Loud House: Flash!
10th Flash: Never Again
They pounded the wet pavement, heedless of how soaked they got as water splashed their pant legs. Lori led the way, head on a swivel, scanning the dark gray landscape, hand gripping that of her little sister Luan's whose head was bent, teeth chattering and eyes constantly darting fearfully to and fro as she sniveled.
"Literally keep moving!" Lori urged, not slowing even as she felt her sister stumble. "We're almost there, Luan, just a bit more! You can do it!"
Shivering despite her thick overcoat, Luan tried hard not to cry as she whimpered, "I don't wanna go back, please don't make me-"
"I'm not," Lori pressed on, their destination finally in sight. "I'm literally-" her phone buzzed again, but she forced herself not to grab for it. "I won't let them take you, not again!"
But how? It literally happened once, and she even approved! So how could Luan trust-
She shoved those thoughts aside the second they both reached the overhang. A sign advertising the Royal Woods interstate bus station stared back at her, and she gulped deep breaths as she looked back at Luan. "We're here, Luan. D-don't worry, we can rest now."
Carefully leading Luan inside, Lori left the younger girl on a bench while she went to finalize their boarding passes.
This done and grateful the clerk apparently wasn't suspicious, Lori took one look over at Luan before, sure she'd be fine, hurrying over to the bathroom. The moment she'd slipped in she whipped out her phone.
"Dad, Dad, Bobby, Mom, Lincoln…" she whispered as she scanned her inbox, steeling herself to do what she had to. Just as another text popped into existence, she pressed a sequence of buttons and was greeted with the factory reset screen. "Bye… everyone."
She confirmed her choice then as the screen showed the progress.
Choking back a whimper, Lori hurriedly entered a stall, did her business, rummaged through her coat, checked that she still had the nearly eight thousand she'd found before rescuing Luan, then stowed it away and pulled out another phone.
It was all she could do not to try and text Bobby. Try and get him to understand the truth.
The horrible, ugly, horrendous truth of what Luan would have suffered, had already suffered at the hands of them.
But she couldn't. They might hurt him, and they'd certainly hurt her and Luan if they were caught.
Instead, she finished up, washed her hands, then exited and walked over to her little sister who was rocking a little unsteadily back and forth in her seat.
"Luan?" Lori asked gently.
Her little sister shook her head, shivered, then looked up, "I-I'm sorry, Lori! No m-more j-jokes, I'll-"
Lori sat beside her and pulled Luan into a gentle hug. "Trust me, that's so the opposite of what I want, Luan."
Rocking and cooing Luan, Lori stroked her little sister's head and kept an eye on the station's entrances. A few people came and went, and when she spotted what she was looking for she excused herself.
Trying to avoid being noticed, once she was sure it was safe Lori got close enough to slip her old phone into the man's bag when he wasn't looking, then retreated. It wasn't much, and she should have done it sooner, but it would have to do.
Lincoln was the better spy guy, anyways. She was so totally out of her depth in all this!
Hurrying back, she noticed it was nearing their boarding time and strode with purpose over to Luan again. "Hey, Luan?"
The girl looked up, face haggard and worn after all her suffering. Lori felt her chest clench while a fire roared equally to life at the sight. "Y-yeah?"
Softly, Lori asked with a smile, "Do you need to use the bathroom? We have to board soon and-"
"I don't wanna go back," Luan whimpered, but Lori shook her head.
"You aren't. I won't let them take you back. Not now, not ever," Lori hugged her close, then asked again, "Do you need to use the bathroom?"
It took a moment, but Luan finally mewled, "No."
"Okay then. Let's go-" she paused, catching a familiar sight out beyond the station's windows. A too familiar sight. "Come on, Luan, let's hurry. Okay? I have snacks and drinks in my pockets, let's just go."
The sight went unnoticed by Luan, to which Lori was grateful. But when they reached their boarding platform Lori could feel her heart beat like mad as she mentally counted down-
Come on, just let us on early!
Three minutes.
Still no sight of them.
Please, hurry it up!
A minute and a half and still she saw no sign of their pursuers-
"Okay, folks! Now boarding!"
Lori breathed heavily as she led Luan surreptitiously into line. She was sure someone would ask questions, but no one did. After boarding, they strolled to the rear where Luan sat opposite the station near the windows, with Lori near the aisle.
It wasn't until the bus started pulling out that Lori's hand stopped shaking, even as she spotted those uniforms still scouring the parking lot.
Maybe discarding the phone there was a good idea after all?
Sighing, Lori put that out of her mind, both visibly calming as Royal Woods was left in the distance. "So, Luan?"
The girl looked wordlessly to her as her four months of absolute hell slowly receded out of sight behind them.
"Where should we live?"
As Luan started tearing up, Lori pulled her close and held her tightly.
Never again. OMGosh, I will never make that mistake again.
End of 10th Flash