Episode 1
Part 1
On the edge of Royal Woods, Michigan, there exists a large two-story house that has been left abandoned for many years. It once belonged to man name Cornelius Benjamin, a short-statured scientist who mysteriously disappeared over thirty years ago.
Cornelius wasn't as famous as certain other scientists like Einstein and Hawking, but he was very well known by the town residents for coming up with various inventions and formulas that he believed would be beneficial for them.
While most of his experiments didn't go so well he has won a couple of Nobel Prizes for the ones that did turn out to be useful. After his disappearance though no one had ever bought the old house nor was it even torn down.
But, that doesn't mean that it's completely uninhabited, for living inside its walls is something that is neither human nor any kind of known animal.
The town residents refer to this figure as, The Royal Woods Devil, a mysterious creature that had taken up residence within the old structure a few weeks ago. No one knows where it came from or what its exact purpose is, nor are they even aware of where it currently resides.
It used to be seen wandering around the streets and buildings of Royal Woods at night during the first week and a half it showed up, and it was during those times that many people have tried to capture it but to no avail.
Other individuals, however, believe it to be nothing more than a hoax. Either way, The Royal Woods Devil had become a very popular figure.
Lori was seated at a table in what appeared to be a fancy restaurant, and sitting across from her was her boyfriend Bobby. The two of them were dressed formally for the occasion along with the other guests, who all seemed to be enjoying themselves while dining under a large chandelier.
As most people would expect from a high-class eating establishment, the walls and ceilings had a beautiful and elegant design, the food though small was quite delicious as well as satisfying, the different flavored wines they serve were nice and refreshing and the small orchestra that played on the side of the dining hall was a very nice touch.
The young couple was really enjoying their evening together, sharing samples of their meals while exchanging life stories with each other. "Oh Bobby, this has been such a wonderful evening," Lori said with a dreamy sigh.
"It sure has. It wasn't easy getting reservations for this place, especially with how expensive the food is, but in the end, I managed to pull it off," he said with pride.
"Oh Bobby, you didn't have to go through all that trouble just to make me happy," she chuckled.
"Yeah, but I did anyway."
They shared a good laugh at this. "Before our evening comes to an end though, I have just one more surprise for you."
Lori watched with curiosity as her date reached into his pocket before pulling out a small box that seemed to fit into the palm of his hand, her eyes widening in awe at the size and shape of the object. Bobby then held the box out in front of himself and looked at his girlfriend.
"Lori Marie Loud?" he asked.
"Yes, Boo Boo Bear?" she answered softly.
Even though she wasn't showing it, Lori could barely contain her excitement at what he was about to ask her.
He took a deep breath before asking, "May I have the privilege of asking you to be my, poo-poo!"
"Huh?" she asked, confused at his sudden voice change.
"Poo-poo!" he said again.
Before she knew it the entire floor beneath her suddenly crumbled away, resulting in her falling into a black void below her.
Lori awoke with a startled gasp. After quickly collecting herself she realized that everything she went through was all just a dream, one that ended a little too suddenly. The moment she got her focus back she looked up to see her baby sister sitting on her chest. "Ugh, Lily, I was in the middle of Bobby asking me to marry him," she said while rubbing the bridge of her nose.
The only response she got from the toddler though was a cute giggle, to which she couldn't resist smiling to a little. While she was pretty annoyed at the unexpected wakeup call, she just couldn't stay mad at her. Looking towards the clock on her nightstand, Lori saw that it was a bit after seven, a little earlier than her usual wakeup time.
Deciding that she might as well get up, Lori grabbed the adorable little alarm clock and pulled herself out of bed. "Mom and Dad will probably be up as well," she said as they left the bedroom.
And she was right because once they entered the kitchen downstairs they spotted both Lynn Sr. and Rita sitting at a table while sipping some coffee from their mugs. The latter smiled when she saw her eldest and youngest daughters entering the room. "Morning you two, we didn't expect you to be up until later Lori."
"Hey Mom and Dad, Lily got out of her crib and found her way into my bedroom."
The matriarch's look of happiness then turned into shock. "What, how did she even get out?"
"I literally have no idea."
"There must be something up with her crib. Remind me to take a look at it before we leave for our trip," he told his wife, to which she nodded.
After handing Lily over to their mother Lori then headed back upstairs and towards the linen closet that sat on one end of the hallway. Today the Loud family is going to be spending a five nights vacation at the Red Cardinal Resort in Hazeltucky. Something that they've been planning for quite a long time now.
Like many other resorts, the Red Cardinal had a variety of different relaxation methods and activities, such as a swimming pool, jacuzzi, spa, arcade, zip-lining, hiking trails, tennis court, buffet, an indoor playground, an open mike stage, and luxurious suites.
Upon entering the closet, Lori grabbed a towel and robe before making her way into the bathroom to wash up. A quick shower later and Lori was now dressed in her bathrobe while applying some zit cream like she did every morning and every night. While doing this she decided to look up her cellphone and see if there was any interesting news.
At first, it was just some boring stuff like the Mayor getting a new hat or City Hall opening a new roadway, but then she came across a piece of article that caught her attention. It was a report about a notorious serial killer who escaped from prison in Hazeltucky recently.
This made Lori feel a little worried since they were going to be staying in that town later on, but then she realized that Hazeltucky was a big place, so it was very unlikely that they would run into him. Plus he would probably try to lay low so as to not get caught.
"Hey Lori, you gonna be much longer?"
"Just a minute Lynn!" she said in mild annoyance.
Lori was actually kind of glad that Lily woke her up a little earlier because that way she wouldn't have to wait in line with her other sisters. After applying the last touch of zit cream she pocketed her phone and exited the restroom. "It's all yours," she said to Lynn who rushed inside.
Walking past the rest of her siblings, Lori reentered her and Leni's bedroom to get dressed.
It was now eight-thirty as everyone got comfortable inside of Veronica. "So, is everybody all set?" the father asked his daughters from the driver seat.
"Yeah!" they cheered, including his wife.
"Alrighty then, let's get going," he said before pulling out of the driveway.
As they drove towards their destination the siblings began to talk about all of the fun things they plan to do at the resort. "O. , I can't wait until we get to the resort. The first thing I'm going to do is hit the spa," said Leni.
"Me too, I can literally see myself relaxing in a nice mud bath while getting a mani-pedi," Lori added.
"Meh, I'm only interested in the mud baths," Lana said nonchalantly.
"Well I plan on doing all of the things at the spa except the mud baths," said Lola.
"Aw, why not, mud baths are great for your complexion?" asked Leni.
"True, but when you share a room with someone who practically rolls around in it, it pretty much makes you sick of seeing it, at least for a while anyway."
Leni didn't quite get what she heard but decided to just roll with it.
"Well I don't know about you dudettes, but Luan, Lucy and I are going to be using the open mike section," said Luna.
"Yeah, people are going to love our performances, right Lucy?" Luan asked while nudging her gothic sister.
"Right," she answered in a monotonous tone.
"Yeah, while you guys do that I'm gonna be kicking some butt on the tennis court. Those chumps won't know what hit him," said Lynn Jr.
"Well I for one plan on visiting the arcade," said Lisa.
Lynn, who was sitting right next to her, looked at her in confusion. "Since when were you into video games?" she asked.
Lisa shook her head and gestured for Lynn to lean towards her a little. "I actually plan on borrowing a few components from their consoles for any inventions I plan to make in the future," she whispered.
"Ooh, sneaky," she replied with a sinister grin.
"What are you two whispering about?" Lori asked suspiciously.
"Nothing!" they both responded.
At this point, the parents shushed their kids so that they could hear the radio. "There still have been no signs of the serial killer since he had escaped from prison. Police have been combing the streets of Hazeltucky for hours in search of this criminal but with no luck so far," a male news reporter said.
"I thought they would have caught him by now," Rita commented.
"In other news, someone, who wishes to be unnamed, claims to have seen the legendary Royal Woods Devil around the old home of Cornelius Benjamin. This has been proven false after an investigative team entered the house but found no signs of the creature."
"What do you think happened to it anyway?" Lynn Jr. asked.
"Beats me, no one has seen The Royal Woods Devil for more than a week now," replied Luna.
"It's probably because it got tired of people always trying to trap it," Lana assumed.
"Oh, please, The Royal Woods Devil is nothing more than an urban legend that some low brain individuals came up with," Lisa explained.
And so they continued to talk during the ride, whether it was about the resort, the killer or The Devil.
Unfortunately, their little trip came to a sudden stop the moment Veronica started to break down. "Oh no, not now," said Lynn Jr.
"Pull over Dad, I'll take a look," said Lana.
Doing what his daughter instructed, the father pulled the vehicle to the side of the road. The little grease monkey then got out and walked to the front side of the van. "Okay, let's see what we got here."
Lana opened the hood to examine the inside of the family vehicle before finding the culprit. "No good everyone, the timing belt broke."
"Do you think you can fix it?" Rita asked,
"I'm afraid not, we don't have anything that'll make a good substitute and there isn't a repair shop anywhere near us, so we're pretty much stuck."
The others did not like what they just heard. Lynn Sr. gave a heavy sigh and said, "It looks like we'll have to call a tow truck then."
"But we'll still make it to the resort, right?" Lori asked with a bit of uncertainty.
"That's very unlikely I'm afraid. As Lana has stated earlier there isn't a shop anywhere close to our proximity, and by the time the mechanic finishes replacing the timing belt we would have already missed out on our check-in time," Lisa explained.
As much as they wanted to disagree with her, their genius of a sister had a point. "But, what about our spa treatments?" Leni asked.
"And the open mike?" Lucy asked.
"And the tennis court?" Lynn asked.
"Poo-poo," Lily asked sadly.
"I'm sorry kids, but it looks like we'll have to wait another time," answered their mother.
"But that's so long," Lola whined.
Lynn Sr. and Rita hated to see their daughters feel so dejected. This was something that they had been looking forward to for so long, but sadly, there was nothing else they could do about it.
After talking on his phone for a few minutes Lynn hung up and turned towards the others. "I just called the car shop, they said a tow truck should be arriving in an hour or so."
"In the meantime, why don't we listen to the radio some more?" Rita suggested before turning on the device.
"Breaking news, weather forecasts say that a severe storm is scheduled to arrive in Royal Woods within a few moments. Residents are advised to stay within their homes or business establishments until the storm settles," a female news reporter said.
The Louds' feelings of depression are then turned into fear upon hearing this. They had to find shelter as soon as possible as the van would not be enough to protect them. "I can see a house over there," said Lana.
Her family looked to see that she was correct. Standing just on the other side of the road was a familiar looking structure. "Whoa, isn't that the house where that Cornelius dude used to live?" Luna asked.
"It would appear very much so," Lisa answered the rockstar.
"Let's hope that it'll keep us well protected from the storm," said Lynn Sr.
They then grabbed their stuff from the back of Veronica before making their way across the road and up to the front door. Upon entering what they assumed to be the foyer, the Louds could see just how old the place was.
Besides a bunch of cobwebs hanging around, the foyer's walls were covered in old stains and mildew, the curtains on the windows that were situated on both sides of the front door had holes in them, the small chandelier that hung on the ceiling was mostly rusted and looked ready to fall off any time and some twin staircases that stood on the other side of the entrance looked rotten in some areas. "This place looks like a real dump," said Lynn.
"It looks like this used to be such a nice place, it's a shame they let it end up like this," her father said.
While most of them were talking about the house's interior, Lily spotted something in the air vent up on the wall over her mother's shoulder. She looked at it curiously wondering exactly what it was, and it seemed to be looking at her as well through the grill. After several seconds of staring Lily tried to reach out towards it, thinking that it was a small animal to play with.
This did not go unnoticed by the others. "You see something, Lily?" Lori asked.
They looked up towards the air vent only to see that the figure was gone. "I don't see anything," said Lynn Jr.
"Maybe it was The Royal Woods Devil she saw in there," suggested Lana.
"Again, The Royal Woods Devil is just an urban legend. What our youngest sibling most likely saw was some type of small animal. Considering that this place has been abandoned for such a long time then it would make sense for certain species like rats to make themselves at home here," Lisa pointed out.
"Ew, so there are rats here too?" Leni asked fearfully.
Lola didn't like what she heard either. "That's it, I am not going to spend my time inside an old and dusty place full of disgusting rodents," she protested before turning towards the front door, "Let's find someplace else to take shelter in, one that's a lot better looking than this."
Just when she took a few steps outside however, a loud thunderclap forced her to run back inside with fear. "On second thought, maybe staying here wouldn't be so bad," she said while clinging on to her mother's leg.
Almost an hour had passed since the storm had finally arrived, and despite its old age, the house had just enough strength to withstand it as it raged outside. Although the strong wind hitting against the house's exterior as well as the loud thunder was scaring some of the younger siblings, especially Lily.
"It's okay sweetie, the storm won't hurt you," Rita soothed her baby.
The Louds were gathered into the living room, which seemed to be in no better condition than the foyer. The leather couch and armchair were worn out with a few buttons hanging off, the coffee table that stood between them had rickety legs and wooden television had grime covering the screen.
It was pretty dark inside the old house thanks to the storm outside, but luckily they remembered to bring their emergency lantern in with the rest of their luggage. It didn't provide a whole lot of light for them but it was better than just sitting around in the darkness, much to Lucy's disappointment.
"Does anyone know when this storm is gonna clear up?" Lynn Jr. asked.
"I texted Bobby half an hour ago and asked him to check the weather forecast, he said it won't clear up for several hours," Lori answer, much to everyone's annoyance.
"First we had to miss out on what would've been a great time at the resort, and now we have to spend hours inside a dusty old house," the young jock complained.
"Yeah, this storm needs to stop, raining on our parade, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, get it?" Luan joked.
Everyone except their father groaned at this. The latter then stood up and said, "Well since the storm isn't going to clear up anytime soon, then why don't we do some exploring awhile. There might be some interesting things here."
"Sounds better than sitting here feeling bored," said Luna.
The rest nonchalantly agreed with her before Lynn Sr. took hold of the lantern. The first room they checked out was the dining room, which contained a round table that was covered by an old and dirty tablecloth along with a china cabinet with grime covering its glass door. Wanting to take a look at some of the china, Rita handed Lily to her husband before opening the cabinet doors, only to find that images on the plates and bowls were mostly faded, which she did not like.
The next room they visited was the kitchen. It pretty much had the same kind of furniture and appliances that most other kitchens do or at least the kind that was used during the owner's time. The Louds were a little grossed out at the smell coming from the dirty dishes that were stacked together in the sink.
After that, they went to check out the guest room. This one contained a large bed with a beautifully designed quilt as well as a couple of ruffle pillows, a full-size mirror with a swan etched into the frame on each side, an oak dresser with gold-colored handles and a flower-shaped ceiling lamp. If it wasn't for the fact that most of its furniture was rotten and covered in mold, then this would seem like a comfortable room to stay in.
The only other rooms on the first floor were the bathroom and storage room, both of which were also covered in filth. So they decided to check out the rooms on the upper level. Of course, they also tried to be careful when going up the twin staircases before entering the second-floor hallway.
The first room in the hallway was a small library. Lisa felt overjoyed at seeing all the different books that lined the shelves, but quickly became disappointed when she learned that the pages in each one were too brittle for her to turn.
The room after that also had some books that were left lying around on a long table, along with several glass containers full of old chemicals. The Louds could easily tell that this was the former owner's private laboratory.
The last room in the hallway was the master bedroom. It wasn't as bad looking as the guest room but it still wasn't in very good condition. The furniture in this room consisted of a large bed, a nightstand, a wardrobe, and a ceiling fan.
Just as the Louds started to leave the room Lori tripped on something and smacked into the side of the wardrobe. The others became concerned and rushed over to help her up. "My goodness, are you okay dear?" asked Rita who was holding Lily again.
"I'm fine, I just tripped on a loose floorboard," she responded before getting back to her feet.
"Hey uh, guys, you might want to take a look at this," Luna said.
They turned towards the wardrobe and saw that it had been moved to the side an inch when Lori fell onto it, but what their sister was pointing to was something that was being hidden behind the wardrobe. The Louds pushed the piece of furniture to the side further to reveal a large hole in the wall, one that was just big enough for an adult to crouch down and enter through it. Lynn held the lantern towards it to see that it led into a crawlspace.
"What do you think is in there?" Luan asked.
"Hold on, I'll take a look," Rita said before taking hold of the lantern.
"Be careful honey," said her husband.
Once she was in the crawlspace she saw that it stretched ahead on the right side. The light from her lantern wasn't enough to let her see what awaited her so she crouch walked towards the end. When she reached it she was surprised at what she had just discovered. "There's a bed in here!" she called back to the others.
They were pretty confused at this. "Are you serious Mom!?" Lynn Jr. called back.
"Yes, I'm serious!" she responded.
In front of her was an old mattress with only a blanket and pillow on top. Sitting on the floor next to the mattress was a bunch of random items, consisting of a book, a toy robot with a windup key, a magnifying glass, and a windup alarm clock.
Rita picked up the toy robot to examine it and saw that both it and the other items were newer looking than everything else in the house. "Could someone actually be living here?" she asked softly.
While she was pondering this, the rest of her family was wondering why there was a bed in the crawlspace. Their moment of confusion was interrupted by Luna though who asked, "Does anyone know where Leni is?"
Meanwhile somewhere far from their location, after hijacking an old pickup truck, the escaped serial killer was making his way out of Hazeltucky to Royal Woods. He had a large muscular build, a buzz style Mowhawk, a few piercings and a tattoo of a snake on his right arm.
He was still wearing the same orange-colored jumpsuit from prison but the sleeves had been torn off at the shoulders, and sitting on the seat next to him was a two-foot-long machete and shotgun, two weapons that he stole from an outdoors shop recently.
The killer felt very lucky to have escaped before finally being given the death sentence, but he also knew that he wasn't out of the woods just yet. The truck he stole didn't have enough fuel to get him past Royal Woods and it was only a matter of time before the authorities are able to trace the vehicle. So his plan was that once he reached his destination he'll ditch the truck and lay low until he was able to steal another vehicle.
As he was nearing the town border of Hazeltucky a weather report appeared on the radio he was listening to, the same one that warned others about the upcoming storm. This didn't bother him though since the storm would make a good cover for him, or so he thought.
While her family was busy checking out the rooms from upstairs Leni separated from the rest of them to go and use the bathroom. At first, she didn't want to use it considering how filthy it was, but the smoothie she drank during the ride was having other ideas.
Unfortunately, she did not think to bring a source of light with her, resulting in her constantly bumping into walls and tripping over furniture. Eventually, after what felt like hours she finally found what she was looking for, and just in time too as the smoothie was getting very impatient.
During the time she was using it though, the serial killer came in through the front door dripping wet. It turned out that the storm was getting too rough for him to stay out in, forcing him to leave the truck and take shelter inside the old house. He also remembered to take his two weapons with him before running through the heavy rain.
He took in his surroundings and thought that the place would not only make a good shelter, but also a good temporary hideout. The killer then decided to look around and see if there were any items he could sell on the black market one day. While he was looking at some of the objects in the dining room however he suddenly heard the sound of a door being opened.
Being stealthy, the killer peaked around a corner to see Leni entering the foyer, a cheerful yet naïve smile on her face. At first, he was a little confused as to what a pretty young girl was doing in a place like that, but then he thought, 'Who cares, I just found myself a new victim."
With the machete and shotgun strapped to his back, the killer came out of his hiding spot and began to slowly and quietly follow Leni as she made her way back up the staircases. By the time she entered the hallway however a bolt of lightning illuminated the inside of the house some, revealing to her a large shadow that stretched across the floor in front of her. "Huh, I must be putting on a little weight," she said.
The killer looked at her in confusion upon hearing this, but quickly disregarded it before grabbing her and pinning her to the wall. Leni tried to scream for help but her cries only came out as muffles as the killer kept his hand over her mouth.
Leni then watched in terror as the killer removed the machete from its holster and raised it above his head, but just when he was about to bring it down on her something lunged at him before digging its claws into his upper back and shoulders, forcing him to let go of her.
Music: The Hunter Phase 2 by Bloodborne
The rest of the Louds heard the commotion and rushed into the hallway to see what was going on, only to stop in their tracks the moment they saw what was occurring in front of them. Seeing her family appear in the hall Leni quickly got back up and ran over to them. They all then watched as the killer stumbled around while trying to pull whatever it was that was clawing at his head and shoulders.
He eventually managed to do so and threw it at one of the walls ahead of him, where it created a small dent before falling to the floor in pain. The killer looked towards it to try and see what it was that just attacked him with the Louds doing the same thing, but it was too far for their lantern's light to reach.
Speaking of the Louds, he quickly became aware of their presence and turned towards them, their lantern revealing his scratched up face to them. Recognizing who he was, the family tried to make a run for it into one of the rooms while the killer pulled out his shotgun and aimed it right at them.
Before he could pull the trigger though the figure had already gotten back to its feet and lunged at him again, forcing him to move the barrel downward before blowing a hole in the floor. This allowed the Loud family to take cover in the nearest room where they locked themselves in.
The figure continued to claw at him while the killer slammed into the walls repeatedly in order to try and throw it off again. After almost a minute of pain and struggling the figure bit down onto the killer's left shoulder, causing him to scream in pain.
This also caused him to stumble back towards the staircases before breaking through the railing and onto the foyer floor. The figure had lost its grip on him the moment he broke through the railing, thus landing several feet away from where the killer was before falling unconscious.
To be continued…