Disclaimer: The Loud House and associated characters belong to Nickelodeon and Chris Savino.
Restless
By LolaPresents (Editing by Catspeaker)
Chapter 1
It was a pleasant and sunny mid-summer day like any other in Royal Woods. The sun rested at high noon, illuminating the world with its warming presence. Everything seemed bright, and every color imaginable got saturated in the glowing orb's rays. The atmosphere was serene and peaceful.
Lori, who had returned from her first year away at college, sat upon a folding metal lawn chair laced with alternating white and yellow plastic strips. Her best friend and sister, Leni, sat beside her in a matching chair. Both girls, dressed in their cutest bikinis, gabbed and caught up as they applied sun tanning lotion to each other, preparing to soak up the sun.
Luna and Luan sat in similarly matching upright chairs, separated by a small end table, upon which their drinks rested. The younger siblings darted to and fro, laughing and playing games at the behest of Lynn Junior, who was ever the instigator. The raucous yet joyful noise put Lori at ease as she lay back in her chair, draping her white sunhat over her eyes.
Lori needed to be in a familiar, safe place, surrounded by her loved ones, after spending ten months away at college. Her childhood home hit the spot nicely. Though she could've gone to stay with Bobby, which she still intended to do at some point, Lori needed the carefree essence of her youth.
The familiar feel of their home's tacky carpet, the scent of her father's cooking, and the camaraderie of her siblings put Lori at ease, especially now that she'd passed the torch of the warden on to her sister. Leni was a late bloomer, but she managed to step up to the plate, and when the time came, Lori was sure that Luna would transition just as quickly.
The scene was picturesque, and as Lori lay on her lounger, she began to recall beloved memories from the past, whether it was her infantile toy, Fenton, asking her father what shirt to wear to school or embarrassingly passing gas in the van on a family trip, everything made her smile.
Everything had fallen into place, the sun, the breeze, and the quiet.
"Wait..." thought Lori, sitting up to scan her surroundings.
Clouds had begun to obscure the bright sunlight from before, casting long dark shadows about the front yard. A chill wind blew through the area, causing goosebumps on her flesh. Something felt far too off, and it didn't take long before she knew what it was. Lori came to the cold realization that her siblings had disappeared during her immersion into the past.
Panicking, Lori got up from her chair and searched the yard, only to find it vacant. She looked to and fro, trying to find any hint of where they could have gone amid her search. Then, suddenly, a loud screech echoed through the woods behind their house, reverberating off the trees and surrounding homes.
Instantly, Lori's body filled with dread, as if she knew what had happened. Looking towards the woods, which now conveyed a more sinister appearance, fear and anxiety settled into Lori's gut. Instinctively, the worried young lady ran toward the small break in the woods that served as their private entrance to the fantasy land beyond.
Once past the tree line, the sun became entirely occluded, and darkness descended upon the forest. Regardless of the sticks and stones that littered the path, Lori ran down the path leading toward the creek, barefoot and dressed only in her bikini.
However, as she proceeded, the trail began to narrow and close around her. Thorny vines and briars soon blocked her way and tore at Lori's flesh as she struggled desperately to push her way through the brambles.
"Lincoln!" she called at the top of her voice. "Leni! Lynn! Anyone!"
No matter what Lori tried, the foliage thickened, binding her in place. Thrashing and flailing helplessly to call out to her family, Lori suddenly got silenced and blinded as thick branches swept around her face.
"No!" Lori silently screamed.
"Babe?" purred her husband, Bobby, as he gently shook her from slumber. "Are you alright?"
Lori shot upright, her damp sheets falling into her lap as her breathing settled. Sighing deeply, she buried her head in her hands and tried to shake the nightmare off. The funny thing about dreams is they have a way of lingering well after they end, and Lori couldn't shake the fear and helplessness hers produced.
"I'm sorry, Bobby," Lori apologized as she swung the covers away and sat on the bed's edge. "I had the nightmare again."
"Lori..." sighed the woman's husband, concerned that his wife had become overstressed. "That's the third time this week. Are you sure everything is alright?"
"Yeah," offered Lori, shaking her head before looking at the clock, standing up, and donning her robe. "I need to get the kids up for school, anyway," she informed her husband. "And you need to open the store, so get moving!" she chuckled, throwing a decorative pillow at him playfully.
Bobby only smiled back even as he batted the pillow away, but the concern was still there.
After securing her robe, Lori headed out of their room and down the hall of their apartment above the Casagrande residence.
"Miguel?" she called as she did every morning. "Selena! It's time to get up for school!"
Once her twelve-year-old, Miguel, and his ten-year-old sister, Selena, crept from their rooms like decrepit zombies, Lori headed to the kitchen to fix breakfast. While Lori could've prepared her husband a bag lunch, she resisted the urge. Bobby worked only a few floors below, and taking him lunch later was one of Lori's small pleasures during an otherwise dull day.
As Lori's college attendance progressed, along with her relationship with Bobby, her priorities began to change. While golf had always been there for her, she eventually realized it was more or less a placeholder for something greater. For Lori, that meant getting married and raising a family of her own.
Golf would always be there, but it would remain the same year after year. Lori needed a sense of progression, moving forward rather than stagnating, and her children provided that. She came from a large household, and that lifestyle had gotten ingrained as she aged into adulthood. She loved her existing family, but it was now her turn.
"Alright, babe!" chirped Bobby as he waltzed into the kitchenette, dressed as awkwardly as ever. "I'm off to work. Are you bringing me lunch as usual?"
"Of course, booboo," Lori replied as her children rolled their eyes. "I'll be down at noon sharp. Okay?"
Nodding, Bobby leaned over and kissed his wife farewell, much to the chagrin of their children, who groaned deeply. Smiling warmly, Lori watched as Bobby left their apartment. Turning to her kids, she ordered them to eat more quickly as they were running late.
"You guys are so gross," complained Selena as she ate her meal. "Kissing all the time, calling each other strange names. It's weird."
"Yes, well..." sighed Lori as she began clearing the table of leftovers. "Love is powerful and makes people do strange things," she informed her daughter. "And, one day, you'll understand. In the meantime, missy," she cooed, "you have studies to worry over."
The children finished their breakfast while Lori cleaned the kitchen and dishes, and before long, she was saying goodbye to her children. With her husband looking on from the bodega, Lori knew they'd be safe as they waited for the bus. Confident in her parenting abilities, she turned her attention to other housework.
Merrily humming, proud of her little family, Lori cleaned the bathroom, then straightened her kids' rooms before tackling her own. The little things like putting away stuffed animals and toys, straightening the sheets and covers, and learning about her children through their personal effects made life worthwhile.
And as Lori stood at her bedside, preparing to fit it with fresh bedding, something caught her attention. She was pulling a sheet over the corner of her bed when she felt something or someone watching her. But the blonde knew that couldn't be the case.
She hadn't heard the door open and wasn't expecting a visit from any of the Casagrandes below. She was about to write it off and return to work when she noticed something move past her open doorway, barely within her peripheral vision.
It was low and fast, and it made her jump. Lori let out a squeak before she told herself she was being silly. It was probably nothing more than one of the city's many stray cats, which had snuck into the home somehow.
She breathed a sigh of relief and tried to reassure herself until that feeling of unease from her dream crept back into her consciousness. The room seemed to drop several degrees, and Lori's skin crawled with goosebumps as the fine hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
She would have heard it make a noise if it were a cat, and she would have had to have left a window open, but she knew they were all shut tight at the moment.
"Bobby?" Lori called, hopefully.
When no reply came, Lori dropped the new sheets, wrapped her arms around herself, and furrowed her brows. What was wrong with her? Had she imagined it or seen a strand of hair instead, mistaking it for something else?
"Miguel?" Lori called as she stepped toward her open door, "Selena?"
Anyone returning home, for whatever reason, would have announced themselves, and the deafening silence began to unnerve the middle-aged woman. Lori's body filled with dread, and as she approached her door, the daylight that usually streamed in through the window began to be covered by more and more grey, as if the sun had vanished completely and the outside almost turned pitch black.
Lori swallowed as she heard a high-pitched electronic whine, and the lights dimmed and flickered, drowning the apartment in eerily silent darkness.
Nervously peering into the hallway, Lori could see the fluorescent kitchen lights dimly flickering as if the ballast was going wrong and the white noise from the television as it flickered on the living room walls. All else seemed encased in a shroud of nearly impenetrable darkness.
Cautiously, she crept down the hall, one step at a time, and peered into the kitchen. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for the darkness and flickering lights overhead. Continuing into the combined living and dining room, Lori took stock of her surroundings.
"Those kids..." Lori muttered as she strolled across the room and turned off the set. "I've told them a hundred times to turn the television off when they finished watching."
With the glare and sound of the set gone, Lori heard something move behind her. Standing and turning toward the hallway, she listened intently, fear gripping her body. Maybe it was a cat, after all. Perhaps one of the kids had let one in by accident or tried to smuggle it away in their room to keep it as a pet.
Lori wanted it to be nothing more than a black cat, and she wouldn't even be angry at her children by this point if that were the case. But then she heard a noise which sounded like something wet was getting dragged along the floor.
Lori froze, seemingly unable to move when the unthinkable happened. A rimless car tire slowly rolled into the living room from around the corner.
As the tire rolled into view, it left a trail of red behind it. There was no mistaking what the red was. Blood, as if the tire had gone straight through a puddle of gore.
Once entirely in sight, it leaned and spiraled to a standstill on its side. Lori peered at the thing, horror-stricken, trying to make sense of the abnormality, questioning her sanity and if she was still dreaming.
The room grew colder, and Lori cautiously approached the tire, drawn to it despite her better instincts telling her to run. But she needed to see into it, even if she was horrified at what she might find. Its dark center was a void of ebon blackness that seemed to beckon to her.
Shivering, Lori crept over to it and slowly peered inside. She felt tears running down her cheeks, everything inside her telling her to run, run out of the apartment, run and find her children and find Bobby, when a deathly pallid arm shot out, grabbed her by the hair, and started yanking her in.
Lori screamed and struggled against the effort, grasping at the limb when it all simply vanished.
"Mom?" asked Miguel, who stood curiously by his little sister, ready to head off to school. "Are you alright?"
"What?" Lori gasped, looking around, sitting near their front door on her haunches. "I, uh..." she stammered, looking her children over. "Yeah, I'm okay," sighed Lori before standing and escorting her children out of the apartment and downstairs to wait for the bus.
After seeing her children off to school, Lori stood on the street corner with her arms folded, confusedly looking around. She'd had plenty of bad dreams over the years, especially recently, but never while awake. The entire thing freaked her out tremendously.
The darkness, the chill, the static on the television, and the bloody tire all cemented the idea that something was wrong with her. Sighing, Lori headed into the family store and walked up to the counter where Bobby was tallying a customer's total.
"Bobby?" she inquired. "Have you had any bad dreams recently?"
"Um, no?" returned her husband before addressing the customer. "That'll be eleven-fifty," he announced.
"Well..." stammered Lori, ignoring the woman standing at the counter. "I just had the worst one imaginable," she said. "It was like, I was dreaming, only I was awake, and..."
"Lori, babe..." Bobby interjected after handing the lady her bags. "You've been under a lot of stress. Raising two kids can't be easy, even for someone who used to be in charge of her ten siblings," he reassured her.
"You're overworked. Why don't you take some time for yourself," Bobby suggested, shrugging. "Perhaps call one of your sisters? It's been a while, after all."
"Yeah..." muttered Lori, folding her arms defensively. "Maybe you're right," she admitted. "Alright. I'm sorry to have interrupted things here. I'll see you at lunch."
As her husband tended to the next customer, Lori left the store and headed up the stairs to their apartment but halted before grabbing the knob. With her nightmare and unsettling experience still fresh, she hesitated to enter again. Instead, Lori sat on the top step leading to their floor and pulled out her phone. She didn't hesitate as she hit dial on one of the contacts, put the phone to her ear, and waited.
"Lori?" gasped a very familiar voice a few rings later. "Oh, em, gosh! It's been what, almost a year?" she exclaimed. "How are things going?"
"Hi, Leni," answered Lori. "We're doing good. The kids are in seventh and fifth grade, and the store is doing well. How are you? Are you still managing Reininger's?"
"Yeah, I'm still here," Leni sighed. "I got offered a regional position a while back, but I couldn't tear myself away from this place. I mean, I have a lot of memories here with all the people who've made this branch great."
"That's good," muttered Lori, simply happy to hear her sister's voice.
"Totes good!" the younger sister chuckled.
Lori laughed politely in response, then both sisters sighed, and a small silence grew between them.
"Are you alright?" inquired Leni, finally breaking the silence at sensing some unease in Lori.
"I don't know," replied the older of the two.
Lori paused again as Leni waited. It'd been so long since they'd talked, and she felt terrible calling her only to bring this up, but she knew no one else in which she could confide.
"Leni, I've had some strange dreams recently, and this morning..." Lori began, "...I could've sworn I was awake and had seen the kids off to school. Then everything went weird."
"Weird, like how?" questioned Leni after a moment's hesitation.
"Oh, you know," sighed Lori distractedly. "Like, day turning into night, lights flickering, getting pulled into bottomless pits," listed the woman casually. "That kind of thing."
There was another pause before Leni responded.
"That's so strange..." admitted her younger sister from her end of the line. "I had a similar experience a few days ago." Leni swallowed, and Lori could hear the fear creeping into her voice, "Only I kept hearing thumping from the closet. When I opened it, something tried to pull me in."
Lori felt a chill run down her spine.
"Have you heard from the others?" she inquired, growing more concerned than frightened. "Has anyone else experienced anything strange?"
"No, I haven't, and I don't know," offered Leni. "We don't stay in touch as much as we used to, considering what happened."
Guilt coiled briefly in the elder sister's heart.
"Yeah..." she sighed, switching ears. "You don't think it's post-traumatic stress, do you?"
"I guess anything is possible," affirmed Leni. "But I'm not going to a therapist to find out."
"Yeah, me either," agreed Lori, still sitting on the top stair. "I don't trust them further than I could throw them."
"Why would you throw them?" asked Leni, truly confused.
"Never mind," Lori chuckled, the first bit of levity in an otherwise dreadful day. "But, if you're experiencing things while awake, as I am, we need to do something."
There was another pause as both girls silently agreed and tried to find a solution.
"What about Lisa?" offered Leni. "She's good at figuring things out."
"That's not a bad idea," Lori agreed. "If you're game, I'll drive into Royal Woods tomorrow, pick you up during your lunch break, and we'll see Lisa together."
"Sure!" chirped Lori's sister. "It would be nice to sleep well, let alone see Lisa again."
"Alright, Leni," replied Lori enthusiastically. "I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!"
"Bye!" returned Leni before ending the call.
Sitting on the landing, Lori let her phone dangle between her legs as she released a cleansing breath and glanced back at the apartment door. Finally standing, Lori put her hand on the knob and turned it. Cracking the door slightly, she peered in to ensure everything was safe before entering and locking it behind her.
On edge, Lori unplugged the television before returning to her chores. Whatever happened that morning was inexplicable. Yet Lori felt that something more was going on than simple stress-induced hallucinations. Everything felt so real that it was difficult to comprehend she had been dreaming while awake.
Even more bothersome were the dark tones her dreams had taken. Despite being entirely grounded, Lori couldn't help but think back to the day everything began, leaving her contemplative and distracted. Nothing else happened for the rest of the day, and eventually, Lori relaxed again.
Just before noon, Lori prepared Bobby's lunch and took it to him before replenishing their fridge with groceries from the bodega. After returning to their apartment and putting everything away, Lori spent the rest of the day doing laundry, relaxing with the most recent Golf Digest while the washer and dryer did their thing.
Soon, her children came through the door, busy chatting about their day at school. Her children were something else. Though they got along famously, they constantly debated one thing or another. Their standing argument was over which cheerleader Miguel thought he had a shot at dating.
"Migs," barked Selena as she threw her bookbag onto the couch. "You know darn well those girls are only interested in popularity," she scolded him. "They wouldn't touch you with a ten-foot pole."
"Well, why the heck not?" shot Miguel. "I'm a nice guy!"
"Nice, sure," sighed Selena. "But you're not on any of the school teams. Trust me. They aren't interested in your skateboard or your alleys."
"Ollies," her brother corrected. "They're called ollies."
"See?" Selena chirped smugly. "That's what I'm talking about. You're a dork."
"Enough!" chimed in Lori, raising her voice slightly to gain their attention. "Now, do your homework, clean up, and prepare dinner."
"Yes, ma'am," sighed the siblings as they trudged down the hall.
Smiling while shaking her head, Lori padded to the kitchen and started dinner. With her home filled with the sounds of life one more, Lori had no trouble distracting herself. And moments after her children entered the living room again, Bobby returned from his day at the store.
"Hi, booboo-bear," Lori chirped as she set the final serving on the table. "Just in time!"
"Hi, dad," barked Miguel, already filling his plate.
"Hi, daddy!" cooed Selena, smiling at him as he took off his jacket and settled into his chair at one end of the table.
"So?" asked Bobby, glancing over at Lori. "Did anything else interesting happen today?"
"Nope!" chirped Lori. "Not a thing."
Nodding, Bobby turned to family matters, and dinner proceeded as always. Mother and father tried their best to stay relevant in their children's lives while the children did everything possible to avoid the helicopters named Mom and Dad.
After dinner, Lori helped her children finish their homework and made sure they got safely tucked into bed while Bobby took a shower and relaxed in bed, waiting for his wife. Ensuring the door, and all the windows, got locked, Lori turned out the lights as she backtracked to her room.
Changing into her nightgown, Lori turned off their light and climbed into bed beside Bobby.
"Goodnight, booboo-bear," Lori cooed, kissing her husband before rolling over.
"See you in the morning, babe," returned Bobby before falling asleep, something he never had an issue doing.
However, as Lori lay there, trying to fall asleep, the feeling of unease returned. In the darkness, the strange creeping dread from the day's earlier dreams began to fill her, keeping her from sleeping. She lay there for the longest time, muttering, unconsciously fueling her anxiety.
It just felt like she was under watch, which she knew was impossible. Lori knew she was being irrational. She spent the entire day in the apartment and locked all the doors and windows before bed. She knew she was being silly.
Sighing at herself, she rolled over to try and sleep. Even with her eyes closed, the presence she felt wouldn't go away. She told herself she'd open her eyes, see nothing was there, and finally be able to sleep.
However, when she opened her eyes, a figure was standing behind the backlit curtain in their room.
Screeching, Lori rolled out of bed and hid behind her side of the mattress.
"Bobby! Do something," Lori yelled, pointing at the window. "There's someone in here!"
"Huh? What?" gasped Bobby as he rose, frantically looking around.
"Right there!" shot Lori, wagging her finger toward the curtain.
Only the figure was no longer there.
"What?" sputtered Bobby, rising and rifling through the loose fabric. "There's nobody here, babe. You're dreaming again."
"I was not dreaming, Bobby!" Lori gasped. "I'm telling you, there was somebody there!"
"Babe," Bobby purred as he approached Lori and hugged her tightly. "I don't know what to tell you. There's nobody there now. If there was, where did they go?"
"I..." stammered Lori, ashamed of herself as she sat on the bed. "I don't know..."
"Look, babe," Lori's husband said, sitting beside her. "I'm sure this all because you take too much on yourself," he said. "You need to slow down. Unless you think you're getting haunted," he teased, trying to act scary, wiggling his fingers in front of her.
"That's not funny, Bobby," Lori shot, slapping his arm.
"Alright," her husband sighed. "I can see how much this is bothering you. How about I stay up and guard you while you sleep."
"Do you mean it?" Lori purred. "You'd do that for me?"
"Of course," Bobby replied, moving to the comfy reading chair a short distance away. "I'll sit here and watch you all night long if I have to."
"Oh, thank you so much," Lori cooed as she slipped back under the covers. "I love you, Bobby."
"I love you, too, Lori," Bobby replied. "Now, get some sleep."
Lori smiled, laid her head down, closed her eyes, and succumbed to slumber under her husband's watchful eye.