Remember a few months ago when I made a one-shot about my idea of a bad ending to "Save Royal Woods!" where Joyce won, the Loud family and everyone else were forced to leave, and Royal Woods was flooded? Well, I decided to revisit this idea but decided to give it a horror spin.
In this universe, Joyce flooded Royal Woods and everyone living there evacuated beforehand, but what if someone didn't get out in time?
"Another miserable day over." Joyce Crandall tiredly groaned as she sat the used mop back in the yellow cart. She stretched her body and felt her bones pop making her gasp at the released pressure; she really needed to see a chiropractor. Joyce then peeled off the clear plastic gloves that reeks of cleaner and tossed both into the trash before making her way to the old mirror hanging on the wall in the janitor's closet. What was once a smooth-skinned beauty was now replaced with a wrinkly, jaded old hag.
Every day after her shift she sees this same face; a face of someone who had her life unfairly robbed from her. And she remembers how it all happened too.
It began ten years ago when Joyce was still in her prime and was the undersecretary of water leisure; the pay was good and she was as respected as someone with this position could be, but Joyce believed she deserved a higher place in life, so she tried to find any opportunity to be promoted into becoming the new over secretary.
From hosting fundraisers to working extra hours, nothing seemed to work until she got the idea to create the sixth great lake of Michigan. After days of inspecting and searching the entire state, she had finally discovered the perfect place to make it happen! It was a little town called Royal Woods which by Joyce's research had nothing special to it, and the people living there were no better.
To Joyce, Royal Woods can be summed down that one weird relative you only see on the holidays who has made nothing of their life yet believes they deserve praise just for existing. That town was literally worthless, and have you met the people who lived there? So her idea was to make everyone there leave and demolish the dam that's near the town. And after the water sets in, Lake Gladys (named after her mother as a gift) will open to the public!
And guess what? Joyce's plan was a success! Everyone left Royal Woods and the town disappeared under a large body of water in less than a day. Of course, it wasn't easy, the town's people tried to win her over by singing musical numbers and lying about how great their town was, but her decision was final!
But her actions didn't seem to bode well with Joyce's boss. Apparently, she didn't get official permission to flood a town and what she did was highly illegal. Her boss threatened to have Joyce fired and the authorities to be called on her, but Joyce knew from her years in the business to always have a lawyer on speed dial.
She made her case about why Royal Woods no longer being around is a good thing, and that compared to the other cities in Michigan, it's forgettable. She also explained that she was also willing to give everybody compensation money to move out and find somewhere else to infest. I mean, live.
So her lawyer managed to keep Joyce out of jail, but she couldn't get her promotion or even keep her current job, instead she was demoted to janitorial duties. Great.
Oh, and the demolition crew she hired had the audacity to testify in court that Joyce didn't inform them that they didn't have official, legal permission to tear down the dam, so those traitors got off with only a slap on the wrist (with mandatory community service on the side) while Joyce has to live with her dead dreams.
Though as if life was doing all it could to get in her way, she still faced many issues moving forward. The former citizens of what was Royal Woods were angry about their homes being destroyed and were demanding that Joyce lose her job, gets thrown in a prison, and some even wanting her head on a pike.
*Gulp*
And get this: It turns out that Royal Woods has actually been sitting on a deposit of nickel, iron, copper, and petroleum all this time which in turn polluted the water which made it unsuitable to swim in and has also been killing fish. So yeah, Joyce's work was pretty much all for nothing because no one can go swimming. So now the contaminated lake has been closed off from other bodies of water surrounding so the pollution won't spread further and the only people who are allowed near the lake are scientists trying to find a way to decontaminate the water. So far, there has been no progress.
You know, you'd think at least somebody in Royal Wood's would've known this and said something beforehand that way no one's time would've been wasted.
But it only got worse as time moved forward. Joyce assumed that everyone left town before the water rolled in, but she was wrong. One person didn't get out in time.
As she knows now, his name was Lincoln Loud. After many failed attempts by him and the town's people to try and persuade Joyce to not flood his hometown, Lincoln decided to make one final stand as the demolition started.
...
That proved to be a fatal mistake.
Joyce learned about this the day after the water rose above even the highest building in town. She got a call about him not getting accounted for by his family. Joyce's heart dropped when she realized that the water got him and the sheer weight of the oncoming flood kept him from rising to the surface, drowning him in the process. That alone dug her a deeper hole.
Search boats were sent out to find his body, but nothing was found. That could've meant Lincoln sunk all the way to the bottom, or he was swept out into sea before the lake was closed off. And if it wasn't that then the contaminated water surely got him. (Not that that's a good thing...)
As you might've guessed, his family were absolutely furious, no- more than furious about what had happened. They attempted to sue her multiple times and accused Joyce of purposely killing Lincoln because he stood in her way.
Joyce came out and explained to everyone that she didn't know Lincoln was still in town and neither did the demolition crew, but the family still saw her as a monster. Her? A monster?!
Did Joyce find Lincoln annoying? Yes. But she never wanted to harm him in anyway. In fact, she would've done all she could to save him if she found out he was still in the range of the water.
Joyce felt terrible about the family's loss and has tried to reach out to them and even going as far as to send them some money for their troubles, but every attempt was shot down by the family. Every time she saw news interviews where she saw the broken family, Lincoln's crying siblings, and his mother who couldn't even say two words without breaking down into her husband's embracing hold just hurt her heart even more, so how was she the monster in this situation?
It really wasn't even her fault! That damn kid was too stubborn to accept that his town was expendable and believed he could somehow stop her push for progress. Lincoln stayed in Royal Woods on his own free will, so technically his death was his fault, not Joyce's!
If she was really a monster, then she would've been celebrating that the white-haired brat kicked the bucket! Hell, she would've personally broken his legs so he really couldn't have escaped if that were the case!
...
Joyce coughed awkwardly. She... really didn't mean to think that. It's just that this day out of the entire year makes her stressed out because it just so happens to be the 10th anniversary of Royal Woods destruction and Lincoln's disappearance. She remembers this day because for the last ten years she has received text messages from unknown numbers. Texts that usually contained threats on her life, petty insults, and one last year that told Joyce:
"The Devil has a special fiery pit waiting just for you!".
Joyce suspected this was the Loud family, or at least the sisters sending her these; she had at first ignored them but soon contacted the authorities as the texts continued. The cops found no evidence that the Louds were involved, but Joyce figured they somehow covered their tracks, so she went ahead and hired a lawyer to have the family sign a no-contact form just in case.
Today she was expecting another threatening text but didn't get one this time. This led to Joyce confirming that the Louds were the ones sending those texts, but she won't do anything about it this time. Mainly because she hardly has enough cash for legal action.
It's always this day that really gets on Joyce's nerves. A reminder of how her dreams were ruined, her own mother disowning her, and the death of a child. But Joyce knows the last one wasn't her fault; she didn't force Lincoln to stay in town like an idiot. She's blameless and shouldn't feel guilty at all!
She shouldn't feel guilty... right?
After putting everything away and changing her clothes, Joyce left her job and was later driving in her car that was straight out of the 2000s. It looked beat up and the insides always smelt like cigarettes from the previous owner no matter how many times she has tried cleaning. She used to have a beautiful modern convertible but had to sell it for some extra dough and eventually bought this piece of crap because it was the cheapest she could purchase.
The radio signal was bad, one of the back windows sounded like nails dragging across a chalkboard when rolled up or down, the AC only worked in the winter and the heater in summer, and the windshield had a noticeable crack in the middle where a rock from one of those sand trucks flew out and hit her windshield months ago. But at least it had a decent CD player!
Some music is what Joyce needs to make the ride home go quicker. She needs to go to the store and pick of some stuff, but she is just too tired. Maybe tomorrow she'll go. Right now, her desired destination is home.
Joyce clicked the CD button and turned the volume knob, but instead of classic rock the sound of static. However, this static sounded way different than what Joyce is used to. It almost sounds like running water.
She scowled.
"That's odd." she stated in confusion.
Joyce clicked the skip button for the next song, but the sound still continued. Even more confused, Joyce pressed the eject button which released the disk. She inspected it to see it was still the classical music cd she had for years, and the backside didn't have any dust or scratches on it, so she pushed the disk back into the player to see if it'll work this time.
After a few seconds, the running water resumed.
Groaning in annoyance, Joyce roughly turned the knob the opposite way, making the volume go all the way to zero.
"Fantastic." she thought. "Another thing in my life that wants to screw up."
She'll search for an explanation on the internet later. It's that or go to the auto shop where the mechanics will "fix" something she didn't want and then charge her extra while also taking peeks at her while they think she isn't looking.
Minutes pass as Joyce drives down a road surrounded by trees. Since she has no music to distract her, her eyes remained glued to the road as she got lost in her thoughts. Many would be too scared driving down a road like this at night, but Joyce has traveled this way for years so nothing is really new to her. It's just up what's ahead that Joyce isn't looking forward to.
Another few minutes pass until Joyce finally sees what was supposed to be Lake Gladys. The moon shining its pale glow mixed with the lights from the science labs next to it makes it almost as clear as day. And on the shore of where the city of Royal Woods once stood, she saw Lincoln's memorial. It looked tiny from a distance, but she knows what it looks like no matter how far away.
It's a big portrait of Lincoln smiling with small messages from his friends and family saying how he'll be missed and whatnot along with their names. Around the portrait were many flowers, photos, candles, and even the stuffed bunny Lincoln was always closed to when he was younger. And to top it all off is the bright orange sash wrapped around the portrait, Lincoln's favorite color.
Joyce continues to stare at the memorial as she drives. She has never visited the site for herself and has no intention of doing so; not with knowing the death stares she'll receive if anyone were to recognize her. Joyce paid her respects in her own way and that should be more than enough.
She has nothing to feel bad about.
But even with this, Joyce still couldn't take her eyes off it. She imagined what her life could've been like now if that kid didn't die and there wasn't a stupid metal deposit under the town. Families from nearby would all crowd the lake with their barbeque grills as children play in the water and boats gliding across the surface under the bright sun and clear blue sky.
And... her own mother would be standing right next to Joyce, a hand on Joyce's shoulder as she tells her daughter how proud she is of her accomplishment instead of living a few states away after disowning Joyce following the incident.
Joyce felt a sudden wave of tears forming under her eyelids. She immediately rubbed her eyes as she audibly sniffed; she thought her days of crying was long behind her, but she was wrong.
Joyce wiped her eyes and looked up just in time to see her car closing in on someone standing in the middle of the road at a fast speed. A small scream escaped Joyce's throat as she jerked the wheel to the right. She narrowly missed the person as her car swerved towards the edge of the road. Joyce quickly turned the wheel in the opposite direction before she could fly off the road and slammed on the breaks.
The tires let out a loud screeching noise as Joyce struggled to keep her vehicle on the road.
Finally, the car made a complete stop.
Joyce couldn't feel anything at this moment. She didn't feel herself breathing nor could she feel her own heartbeat.
The lady forced herself to breath when came out as a huge puff of air as the feeling returned to her body. Now she felt her heartbeat banging inside her body like a drum. She stared out the windshield directly at the spotlights around the lake.
After almost a minute of continuous staring, Joyce calmed down enough to where she could recall what had happened. Her shock immediately turned to anger as she remembered some idiot standing in the middle of the road.
Joyce reached over to the glove compartment and opened it where a flashlight sat in place. She grabbed it and pulled the handle of her door, almost kicking it open.
Once she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of her car, Joyce looked around to where she remembered that jerk stood and shined the light towards that direction.
"HEY!" Joyce screamed angrily but was confused when she saw no one there.
"Where did you-" Joyce mumbled as she aimed the light at other directions and still found nobody. She walked forward to where she was sure the person was and kept searching the area.
Did she imagine it? Or maybe was there really someone here and Joyce did hit them albeit unintentionally; there was no body on the ground, so no?
Joyce kept shining her light around just in case as more questions than answers filled her head. Then something caught her eye, Joyce looked down and saw what appeared to be wet shoeprints stamped on the asphalt. They looked fresh.
Joyce's heart dropped. This means someone was standing there and she has most likely run them over!
The fear of getting caught overtook her. If she got in trouble with this, then she was really going to jail this time! There was not enough cash in her account to afford a lawyer, at least one who could potentially get her out of this jam.
Joyce suddenly heard voices from the guards around the lake coming close to investigate.
"Screw this! I'm not going to jail." Joyce said as she turned and hurried back to her car. The body most likely was launched onto the other side of the road so maybe a wild animal can get it before it's found, as Joyce thought to herself.
She made it back to her car and shined the light on the hood expecting to find a dent or maybe even a drop of blood so she can clean it off just in case she did hit something, but she saw that her car was clear besides the paint have been peeled due to age.
Okay, so she didn't run anyone over. Good.
Feeling better already, Joyce hopped onto the driver's seat, closed the door, and floored the gas pedal down. The car roared down the road before anyone could see what had happened.
A long sigh of relief left Joyce's lips as she relaxed against her seat. It's fortunate that she will be in lo legal trouble, but there's something still bothering her. She was sure there was someone in the road; what else could it have been?
It could've been in her head. She has been working a lot of hours lately and maybe the chemicals from the cleaning supplies were messing with her head.
Yeah, that makes more sense. Joyce can't even remember what this supposed "person" even looked like. It looked humanoid but not much else.
Though there was something about what she believed to be a hallucination that Joyce did notice.
She could've sworn she saw something orange.
It was a little over twenty minutes later when Joyce parked her car in the parking lot of her apartment building. It was a simple one-room apartment with all the things she needed. Though she wished she could be in a mansion instead of this place, but it was better than being in a cramped motel with rats running around.
Joyce walked into the empty lobby and made a stop at her mailbox to collect whatever bill or junk was inside. She then walked up to the third floor while ignoring anyone she may come across. Joyce never bothers to speak with any of her neighbors and they typically do the same besides the usual elder who just wants to make conversation with someone because their kids aren't there to visit. Other than having no interest in the lives of others, Joyce doesn't want to risk someone potentially recognizing her and all hell breaking loose.
Later, Joyce opened the door of her apartment and closed it behind her and made sure to lock it.
As she kicked off her shoes and hung up her jacket, Joyce suddenly heard the sound of loud tapping coming from the kitchen. It didn't sound like a person tapping, it sounded like water. Joyce walked to the kitchen even though her apartment was dark, but she has been living her long enough to where that isn't a problem. She turned on the light which illuminated the kitchen and followed the noise to the sink where she saw that the faucet was leaking a thin line of water.
Joyce scowled. Did she leave this thing on by accident? She didn't recall leaving this morning in a hurry. Shrugging, she turned the handle to stop the flow. Now there was silence.
Miss Crandall felt peace in the silence, but she knew she didn't have long to relax. She had work again tomorrow and had to get up early.
Joyce went to her bedroom to change and came back minutes later with a bathrobe on. She made her way to her refrigerator and opened the freezer and grabbed a frozen dinner. It wasn't anything like she used to feast on in her previous job (some lobster would be fantastic right now!), but it was cheap.
She grabbed a kitchen knife from the drawer and cut vents into the plastic film and placed it in the microwave. Hopefully this time her food won't come out still ice cold even though she set the time like the directions said to.
As she waited for her food to finish cooking Joyce leaned against the counter opposite of the microwave, sitting the knife on the counter next to her, and stared off into space as her thoughts drifted into how her life led to this. It has been a while since she called mom and even longer since they last spoke. Maybe she could try again soon? Joyce feels terrible for not giving her mother the greatest gift a daughter could give, but none of that was her fault; it was the stupid underground deposit and that stupid kid!
But no matter how many times Joyce has tried to explain these unfortunate events to her mom she still shuns her. Something could've been done with the lake despite it being contaminated, like a big boat dock, but the loud boy should've used his brain and left with his family instead of staying in a town set for demolition. Joyce is tired of feeling bad for all this and hopefully her mom will see that.
Someday...
Joyce's kept her focus on how she could reconcile with her mom until she finally noticed the dripping sound has continued when she wasn't paying attention.
"What in the world?" Joyce cursed. She stepped in front of the sink and saw that both handles were all the way back. Joyce turned both handles forward which allowed the water to flow out normally and then turned both back off. She watched and waited for a few seconds until a few small drops leaked out from the faucet.
"Son of a-" Joyce shouted, hitting it in frustration.
Now she has to contact the landlord for a plumber to come fix this leak; and it'll probably be that creepy, old one who likes to take peeks at Joyce when he believes she isn't looking. And not only that, but the landlord will add a slight increase in Joyce's next rent day for "interest" which she knows it's just him getting petty revenge because he has to pay the plumber himself.
But instead of allowing herself to be further frustrated, Joyce took a few calming breaths. She grabbed a washcloth from a nearby drawer, balled it up, and stuffed it into the drain so she wouldn't hear the dripping. It's not like small drops of water will build up and cause the sink to overflow in the next few hours, and that's enough time to pass the message to her stingy landlord.
The loud beeping of the microwave rang out in the kitchen. Joyce smiled as she left the sink alone and retrieved her dinner. It was lukewarm which is better than usual, maybe her luck was starting to turn!
Joyce walked into the small living room with her food and sat down on her old recliner. She bought this thing from a yard sale a few years ago for a good price with the only problem is that it creaks really loud when you move while sitting, but she quickly got used to it (given this is the only piece of furniture she owns besides a coffee table).
A few minutes pass before Joyce finishes dinner. She has to admit that whatever mystery meat frozen food companies use and label it as "Salisbury Steak" can be pretty good sometimes. Joyce then glanced at a nearby clock and sees she has a little bit of time to kill before hitting the hay, so she decided to watch some tv. Maybe she could catch a cheesy sitcom or something.
She grabbed the remote and pressed the power button; the tv let out a low humming sound as the screen illuminated only for the screen to show static with that all too familiar and annoying sound blasting from the speakers.
This made Joyce jump in surprise and she pressed down on the volume button and didn't stop until the tv went silent. She then flipped to the next channel only to find more static.
"Did something happen to the satellite?" Joyce asked herself before changing to yet another channel where she was met with even more static.
There had to be at least one channel that was on, so Joyce repeatedly changed channels and kept seeing the same picture until she saw a quick flash of bright colors on one channel but immediately passed it because she was tapping too quickly. Joyce backtracked until she found the channel and discovered it was the news.
The news isn't something Joyce wants to watch all the time except for the weather. Other than that, it's just politics or why the world will die off because of global warming or whatever, but it was better than nothing.
On the screen was a female reporter that Joyce recognized to be Kathrine Mulligan who used to be a big newscaster in Royal Woods before... you know.
She looked much older now with some visible wrinkles on her face and other signs of a decade's worth of aging, but she still looked well. Joyce didn't think much of seeing the news lady until she started speaking in a low, sad tone with a face to match.
"Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the Royal Flood Disaster. The day where over a thousand citizens have lost their jobs, homes, and livelihoods in just one day from-"
Kathrine stopped talking and looked like she was thinking to herself about what to say next. Joyce was already annoyed because of all things happening in the world right now this is what the news wanted to talk about at this very moment, and she knew Kathrine was about to mention her, so she was about to turn off the tv and call it quits for the night until Kathrine continued speaking.
"How the flood happened is well-known so none of us needs to address it, but what's most important is remembering a boy who lost his life before it could even begin."
Suddenly, a photo of Lincoln Loud flashed on-screen. Joyce flinched when she saw it but didn't know why.
Kathrine returned to view as Lincoln's photo shrunk into a smaller box and is moved next to the reporter who looks so emotionally drained for having to speak on this topic.
"Lincoln Loud was twelve-years-old. He was the only son of Lynn Senior and Rita Loud and the lone brother in a family of ten sisters-"
Another photo containing an old family portrait showing the Louds taking a family picture in the living room of their old house is shown on screen.
He loved his family, video games, comic books, spending time with his friends, and playing with his sisters. It's widely believed that Lincoln didn't make it out of Royal Woods before the flood and he drowned along with the city. But despite his body having yet to be found even now, he has been deemed legally dead."
Kathrine stopped as she visibly struggled to keep a straight face and to not choke up; Joyce noted how hurt she looked.
"Just... play it. I'll be fine." Kathrine spoke to someone off-screen before quickly looking away from the camera.
Old news footage from a decade ago plays which Joyce instantly recognizes; this is when Lincoln's memorial was set up.
Joyce watched the clips of the former Royal Woods citizens gathering around Lincoln's portrait, laying both gifts and candles around it.
First was a shot of Rita crying her eyes out as she tightly clings to her husband, her legs too weak from grief to support her as her equally heartbroken husband, Lynn Senior, hugs her close as his puffy red eyes can be seen. Next to the married couple was a saddened older man with white hair which Joyce knew was Lincoln's grandfather, Rita's dad.
Another clip showed Lincoln's sisters hugging each other or being consoled by friends and family as they grieved for their loss. Even the Loud sister with black hair that covers her eyes couldn't hide her true feelings as she too wept on-screen.
The last clip was of a younger Lynn Loud Junior who as of now is a well-known sports star that Joyce has seen on many sport-related advertisements in the last few years. Her eyes were red and puffy with tear stains on her cheeks as she faced the camera; she looked angry.
"[Bleep] you, Joyce! You took away my brother you ugly [Bleep]! I hope you die and go to [Bleep]!" The athlete's rant was stopped by her older sister Lori who pulled Lynn Jr into a hug. Lynn tried to fight back against her sister's embrace but soon gave in and buried her face into her shirt, completely defeated.
Joyce felt sick to her stomach watching this
The video stopped and the screen showed Kathrine looking off-screen with a slightly annoyed expression.
"We weren't supposed to show that clip." said Kathrine.
Distant mumbling could be heard from behind the camera, but Joyce couldn't make out what they were saying, but this caused Kathrine to nod her head side-to-side in disapproval.
"I know he was your friend, Stella, but you need to remain professional." Kathrine reminded.
Nothing else was heard from this Stella person so Kathrine continued on.
"In closing, no matter how much time may pass, no matter how many years may come, a loss of a family member will never be forgotten. And Lincoln Loud, you will always be remembered in the hearts of your family and friends. The memories of you and Royal Woods will forever live on in our hearts. This is Kathrine Mulligan signing off for the night. See you all tomorrow."
The sick feeling in Joyce's stomach remained. This wasn't no ordinary anniversary memorial; it couldn't have been! They all somehow knew she would be watching the news and added that clip of Lynn Jr verbally harassing her on purpose!
The urge to call the station and demand that Stella person fired for adding that clip and give them all an earful grew within her, but Joyce quickly realized that it was better if she didn't. After all, if she made an outburst then everyone will know that Joyce saw the news report and that it bothered her.
She wasn't going to allow them to have that satisfaction.
Can't these animals just accept that Lincoln's death wasn't her doing? That little snot should've been with his mommy instead of meddling in business that wasn't his own!
"No! Stop." Joyce cursed to herself. That isn't a good way to think about a dead kid.
Feeling her appetite has gone, Joyce slammed her food tray on the coffee table which made a loud THUD!
"Damn it..." Joyce cursed, burying her face in her hands from frustration.
Suddenly, Joyce heard the loud sound of running water in her kitchen. She got up quickly and ran to the kitchen where she found the faucet letting out water at full blast. As she got closer, she noticed that both handles have been turned somehow; but her focus was more on the water filling the sink at an alarming speed.
"Nonononono!" Joyce repeated as she turned the handles back, but the water continued to flow and was about to spill out onto the floor. Joyce reached into the sink and grabbed the rag and pulled it out of the drain.
She expected the water that has built up to begin draining, but instead the water continued to somehow rise as a mysterious dark & misty substance seeped out of the drain. Joyce was at a loss of what to do; she has never seen this happen before. Her sink was malfunctioning, and the water was changing from clear to a dark reddish-brown color.
Joyce was about to go on a frantic search for large pots or buckets to catch the water and find a way to fix this, but the now dark sink water right at the edge of the sink and the rate of water shooting out the faucet decreased until not even a small drop came out. After a few seconds of no movement, Joyce felt relieved that a big mess has been avoided. But she couldn't wrap her head around why her sink did something like this or why the water was so dark.
"This better not connect to the sewage outlet somehow." Joyce thought to herself
Joyce looked down at the sink and spotted a small bubble appear above the water. She then saw another bubble appear. Then another, then another. and multiple more came up, almost like air bubbles.
She thought that there was something in the drain that caused this and maybe she could pull it out to fix this. Would be better than to pay a creepy plumber.
Joyce rolled up her sleeve and reached for the water.
SPLASH!
As her hand hovered over the sink's surface, a hand shot out from the water and grabbed Joyce's wrist. The lady let out a loud scream and struggled to break free from its strong grip. Joyce resorted to hitting the hand and even scratching it with the nails of her other hand which worked as this hand from the water released her.
But the force of Joyce pulling away caused her to fall onto the ground. She propped herself up and breathed loudly as she saw the hand still sticking out from the water. A second hand emerged from the dark water and whatever it was grabbed onto the edge of the sink and what Joyce saw was a humanoid figure hopped out from the sink and landed feetfirst on the tile floor with a loud SPLAT!
Joyce's eyes widened as once she saw this thing under light, she immediately recognized this figure by the shirt and white hair alone.
No... it couldn't be...
It was Lincoln Loud.
His skin was now bluish gray with a hint of green in certain areas. His clothes were soaked, tattered, and ripped in different areas revealing his decayed body with the colors faded. His white hair now drenched and mop-like. The skin on his left cheek is completely gone revealing his exposed jaw and his dirty teeth; other parts of his body have also been visibly eaten away revealing his bone such as the right side of his ribcage from under his ruined orange polo, and his left arm is only bone and nothing else.
But the most noticeable change is his now yellow eyes which have sunk inside his dark sockets with black pupils and tiny black veins surrounding it.
What's worse is these eyes were staring down at Joyce.
Joyce was gripped with fear.
"L-L-Lincoln?" Joyce stuttered, finding it almost impossible to speak. She knew this undead creature was Lincoln (or at least looked like him), but she couldn't believe he was here, standing in front of her instead of her.
Though this was impossible; Lincoln is dead, or so she believed. And how did he come out of her sink? None of this made sense.
A muffled sound of bubbling water sounded from within Lincoln's rotted chest. He slowly opened his mouth to show nothing but black rot and decay as gurgling could be heard from his throat. Murky strands of water escaped from his mouth and leaked down his sickly blue lips.
A low moan pushed past the gurgling as Lincoln spoke a single word.
"Joyce." Lincoln said, his voice sounded raspy while also as if he was choking on water while speaking.
A lump formed in Joyce's throat; she still couldn't wrap her head around what is happening to think straight.
Joyce wasn't the superstitious type. She didn't believe in ghosts or demons, she didn't follow a religion, nor was she paranoid about a zombie apocalypse, yet here was Lincoln standing in front of her; not dead, but also not alive.
Maybe her mind was playing a trick on her? A very convincing trick.
Not wanting to take the risk of Lincoln actually being here or not, Joyce kept her eyes on him as she attempted to stand. She used the counter on her left to prop herself up and felt the handle of the kitchen knife against her fingers which she fought her eyes to not look at, but she noted it was there if she needed it.
Now on her feet, Joyce sees Lincoln staring up at her, his eyes unmoving. His height was still the same as it was years ago.
"Lincoln," Joyce began, speaking in a voice mixed with fear and concern. "H-How are you here? And why?"
Another drop of water fell from Lincoln's mouth and onto the floor before he answered.
"I'm here... for YOU!" he yelled, sounding angry.
Joyce took a step back in shock.
"M-Me? Why?" she asked, genuinely confused.
Lincoln's eyes which Joyce realized hasn't blinked once seems to be staring at her very soul from her question.
"Isn't it obvious?" the undead Lincoln questioned. "You did this to me. You killed me!"
Suddenly, a ball of anger grew within Joyce. A decade worth of mistreatment and blame being pinned on her has been building up, and this apparition or possibly her mind fooling her caused her to finally snap.
"No!" Joyce yelled, her face now red with anger. "I'm so sick of everyone saying you died because of me when you're the one who decided to play hero and stayed in the city knowing what was about to happen!"
She then pointed at "Lincoln" accusingly.
"If you being dead is anyone's fault, it's yours! And I'm tired of your stupid family hating me because you wanted to be an annoying idiot and refuse to accept change!"
Joyce then stopped. Her breaths were loud and heavy, but Lincoln wasn't fazed by her outburst. In fact, he looked amused.
"My fault? Is that how you remember it?" Lincoln asked.
Joyce calmed down slightly.
"What are you talking about?" she asked defiantly.
Lincoln smiled and he let out a demonic laugh as he raised his right hand to reveal a metal chain wrapped around his arm with the link broken. The spirit stopped laughing and motioned at the chain.
"Remember this, Joyce? I didn't put this on myself." Lincoln explained.
Joyce was at first confused when she saw the chain, but before she could retort, a memory flashed in her mind. A memory she buried long ago.
10 Years Earlier...
"Ms Crandle, please listen!" an alive Lincoln begged as he followed Joyce through the site of the dam.
Joyce could care less about what they boy had to say. That little song he, his family, and the other citizens of this dump of a town tried to win her over with didn't do a thing and she honestly had enough. It didn't help that the collective stress of today was giving her a major headache.
"Just leave, kid. There's nothing you can do to stop this." Joyce replied uncaringly as she continued forward.
Not ready to give up, Lincoln ran in front of Joyce and blocked her way.
"Ms Crandle, you can't flood our town. Think of what will happen to us all when everything we have known is gone." said Lincoln, hoping to get through to the lady.
Joyce rolled her eyes.
"Look, when Lake Gladys opens up to the public and I'm in need of a lifeguard, I'll gladly hire you for the job, okay?" Joyce answered quickly, her headache growing more.
She then walked around Lincoln and glanced back at him.
"Your family and everyone else have already left; it would be smart if you went to them right now." she warned before looking ahead.
Lincoln stood still and began thinking. Should he accept that Royal Woods is done for? His previous plans to save the town did all end in disaster, but should he really give up?
...
No! Lincoln refused to see his home die! And he was going to make sure Joyce doesn't go through with her plan one way or another.
Lincoln ran up to Joyce and grabbed her hand, catching her by surprise. She looked at him and tried to pull away but found he was pretty strong for a kid.
"Let go of me!" Joyce yelled.
"No!" Lincoln refused "Not until you agree to leave my home alone!"
Joyce continued to pull away, but she couldn't escape Lincoln's grasp. Her headache was now even worse than before as she became increasingly angry. Lincoln continued to ignore Joyce's demands to release her this instant, and the moment he forcefully pulled her towards him made Joyce suddenly see nothing but red.
"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Joyce roared as she balled her free hand into a fist and smashed it against Lincoln's face. The impact along with a sudden blast of pain made Lincoln let go of her hand as he fell back onto the ground. He was dazed at first, but he regained his senses and felt his sore cheek only to see Joyce standing over him with an expression of pure rage.
"You really love this town so much? Fine then."
Joyce grabbed Lincoln by his arm and pulled him up to his feet. She forcefully dragged him along as he attempted to escape but her grasp strength was just as surprising as his.
Joyce stopped by a nearby metal pole where she found a chain link laying on the ground. It was possibly left behind by the demolition crew, or a citizen of Royal Woods (everyone here was crazy so at least one might have a love for chains). Joyce didn't care, but it was just what she needed.
She brought Lincoln up against the pole and wrapped his right arm with the chain and did so despite his resistance. Lincoln was now bounded against the pole and felt pain as the chains pressed hard against his skin.
"Joyce, please let me go! Don't leave me here!" he pleaded, tears rolling down his cheeks.
But Joyce felt no sympathy for him. No love, no feelings at all.
"Have a nice swim, kid." Joyce said morbidly as she began to walk away from Lincoln.
Lincoln began to panic. He yelled for Joyce and saw she wasn't listening, so he resorted to screaming for help as loud as he could.
Joyce turned around and marched back to Lincoln.
"Shut up!" she screamed before punching him again. His head collided hard against the metal pole which knocked him unconscious.
Seeing him finally quiet, Joyce wore a satisfied grin as she walked off.
It was a short while before Joyce made her way to the dam and gave the demolition crew the thumbs up to tear it down which they did without a second thought, and a large wave of water began pouring down at the town.
...
From a safe distance, the Loud family along with the former citizens of Royal Woods could only watch as their beloved town slowly disappeared under a large body of water.
Rita Loud's mind was cluttered as she tried to think of what to do next. The only money they had with them now was what's in her purse and in Lynn's wallet which barely reached over $200 though they thankfully have their bank cards, they have nowhere to go. Maybe they can get in contact with the Casagrande family in Great Lakes City; they might allow them to stay there for the time being.
It will be hard moving forward after this, but Rita felt a small sliver of hope with knowing she still has her husband and all her kids with her. The Loud mother looked at her babies (sans Lori who is at college) and felt a warmness in her heart until she noticed someone is missing.
Where's Lincoln?
He wasn't next to any of his sisters or her and Lynn. She looked around at the other people surrounding them hoping to find white hair or at least an orange polo, but nothing matched her lovely son.
"Has anyone seen Lincoln?" Rita asked out loud for her husband and daughters to here.
They all looked around only to realize that they didn't see him anywhere, and neither did his friends when asked.
"Lincoln?!" Rita panicked. She then looked at the sinking city in worry.
...
Back in town, Lincoln had woken up to find the surrounding water rising around him. He went into a panicked frenzy as he struggled to keep his head above the rising water as the chain kept him in place. It wasn't even half a minute later when the water finally rose above his head, he used his last second of access to oxygen to let out one last scream for help before he was submerged.
His lungs burned from the lack of oxygen as Lincoln still fought to escape, but the chain was too tight for him to slip out off and too strong to break. He suddenly felt weaker as the burning pain within increased. His mouth finally gave in and opened, allowing water to rush in and fill his lungs.
With his last few seconds of life, Lincoln Loud looked up and saw the bright sun shining through the water for the final time before everything went dark.
Back to the present:
Joyce was frozen in place as the memory subsided. That couldn't be right; there's no way she of all people would've done that to a child. Only bad people would commit such a sin; Joyce knew she was a good person.
She stared up at Lincoln who remained in the same place, this walking nightmare not yet subsiding. Her eyes shifted to the chain and back at Lincoln who had a knowing look on his face.
"Do you remember now?" he said sadistically, seeming to enjoy the sight of Joyce's inner turmoil.
Her hand shook uncontrollably as she pointed at his arm.
"T-T-That wasn't me. I never did that." Joyce explained in denial.
Lincoln lowered his bounded arm.
"There's no point in lying to yourself anymore. You've repressed that memory for years all because you couldn't accept what you had done; so you made yourself out to be the victim just so you will have no weight on your shoulders."
The undead boy saw how petrified the woman who caused his death was; he could tell that the cogs in her head were turning.
Joyce attempted to find any excuse that could free her of the blame, any evidence to prove her hands are clean of the crime she has been accused of, maybe even an alibi to convince herself she was nowhere near Lincoln after everyone left the town; but this memory was as clear as day, she knew it happened and there's no denying it.
That's when she finally came to the difficult realization that everyone was right about for a decade: she was a murderer, and the blood of a child is stained on her hands.
Joyce slowly looked up at Lincoln, her mouth moving before she could even think.
"I did it." she admitted quietly as a new emotion overtook her, one she couldn't recognize.
Guilt?
Lincoln's mouth stretched into a smile that Joyce considered too wide open for a normal human to manage, or at least one that's alive. He let his head back and let out another deep, demonic laugh mixed with the sound of water gurgling from his throat.
"Finally!" he stopped laughing. "You've admitted it."
Joyce shifted nervously in place as Lincoln taunted her.
"And now," he smiled evilly. "Time for you to pay for what you've done!"
Lincoln leaned back and jumped at Joyce with inhuman speed. Joyce's eyes widened as she reached for the nearby kitchen knife but was too late to grab it before Lincoln tackled her to the ground. Fortunately, her hand managed to brush it enough for the knife to fall down close to her.
Having his killer pinned, Lincoln's cold hands grabbed Joyce's neck and squeezed. Joyce began to joke as she tried to fight him off by scratching away at his hands, but this didn't harm him as his grip grew tighter by each second.
It was becoming harder to breath for Joyce as Lincoln's face loomed over her; his eyes staring him down and dark liquid from his mouth pouring down on her face. And what's worse is the horrible smell of rotted flesh coming from him.
Joyce gasped for air as Lincoln kept smiling and laughing as she was coming close to her demise.
"No more running, Joyce. Tonight is where I'll be avenged!" he cackled
Tears formed in Joyce's eyes as she felt herself coming close to blacking out. She was about to give in until she saw the gleam of the knife at the corner of her eye, and it looked to be in arms reach.
Joyce looked back at Lincoln and saw that he didn't follow her glance. She used this time to reach for the knife handle while his focus remains on her.
Her index finger could just barely touch the end, she kept clawing at it and finally managed to get it close enough to where her hand could finally grab the handle. Right before she felt her consciousness slipping, Joyce gritted her teeth in anger before she shanked Lincoln in his neck.
"Hrrk!" he gasped, his smile fading and his grip loosening as black fluid dripped from the blade. Finally being able to breath, Joyce gasped for air and then used the knife as leverage to force Lincoln off of her and on his back, turning the tables to where she now had him pinned down.
Lincoln let out a loud shriek of rage as he fought back at Joyce, but she forced the knife from his neck where more black fluid oozed out of the wound. Joyce raised the knife in the air and roared before plunging it down on his chest. A disgusting sound that was indescribable was heard as the blade forcefully pierced his skin causing him to jerk around.
Joyce pulled the knife out and brought it back down, this time where his heart is, causing Lincoln to groan louder.
Wanting to end this for good, Joyce proceeded to repeatedly stab Lincoln over and over. Each time caused Joyce's breathing to become more ragged and uneven as her assault continued, all the while Lincoln didn't fight back; he didn't even move. Joyce's eyes were closed tight so she didn't see what his expression was now, and she didn't care. All that mattered is this demon going away.
Giving it her all, Joyce slams the knife down one final time to end her torment only to feel the blade hit the hard ground followed by a loud CLANG!, nothing like Lincoln's gross, squishy body.
She stopped moving her knife-wielding arm and forced her arms opened... and saw no one.
Lincoln wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere.
Joyce found herself on her knees in a puddle of cold water and the sound of the sink running. She looked behind her and saw it had overflown with more water spilling on the ground like a small waterfall.
This didn't make sense. Lincoln's dead body literally crawled out of there just a few minutes ago and attacked her, but here she is alone and wet.
Did she... imagine it all?
No, he had to of been here. Joyce was just on top of him, brutalizing him with a knife.
...
Wait! Joyce inspected the knife still in her hand and saw that other than now being slightly bent from hitting the floor tip-first, it was completely clean. None of dark fluid that bled from Lincoln's body, and the water under her was clear.
Maybe, just possibly, it was all in her head?
The sound of someone knocking on her front door snatched Joyce back into reality. She realized she must've made a commotion and now someone is investigating.
Joyce grabbed the counter to hoist herself up. Her legs felt like jelly, but that feeling soon left.
She made one last sweep of the kitchen just to make sure she is really alone, and she was.
The knocking happened again. Knowing she should hurry and answer whoever's on the other side before the authorities are possibly contacted, Joyce made her way to the sink while being careful to not slip on the water under her feet. She looked down the sink and saw that the cloth she placed in there from earlier still covers the drain, and both handles were pulled forward.
Joyce turned the sink off and reached into the water to remove the cloth so the water can drain.
Plop! The water began to slowly rush down the hole.
Sill collecting her thought, Joyce sat the knife next to the sink and finally went to the door, but not before taking a look at herself. Her clothes were wet, but she noticed her skin was unharmed, especially the places where Lincoln attempted to scratch her.
Taking a deep, soothing breath; Joyce turned the handle and cracked the door open. Looking out, she saw an older woman who is her neighbor, and she looked worried upon seeing Joyce.
"I-I heard you screaming from across the hall. Is everything alright in there?" the old lady asked.
Joyce took a second to answer. She didn't know how to reply at first.
Would this old lady take "I was attacked by the vengeful spirit of a dead child whose death I apparently caused 10 years ago-" for an answer?
"I- uhh..." Joyce muttered, trying to find something to say until she noticed her cold, wet shirt clinging to her skin.
"I was having problems with my sink. The damn thing suddenly broke and released water everywhere." Joyce explained, opening the door a little more so the old lady could see the mess from the kitchen.
"Oh my!" she gasped
Joyce chuckled amusingly.
"Yeah, it was wild." she added, almost forgetting about what had just happen.
"I bet it was. Your face is almost as red as a tomato!" the elder pointed out.
Joyce didn't think about checking how she looked before opening the door.
"Well, it was a bit irritating." Joyce answered, rubbing the back of her head in an awkward manner.
The old lady nodded in understandingly.
"Alrighty then. I just wanted to check up on you." The old lady said as she slowly turned away from Joyce and headed back for her apartment.
"I appreciate it." Joyce smiled.
The old lady stopped and pointed at Joyce.
"And make sure you contact the landlord so a plumber can come out and fix that! You don't want that happening again whenever you have visitors over." The old lady warned.
Joyce stayed quiet. Her mouth was open as if she was about to speak, but nothing came out. She nodded and carefully closed the door and stood there until she heard her neighbor walk back into her own living quarters.
Now with that done, Joyce took another deep breath and exhaled loudly. She felt a bit calmer after her episode.
She looked back into the kitchen and saw the water beginning to soak its way onto the carpet in the hallway. But instead of doing something about it lest the carpet gets ruined, Joyce continued to stare as she remembered more of the so-called attack.
A few seconds later, a small smile grew on her face before becoming bigger followed by soft laughter escaping from her lips.
"I've cracked." Joyce laughed.
A few minutes later, Joyce returned to the kitchen with a bundle of towels to soak up the water. As she was laying each out, she continued to chuckle and comment about how she has gone insane.
She actually imagined being attacked by a ghost. A ghost! How crazy is that?
And not only that, but the ghost of Lincoln Loud; the boy who died because of her.
...
Oh god, she admitted it.
Joyce stopped in place as she thought about this more. Indeed, she finally realized what she had done out of anger and that everyone was right about her being a killer. The only thing that kept her out of prison besides a shady lawyer was the fact that no one could prove that Joyce off'd Lincoln, at least not willingly.
But she knows now that she did the dark deed and has been denying it for a long time. And that denial mixed with the stress from everyone giving her hell for the longest time has built itself up into the manifestation of the undead boy. And on the 10th anniversary of all days. Kinda poetic, is it not?
So what should Joyce do with this info? Turn herself into the authorities? If her memory serves correct, then Lincoln's remains should still be underwater (that explains why his body was never found). Would that be the right thing for her to do?
If she did it then it would just confirm all the comments and accusations everyone had about her, and her mom would disown her even more than she had already. The Louds, well, they would just cheer that Joyce will spend the rest of her life behind bars, or it will end with her in the chair.
...
"What difference would it make now?" Joyce said out loud, making her decision. I mean, her admitting it won't bring Lincoln back along with Joyce not being able to remember the exact spot where she chained him up. Plus, her life is already at a low point, so why would she make it lower?
So Joyce decided to stay silent and take this secret to her grave. What happened was tragic and Joyce knew what she did was wrong, but it's all in the past, and it's best for the past to remain as such. She would get over it eventually, and hopefully the Louds have moved on from their loss already.
Rita has ten other kids, so what's one less?
Joyce left the towels on the floor to soak up the water and will deal with it in the morning. Now, she wants to unwind with a nice bath!
Yep, Joyce still finds the thought of water to be comforting. Take that, crazy imagination!
She walked into the living room and stopped upon seeing the tv. She had left it on from earlier, and on the screen was a still image of Lincoln's photo from the memorial broadcast. It was so weird seeing the boy looking like a regular human and not whatever monstrosity her brain conjured up. But what was odd is his picture was all that was on the screen with no sound of Kathrine talking.
Joyce grabbed the remote and checked the volume to see it wasn't muted, so did her screen freeze on Lincoln's image, or was that Stella who Kathrine chastised earlier the culprit and is doing this to get at her?
If the latter, then Joyce will make sure to report her to the news station in the morning. Joyce took one last look at the screen and saw how eerie Lincoln looked even though his picture showed him wearing a kind smile. It almost looked like it he was mocking her. And call her crazy, but it felt like his eyes was following her every move.
She would've been freaked out by this, but she honestly didn't care right now. Joyce turned off the tv and left for the bathroom.
After filling the tub with water, Joyce plugged the drain with a rubber cover to keep the water up. And feeling satisfied with the warm temperature of her bath, Joyce stripped down and carefully climbed into the tub.
She finally sat down and rested her head against the wall behind her as the warmth made her feel at ease, her nerves calming down. Joyce closes her eyes and lets out a relaxed sigh.
...
It has been stressful for her for a long time, and with the truth in her head would either make her feel better or worse; has the weight been lifted off her shoulders, or have more been added?
Joyce didn't want to think about any of this at all; she didn't want to care anymore. She knows what she did and accepted it, now she wants to forgive herself and forget.
Screw her mom, screw the Louds, screw Lincoln... and screw herself. Life was unfair for everyone, so why focus on the tragedies?
...
Joyce didn't know how much time has passed. 17 minutes (more or less)? The last thing she wanted to do was think about her sucky life or anything else that has gone wrong.
All she needed was herself and that's it.
...
...
Strange. Her water suddenly felt cooler. No, not like it naturally cooled, but as if someone has spilt a cup-full of ice cubes in her bath. She didn't think much of it until something small brushed against her leg.
Joyce's eyes shot wide open as she sat up and looked forward. Her paranoia made her think someone had broken in and decided to tap her before doing God-knows-what to her, but she still saw herself alone and the bathroom door remained closed.
Then what touched her? That's when Joyce noticed something floating in front of her in her peruviol view. She glanced down and saw the drain cover had somehow got loose and was bobbing over the water.
How did this get loose? Joyce asked herself as the touched it, but then she realized that the water had remained around her waist area, none of it was sinking down the drain.
Joyce sat up more and leaned forward to inspect the hole. She saw nothing obstructing it so it should be draining just fine, but she did notice something peeking out the drain. A hair, but it didn't match her light brown color.
She reached in and pinched it with two fingers and pulled it out revealing it to be a strand of white hair.
White hair? That can't be right.
Suddenly, the water became even colder than before. Way more than ice cold.
Joyce felt her body shiver as the sudden change in temperature caught her off guard.
"W-What's going on?" she shivered, her teeth close to chattering.
Just before she could attempt to get out of the bath, Joyce saw a dark liquid clouding its way through the tub, turning the once clear water into that deep red color. It almost reminded her of... no, it wasn't possible.
But Joyce couldn't argue with herself forward after she realized that the liquid somehow came from... behind her.
Her body went still when the grim realization came up. There was no way this was actually happening. She must be imagining this, she had to be! No way he was real the whole time.
All her denial quickly went away when Joyce felt someone breathing behind on her neck with the faint noise of water bubbling. She slowly turned her head to the right despite her brain screaming for her to jump out the tub this instant, but Joyce proceeded and was met with the sight of Lincoln crouching behind her, his mouth stretched into a wide smile.
"Got you!" he grinned.
Joyce's eyes widened as she tried to scream only for Lincoln to wrap his left arm around her neck and began to pull her under the water with him. Joyce tried to fight but like before he was surprisingly strong, and this time she didn't have a blade to save her.
Lincoln's arm bone pressed hard against Joyce's throat making it nearly impossible for her to breath even before her face could touch the dark water. She then attempted to keep herself up by holding onto the edge of the tub but Lincoln's other arm, the one with the chain, forced it away.
Now with no leverage or any way to defend herself, nothing was stopping Lincoln from making Joyce go through what he had years ago. No amount of begging or pleading from her would steer him away.
Joyce opened her mouth hoping to let out the loudest scream she ever made hoping someone would come to her aid only for Lincoln to pull her head under the water right at that very moment which caused the water to immediately rush past Joyce's lips.
She choked and gagged as the water entered her body and slowly filled her lungs as the burning feeling of drowning began. Joyce tried all she could to escape Lincoln's hold, but no matter how hard she punched, how much she scratched at his arms, or how hard she jerked her body causing water to splash out from the tub, he wouldn't let go.
The burning in her lungs grew worse as Joyce became more lightheaded and weaker. This was it; she was about to die.
There was no way out of this. And even if she somehow escaped in the next few seconds, she knows that Lincoln's spirit is real and he'll always be hunting her like an animal, so if he doesn't get her now, then he might next time. What was the point of delaying the end?
And just like that, Joyce gave up her attempts of survival. This was the end of the line for her, and she wasn't even able to talk to her mom one last time.
As Joyce looked up past the surface of the water, she could see a small light through the darkness. Was it just her bathroom light, or something more? Regardless, this will be the last time Joyce Crandall will ever see light again, and this becomes truer as she feels herself blacking out.
Outside the tub, the frantic air bubbles popping up from the surface dwindles in number until they finally stopped.
Everything went quiet.
The next morning, a skeleton had washed up on shore at Lake Gladys next to Lincoln Loud's memorial. The authorities were immediately called, and an investigation took place.
Judging by its height and the size of certain bones, it was quickly found out that this was once a young male. It didn't take long for the people who knew of the tragedy of Royal Woods to piece together that this is the missing child, Lincoln Loud!
Lynn Senior and Rita were called and soon the rest of the family learned of Lincoln's fate. They were happy that Lincoln was finally found but then realizing that he has long been dead had opened old wounds. There were many fresh tears from especially from his mother who still felt the pain of losing a child even now, even the nieces and nephews who never had the chance to meet their uncle also cried for him.
Not long after, Lincoln was finally given a proper, closed-casket funeral where all his family, friends, and the Casagrandes all attended tp pay their respects; he was buried in the same graveyard, right next to his Pop-Pop who passed away months after Lincoln went missing.
But this investigation wasn't completed yet. Upon inspecting Lincoln's skeleton, the broken chain wrapped around the bone of his right arm didn't go unnoticed. This made authorities believe that his death was no simple accident and there was a darker intent behind it, and the main suspect was Joyce Crandall.
The police came to Joyce's apartment to bring her in for questioning only for her to never answer the door. Her car was still parked in the parking lot and her boss informed the authorities that she hasn't come to work in the last few days, so the landlord unlocked her door which allowed the police to search her apartment.
It wasn't a minute before the police found Joyce in the tub. She was gone.
At first it was theorized that someone had killed her by forcing her under the water, but there was no sign of breaking & entering or assault, and no one saw Joyce bringing anyone with her. So it was deduced that Joyce took her own life possibly out of long-buried guilt of what happened to Lincoln.
Joyce also had a funeral, but the attendance was very small. The only visitors were her mom and the old lady who checked up on Joyce the night of her death. Joyce's mom did feel saddened about what happened to her daughter but knowing that her daughter had a hand in the death of a child kept her from crying over the casket. Joyce was soon buried and left to be forgotten.
Once news of Joyce's demise reached the ears of the Louds, most of them celebrated in different ways. Some felt like justice has been served and continued on with their lives; Lynn Sr and Rita were calmer about it but felt no remorse for the witch who took their son away from them, and a few of the siblings weren't afraid to show how happy they were that Joyce is gone such as Lynn Junior who took the time to travel to Joyce's grave just spit on it.
"Serves you right!" Lynn said, satisfied.
Eventually, all of Joyce's belongings were moved out from her apartment as the landlord got it cleaned up for the next tenant (as long as someone is willing to live in the same place someone died in). As the landlord finished up, he took a look at the sink because the old lady next door told him that Joyce was having trouble with it. He turned the handles and saw that it was running just fine.
There wasn't a leak in site.
The End
And that's the end of this! I hope you all enjoyed this as I did typing it. I got this idea around the end of July and have been working on it since September. I originally wanted to have Joyce's Lake Gladys plan succeed and she would be living in a mansion instead of an apartment like my previous bad ending take on Save Royal Woods! "Flooded!", but then I decided to go on a more realistic route because we all know Joyce's plan was doomed to fail from the start.
I mean, she was planning on destroying an entire town without official (and legal) thus ruining the lives of over hundreds of people just so she can get a promotion? That alone would land her jailtime if Royal Woods wasn't on top of a deposit of metals that was going to contaminate the water (Even the Villains Wiki explains this!).
So again, hope you all enjoyed (Also, Joyce's name isn't present in Characters which I've realized recently) ...
Happy Halloween!
