease.
"Fine...just...some bad memories with this street." Lucy answered, sounding somewhat distant.
All of a sudden Lucy jolted when they both heard something barking. They looked up to see a dog barking from a second story balcony. Seeing her sister growing nervous, Lana urged Lucy to look away and move on.
"It okay Lucy, it's just a dog, he won't hurt you. They bark a lot, but most don't have much of a bite." Lana reassured her sister who was growing more nervous and anxious. Lucy only nodded.
Lana may have been young and naive, but even she understood why her sister was acting this way. After the camping incident, even the animal loving Lana felt scared about coming close to dogs, at least the large and mean looking ones. But Lucy seemed to suffer from this traumatic experience more than the rest of them. Lana wondered if there was any way to help Lucy move on from her canine-related phobia, their father had already mentioned, sadly and several times over, that they couldn't afford a child psychologist, what ever those were. But Lana believed there was surely some other means to help her.
Lucy noticed how her sister seemed to be pondering about something, when she felt a tap on the shoulder, causing her to jolt and yelp. Lana turned around and saw Lucy with her back turned, frantically surveying her surroundings.
"Lana, someone...something touched me." Lucy exclaimed nervously, but Lana got a good view of who gave her sister a tap, he was still clinging onto her shoulder.
"Calm down silly, it's just Fang." the tomboy laughed merrily. Lucy looked at her shoulder and saw the small bat climbing ontop of it, looking at her curiously with his big, black eyes. Lucy sighed in relief.
"Fang. You gave me quite a scare." she told her pet in a more normal tone. His arrival actually lifted her spirit quite a bit and she finally smiled as she let him climb down her arm and perch on her hand.
Lana moved closer and started scratching him against the ear, a gesture he seemed to enjoy given how he was tilting his head towards her.
"What are you doin` in broad day light buddy?" Lana asked cheerfully. "I thought you were noc...eh nocht...eru...eh noc..." the tomboy felt her tongue twisting as she couldn't pronounce the last word. Lucy found it rather funny.
"It`s nocturnal. It means, well, an animal that is awake at night." the goth clarified helpfully.
"Of course, I knew that." Lana retorted, trying to save face. She did know what the blasted word meant, she just had trouble saying it. Lucy looked back at her bat curiously.
"That is a good question Lana. Why is he..."
They got their answer once they heard the shrill cry of a bird of prey. The girls looked up to see a falcon soaring in a circle high above them. Now it made sense.
Lana gasped."You poor thing. Did that mean bird try to eat?" she asked the little mammal sympathetically.
"Don't worry, you'll be safe with us." Lucy placed the bat on her shoulder again. Her mood soured once again by this cruel reminder that her friend could be killed by a predator any day by living semi-wild.
With that the sisters moved onwards. Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from a corner. He was wearing a disheveled, olive-green plaid jacket with a hood which he was wearing over his head, along with some ripped jeans and dirty, worn out sneakers. With his hands tucked in his pockets, the person started cautiously following them.
The girls reached an intersection, the last thing between them and home. Lucy was impatiently waiting for the traffic light to change, but Lana`s attention shifted towards a store to her left. Seeing it sparked an idea in her head.
"Hey, could we do a small detour?" the tomboy suddenly asked. Lucy looked at her oddly.
"What det...hey!" Lana didn't wait for an answer and bolted away. Frustrated and confused, the goth muttered to herself and followed.
Once she caught up, Lucy found Lana in front of a pet store, pressing her face against the window glass and gushing at the little pups and kittens that were on display.
"Lana, what's this all about?" Lucy asked sternly. "If you're trying to buy a new..."
"I`m not." Lana answered apologetically, feeling bad for just running off. "I know we can't have pets. But I wanted you to come here, so we can help you."
"Help me? How? With what?" Lucy was beyond bewildered.
"I`ll show you." Lana smiled and dragged Lucy by the arm into the store. The goth decided to just roll with it and told Fang to stay quiet.
Outside their follower was shaking his fists furiously, before slowly advancing towards the store.
...
Meanwhile, in his bedroom, Taylor was rummaging trough his closet, throwing out various clothes into his already messy room. Marceline was resting on his bed, lazily observing her owner.
"Ah there you are! I haven't worn you in a while." Taylor finally found the outfit he was searching for and quickly stuffed it into his backpack, which he had already filled with a few handy gadgets he would need for his mission.
"That would be all." he dusted his hands as he finished packing. Marceline randomly meowed and Taylor looked at the black cat.
"Why am I doin` this in a needlessly complicated way when I could have just grabbed Kathleen`s camera and pushed her into the school fountain, and then watched her bitch and moan about her ruined hair and make up?" he asked her intuitively and then chortled.
"If I did that people might get the wrong impression that I care about Funny Girl, which I don't. But that pampered cunt ain't gettin` away with insulting Lynn."
His eyes then narrowed and he smirked darkly. "Besides, this way is a lot more fun."
He looked at his wall clock, it was only 2 p.m. He would have to wait until dusk if he wanted to pull this off successfully. Not an issue, as he knew that Kathleen wouldn't post her video until prime viewing hours when all of those idiots would be gawking at their computer.
"Well, looks like I`ll have the time to sort out some other inconveniences." he said in a jaunty tone while petting his cat on the head, which made her purr in return. He quickly got down the stairs and entered the kitchen, where he found his younger brother doing his homework at the kitchen table. Taylor smirked with amusement, the whimp was too distracted to notice Taylor seating himself in front of him.
Taylor took advantage of the situation and slammed his hand on the table several times over, startling his brother.
"Ah Roy, hardworkin` as usual I see." Taylor started in a friendly tone.
"Oh great, he`s asking for a favor." the 10 year old thought dejectedly. That was usually the only reason his brother would ever talk to him.
"Ryan?" he asked timidly "You..need something?"
Taylor smiled, he always appreciated it when people knew when to get right to the point.
"As a matter of fact I do, I need you to be anywhere but home tomorrow. You see, a friend of mine will be comin` over and I would really appreciate it if we had this place to ourselves on that day." he continued in his faux-friendly tone. Of course Roy knew that when his brother was "asking a favor" he was simply ordering him to do something.
"What? But...where am I supposed to go?" Roy asked him meekly, after effectively having been told to evacuate his own house by morning.
Taylor shrugged indifferently. "Doesn't matter. The mall, Burping Burgers, Dairy Land, you can visit some loser friend of yours and blabber about Ace Savvy, I don't care. I just need you not to be here." he stated crisply.
Roy glanced down sadly, he knew there was no point in arguing, might as well just roll with it. But some morbid curiosity got the better of him. "Okay fine, but...but why do I need to go? I promise I won't bother you?"
Taylor rolled his eyes, he hated stupid questions. He responded irritably. "Why? Because..."
"Because he and his new friend are probably up to something legally questionable or life endangering, and he doesn't want eyewitnesses." a dour and monotonous female voice interjected.
"Renee..." Taylor grumbled and turned sharply to see his teen sister walking in to open the fridge and pull out some orange juice. She didn't bother facing her brothers.
"That's not your concern bookworm." the boy shot back smugly. He could have said that he wasn't planning anything shifty, which would have been the truth this time, but he never would resist the chance to annoy his sister.
"It isn't..." the ebony-haired girl replied in the same apathetic tone while pouring the juice into a glass "...but I`m just wondering if your new pal is also into assaulting toddlers with baseball bats?"
Taylor grew irked, but tried to keep his confident facade. "You're never gonna let me hear the end of that, are ya?" he snarked while pinching his temple." So I misjudged that psycho Lyle, sue me! For your information, Lynn is nothin` like that. She prefers indulgin` in various sports over pummelin` kids."
Taylor`s enunciated use of female pronouns didn't trigger any change in Renee`s indifferent demeanor, she simply drank her juice casually and wiped her mouth clean.
"I don`t want to bet on it, I wouldn't put much faith in the judgment of someone who thought it was a bright idea to wander off into the wilderness and get mauled by wolves." With that she left her brothers.
Grumbling and cursing underneath his breath, Taylor was ready to follow her, but not before facing Roy one last time. "I expect you to take a hike by the time I come back home tomorrow." he reminded him in a sharp tone and Roy simply nodded.
Taylor ran up the stairs and caught up with his sister as she returned to her room. He stopped at the doorway and crossed his arms. "Alright..." he asked impatiently"...what`s it gonna take to get you to leave? Fifteen bucks? Twenty bucks? Me doin` the dishes for two weeks?"
"Forget it dweeb." she retorded plainly while organizing her book shelf. "My book club is coming here tomorrow and I have to finish my novel."
Taylor snickered mockingly. " That again? Given how much time you spend starrin` at paper you're gonna need some spectacles pretty soon."
"Better to suffer mild damage to your vision than to get yourself mutilated by wild animals." Renee replied apathetically. Taylor quietly growled.
"But if it`s any consultation, I have no interest in meeting your friend or learning about your weekend exploits, so I believe that our plans for tomorrow are fairly mutually exclusive." the 14 year old pointed out, hoping it would get her brother to leave.
Taylor rolled his eyes, he knew this was the best he would get from her. "Fine, whatever." he said dismissively and left his sister alone.
At this point he decided it would best to actually just do all of his homework while locked up in his room. It was a much better way to kill time, instead of listening to his sisters insults. Before he could finally have some real fun...
...
The store owner who had greeted them had been friendly enough, or more precisely just towards Lana, as she had occasionally come here and helped them out taking care of the animals before. Obviously the employees had taken a shine to her, but Lucy only got a few odd glares.
She could tell what they were thinking, but she guessed that adults had enough decency to at least stay polite and not assault her with rude questions like "What the hell is wrong with your skin? You look creepy? Why the hell is that blood-sucking flying rat on your shoulder?!"
"Lana, why are we here?" an exasperated Lucy moaned, just wanting to be home already.
"I just wanted to help you with your fear of dogs." Lana answered while looking trough a litter of fuzzy, excitable puppies.
"How is this supposed to help me?" the goth questioned with bemusement.
"By facing your fears, one step at a time..." Lana explained and finally picked up the most "wolfish" one of the bunch, a little German Shepard pup. Lucy`s eyes widened with unease as Lana cradled the pup in her arms and brought him closer to the goth.
Fang suddenly tensed up and hissed at the pup, startling it.
"Eh..I don't think Fang likes the idea." Lucy observed nervously.
"No problem, I`ll take him." Lana said helpfully and placed the pup down and took the bat on her hand. She then gently moved the pup with one hand towards her sister.
"Come on Lucy, he just wants a hug, he can't bite with those tiny chompers." Lana encouraged her. Lucy made eye contact with the pup, it looked at her curiously and it appeared very innocent and cuddly, just like the twins and Lisa were when Lucy first met them. Feeling braver, Lucy lifted the pup in her arms, and it started making rather adorable yelps and squeaks.
Lucy actually found it very endearing and heartwarming, she didn't see a huge, snarling, blood-hungry beast with sharp fangs and claws, but just a little dog that any young girl would have found adorable.
"I...guess...he`s kind of cute." Lucy admitted with an awkward smile as she stroked the pups soft fur.
"See, I told you it would help." Lana beamed joyfully. "Now, how about we find a bigger dog?" she suggested, a bit too quickly for Lucy`s liking.
"I..." Lucy gulped. Thankfully, their conversation got interrupted.
"Hey Lana!" The sisters saw a young boy around Lana`s age calling her name while holding a glass cage filled with several geckos. He was accompanied by his parents.
"Who`s that?" Lucy asked Lana, who was waving at the boy.
"Oh that's just Billy, he`s a friend of mine from school." the tomboy explained before turning to the goth. "I think he needs my help for somethin`, is it okay if I see him?"
"Yeah sure...I guess." Lucy answered with uncertainty and let Lana, who took Fang with her, go. Lucy stayed behind, she hated mingling with other kids as it brought her nothing but trouble.
She glanced down at the pup she was petting and smiled weekly as he gave her a lick on the cheek. "You're not scary, you're really nice... " she couldn`t help but to lightly giggle.
But suddenly, by accident, she noticed something in her peripheral vision and her gaze drifted towards the store window.
Someone wearing a hoodie walked by it and shot a quick aside glance into the store. His face was partly obscured, but Lucy could have sworn that she saw him scowling. But as soon as she saw him, he passed by and was gone.
Lucy stared at the window suspiciously until she heard Lana`s voice. "Hey Lucy!"
Turning around, Lucy faced her sister who looked at tad awkward. "Em...Lucy, is okay if I go with Billy and his folks. He wants to set up the home for his new geckos and he asked me to help them, since, ya know, no one knows how to make reptiles and frogs feel more at home than me.
"What? But we have to be home to help Lincoln when dad returns." Lucy was surprised and placed the pup back in its box.
"I know that, but dad won't come back until like seven and there's no point in us just waitin` for him. Plus, I can't just say no when a friend needs my help." Lana pointed out.
"Sigh. Alright, but try not to stay there for too long, remember Lincoln needs us." Lucy told her poignantly.
"I won't and don't worry, Billy`s mom will give me a ride back home." Lana said reassuringly while handing Fang over to Lucy.
"Alright, see you back home." Lucy bid her farewells and left the store alone with Fang perched on her shoulder. But the moment she turned right she stopped in her tracks as she nearly bumped into the hooded figure, who was leaning against the wall. He rose up and glared down at her.
Lucy saw that he had a unibrow and several zits on his face. Her heart started pounding with fear as he glared ominously at her, Fang was apparently also startled as he hid into her ebony hair.
The tension was broken when the boy started snickering and sneered at the 7 year old, reveling a gap in his teeth. "Looks like someone hasn't been gettin` enough sun light, or did that puny vampire rat suck all the blood out of ya?" he asked her in a mocking tone.
Lucy shrank back fearfully and after a short staring contest the boy realized he wouldn't get any funny reaction out of the brat. He moaned irritably, while rolling his eyes and walked passed her. "Out of my way runt!" he exclaimed rudely, almost pushing down Lucy as she barely dodged him.
Looking at him leaving, Lucy felt angry and clenched her fists, but also felt embarrassed with herself for being so paranoid. She thought this guy wanted to hurt her, but he was just another unpleasant jerk. Straightening herself up, Lucy walked back home with Fang.
The boy, however, shot her one glance while her back was turned and smirked gleefully. "Good, she's out of the way, now I can snatch that little blond-haired rat."
He waited near the pet store for Lana to come out alone, holding on to a piece of cloth which was tucked in his pocket. But, much to his charging, he saw her leaving with another brat and two adults, carrying a glass cage filled with salamanders...or something. They quickly entered their car and drove off, leaving the fuming boy to grit his teeth and stomp the ground in frustration.
He looked back towards where the goth had went off to and saw her walking up the stairs and entering the front door of an old building, which made him curse inwardly.
So close. He was so close!
"You haven't seen the last of Lyle!" he swore bitterly before running off to his house.
The whole thing was bust, he had a golden opportunity to catch the Loud brat, and he couldn't even get her dead-looking creepy sister. Lyle angrily stormed towards his home, but upon arriving he saw an alarming sight that made him backtrack and hide behind a building.
Cautiously peeking his head, he saw a police car parked in front of his house. Two officers were at his front porch talking to his mother. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he knew why they were there.
"Dammit! For fucking hell-Dammit! How did they figure it out where I have been hidding? I was always careful! Ughh...fuck it, I need somewhere else to hide!" And he knew exactly where! But he knew he couldn't reach that place in broad daylight. He had to take a temporary refuge somewhere else, and he knew just where. His old hangout at the abandoned warehouse.
Thinking on his feet, he wasted no time heading for the warehouse. Luckily he saw no other signs of the police.
Good. Now it was time to make some arrangement. While walking down an alley, Lyle pulled out his phone and dialed the only other number he could call and trust, besides his parents. A familiar voice answered on the other side of the line.
"Listen. Somethin`s come up. I can't go back come. I`ll need a place to crash for a night or two!" he talked in a hushed whisper.
"Yes, yes! No that's not it. Can't talk any longer. I`ll be there by dusk. See ya!"
"Hey you!" Lyle froze stiff as he heard the booming voice. He turned around and saw a police car parked nearby and a police officer walking towards him.
"No!No!NO!NO!NO! Okay! Okay! Stay calm, you need to stay calm..." the panicked Lyle told himself and tried to act casual in front of the policeman.
"Is there a problem, sir?" he asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
"What are you doing here kid?" the officer asked sternly. Lyle could tell from his tone that he was already looking at him with suspicion.
"Oh, nothing really, just taking a walk, getting some fresh air." Lyle answered nonchalantly. The officer gave him a scrutinizing glare. Lyle gulped and dug into his pocket.
"But..but enough about me, you wanted to ask something?" Lyle hastily added. The officer came closer until he was looking down at the boy.
"Yes, I did, but first of how about you pull down that hoody?" he ordered firmly. Lyle felt sweat dripping down his forehead.
"I...I..I can't, you see sir I...have this skin condition and I have to...
"I said to pull down your hood!" the officer repeated his demand, this time with a strong "I`m not playing games anymore" tone of voice. Lyle gulped even harder. He was done for...unless?
"Okay, okay, if you say so..." with lighting speed, Lyle pulled out the rag from his pocket and pressed it against the mans face. Caught by surprise, the officer inhaled a large amount of chloroform before easily pushing the 12 year old off him. But it was too late, quickly losing consciousness, the man collapsed to ground.
Lyle stood there gasping, unable to belive that he had managed to do it, but he did it. A smug grin formed on his face as he approached the unconscious policeman, feeling a great sense of pride and self-admiration.
"Nighty, night Officer Dumbass!" he whispered mockingly before running off as fast as he could. Those flat foots would never catch him!
...
Lynn was sitting alone on the couch, channel surfing. She hoped to find some sportscast that could help get her mind of todays events, but in her current sour mood no soccer tournament or a basketball one or a baseball one or literally anything other than a sudden news report of Kathleen having suffered a humiliating and hopefully painful accident would have cheered her up. She eventually gave up and turned the tv off. Sighting, she lied down on the couch and starred at the ceiling.
She hadn't heard a peep from her room in a while, and assumed Luan must have been taken a nap.
What happened to her sister and the knowledge that it would be posted all over the internet was bad enough, but not helping matters was the fact that Luan had texed all of their siblings (probably including the ones that were with their mother) that Lynn had a date, which wasn't true. The jock knew that if she suddenly got a call or a message from Lori, Leni or Luna she would instantly turn her phone off, and if they called on the house phone she would pull its plug.
She was at least glad that the other sisters that stayed with her were too young to squeal around and get overzealous about the mere thought of one of them dating, Lincoln on the other hand, she was certain would probably be pretty upset upon hearing about her nonexistent date, and likely wouldn't believe the truth. After all, she herself had acted overzealous and didn't believe him that he wasn't romantically involved with whatever random girl he had spoken to in the past and she would have often been the one to spread the news to the rest of the sisters, so why would this be different?
"Karma`s a bitch." Lynn figured. And she didn't even want to think about the possibility that Luan may have even texted their father. He already didn't approve of her seeing Taylor, if he somehow got it into his head that Taylor was trying to date his daughter he would probably have a nervous breakdown. Lynn groaned and clutched her head with both hands.
All this frustration was exhausting. Closing her eyes, the jock felt like dozing off just to get some piece of mind.
"Maybe I should just get out while I have the chance. Before the drama starts." an exasperated Lynn mused.
"I could just stay over at Ryan`s again, his room alone has more space than this dump of a home. Would his parents be okay with it?" Lynn quickly snorted.
"It wouldn't matter, he wouldn't listen to them either way. He would probably tell me to get trough his bedroom window, meeting in secret would be more exitin` anyway. Even if he's busy, he probably wouldn't say no if I asked for something, he`s sweet that way..."
Lynn smiled and felt flustered, but quickly jolted out of her thoughts. What was she thinking?!
At that moment she heard a door opening. A downbeat Lucy entered with Fang on her shoulder, just in time to see Lynnn sitting up. Lucy closed her eyes and sighed, Lynn really wasn't the person she had hoped to see right now.
"Lucy?!" the jock blurted out, a tad surprised.
"Lynn..." Lucy quietly replied, not knowing what else to say. An awkward silence ensued , as neither of the sisters usually made casual small talk with each other. Fang cowered a bit at seeing Lynn and quickly flew into the younger sisters room, which had its door open.
Lynn finally noticed that the goth was alone. The latter tried to walk to her room, but Lynn jumped over the couch and landed in her way. "Luce? Where are Linc and Lana?" she questioned.
Lucy looked up at her, but quickly glanced aside trying to avoid eye contact. Lynn got slightly irked and glared down at her little sister. "Well?"
"Lana met a friend along the way and went to help him take care of his pets..." Lucy reluctantly murmured.
"Kay...and what about Lincoln?"
Lucy bit her had dreaded that question. "He...he had to stay back at school." Lucy murmured again.
"For what? Why would he stay there?" Lynn asked sharply. She hated it when Lucy was being cryptic and she really didn't feel like dealing with it today.
Lucy glanced past Lynn and tried to think of an excuse to get away from her. "I have to feed Fang." she said quickly and tried leave. But Lynn suddenly grabbed her by the arm, more strongly than she intended to.
"Will you cut that mystery girl crap and just tell me where Lincoln is? I`m really not in the mood for your stupid riddles." Lynn exclaimed angrily.
"Let me go." Lucy cried and struggled to get free.
"Not until you answer my question." Lynn retorded. She groaned inwardly, why was Lucy being so difficult?
Lucy angrily glared up at the jock, but eventually gave in. "Alrght." she rhasped dejectedly. Lynn let her go and quickly felt bad upon seeing Lucy rub her soar arm, but she was too frustrated to calm down and apologize.
"Well? Where is he?" Lynn asked sharply.
"Detention..." the goth murmured bitterly.
"What?" Lynn asked in disbelief, this day was just getting worse. "What the hell did he do?"
"He punched out Chandler..." Lucy grumbled but her voice trailed off as she saw Lynn stunned into silence by the revelation before a smile grew on her face.
"Really?" the jock laughed in a jaunty way. "About time he did it, man I`m gonna have to congratulate him for that..."
"What? " Lucy was at a loss for words before growing angry. "Did you even hear what I just said?!"
"I did, but that rat-faced bastard had this coming for a long time, a few hours of detention are worth it. "
"No they aren't! Lincoln will be in trouble you idiot!" Lucy snapped while clenching her fists.
"Hey! Don't call me that you little pest!" Lynn snapped back, her temper getting the better of her.
Lucy didn't respond. Bitting her lip, she stormed into her room and slammed the door.
Once she was alone Lynn finally calmed down and quickly regretted acting out the way she did, she started to realize that Lucy had a point. Their father wasn`t going to react well upon hearing about Lincoln getting detention and she figured that Chandler probably didn't take the punch lying down and there must have been a fight.
This day really was only getting worse, Lynn knew she and the others had to rally together and help convince their father not to punish their brother. He did a public service by decking that insufferable prick as far as she was concerned and her sisters would undoubtedly agree, but she knew all too well the stance their father and most adults took about fighting.
She followed Lucy into her room and saw the goths backpack thrown on the floor and spotted Lucy lying on her top bunk with her back turned. Fang was also perched on the beds fraim and quickly hid out of sigh when Lynn looked at him.
"Go away!" Lucy muttered while cradling the frightened bat in her arms.
"Lucy will you please tell what the hell happened at school? Lincoln got into a fight and was caught doing it, wasn't he?"
"What did you think happened?" the goth muttered rhetorically. Lynn moaned in frustration. At least her suspicion was confirmed.
"Listen Lucy, this isn't the time to fight, we have to help Lincoln so that dad doesn't punish him!" Lynn called out from bellow, though her tone sounded less like she was trying to reason and more like a demand.
"Oh, so that finally dawned on you, nice..." Lucy couldn't help it but to retort with bitter sarcasm. Her sisters thick-headedness was unbearable, Lucy sometimes couldn't fathom how Lynn was 5 years her senior and yet Lucy felt that Lynn had the IQ of a spoiled toddler.
Lynn balled her fists in frustration, that was the second time today someone had unsubtly called her dumb, and it was even more demeaning coming from a 7 year old brat.
"Well at least I`m tryin` to do somethin` about it, instead of just bein` whiny and moody about it. I know you didn't get much sleep last time, but I believe you can put your crankiness aside for our brothers sake." Lynn tried to reason, but couldn't help but express it in a condescending way.
"Well if I'm so whiny and moody why don't you leave me be and go text chatting with your new boyfriend. I`m sure he`ll laugh his head off hearing that Lincoln was left to fester in detention." Lucy replied calmly and bitterly.
Now she was really pushing Lynn`s buttons. "He`s not my boyfriend!" the jock growled. "We don't have a freaking date and Luan was makin` up bullcrap! Will you stop actin` like a stupid child and listen to me!"
Lynn suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head.
"Luan? Weren't you restin`?" the jock asked in surprise.
Luan rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Who can rest with all this ruckus?" she answered tiredly.
Before Lynn could open her mouth the teen raised her hand to silence her.
"I heard everything, Lincoln is in hot water." she said dejectedly.
"I know, and maybe you can help me get -an-Doom to tell me what exactly happened so we can help him." Lynn explained frustratingly while gesturing her arms at Lucy.
"Lucy? Could you please come down and tell us what happened?" Luan pleaded, but got no response.
Both sisters went silent and Luan pondered for a bit, before looking at Lynn.
"Maybe you should leave and let me talk to her." the comedian asked her.
"What? Why?" an annoyed Lynn replied.
Luan sighed. "Call it a sisters intuition, but I`m pretty certain that whatever happened between Lincoln and Chandler hurt her a lot as well, and your agressive approach isn't the way to get her to open up." she explained. It really didn't take a "sisters intuition" to figure that out, but Luan knew that Lynn was pretty bad at reading other peoples feelings.
Lynn was about to retort but stopped herself. Thinking back about how Lucy had acted, Luan`s assumption was completely right and it was pretty damn obvious, it wasn't like Chandler was above doing cruel things to younger kids. Lynn mentally kicked herself for being so oblivious and obliged.
"Alright, I`ll go." she said with more humility, then left the room and closed the door.
Luan climbed up the bed ladder so she could meet Lucy face to face. "Lucy, please talk to me. I know something bad must have happened to you and you know that you can trust me with it." she told her softly while gently nudging her.
Turning around with Fang still in her arms, Lucy finally looked at her and her eyes widened in surprise once she saw the rash on Luan`s neck and cheeks.
"What happened to you Luan?" she asked meekly. The teen sighed, knowing exactly what the goth was referring to.
She tried to force a smile. "That`s...not important right now...I`ll...tell you later, but first I want to hear what that Chandler jerk did to you and Linky..."
...
Lynn was once again sitting alone on the couch, slouching and trying to watch tv. At least she was sure that Lucy would open up to Luan so they could clear up this mess their brother was in.
Suddenly the door was pushed open and in comes a fuming Lisa. "This is unbelievable! Preposterous! Ludicrous! Demeaning!..." she stormed in ranting.
"Let me guess..." Lynn addressed her with an exasperated look and tone "...you had a bad day?" Like she really needed an answer. Lynn swore, if Lana came back home crying, saying her friends pets all spontaneously died from collective strokes, she would lose it.
The child prodigy fixed her eyes on the jock and walked closer. "You can wager Tesla`s Coil that I did..." Lisa elaborated in a more composed but still very angry tone "...as you all well know...I am less than a collective 253 days away from acquiring all of my Master`s degrees, with the highest of recommendations from all of the most brilliant academicians who educate those mediocre minded, so-called adult students at the university which I soon won't be required to attend to any longer."
Lynn wasn't sure if she understood half of those words her toddler sister spoke, but she eventually figured the general gist of it. "So...you`re graduating? How's that a bad thing?" the jock asked sarcastically.
Lisa facepalmed, as if she had just heard the dumbest response in the universe. "Tha's not the cause for my grievance..." she snapped, her face turning red "...what were you envisioning that I was planning to do after "graduatng"? I desired to rise up in the scientific community, to become a professional and certified genius who would alter this world while simultaneously making a lucrative career out of it, to fund both my future and my future reasearch, and financially support my bankrupt wage slave of a father and my siblings who's respective dream careers of comic book illustrator and writter, humor based entertainer, world renowned olympics champion, ect, are all pipe dreams doomed for failure."
Lynn blinked, her mouth hanging slightly open as she tried to comprehend what Lisa was saying. The genius rolled her eyes. "I. Want. To. Be. A. Scientist. So I can earn money. And support my family." she repeated it as simplistically as possible.
"Oh...okay, but what exactly is your problem then?" Lynn asked, still looking puzzled.
"Well I was just informed, by the dean, the highest ranking authority over the academic unit no less, that I can't pursue my intend career because of an absurd, trivial inconvenience called "child labor laws". And guess what? All of my most respected professors were well aware of these so called "child labor laws" from the start, and when I confronted them about their abysmal communication skills they all claimed that they "did't know how to break it to me"! Can you believe the nerve!" Her face was turning even more red and she seemed like she was ready to errupt.
Lynn was still having a hard time making out what she was saying, something about not being allowed to work do to barely being 4 was the best she could gather. "I guess, so does that mean...?"
"It means I was swindled, robbed of my rightful destiny by a corrupt and unjust legal system! All my hard work and genius intellect will be for naught!" Lisa cried while getting teary eyed. She started pounding the floor with her fists and screaming.
"It not fair! It not fair! It not fair! It not fair! It not fair! It not fair! I want to be a real scientist! Those stupid poop heads are wrong and stupid and unfair! " she cried and threw a tantrum the way a regular toddler would. The crying gave Lynn migraines, but she did sympathize with her sisters plight, even if she didn't fully grasp what it was. She didn't want to repeat the same mistake she did with Lucy.
She picked the crying toddler in her arms and gave her a tight embrace. "There, there, you'll always be a real scientist in my book." Lynn tried to be comforting.
"You`re approval won't help me secure a job at secret government research facility studying extraterritorial lifeform and interdimensional travel." Lisa sobbed, with a small hint of sarcasm.
Lynn pouted with annoyance, but kept comforting her.
"Also...I know this is far less important than me being coned out of my rights, but I do not approve of your newfound relationship with that barbaric vagrant known as Taylor. No offense, but it`s frankly revolting and nauseating...and you're gonna have to receive your monthly cootie vaccines from now on." the toddler randomly added.
Lynn rolled her eyes, she was too mentally exhausted to throw another "he`s not my boyfriend!" fit. Instead she tried to clue her youngest sibling on current events. "Look Lisa, we have more important issues to worry about, Luan`s suffered a painful and humiliating attack at school and Lincoln`s in detention for getting into a fight."
"What?!" the teary eyed genius blinked in utter shock.
...
Both Lynn and Lisa let Lucy and Luan talk things out. Lucy opened up to her teen sister about what had transpired on her school playground, and Luan was frankly appalled and disgusted by what she heard.
Chandler being a constant pain in the ass for her brother was old news, but what he did to Lucy just felt sick and inhumane to her, to mock her for her traumatic experience and even exploit it for cheap laughs. It wasn't like that kind of cruelty was anything new to her, but to hear it coming from kids who didn't even graduate grade school still felt shocking, she did not remember her bullies being that cruel when she was Lucy`s age.
But then again, her younger self never suffered something as severe as a mauling by a wild animal, so maybe it was just lucky coincidence.
She was currently hugging the little goth as they sat on the bottom bunk together, Fang meanwhile, was hanging from the ceiling, seemingly sleeping. Lucy was somewhat relived to have finally gotten things of her chest, but it took some courage for her to do it.
She had her head pressed against the teens chest, who in turn was gently stroking her sisters ebony hair, while looking aside with an expression of bottled up rage. If she had been there she would have gladly broken several bones in Chandlers body and knocked out several of his crooked teeth, and she would have taken any corporal punishment for it like a badge of honor.
Of course, Luan had also opened up about her terrible day and how she got her rash. Obviously this only made the goth even more depressed, but also more enraged. Chandler was a monster as far as she cared, but at least he never went this over the top or to such ludicrous extremes to make a single person miserable. The idea that someone as obseessively ruthless and persistent as Kathleen could exist only made her even more afraid of going to school.
"Lucy, I know I said this before, but I`m really sorry about what happened to you today. You and Linc deserve better, and that prick should be horse whipped..." Luan said softly, but her tone darkened towards the end.
"He said it was all for fun and that Lincoln was stupid for not being able to take a joke..." Lucy quietly recollected and felt her sister tense up in their embrace.
"Not taking a joke MY ASS!" Luan said angrily, not caring that she was swearing. "That wasn't even in the ball park of being a joke, that was just plain freaking sadism! What was even his punch line? Mentally scaring a little girl for life! If that's his idea of a harmless prank, I don't even want to think about what that basket case considers to be black comedy."
"I could say the same thing about that Kathleen. That witch needs to have a stake stabbed into her black heart." Lucy muttered with bitterness.
"I doubt that would be of much, if any use. She probably doesn't have a heart, but a black void in place of it." Luan replied with dry sarcasm and was surprised to hear Lucy make a small snicker.
"Well I`m sure we can do something, I know that every monster has a weakness. She`s probably like a siren or a kelpie, a creature that takes a beautiful and alluring form, but on the inside it's pure evil. I think I read somewhere that there are several ways to force these creatures to reveal their true, grotesque forms."
Now it was Luan`s turn to snicker. "Are you being serious or are you actually joking?" the comedian asked with more levity.
"A little bit of both. At least the metaphor is spot on and poetic, you have to admit that." the goth answered in a brighter tone.
Smiling, Luan shrugged her shoulders as she and Lucy let go of each other. "Can't argue with a poet."
Lucy smiled back. "And I`m sure Chandler can't argue with a comedian about what's a joke and what's not."
"So you're feeling better now, I take it? So do you think it's time we told the others what happened. I`ll do it if you don't feel comfortable with it." Luan suggested.
"I suppose..." Lucy agreed. "I just have one more question."
"Yes?"
"So you're sure that you too want to be homeschooled?" the goth asked, sounding rather hopeful.
"I told you already, that`s a done deal for me. I think it would be good for both of us. Plus, this way we can be classmates." Luan explained. Lucy smiled warmly.
"But we shouldn't ask dad about it until at least tomorrow. He`s sure to be exhausted when he returns home, even more so after he hears about all this drama..."
"Knock knock." They both looked foward to see Lynn and Lisa standing by the door. The former two became silent.
"I thought you liked these kinds of jokes Lu?" Lynn said after getting no reaction from Luan. Luan stayed quiet, unsure of how to respond, making Lynn feel awkward.
"Eh, should we leave..."
"No Lynn, please you guys need to come in." Luan invited them in.
Lisa approached the two. "Luan, I`m deeply sorry for what you have endured today..." the genius said sympathetically, and then turned towards Lucy. "And from what I could infer, that auburn-haired neanderthal has caused you great harm as well Lucy. I sincerely hope that you can describe his misdeeds to us."
Lucy stayed quiet, but Luan gave Lisa a smile. "Thank you Lisa. And we will."
The four sat together in a circle on the carpet.
They all knew Luan`s story at this point, all that was left was to hear Lucy`s. Luan explained it to the other two sisters for her. After hearing it, they were both left utterly disgusted. Lynn in particular felt even more horrible for getting angry at Lucy.
"And you all had the audacity to refer to my past self as cold and unfettered. In hindsight, those accusations were wildly embellished." Lisa stated, not for the sake of trying to defend her past attitude but more to express her own shock at the cruelty her sisters were subjected to.
"Yeah, yeah, maybe. But what do you guys propose we should do to get Linc out of trouble." Lynn quickly got to the point.
"I really don't know, if Lincoln threw the first punch dad`s not gonna take this lightly." Luan pointed out sadly.
"An unfortunate truth." Lisa agreed while rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Adults tend to take an unjustly neutral stance when regarding physical confrontations, regardless of the individual offenders moral alignment."
Lynn pondered for a bit. "Well, I guess there's only one thing we can do."
Phew, at long last chapter 4 is done. After a bit of a hiatus I try to return with a lengthy chapter, but damn it, I did not anticipate it to be this absurdly long. That's because I found myself having a rare opportunity to write this during several days of complete free time during Eastern, but I also included this much stuff into one chapter because I wanted to be done with the set up as quickly as possible, but it would appear that I still have to go trough at least another chapter before I can even try to go trough what can be considered the main plot.
And Lyle, the bully who broke Lana`s arm and beat Luan to a bloody pulp with a baseball bat in my first fic, has finally returned to seek vengeance, and the next chapter will reveal who his mystery ally is, here's a hint : the character has already appeared in this fic. If you happen to be a particularly close minded LH fanboy who follows fandom memes to a T, then the revelation might blow your mind, and it might insult you (in which case I won't care if it does ;P)
Without revealing any further spoilers, till next time.