A week had passed since Lincoln's return to the Loud house, though, in that time, he had kept mostly to himself. Even if he still hadn't returned to school, the lone male sibling spoke to no one. Even to those he considered his closest friends he ignored and kept a distance from. The story spread around the campus was that Lincoln had wandered into the forest and got himself lost for an entire week. How he was able to survive was a mystery to all but a select few, but it gained admiration from most of his peers. Although, it was an odd thing to see; the once happy and cheerful Loud was now reduced to an ever glaring, silent shadow. The Loud siblings were affected the most from this sudden change in their sibling. On more than one occasion after his return, the sisters each attempted to interact with their brother, only for him to reject any form of interaction. The only one who seemed to come close to having a moderate conversation with him was Leni, though, it wasn't too long.
For a while, Lincoln kept himself in total isolation, evading everyone. His family rarely saw him, and whatever food they left for him, he never touched a morsel. Rather, only once did a sister, Leni, notice him sneaking out to God knows where. She said nothing, partially due to wanting to confront Lincoln herself. If she had said something to her family, no doubt they all would've set a trap for him. They'd call it an intervention, but all the same a trap was a trap.
Speaking of which, the second eldest Loud sibling was, for the past week, exhausted. Yes, her brother was home, that bit was reassuring at first, but as time went on, she noticed his behavior. He wasn't the same little brother she knew, he'd changed. He shut the world out, kept only to himself, and when their mother said this phase would pass, it came as quite a shock that indeed it passed, but not for the Loud family. That girl Luna had a crush on, the one who barged into their house and threatened to take her brother away, Leni recalled a few instances where she saw Lincoln speaking to her. What irked her to quite a degree was watching the two laugh. It wasn't the subject matter, but the simple act that a stranger was building a bond with her baby brother, whilst she and her family were seemingly just seen as unwanted roommates.
At the moment, in the dead of night, Leni stirred, again, in her bed. She hated what had become of her family, but more than anything, she hated the fact that she was, as the family equally was, to blame for what happened to Lincoln. She might not have been the smartest of her family, but even she recognized when she'd done something monumentally wrong. Which was more than she could say for her jock sibling, who, now that Lincoln was home, pushed the blame on the ashen haired sibling for lying to the family to begin with.
While Leni could understand where her sister was coming from, she still couldn't find it in her to blame her brother. So, unable to sleep, she rose quietly from her bed as to not wake her sister, and walked to the kitchen for a glass of water. An odd thing, why was it people went for a glass of water if they couldn't sleep? She didn't think too much into it as she quickly drank her beverage and returned upstairs. Though, she didn't return to her room. Instead she chose to stand outside her brother's room again. She couldn't hear anything, Lisa made sure the room upgrades made every room soundproof. And she couldn't ask Luan for a peek inside the room since she had removed her camera as well. But, all the same she stood in front of his door, wanting for the past few days to enter, yet never finding the courage to enter. Perhaps this would be the night, she reached up to knock, as gently as she could, only for the door to suddenly swing open with Lincoln's eyes already fixed on hers. Did he know she was out there? How? She finally saw her brother and he wasn't walking away. But, any attempt she had to speak, her mouth wouldn't move. Rather, she had been so focused on seeing him that she wasn't thinking of what to say. Luckily for her, she didn't have to wait in prolonged silence.
"What do you want, Leni?" He asked in an annoyed tone. A bit hurt he spoke to her with such a tone, the second eldest Loud sucked in her fear and guilt for this instance.
"I...I just wanted to talk." She muttered, thinking her brother wouldn't hear as she twiddled her fingers, thinking of something else to say to him. What she didn't expect was for him to respond.
"Little late for a talk, don't you think?" For a moment, the older Loud was surprised that her brother heard her, even more so that she was finally able to speak to him without him walking away. Seizing the opportunity, she responded.
"Y-Yea, it is...But, like, when can I talk to you?" She rubbed her arm cautiously, treading lightly as to not have Lincoln storm off again. Though, rather than walk away, he stood still, waiting for her to clarify what she meant. "I know we messed up, Lincoln, and I know it'll take a long time for you to forgive us. But, you might never forgive us, but that's...ok..." she strained that bit of admission. "Ever since you came back, it's almost like we're living with a different person. Every day I see less and less of you, and it's getting to the point that I just...I just want my brother back. I want my Linky back." There were small traces of tears building up near the corners of her eyes.
And for once, Lincoln had nothing to say in return. He couldn't say something demeaning or degrading. Well, he could, but to say it to Leni, while she was on verge of tears, was something he couldn't bring himself to do. Solely due to the two having a history is what kept Lincoln from saying anything that would stomp on Leni's sudden expression of her feelings.
"It's not that easy, Leni. Things changed...I changed." Taking a few steps into the hallway, Lincoln closed his door and locked it slipping the key into his pocket. He turned to head towards the stairs, ignoring his tear-filled sister. "I'm going out." At this point, he cared little whether his family knew he was leaving the house at night, it wasn't like his family could understand. The more he thought on it, as he'd done the past week, the more he realized staying here wouldn't do him any good anymore. He wasn't human anymore, it still hadn't sunk in fully, but he wasn't ignoring what he was. From the primal urge to eat raw meat, to the unnatural abilities and heightened instincts he displayed on a daily basis only further proved that fact. And for a short while, he felt a tangent of guilt for putting his family through this, from pushing them further away as the days passed. But, it was all for the best, the world Lincoln was a part of now was one that didn't need his family getting involved with.
Before managing to reach the stairs, a hand reached out and gripped his. And in that instance, he felt it again; warmth. Ever since becoming a Ghoul, he'd lost all sense of the feeling of warmth. His body had grown cold, and he rarely felt the warmth of the sun's heat anymore. And yet, here he felt, even if the smallest amount, from his older sister's touch. He almost recoiled, slapping her hand away would've been preferable than allowing her to remind him of what he no longer felt anymore. And yet, he couldn't find it in himself to scold her, nor could he berate or scowl as he could so easily do with Lynn.
"Where are you going?" Her voice was hushed, seemingly to keep the rest of their family from waking. She showed no scowl, only curiosity as to where he baby brother could be going off to at so late an hour.
"With Sam." Seeing no reason to lie to Leni of all people, though, the reason for his rendezvous with the rocker was to be kept to himself. In all honesty, he'd already planned out what he'd say if anyone asked where he was going, he didn't care if he was caught, hell, he'd find a way to sneak out regardless. As it turned out, like Lucy to a degree, Lincoln had accustomed himself to seemingly finding ways to move about without being detected. Still, by the look on his sister's face, he wasn't too sure telling her who he was meeting with was the best idea.
"You're going with Sam?" Leni's sudden guilt-like expression was replaced by one of a mixture of anger and annoyance. But, he had a contingency for that scenario too. He wasn't the 'man with the plan' for nothing. "Why?" Her tone was more of a demand for answers, as if daring him to say the wrong thing. And of course, not exactly caring what his sister had in mind for him should he say the wrong thing, Lincoln responded with an annoyed tone.
"You care why?" His response was met with a swift twist of his arm, forcing him to face Leni, her hands now gripping the collar of his shirt as she held him close to her.
"I'm your sister Lincoln." She reminded him by means of trying to act as Lori would. Though, it had little to no effect as the ashen haired boy simply grabbed her wrists and proceeded to slowly remove her grip whilst tightening his own hold. Her expressions changed as his fists tightened, her palms losing their grip on his collar. He didn't intend to hurt her, she was still his sister, human or not. But, Lincoln wasn't exactly in the mood to spend his time dealing with a meddling sister. Though, before he could fully remove her grasp on his shirt, she caught hold again, unwilling to let go.
"Let go, Leni." Lincoln whispered, he could've easily removed her hands, but by doing so he'd have to apply more than the usual amount of pressure on her, hurting her in the process. When she shook her head at his demand, he applied oh so little force. She winced at the increased pain, but her grip remained. "Let go." And again, she shook her head. Knowing he'd hurt her worse should he just force her off him, Lincoln sighed and instead released his hold on her. To which the look of relief washed over her worried expression. "You're stubborn." He commented.
But Leni didn't respond, instead, she stayed silent. What could she say? Before, a myriad of things, most of which were her stating they she was his sister, Sam wasn't. Ever since she appeared, Lincoln preferred her company to that of his sisters. And that irritated the blonde ever so. She went along with the rumor over his bad luck, of that she wouldn't deny. But that didn't mean she stopped caring, she still loved her brother, she still cared. She had hoped that by giving him space he'd eventually open up, but every day she saw him with Sam, the less and less he spent around his family. As if he was trying to push them away, to separate himself and actually go through with what Sam had wanted to do from the day he first came home.
A sudden thought had sparked, one that, in this case, made her heart sink with overwhelming fear. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly. He didn't return the embrace, but that didn't matter. He couldn't leave this way, she wouldn't let him leave. She remembered the heart ache her family felt when he disappeared, the guilt and loneliness she felt when her baby brother was gone due in part to her actions, and she wasn't going to let it happen again. She wasn't going to lose her brother a second time.
But, something felt off, she quickly noted. Her brother's skin was cold, unnaturally so. Why? His room shouldn't be freezing, unless he left the window open; the nights did get chilly every so often. But then, that didn't explain why he remained cold, even in her embrace.
For a moment, Lincoln didn't resist, he didn't want to. Even with Sam and Taurus, the little embraces they displayed to him, he felt no warmth in their touch, he knew the sentiment behind their light punches and small hugs were of kinship, but there was always that one missing bit; warmth. He couldn't deny it, he missed feeling warmth, as a Ghoul, he couldn't feel the sun's heat, fire rarely bothered him unless it touched him directly, even his own body couldn't generate warmth. And so, for this one moment, he didn't push his sibling away, but it didn't change how he felt.
In fact, the only reason he got caught was because he caught Leni's scent just outside his door. He'd picked up on her standing by his door for last few days, so out of curiosity he came to see what she wanted. But, it seemed whatever it was she wanted to say was of no big importance after all.
As he tried to pry her hands, he found Leni's grip on him to be equal, if not more forceful than when she grabbed his collar. He could easily push her away, it wouldn't take much, but, even when he knew he could, he didn't.
As much as it pained him to admit, he still had a connection to this family. Whether he liked it or not. In all honesty, he wanted to buy unto the fact that he was no longer a part of this family; it would've made it easier for him when he left for Constellation. After all, he wasn't human, so why should he care if he left? If his 'family' ever found out what he truly was, what he had become, they'd rid their hands of him quicker than with the bad luck incident.
But, as it became apparent, Leni was only furthering his want to stay with them. Even with the many mistreatments, there were still memories he relished in. Memories of him and his family that seemingly negated the negatives. He could keep his Ghoul form a secret, right? Sam and Taurus did, each with their own way of blending into society. Hell, even Haiku, who he assumed was constantly in her Ghoul form, integrated herself.
Seeing as how he wasn't going to leave with his sister awake, Lincoln chose instead to stay for the night. Though, what he didn't expect, nor did he find it in him to reject or push aside was Leni spending the night in his room. Of all things to have happened, how his attempt to sneak out again, ending with his older sister keeping an iron grip on him was an outcome he couldn't have predicted.
All the same, he couldn't deny the company was a moderate welcome. Even with ten sisters, he still felt alone, as if he didn't belong here. In many ways, he didn't want to belong in the Loud house. With the way Sam spoke of Constellation, the members, the feeling of being beside people like you, it all sounded so appealing. And yet, he still felt drawn to his family. Was he still human? Was there a little ounce of humanity left in him, gripping on to last bits of affection he holds for his family?
Regardless, if only for this one night, he didn't force his sibling out. Rather, he couldn't, not without hurting her badly. To which his eyes drifted to her wrists, visible, albeit faint, signs of his grip were still present. He felt guilty, no question about it, while he was still angry with them, he didn't hate them, not to this degree. But, controlling his anger became all the more difficult lately, and he couldn't understand why. And that voice had not been heard since Sam and Haiku's visit.
In any case, it was out of his hands now, as was his phone apparently. In his attempt to notify Sam of his absence that night, he realized he'd placed his phone on the drawer across from his bed. In between him and the device was his older sister, and while he tried to reach for it, mistaking his actions for one of displaying affection, a half asleep Leni smiled as she wrapped her arms around him. Holding him tightly against her, had she not relented her grip after a bit, he would've suffocated. A fate he wasn't keen on meeting, at least not under these circumstances. Luckily for him, it didn't take long for Leni to fall asleep. Another good trait of hers, at least for Lincoln, was how heavy a sleeper she was.
As he attempted to push her off of him, her grip had tightened. He tried again, only for the same result to happen. Though, his third attempt was stopped midway, having felt warm droplets fall on his face. He glanced to the source; his sister was in tears.
"Don't leave..." she mumbled in her sleep. Her grip grew tighter, as if fearing he'd slip away at the slightest leaning of force. Which could've been the case, had the next few words not kept him at bay. "Linky...don't leave me...please..." He couldn't tell if she was awake, or possibly talking in her sleep. Whatever the case, his attempts to break free ceased. Instead, Lincoln resided to where he now stood...or lay, in this case. And seeing as he wasn't going anywhere, he closed his eyes and attempted to drift off as well.
Though, seeing Leni like this left the ashen haired boy with a tangent of guilt, wishing he could comprehend why he was feeling little empathy for his siblings, but alas, he had nothing. Even so, for this once only, he returned Leni's embrace. However, while he could not provide the same warmth she could, she appeared content. In a way.
-Next day-
As the weekend finally came, many chose to spend it sleeping in, as was the common joys of a weekend. However, in the Loud house, as the whole had started to awaken, the halls were silent. The girls had started to line for the bathroom in a silent manner that had been accustomed to since their brother went missing. Even after him being found, the joy in their lives seemingly disappeared along with him. And although he'd been found, nothing was the same anymore. What did seem to be becoming constant was Luna standing outside Lincoln's door. She'd been trying to reach out to him for days, to no avail. He either wouldn't respond, or he'd tell her to go away. However, through her own resolve, she had chosen not to take no for an answer this time. So, she knocked, waiting for a response.
There was a shuffling noise, her nerves seemingly faltering the more she awaited what could've been another dismissal, or perhaps the chance she finally had to patch up with her sibling. Whatever be it the case, she was prepared. And when the doors opened, her strengthened nerves seemingly crumbled all at once as she was greeted by the sight of her older sister, Leni. She yawned, rather loudly, stretching for a bit before greeting her sister. "Morning Luna." She greeted casually, unaware of their widened eyes fixed on her.
"L-l-leni?" The rocker was, rightfully, confused. Why was her older sister in Lincoln's room, did he know she was here? Was he here? Luna tilted her head to peek in, catching a glimpse of a still slumbering ashen-haired boy. Without warning, Luna pulled Leni out of the room and shut the door. The whole of the eldest siblings, gathered around her.
"Why were you in Lincoln's room?" Getting straight to the point was something Lynn tended to stick by, never one for beating around the bush.
"I spent the night with Linky." Then again, Leni was well known for short and simple answers. And this was no exception.
"Wait, he let you sleep in there? With him?" Luan asked, equally surprised at seeing Leni emerge from Lincoln's room. When her sister nodded, an idea sparked in the comedian's head. "Then...does that mean we can talk to Lincoln?" The hopes of the Loud siblings spiked as they believed their brother to finally be opening up to them. However, their hopes almost instantly crashed when they saw Leni's smile fade as she shook her head.
"I don't think so...Linky only talked to me because..." She stopped herself, Knowing full well how violently Lynn and Leni would react to hearing not only was their brother sneaking out at night, but that he was meeting up with the person who had attempted to take him away from them. She wanted to fill her siblings in, but their initial reactions were not exactly subtle. Lynn especially, the jock was nearing the end of her patience with their brother.
"Because?" Said jock asked, her tone of voice indicating a sense of eagerness after hearing that her brother was beginning to open up. The waiting had been shorter than the siblings expected, but to have their sibling back to normal was all they wanted. Though, the manner in which Leni hesitated revealing how she was able to get through to Lincoln kept them on edge. What was it that had Leni with Lincoln's attention?
"Because..." Leni tried to think of an excuse that sounded plausible to her sisters, but at this point, with their unwavering stares fixated on her, she couldn't answer. Luckily for her, she didn't have to.
"Because you caught him attempting to sneak out." The answer came from the brains of the family, Lisa. She emerged from her room with a small tablet in hand while all eyes were now fixed on her, as were the frightened pupils of Leni.
"What do you mean by that?" Lori asked.
Lisa fixed her glasses first before displaying the screen of her tablet to her siblings. What was being played came as quite a shock to many, as it was agreed upon not to do so anymore; a camera fixed just outside Lincoln's door. "While I was not allowed to have surveillance over our brother's domicile, I chose to place one outside his room. My intent was to identify a pattern of the consistency to which he left his room, in an attempt to hopefully predict a chance at confronting him." Her explanation fell on deaf ears, unsurprisingly, as the girl kept their eyes glued to the screen. There was no sound, so the sisters were treated to a recording of Leni standing outside her brother's door late at night, finally confronting him, and ending with the two sharing a bed.
While Leni wasn't considered the smartest of her sisters, she knew all too well how quickly Lynn would jump to conclusions thanks to the lack of audio, not to mention how easily she manipulated the family to follow through with her in her assumptions. And after watching Lincoln seemingly twist Leni's wrist, her expressions shifting from pain and determination, coupled with his unchanging face, it was clear that the sisters were beginning to plot a charge into the boy's room to give him a piece of their mind. More so when Lori instantly grabbed Leni's arm and inspected her wrist, her glare intensifying once she saw glimpses of Lincoln's grip still visible on her wrist.
Lori turned to Lincoln's room, the anger in her eyes was enough to keep the other siblings from interfering with whatever she had planned, which mostly consisted of banging on Lincoln's door, consistently, and with much vigor. Enough so that by the tenth bang, she could've sworn she cracked the wooden frame. At this point, Leni quickly placed herself between her sister's fist and the door; only by a mere few inches did Lori's fist come to a grinding halt. Accompanying Lori's confusion were the surprised expressions of her sisters for standing up to the eldest Loud.
"No more." She muttered, loud enough to be heard, but judging by the increasingly confused expressions her sisters expressed, Leni continued. "No more fighting. I don't wanna lose Linky again."
"Look at what he did to your arm, Leni!" Lynn shouted, her patience having finally broken at watching her older sister be treated in such a way, by a sibling no less. "Ever since he came back all he's done is sulk and act like some spoiled brat who didn't get what he wants. He ignores us, acts like we're beneath him, and he pushes us away every time we even try to talk to him. He should know better than to do that to his family!"
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!" Leni countered, her own anger had bubbled to the surface, startling her sisters. Though, unlike most instances where the Loud girls would backtrack from raising their voices towards either Lynn or Lori; Leni refused to back down. "You have no right...to talk about family." She whimpered, the actions they showed at this moment would only push Lincoln away. No doubt, he'd tell Sam, and she'd use this as a reason for him to leave. Leni couldn't let him leave, she wouldn't. Her heart wouldn't be able to take seeing her brother out of her life again.
The implication was not lost on anyone, they all knew what Leni meant by that. Hell, on more than one occasion the sisters kept reminding Lynn of her role in their brother's disappearance. To which her reply was always 'you didn't have to play along', which was true in its own right.
The ever growing glare from Lynn wasn't what unnerved Leni, it was the fact that the jock was more than willing to physically persuade people to change their views on her, particularly those who damaged her pride. Even her own family fell into the list of people she'd be willing to fight just to prove a point. She knew Lynn wouldn't take her implication lightly, Leni knew a fist was coming her way. But, what she didn't expect, what she least saw coming, was Lynn seemingly holding herself back. After a moment of waiting, nothing came, only an unending deathly glare from the jock. Seeing her holding herself back was impressive, given Lynn's reputation one would think self-control was lost on her. Be that as it may, Leni continued with her banter, knowing full well at some point Lynn would probably reach her breaking point and strike, but, at this point, someone needed to put her in her place.
"We all played along, but you were the one who kept it going after he admitted to lying...you're supposed to be his sister...and yet, you were nothing more than a bully…" This accusation was not something the jock was going to let slide, she opened her mouth to protest, only for Leni to beat her to the punch. "SHUT. IT." She held a finger to her sister, her glare matched only by Lynn's. "I'm not going to stand aside anymore, I won't let you hurt him. I won't let you push my Linky away." Leni held nothing back in her anger. The thought of Lynn letting out frustration on her was something she was prepared to endure, if only to keep Lynn from laying a finger on Lincoln.
The hall had grown uncomfortably quiet. The jock seemingly unable to respond to her sister's words. Or rather, she had quite a few things to say, and a few punches to dish out as an added bonus to her damaged ego. And so it seemed, that her ego was indeed damaged, to the point that Lynn raised a fist and, doing what she seemingly only knew what to do, without hesitation, threw all she had at her sister.
And when her fist struck, the only sound that could be herd was the horrified gasps of the Loud sisters. A ringing pain in her hand caused Lynn to caress her reddened knuckles, they appeared as if having struck something hard, like metal or stone. When she turned to her sister, her eyes widened when she noticed, not streaks of platinum blond, but of ashen-white. No one had noticed when, or if the door to Lincoln's room had opened, all they knew was that the Loud sibling stood between his sisters, and took the hit that was intended for Leni.
Another moment of uncomfortable silence took over as neither Lynn, nor Leni had words for what just happened. And no Louds spectating could find a single word to muster either, more so Lori, who watched not only Leni throw quite a few choice words at Lynn, but she'd been so distracted with Leni's newfound courage that he failed to register the actions the jock had took after being insulted. Though, the eldest of the siblings was indeed surprised to see her brother appear out of nowhere, more so that he deliberately took a hit for Leni. Granted, with how he was before, there was no doubt Lincoln would've done anything for his family, even so far as taking hits for them. But with the attitude he'd been giving off lately, she'd been worried that her brother had finally snapped, and cared nothing for his family after the treatment he endured. But as it would appear; he had not.
"You're all too loud." The silence had been broken by the male sibling; his tone indicated that he had just woken up, possibly due to the screaming. It wasn't until a trickle of blood slid from his mouth down his lips that the girl's realized how much force Lynn placed in that punch, and who its intended target was. "Little early to be a hypocrite, don't you think?" Lincoln's question was aimed at Lynn as he swiped away the small trickle of blood away.
The sister in question took a moment to realize what she had done. To be mocked not just by one, but by two siblings, not to mention the glares she was getting from the rest of her sisters. Lynn wasn't one to shy away from anything, but at this moment, she'd gone too far. She lowered her head as she fast paced to her room, shutting the door with much vigor.
Following the boy's sudden arrival, he glanced to his siblings, then to Leni. His expression wasn't hostile by any means, but there was still something about his gaze that sent shivers, regardless if he was frowning or...come to think of it, the Loud siblings couldn't say that they've seen Lincoln smile after he had returned.
But, for one small moment, when Leni nervously waved to him, gesturing a thanks for intervening, an albeit faint grin formed on his lips. It was faint, but noticeable by few.
Lincoln gave a quick glance to his other sisters, clear hesitance could be seen as the elder siblings wanted to approach their brother, but were unsure over whether approaching him would play out. Before giving them a chance to say a word, the ashen haired boy turned to the stairs.
"Lincoln?" Luna called out, hoping to make amends as Leni apparently did.
"I'm going out." Although, while he did have a soft spot for Leni, he wasn't exactly going to involve himself with the rest of his siblings yet. Ignoring their faint calls, the ashen-haired boy got a few feet down the stairs before his nose twitched. His ears perked up while the small hairs on his arms seemingly stood on end. And eerie sense of dread had encompassed his senses as his eyes were glued to the front door, all the while a familiar humming sound echoed in his head.
'It can't be…' Lincoln felt the same unnerving calmness and fear he experienced that night. The memories came rushing back, the pain, the fear, the anger, all of it bubbling all at once to the surface. There was no doubt in his mind; it was the ghoul that turned him into what he was. And it was just outside his home. Humming, almost, peacefully to itself. And the speed at which it moved…it was as if taking a stroll.
But why? According to Taurus, the ghoul that attacked him was feral, right?
…Right?
-Outside-
Walking peacefully along the sidewalk, a blonde teen passes the infamous Loud house, all the while humming a little tune to herself whilst holding a parasol to block the sun's rays. The edge of the parasol kept her face protected from the sun; however, its intended use was to keep the world from seeing her deep crimson pupils and black sclera. As she was nearing the house, her eyes glanced over, upon laying eyes on it, a faint grin formed on her lips as she continued her tread towards it.
'One way or another…I'll finish what I started…Linky~' her smile widened, her jagged teeth bared as her free palm reached for the door knob. She'd been waiting for two weeks, observing from afar, eager to finally have the fruits of her labor in the palm of her hands. She knocked, gently, her body seemingly trembling with excitement as she caught his scent drawing ever closer towards the door. As the door knob turned, her jagged teeth and reddened eyes calmed as she intended to further taunt him.
To no one's surprise, Lincoln opened, albeit hesitantly. And when he did, he came to a rather shocking realization; the creature that attacked him, he knew her. He knew this 'feral' all too well, as did Lori as she made it oh so obvious.
"Carol?" She and the other siblings had descended after Lincoln, only to halt at the sight of their sister's rival, now apparently turned friend.
Carol's smile was unnerving, and raised many red flags as Lincoln could feel the eager bloodlust irradiating from her. All of it seemingly hiding behind that false smile she displayed for his family. But he knew better, he saw past it. He saw this teen for what she really was; the reason he became a ghoul.
Carol's head tilted to the side, her grin ever present, but her eyes reverting to a different shade to mask her true colors. She glanced to her formal rival and spoke gently. "Hey Lori, mind if I come in?"
This story, aye, there are so much more elements we wanna throw in here, but anymore and we'd be spoiling the future chapters. But, after quite some time, here's the next chapter, with more coming as fast as we can write 'em. If anyone is confused, don't worry, the ghoul that attacked Lincoln will be revealed...actually, she was revealed here; it's Carol. How? Stay tuned to find out. Ciao!