FALL FROM GRACE

The night had come and gone. All the excitement and eagerness had been displaced by the emotional unraveling of a young woman in the presence of a large crowd and above all in the eyes of her closest family as well.

Returning home, Lincoln met his children and longtime sister-girlfriend with somber expressions of fear and deep trouble from the three of them.

Lyra beelined for her room while Luna was left to explain to a confused Lincoln the unfortunate sequence of events that led them back home. Lemy wanted to follow, but Luna held him back, Lyra needed some time alone and not be suffocated with more dramatic questioning. Lemy simply stood in place looking up the stairs where she currently hid away in her room as his parents spoke to one another.

"Did someone hurt her? Is she hurt? What happened to Lyra?" Lincoln's concerns grew for his beloved daughter.

"I...I don't really...know what sert her off like...like...that." Luna was at a loss for words herself. Hugging herself tightly, Luna was deeply uncomfortable with the meltdown her daughter had just suffered, never having seen anything like that from her, ever.

"Lemy look at me... please look at me." Lemy unglued his eyes from the upstairs floor to look at his father, "Son, did you see anything strange, anything at all that caused your sister any harm?"

"N-No...nothing at all." Lemy too was stumped, "She needed to go to the restroom...after that I heard her screaming on the floor...kicking everyone away like a wounded animal. She was really scared, dad."

Luna instructed Lemy to not disturb Lyra for the rest of the night, tomorrow he can ask her more. Lemy reluctantly did as told and headed up to his room. Standing by her door, he leaned his ear against it to hear anything from her. He couldn't hear her, but she was in there; alone and frightened. He wanted to enter and speak to her, tell her that he was there for her and safe in his arms, but he relented, she needed to rest. With a heavy heart he opened the door to his room and walked in. What a disastrous night this had all become.

The Following Morning

Lyra stirred in her bed, the entire night had been deeply exhausting for her, she had no problem quickly falling asleep. Her face contorted with various expressions of unpleasant emotions. Whatever it was she was dreaming of, it was giving her a terrible bodily reaction. Eventually and luckily for the young woman her sleep was disturbed from a soft knock on her door. Glad to no longer experience said dreams, Lyra stood up from her pillow. Rubbing her eyes she again took notice of the knocking coming from her door.

"Lyra are you awake?" Her mothers soft voice spoke up.

It took a while for her to respond back, still unsure if she should just ignore her and hide under her pillow, but recalling the dreams she was having she sighed and chose to get up from bed. She knew what Luna wanted to talk about and honestly she had hoped that it would never come to this. No point in running and hiding anymore.

"Baby? You up?"

Lyra placed one hand against the wall and the other on the doorknob, "I'm up mom…"

Opening the door by a single inch both women made eye contact. The hallway was still dark and the sun had yet to rise, but here stood Luna wide awake at such an early time of the day, concerned and alert, a rare attribute for the rocker. Opening the door much more now to have her entire face shown, Lyra simply stood in place, eyes shamefully staring at the floor, unable to see her mother in the eyes for much longer.

"Can I come in, please?" Luna asked.

"...Yeah." Lyra answered back and moved away to allow her entry into the darkness of her room.

"Can we sit down first?" Luna asked her daughter.

Lyra sat down on the bed still appearing weary and tired. Not much of a proper sleep for her this time around. Luna sat next to her and both said nothing to each other, the silence of the room suffocating any words from either woman. Lyra refused to look at her mother, sorrowful eyes glued to the floor as she hugged herself for comfort. Luna clasped her hands together and looked around, seeking an answer or question to break the ice.

"Mom." Lyra spoke up, "I need to go. I need...space. I... can't be here, I'm sorry for just doing this, but...Dad and Lemy, especially Lemy...I gotta go."

"Easy now. It's all going to be ok-" Luna was cut off by Lyra who glared back at her, though not with malice in mind.

"Nothing is okay!" She hissed, "Nothing at all! I just want to get as far away from here. Aunt Lori is in Manhattan, or Leni in London. The farther the better!"

Luna grabbed her by the wrist and angrily stared back at her, "We don't run, we stand and even if it hurts us we stand on that ground and don't fall back. You're scared right now, no, you are terrified and I'm not going to ignore your cries for help and neither are your father and brother. We are family Lyra, we will never abandon you not in your most vulnerable time of need, never. So cut this running away crap and stay here with us."

Lyra said nothing back. She simply sighed in defeat, unable to convince her and just sat dejected in the bed. Luna dropped her fierce gaze on her in exchange for those motherly eyes filled with pure worry for her oldest child. Lyra was hurting on an emotional level, but the truth is the rocker could see it was beyond that..her mind was suffering from something much more sinister.

Reaching into the pockets of her pajamas, Luna held Lyra's phone in hand.

Noticing the device on her mother's hand, Lyra's reaction was exactly what Luna had expected; wide-eyed, heart stopping fear. Lyra had believed she had left it behind at that place, but Luna managed to retrieve it and held on to it the entire night.

"Lyra...let us help you. Don't shut yourself away anymore. Please, I beg you, what happened in Los Angeles?"

Around Midday…

Lemy woke up with a yelp of her name.

"Lyra!"

All the events from last night came rushing at once. He didn't get a chance to speak to her, hopefully she was mentally much better to discuss last night's fiasco. He had a hard time sleeping, his thoughts on her throughout the night, attempting to figure out what went wrong. Eventually at about close to four in the morning did the sandman sprayed his dust at him and Lemy finally closed his tired eyes.

Now awake he immediately started grabbing his pants that he had thrown on the floor last night and hopped on each leg as he desperately put them on. Grabbing a clean fresh shirt from his drawers he walked out the room and eyed Lyra's door across from him.

Was she still in there? Had she left the house? Was she feeling better or far worse from yesterday's ordeal?

All those questions plagued the teenager's mind, increasing his concerns for his beloved by tenfold. He hoped that all was much better today, but that was just a thought, only until he saw her could this pestering sensation of awfulness go away within him. Knocking on the door he got no response back. It was midday at this point, so she had to be downstairs or out of the house. It only made sense, but the way she flipped out, she should be locked in her room.

"Everything okay?" Lacy appeared next to him.

"Not really." Lemy sighed Still standing in front of her door.

"Heard about what happened, the whole family has. I hope she's fine." Lacy frowned, a rare trait for the otherwise cheerful girl to emote.

"Everything was okay, I...we both didn't see anything wrong with her." Lemy mulled about, unable to comprehend what had caused Lyra to suddenly explode into a fit of hysteria.

"Only she can answer that question bro. By the way, she ain't here." Lacy said.

"Huh?"

"She and your mom and dad took off in the morning, they haven't come back since." Lacy pointed out, pointing her thumb down the stairs.

"Where did they go?" Lemy asked, feeling a bit irked at not being asked to tag along. It was his business as much as their parents to support Lyra.

"Can't say, but it looked serious. I've never seen dad look so pissed and defeated all at once and Aunt Luna was worse for wear, quiet as she could be. Not her at all." Lacy explained getting the two teenagers even more perplexed at the whole situation.

"Fucking shit. Somebody must know where they went or what is going on?" Lemy exclaimed and headed downstairs.

Leaving Lacy behind Lemy ran into Aunt Lucy sporting her never-changing expression he quickly went straight to it and asked her, "You know where Lyra went to this morning?"

"I'm afraid I haven't a clue." Lucy replied before placing a hand on her nephew, "I can say however that something foul and sinister plagues your sister. Her soul is disturbed and her mind is slowly perishing in fear and self-loathing."

"Did she speak with you?" Lemy raised his voice, wanting answers.

"No...I can sense dark spirits haunting her every move. Whatever it is that has forced her to yield to the misery of the heart needs to be corrected. Lemy you must save her, cure her from the pain that haunts her." Lucy implored him before walking away, leaving more questions than answers for the teenage boy.

That Afternoon…

Lyra and Luna finally arrived home. Lincoln had opted to stay behind and deal with more pressing matters regarding his daughter in hand. It had been a very hard and very terrible day for the young woman, even in this state she felt miserable beyond explanation. Her face was stained with dry tears, recently made and easily replaceable with more if she allowed it. It was not easy to come open about it, not to her parents and even worse to herself. She came here to escape it all and it found her regardless.

"Hey songbird." Luna reached for her daughter, sympathetically soothing her shoulder and easing the bad memories away.

"It's all going to be okay, got it? Nothing... no one ca-can hurt you…" Luna's resolve had started to break, had been since that early morning.

"Mom…" Lyra eye-teared, looked at her mother, searching for hope and forgiveness.

Too much to handle, Luna abruptly exited the car much to her daughter's confusion, but saw her walk around and swing her door open. Luna and Lyra hugged, letting the tears flow from both women as they held onto one another in loving unity. Hard as it was, her family was here for her and she knew that. Only problem is that her faith and strength had reached an all time low after his message came through.

"Lyra! Thank God you're here, please tell me what's happening?" Lemy jumped out of his seat where Lupa had been sitting with him just talking about her.

Lyra froze stiff as she laid eyes on him. The boys she loved and longed for now standing before her deeply worried for her, his one true love. Holding on to her hands tightly Lemy continues to beg her for answers, the fear he was feeling for her well-being evident enough in his eyes. She couldn't talk, couldn't think and had forgotten just how to breathe. All she could feel at the moment was...shame. Immense, powerful shame that she had kept dormant, but had finally re-emerged with a burning vengeance.

"Let go." She pulled away from him, leaving him dumbfounded at her words.

"What?" Lemy tried to reach for her hand again but got his slapped away from him. Luna and Lupa were surprised to see her react this way to him.

"Don't touch me okay!" Lyra raised her voice at Lemy. Her words painfully stung him deep in the heart.

"Lyra.." Luna quickly cut in to avoid an unnecessary confrontation, "He's just worried."

"Yeah." Lupa spoke up from her spot on the couch, "The fucks your problem now?"

"Just leave me alone!" Lyra ran past him, unintentionally bumping his shoulder as she fled up the stairs. All stood shocked at the event that just transpired, Luna called out to her daughter while Lupa simply raised an eyebrow in legitimate confusion. Lemy on the other hand, if he was confused before he now felt hurt.

Switching his stare to that of angry determination he took a step up the stairs, fully intent to get the truth out of her. However, Luna halted his path and held him by the arm.

"Let her be Lem." A somber Luna told her son as she sadly looked up the stairs.

"What? Are you serious, I need to talk to her!" Lemy yanked his arm away from her. His confusion now turned to full blown anger, "What the hell is going on? Since last night when Lyra lost her mind, all I've wanted to do was console her, be there for her, but everybody is fucking ignoring me! She just fucking yelled at me and I don't know why!"

"Keep it down young man. Lyra needs her space." Luna sternly said.

"What the fuck? Are you serious? You too?" Lemy exasperated, waving around his arms in utter frustration.

"Not now Lemy!" Luna raised her voice much louder, "Not right fucking now! Give Lyra her goddamn space and wait for her to feel comfortable enough to fucking tell you herself!"

With that said she angrily climbed up the stairs to the master bedroom, leaving both teens stunned in silence. Lemy was honestly ready to flip out like a possessed motherfucker and start breaking stuff around the house. The secrecy, the chaos and rejection was hitting all the right nerves, he just wanted some fucking answers. Before he had a chance to grab the nearest object and turn it into a deadly projectile, Lupa came from behind and held him strongly around the waist.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey take it easy." Lupa surprisingly hushed him with tenderness and worry of her own, "Breath, dumbass, just breath. It sucks right now, so stay strong and don't lose your head okay?"

Lemy was trying his best to not shove her away, too much pent up anger had been built up in a matter of minutes. He was angry, but that anger came from the fact that he loves Lyra so much, seeing her this way was triggering him badly. Lupa continued to hug him, not letting go until he was fully calmed down. Thank goodness she was behind him because he couldn't see the face of extreme care and worry currently on her. She was just as stumped, but right now Lemy was her top priority, then after Lyra would be next.

"I don't know what's going on either, but eventually she has to talk about it. Take it easy and give her time." Lupa said.

"I'm just so fucking worried for her." Lemy gritted his teeth, clenching his anger.

Lupa rolled her eyes at his pathetic whining, but in reality she too was offended by Lyra's unexpected turn. She can avoid Lemy all she wants, but there is no running or hiding from this persistent goth.

The Following Days…

Things around the loud house and the relationship between Lemy and Lyra had gone drastically from bad to worse. All it took was a single unprecedented night to extinguish the bond both siblings had reignited after many years apart. The others could only look on as both fought and argued and in most cases his from each other. To be exact Lyra was the one ducking and running with a sour attitude, while Lemy constantly hounded her as the aggressor. It was a sad scene for what had just been a beautiful relationship not more than a week ago. Lacy and Lupa had also tried to weigh in as much as possible, but even to them Lyra had become extremely distant towards.

Luna and Lincoln would do everything in their power to keep them separate, mostly whenever Lemy was pushing too many buttons, which was a constant issue.

"I already said to leave it alone." Lincoln sighed as his son angrily stood in front of him.

"For fucks sake!" Lemy yelled back.

"Son, don't make me ground you." Lincoln said back.

With that said his father left for work, heavily ordering him to not barge into Lyra's room again without permission. He didn't want another incident between the two and honestly didn't have the mental capacity to deal with it. He had to go to work and once again after that make the same call again and see if all has been dealt with. He needed to be strong for them all, even though he was feeling so much rage inside, if Lemy found out he would be the one to break before he could.

For now everyone involved needed to keep it as low as possible untill the situation in hand was properly handled.

"This is fucking bullshit!" Lemy scowled as he watched his father drive down the street.

It's been four days already, four days of the same treatment from her. It was getting worse and worse and he had no answers. Lyra ignored him at every possible interaction and kept to herself, locked inside her room refusing to come out, only Luna and Lincoln coming and going from there. Not even Lynn and Lucy had a clue, where they also in the dark as he was? Just how serious was this mysterious ordeal?

"Lyra... please just talk to me." He whispered in despair.

He slumped down on the floor, heartbroken, miserable and lost. No direction to take or remedy to consume it was just pain. He loved her so much, but this unjust treatment was finally starting to break him whole. If only he could regain her trust, but even then he had no idea how to do just that with the limited knowledge regarding her abrupt change in personality. It's as she was possessed by fear and seeing or hearing him drove that fear to control her.

He remained sitted on the floor emotionally reminiscing about their shared love together. Silently he began to sob unable to keep it in no more.

Lynn appeared at that moment and saw his nephew at his lowest. Extremely sorry for the young kid she walked up to him and sat on the floor next to him. Quiet with the exception of Lemy's sobbing Lynn sighed in equal sadness before placing a hand on his shoulder.

"She shouldn't be acting this way towards you. Lyra should know better than to do this to you of all people." She spoke up as Lemy listened, "But again, whatever it is that is troubling her to this extreme has to be deadly serious. I understand that we all need time alone every once in a while. Time to compose ourselves, time to reflect on our lives and time to understand our futures going forward from said situations we may find ourselves trapped in, but eventually we have to reach out. We have to escape that mental prison of ours and seek shelter from our own terrible thoughts. We need each other and she needs us, more specifically she needs you and she will have to open up and seek you out soon."

"I love her so much." Lemy said, wiping away tears.

"I'm glad you do." Lynn smiled, if only she knew how legitimate that confession truly was, "I know she loves you too. I know that Luna and Linc said to leave her be, but honestly after some time you have to knock down those walls if she won't or can't do it herself and set her free. As much as I want to stick my head and tell her to wise the fuck up and speak up, it is not my place, not at all."

Lemy stayed quiet, registering every word coming from Lynn, half surprised at her advice and also beaming with the hope he needs to not give up and wail in desolation.

"So as much as she resists, no matter how hard she tries to shove you away you will set her free. She came back, don't let her leave again. This is an intervention and she needs our help. Lyra needs you. Go save that stubborn girl." Lynn concluded.

"...I never thought of you as the wise family member, Aunt Lynn." Lemy have a small smile to her.

"I'm more of a wise-ass, but if I can easily play five sports at once then I can also do those two as well." Lynn grinned back and wrapped one arm around his neck and held him closer.

"I'll try." Lemy said.

"Don't 'try' do it!" Lynn added.

On the wall separating the living room from the dining room, Lupa and Lacy stood hidden and eavesdropping on the intimate conversation between aunt and nephew. They to felt bad for the unjust treatment that Lyra was submitting upon Lemy and too wanted to help but had no idea hot to approach the delicate situation without the adults getting involved. Hearing Lynn's pep-talk was the opening they had been searching for. Lupa now had the excuse to confront Lyra and rip out the truth from her.

"We are getting to the bottom of this and Lyra will come clean and apologize to our brother." Lupa felt determined while Lacy agreed but still felt unsure about it all.

"Let's juts hope we don't make it worse than it is." Lacy said next.

"In his family worse is all we can do. And we are great at it." Lupa added as she walked back to the kitchen with lacy following suit.

Upstairs…

Four days since the message. Four days since her hell was reopened. She had never expected to ever see that number ever again, but it is clear now that her past was always right behind her. Her old fears had been reignited and her paranoia was in full swing because of it, because of him.

Looking at her phone with fearful eyes she couldn't stop staring at her inbox of messages.

Seven unread messages since that night. Seven attempts at contacting her. Seven times that she had almost suffered anxiety attacks because of them. Refusing to read them, but unable to delete them was tormenting her greatly. No actual call had been made yet. He was toying with her once more and she was falling back in the same trap. How was it possible for her to feel this was even at such a far distance of over 2,300 miles apart?

Her paranoia had taken full swing and even though her parents promised to protect her she still felt unsafe. Even in her own home she was scared. With the people that would protect her with their lives she still felt afraid. The looming invisible hand had laid claim to her and had Lyra by the throat and choking the life out of her...an all too familiar feeling. She shuddered in painful hopelessness.

Managing to steer her thoughts away from her dire trauma, she found herself thinking about her lover. The only shining light in her darkness, the only problem was that she had run away from her only protection from the dark and was now lost deep within the abyss. She had been treating him horribly. She wanted to tell him, explain herself to him, but she was possessed by fear, dominated by her own negativity. If he ever learned the truth he would never look at her the same way again.

It hurt so much to push him away.

She already did that once and now she was doing it yet again. Her fate was a cruel one and she was deeply hating herself the more and more she reflected upon it. He deserved better, she was not better. She was damaged goods disguised under a new paint job. She doesn't deserve him. In fact she doesn't want him to potentially hurt himself for her. Now that was her biggest fear of them all.

"No...I can't...I just can't…" Lyra bemoaned in defeat as she paced around the darkness of her room, "Lemy, my love...my one true love. I'm so sorry, but I need to protect you. I...need to...I have to leave."

Slightly opening the curtains of her sole window, the young woman sadly stared at the blue sky surrounded by many clouds. Watching a flock of geese fly overhead she bitterly wished to become a bird and fly very far away. Fly as far as she could and hope that it was enough to escape it all.

FYI. I'm not dead.