Singled Out is drawing to a close. At this point, I'd say chapter 25 will be the last chapter unless there is an epilogue later on. I still have lots of good stuff in store, so stick around! By the way, this story is now three months old. It's hard to believe I've been writing this for that long… whoa.
This chapter will take a deeper look at Lola. And, boy, she's not in a good place right now.
Lola stood on the edge of the dock, alone. It was the mid-afternoon, now, and there was still no sign of Lori.
She sighed. Having her eldest sister suddenly go missing was not part of her plan. Of course, Lori of all people didn't mean much to the war. She was the only Loud child that could drive, sure, but right now, the entire family was in the woods, rendering driving useless. The forest was just too thick.
The pageant princess heard light footsteps on the wood of the dock approaching behind her. She turned around, and saw Lisa approaching her.
"Feeling bad about Lori, huh?", asked the junior scientist, now next to her older sister.
Lola was silent.
"I'm guessing that's a yes?".
Lola shook her head. She wore a somber expression. "No… Lisa... I don't feel bad for Lori".
This wasn't the answer that Lisa expected. "Oh", she said. "Why is that?".
There was a brief pause before Lola answered. "I… I don't know, Lisa. I don't feel anything anymore. I know that my oldest sister is out there somewhere, and can be in danger, but… I don't feel worried for her. I don't know why, either… and that's the scary part".
Lisa nodded. "Oh… I see. Well, that's good".
Lola turned to look at the 4-year-old. "What? How's that good?".
Lisa shrugged. "I just assumed you thought it was a good thing. I mean, I think it's good. Compassion is a human weakness, no? I abandoned it a while ago. I'm a woman of science, after all. I won't let my emotions cloud my judgment".
"It's not just 'emotions clouding my judgment', Lisa! My older sister, who I grew up with my entire life, is missing! Yet, I can't find it in me to feel any sliver of worry! It's like I'm a robot!". Lola picked up a pebble from the dock and threw it with all of her might into the water. She then allowed herself to fall onto her knees. She grabbed her legs. "Lisa…", she said, looking at the scientist. "Am I… evil?".
Lisa scoffed. "Worse, you're smart. At least, you're getting smarter. Lola Loud, when you put a microphone on your tiara to eavesdrop on our sibling secret sharing meeting, I was honestly impressed. You were able to turn the entire family into little more than your slaves. You made us bend the knee, and we were powerless to stop you. You held us in the palm of your hand. Sure, I was annoyed that I had to do your homework for you every night, but I knew that it was only fair. I was outsmarted. Me! Outsmarted. Imagine that". Lisa sat down on the dock as well, and scooted closer to Lola. "But, then, we found dirt on you. We were able to end your reign of terror over us". Lisa smiled, remembering her day of liberation from servitude to Lola. "Then, you did the last thing I'd expect from Lola Loud of all people. You took the fall for everything bad. Lori scratching the van, Lincoln breaking dad's disco ball, me burning Mom and Dad's bedspread— everything!". Lisa shook her head. "One thing that even I couldn't figure out even until this day; why did you do it?".
Lola, who had been attentively listening to Lisa's monologue, shook her head. "Isn't it obvious, Lisa? I saw that I made a mistake, and I knew I needed to make it up to you guys. Taking the fall for all of you was honestly the best thing to do after all the crap I put you through".
Lisa snickered. "I don't know anybody but you that can go from heartlessly enslaving their siblings to taking the fall for them. Calm down, Lola. You can feel empathy, otherwise you wouldn't have lied about doing all of those bad things… right?".
Lola slammed her first on the dock in anger. This was unexpected, and startled Lisa. "I didn't do it for you guys! I did it for myself. I wanted to join your secret club, and after turning you into slaves, I knew the only way to do it was by doing that would be to take the blame for the worst things you've done. And, I was right! You guys finally trusted me enough to let me go to your meetings, and all it cost was a month of being grounded".
Lisa, who had since calmed down from Lola's sudden outburst, adjusted her glasses. "How do I put this lightly... you're somebody that society would call a sociopath. Even though you may hide it at times, you hold no regard for any individual other than yourself. Not your friends, not your family— you care only about yourself".
Lola looked at the water, sparking oh so beautifully below her feet. "I was afraid you'd say something like that…".
"Oh, no", said Lisa. "Don't fear it. Embrace it. Learn to hide it, if that's what you want". The child prodigy chuckled. "You know, I'm even a bit jealous of you. Even I have empathy, believe it or not. I'd be able to get much farther with my work if I just allowed myself to kill test animals. But, I can just never bring myself to do it".
Sociopath, thought Lola. That word was something she definitely didn't want to be associated with herself, no matter how jealous Lisa was. Her sister was probably just overreacting… right?
"Is… is there a cure?", asked the pageant princess.
"I'd be lying if I said there was. Fact of the matter is, this is something you're going have to live with. Try hiding it, try masking it if you want, but it won't go away. Contrary to what the family might think, I can't just whip up a potion to make everyone's problems go away".
"There has to be a cure", Lola said matter of factly.
Lisa sighed. "Don't be an idiot. You're smarter than that, Lola. We both know you're just saying what you want to hear. You know better". The scientist stood up, and started to walk away. "It's not as bad as you might think, Lola. After all, your condition has allowed you to carry on this war thus far, right? We're almost done here, anyway".
When Lisa was gone, Lola laughed. She didn't know why exactly, but the continued to laugh loudly to herself until her laughing turned into loud screaming and her screaming turned into quiet sobbing.
Bobby struggled to keep up with his little sister as she pulled his arm down the hallway of the hacienda.
"Ronnie Anne, where are you taking me?!".
Ronalda hushed her older brother. "Shhh. Be patient". The 11-year-old wanted to tell Bobby where she was taking him, but she just couldn't. After all, the walls in this house had ears. Maids and servants worked diligently around them, and all of them were most likely drones. If they could tell that anything was off, they'd report to their patrón, Mr. Santiago. Who knows what could happen if that evil man found out that his family knew his secret?
The two siblings came to an empty hallway, deep within the west wing of the house. There was no telling when a servant, no, a drone could come by, so Ronalda made sure to get to the point quickly.
"Bobby, you may have a hard time believing me, but hear me out! Most of the servants in this house, maybe all of them— they're drones! People with microchips attached to their brain. They're no more than slaves!".
To this, Bobby could only chuckle. He knew his little sister had an active imagination, and this was a prime example. He ruffled Ronnie Anne's hair.
"That's a pretty funny prank and everything, but I need to get back to work. Dad is teaching me how to defraud investors, and—"
Ronnie Anne grabbed Bobby by the shoulders, and shook him back and forth. "This is serious, Bobby! I know it may be hard to believe, but you need to trust me here! Think! Did you notice any of the workers around here acting… suspicious? Unnatural?".
Bobby thought back to earlier that morning. He remembered a servant spilling boiling water on her feet, but not reacting in the slightest. Things started to click. It came slow at first, but eventually, the dark reality dawned upon him that Ronnie Anne wasn't just joking.
Bobby gasped. "Oh… no… what do we do?!".
Ronnie Anne sighed. "It's not safe here. Our father is twisted, and there's no telling what he can do to us. In fact, he may even be the reason we got thrown out of Michigan. We were perfectly legal there after all, right? I have a bad feeling about this house, and Mom does too. We need to leave. As soon as possible".
Bobby nodded in agreement. "Good idea, but how are we going to get out of here? We're being watched like hawks! Where will we even run off to?".
"I have a plan, Bobby. Listen up".
Lola Loud sat on a fallen tree log decently deep within the woods. She awaited the arrival of a certain sibling of hers. She had talked with them in private, and convinced the individual to meet her in the woods for a brief, private conversation regarding the war.
Before long, Lola saw none other than Lincoln Loud approaching her. She drummed her fingers on the log, impatient.
"Let's make this quick," Lincoln said, now standing in front of the 6-year-old.
"Good idea", responded the pageant powerhouse. "I'll cut to the chase— you want this war over. I want to win this war. We can help each other out here, right? Surrender now, and I'll be generous with our terms".
Lincoln sighed. "I knew this meeting would be a waste of time". He looked up to the sky. "Lola, team resistance is actually making progress. You're outnumbered, and everybody knows that this stupid war is winding down. If anyone should be begging for generous terms, it's you".
Lola chuckled. "Lincoln, I don't know how you don't know this by now, but I get what I want. You have more people, sure, but I'm Lola Loud! Do you think I'm going to lose?".
"Yes".
"Well, then you're sadly mistaken".
There was a pause. An uneasy tension hung in the air.
Lincoln turned around. "Well, I'll be on my way. Honestly, I don't know why I came. I knew this was going to be a waste of time. You're getting desperate, Lola… at least try not to make it obvious". Lincoln waved his hand, and started to head back to his camp.
"Lincoln… why did you hit me?".
The white haired boy stopped in his tracks. That definitely came out of nowhere. He turned around.
"Why did you hit me?", repeated Lola. "Remember that one time when I came in your room? Why did you try to hit me?".
"Lola… I really don't like trying to hurt you, even when you act like a brat. But, that day, you came into my room just to torment me when I was already feeling bad. I guess I'm sorry, but you were really asking for it. I mean, you even had a pan under your shirt, so you were obviously trying to push my buttons on purpose". He shook his head in shame. "Still… if you honestly feel bad about it… I'm sorry".
"There was a reason I did that, Lincoln Loud. I wanted to test you. To see if anger could blind your judgment. And, clearly, it did. You're weak. You're no leader. Why do you think you could stop me?".
"Because I'm not a sociopath", Lincoln responded quickly.
Lola's eyes widened. This was definitely not what she expected to happen. "What… what makes you say that?", she stammered.
"You're little conversation with Lisa that you had on the dock this morning. Honestly, it makes a lot of sense. You're sick, Lola…"
The pageant princess shot up from the log. "Who told you?!", she cried.
"Well, let's see", said Lincoln. "I have microphones placed all around the woods, I have cameras on every fish in the lake, and, oh, yeah. Lisa is my sister! She tells me things!".
"She told you?!".
"Yes! Lola, you're a sociopath. That's… that's not good". Lincoln brought himself to the ground, defeated. He sat down on the dirt, and played with a leaf in his hands.
Lola approached her brother. "Is… is there any hope for me? Lisa said there wasn't a cure". She sniffled.
"No… No. There's no cure". Lincoln looked at his sister. She was now in front of him. "And, it's pretty bad if you're able to tell when you're only six years old. But… I don't think there's completely no hope for you. I never said that".
"What do I do?".
Lincoln smiled. "Even if there's no cure… I think you can get better. I'll help you with this, Lola".
Lola sniffled again. "...Really?".
"Of course! You're my sister, even if you do stupid things sometimes like declare wars on brothers". Lincoln chuckled. "It's not the end of the world. You just need help".
Lola smiled. "Wow… thanks, Lincoln!".
She opened her arms, and in response, Lincoln did the same. The two hugged under the roofed forest. Lola, from the bottom of her heart, honestly wanted to get better.
Could she?