Hello! I'm deeply sorry for the lack of updates for the last months, I wish you had a wonderful holiday season and still wish you a wonderful 2022! Now, let's to the chapter!
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The Loud House
The three Louds sat quiet on Vanzilla. Lynn Sr was driving the family's car, Lana was sitting in the middle row of the car and Lincoln was sitting right beside his father. The boy was nearly sleeping in his seat.
Finally the break he wanted was at his grasp, after passing two hours to put every animal back at their habitats, all he wanted was a good night of sleep.
It was past midnight by this point, Lynn was worried about what his wife would say about they getting back so late.
As Lynn pulled the van into the driveway, Lynn saw that all lights on the house were off, except one tiny light coming from the living room window. The three stood quiet in the van, Lynn turned back to face Lana and spoke.
"Ok, if your mother ask, say that we got lost while getting back home, ok?" Asked the father, Lana nodded. Lincoln sighed and got out of the van, being followed by his father and sister.
They got up the front porch, the house was silent. Lynn wished that Rita was already asleep, when he opened the door and the three entered, Lynn trying to sneak through the living room, but didn't realized that someone was sitting on the armchair.
"Ahem." Rita Cleared her throat, making Lynn jump in place. "Can I ask why you three are so late?" Questioned Rita with a stern look to her husband.
"I... Um... We..." Lynn tried speaking, before Lana said.
"I rode on a lion!" The tomboy said proudly. Lynn made a terrified look at Lana, the girl then remembered what he asked. "Oh, and then we got lost!" Lynn face palmed. Lincoln groaned.
"Sorry mom, but I can't hear the talk now, ok? A ghost released all animals on the zoo and dad called me to put them back on their cages. That's all." Said Lincoln as the boy started to walk upstairs to his room, leaving his dad and Lana to explain what happened.
Oh, how good a bed could be? The old bed squeaked loudly ad Lincoln plunged into it. The ghost boy made a deep sigh as his muscles finally relaxed and his body sunk lightly in the soft mattress. It didn't took much time before Lincoln was in deep sleep, his face planted on his pillow.
Deep into the dream world, Lincoln was in a open field, it didn't matter where you looked, the only thing you would see was the field, extending up to the horizon, just the green grass. The sky was blue and it had one cloud in the sky, but the sun wasn't harsh enough to make the boy feel hot, the calm breeze, that gently shook Lincoln's hair, countered the warm of the sun.
Lincoln was sitting before a wooden table with a cozy plaid red and white towel. In the table, a tea kit was settled, with a tea pot steaming a nice green tea aroma. On the table, a plate with warm, freshly made beignets, covered in a thin blanket of sugar.
Before Lincoln, a nice cup of tea. Waiting for the boy to serve himself tea and eat a appetizing beignet.
Lincoln breathed calmly, making a small smile. That was the peace he needed. The boy grabbed the teapot and poured himself a cut of tea.
Lincoln raised the cup up to his nose to smell the nice smell of green tea, and sipped slowly to not burn his mouth. The boy looked the field, beyond the sound of the wind, he could also hear the sound of the ocean, although he couldn't tell where it came from, he then, looked back, shifting a little in his chair, and saw that directly behind him was a small beach with white sand. It was odd the way the grass ended and the sand began, but Lincoln brushed it off, turning back and sipping on his tea again.
He suddenly heard another sip, as looked to the other side of the table, he saw that now, was sitting none other than his friend, Ronnie Anne, drinking from the other tea cup. The girl raised her eyes to Lincoln and the boy could swear he saw she wide her eyes for a split second, before she slowly put the cup down with a gentle smile.
"Hello Lincoln." Said the girl. Lincoln didn't knew what to say. The last time they talked, Ronnie Anne didn't wanted even to see him again. It had passed almost a month since the seance. Although his family already had readjusted to the reality that he was back from death as a ghost.
Lincoln studied the girl while she picked a beignet and bit it, gazing at the endless grass field. She really didn't looked like the last time he saw her. She looked in peace. What could this mean? Why was he dreaming with Ronnie Anne?
"Hey Ronnie Anne." Said Lincoln simply.
"I really like these dreams." Said Ronnie Anne, still gazing away with a faint smile.
"... Yeah..." Responded Lincoln, sipping on his tea again. "It's very calm and peaceful here."
Ronnie Anne nodded. "Here I can run away from the worries from my real life." Lincoln tilted his head, without understanding what she meant.
"Real life?" He repeated confused. Ronnie Anne chuckled.
"Sorry for rambling, I should have imagined that you would not understand." Said Ronnie Anne. Lincoln looked down, still confused.
"Understand... What?" Lincoln asked.
"You're just part of this dream. Like, every time I dream in here, you're here too." Lincoln looked down, realizing trying to process what she said.
Lincoln's eyes widened as he realized something. "But it's a little weird you making so much questions, normally you just drinks the tea and occasionally make a bad joke to soften the mood." Ronnie Anne chuckled.
"Ronnie Anne... I..." Lincoln stopped. "I think something weird is happening."
"What do you mean." Questioned the girl raising a eyebrow.
"Um..." Lincoln twisted in his seat "I think... How I put this without sounding weird..." Lincoln sipped again on his tea. "I'm not a dream."
"What do you mean?" Asked Ronnie Anne confused.
"I... Think... Somehow... I invaded this dream." Lincoln speculated.
Ronnie Anne peaceful smile contorted into a shocked expression. After a few seconds of a awkward silencie, Ronnie Anne Spoke.
"Are you kidding, right?" She asked. Lincoln took a few seconds to shake his head softly.
Ronnie Anne started to shake and her eyebrows contorted down with anger.
"GET OUT OF MY DREAM LINCOLN!" Shouted Ronnie Anne.
"Ronnie Anne." Spoke Lincoln.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD! I DON'T WANT NOTHING WITH YOU ANYMORE!" Shouted Ronnie Anne. Lincoln frowned at what she said.
"Ronnie Anne... I-" Lincoln was interrupted when the ground shook.
Both kids fell on the ground as their chairs tumbled back. The ground Roared as the dirt sunk below them and the two got swallowed by the crevice that formed.
"LINCOLN!" Screamed Ronnie Anne to the boy. She looked up, Lincoln was falling around 10 feet above her.
"Ronnie Anne, try falling on the middle crevice, or you may hit the walls I'll try to catch you!" Spoke Lincoln extending his arm. Ronnie Anne made the same, trying to reach for his hand.
As they fell and they approached each other, their surrounds started to darken. When Lincoln felt Ronnie's finger touching his, he couldn't see nothing anymore. Everything was pitch black and Lincoln soon noticed that he wasn't falling anymore.
Now he was just floating in darkness. Even if he looked up, couldn't see any light from the crevice they fell.
"Ronnie Anne?" The boy called, looking around to see if he could locate her. "Ronnie Anne? Where are you?"
Lincoln...
The boy turned around, he heard someone whispering his name. "Ronnie Anne?"
Fake...
"What?" Said Lincoln, he heard a whisper again.
Why you're still here?...
Lincoln turned his head back and forth trying to find the source of the whisper, but was in vain, he could hear the whisper coming from everywhere, but yet... Nowhere. "What do you mean?" asked the boy to the invisible voice that whispered back.
Why you're still fooling yourself?...
"Fooling myself?" Repeated Lincoln nervous.
You're not him...
"What..." Lincoln muttered trembling.
"Lincoln?" the boy heard the voice of Ronnie Anne calling him, but he didn't really paid attention, he started hyperventilating.
Just a husk...
"Lincoln, who said that?" Asked Ronnie Anne scared.
Stop denying...
"NO" Lincoln shouted, pressing his hands against his ears, but he still could hear the whisper as clear as before.
A empty memory...
"STOP!" Shouted Lincoln, curling himself into a ball, still pressing his hands on his ears, but the voice kept whispering.
You need to let him rest...
"Stop..." Whimpered Lincoln sobbing. "Stop... Please..."
Let.
Me.
Rest.
Lincoln suddenly opened his eyes when he felt a bright light through his eyelids. His eyes started to water when he saw what was emitting the light.
Was a immense head of himself, shinning like lighthouse, it's skin was bright and lively, very different from his new pale skin. His hair was stark white, like snow. The hair the ghost version wasn't that bright, still was white, but didn't had that live shine, was like ashes now.
The difference between the two could seen little for most people, but while the apparition emanated a lively and cheerful aura that Lincoln used to have; the ghost version just emanated hatred and all the sorrow the boy hid his entire life.
Ronnie Anne's eyes started to tear as she saw the scene, the giant head of her former crush, looking pitifully to what was now just a speck of his former self.
Ronnie Anne saw the little boy curl again, the girl tried running to him but as she tried to run in his direction, he just got more and more far away. Her vision started to darken as Lincoln vanished in the shadows again.
"Lincoln!" Ronnie Anne called again. "Lincoln! Lincoln!"
"LINCOLN! LINCOLN!" Ronnie Anne screamed wake in her bed.
The rest of the Casagrandes barked into the room worried with the girl. Hector was even Holding a fire axe.
"Mija! What's happening?" Questioned Maria worried, flickering the light switch on. Ronnie Anne was sitting on bed, sweating and huffing heavily.
"So-sorry mom... I think I had a nightmare... Again..." Ronnie Anne muttered the last word. Maria sighed. Her daughter was having several nightmares for the past weeks. The young girl didn't had a single good night of sleep since she dreamt about a Lincoln bathed in blood.
"It's about Lincoln again?" Asked Maria crossing her arms and raising a eyebrow. Ronnie Anne was having dreams with the boy often these days.
Sometimes, she would dream about having a nice cup of tea with the boy in a endless green field, other times she would have nightmares that included Lincoln in some form.
One thing she noticed about the latter was that never Lincoln was the source of fear, but a catalyst for it. She wasn't afraid of Lincoln, but what surrounded him on those dreams. A aura, a indescribable sensation that the boy emanated.
The same sensation she felt when she discovered Lincoln died.
A dread so dark and pure that just remembering it, made her stomach flip and her breath raise.
Ronnie Anne couldn't discern if that sensation was coming from Lincoln, or herself, projecting her grief into him, turning said grief in anger.
Ronnie Anne sighed deeply. She didn't wanted to think about the boy anymore. Maybe if she didn't, this sensation would eventually end.
But.
Why she couldn't stop thinking about the boy?
"Mija, do you think you're good to sleep? Do you want to sleep with me?" Questioned Maria in a nurturing tone of voice. Ronnie Anne shook her head and made a faint, fake smile.
"I'm good. Sorry for waking you guys up." Ronnie Anne spoke, looking to the rest of her family. Hector snorted, putting the fore axe on his shoulder.
"It's nothing dear, go back to sleep. Everyone! Back to bed!" Ordered Hector leading his family outside the room, while Maria and Bobby stood behind.
"Good night dear." Wished Maria, pecking her daughter's forehead and standing up to get out.
Bobbie waited his mom pass him by the door to turn to his sister. "Sleep tight." Said flickering the light switch back off.
After that, Ronnie Anne stood quietly in her bed, trying to sleep, but the thoughts on Lincoln and what she saw and heard in the dream were still hammering in her head.
For all this time, she felt repulsed by Lincoln being back from death, and didn't wanted anything to do with the boy ever again. She even turned around when she saw Bobbie talking in the phone with Lori, just because she was his sister and they could speak about how Lincoln was.
Ronnie Anne rolled to her side, spotting the shape of her laptop on her desk in the dark. She stood quiet for what felt a eternity, thinking what to do. She sighed, closing her eyes.
Lincoln shifted in bed back and forth, he was sweating profusely, his bed sheets where soaked and twisted. The boy groaned in his sleep, muttering incomprehensible words as his breath was rising, until Lincoln's eyes sprung wide open.
The boy stared the dark ceiling for a solid minute, processing his nightmare. Slowly, he curled his lower lip and bit it, trying to refrain the tears he felt coming.
Lincoln sat on his bed, and used his shirt, which was very humid, to wipe the excess sweat of his face and removed it, throwing the shirt in the bin on the side of the bed.
Lincoln made a deep sigh and got up from the bed, he picked a clean t-shirt and wore it. The boy eyed his Mysterian jacket that Leni made for him, which was on his desk chair and also put it. Finally, he grabbed the red wig from his desk and put it. With his full disguise, the ghost flew through his wall into the night skies.
N/A: I had a MAJOR creative block while writing this chapter, and at the same time the end of year at college and some other bad things happening in my personal life made me a little sick from writing here in the site, I still don't think I'm 100% good but I'll still be writing my 3 fics, but at my own pace, to not burn me out ok?
Aside that, I think that this chapter got to be one of my finest works writing, I really liked the way the way it ended being, from being in Lincoln's perspective to Ronnie's
I also think I unconsciously put a little more than I thought in this chapter about my state of mind in the time I wrote those lines, but well, it's done