XVI.
BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS
The headache was growing and along with it the nausea as well. The memories where a bit hazy, but she could recall breaking a beer bottle over some moron's head. After that...the party turned into a brawl for all. She would apologise for ruining the fun for everybody, but at the moment she just wanted to lay on her bed and knock herself out.
The car came to a halt and looking out the window she saw her home sweet home in clear view.
Toby, Terry and her managed to get away and drive away. She really felt like throwing up any second now. Damn it, she really needed a aspiring immediately.
"Well here's your stop." Toby sat behind the wheel as Terry laid sprawled out on the backseat, "You sure you can walk?"
"I'm fine..." Lyra stepped out of the car.
"It was nice meeting you, Lyra. Also... don't lose hope, life does get better." With that Toby drove away, leaving Lyra standing alone with the moonlight outside her house.
"That's sweet...but not for me though." Lyra told herself as she attempted to walk a straight line to the front door.
Before even reaching the door knob, her stomach chose this time to expell all the liquor it had stored up inside. Reaching the porch rail, she puked her guts out. Once over she wiped her mouth with one sleeve and the small tears with the other. Only fuck she felt extremely exhausted now. Grabbing the door knob she stumbled her way into the silent house.
Seeing the stairs made her groan with anguish, had they always been that tall before or did she shrink somehow? Her mind was already playing tricks on her. She lifted one foot up the stairs, but was already wobbling and loosing her balance.
"Lyra where have you been?"
Lincoln stood up from the couch in the living room which was lighted up by the television's screen. How did she manage to miss that?
"Sup... dad." Lyra responded, not knowing how to hide her inebriated state.
"Do you have any idea what time it is? I called you about six times, why didn't you pick up?"
Lincoln through all his faults was still a father at heart. Lyra's intense downward spiral had become his newest obsession, one that he needed to repair before it got out of hand. Seeing her now waltzing into their home this late at night with no clear understanding of her surroundings and apparent loss of bodily functions gave him a haunting image that he was too well familiar with. Getting closer he could see it in her face, despite the lack of light, the exact spitting image of her chaotic mother.
"Lyra...have...have you been... drinking?" He couldn't believe his own words as they left his mouth, but he needed to know.
"... maybe?" She coyly answered.
Those words struck a nerve and rightfully so. He grabbed her from the shoulders and roughly shook her back and forth as his emotions took over.
"Are you fucking kidding me right now?! Lyra are you fucking with me? What the hell is happening to you? I know you're in pain, but please stop trying to turn into your mother!" Lincoln exasperated.
"Don't compare me to that fucking slut!"
Lyra managed to get loose and violently shoved him away, furious at being mentioned in the same sentence as her mother. She almost collapsed to the floor, but Linc was quick to catch her. She could barely stand on her own two feet as Lincoln held her steady.
"Lyra..."
"I'm better than that runaway bitch!"
"Lyra."
"She never gave a single fuck about Lemy and I!"
"Lyra stop."
"I hope that bitch puts a bullet in her fucking-"
"LYRA THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Despite her drunken stupor and aggressive ranting she immediately shrunk down to her father's words. She may be seventeen years of age and an independent woman by all means, but the man before her was still her father. Lyra was reduced to a scared child in his presence. Lincoln let go of her to which she retreated a few steps away from him, leaning to the stairs' porch for support. The fear in her eyes was noticable as he calmed his nerves down to avoid any unnecessary action.
"... Luna did a horrible thing running away from her family; from you, Lemy and I. I hated her for the longest time. I... allowed that hatred to ruin my relationship with your brother, my only son. You have every right to resent her, but despite all that she's still your mother. I don't ever want to hear you speak ill about her in such despicable way again. Understand?" Lincoln sternly scolded his daughter.
Lyra stood meekly not meeting her father's eyes. She tried her best to not quiver, but again her emotions betrayed her facade.
"I hate her." Lyra spoke through tears, "Even if I don't say it out loud, you better believe I'm constantly thinking about all the fucked up things that I want her to suffer through."
Lincoln stood quiet listening to her, this was the alcohol speaking. He was sure of it, he'd seen the same act far too many times with Luna, but never before in such a vile and psychotic manner like Lyra was currently demonstrating. He kept a poker face, but inside he was deeply troubled for her.
"Lyra...what about God?" He simply asked.
Lyra gave him an icy stare, "What about him?"
He was left speechless. She had lost her faith, the one thing that made her pure and noble. He didn't know whether to cry or beg her to reconsider her grave decision. But in the end he said nothing, he didn't have the courage to stand up to such imposing declaration. He had no idea how to deal with a religious person despite her daughter being one and now he felt even more hopeless seeing the same person fall from the grace of God.
"Just...go to your room...It's late already. You can take a shower in the morning." Lincoln motioned her up the stairs.
"Sure thing, Lincoln." Lyra gave him a mocking face while holding up a hand in her forehead in the shape of the letter L and it clearly had a double meaning behind.
She climbed up the stairs although with a bit of trouble, luckily she hanged on to the railing of the staircase. Upon hearing her slam the door he collapsed back to the couch. This unfortunate encounter was too much for him. His daughter was truly lost to the hate and he hadn't the slightest clue on how to help her more than he already could. She lost herself to the world and was embracing a culture that her mother cherished. With no other options he resorted to one last play, one that he had never called before. Getting on his knees and clasping his hands together he closed his eyes.
"Please Lord, I have sinned carelessly for many years, I have failed as a father. I beg you, save my daughter from herself. Forget about me, save her."
He remained kneeled for the longest time, just him and God alone together for the first time.
The following day, Lyra woke up with the mother of all hangovers.
The outcome was that of a combined mixture of headaches, dizziness and the overall sensation of feeling like absolute dog shit. Saliva dripping from her mouth, messed up hair and bloodshot eyes to add gave her the appearance of a glorious alcoholic with severe mommy issues. She fell flat on the floor, her balance still foreign to her body. She would not be drinking this hard for a long time, that much was guaranteed. Oh no, she wasn't going to quit the drink after having gained a taste for it. It wasn't the poison the church made it out to be, it had a raw taste, but in the end it sure helps nurse a broken heart even if temporarily at least.
Getting to her feet, Lyra scanned the room for anything useful. Her digital clock read 12:57 pm exact, the alcohol had truly knocked her out hard the night before. As she took off her clothes she tried to remember today's date. Was it Tuesday or Saturday? Everything was a massive blur in her mind, one thing was certain, she remembered arguing with her dad last night. Crap, now she was definitely grounded, good thing almost everybody was out of town and had not witness that ugly confrontation.
Enough thinking for the moment, she needed to take a cold shower and wash away the hangover that she ended up creating for herself.
After the cold shower she felt just a slight rejuvenated. Grabbing her clothes she got dressed up for the day granted she didn't have much to do nowadays. Actually she wanted to stop by over at Liby's with Aunt Luan for a few, there was something she wanted to speak about with her cousin.
Lincoln and Loan sat in the dining table together. He drank his coffee while she kept to her energy drink. Both had been discussing Lyra's sudden radical change as well as reminiscing on the many memories of Lemy. It was a hard topic still, you don't just get over something this traumatic that easily. When tragedy strikes, it changes you, it transforms you into something hollow and dark.
"I want her to take therapy, both of them need it. I'm scared of loosing them to themselves." Lincoln couldn't stress enough to his eldest child.
"They b-both really loved h-him." Loan whispered, "That pain i-is never going a-a-away. I...miss him too."
The looming cloud of misery had permanently remained station above this family. He was just one man, he lacked the strength to fight off these dark spirits that haunted them all. But last night he felt at ease, even if he couldn't hear or see him, he sensed a brief moment of relief as he let pleaded for help. Perhaps he should seek more answers, perhaps...
"So...mom c-called a-again." Loan said.
"Oh?" Lincoln knew what she was referring too, "and what do you think?"
Loan went deep in thought regarding the offer. She had never spend any actual time around her mother and when she did flew over to Michigan, the interactions were far from normal, more like estranged, but not as estranged as Lyra and Aunt Luna's were; that was a whole tainted mess on it's own. She rarely left her room even less the house, what would she even do in New York? It all felt too much and abrupt, but...she wondered, just wondered if it was not too late.
"Well..."
Before getting the chance to finish her sentence Lyra came downstairs and walked to the kitchen. Ignoring them she grabbed the juice box from the fridge and sat down opposite of them. Humming a tune to herself, she carried on as if everything was normal or better yet they weren't even there. She did not want to deal with her father this early in the morning, yet blatantly ignoring him wasn't really helping. At this point she was full on aggressively rebellious with a massive chip on her shoulder; this was her coping mechanism and Lincoln was taking notice of it.
"G-good afternoon L-Lyra." Loan spoke up first.
"Yeah." was Lyra's only reply back as she poured her drink.
Lincoln did not want to go through the same debacle again as last night, instead he chose to play it safe, "How you feeling right now?"
"...like shit."
Right, her new excessive use of foul language was an alarming issue that he would had never expected from her in his and her's lifetime. She was deeply lost and regressing to an individual of cynicism and anger. He now truly missed her morning sermons, her daily Bible studies and the mere fact that she always found a time and place to help others, he misses that specific daughter.
"Well then in that case its best you stay home and mend it off."
"I'm going somewhere."
"Actually no you are not."
Lyra looked at him with defiance, was he grounding her? He was doing the right thing, but she no longer cared about doing the right thing. She was done pretending, being righteous had proven to be a waste of her life, only when she tossed it aside to be with Lemy everything in the universe finally made sense. She wasn't going to stand around and take this punishment, despite knowing full well she deserved it.
"Um, what? I'm going out, got things to do." Lyra fired back.
"Not after the stunt you pulled last night your are not." Lincoln remained firm.
Loan simply drank her energy drink quietly and quickly as the other two stared daggers at each other. The sooner she was back in the safety of her room and with a controller in hands the better she would forget all of this. Tensions have been high since Lemy's death, she personally cried her heart out for him and ever since she's solely focused on video games more than usual to let out her suppressed emotions and depression. What Lyra is going through was getting far out of control and even a socially recluse like herself could see it going down hill real fast.
"So I drank a little, I needed to let off some fucking steam you know?" Lyra spat back.
"This is not you! All of this is...wrong." Lincoln retorted, he was stressfully concerned as it was, "You showed up late and drunk, spewing out words that I could have never imagined. You're grounded for the rest of the day. End of discussion."
Lyra groaned in protest and abruptly got up from the table and loudly stomped her way up the stairs. The door was shut her loudly as it could be heard from all the way into the kitchen. Both Lincoln and Loan cringed at the aggravating display from Lyra.
"What am I going to do with her?" Lincoln grabbed his hair in frustration.
"...I... don't know." Loan said back.
"Uh, dad?"
"Yeah?"
Loan gingerly played with her now empty can as she bit her lower lip, "About mom..."
At the same time upstairs.
Lyra wondered just how in the actual hell Lupa and Lacy made it look so easy and flawlessly when it came to climbing a tree up and down. Here she stood outside her window on the second floor grabbing the branch on for dear life. She was going out no matter what her father says, being cooped up in this house was no longer a pleasant choice she wanted anymore. Who knows how Loan does it because Lyra was already sick of locking herself up with only misery and self pity as her only companions.
She had no idea how to climb down this damn tree.
It must've taken her at least 10 minutes to reach the half way point and by then there was no more branches to climb down from. Not wanting to wait around and get caught she hurried up her pace, steadily she attempted to slide down as she hugged to tree's trunk. Of course the moment she attempted it, she fell all the way down. With a yelp she hit the grassy ground on her back with a loud thud added.
"ohhh... ouch!" Lyra groaned as she slowly stood back up.
Lincoln would need to be heading out somewhere eventually, she would just wait for the car to leave and off she goes. Or she just walks off right now to Aunt Luna and Liby's place. She needed answers and only her sister could help obtain them all.
This was going to be a very long walk since their house was at least twelve blocks to the east side of town. Either way she was glad to be wearing her jacket on, it was a cloudy day with a slight breeze. Her hair would occasionally block her view as the she walked against the direction of the wind. It was annoying at times, but she would never cut her hair, she looked great with it and the whole family loved it. Maybe she should've worn a cap for now.
As she crossed streets, her mind lingered to other issues.
She'd completely given up. Her resolve to God had utterly disappeared. Anytime she thought about her sinful actions she brushed them aside with apathy. Her actions were wrong, her words were wrong, her sudden hateful rejection of the Lord due to her own personal loss was absolutely wrong, yet here she was having fully accepted her new path.
There was a voice deep within her echoing the words of repentance, screaming them out to her to acknowledge. Furiously she blocked out the words, for she no longer gave a single damn about forgiveness.
Forgiveness for herself and forgiveness to those who had greatly harmed her heart.
The police had done a terrible job at hunting those murderers down. Her patience had run thin she decided to see for herself if there was anything at all she could do to speed up the ongoing investigation.
Finally arriving at the house she knocked on the door, hoping somebody was around to answer.
A few more knocks later and the door was unlocked. Luan was surprised to see her niece standing outside her door. Not seeing a car in the driveway she figured Lyra had walked all the way here.
"Lyra? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah... I just wanted to get some fresh air. Don't want to be locked up all day you know." Lyra hoped Luan wouldn't call her dad, which she most likely would anyhow.
"Well come in, don't know why I'm keeping you standing out here."
Luan's house was a single floor with two bedrooms and not enough comedic paintings to shower the walls. Contrary to her uber comedic side the living room had the simple appearance of an ordinary household. Her bedroom on the other hand was where all her insane toys and equipment for her stand ups or birthday parties were safely kept from the reach of others. Every other room in the house was vastly normal, well Liby's was a whole other mess.
"Are you hungry or thirsty? I have leftovers in the fridge if you want some?" Luan tried her best to help Lyra feel at ease, it shouldn't be this awkward amongst family, but many things had changed for the worst recently.
"No, I'm fine thanks." Lyra added as she looked down the hall, "Is liby around by any a chance?"
"She's in her room. Been there all day in fact. Let me call her over." Luan headed towards her room.
"No it's okay. I came to see her actually."
At her sister's room, Lyra wondered whether to knock or enter first. It wasn't like Liby had anything illegal or indecent for that matter to hide from everybody, still she wanted to respect her privacy. After a couple of knocks the door was slightly opened as the younger girl peered out. Seeing who it was she swinged the door wide open in surprise and before Lyra had a chance to speak Liby jumped her with a strong hug. Confused at first, the older teen quickly understood and quietly hugged her back as well. She never got the chance to interact with the others after the funeral, avoiding them all was wrong, but a natural reaction after such event.
"I missed you." Liby whimpered much to Lyra's dismay, "...I miss him."
They both did. All they had now was each other, that and a thirst for common justice. Once letting go Lyra gazed freely around the room and halted at the sight of the wall that was fully encased with Liby's detective work. A large map of the Royal Woods was pinned to the bulletin board that hanged from the wall and also Liby had gone through the trouble of pinning red pins across said city map. She also had various written sticky notes around the borders of the map. By the looks of it, the young detective was already deep into her own private investigation.
"Wow..." Lyra stood amazed at her sister's handy work, she was ahead of the curve.
Liby walked around timidly, at her reaction, "I've been working non stop for the past week. The police are doing their part and they are trying their best, but...the progress has been slow and difficult. I-I needed to do something, I just couldn't stand still and not do anything!"
Lyra faced her and gently placed both hands on her shoulders, "Liby, you did the right thing. I'm proud of you."
Her face slowly produced a small smile as her older sister's words impacted her dedication. Luan had told her before to simply let it go and move on, but just like Lyra she couldn't, Lemy deserved justice and she would give it her all to make it happen. She planned on keeping it a secret from the rest of the family, but with Lyra here she felt an ease of confidence im sharing her private investigation.
"He was our brother...he was everything to us. Lemy was our love, soul and purpose of joy in this despicable world of ours." Lyra closed her eyes as her emotions took a bitter turn, "They need to pay for their sins against this family."
For the next few hours both girls discussed the case as best as they could, the official police report was kept by Lead Detective Gibson at the station, so they worked with only what they could gather and hypothetically guess on their own. From what Lyra understood thanks to Liby's intel gatherings, the suspects had indeed been at the house party that night thanks to confirmed eye witnesses that Conor managed to privately interview. The blue race car was in fact a Chevrolet Camaro, an older model to be exact, most likey from the early 2000's, the plates were from Michigan so those bastards were from in-state, although there was also the probability that the vehicle could have been stolen. Either way it was a good enough start, Lyra would now be spending more time on the streets searching for that vehicle and most importantly the driver himself.
"There's a chance they may have gotten rid of it or repainted it, but I rather keep our hopes up." Liby exclaimed.
That was true, but as Liby had said, rather be hopeful then get anymore cynical about it. She just had to keep moving forward and not stop until she had found them all and after that...who knows.
"Conor couldn't get the exact license plate numbers, so that's gonna hurt the investigation." Liby complained, but she immediately got up and grabbed some papers and more pins.
Liby read each paper at a time and began placing the pins in various spots in the map. Lyra stood up to get a better look at what she was doing. "I've been analyzing the police department's website as well as the local Royal Woods crime watchers website and all these spots for the past month have been hubs of crime, but most importantly of those related to illegal drugs." She remained focused, a true detective in the making.
"If they're a bunch of drug dealers then those neighborhoods must be their major spots of distribution. The locals must either know their faces or their names." Lyra finished Liby's assessment, reading the names of the streets affected by their evil.
She could sense it, even taste it. The kindling in her heart was flaming up and the urge to find all three of them was stronger than ever. This was the right step forward, all this information she just learned was the greatest news she'd ever received. It would take time to find the right person, but sooner than later she would finally have their identities and there would be no rock in this earth from which to hide under, she will find them.
"There's still much more that needs to be gathered before I can present it to the detectives in charge, hopefu-"
"Y-You're going to hand it all over to them?" Lyra interrupted her, a tone of surprise and displeasure in her sentence.
Liby raised an eyebrow to her odd question, "Well of course! It's the right thing to do after all. The police will verify the evidence, search the area, hopefully locate them, make the arrests and have them prosecuted by the full power and extend of the law."
Lyra did not like everything she had just said, not a single bit. She wanted them found, but not by some random police officers simply doing their civil duty, and the justice she was seeking wouldn't be possible, the state of Michigan had abolished capitol punishment since it's entry to the United States.
"Maybe we should keep it around, those detectives are probably extremely busy with paperwork, or uh, the won't take a couple of young girls seriously and ignore all of our findings. It's best we investigate this own our own accord." Lyra gave her attempts at convincing her.
Liby looked at Lyra straight in the eyes, her own expressing fear and worry as she carefully crafted the following words, "Lyra...what are planning on doing?"
Feeling caught she replied back, "N-nothing! I just, I just want to be a hundred percent sure we got everything nailed down is all! Besides, don't you want to be there?"
"Be there?"
"This can be your big break! Only fourteen years old and already solved the biggest case in this town of ours all on your own. Why need the police at all, I just go about-"
"Go about what Lyra?" Liby was now fully concerned, "You want to go on your own to this dangerous places? Walk up to these dangerous people and ask around on your own?"
"No! That's not what I'm, aghh! Just... let me do this. I need to find them!" Lyra growled in frustration.
"Lyra...what you want to do, this isn't justice... it's revenge!" Liby shouted back at her.
She figured her out, once again she was an extraordinary sleuth at such a young age. Lyra silence fully confirmed the younger girl's accusation. Liby couldn't think properly after this shocking revelation. Her older sister; always wise, kind and noble with a christian heart had aloud the hatred to consume her. She had seen it before at the funeral when she exploded against her own mother and since then it had been slowly festering her soul. Liby didn't want to believe that Lyra was changing, but right now it was hard to deny it any further.
"Please don't do this! Lyra, please I beg you think about what you are saying! I don't want you to get hurt!" Liby grabbed her in a strong hug, saying anything possible to disillusion her mindset.
Lyra listened to her pleas and her heart ached in return, she was hurting her, hurting her little sister for she desperately wanted inflict unlawful vengeance upon her enemies. A single tear escaped her as she gently moved her aside.
"I'm sorry...I just... I hate them so much."
"I know, I know. I hate them too, but we need to do this the right way, the legal way...the way of the law. That's what makes us different and better then them." Liby reasoned with Lyra's anger and sorrow.
"Girls is everything okay in there?" Luan's voice spoke outside the door.
"We're fine...mom." Liby quickly put on a cheerful voice to hide her current sentiments.
"I was thinking if you two wanted to go out and grab a bite, let's have some relaxing family time together." Luan asked.
Lyra and Liby opened the door and headed out, "Yeah, I'm okay with that." Lyra answered.
As both mother and daughter went to get in the car, Lyra lingered behind. She walked back into the room and towards the map. As quick as she could, she pulled out her phone and took multiple pictures of all the spots Liby had pinned down. With uncertainty in her face she put her phone away and joined the others outside.
The sun began to set as the many street lamps and headlights of cars in the town lighted up the sky alongside the few stars that were still visible in the dark sky above. After a much horrid week Lyra managed to enjoy her time with Liby and Luan, but now it was time to go back home. It had just occurred to the troubled teenager that she was going to be even more grounded beyond possibility. Lincoln was surly pissed, he had not called her at all the whole day, why bother when she would be back home to personally confront.
She just couldn't catch a break could she?
"Take care!"
"Visit soon okay!"
The both drove off as Lyra once again stood outside her home, albeit sober this time around. She mentally prepared herself for the earful she would be getting the moment she entered her father's domain. With a heavy sigh she matched on forward, keeping a bland, uninterested face to demonstrate her new found rebellious persona. Opening the door and entering she scanned the environment, but when her eyes landed on the two individuals in the living room, her mind froze.
There before her presence were both her parents sitting together, on different couches of course, but still sharing the same room. Lincoln and Luna looked at her, both with different expressions; for Lincoln he had disappointed as for Luna it was utter agitation.
Closing the front door she slowly and cautiously walked closer to them both, only stopping a few meters from them. She did not want to get any closer to that woman than she already had to.
"What...?"
Before having the chance to finish that sentence, Luna got up from her sit and gently approached her, "Lyra, your father and I have been worried sick for you. Your phone was off, w-we couldn't get a hold of you!"
It was Lincoln's turn to speak, "Why do you keep doing this to us? All this rage and pain you are bottling up is only killing you slowly but surely! I understand we both failed you as parents and we damn straight rightfully deserve it all, but please for the love of God stop torturing yourself!"
"I'm so sorry for not having been around you both...but please listen to me, please seek help! I don't want to lose you too!" Luna choked up.
Lyra's good day had immediately turned terribly sour. All tranquility had been torched up as the rage took over her whole body. she grabbed her head with both hands her sides already hurting as an emotionally inflicted headache manifested, only pissing her off even more.
"I'm already dead to you!" Lyra spat back at her mother.
"No! You're not! You will never be!" Luna shouted back, tears having been created.
"You will always be my little girl! My sweet beautiful songbird, you and Lemy are my-"
"You fucking abandoned us!" Lyra screamed in fury.
Luna flinched back, already afraid that she would attempt to strike her again. Lincoln quickly got in between them two, despite his feelings towards Luna, he'd be damned if he allowed a daughter to viciously assault her own mother. He figured, heck he knew that this confrontation wouldn't be calm and steady when he had allowed Luna to their, well now his home to wait for Lyra. He had been the one to inform her by phone about Lyra's sudden disappearance from home, she was still her mother, she had every right to be informed the status of their... only child.
"It was always me and Lemy! Not you and not you and nobody else in this piece of shit world!" Lyra pointed her finger at both her parents, her rage was only increasing by the seconds.
"Who sang him to sleep, it was me! Who helped him out with his homework, also me! Who broke her back to make him feel wanted when his own useless sack of shit parents neglected him? It was all me bitch!" Lyra was letting loose her voice had reached the second floor of the house for Lupa and Loan were peeping from the top of the stairs, the neighbors would probably call emergency services due to the fear of a possible domestic violence.
"I fucked up! I fucked up! I fucked up Lyra! I'm a complete fuck up!" Luna slumped to the floor sobbing away all the pain in her heart.
Lincoln wanted to join in on the shouting, but he had to stay strong, not just for himself but for this pitiful, fractured family of his. He inched closer to Lyra who wouldn't stop glaring daggers at her mother, the malice she was exerting was unbearable to be around. This was not his daughter, this was not the beautiful girl who cherished everybody with a warm heart anymore, this being before her was a demon, one he needed to overcome.
"Lyra, we have to stop this, this needs to stop! I know how much you loved him, don't allow this, don't let his memory be one of pain and anger! Lemy meant more than this. Don't let his love die." Lincoln did his best to reason with her, but she refused it, every word she spit back out.
"I have no love left to give." She spoke without any mercy.
"Bullshit Lyra! What about your sisters? What about their feelings? They share the same pain as you, they all loved Lemy, they're all hurting as well!" It was true the other girls, were also suffering, it wasn't just about Lyra. He wanted her to understand how selfish and cruel she was turning. He wanted her to regain her former self in the form of aiding her sisters, her love would help them carry on.
"Loan, Leina, Liby, Lacy and most especially Lupa are having the-"
"I don't give a single fuck about Lupa!" Lyra interrupted him with such cruel proclamation.
"W-What?"
"Lyra please stop!"
Lyra was fuming at this point. She was dishing out gut punch after gut punch and they were all very effective.
"She's the reason Lemy's dead to begin with!" Lyra wasn't holding back, but what she failed to notice was that the albino girl had descended down the stairs and stood shocked in place to her words.
"Lyra take that back!"
"Fuck her! My Lemy would still be breathing if it wasn't for that little bitch! I hate you all, but she can go straight to hell for killing him! That no good fucking whor-ahh!" Lupa in a fit of pure rage had tackled Lyra to the floor, both landing on the small coffee table which broke due to their combined weight.
Lincoln and Luna desperately tried to separate them both, all while the two sisters at that moment saw each other as strangers consumed by wrath.
"Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!" Lupa yelled back as she hit her older sister in the face.
Lyra grabbed her from the hair and pulled as hard as possible. Lupa kept on punching her, so Lyra elbowed her which in turn prompted Lupa to scratch up her face with bloody results. After some seconds of forces intervention both girls were finally separated. Lincoln holding on to Lyra while Luna held Lupa. Both had scraps on their faces, foe Lupa she has earned a busted lower lip and for Lyra some small bruises and small various cuts across her face, thanks to Lupa's nails.
"Fuck you Lyra! Lemy was my brother too bitch!" Lupa screamed out at her, watery eyes ready to let loose.
"It should've been you!" Lyra yelled back at her, "You should have died not him!"
The room quickly grew quite. Both Lincoln and Luna gasped, both utterly appalled at what Lyra had just said. Loan who remained upstairs covered her mouth in horror. Lupa's eyes widened and her mouth hanged slightly open, no sound emitting from her. She focused solely on Lyra's eyes of pure hatred. This was a line that had been desecrated, Lyra had truly gone too far.
"They should've killed you, beat you, stab you. I don't care what else they would've done to you, if it meant that Lemy could live then so be it!" Lyra had completely lost her soul.
She managed to get loose off of Lincoln, who had not even bothered to hold her in place. Lyra began to tear up while still glaring at her little sister with no remorse, "It should've been you..."
With those finally words, she stormed out the house and back to the outside to the streets. Lincoln chased after her as Luna hugged Lupa who remained in a state of shock, Loan joined soon after, but no matter what they said, Lupa was unresponsive until she began to uncontrollably cry her heart out.
She ran and ran into the darkness she ran. Hot tears leaking out and sobs after sobs escaping her voice. Her father's yells became a faint echo the farther she went. She hated them all, hated this world, hated her God but most importantly she hated no other person more than currently herself.
Not stopping for a single second, nor to catch a break, Lyra ran at full speed into the darkness of the night. She crossed many empty streets except for one in which she almost got hit. Instead of stopping she kept on going, she was in to much pain, only running away was all there was on her mind.
After what felt like a marathon, she finally slowed down and chose to walk the rest of the way. She had no idea where she was, only that she had sprinted away towards the southern side of town. As she walked she remembered every word that she had said, every cruel thing she had professed. She continued walking, all alone on this lonely road. Cars passed by her, but she payed them no mind, for her heart was completely shattered with remorse.
She cried more and harder the longer she replayed all the cruel things she had said. All this years she hated her mother for not being a better person when in reality the real monster was her all along.
A young couple walked past her, but ignored her as she ignored them back. Walking further along she came across a bakery, already closed but the displays still present to see by the large window panel. Getting closer her eyes focused on the wedding cake in the middle of them all, the groom and bride side by side, big happy smiles to add. Her reflection casted her on the side of the bride; a dead dream that would never be.
She dragged herself away from the shop and continued her lonely walk of misery and dejection.
Reaching the main interstate she stopped and saw all the cars coming and going from the city of Detroit only a mere two dozen miles away from Royal Woods. Switching directions she walked down the side of the road, following the highway up north. Lupa's face wouldn't leave her mind neither her mother's or father's, she succeeded, she hurt them all, evey single last on of them.
Her heart was heavy, a anchor weighing her down. Did she seriously wished Lupa to have died? She didn't deserve to be anybody's sister, in fact she sincerely didn't deserve her brother's love. She was a monster, a pure selfish monster. Passing many closed businesses She reached and alleyway and walked through it to reach the other street at the end.
Having finally tired out she leaned next to a dumpster and covered her face with both hands, wiping the tears away.
"What is wrong with me?"
She wasn't expecting an answer, instead what she got was a solid object touching the back of her head.
"Don't fucking move bitch!" Lyra completely stood wide awake and aware of the situation.
"Hands up bitch! Give me your wallet!" the man came into view, he was a white male and wore a grey hoodie which covered most of his face from the light of the lamps nearby. He held a revolver and it was pointed directly at her face.
"Hurry the fuck up!" He ordered.
With shanking hands she handed over her wallet. The man snatched it away from her and examined its contents while placing the barrel of the gun to her chest. Lyra was absolutely terrified and had no idea how to escape without getting shot. She just stood silent and waited.
"Twenty-five dollars? Does nobody carry cash anymore?"
He dropped her wallet and crumbled up her money into his pocket. He inched closer to her to which she inched backwards.
"Is that all you got? Nothing else to offer?"
Lyra shook her head, her chest rising and falling at a dramatic speed, she feared passing out. The thug happened to noticed her chest as well and developed a wicked grin.
"You got some nice tits. Let me see them."
He tried to lift her shirt and that was when Lyra fought back in panic. He dropped her to the floor and continued his assault on her body.
"NO! NO! STOP! HELP!" Lyra screamed out in fear, she was going to be raped.
He slapped her hard across the face leaving her stunned. That gave him enough time to lift her shirt and start squeezing her breasts. Lyra's mind had activated her body's defenses as she began to kick him away from her. He wouldn't let up and began to unbuckle her belt.
"OH GOD PLEASE STOP!!!" she cried knowing this was really happening and going to happen.
The mugger pulled out his gun again, "Shut the fuck up and enjoy it slut!"
Thanks to the perfect timing or the powers beyond, he had spread his legs in a position in which Lyra successfully kneed him hard on the groin. Seeing him recoil in pain she immediately wrestled the gun away from him. He fully let go when Lyra planted her shoe right on his nose. He fell backwards, giving Lyra the chance to stand up on her feet. The mugger quickly got back up, but what he saw now was his would be victim holding him at gun point with his own weapon.
Lyra had a wild look in her eyes as she held the gun and aimed it at the man who assaulted her. This was her first time holding a gun and despite not knowing much about modern weaponry all she needed to know was to pull on the trigger her finger was attached to.
"Stay the fuck away from me!" Lyra shouted.
She looked ready to kill, but in reality she was absolutely terrified and simply wanted to runaway. This was the most terrified she had ever been in her entire life, to be so close to getting raped, to lose her virginity in such an unholy and animalistic way. She held on to the gun for it was her only means of protection. She believed that by holding the gun she held the power and intimidating factor on her side, but to her would be rapist, he only saw a scared, trembling girl.
He held up his hands in surrender, "Woah easy there hot stuff, you don't want anybody to...GET HURT!"
He pulled out a hidden switchblade from his sleeve and charged her.
*BANG*
Light smoke left the opening of the barrel. The deafness in her ears created an unpleasant buzz, but one thing was certain: she pulled the trigger. Her attacker laid motionless on the ground, a second ago alive and ready to kill her, now a corpse himself. Lyra stood frozen with fear, but the adrenaline coursing rapidly through her veins allowed her to slowly move her body again. Lowering the gun that she held with both hands, she stared with absolute terror at her first ever human kill.
"Oh my God."
I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me, and I walk alone
Sorry for the wait.