"Love you too."
Three simple words from Lincoln, and they made her feel like a puddle of mush. Even with The Town burning around them and werewolves running about, Lynn felt like she just wanted to stand there by his side for the rest of the night. But duty called them both to action, so she flashed him a tender smile, then spun around and ran off to find people to help. She glanced back momentarily to watch him help the guard they had saved off the ground, and her face warmed.
Such a helpful man, my Lincoln is~
Ugh, she hated sounded so lovey and dovey, but she couldn't help it. Plus, she was just thinking it. It's not like anyone could hear her think. Her secret was safe and sound inside her-
A sharp scream came from a nearby alleyway, and Lynn pushed all thoughts of Lincoln out of her mind as she swiftly turned and ran towards it. She stomped into the alley, expecting to see a werewolf menacing someone, but all she found was a lone Luan. Her yellow dress was crumpled and dirty, but otherwise she seemed somehow unharmed.
Still, Lynn had to make sure. "Luan! You alright?" she asked.
Luan nodded. "I'm alright, but- LYNN, LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!"
She spun around in place, turning her back on Luan. That was the last thing she remembered doing before what felt like a rock smashed into the back of her head. She remembered staggering for a moment before falling face-first into the blackened mud, and closing her eyes as unconsciousness took her…
The back of her head still hurt as Luan marched her to the library by gunpoint. She thought that she had maybe suffered brain damage. After all… how was Lisa there if she wasn't hallucinating? Lisa was dead, wasn't she? Or… maybe this was the afterlife? That could make sense. There were fires and ruins all around them.
Lynn, you're thinking crazy. Stay with us, alright?
Her eyes locked with Lincoln's. Concern for her swam in his blue pupils. It was touching, but also worrying. She hoped more than anything that he wouldn't do anything stupid, especially in name of saving her. If he ended up getting hurt because she was dumb enough to get captured, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself.
It looked like he was looking at this from all angles. The crossbow was on the table, close enough for him to grab but still far enough for Luan to notice if he was trying to grab at it, at which point she'd likely shoot either him or her. He tried to consider other ways to get out of this mess, but it didn't seem like he was going to get lucky with some debris falling down and crushing his enemies, and the sunlight would prevent Lynn from just shape-shifting her way out of Luan's grasp, and both Lucy and Haiku were useless in a combat situation. Lincoln couldn't think of anything else, so he figured there was only one thing left that might work: buying himself some time by getting some answers.
"How are you still here?" he asked Lisa.
Most bad guys didn't care to talk. Most bad guys would've just shot them all and been on their way. But in this case, Lincoln was banking on Lisa's personality: she was smart, and if there's one thing he knew about smart people, it's that they loved to show it off. He knew she had a dozen genius schemes that helped shape all this, and he knew that that people like her needed their enemies to know about it, to celebrate their genius, to curse how they got the better of them.
Of course, Lisa was also smart enough to know herself. She chuckled, then said, "I know what you're trying to do. You're hoping to get me talking while you think of a way to save your associate. It's quite transparent, really. Almost insults my intellect." She sighed loudly. "If only I didn't need your cooperation in this… I wouldn't even bother. But since I do, I'll explain everything."
She cleared her throat. "I trust you've come to the correct conclusion that I'm the one responsible for the killings. Despite your simian intellect, I can imagine that seeing me now would have you putting all your clues together. And you've probably also deduced that Luan has been my co-conspirator this entire time, and was the person you chased on the rooftops that night."
"You went down a lot easier than I expected," Luan said.
"Indeed. I myself was surprised. But that's beyond the point. You likely know about everything I've said thus far, but you just don't know how or why."
Lincoln nodded. "I guess this does make some sense," he said. "Lily did tell me the killer wasn't really a vampire. Just pretending to be one. Only you'd have the intelligence and resources to pull off convincing fake vampire attacks over and over and over again."
"Lily?" spoke Haiku. "Who is Lily?"
"She's the ghost that answers questions in that old mansion."
In spite of their situation, Haiku shot an accusatory look at Lucy. You told him about the ghost, it snarled. Lucy didn't notice – in fact, she wasn't really able to focus on anything. Her vision was going a little blurry, and her body was gripped by fear and nausea. And it wasn't just because Luan was holding a gun and Lisa was back from the dead... something was wrong. She could feel it.
"So tell me," Lincoln said, turning back to Lisa, "why? Why do all this? And how did you fake your death? I saw the blood coming out from your neck."
At the word neck, Lisa winced and reached to rub the sides of her neck. It was only then that Lincoln noticed that cloth was wrapped around it.
"I had to hypnotize myself into a trance," she said, "to pretend to be dead. But to really sell the effect… I required Luan's help in cutting it my neck. Non-lethally, of course, but it still hurts."
"Why would you do that to yourself?"
"Because you were here now, and I needed to ensure you would never, for even a split second, suspect me. And how can you suspect the dead of anything?"
Feeling tense, Lincoln slowly balled his hand into a fist, then unclenched it. He felt slightly annoyed with himself; he had suspected Luan, and it turned out he was right! If only he continued on that road, she might've been able to lead him to Lisa. He tried to reason that it wasn't his fault, that there was no way he could've predicted how this would turn out, but he was still bothered nonetheless. And his frustration with how Lynn was being handled probably bled into that.
"Okay, you got me. You fooled me, you fooled Lynn, you fooled everyone. Now just answer me… why? Why kill all those people? Why did you do any of this?"
Lisa said nothing. She waited a moment, allowing all the venom in her heart to rise to her mouth. When she glared at Lincoln, preparing her answer, her eyes were blazing with hate.
"Because they deserved it. Because all of you deserve it."
Her voice was chilly enough to force Haiku, Lucy and even Luan to take a few steps back. Lincoln just barely stood his ground.
"Did my fathe- sorry, I mean... did Kotaro ever tell you about my parentage?" Lisa asked.
"Yeah. He told me," Lincoln answered. "He told me that he wasn't your real father. He told me that he took you in after your mother committed suicide-"
"Did he tell you why she did?"
Lincoln shook his head, and the young murderer bristled with rage. "Typical," she spat. She ran her hand over her messy hair, calming herself. "My story begins with my mother," said Lisa. "Her story is very famous, as a matter of fact. Perhaps you've heard the story of the young woman who disguised herself as a man to become a Hunter?"
Haiku gasped. Lucy was reading about her earlier, she thought.
Lincoln nodded. "I've heard. I'll assume she was your mother."
"She was. And perhaps you'll know that she was banished here, to The Town, as punishment for disguising herself as a man. Imagine a woman so willing to help others that she erased her identity… and she ends up punished for it. Sent here, because the Academy didn't want to waste any valuable hunters on a backwater place like this."
That was a clear insult towards him. Lincoln tried to not let it sting. He inched his hand closer to his crossbow, his eyes alternating between Lisa and Luan, hoping neither noticed. Thankfully, Luan's eyes were on Lynn, and Lisa was too wrapped up in her story.
"She became miserable, of course. Who wouldn't? The people here treated her like garbage. She ended up drinking… and I believe during one particularly intense drinking session with some men, I was conceived." She said it so drolly, like she were describing a boring day at work. One might think she didn't care that her conception was an accident... if one didn't notice her lower lip quiver.
"I-I'm sorry, I guess," Lincoln said.
"No you're not. And neither am I. From there you know the story. My mother committed suicide when she realized she couldn't take care of me and that she was a failure, the Leader felt pity for me and took me in as his daughter… I was already intelligent by this time, and already I was plotting my revenge."
"Revenge? For what?"
"For driving my mother to suicide!" Lisa snarled. She dropped her calm veneer quickly and slammed her fist into the wall. "I wanted revenge. Revenge on this horrible town, and on the hunters. For everything they did to my mother!"
With a shuddering breath, she forced herself to calm down. "It seemed hopeless at first, really. I was a lone girl, what could I do to avenge her? Sadly, nothing. I had to hide my true intentions - my true contempt - for years. And during those years, I planned. I came up with plan after plan, each dependent on wild variables. I just waited for the variables to one day match up to one of my many plans… and they did after I met Luan."
"I told you two before," Luan said, "that my family kicked me out. They threw me out on the streets and-"
"She wanted revenge just as much as I did~" Lisa sang, horribly and purposefully off-tune.
"So that's it, huh? Two girls with nothing to lose, deciding to get revenge on the people that wronged them. Tale as old as time," Lincoln muttered sarcastically. "You two decided to start killing random people and making it seem like a vampire was attacking. Then a hunter like me would come along and… what? And then what?"
"Patience, patience. We'll get to the vampires later, but right now, I'm sick of talking about fangs. Let's take about fur." She grinned evilly. "Werewolves."
"You were the one who brought the werewolf pup here, weren't you?"
"Correct. Once you and Lynn arrived, our top priority became finding a werewolf pup and bringing it here. We figured those animals would bring The Town down trying to recover it, at which point we'd capture you and enact the final phase of our plan. Which I'll reveal to you… but not until we all give Luan a round of applause for managing to capture a werewolf pup and survive. It couldn't have been easy, so everyone, please, clap for my assistant."
No one clapped.
"Clap," Lisa said thought grit teeth, "or I'll order her to shoot someone."
Luan shook her gun menacingly.
Cursing internally, Lincoln reluctantly tore his hand from its close proximity to the crossbow and slowly clapped. Lisa shot a glare in Haiku and Lucy's direction, and the two girls started clapping as well. At least, Lucy did until her stomach growled and she hunched over in pain.
"Lucy!" her older sister cried.
"Leave her!" Lisa ordered Lincoln as she saw him about to run over to her. "The librarian sluts aren't of any concern to you. All that matters is what I'm going to tell you now."
"Spit it out, then," Lincoln snarled.
"Ooh, fiesty," said Luan. "Bet it must make you really wet to see him like that, Lynn. Does it, huh? Does it make you wetter than a swimming pool?"
"Shut… up..." Lynn growled.
Lisa began pacing towards one of the bookshelves. Lincoln watched as her finger glided over a long row of multi-colored book spines. It came to a grinding halt at the end, and Lisa picked the book out. "Ah, my favorite. The Mystical World Around Us: Hypnotism, Spell-casting, and Astral Projection. I don't have a knack for spell-casting, but astral projection? Helped me out when I was faking my death." She smirked, then said, "And hypnotism… that also helped with me playing dead, and it'll help me now."
He was trying to put on a brave face, to reassure Lynn, but he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He was beginning to see where she was going with this.
"I practiced hypnotism a lot on that guard that Kotaro assigned to me," Lisa said casually. "He used to be quite the bright-eyed individual, but now he's little more than a moronic ape in a human's body. Pity. But it's worth it, now that I have you here."
"Because you want to hypnotize me, right?"
Lisa grinned again. "With deduction skills like that, Lincoln, I'm surprised you didn't crack this case sooner. But yes, that's my plan. I've already had my revenge on The Town. Many are dead, many will become werewolves, and the sky is snowing ash. But you, Lincoln… you will be the one to help me destroy the hunters that destroyed my mother."
"And just how will I do that?"
"I'll hypnotize you, then send you back to the Academy. And there… oh, I haven't even decided what I want you to do next," Lisa said with unnerving giddiness. "Will I have you kill the next generation of hunters? Will I have you attack the old blood that punished my mother? Or will I have you pile explosives under the main building to kill everyone? Ooh, actually, I'll do that one. Sounds fun!"
The psychotic genius then turned to Lynn. The vampire shivered when their eyes met. Lynn's soul may have been tainted and sullied… but Lisa didn't seem to have one at all.
"Maybe I'll hypnotize you as well," she whispered softly. It was still loud enough for everyone to hear, and it chilled Lynn to her bones. She looked back to Lincoln, pleading with her eyes for him to do something, but nearly gasped when she saw the troubled look on his face. He was supposed to be the Man with the Plan… but right now, he only had one plan, and it was a dumb one. His brazen confidence had all but plummeted as he clutched to the faint glimmer of hope his simple plan gave him.
I just have to grab the crossbow before either of them notice. Lily said it would keep us alive. She promised.
He knew it was unlikely to work out, but he had to try.
"Now that I think about it," said Lisa, "hypnotizing that Chandler fellow might not be a bad idea either. Two sleepers for the price of one. I'll need to find him after I'm done with you, Lincoln. It'll be much easier to capture him – I'll just have Luan flaunt herself sexually, and he'll be in our grasp."
Luan squirmed slightly at the prospect of doing something like that. Not just because he was a boy, but also because it would have her cheat on Luna. She was already worried for her – she had told her to stay in a safe place, but anything could've happened by now – and the idea of doing anything sexual made her more uncomfortable.
Lincoln, on the other hand, was thinking about how if only she and Lisa knew what had happened to Chandler…
"And what if I say no? What if I don't want to be hypnotized?" he asked, taking a step forward both to seem brave and to bring his hand closer to his weapon. By now, the tips of his fingers could scrape against the wooden handle. He tried to stand in front of it, to hide it with his flowing coat.
Lisa shrugged. "Then I'll have Luan shoot Lynn. Simple as that."
"And what if I say that if you kill Lynn, I'll kill myself?"
Awwww, Lynn thought. The hunter's threat might sound unhealthy to living people like us, but to the undead Lynn it sounded romantic.
Lisa didn't find it unhealthy, though – she found it amusing. The young schemer burst out laughing. She laughed so hard she nearly fell over. "Are you serious?!" she shrieked through her laughter. She laughed for a few more moments, before straightening herself and wiping her eyes.
"You never laugh like that at any of my jokes," Luan grumbled.
Her boss ignored her. "I know it won't come to that, Lincoln," she said. "You're too attached to her. It was so obvious to me that you two had feelings for each other. You won't let her die. You'll do anything to save her. Which brings me to my ultimatum: surrender and allow yourself to be brainwashed, or your precious Lynn dies."
Everything was hinging on his next words. Everyone could feel the tension in the air, like the whole world was holding its breath. Lincoln clenched and unclenched his fist repeatedly, his face going through the entire spectrum of emotions. Lynn watched with worry; if it really came down to it, she would stop him from allowing Lisa to take him. She'd die before she let her win. She'd die… before she let Lincoln die.
"Before I answer," he said, "can I give you my opinion on everything you've said?"
Lisa's eyes widened with curiosity. She leaned in expectantly, with a wide smile. "Go on."
He took a deep breath.
"I think you're a lying bitch."
Lisa's smile vanished instantly.
"I don't think you care about your mother," Lincoln continued. "I think you're just a lunatic that wants to hurt people, and your mother's death was just a good excuse for you to use. You hurt innocent people, Lisa. You killed innocent people, and destroyed families. Like Luna's family. Do you have any idea how they've suffered since you took Tabby away from them?"
He then shot an angry look at Luan. "And you… you're her girlfriend, aren't you? How could you kill one of her precious family members? Did she ever cry to you about what happened to Tabby? Did you ever comfort her, knowing that it was your fault?!"
Luan took a nervous step back. She was clearly shaken by his question – shaken enough to loosen her grip on Lynn and let her pistol falter to the side. Lynn's sharp pupil followed it. If Luan got it far enough away from her… and she moved at just the right angle… hmmm…
"So don't act like this is some kind of moral crusade," the hunter said as he turned back to Lisa. His voice was rising, furious. "I would actually prefer if a real vampire had killed all those people. At least they have an actual excuse. Even the werewolves who just attacked us had an excuse. You're worse than either of them, Lisa… you're the real monster here."
The room fell silent once again. All eyes were on Lisa, anticipating her response. The girl was frigid and solid. Only her facial features moved, twisting into an ugly grimace of pure, raw loathing. A lesser man would've fallen, but Lincoln stood strong, looking down at her with the grim look of disappointment and distaste. An unstoppable force of mutual hatred crackling between the two immovable objects, and it only served to make Lisa angrier. This wasn't going at all like she had planned. He was supposed to fall before her, desperately begging for Lynn's life, and reluctantly praising her as the genius she was. How dare he talk to her like that, and how dare he still be standing strongly like that?!
Lisa, calm yourself. You're losing control of the situation. Remember, you still have the upper hand.
"Right," she whispered to herself. "I do."
She put up her shaking hands, closed her eyes, and began to count. "One," she said aloud, and took a relaxing breath. "Two," she said, and the shaking of her hands slowed. "Three," and they stopped shaking completely. "Four," and her face went from red back to its normal pale color. "Five," she ended with another relaxing breath. She opened her eyes, and allowed herself to smirk, if only to disconcert her opponent.
"Think of me what you will," she stated, "but at the end of the day, I've still won. And as the victor, I set the terms. So what will it be, hunter? Either you die… or she does."
A hum rose from Lincoln, as if he were considering it. His right hand began to swing from side to side, in a pattern that seemed odd to Lisa. But it wasn't until he started chuckling that Lisa felt unnerved. His chuckling… it was so… knowing.
He beamed pleasantly at her, and said, "I think I'll take a third option, thanks."
That's when Lisa noticed his hand hovering right above a crossbow on the table.
"LUAN!" she screamed as Lincoln grabbed his weapon. Luan was startled by the cry, but before she could put her gun by Lynn's head and shoot, the athletic girl ducked as quickly as she could and swung around to hit Luan in the face with her elbow. Luan howled in pain, but nothing compared to the pain that came when Lincoln aimed his crossbow at her and took his shot…
The arrow dug into her hand, and she dropped her pistol.
"AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"
Luan fell to the ground, clutching her hand and screaming. Lisa watched helplessly. For the first time, she seemed… somewhat scared. She watched Luan pick up the gun again and point it at Lynn as she ran towards Lincoln. Her finger flexed on the trigger…
The poison kicked in surprisingly fast. One second she was taking aim, the next second she was on the floor, gasping for air that wouldn't come. Lisa watched in horror as Luan convulsed, then fell completely limp. The gun she held dropped on the hard ground, unused and unfired.
"No… no. NO!"
"Give it up, Lisa!" Lincoln shouted. "It's over!"
"Not yet it isn't!" she screeched. She dived for the pistol before anyone could move to apprehend her, and she aimed it in Lynn and Lincoln's general direction. Both jumped for cover as Lisa shot at them. The noise was deafening, and Lincoln fell over as his ears started ringing. The room smelled of a rotten smoke. He coughed as he rose back up, but it was too late; Lisa was already out the door.
"Dang it!" He started to chase after her until he felt a strong hand fall on his shoulder and hold him, keeping him in place. He spun to see that it was Lynn's hand. "Lynn, what now? I need to go after-"
He stopped when he saw how white her face was.
"Lisa has nothing left, we can get her later. But we need to help Lucy. Now."
"Lucy? What's wrong with her?"
As if to answer him, Lucy shrieked.
Lincoln glanced out the door, where he could still the silhouette of the fleeing Lisa. He could've easily caught up to her, but when he looked over to Lucy and Haiku, and found the younger sister on the ground, squirming and sweating and desperately clutching a panicked Haiku's hand, he made his choice. He got down on the ground besides her. "What's wrong with her?" he asked.
"I don't know," said Haiku, fear deeply embedded in her words. "She just fell over and started breathing heavil-"
"It hurts," Lucy moaned. "It hurts!"
"What hurts?" Lincoln asked, taking the girl in his arms. He took a handkerchief out from his pocket and began swiping at her sweaty face. His hand darted all over her body, going from wound to wound, like he was a doctor. He wasn't, but he had a sneaking – and horrifying – idea of what was happening.
"T-Teeth," she gasped. "And arms. It feels so warm in here… I… I…"
Guttural gurgling noises rose from her throat.
"Okay, don't talk. Don't talk. It's okay. You'll be okay." He let her rest on his lap as he glanced up at Lynn and Haiku. "Lynn, go find a doctor!" he ordered. "Haiku, get us some more water!"
Both girls nodded. They seemed just as frightened as he was. Lynn turned tail and ran faster than she ever had out of the library and into the wounded Town, calling for someone who could help. Haiku rushed away and came back with more water. He began dipping the handkerchief in it and squeezing it over her face. The coldness seemed to hurt her, but Lincoln didn't stop.
"Do you know what's wrong with my sister?!" Haiku asked.
Lincoln didn't answer. He kept his focus squarely on Lucy. He washed her face and shifted her body when she moaned with pain, all the while whispering sweet promises and pleas under his breath. "It's going to be okay. You'll be okay, Lucy. Please be okay," he chanted in his worried whispers. That was what frightened Haiku the most… the boy that had just bravely faced down a murderer was now abundantly terrified.
When Lynn finally returned with the doctor, Lincoln immediately handed her off to him. The doctor, nervous when he saw the state of the girl, took Lucy in his arms and rushed off with her, Lynn following after him. Haiku was about to follow them when she felt Lincoln grab her arm.
"Haiku… was she bitten?"
"What?"
"That werewolf I fought... did it bite her?"
She shook her head. "No, no. What does that- no, you don't think that she's… turning?"
Lincoln cursed under his breath. "Her wounds," he said, like he was talking to himself. "Maybe some of the saliva got in her wounds and-"
"LINCOLN!" She pulled back her hand and slapped him across the face. She grabbed his collar and demanded that he look at her. "What's happening to my baby sister?!" she screamed.
It took Lincoln a few seconds to decide to answer honestly.
"I don't know."
