The sisters all stared at Lisa, puzzled.
"Wh… What? The solution…?" Luna said.
Lisa held her smirk as she walked back through the crowd. "Follow me, pleashe."
The girls parted to allow Lisa through, then followed her into the hallway. They stopped at the doorway leading into Lisa's room, but Lisa beckoned them inside. The girls, thus invited, entered, seeing the inside of Lisa's room for the first time in days. The air was stale, and smelled of coffee. Indeed, the water cooler in one corner of the room was half-filled with coffee. Papers and books lay in a disorganized clutter on Lisa's desk.
And taking up nearly one-third of the space in the room… was a large machine and its extensions.
The machine was boxy, with its most distinguishing feature being what appeared to be a large subwoofer in the center of it. There were various switches and dials on the machine, as well as a monitor and keyboard for user interface. There was also a large generator attached to the machine, with a funnel leading into it, as well as what appeared to be a large battery on the side of the machine. And finally, there were a series of wires and cords of every shape and size leading from the machine out the window and up to the dish-like apparatus on the roof.
Lisa stood in front of the machine, facing her siblings. "What if I told you… that everything that hash happened in the pasht month-and-a-half – the inchident, and all the conshequenchesh thereof – could all be made a bad dream?"
The girls began talking amongst themselves, confused but intrigued. With a proud flourish, Lisa indicated the machine. "Shiblingsh, behold: the anshwer to all of our current predicamentsh."
The girls all stared at the machine in wonder. Then, Luna shrugged and decided to ask the obvious question: "…What is it?"
Lisa patted the metallic side of the machine. "I call it the Mental Nullifier of EMOtional ShYNEshtheshia Deviche, or the MNEMOShYNE Deviche for short. What it doesh ish emit a shubshonic shound wave that targetsh shpechific areash of the brain reshponshible for memory – the hippocampi, the amygdalae, the mamillary bodiesh, the medial temporal lobesh – and deactivatesh the neuronsh that produche the theta wavesh that comprishe shpechific memoriesh." Lisa smirked as she watched her sisters struggle and fail to keep up with the flow of information before concluding, "Shimply put, thish ish a machine that can make ush forget."
"Huh? Wait…" Lynn shook her head. "You mean… this thing… can erase our memories?"
"Well, not prechishely. One cannot 'erashe' memoriesh per she – at leasht, not without doing permanent damage to the brain. What the MNEMOShYNE Deviche doesh is repressh memoriesh. Theshe memoriesh can be retrieved at a later date with a shubshonic wave of a different frequenchy, which will reactivate the relevant neuronsh containing the memoriesh, if one sho wished. What I proposhe ish that we ushe the MNEMOShYNE Deviche to repressh the memoriesh of the inchident and itsh aftermath, allowing ush to return to a normal life, and pushing our romantic feelingsh towardsh our brother back into our shubconchioush mindsh, where they belong. Then, onche we have all reached emotional maturity, and are better equipped to prochessh the mental and emotional trauma of the inchident and our love for Lincoln, we will recover the memoriesh and deal with them properly."
The girls all gazed at Lisa in astonishment. They had given up. They thought that there was no way out of their situation. But now…
"That… That…!" Luan turned to her sisters with a jubilant smile on her face. "That might actually work!"
Most of the girls squealed, embraced each other, and jumped for joy. But someone had to keep a level head, and once again, that someone was Luna.
"Wait, wait, wait a second! Hold on!" Luna shouted the others down. She turned back to Lisa. "Say this thing works, and we forget everything. What about everyone else? They'll all still remember what we did, and I'm sure they won't hesitate to remind us!"
The other girls grumbled and groaned as Luna's logic quashed their uplifted spirits, but Lisa wasn't dismayed. "How right you are, third eldesht shibling," she said, nodding. She then pointed to the wires and cords leading out the window. "Which ish why I alsho intend to project the shound wave across the entire world, and repressh the memoriesh of the pasht month-and-a-half for everyone on the planet – jusht to be shafe, of courshe."
"Wha –?! How – But – What –" Luna sputtered, before taking a deep breath. "…You can do that?!"
Lisa pointed to the battery and generator, then at the ceiling. "With the increashed power output shupplied by my biofuel converter (powered by shamplesh provided by Lincoln, Lily, and myshelf) and the battery that it charged, ash well ash a global array of shatellitesh that I have arranged by calling in shome favorsh from NAShA… yesh."
The other girls began to murmur excitedly, their hope restored, but Luna still wasn't satisfied. "But… hold on, won't people realize that a month-and-a-half has passed, and they can't remember anything from it?"
Lisa shrugged. "Yesh, there will be shome temporal disshonanche, but only a few people will pay it any mind. And even when the fact that a month-and-a-half hash passhed ish found out, mosht people will shimply change their calendarsh and go about their livesh. Human beingsh have an uncanny ability to ignore and acchept anomaliesh in their livesh, ash long ash they can retain shome shemblanche of normalchy."
"How do you know that?" Lucy asked, roused from her complacency by Luna's reasoning. "And for that matter, how do you know that this thing will work?"
"It worksh. I've teshted it," Lisa said quickly.
"When?"
Lisa averted her gaze. "I have. It worksh. Trusht me."
She was hiding something. That much was obvious to Lucy. The young goth girl stepped forward and stared at her younger sister intently.
"Lisa… look at me."
Lisa did not look at Lucy.
"Lisa!"
Slowly and very, very reluctantly, Lisa looked at Lucy. Lucy was surprised by what she saw in Lisa's eyes. It wasn't the exhaustion or the emotional pain – she had guessed that – but the physical pain.
Lucy rubbed her hands nervously. "Lisa… is there something you're not telling us?"
Lisa gave a small gasp, and averted her gaze again. Then, quietly, she said, "…No."
Lucy stepped closer to Lisa, close enough to whisper in her ear without the others hearing. "Lisa… I'm worried about you…"
Lisa closed her eyes, blinking back tears, before responding. "Don't be. None of it will matter shoon…" She cleared her throat, then turned to her other sisters. "Ash I wash shaying, I have teshted thish machine previoushly, and I asshure you, it worksh ash intended."
"Well, jeez!" Lynn said. "What are we waiting for?! Let's fire it up, already!"
The others all cheered in agreement – even Luna and Lucy, who allowed themselves to hope. Lisa looked at her wristwatch. "In approximately five minutesh, the shatellitesh will be in poshition. From then, we will have a five-minute window to activate the MNEMOShYNE Deviche – we only get one shot at thish. The target areash of the brain and the memoriesh to be represshed have already been programmed – I will now begin powering up the Deviche."
Lisa walked up to the side of the machine, which had three large switches among all the dials and meters. Lisa pulled the first switch, and the MNEMOSYNE Device came to life. The machine hummed and whirred, and the needles on the meters began to flicker. The Loud girls all held their breath in anticipation.
Just then, they heard their mother's voice from downstairs. "GIRLS! What's taking so long?"
The girls looked at each other, panicked. Lisa motioned for someone to go and speak to her, whispering "Shtall her…"
Lynn ran out the door to the head of the stairs, and faced her mother. "U-Um, don't worry, Mom!" she called. "We're, uh… just helping Lisa pack!"
"What?! She isn't even packed?!" Mrs. Loud exclaimed.
"Don't worry, Mom! We're all helping her, so it'll only take, like… five minutes, or so!" Laughing nervously, Lynn ran downstairs and grabbed her bag. "I've still got some space in my bag, so she can put her stuff in here!"
Mrs. Loud looked at Lynn skeptically as she dragged her bag upstairs. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it's okay, Mom, don't worry!" Lynn came back to the head of the stairs. "Be right back!"
She went back into Lisa's room, lugging her luggage behind her. "Okay, that bought us a few minutes. Lisa, how's it going?"
Lisa inspected the meters. "Hmm… readingsh nominal, energy output shtabilizhed…" She grabbed the second switch. "Time for more power."
Lisa pulled the second switch, and the mechanical humming and whirring became louder, and the meters shot up higher.
The sisters continued to wait anxiously, until Leni spoke up. "Wait, so, like… shouldn't we be helping Lisa pack?" she asked.
Lynn looked at her. "Wha…? No, Leni, that was just a ruse to buy us more time."
"Wait – she's got a point," Lucy said. "That's what Mom and Dad are expecting us to do now – and if they don't hear us packing, they might get suspicious."
Lynn sighed. "Okay, fine, everyone start packing."
As Lisa continued to monitor the MNEMOSYNE Device, the other Loud girls scattered and began stuffing Lynn's bag with a week's worth of green turtlenecks and pink pants, while Lana ran to the bathroom to grab Lisa's toothbrush. Lynn jumped on top of the bag to force it shut, then zipped it up.
Lynn turned back to Lisa. "Lisa?"
Lisa looked at her wristwatch. "One minute left… time for maximum power!"
She grabbed a nearby wastebasket, already filled with dirty diapers, and dumped its contents into the biofuel converter. The converter rumbled and shook as it converted the diapers' renewable resources into electrical energy, and Lisa returned to the MNEMOSYNE Device and pulled the third and final switch.
The machine's roars became almost deafening, and the needles shot to the far end of the meters and stayed there. Some of the girls tapped their feet or bounced their legs restlessly; others chewed their nails, or stared attentively at the machine. Lisa stood at the console, eyes riveted on her wristwatch, standing by.
And just as the five-minute window was about to open… Leni noticed something wrong.
"Hey… what's that smell?" she asked.
The other girls sniffed the air. They figured it might have been the dirty diapers, but no, it smelled like something… burning?
Everyone looked at the MNEMOSYNE Device, and saw smoke starting to seep out from between the cracks and panels. Alarmed, Lisa began rapidly typing on the keyboard, but the monitor locked up. The humming and whirring became quieter and quieter, as the machine slowly powered down.
"No…! No…!" Lisa rushed over to her desk and fished out a pair of gloves from the pile, which she put on before removing a panel from the MNEMOSYNE Device. A large puff of smoke greeted her, and after Lisa coughed and fanned away the smoke, she looked inside – and suddenly, her cool, stoic demeanor cracked, and she started pounding on the machine with her balled fists.
"No, no, no, no, NO! WHY?! It'sh not –! I didn't –! NO! Pleashe…! Pleashe, no! PLEASHE! Don't do thish to me! I… I was sho closhe…! Please…!" She fell to her knees, clutching her head and grimacing. "Pleashe… Don't… Pleashe… I… I CAN'T fail… Not again…"
The others, disturbed by Lisa's sudden outburst, turned to Luna for guidance. Luna crossed over to the sobbing Lisa and cradled her in her arms.
"Whoa, whoa, t-take it easy, Lis, it's okay…" she said. "J-Just calm down, and-and tell us what the problem is…"
Lisa heaved, wiping her eyes and nose on her sleeve as she stood up. "Shtupid… Shtupid…! I should have known…! Deshperation made me carelessh, and now…!" She sighed. "Of courshe the MNEMOShYNE Deviche wasn't equipped to handle shuch a masshive energy output! Sho, the machine overheated, and now the chircuitsh are fried!"
"W-Well…" Lynn said, "I-I mean, there's still time, right? You can fix it, can't you?"
"In the next five minutesh?! I'm a geniush, Lynn, not a miracle worker!"
The girls cried out in utter despair. They had one chance, just one chance, to pull this off, and they blew it.
"S… So, that's it, then?" Lynn said shakily. "That's the end of it? You… You can't just… fix it, and try again later?"
Lisa adjusted her glasses and gritted her teeth. "Well, I could repair and replache the damaged chircuitsh, but I need time. I could inshtall inshulation and a coolant shyshtem, but I need time. And I could draw up shchematicsh for new technology to bribe NAShA with in order to create another shatellite array, but I need… more… time…!" She punctuated each word with a bang of her head against the metal side of the machine.
"How… how much time?" Luan asked.
Lisa shook her head. "…A week, at leasht."
The siblings all looked at each other despondently. They all knew that asking their parents for a week's reprieve was completely out of the question.
"We…" Lynn stomped her foot. "We… We still have to try!"
"Lynn, get real!" Luna said. "None of us will ever be able to convince Mom and Dad to let us stay – especially not after that stunt you pulled!"
"But…! But…! Oh…!" Lynn choked. She knew Luna was right. She hated her for it, but she knew she was right.
"What… What are we going to do…?" Lana asked.
The girls fell silent, desperately grasping for an answer. Then, Lucy perked up.
"You guys… there is one person that Mom and Dad will listen to…"
The others looked at her, wondering who that person could be, until they realized that there was only one possible candidate.
Luna shook her head. "Dudes… he'll never go for it…"
Lucy shrugged. "We have to try…"
(…)
One by one, the girls came out of Lisa's bedroom while Lisa stayed behind to repair what damage she could. As they came into the hallway, they heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Girls?" Mrs. Loud called. "Are you done yet?"
Thinking quickly, Leni rushed up and met her mother at the head of the stairs. "U-Um, yeah, Mom! We're done!"
"All right, good." Mrs. Loud jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "Now let's go."
"W-Wait!" Leni cried.
Mrs. Loud put her hands on her hips. "What?"
Leni flinched as her mother's gaze pierced through her. "U-Um, Mom, do… do you mind if… if…" She gestured towards the others. "I mean… can we say goodbye to Lincoln?"
"No. Absolutely not."
"Wha –?! But Mom –!"
"I said 'no', young lady!"
"Honey, please," Mr. Loud called from downstairs, "it's not much they're asking for –"
"I'm not going to feed into their obsession!" Mrs. Loud shouted back.
"Rita! Think about this! This is the last time the girls will ever see Lincoln for months, years, ever, who knows?! Can't you just let them have this? For me?"
Mrs. Loud looked into her husband's pleading eyes, then growled exasperatedly and folded her arms. "Fine." She turned to her daughters. "You have five minutes."
"U-Um, Mom…" said Lynn, "that's not really enough time for all of us to –"
"Five minutes." And with that, Mrs. Loud turned and went back down the stairs to give the girls some privacy, counting down the seconds until their time was up.
The sisters all exchanged one anxious look, then crowded towards the end of the hall. Luna managed to end up at the front of the pack, and she stretched her arms out, stopping her sisters from advancing any further.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! HEY! Hold up!" Luna called out. The others didn't like it, but they still obeyed her. "Look, dudes, we don't want to scare him again. And we can't get the message across if we're all shouting over each other. So, I think only one of us should talk to him, and try to convince him to talk to Mom and Dad and ask them to let us stay. Now, I know you all want to be the one to talk to him, but think about it, dudes – who's the most persuasive out of all of us?"
The sisters looked at each other. Lynn was briefly considered, but as her track record was recalled, she was cast aside. Luna herself was also considered, but too many wondered if she really could reach out to Lincoln. For one tense minute, the girls deliberated and scrutinized the best candidate out of all of them, but no-one came to mind.
Then, thoughtlessly, Lana said out loud, "Well, Leni's nice…"
That comment helped almost everyone come to a decision immediately. With the exception of Lynn, everyone was asking Leni to speak to Lincoln on their behalf.
"Wait, wait, hold on – Leni?" Lynn said. "Look, guys, I know she's nice, but she's also kinda, uh…"
Leni folded her arms. "I may not know a lot of things, Lynn, but I do know that I care about Lincoln."
"Ah –! O-Okay, you're right, Leni. Sorry." Lynn shrank into the crowd.
It was decided – Leni would be the one to speak to Lincoln. As she stepped away from the crowd, Luna came up beside her.
"Okay, Leni," Luna said, "let's not kid ourselves – this is one heck of a long shot. But Lucy's right – we have to try. So try – try as hard as you can!"
Leni nodded determinedly. "Okay!"
Luna retreated into the crowd, leaving Leni to approach Lincoln's door. Apprehension filled Leni's body and mind, and she looked to her sisters for support. With their silent encouragements behind her, she took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.
"…Lincoln?" she said as gently as possible.
There was no answer from within.
Though disheartened by the lack of a response, Leni forged onwards. "Okay, Lincoln, listen… I don't have a lot of time, so I have to make this quick. Lisa… she built a machine that can make us forget. Do you get it? Lincoln, we can forget this all ever happened. We can go back to the way things used to be – back to being a family. We just need more time. Lincoln… you're the only one who can convince Mom and Dad to let us stay here. Please… just give us one more chance to show you how sorry we are…"
She paused, awaiting his response. But no response came.
Leni sighed. "Okay, Lincoln, I get it – you have no reason to believe me, or any of us. But… But… Oh, gosh, I just don't know what to say other than it's true. I swear, I'm not lying. Please, Lincoln, please… you have to believe me…"
Once again, she listened intently. But not a sound came from the other side of the door.
Leni began to cry. "Lincoln, talk to me. I don't care what you say, just say something, ANYTHING!"
She pressed her ear against the wood. There was an almost deathly silence in Lincoln's room.
Leni clasped her hands together tightly and prostrated herself before the door. "Please, Lincoln… Please… I'm begging you… Give us another chance… That's all we're asking for, one more chance…! We can help you – we WANT to help you! PLEASE, Lincoln! Don't… Don't let them… Don't let them send us away…"
Leni's heart-wrenching pleas touched her sisters, who began to break down alongside her.
But there was still no response from Lincoln's room.
At that moment, Lisa came out of her room. She was crying inconsolably, her wristwatch beeping. The five-minute window had passed, and closed. Leni looked at Lisa's face, and saw that she had given up.
Lisa… had given up.
And Leni thought, if Lisa, a genius, knew that she couldn't do anything in this situation, then what could she, an idiot, do?
It was also at that moment that Mrs. Loud came back up the stairs. "Okay, girls," she said, "come on. Wrap it up."
Leni looked at her other sisters helplessly, and they stared right back at her. They had trusted her to do this, voted her the most capable… and she had failed them.
Head hung low, Leni turned back to Lincoln's room, lightly grazing her fingers against the door. "Okay, Lincoln… All right… I understand… We all do… We have to go now, Lincoln. And… And we don't know when we'll be back. We… We don't know if we'll be back. Just…" She sniffled. "Just know that, no matter what… we're sorry. We're so, so sorry…" She looked at her sisters again (Lisa now having joined the group). "Not just for… that… for everything. We… We never appreciated the things you did for us, Lincoln… W-We never appreciated you. You were always so kind, so thoughtful, so caring…" She gulped.
"And… And that's what made us fall in love with you."
Mrs. Loud started. "Leni!"
"He has a right to know, Mom! He has a right to know… how we really feel about him…" Leni turned back to Lincoln's room again, and shook her head. "Lincoln… we love you. As… Not just as a brother… Lincoln… this isn't your fault. It's ours. If we didn't feel this way about you… Lincoln… we're sorry. We're complete failures as sisters… and… and you…" She gasped and choked. "You were the best brother in the whole world…"
The girls gave in to their emotions, falling to the floor, bawling and sobbing. Mrs. Loud allowed them to cry for a few minutes more, then walked up and placed a hand on Leni's shoulder.
"Sweetie," Mrs. Loud said, "I'm sorry, but… the longer you drag this out, the harder it'll be to go…"
Leni fought to regain control of herself, then, whimpering, dried her eyes as best she could and nodded. Turning to Lincoln's room one last time, she laid both her hands flat on the door, leaned in… and gave it a kiss.
Then, she rested her forehead against the door, and, in a heartbreaking whisper, said:
"Goodbye, Lincoln."
One by one, the other sisters lined up and said goodbye to their only brother, as well. Mrs. Loud came last, having reflected on how she had never even attempted to make things right with her son, and placed one hand on the door, tearfully whispering, "Goodbye, my beautiful baby boy…"
Then, Mrs. Loud dried her tears, and put on a brave face for her daughters. "All right, girls… time to go."
Mrs. Loud and her daughters all trudged down the stairs (while Lisa briefly separated from them to retrieve her little green book) and collected their stuff. Just as they were all about to leave, however, Lola ran over to the fireplace and fetched the family photo hanging above it.
"Lola –?" Mrs. Loud said.
"H-Hold on a minute, Mommy! I'll be right back, I promise!"
Lola ran up the stairs, taking the picture out of the frame along the way, and slipped the picture under Lincoln's door.
"J-Just so you don't forget about us, Lincoln – the real us…"
Lola immediately picked herself up off the floor after that, and headed right back downstairs. Mrs. Loud and the girls said goodbye to Mr. Loud and Lily one last time, then finally headed out the front door, dragging their bags behind them.
Mrs. Loud woke Great-Aunt Ruth, who had dozed off in the driver's seat, and they began to load the bags into the trunk and lash them to the roof of the car. As she watched them do so, Lynn heard something she hadn't heard in a long time, and hadn't expected to in a long time, if ever again: Luan's laugh.
Seriously perplexed, Lynn walked up to Luan and asked, "What's so funny…?"
Luan came down from her laughing fit. "Ah… Aha… Hah… Oh… it's nothing. I just remembered, it's April Fools' Day today…"
"Oh, really?" Lynn realized that she had lost track of the date. "Huh… So, I guess no pranks this year, huh?"
"Are you kidding? This year has been the same as every year – only now, the joke's on all of us!"
Lynn tilted her head at Luan. "Huh?"
"Don't you get it? Everything, everything before this point – the incident, staying at the police station, the trial, everything at home, everything at school, everything – has just been the setup, leading to this, the punchline." Smiling sadly, Luan looked up at the sky, as though there were unseen eyes watching her story unfold, enjoying her suffering.
"They gave us hope… and then they took it away." She shook her head and chuckled bitterly, her eyes glistening. "Best April Fools' prank EVER…"
Mrs. Loud and Great-Aunt Ruth finished loading the bags. As Great-Aunt Ruth returned to the driver's seat, Mrs. Loud came to the passenger seat, and called Luan and Lynn to the car.
"Coming, Mom!" Luan said with a smile, waltzing to the car with a sardonic spring in her step. Feeling confused and disheartened, Lynn followed her.
Mr. Loud and Lily watched the car drive away. Lily knew that the car was carrying away her mommy and her sisters… and she had a feeling that she wouldn't see them again for a long time – maybe even forever. She started crying, and Mr. Loud comforted her.
"Yeah," he said, "I know how you feel, sweetie."
Mr. Loud brought his infant daughter inside and upstairs, to Lincoln's room. Knowing that her brother was nearby, Lily's crying faded into sniveling. Mr. Loud knocked on the door.
"Lincoln?" he called. "It's over… they're gone now."
Lincoln didn't respond. Mr. Loud leaned in close.
"Lincoln?"
There was no answer.
Mr. Loud sighed. He felt so helpless – so helpless to help his son. All he could do was sit, and wait, and hope Lincoln would feel good enough to talk about his feelings soon. And there was still that therapist's appointment that Clyde was setting up.
All he could do… was wait, and hope for things to get better.
Mr. Loud left his son alone, and went to Lori and Leni's former room to sing Lily to sleep…
(…)
The Loud girls rode in silence. Nothing was there to be said. Nothing needed to be said. No-one wanted to talk.
The Loud girls rode in silence. The road stretched ever onward, towards an uncertain future for all of them.
The Loud girls rode in silence. They would have to adjust to a new life – a life without their house, their pets, their father… their brother.
The Loud girls rode in silence. It was over. They had lost.
Eventually, the silence started to nag Lynn. She looked around for someone to talk to, but none of her sisters looked to be in the mood to talk – but there was one sister she felt she needed to talk to.
"Hey, Lisa?" Lynn said quietly. No-one else seemed to hear her.
Lisa turned her gaze away from the window and towards Lynn.
"Were you… working on that machine the whole time?"
Lisa nodded.
"Oh." She hesitated. "Um… I… I'm sorry, Lisa. I didn't know… that you were trying to make things right, too…"
Lisa shook her head. "That'sh quite alright. It'sh not ash if my endeavorsh were well… known…" Suddenly, Lisa shut her eyes tight, clenched her teeth, and massaged her temples.
"You okay?" Lynn asked.
After a while, Lisa's features relaxed, and she answered, "…Fine. Don't worry about me."
Lynn didn't believe that, but didn't feel like pressing the issue. "…All right." She sighed angrily. "Still… what a waste, though, huh? To go through all that effort, and have it all be for nothing…"
"It wash due to chircumshtanchesh outshide of my control. No-one… No-one can predict the future…" With trembling hands, she reached down and picked up the little green book in her lap. She took a shuddering breath, and then, without much conviction, said:
"I guessh… I'll jusht have to… try again…"
(…)
Author's Note: Hey-ho! Did you miss me? Admit it, you missed me!
Yeah, I felt like I should put the Author's Note at the end this time, just to preserve even a little bit of suspense. But first, I think I'll start with my thoughts on this chapter. Pardon my French, but this chapter was a bitch. First, I had to fill in a massive plot-hole, and then, I had to do a lot of research on memory, which is literally brain surgery. Pile mid-terms on top of that and, yeah… not fun.
Anyways, as you may have guessed, the story is not over yet. I personally would have liked the story to end here, but apparently, you guys haven't had your fill of depression yet. Hey, whatever floats your boat.
So, what happens next? Will the Loud sisters ever return to Royal Woods? Is Lincoln still among the living? If he is, will he ever recover? And if he isn't, how will his sisters react when they find out?
All these questions and more will have to go unanswered for the moment, because as of now, this fic is going on hiatus while I work on some different stuff and take the time to flesh out the second half of this extended story.
What different stuff, you may wonder? Well… I did promise you a story about an axe-murderer, didn't I?
The Axeman Cometh soon…
I'm Captain Dodge – thank you, and have a nice day!