"What? Who's coming for you, Lucy?" Lori touched a few of her red cuts, wondering if Lucy self inflicted.
Lucy shriveled upon being touched. "Stop, no. Leave me alone!" She hissed. Lucy drew the covers halfway over herself, and turned to her side. "I just want to be alone, okay?"
Luna and Luan, who had become silent for this, exchanged worried looks with the oldest Loud.
"Okay, Luce, I'll let you rest," Lori softly replied.
Luna nodded at Luan, giving her the go-ahead to leave as well. "Get some rest, sis." Luan kissed Luna's cheek, and exited out with Lori.
"I'm getting the feeling something's wrong with her", Lori shared. "First a nightmare. Now this? I'm worried for her, Luan."
"Great, just what we needed. We might as well be babysitting each other. Do you think Lucy did that to herself?"
Lori shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, she is dark and stuff. But... She did say something. Something about them coming. I don't know what she means by that, I just thought it was from her nightmare the first time she said it. But... I don't know what to believe. In any case, she needs rest. Both of them actually."
Luna faced the goth, who faced away from her, pretending to be asleep. Luna smelled the blood from her cuts, trying to cover her inhumane appetite for human flesh, which still disgusted her. "Lucy? You still awake?"
She chose not to be. Lucy remained in place, letting the chilly sensation that still kept plaguing her body. Her legs shook uncomfortably, but not too much. "Lucy?"
Later
"I'm- I'm fine now," she told them, pushing Lori's hands away from her body. "Stop touching me!"
Lupa stepped into the room just in time. "Lorelei, got a second?"
"Uhh, yeah, sure."
Lupa used her powers again, separating the both of them from the four in the room. Luna had been moved back already to her room. Lily was already asleep like a baby. Lynn had a tennis ball to aid her to fall asleep, which would definitely annoy Lori.
"What's the deal? Do you happen to know something?"
Lupa looking for an answer gave Lori the thought that something else was going on. "I think she should stay with me tonight. If it's all the same to you, me and her need to have a certain talk. It's serious, and when she's ready..." Lupa looked behind Lori, watching Lucy sitting up in her usual moody form. "...She'll tell you all. It's something you have to know."
"Is it literally bad? Because if so-" Her lips were forced shut, courtesy of the second goth.
"You couldn't understand it, maybe some of you might get mad, but this thing, she did it with good intention."
"Lucy did something?"
"She did something big... That's all I think I'll say. I'll tell her to come over, don't worry a thing, everything will be fine." Lupa stroked one of Lori's hands gently. "She'll be fine, okay?"
The way Lupa tried to comfort her, it was that of Lincoln's personality. His pre-fire one. That mature, caring one that she was still able to recognize. The same one that she played the role to destroy.
"If you say so..." Lori was left there, thinking about it. Remembering the better, pure side of the long-lost brother. The madness halted enough for her to think. Did he go missing recemtly, or was it that he had already been lost? Did she help kill who he was? Was Lori responsible?
Lucy floated in the air like a fresh corpse. Both her hands were crossed, over her chest. "Wicked," she pleasantly whispered, with Lupa smiling behind.
"Goodnight, Lore," she said, waving two fingers at her. Lori nodded back, still remaining silent.
"You think you can protect me?" Lucy scoffed. "I'm doomed, Lupa. I don't have to tell them anything. You can do it once I'm gone."
"Quit it, girl. It's not my place to say. It's not me they'll come for. They love you, don't make them see Lincoln in your place. Also... I told Lori you'll talk."
"You what?! No, I'll just-"
"Lucy, I'll be there with you. We'll tell them together, I know the truth too, you know?"
"Sigh..." Lucy took the bed on the floor Liby readied for her. "Can we wait? It has to be on that good moment."
"Yeah, that's fine," Lupa accepted.
Liby and Lacy greeted the doomed goth in the warmest of welcomes. "I'm sorry we don't have black pillows or covers."
"No, don't worry about it. I'd just like to get some sleep", Lucy told them. "I hope you don't make too much of a racket."
"We'll be quieter. Deal?"
Lucy nodded in agreement, already settling down on the floor. "Someone, kill the lights."
"Coming right up", Lacy exclaimed. With a flick of the wrist, the switch went down.
June 11th, 2026
The night breeze was one very chilly. The winds, howling high and low, came fiercer than usually. Shackles around the roof rattled about violently. It was sometime past midnight, and Lucy was sleepy eyed, backed against the corner of the room, near Liby's bed. She held her pillow in front of her, being awake enough to see around.
The room wasn't fully dark; Lucy opened the curtains after she made sure the three clones were asleep, in case they came again. Maybe yesterday was a warning that was letting her know they were coming. What fun it was, except for her. The pair of katanas would probably do nothing, but she didn't know if that was the case. They were there, underneath Liby's bed, ready for attack.
The dang cricket outside sang its song. Lucy couldn't debate whether it was keeping her company or flat out annoying her. Lacy's snoring was a melody all too familiar to her. If anything, Lucy found to have missed it. Lynn herself snored less and lightly, leaving Lucy satisfied with Lacy's hand-me-down. Time was unknown here, except for Lynn, who only had access to the time. Getting alarm clocks was one of a handful of things they needed here.
She remained there, moving her head every thirty seconds or so. She didn't know when to expect another Cult appearance, but she was ready for it. She had Lupa and the others to help her this time. Lucy wasn't up for the challenge in the nocturnal activities the more the minutes passed. She banged her head on the wall, and peered up. She fought her eyes, trying to keep them open.
The sudden sweep of cold air made her uncomfortable. Her scars had become dried, dark red, but still left her tempted to scratch away at them. She saw her breath in front of her, instantly fading away like a lost spirit.
A long arm, spawning from the wall, rested its hand on her head. It grabbed ahold of her hair and slammed her head a few times to the wall. "LUPA! LI-!"
She saw Lupa sitting up, having a grip on her covers, but she remained in that poster. Liby was also up, peeling over at Lucy. Lucy reached her hands out for Liby, but she did not move. "What are you doing?! Help me!"
"They can't hear you", the cold whisper came. "Time has been frozen for sixty seconds. They cannot help you. Not that they'd be able to, actually."
Lucy's arms and legs were seized, hair being released. "Take me now! Take me now then!" Two shadows on both sides moved slowly to the middle, setting her down. "What- What are you doing?!"
"You were supposed to have died already. Something has upset our design, altering them. That is why we've come to collect personally."
"Some supernatural beings you are! You could've found another way! You're... Monsters."
"Your time is not yet, but we've come to torture you for this little setback."
Her stomach was slashed in a random pattern. She moved all her limbs around the more cuts they embedded into her skin. "It's not my fault! Please-" She took a painful one from her chest, down to her hip. She yelped, still screaming for the others. Lucy awaited for more slashes, tightening herself to withstand the next ones.
She was dropped, and Liby and Lupa jumped out of their beds. Lacy was still snoring after all pf Lucy's noise.
"Lucy! What happened?!" Lupa turned on the lights, making Liby jump at seeing Lucy's fresh new gifts. "Lucy?"
Lucy looked past the two, trying to find the shadows. "God... Oh, God..." She hid her face, once wrapping her arms around her knees, and sobbed underneath. Lupa sat Liby on her bed, finally deciding to act for Lucy. "It's time they knew. I'm gonna tell them in the morning", Lupa stayed with Lucy, while Liby returned to hers and faced them until she fell asleep.
Morning
They had to drag her downstairs at first. Lupa wasn't having it, so she had to kick Lucy's hands away from the railing, and used her powers on Lucy so that she'd avoid grabbing hold of anything. "This is for your own good! Quit being all broody, woman!" Lucy hid her newfound scars under her dark attire, which Lupa vowed to also reveal.
Liby remained behind her, still reeling about the devastating truth Lupa had to break to her. Lacy was gone from the room, most likely out to the park that Lynn and the little ones had been going to.
She didn't need to be there for the dreadful announcement, yet didn't want to be alone. Lupa held one of her hands, non-verbally telling her she was there.
"Please put me down!"
"Not until you're there at the table. It's now, and there won't be a never."
Sure enough, only three Louds were missing from the table. Luan waved, greeting them. "Hey, are you guys already joking around?"
Lupa cleared her throat, ready to speak. Lori gulped, and set her fork and knife down, already halfway done with her pancakes. "Lucy here", she began, setting the goth down on her feet. "She has something she has to tell you."
Luna spoke with her mouth full. "Share away, Lucy."
Later
Lynn, Lily and Linka returned to such a surprise. Lucy was the first one they saw, right on the first step of the staircase, looking depressed as she'd always be in the before time. "Don't go in the kitchen, or backyard..." Lucy warned.
Lynn looked back to the kids, holding a hand up. "Stay here." She cautiously walked ahead, covering before heading to the kitchen. She leaned slowly, seeing another mess like before. Broken dishes, glass shards, dropped utensils, and spilled orange juice washed away the cleanliness of the nice, white floor. The table was legitimately broken in two, and Lori was leaned on the wall. Above her head, a nice hole had been made.
"I guess I missed something, huh? What happened here?" Lynn received only silence. The closer she walked to Lori, the more clearer it became that she had been crying. "Lori?"
Outside, Luna was muttering angrily, rubbing away at her eyes. Dirt made a home underneath her nails, and Luna was done scratching away in her rage.
Lucy, why the hell did you do it? Why did you make the deal?
This was news that proved too much for any of them. Another one, it was another one that someone else kept. Another secret. Blood boiled, her fists formed back again. Luna repeatedly slammed them down to the ground. She screamed, she yelled, she vented. This was too serious to keep hidden. She hated it, and she had never been so angry, so hurt.
I don't understand, why didn't... Why wasn't I told sooner? Why weren't we? Lucy...
Lacy and the twins were hugging it out. Liby and Luan graduated to deep weeping, still going strong. Lupa left them there, and was smoking from the rooftop, unbeknownst to Luna. She saw that Lynn had returned, and doused out her cigarette.
"Luna, what happened? Did you have another..." She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about what I-"
"Lynn, dude..."
"I really miss Lincoln. If I had to say, I think I-"
"Lynn, it's-"
"Also, I didn't mean to punch you! I don't know how to measure my-"
"LYNN!"
This finally ceased Lynn's guilt talk, which Luna had to turn for.
"It's Lucy... Lucy's leaving us, dude."
Lynn stared, and then laughed. "Leaving? Us? That's silly, she knows we're all still in danger!"
"No, that's- Look, it's more complicated than that. Back..." Luna hesitated to speak again of the most devastating event in their lives, but tried to push past it all the same. "Lucy's gonna die... Or something. I think she'd better explain it, dude. It's-"
"Incomprehensible, right?" Lupa floated down, Mary Poppins style. She made a soft landing on the grass. "Look, Lynn... Back in the day of the, well, you know, Lucy was trapped by the fire, and she- She sum-" Lupa ended there. "Lucy is going to die, she's dying, let's leave it at that."
"Dying? Dying h-" Lily's scream overpowered Lynn's voice, alerting the three to sprint back.
AN: Heh, oh.