"Damn it!" Jordan felt frustration rising as she dropped the pistol after firing it, unable to handle the kickback of the gun in her hands. She bent down and picked up the gun again before looking to see if she had managed to hit the soda can that she had been using as a target. Seeing that she had missed yet again, she looked over to the others in the group to see how they were progressing. Lincoln seemed to be the best out of them, hitting his target once in nearly every five shots. Lucy seemed to be having the same struggle she herself was having, that being the gun's kickback being too much to handle. Jordan froze slightly as she heard Lincoln's grandfather, Albert walk up behind her. Something about this man put her on edge despite never having met him before today. "You need to hold the grip as tight as you can, Ms. Rosato. Never ease up on your strength while holding a gun or else you may end up injuring yourself." Albert gave her a smile before moving on. Something about Mr. Loud was... not right. She had noticed the reactions of the other members of the Loud family to his appearance and the accusations of murder they had thrown at him. What was Lincoln thinking about bringing them to him?
Lincoln reloaded his gun with a sigh. He was aware that he had just pissed off possibly everyone in the group straight away but really, what else was he to do? Ask Mr. Bolhofner to teach them? That guy was more mentally unstable than even his Grandfather who Lincoln kept glancing back at as he paced back and forth, watching everyone shooting. Lincoln's gut was telling him that something was wrong here. He had taken them all behind the retirement home and gone back inside to bring the guns out, refusing help to carry them. The feeling of dread was creeping up his neck the more he thought about his Grandfather and the things he had done since that day Lincoln had discovered Luna's old master. Lincoln had the theory that Albert had been waiting for who knows how long for his moment to kill the old controller of this world and that he himself had been nothing more than a useful distraction for his grandfather to finish the job. A useful tool. Despite a hatred for his grandfather that he never had before that night, there was still something inside Lincoln that cared for the old man. He knew what he was, and what he had done but... he was still his grandfather. Part of the Loud family whether he liked it or not and now that his dad was gone... He was the only type of father figure he had left.
The sunlight was waning and the last bus of the day would be here in 20 minutes. The group had spent the day shooting with pistols and while they were less than qualified, Lincoln felt that it would suffice for now. They knew the basics and only needed to practice when they had the time which admittedly, there would not be much of that during these next few weeks. Lincoln looked to each member of the group, Luna and Lucy clearly showing remaining anger about the situation while Jordan was giving him a questioning look. He turned to Clyde only to see him getting up. "Where are you going, Clyde?"
"I thought since I'm here that I'd check in on my grandpa. It's been a few months since I've last seen him." Clyde shrugged and began making his way toward the closest door that lead inside but before he could get any further, Albert stepped in front of his path. "I am afraid that is currently not possible, Mr. Mcbride." He said with that eerie smile he always seemed to wear these days. The entire group looked over, concern growing inside the members of the Loud Family. "Why is that, Mr. Loud?" Clyde asked, tilting his head slightly. "I'm afraid you have come on a day when the majority of the residents here are on a trip for the weekend. They should return by Monday." Luna slowly got to her feet, her look of concern turning to one of slight panic. "Then why didn't you go?" Albert's eyes glanced over to his granddaughter, the smile remaining. "It simply did not interest me. I much prefer the moments of solitude that I can get." Lincoln quickly glanced at his sisters and Jordan before turning to look at his grandfather. "And... you're the only one who stayed? everyone else decided to go?"
"Of course not, my boy. Scoots and a few other people you would not know decided to stay behind. But they keep out of my way and me theirs. I expect the others are inside." Lincoln remained silent for a few moments before giving a nod. "C'mon, Cylde. The bus'll be here soon anyways." Clyde, not suspecting anything, headed back to the group and sat back down. Luna, Lucy, and Jordan were all looking at Lincoln who had now shut the world out as he began thinking to himself. Something was off here. He knew that not a single word that came out of his grandfather's mouth could be taken at face value. And an overnight field trip? hell, the idea of a field trip at all sounded stupid to Lincoln. They were seniors, not 4th graders. Something sketchy was going on and if it involved his pop pop? it was probably something horrific. Lincoln looked back to make sure his grandfather had left before getting to his feet with a sigh. "I'm going to the bathroom. I'll only be a minute."
"Be quick, Lincoln!" Clyde shouted as he began to walk off. "The bus'll be here any minute!" Lincoln put his hand up as he walked toward the entrance to the building. He was willing to bet that his grandfather wouldn't stop him from going inside even if something was wrong for if he did, he'd surely bring suspicion to himself. Sure enough, Lincoln made it to the front door and pushed it open with no trouble. He gave one last look over at his sisters who were staring right back at him with concern on their faces. With a nod to reassure, he stepped inside and shut the door after.
Something was definitely wrong. Like the last time he visited, there was again nobody behind the counter but what was different was that there was nobody in the visiting area, no sounds could be heard and the place... smelled rotten. As Lincoln slowly walked past the counter, the smell worsened, causing him to gag and cover his nose. He was just about to enter the main area of the building when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He gasped as he turned around and came face to face with his grandfather. "You should not be in here, my boy." There was no smile on Albert's face anymore, just cold eyes that shook Lincoln to his core. "W-What have you done?"
Albert continued to stare at Lincoln for a few more moments, staying silent. After a moment his mouth slowly curved into a smile, one that Lincoln felt was much different from the normal smile that he put on. A wicked smile. "I'll show you."
To Be Continued