Pleasantly surprised. That had been Lincoln's feelings toward his family's reaction upon seeing him wearing a cast for his fractured arm and a limp for his badly bruised but unbroken leg. He hadn't expected his family apart from Lucy, Lori, and maybe Lana to even notice let alone care but that hadn't been the case. Perhaps he had been wrong about them? those bonds he'd thought unrepairable ever since they all became unlikable bastards in the prequel of this story may not have been unrepairable after all.

A knock on the door of Lincoln's bedroom. "Come in," Lincoln said, regretting it when his sister Luna who still considered herself his "legal guardian." Horseshit. Lincoln thought to himself.

"Hey, Linc. You feeling okay?" Luna asked. "Oh yeah, I'm doing just terrific. Thank you for your concern, guardian." Lincoln said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Luna let out a sigh, closing Lincoln's door and then leaning against it. "Look. I know in recent years you've become... sick of me for lack of a better term. But whatever happened to you last night, it concerns me. It concerns all of us except for mom because she's barely mentally competent these days. Please, tell me what happened." Lincoln raised his eyebrow. For the first time in a long time, he didn't feel completely disgusted with his rock sister.

"...Let's just say there was an incident with my drug guy. Sorry, Luna, I know you and your friends and girlfriend like to smoke it up every so often but after last night, I'm going to need to up the price at least for now."

Luna shook her head. "It's fine. But if it's gotten this bad? fuck selling drugs Linc, get yourself out of that shit." she suggested. Lincoln let out a dry chuckle. "You know it's not that easy. But I can promise you that after what happened, I will get myself out of this mess. It's just going to take a little while." Lincoln forced a smile, trying to put his sister at ease.

Luna nodded and sighed. "Alright. But don't do anything else stupid. We've just lost dad, we don't need another death in the family." Luna turned on her heel and walked out of Lincoln's room. Lincoln put his head back down on his pillow and began to think. Sooner or later, the Casgrande family would come for him and his family. Last night was his wake-up call that these bastards are just waiting for him to screw up, waiting for him to put one toe out of line. He thought of his grandfather, Albert, and his words that he would become a person just like him. He still rejected the thought, the idea of being a monster. But... Lincoln needed to deal with this threat to those he cares about. And if something were to happen to the Casagrandes, would it really be so bad? they were all rotten to the core and the world would undoubtedly benefit from their removal.

Still... becoming a murderer? purposefully taking the lives of others? he didn't have it in him, did he?

Another knock on the door. Lincoln huffed and uttered a "Come in." His hostility decreased as Lucy stepped in holding Lily in her arms. "Hey, Lincoln." Lucy sat down on the bed near him. "Hey, Luce. Listen, I'm not trying to be awkward but I think I need to rest and just be left alone for a little while, okay?" Lucy nodded. "I know. But Lily had something she wanted to give you." Lincoln mentally rolled his eyes as he sat up and smiled at his youngest sister who handed him a folded piece of paper.

Lincoln unfolded it to reveal a shitty drawing of himself and Lily holding hands and the words "GET BETTER SOON" written terribly above it. Lincoln looked up at Lily who was smiling at him, proud of her own work. "Heh. Thanks, Lily." Lincoln tussled what little there was of Lily's hair before putting the drawing on his desk. "Alright Lily, let's leave Lincoln to rest," Lucy said as she got off the bed and headed toward the door.
"Talk to you later?"

"You know it," Lincoln replied as Lucy shut the door. His eyes drifted back to the drawing of him and Lily. His mind was made up. No matter what it took, even if he had to do terrible and evil things, he would not let harm come to his family. The Casagrandes were a threat and he would eliminate them, no matter the cost.

To Be Continued