The Mysterious Ship

Chapter 10: Aftermath

Luna rubbed her eyes and looked around her classroom. Kids were filing out, their teacher having led the first wave, but she didn't really care whether they were leaving or if they'd all decided to stay.

She didn't care about much as of late, honestly.

When finally everyone had gone, she got up, grabbed her things and started for the door herself while she checked her phone for messages.

Then she noticed the date.

"Two whole months, huh?" she whispered sadly. She really didn't need a reminder, but to see it looking her square in the face made it all the more real.

Two whole months.

As she walked to her locker, she spied Leni and Lori, watched as they talked with their friends both mutual and otherwise. Neither appeared as affected as Luna had been, but she knew better than to judge; fewer smiles, and the ones that did show up were smaller and rarely reached the corners of their mouths. Bobby and Lori were distant, too. Luna could see it in the way Lori had to focus hard, sometimes asking him to repeat himself if she wasn't looking his way, but whether this was permanent or merely temporary Luna didn't know.

She hoped it wasn't.

All they needed was yet another casualty of their idiocy.

Theirs.

Luna dug her fingers into her books, thought back to what was said the night they returned home to find Luan's broken body at the foot of the stairs and their brother's in hers and Luan's room. At first the investigators claimed Luan murdered Lincoln. Then, after finding Luan's notebook?

She bit her lip, remembered just how horrid it felt to even think the police suspected their brother of something that awful.

But nothing compared in her heart to learning what actually must have happened, and why.

"Hey, Luna," said girl practically jumped out of her skin when Leni suddenly appeared at her side, concern in her voice. "Oops, sorry! Did I scare you?"

Recovering, Luna smirked slightly. "Nah, Brah, I usually jump a few feet in the air nowadays when people talk. Practice for the track team, you know?"

"Really?" Luna couldn't help but love her older sister; even after everything had happened she at least tried to remain normal. "I didn't hear you joined the track team!"

"Just a joke, Leni," Luna sighed before laughing lightly. "Anyways, need something?"

Leni put a finger to her cheek, tapped it in thought. Really deep thought, apparently. Then her eyes brightened slightly. "Oh yeah! Lori was, like, wondering if you wanted to go with us to the mall?"

Luna seriously considered it, then yawned. "Nah," she said after a moment. "Too tired. Figure I'll go home, get some rest, then get my homework finished," then, as she noticed Leni's face morph into one of concern she added, "don't worry, Leni. I'm fine, really."

She wasn't.

But neither broached it further.

They knew why, and that was all that was needed.

Leni left and hurried to their oldest sister's side as everyone parted ways. After visiting her locker, Luna used the bathroom then hurried out the entrance doors, walking out into the sunny weather Royal Woods had recently been blessed with after two weeks of nothing but rain.

Inside, however, it hadn't stopped raining.

As Luna walked, her mind wandered back to the discussion the detectives and her family had over Luan's motives.

At first they thought that she had undiscovered mental issues. This was because of her notebook, which even Luna agreed was a bucket of crazy. But when it was pointed out what she'd written about Lincoln, things changed.

Had he really done that?

But his sisters defended him. Vigorously. So did his parents, but that figured. Besides, he was a leg man, several sisters said, and none of the group thought Luan was uniquely "leggy" in any sense. Sure, she had them, but that was it.

It wasn't until the detectives asked after some names listed next to traits Lincoln had written out in the back of his text book that the true and absolute tragedy began to reveal itself.

Cute nose, perky ears, long legs.

Charles, Cliff, Hops.

To see their pets' names listed next to the traits made every sister and both parents pause. But it was Lisa who, after noticing two pages were stuck together due to some dried blood, discovered the key to understanding what all must have transpired.

As she watched in her mind's eye the detective pry the pages apart, Luna still remembered how absolutely awful she felt as they read the words on that next page.

The-Get-Back-At-My-Sisters-For-Getting-My-Clock-Cleaned-By-Ronnie-Anne-Out-Front-Of-Our-House-And-Think-Of-A-Shorter-Name-For-This-Plan.

The sisters were dumbstruck.

It'd been a prank. That's how all of this started.

A prank.

A single prank managed to throw their family into the worst straits they'd ever been in, and it wasn't even meant with ill intent! He even wrote down why he was doing it, that he didn't want to hurt them!

And in turn, he got hurt. Luan got hurt.

Ultimately, because of them.

That's what Luna told herself, anyways. Sure, Lincoln was kind of stupid for not avoiding Walt and Gary, or at least choosing something else about them to focus on, but that Luan would think that! That they had her go it alone! Could even think that he would do that to her!

Why the hell didn't I see it! Why did I keep thinking it was those dang books!

Luna started crying there on the sidewalk, tried holding it in, and failed. After a moment, she tried choking it back again, but failed once more after a moment of success.

None of the family were dry-eyed after that discovery. It took nearly two weeks for the sisters to not just spontaneously cry at the drop of a hat, obviously thinking back to how their meddling had caused all this.

If they'd kept their big mouths shut, they told their parents and the detectives, if they'd minded their own business or, better yet, maybe if they'd treated it like an actual bully problem, not some childish crush? Maybe their siblings would still be there, still be cracking jokes, still... be happy.

Instead, no one was happy.

Nobody blamed the sisters, nor Lincoln or Luan.

The cops said the artery in the arm was punctured, possibly during the struggle, then panic set in encouraging more blood loss. Possibly Lincoln was still alive a lot longer, maybe could have been saved...

That is, if Luan hadn't fallen down the stairs like she did.

Possibly even suffered alone herself as a consequence, one of the cops sighed within earshot of Luna.

But a prank that got out of control, was what all the news reports told their viewers.

Even so, their parents had considered leaving Royal Woods behind, moving away, but dashed that idea rather quickly. None of the girls wanted to go, to leave it behind, to have any chance of distancing themselves anymore from the memories of their siblings than they had to. Not even if it meant becoming pariahs, outcasts merely for the tragedy they'd experienced.

But surprisingly, Royal Woods hadn't changed all that much toward them.

The McBrides were there for them, as were the Santiagos. Ronnie-Anne made the sisters laugh for a moment when she told them of her encounter with Luan, how she'd wondered about their sister's behavior later on. Mr. Grouse even offered them the use of his house until they got theirs cleaned up, their own home practically doused in their brother's blood while their sister's had drenched the floorboards at the foot of their stairs as well as nearly all the steps.

Luna shivered as she remembered her sister's face, caved in from where it had impacted the edge of a step, one arm broken and twisted under her. Just as bad as Lincoln's body, though thankfully she only had a description of that to go on.

Why did she have to be right behind her dad as he opened the door, though?

Luna sincerely regretted that.

But their parents got things cleaned up and soon the family moved back in.

Not into that room, however.

Instead, Luna now slept in Lincoln's old room, hers being too filled with memories.

In fact, none of the sisters took the offer of having the room for themselves. And so it became a sort of monument, a memorial of regret for those gone too soon.

When Luna arrived within sight of the house, she shivered and reconsidered going to the mall, but quashed that thought when she yawned again.

She really needed sleep.

"Hey, I'm home," she droned as she entered the house. Though the twins were at it again, their fight was far more subdued than usual, no longer whirlwinds when they really got going.

Luna missed that, and she never thought that'd be the case.

Lana stopped fighting, greeted her. "Hey Luna! Lynn's downstairs getting the laundry."

"Okay, gotcha," Luna said, turned toward the stairs to drop her things off in her new bedroom. "I'll let her know I'm home in a sec."

Lana and Lola went back to fighting as soon as she finished, though over what she didn't know.

When she reached the landing, she stopped and looked around. She could hear Lucy writing a poem, her eyes widening as soon as she heard her little sister swear.

"Whoa," Luna couldn't help the smile gracing her features. She gratefully forgot momentarily the sight of new carpet and strolled over to the bedroom of Lynn and Lucy, the latter sitting cross-legged on her bed with a notepad in front of her. "Hey, Spooky, that's a new word!" she chuckled.

Embarrassed that she was overheard, Lucy blushed and bowed her head. "Er, sorry. I was just writing and, well…" she trailed off as no explanation came to mind.

Luna shook her head and laughed. "No prob, trust me. Happens to the best of us." Then she looked at Lucy and asked, "Writer's block?"

Lucy groaned. "Yeah, you could say that. Though it's more like writer's gridlock, actually."

"Need help?"

Lucy shook her head. "It's probably for the best if I learn to get through it on my own. I wouldn't be having so much trouble if…" she suddenly went quiet and hung her head then. As Luna looked away, Lucy pulled her legs closer to her and wrapped her arms around them. "I wish they were here, Luna."

They both did.

But Luna didn't say that. Instead, she strolled over, sat down by her little sister, held her close in a one arm hug, and for a few minutes the two just sat there in mournful silence. Yet, even in silence, their pain was evident on their face, in the position of their bodies. Every fiber of their being.

"Me too, Lucy."

It took a few more minutes before they parted ways, then Luna went to her room and dropped her things off. Afterward, she went downstairs and helped Lynn with the laundry, the two chatting as they worked.

"Wait, what?" Luna looked at her little sister, flabbergasted at what she'd swore she just heard.

Lynn nodded as she sorted some socks. "Yeah, I figured… well, since I've been crap at so many of my activities, maybe I should cut back, you know?"

Luna shook her head. "No way! You love your sports!"

"But I'm dragging all of them down!"

"No, Lynn," Luna looked her younger sister in the eye, hoped she was getting through to her. "You're just," she sighed. "You're just grieving. That's normal."

"It's not any of the teams' problems though," Lynn said as she sighed herself. "It's mine. So maybe I should just quit."

Luna shook her head again. "No, Lynn. Sure, maybe take a break to get your head cleared. But leaving all that behind? After how hard you've worked?" Luna didn't want to say it, especially given how close Lynn was to her physically, but she did anyways. She didn't want her little sister sinking further into depression. "Both Luan and Lincoln would hate that. You know it, and I know it."

If she was worried it might piss Lynn off for her to invoke their dead siblings' names to try convincing her, she needn't have worried. Instead, Lynn looked away, stiffened. "I know, it's just-" the girl closed her eyes as any response died on her lips.

And a moment later, Luna took to comforting yet another sister.

She really hated it, now she thought about it.

Sure, they'd comforted her, and it wasn't being there for her siblings when they needed her that pissed her off.

It was the fear that this would become the new normal.

Then, Luna yawned.

"You should go get some rest," Lynn suggested after calming down. "Really, Sis. You look like crap."

Her older sister agreed. "Huh, could have sworn I heard that before," Luna said as she left Lynn alone to go to her room.

After picking her brain and coming up short, Luna shrugged it off, walked back to her new room and laid down on her new bed. And looked.

Not at the ceiling. Not at the wall. The floor was out, as was the few furnishings in that quiet hideaway.

No, she just looked. Straight ahead, but not at anything in particular. And no matter how hard she tried, sleep didn't come, so she decided to sit up and try doing some homework. That went better than expected, though by no means impressive. But she needed to do it, her grades were slipping enough as it was already. No reason to worry her parents more than they had been about their children, right?

When she was done, she tried sleeping again. It didn't work, but that was expected. She finally got up when she heard the front door opening. As her siblings and parents started talking, she took a look at the clock. It was later than she thought given it didn't feel that long laying there as she had been.

But no matter, Luna figured, and got to her feet.

Hopefully dinner wouldn't be too awkward.

Dinners at the Loud house had been a rather wonky affair as of late, though everything was lately so nobody really brought attention to it anymore. Their parents asked how everyone was doing, the sisters talked…

But that's really all they did.

No real joy was had.

Not anymore.

Luna got up, helped do the dishes when it was all over. It was then that she realized she didn't even know what they'd had until Lori mentioned how, for a moment, she could practically envision Lincoln and Luan doing a jig when they realized they didn't have to eat goulash anymore.

Well, at least she hoped they were.

But Luna yawned, cutting any discussion short as Lori suggested she head to bed early, perhaps take something to fall asleep. Luna really did look tired.

Agreeing to the early bedtime Luna finished up her half of the evening chore and, after saying her 'good nights,' walked up and got ready for bed.

As she laid her head down a little later, she reached over, grabbed her headphones and cranked it up. She didn't feel tired enough to sleep then and there, so she figured a bit of music might help her relax.

Then again, hardcore metal isn't exactly known as relaxing in any sense of the word.

"Hmm," after finding the music did nothing for her, Luna switched to reading a magazine. Then she switched to reading something boring in hopes that might put her out.

Eventually she wound up reading, nearing midnight, a magazine about Mexico and its populace.

When she saw a demographic bar, something in her stopped. A smile reached her face, her lips pursed. Then a small, joyous laugh erupted from her, something she'd not heard in a long time.

"Seriously, they missed their best chance!" she chortled. "Why didn't they count the elderly males as 'Senor' citizens?"

"Get it?"

Luna paused as those words slid over her lips, felt her throat constrict as they echoed about her brain. Then, completely unexpectedly, she burst out in a series of short, gasping laughs.

Then she began to smile.

And, as the smile grew wider, the laughter she tried her damnedest to silence turned harsher, pained, ragged. Then slowly, ever so slowly as she felt herself once more being overtaken, she slid her head under her pillow, and cried herself to sleep.

Again.

End


A/N: Well, that's a wrap. When I wrote this, it was supposed to have a happier ending since my original goal was just to see how quickly a little practical joke could spin out of control. The irony was that, when it DID spin out of control, I just couldn't see it going the way I'd planned it to. That said, I have to feel for Luna given how close she was to the whole debacle without realizing she'd gotten it all wrong in the end, being unaware of what was really going on with her sister or that the problem was deeper than she expected.

And also, the name of this story was a complete reference to H.P Lovecraft's "The Mysterious Ship" while the synopsis was supposed to invoke the same feeling of his works, even lifting part of it from another of his stories. I did this since H.P Lovecraft had a habit of seeing his protagonists driven either insane, to death, sometimes both or some otherwise disturbing end throughout many of his works. Not to mention that I figured if anyone got the reference, then they'd probably know things were about to get very, VERY dark.

Funnily enough, I don't know if anyone got it. I may have played myself.

Also, Cuesta Tern is another reference, this time to a movie. I won't name names, but have you ever read Sutter Cane?

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the read and that it wasn't what you expected in a good way. As it stands, this is my first, and absolute LAST foray into mystery. I like reading it better than I do writing it, and while I'm glad for the experience, it's not for me. Thanks. And just so you know, the story's actually under 20K words if I wasn't so determined to leave as many author's notes as I do.

As for the alternate chapters, I'll be uploading them here shortly. Understand: these chapters are technically the third ending I created when the first was too jokey for my tastes and this one rather depressing. I shall not be held accountable for the chapters as I would probably have left them to rot otherwise, but since some want to see it I shall abide my word. But really, I'm doubtful the alternate end will be any better for the viewers OR the Loud Family, but... at least nobody dies?

But as always, thank you for your time reading my work, get a good night's sleep, and have an absolutely wonderful time!