The snow was getting thicker by the second back in Royal Woods. And when the last train left 15 minutes ago, the city was calmer than ever. Back in the Loud residence, Leni was walking towards the bathroom, slightly humming with a happy smile on her face. Can't wait for Linky to be my new roommate, she thought happily. He like totes deserves it! She went into the bathroom and began brushing her teeth, but while looking at the mirror, she noticed that her hair wasn't combed right. Oh, silly Leni, you combed your hair bad again! After leaving the bathroom, she returned to her room to get her brush, but noticed that none of her little brother's things were in her room yet. Maybe he needs help carrying everything from his room, Leni thought to herself, deciding to do so.
While walking towards the closet room where Lincoln spent most of his days in, she went past Lola standing outside her door with a sour look on her face. Hmm? What's with her? But being the rather ditzy, one-minded person she is, Leni gave it no heed for now and made her way to her brother's room. She twisted the knob and when the door opened, a cold breeze hit her from Lincoln's room. She walked in while looking at the open window that let all of the cold air in. Must have forgotten to close his window. Silly Linky! She chuckled at her brother's forgetfulness. But then she began looking around his room and didn't see him anywhere, much to her surprise.
"Linky?" She came across his cell phone on his desk, which was slightly cracked. Poor Linky. He must have accidentally dropped it today, thought Leni, as she knew that those cracks weren't there yesterday. I guess I should ask where he is. Maybe Lola knows! If anyone has seen Linky, it's totes Lola, she finished thinking before leaving her brother's room. Lola was still pouting outside her room. "Hey Lola, do you know where Linky is?" asked Leni. Lola reacted as if his name was poison and frowned before responding.
"Don't know, don't care," she grumbled. And with that, she went back into her room and slammed the door behind her, leaving Leni in shock. She had never seen her sibling this angry before, but more importantly, if she hadn't seen Lincoln recently, it left Leni thinking as to where he could be. Ah, he's probably at Clyde's, she realized in though. I'll call him up and tell him that Linky is sharing my room! She took out her cell phone and dialed Clyde's number, waiting for a response.
"Hello?" answered a tired Clyde on the other side of the phone.
"Hey, Clyde!" said Leni. "I was wondering if you could put Lincoln on. Sorry if I'm interrupting anything."
"What are you talking about?" asked Clyde, seeming to snap out of his tiredness. "Leni, Lincoln isn't even here. Is there something wrong?" This really confused Leni about where Lincoln could be, hearing that Clyde was now worried.
"Yeah, totes, I just thought he might be at your place," answered Leni.
"Alright, if you say so," said Clyde. "Sorry, I haven't seen him. Goodnight." When the call ended, the blonde 17-year-old began going through every place in her mind where Lincoln might be, but none of them bore an explanation as to why he would leave his cell phone behind. Maybe Mom and Dad know! she thought. So she went to her parents' room, turned on the light, and closed the door behind her, waking them up. Her mom first saw Leni standing there with a worried look on her face.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Rita asked softly. "Did you have another nightmare?" Leni shook her head and walked over to their bed.
"No, Mom," said a slightly concerned Leni. "I'm just wondering if you know where Lincoln is. I can't seem to find him." She was met with a small chuckle from her parents.
"Did you try looking in his room?" asked Lynn Sr., but the upcoming answer would shock him.
"Yes, I did," said Leni. "His room is empty with his phone on his desk. I asked Lola, but she didn't seem to care, so I called Clyde and he had no idea either." Both parents looked at each other, now concerned, before getting up and changing into their clothes. Leni followed her parents back to Lincoln's room, getting an uneasy feeling from all this. Leni always knew when something was wrong with her siblings, like a sixth sense in a way, but this sense of hers was going haywire owing to this unprecedented situation. The parents entered Lincoln's room, feeling the same cold air that Leni got, and they expected Lincoln to at least be lying down on his bed reading his comic books or even sleeping, but instead, they were met with a messy room. Items were all over the floor, like they had been thrown, the sheets were ripped, and Bun-Bun, Lincoln's precious stuffed rabbit, was completely destroyed. While the parents were examining the room and assessing the damage, Luna came out of her room to get a cup of water, but stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing her parents in Lincoln's room.
"Hey pops, what are you doing in Linc's room?" she asked. It seemed that unlike the other siblings, her anger had vanished almost instantly. And while she did feel a little bad for what she did earlier, she figured that siblings would be siblings and that they get into quarrels like these all the time, at least in their home.
"Lincoln's not here," said Lynn Sr., starting to feel a little scared. "Leni looked here already and said she couldn't find him."
"What about Clyde's place? Or maybe one of the other dudettes knows." Luna didn't think much of it since their house was big and they often couldn't find Lucy, though she was an easy guess since she was able to crawl into the vents.
"Leni already called Clyde," said Rita. "And she said Lola hasn't seen him either." This surprised Luna and Rita suddenly shivered. "Wait, why is it so cold in here?" she asked.
"Oh, Lincoln accidentally left his window wide open when I came in," said Leni innocently. Both parents grew more worried considering the possibilities at this point while Luna froze. He wouldn't just leave... right? she thought. What happened earlier was just a normal sibling fight, like the first Sister Family Protocol or roughhousing over a quarter. But when Luna peeked inside Lincoln's room, to her horror she saw all the chaos inside and it finally began sinking in just how far they had gone this time - off the deep end. Fear soon replaced all her emotions as now it was a clear possibility that her brother had left. Knots began forming in her stomach and she slowly backed away as Leni faced her with concern.
"Luna, are you okay?" While Leni wasn't the brightest bulb or the sharpest tool in the shed, she could tell that Luna knew something and wasn't telling her and the parents something regarding the situation. But Luna kept backing away, fear in her eyes, which made Leni really worry about what could have happened to Lincoln. Luna was one of the sisters that Lincoln felt closest to, so if she was having trouble answering, something was seriously wrong.
"Luna, what happened?" Leni asked, raising the tone in her voice. Stress, worry, and panic filled Luna as Leni demanded an answer. Their parents heard Leni's tone and also turned to look at Luna.
"Luna! What happened?!" Leni exclaimed loudly, making Luna jump and their parents listened in shock, having never heard their cheerful daughter raise her voice like that before. Moments after the question died down, the other sisters came out of their rooms, wondering what was going on. Still unable to answer, Luna kept backing away until Leni grabbed her shoulder and held her still.
"Luna. What. Happened?" Leni asked with a short burst. She didn't sound like herself anymore, her voice filled with worry and small amounts of anger. The parents and the other sisters were shocked by Leni's behavior. The normally airheaded blonde was interrogating their rock star sister.
"I-I... ... I'm sorry!" Luna finally shouted, tears forming in her eyes. Everyone looked at her in confusion and Leni let go of Luna. "It's our fault!" Tears fell from Luna's eyes. Rita went over to comfort her.
"It's okay, sweetie," she assured, hugging the loudest Loud. "Just tell us what happened, okay?" Through Luna's sniffles and her tears falling, a nod was felt on Rita's shoulder.
"It s-started when L-Lori moved out..." And so Luna retold all the events that happened, what made for what would be one of Lincoln's most scarring moments in his life. The parents looked downright shocked at what they heard, looking to the other sisters. With their heads lowered, they knew there was no denying what had transpired. But Leni didn't move or even react. She just stood still processing the information. There was silence after Luna finished her tale, and then the unexpected happened. A slapping noise filled the halls and Luna fell to the floor, covering her cheek with her hand. Lynn Sr. was quick to react and pulled Leni away. She had slapped Luna.
"HE DID NOTHING WRONG TO YOU AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY HIM?!" Leni screamed at the top of her lungs. Everyone was shaking from the unheard voice of her screaming in anger. She broke free of her father and stormed down the steps.
"Where are you going?" asked Rita, tending to Luna.
"To find my only brother," replied Leni in a huff.
"Leni, the temperature's still dropping outside!" protested Lynn Sr.
"That's right, and my brother's out there in it!" A slam came from the front door, indicating that she had left. No one wanted to say anything, yet something needed to be said. So the silence was broken by Lana, another of Lincoln's sisters close to him.
"Mom, what's happening?" she asked.
Out on the streets of Royal Woods, Leni was walking with tears running from her eyes and anger acting as her motivation. She didn't know where to look, but she felt that she had to. She sighed, pulling out her cell phone to call someone.
"Hey, Leni," a female voice yawned on the other end. "Why are you calling me? I have a shift in seven hours." But hearing Leni sniffle, she got the impression that something was wrong.
"Fiona, I need your help, please," Leni said with desperation. She listened in and heard scuffling before getting a response.
"Alright, tell me where you are and I'll be there," said Fiona seriously.
"Thanks," said Leni. "Also, call Miguel. I need as many people as I can for this," she said determined and got a confirmation from Fiona. Leni ended the call and waited for her friends with one hopeful thought in her head. Please be okay, Lincoln.