One Year Later
He pulled into the driveway of the wonderful house he and his lovely wife had bought and settled down in. He knew the risk of living here, in the same damn town that the both of them had grown up in. Their parents, Lynn Sr. and Rita Loud, were unsuspecting of their incestuous, unholy relationship that then escalated into marriage. No, not just them, but the rest of their sisters. From Lily to Lori, no one had known of it. Not them, and not of their sweet daughter's existence. And nobody could know about this.
To him, and to Lynn, Lupa was no concern of his. Lupa, the unwanted child of an incident that should never have been. Lupa and Liby. Liby, the ultimate surprise no one saw coming. A pair of relatives in the Loud family tree that had no place in it. And, if we were to get right down to it, sweet little Lacy, who won the jackpot at birth, had also no place to exist in this fucked up world.
He did it right. He did all the right procedures to avoid this. The tabs on Lupa were kept by him and his wife for years, and it seemed like she would have never been a problem. But the poem, it somehow proved to be insurance that Lucy had gotten. Maybe she intended to reclaim the baby, or for it to know something about itself when it grew up at the right age. Lincoln didn't know what Lucy's plans were there, but one thing that was clear to him was that she totally wanted the baby in her life. And maybe it was due to Lupa's status as an abomination that made her wanted by Lucy.
Her remembered what exact events had led up to her death.
Lucy had sought out his address, hoping to come to him to renegotiate the terms of their compromise. Lucy was there to get bsck the child, but needed Lincoln's blessing as he was Lupa's father. She didn't expect to find that Lynn was there, and Lincoln, not having backbone to deny her entrance, even after her role in the rape all those years ago, had let her come in and discover what was real and what could never be.
Lynn was there, in a jogging attire, looking just as sexy as she usually would be when she went out for jogs. She was more hostile than Lincoln had been at the time, opting out to grab and lead the older goth girl out of their house. And while Lucy was screaming, calling them hypocrites and liars of the family, Lynn was shaken up throughout the ride.
That night was the night where he and his wife were completely freaking out, praying to whomever needed to send prayers to, and hoping Lucy would not go and squeal their unholy secret that would get in the way of their love. And, the funny thing about that night was that they had some rougher sex that would go on to get Lynn pregnant.
To sum it all up, Lacy was actually Lucy's fault. Lacy. Lucy. How much more creative can I be?
Lincoln knew that it would hurt her, if it didn't already, and Lynn, who had cried about Lucy being the third to know about their unholy union, still insisted on focusing on themselves. In truth, Lynn had always hated both Lucy and Luan for what they did to their brother. She wanted nothing to do with them, or even mention their names.
Every single time Lincoln unintentionally brought them up, it was due to him usually forgetting that Lynn would go in bitch mode about them. She had such hatred for them, more than anyone she'd ever had in the entirety of her young life. He was more afraid of them than he was angry, but Luan was the scarier one of the two. Lucy was just Lucy, always the creepy goth who appeared and disappeared in her moments. Luan was more of the sicker one of the two, having bizarre laughing fits and an odd desire to prank her family members, regardless if she ended up hurting them. It grew worse and worse for each year, and who knew what would have happened if she hadn't escaped while pregnant.
None of this. None of this was imaginable back then. Back to when there was a moment Lynn was in the rain, underneath a gray day, having confessed her sinful feelings to him before running out. She liked him in the way a girl developed a crush on a boy, and not as siblings. She was messed up in that way, and she killed those feelings. But it wasn't forever.
Who could have imagined? Who could have predicted that it would end up like this? Almost everything in her favor?
She blossomed and nurtured a love inside him that came to be right after his traumatization of the dual rape incident. She was there for him, but took advantage of him to plant the seeds of her refueled "love" for him. Maybe, maybe this was all a test from the start. A simple test where failing was passing. Maybe the good Lord above had set this in motion since the beginning, and her punishment was death, the ugliest punishment in all of existence. And she did die. She died, leaving behind both of her two treasures. Forever.
Lincoln blinked away, but brought himself back into focus. He turned off the engine and pulled out the keys from the ignition before boarding off his car. He got out and slammed the door shut, but stopped himself from heading inside. Where was it? Where was the second sound that followed after he shut the driver's door? Lincoln looked to the other side of the car, expecting to see Lynn. Maybe this time she would be there.
No, just like all those hopeless times he gazed there, Lynn was never there. And she'd never be there again.
Lincoln took his leave, and with deader eyes, he made his way inside the depressing home that housed one less now. "Lacy?"
He slipped out of his shoes and set them right by the staircase, taking a seat onto the couch. A tough day at work, plus additional battle with depression from the aftermath. Depression that the damn therapist could not heal with words and thoughts. It lingered on for so long, and even with Lacy around, the leftover keepsake of what he believed would be a great, everlasting relationship. A symbol of such a beautiful love. That's what she was.
"Lacy?" He raised his voice, calling out to her from his comfortable, but lonely spot. The house felt empty, sounded vacant, and he believed the little scamp was away, somewhere alone in the night. Maybe she was there again. There, at the cemetery, talking to her fallen mother like so many times she'd go there to do. And not at all having informed him in any of those times.
Lacy and Lincoln had a less-than-ideal relationship fit for a father and daughter. He was a pushover of a father to her, and would usually let her do what she pleased, as long as she was excelling in her school studies and behaved well and played clean with her other fellow classmates. God knew that Lynn had a knack for being abrasive and rough when she was around Lacy's age.
That was Lincoln's way of raising Lacy, but Lynn had a distinctly different view of doing it. She wanted a winner out of her daughter, usually urging on for her to try most sports. That's literally the reason why Lynn became a coach in the first place. Her goal was Lacy, forming a champion in her. But the hidden perk to being close to Lacy was also that; To be closer to Lacy. She loved her daughter as both her daughter and the tiny athlete she was becoming. None of this was forced onto Lacy, as she found herself to be enjoying what her mother placed on the path of her life.
The difference between the mother and the daughter was that Lacy wasn't much of a roughhousing girl like her mother. It had to be Lincoln's side that canceled out those levels of Lynn's traits, and it was admirable among both parents to know that Lacy got into little to no trouble in her years of participating in basketball, baseball, etc. Lacy, a better girl than young Lynn Loud.
Lacy, the kid Lynn was survived by. Lacy, born into a life that was paved by darkness. Darkness...
She happened to actually be in the house that late evening, only making soft footsteps while she made her way down the quiet house. "Hey, dad... How was work?"
He had his rested against the couch, slowly turning it to her direction. "Oh, the same," he replied curtly.
She made her way next to him, leaning against him. "Do you know? Do... You know what today is?"
He did, and that made this day the worst day for the rest of his life. It was the day Lynn died, exactly one year later.
Lacy was crying alone that day, being heavily comforted by Liby, who remained silent, feeling guilty of her role in the death of her aunt. Even as she was hated by Lacy's parents, her two own relatives, Liby didn't hate them as much by the end. Both of them simply forgot how much they've invested their feelings into, waking up to the reality of the world.
As for Lincoln, he couldn't keep himself off of the corpse of his dead wife, cradling her tightly while crying with red and blurry eyes, and the infinite amount of tears that flowed down from his face, dropping around the body. He begged for her to wake up, to move. Something. Some kind of reaction. Some sign that... That-
"LYNN, PLEASE!" He never let go, not even when the ambulance and patrol units had come, shut down the street, and had her body moved from the scene. He went the corpse, getting into the ambulance unit. All while Lacy, who could not bring herself to follow him due to the shame she had brought upon them both, stayed with Liby, still crying.
Liby took Lacy back to her house, deciding to stay with her until further notice. Lincoln would probably come back and kick her out. That was the harsh reality of it; Liby was simply one of two reminders that Lincoln had lived through a past horrendous experience. Liby was ready for the shouting and the dissing. She slept the night sleeping on it, anticipating he'd come back somewhere in the night and scare them away.
But it was that she didn't sleep well because of it that made it worse than him actually showing up, and it was that he didn't show up either, making her worries for nothing. Lacy didn't have a good night either. She got some nightmares, but had only once woke up sweaty and out of breath. She eluded whatever nightmare she had, and then cried when she remembered what wasn't a nightmare. She cried at three in the morning, and Liby was there to console her even more.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Lace," she whispered into her ear while snuggling her closely. Lacy more than wanted it, she needed it. She needed it. But she needed it from Lynn so much more. And that was why there was a lotta crying in this moment, too. "I wish we could change things..."
Lacy did miss Liby for the most part. The girl had eventually returned to Rennis Orphanage, and Lacy wished it didn't have to be this way. She'd often stop by and visit her, but it had worn itself out, and eventually, Lacy had stopped going over there. Stopped, an indefinite hiatus that Lacy had yet to decide.
As long... As long as Liby was safe, hidden away from the hailstorm of vile cruelty life had to offer them. As long as nothing would circle back to become a thorn on her side. Liby was the furthest away from the family tree, so she didn't need to be involved. She was better off never knowing everything, but Lisa Loud, one of their aunts, said otherwise and planned her as a pawn in the dark game. Lisa Loud, one of the many hypocrites and jerks Liby and Lacy had come to know.
Damn their family. Were they all like that? Damn them...
Lacy was in a black shorts and a gray jersey, sporting a rather tomboy-ish look that night. "I guess You do..."
He closed his eyes, wishing the night would end. "I do, Lacerbeam... I do."
Lacy placed her hands together, leaning her body close to the floor. "A year... A whole year, dad..."
He let out a sigh with the sharpest of dear agony ringing out through Lacy's ears. "Lacy, could you turn on the news or something?"
Lacy moved up, going to the tv remote right by the flat-screen set-up. "Sure, dad."
She went to a Kron News station, and sank back to the couch with the remote still in her hand. Lincoln moved his head frontward, hoping to get lost in the news. Anything to get his mind out of today's significance. Hopefully Lacy could be distracted, pushing past this horrible day. She didn't look too beat up, or dead, not the way he was. He did notice it, but wondered if maybe there was something he wasn't aware of. It could not have been Lynn's macho act of overcoming all pain obstacles like nothing. She had never exhibited that exact trait, but what if it kicked in afterwards?
Truth was, Lacy had distanced herself from him. She wasn't there much anymore, but she also didn't seem dead and broken up. No, she was more like... A zombie. A zombie who gave more of her time being in the gym, and participating more in fighting arts.
He looked to her. This was the Lacy, the very same Lacy who had taken a bat to Ronalda Santiago and beat her to death.
He rushed into the room when he heard some shouting. At first, he got the impression Lacy went into berserk mode and wrecked her own room, as there was also some thudding noises he didn't identify. Coming in, he witnessed his daughter beating something up with a bat.
Not something, but someone.
"DIE! DIE, YOU BITCH!" Lacy was repeatedly hitting Ronnie Anne, even after it was apparent that she had already died by the umpteenth strike of the bat.
He grabbed Lacy and pulled her back. "HEY, HEY, EASY THERE! WHAT THE-?"
Lincoln had so many questions, but first thing was first. He snatched the bat away from her and repelled her from the body. Lacy was now trying to kick away at the corpse before being taken away. She broke so much, but in her mind, she avenged her mother. She avenged Lynn and the case that followed afterwards came in their favor. She did it in self-defense, as Ronnie Anne had come with the clear intent to kill the little girl.
There could be no way it could get darker for them at this point, but Lacy still hoped for that to be the case. It was what she did to Ronnie Anne that had reshaped her, and made her stronger. It shoved her well past the crying and grieving phases, but had her father come to realize this? Realize that they were not in the same grouping anymore?
The news started off with a story about an escalating feud between a famous horror novelist and a famous artist, a boring story to start it off. Lacy yawned as the reporters were voicing their thoughts in it. "Lame," she shared in a dull manner.
The next few ones consisted of a fire taking the lives of two people, a murder spree involving an unnamed female suspect, and some celebrity bullshit Lacy didn't care for. The news reached the ten minute mark before detailing next about a funeral for some woman. Lacy flunches, and Lincoln gasped at it. "Oh..."
"It's boring, dad," Lacy leeched it out like an excuse, hoping it was enough for him. But it didn't matter. She changed the channel.
"It's here! It's wow! And how! Introducing the-"
She changed it again.
"Hey, kiddies! Do you like balloon animals? Well, wa-hoo! Now, you can-"
And again.
"Tell me, do you bleed? You-"
And again.
"Hey, it's that movie again!" Lincoln cried out. "Lace!"
Lacy sighed. "We've seen that so many times, dad. And it's not even that good."
"Hey, I'm sure they did their best! It might not be a masterpiece, but I enjoyed it!" Lincoln's nerd side was kicking in just as Lacy turned it back. Oh, how he loved his comic book movies. A hobby and interest that Lacy didn't really pick up on. She was a can of some comic book movies, but could never really pick up a comic and read through it. No, she tried. Fancy shmancy words that hurt her brain made it unbearable. But she was reading the DC brand, never Marvel. Either way, she didn't bother to read any. But they did have some good bonding moments while watching some of those. Lacy would ask questions, to which Lincoln would pause whatever movie they watched to answer her question. She knew he was passionate about them, and smiled when he would often answer lile this, because he was pretty silly for a father.
He was. He was silly for a father, and she was lucky to have him. And a person like this, did they really deserve to have this thrown into their life? All the more reason she felt she was guilty of helping Ronnie Anne get her revenge.
"Yeah, it was okay, but this is the hundredth time we've seen this!"
"Well, thirty-four, but who's counting, am I right?" Lincoln relaxed while he watched the movie.
I'm pretty sure it should be obvious what this comic book movie is without revealing the title.
Lacy let him be, figuring he'd get lost and distracted enough to forget what this day was. Maybe She could keep up the charade. "How about some popcorn and soda, then?"
"Oh, that would be nice!" He said with a lively tone. "Thanks, Lacerbeam."
"Sure," Lacy confirmed, raising herself from the couch slowly. She strolled to the kitchen and scavenged for Act II brand popcorn around the drawers. She opened the wrapper and unfolded the popcorn bag, setting it inside the microwave and started it up. She then went for the fridge to get two sprite bottles out. Grabbing them both, she took one to her father. "Here, popcorn will be ready soon."
"Thanks, sweetheart," he gratuitously said.
"Yeah, no problem."
The popcorn was popping away inside the microwave before the timer set off, beeping away five times to let her know the popcorn was ready. She raced back for it, while holding her sprite bottle. Taking it out of the microwave, she touched the bag by the tip, slowly taking it out. Some kernels weere still popping, so she shook it. It was somehow an impulsive reaction she'd always do with it, without an explanation. She returned to the couch and opened the bag up, letting the hot air come out. "It's ready, dad."
The two began sharing away. Lacy wasn't paying too much attention to the movie, but Lincoln was a mindless drone, already getting lost in the film. A good escape for him.
Somewhere in between, Lacy left to her room and spend the rest of the night alone. She went on her phone, wondering what to do on it. She went onto her Netflix account and began searching through shows and movies. Her father had the right idea, so maybe she should follow lead and find herself something. "Ah!"
She found a martial arts movie and chose that, when her phone died all of a sudden. She forgot to charge it. "Crap!"
Lacy grew agitated enough to drop her phone onto the carpet phone, groaning with annoyance. She was done for the night, and was just about to sleep when-
A pebble hit against her window. Lacy jumped, panicking her way towards it.
Liby was just outside, in the cold, shivering away as the wind continued to give her the sniffles. She came in a blue and brown sweater and a dark blue skirt. She wished she brought the jeans her roommate had offered, even if they did seem too long for her.
Lacy propped the window open and saw her dear cousin waving back. "L-Liby?! What are you doing here? And at this hour, too?"
"Don't be silly, Lace! You've been due for a visit, so I thought I'd bring it to you!"
Lacy placed on her shoes and began climbing down. "And at such a bad time, too!"
Liby hugged her the second she touched the grass. Lacy had no other choice than to hug back, but then pushed her away. "Agh, why now?"
"What? It's easy to escape at night. Because Lupa... Was the first, a whole lotta kids, they've been...-"
"You mean Lupa had some effect on those other orphans?" Lacy threw her fists into the air. "I guess Lupa had an eulogy after all!"
"Over half of the guys go in and out, and still do it even after being caught. It's quite the mess I wasn't expecting to come back to, but... I wanted to honor her, so I followed the trend and came here, but a little late."
"Is little Liby going bad?" Lacy teased. "How adorable."
"I don't think this even qualifies. And for the record, I'm still clean, and not like-" She remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot!"
Lacy was met with a folded up paper from Liby's hand. She accepted it and unfolded the paper with an eyebrow raised. "And what's this?"
"This is why it this all started in the first place, Lace," Liby revealed. "It's the poem I told you about."
"Y-you're kidding!" Needless to say, she saw for herself that Liby was right. This was the very same poem that Lupa had received on her thirteenth birthday. Lacy stared at each and every line, having her heartbeat bounce to greater levels the longer she looked. "So, this is the thing that- That-"
Liby exhaled, looking away. "I didn't bring this to hurt you, Lace. I thought that... We should-" The fact that this was property of Lupa Loud made it harder for her to be out with it. "R-rip it."
Lacy looked up at Liby with a fused look of shock and awe on it. "You... Want us to rip it together?"
The significance of the poem was clear to Liby. It was the thing that helped Lupa to her death, having done so by giving her false hope. A false reality she wanted to be a part of. Change. "This thing, it got her killed, did it not? This and Lisa."
Lacy wondered if Liby knew what happened to their cruel aunt. "Speaking of her-"
"I know... I know that Roxanne woman killed her..." Liby dropped.
Lacy looked down. "Of course you do..." She made a weak smile, but her eyes had turned red as she sniffed. "So many people at fault, Liby. Not just this piece of paper."
Liby nodded. "But... Not them, Lacy. Not your parents. Not like who we believed to be responsible for this."
"L-Liby?" Tears fell down, and Lacy dropped her head in sadness. "I miss her so much... And I'm- I'm scared that- That she won't ever forgive me-"
Liby slapped her for that particular bullshit. "You stop that!"
Lacy gasped, but didn't have a good mind to counter it. And then she was hugged tightly by her taller cousin. "O-oh-"
"Don't think like that, okay? She loved you, and I saw it for myself, so she can't be mad! She has no right to be mad even in death! It's okay..."
Lacy softened up, and wailed hard into Liby's sweater.
"It's okay, Lace, it's gonna be fine." Liby had that voice that made her sound heavenly, like the calm relaxation of a mother's soothing voice. And Lacy was damn comfortable and safe in the arms of the honey-sweet, innocent Liby Loud. There was nothing more she could wish than to release and dissipate the Lacy that had closed herself off from her father. "I promise."
Lacy's nose was dripping snot heavily, and into Liby's sweater, but neither of them cared, or said anything about it.
The cold wind picked up to a higher breeze. It knocked the poem away from Lacy's grasp, sending it flying away from them. "Ahh! Oh, no!"
"What-?" Liby turned around when Lacy tried to make a snatch for it behind her. "The poem!"
But when Lacy decided to run after it, Liby stopped her by grabbing her shoulder. "Easy, champ."
"But we have to-!"
Liby smiled to the heart-eyed athlete, proposing another idea. "It's funny, isn't it? It's like life iz telling us to let it go, Lacy."
Lacy took it to account, eyeing Liby and the poem back and forth.
"Are you going to keep running after it? Or will you let go of it, Lacy?" And Liby wasn't just talking about the poem.
Lacy looked down, forming her hands into tight fists. "I... I-"
"If it were me, I'd let go, Lace. I'd let go."
Lacy clenched her fists tighter.
"And so should you."
She then released them after letting out a demonic groan. "I hate it! I hate it so much, but..." She exhaled sharply.
"I can understand why, but you'll only be letting it consume you. Don't lose the parts that make you you." Liby bumped her cousin's shoulder, something that she owed Lacy way back when.
"Way to take advantage of me!" Lacy laughed through her broken voice. Liby did have a point when she put it like that, and Lacy merely nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I mean... Ugh."
"Come on, Lacy, give me more than that! Give me a winner's agreement!"
"You sound like a therapist or something-"
"Lace," she warned. "Do it for her..."
Lacy stood totally still, taking Liby's truthful words into account. No, no doubt about it. Liby was right, and Lacy knew it. Lacy knew it for she was in a bad pit of darkness. She needed to get out, to remind herself who she was before. To go back to that life. Her better life before the fall. Happy days. Happy nights. And in the name of her mother. Her dear, sweet mother...
She yelped. "For her...?"
The atmosphere only grew colder. The poem had to be long gone by then, gone into the night. Meanwhile, the two girls of different homes shivered more as they stood out, exposed into the cold. "It's getting cold..."
"And it's night, Liby. Was it a good idea to come here at this time of night?"
"I wanted to see you-"
"And today, out of all times? Really, Liby?"
"Huh? Why, what's-?" Liby then put two and two together. "Oh, that's today?!"
"Hey, keep it down, my father-"
"What about me?" Lincoln had come out of the back door and saw both of his daughters standing in the dark. "Oh."
"D-dad, I c-can explain-" Lacy grew scared of him going to Liby to kick her the fuck out. She gave up, seeing it pointless to try and hide it. "Dad-"
"It was Liby, right?" He asked his older daughter.
Liby was surprised. "Uh, yeah, mister Loud"' she answered him with nervousness, unable to move. "I'm sorry, I should be going-"
"Lacy..."
Lacy twitched. Here it came. The scolding and anger that was about to come out and erupt like a volcano. She mentally prepared for did, as did Liby. "Dad-"
"Why don't you both come inside, and I'll make some hot cocoa?" There was a goofy smile on his face, but a smile nonetheless. The dislike against Liby had gone away, died sometime long ago. He never got a chance to know her, so on his part, in those before times, he was unfair to treat her how he, and Lynn, have. He didn't like her at the start of the many problems that arose out of nowhere, and especially due to what she was to him, but Lacy... Sweet daughter Lacy was the one who reshaped his opinion of her.
Liby was a pure sweetheart, but she, like Lacy, weren't the smartest, mature pair of girls on the block. Lacy had described Liby to not just be a relative, but also a truly close friend she knew she could count on, and vice versa. It made him happy to hear it, and gradually, he felt ashamed for what and how he'd treated not just Liby, but Lupa. The girl who ended up taking her own life far from her home.
Right here, right now, while it wasn't too late, even after a year, he decided to turn the tide.
The girls were seated quietly at the table, while Lincoln was already making some hot cocoa at the stove. "So... Liby, what do you like?"
Liby gasped, hesitant to answer. "Um, well, I like pranks and making people laugh, but I also like to read some mystery books, sometimes novels."
"Is that so?" A few of those qualities belonged to Luan. Liby really looked like her, more or less. "I can see that."
"I found the channel she had. That's how I pieced it together, but..." Lincoln sat at the table across from them as she continued. "You, you're..."
It hadn't been acknowledged yet, but Liby had a feeling it was like this. She had a feeling that, even when no one had really said anything to directly imply it, it turned out that he was her father. And for that matter, he was. Without a doubt, Lincoln Loud had three daughters in existence. And one was forever gone.
Liby kicked herself back and got up, moving quickly around the table to come face-to-face with him. And Lacy was assuming she was going to attack him. "Libster-"
But Liby wasn't going for pain and gain. Instead, she held out a hand firmly for Lincoln to shake. "Hi, d-dad," she stuttered about. "It's n-nice to officially meet you."
Lincoln took her hand, shaking gently. "Likewise, Liby. Likewise."
And the rest of the night began to warm-up for not just Lincoln and Lacy, but for also Liby. Yes, for the trio of the same family tree. Lincoln got to learn about his other daughter, no longer seeing her as the curse of his life. She wasn't like that, she was a human, just like him. A girl with no flaws or disabilities at all. She was a perfect, natural-born girl who wanted to be a part of the family. And while Lincoln was granting her this wholehearted wish, Liby was just as grateful to have her father accept her into his life.
She smiled, she cried tears of joy, and all was well. Lacy was damn so proud of her father and almosy teared up.
They went through a couple of games after they had an hour long three-way conversation about things, and Liby had to quickly learn some of them. She had never played Monopoly, Sorry!, or the other games Lincoln had kept even after Lacy had grown out of them.
But she didn't, and even Liby was having tons of fun as they played along. They were all so happy that they had bypassed what this day meant. They forgot about how awful this day had changed their lives. And you know why? Because they were content once more, finding nothing but comfort with each other's company. And somewhere, just somewhere up in the heavens, Lynn Loud would be smiling away at them, happy that her husband and her daughter would be fine without her. Wouldn't you agree?
As for the poem, it remained flying all across the night skies of the empty, sleeping town of Royal Woods. And it passed over many buildings, not stopping for hours. Not until the dawn of a new day had come, and the winds died down by then. The breeze made the poem stop floating around the cemetery. The cemetery where Lucy Loud was buried, to be exact. The poem landed on her grave, almost like the ghost of Lucy was calling out to it, bringing it at her final resting place. And it remained put, to be forever laying here, never to bother anyone else again.
And maybe, that's what it should have been from the beginning. The calm after the storm had arrived. And all would be well again.
Lincoln, Lacy and Liby would never let the scars hurt again.
AN: Happy anniversary to the stunning conclusion of when I ended this fix originally! This, a chapter where I wanted to project feels into, serves as the "One Year Later" visit back into this world. Yeah, I did this to try and fill in a missing gap from Lincoln's view, and I think I did that okay this time, and secondly, it was a request. And I thought, why not?
I hope I did good with the feels just as I've done before. Oh, okay yeah, hmmm... Part three? Oh, my God, I have to stop. Mmmmf.
Survival of the Sinner, built on borrowed structures and elements of a short story I created in my mind, known as "The House on Chalk Street." Now, if by chance, way later in the future, should you come across a book by that name, it's fucking me behind that. Huehue. Pipe dreams haha.
Well, Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! See you reader-Os in the six-parter Year Unknown!