CHAPTER 2: "REVENGE WILL BE SWEET!" or "SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN, LUCY!"

As the weekend at the cabin progressed, Linus didn't speak for the rest of the weekend. I was really worried about him. There was no crying or moaning about his blanket being gone. He was completely catatonic. He didn't even shout about not being Sally's Sweet Babboo whenever she called him that. That's when she got worried, as well. She halfway expected him to shout that whenever she referred to him as her Sweet Babboo. In fact, all of the kids, save for Lucy, were worried about him. Some even tried to snap him out of his trance. But Linus just sat there, not responding to any of us.

Well the day had come that we were all going back home. We packed up all of our stuff (I helped Linus gather his stuff) and soon enough we were heading home. Sally, Snoopy, Woodstock, and I were the last to be dropped off. Lucy and Linus also got out since they lived nearby so they could walk back home from our place.

"Well, see you guys later," said Lucy.

"See you later, you two," I said. Linus didn't say anything. In fact, his blank expression didn't change once. I sighed and headed in to the house.

"See you later, Sweet Babboo!" chirped Sally. No response. Sally also sighed sadly and followed me in. Snoopy just saluted them and headed for his doghouse to rest up, with Woodstock following.

Sometime later, Lucy and Linus were at home. Linus was just standing there with his blank expression. Lucy couldn't wait to gloat about finally ridding Linus of his blanket.

"Well you are finally free, Linus," she said with a smug look on her face. "I am not sorry for burning that blanket. I did this for your own good! You know that, don't you? Now just think about how well-adjusted you will be now, not dependent on a crutch or needing to feel secure with something that doesn't even provide security! The only thing we have left is to stop you from waiting for the Great Pumpkin every y-"

"ENOUGH!"

Lucy was shocked by Linus finally snapping back to his senses. There would be no waterworks about losing his blanket. Not this time. He was about to unleash unadulterated fury like nothing anyone had ever seen.

"Lucy, you took away something I cared about more than anything in the whole entire world," he began. "I wanted to keep that blanket for when I possibly had my own kids so I could pass it down for future generations, like a family heirloom. You know, like a quilt. But NO! Linus needed to be free of that blanket, right? Well, dear sister, as a "thank you" for saving me from myself and the blanket, I'm going to take the one thing you love more than anything in the world, like you did to me. And, unlike myself, you won't know when it will happen! It will be like a thief in the night! And THEN and ONLY THEN we will be truly even! You're going to pay for destroying my blanket! And that's not a threat; that's a promise!"

And Linus went to his room and slammed the door behind him. For once, Lucy wasn't talking. She looked scared. It was then that she realized that she may have went too far with her need to rid Linus of his blanket.

I was waiting at the bus stop with Sally. I was curious about how Linus was doing since the past weekend. Then both he and Lucy were walking up to the bus stop. Linus looked normal, for lack of a better term. But Lucy was looking like a nervous wreck. I figured I'd ask Linus what was going on.

"Hey, Linus," I greeted. "What's up with your sister?"

"Oh I'm about to make her pay for destroying my blanket," Linus said calmly. "I promised her I was going to take something she loved away like she did me. It's going to be something she loves as much as I loved my blanket. Maybe then she will stop being so evil!" And he glared at Lucy. I never saw this side of Linus, this vengeful person standing before me. I just hoped that he wouldn't take it too far.

NEXT CHAPTER: LUCY'S ON EDGE