Rita Loud made two phone calls back-to-back, one to the hospital and one to Francine Davis down the street. Francine had two daughters Lana and Lola's age and a son a year older than Lucy. Their children often played together; Francine would babysit for her, and she would babysit for Francine.

After the disappointing news that Lynn was alive (but thankfully still deep in a coma), Rita dialed Francine's number and asked, in her sugariest voice, if Lilly, Lisa, Lola, Lana, and Lucy could come over for a few hours. "I have a few things I need to take care of," Rita said. She was sitting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, a knife in her hand. Sunlight glinted off the steely blade.

"Sure!" Francine said happily. "I'd love to have them over!"

"Great," Rita replied. She turned the knife over in her hand, letting it catch and reflect the light. "I really appreciate it. I have a lot of work to do around the house, and with Lynn in the hospital..."

"Lynn's in the hospital?" Francine asked, sounding shocked.

Rita told Francine about the accident. "Oh, my God," Francine said, "I'm so sorry to hear that, Rita."

"Thank you," Rita said. She rested her elbows on the counter, gripped the handle of the knife, and stabbed it into a loaf of bread. "It's been tough."

"Aw, I can imagine. Send them over anytime you like. Your children are a joy to have around."

Rita almost laughed. "Thank you."

She hung up and drummed her fingers on the countertop. With them out of the way, she could take care of those fucking skanks once and for all.

In half an hour, her youngest five were down the street and out of the house. She was alone with Lincoln, Luan, Luna, Leni, and Lori.

Rather, they were alone with her.

Before she left, before she even knew she was leaving, Lucy Loud went looking for Luna. She wasn't in her room, but Luan was.

"Where's Luna?" she asked.

"With Lincoln," Luan said. "He...he's sick."

"Alright," Lucy said. At Lincoln's door, she knocked. When Luna called out for her to come in, she did. Her older sister and her brother were in bed, the covers pulled up to their chests. Lincoln was asleep, his lips slightly parted and his chest rising and falling evenly.

"Hey, Luce," Luna said weakly. "What's up?"

Lucy opened her mouth, but closed it again. She wasn't sure how to go about this. She didn't want Luna to think she was being paranoid, because she knew she wasn't, but how would it sound out loud?

Luna looked at her expectantly. Lucy sighed. "I'm worried about Lynn."

"Why?"

Lucy sighed. "She was gone when I got up this morning, and...you know I'm a light sleeper, I always wake up when she's moving around. I didn't. And last night I got up to use the bathroom, and I'm pretty sure she wasn't in bed."

"Text her."

"I did," Lucy said. "I texted her, like, five times and called her twice."

"She's probably busy," Luna said, but her stomach twisted anyway.

"That's not like her, though."

"Well...what do you think happened? Mom said she went to the park and then to school."

"I know what Mom said," Lucy replied, "and...I don't believe it." Lucy looked away from Luna's incredulous eyes. She knew how it sounded to accuse their mother of lying, but it was the God's honest truth: Lucy didn't believe her.

Lucy was an introvert. She kept herself to herself because she liked it that way. That did not mean, however, that she was oblivious to the world around her. Quite the opposite, in fact: She was always watching, always observing, her mind ceaselessly working. She wanted to be a writer one day, and one of her favorite authors, Stephen King, said somewhere that in order to be a good writer, you must watch people, observe the way they talk and behave, their mannerisms, their personal tics...that way when you write a character in a story, you can make them feel real. At least she thought it was Stephen King who said that. Maybe it was someone else. It didn't matter, though, what mattered was that everything in her told her that her mother was lying. Was it the tone of her voice? A subtle glint in her eye? A barely perceptible twitch of her face?

She didn't know. Maybe it was all of those things, maybe it was none. By this point she didn't study each individual detail unless she meant to: Her subconscious took in the forest, not the trees. She would have gone to her mother and subtly asked again, but her mother was in one of those moods, and Lucy was afraid of her when she was. She could be mean, but worse than that was the icy look in her eyes. Just sitting there, her arms crossed and her jaw set, she could be terrifying.

Luna sighed. "It's probably nothing."

"I have a bad feeling either way," Lucy said, "and when I have a bad feeling, I'm usually right."

When Lucy was gone, Luna felt a sudden chill, and crossed her arms over her chest. She glanced at her sleeping brother, and her lips unconsciously pursed. Though she didn't want to admit it, Lucy might be onto something. It was kind of strange for Lynn to be gone and out of the house so early, and Lincoln...the terror on his face when she told Luan to get their mother...

Sighing, she reached into her skirt pocket and brought out her phone. She found Lynn in her contacts, her number denoted by a picture of her smiling face, and tapped it. She put the phone to her ear and let it ring once, twice, eight times, twelve, each moment she didn't answer heightening Luna's anxiety. She finally hung up and sent her a text: Plz call me asap. It's an emergency.

Putting the phone in her lap, she recrossed her arms. If Lynn wasn't at the park or practice or with a tutor or where the hell ever, where was she? Tied to a chair in the attic? In a dog kennel under the back porch? Luna forced a laugh, but inside, she was starting to worry. She picked up her phone and looked at it. No texts, no calls.

Yesterday afternoon, Mom stabbed Lynn's ball to death in the backyard. Luna didn't see her face, but the vibe she got was rage. Mom took her rage out on it, just as she had Luna's guitar. What if she then took her rage out on Lynn?

That was absurd!

Right?

Luna didn't know anymore. Dark dread gathered in her stomach and vague, indefinable fear clutched her chest, squeezing her heart and lungs in a cold, steely grip. She picked up her phone. Lynn hadn't responded. She called up her contacts list, tapped Lynn's picture, and put the phone to her ear again. This time she let it ring and ring and ring and ring and ring. Finally, she sighed and hung up.

She was starting to freak out, and nothing she told herself could stop it.

Picking up her phone one more time, she shot a text to Luan. Plz come to Lincoln's room.

While she waited, she mentally ran through what they knew: Something happened to Lincoln. He flipped when Luna mentioned getting Mom. Lynn was missing. Mom said she went to the park and then to school. Lori was upset...which wasn't that rare, it could be unconnected. Lucy thought Mom was lying about Lynn, and Lucy was a pretty good judge of character...

When Luan appeared in the doorway, her eyes questioning, Luna slipped out from under the covers. "Stay with Lincoln. I need to do something."

"Uh, okay."

Luna went to her sister and put her hands on her shoulders. "Do me another solid, okay? After I go out there, lock the door behind me."

Luan's brows furrowed. "What?"

"Just do it."

"You think Mom...?"

"I don't know what I think," Luna said, "just lock the door behind, okay?"

Without another word, she went into the hall and turned. Dark fear pooled in Luan's eyes. She pushed the door shut, and then locked it.

At Lori and Leni's door, she knocked. "Yeah?" Leni called out.

"It's-It's Luna. Can I come in?"

"Yeah!"

Luna opened the door and slipped in, shutting it behind her. Lori was lying on her side, facing the wall, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her scrawny chest. Leni sat next to her, her hand absently rubbing Lori's arm.

"What happened, Lori?" Luna asked.

Lori didn't reply.

"Lori...what happened?" she asked, her voice harder.

"I don't want to talk about it," Lori finally croaked.

Luna sighed. "Lori, I need to know what happened. Lincoln..." she trailed off. "Something's wrong with Lincoln, and I think it might have to do with Mom."

Lori's head whipped around, and in that moment, Luna knew.

"What?" she asked, her heart speeding up. "What is it?"

Lori sighed deeply and sat up. She swallowed, her throat working furiously. Leni gave her a worried look, and Lori took her hand, threading her fingers through her sister's. "I'm pregnant," Lori said.

Leni's eyes widened, and Luna gaped.

Lori drew another sigh, and when she began to talk, it all came out, her words running together, "I have morning sickness and Mom saw me puking in the bathroom this morning. She was being all, like, mocking and stuff, then when I told her I wasn't pregnant, she pulled my hair and said if I was she'd cut my baby out and make me eat it." Lori broke down, and Leni took her in her arms, a look of horror crossing her face.

Luna felt like she had been slapped. Her mind went blank and all she could do was lift a hand to her head. "S-She...she said that?"

"Yes!" Lori sobbed.

Leni looked at Luna, fear in her eyes.

"What's wrong with Lincoln?" Lori asked through her tears.

"I don't know," Luna said. She thought of the way he stared brokenly at the wall...the way he was naked when she found him, the "gross" way their mother acted with him. Her stomach clenched and she felt like she was going to be sick. "Mom did something to him, though."

"She's crazy," Lori said, sniffing. "If you saw the look in her eyes...she's nuts!"

"What about Lynn?" Leni asked. "Where's Lynn?" her voice rose.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Luna said, steeling her resolve. "Lock the door behind me and don't let Mom in."

In the hall, Luna pulled out her cellphone and dialed Lynn's number. She held the phone to her ear and went methodically through the attic and the second floor, looking under beds, in drawers, and between mattresses. She even sucked it up and searched her parents' room, even though she was terrified her mother would find her.

Downstairs, she started in the living room and worked her way into the kitchen, searching for something, anything. She called Lynn again and again, hoping to hear the ring if it was near. She went into the backyard and looked under the porch, in the shed, even in the trashcans. Next she checked the garage. Nothing.

She went into the basement last. Standing at the top of the stairs, her heart racing, she snapped on the light, and below, shadows raced to the corners. She descended, the steps creaking beneath her tread. At the bottom, she dialed Lynn's number and put the phone to her ear. She checked under the stairs, against the far wall, in the broom closet, behind boxes, under a workbench. Nothing.

As she approached the boiler, she heard something, a very faint, very muffled...ring.

Her heart bounced. She ended the call to Lynn, and the ring stopped. She made another.

Yes, there it was! Lynn's phone was here somewhere.

She took the phone away from her ear and looked around.

It was coming from the boiler.

Her heart slammed as she stared at the iron beast, her arms at her side and her legs splayed. She shoved her phone into the pocket of her skirt and crossed the distance, stopping at the hatch. Why was Lynn's phone in there? What did Mom do to her?

Luna took a quivering breath and reached out a trembling hand. She gripped the latch, her fingers weak, and turned it, pulling the door open.

When she saw Lynn's pale, bloodless face and her wide, staring eyes, Luna screamed and stumbled back.

"You couldn't leave him alone, could you?" someone said, and Luna spun to see her mother, a sledgehammer in her hands. Luna's heart rocketed into her throat. "You couldn't leave my Lincoln alone." She took a step forward, and Luna fell back, bumping against the boiler. Her mind screamed wordlessly, and her muscles quaked.

Mom's lips pulled back from her teeth. "I can see why. He's so sweet and handsome and so, so good in bed. But he's mine."

"Mom?" Luna wheezed.

"He's mine!"

She brought the hammer up, and Luna could not move. Tears filled her eyes. "Mom..."

The hammer smashed into her face, and she felt her skull shatter. The pain was, mercifully, a brief flash...then a thousand bone fragments, like shrapnel, tore into her brain and she knew no more.