The Monday came eventually, which meant that all the Loud kids had to return to school. Lucy's day started at 6:00 o'clock; waking from her coffin-bed, carefully opening the coffin lid not to make any noise and wake up her sister Lynn. Lucy noticed that Lynn has been acting weird lately; three days ago she asked her if she felt good, which was weird in her because usually when she wanted to know something, she did as the police: shoot first, ask later. But this time was different; she asked Lucy if she was okay and if something was bothering her. Lucy suspected that Lynn found out about her problem, so if she wanted to carry on with her plan, she had to pretend like nothing was wrong. Lucy just said that she was passing through some problems with her exams, and that was why she hasn't been around the house lately. Lynn seemed to buy that, but Lucy felt like she still believed that something was up.
She got up, not taking he eyes of Lynn, who seemed to be fast asleep since she was snoring louder than those fags in motorcycles. People think Lucy sleeps in a coffin because she likes black and death and stuff, but the truth is that she sleeps there because that's the only way she couldn't hear Snorezilla. Since there was no reason to go silent, she closed he coffin slamming the lid to see if Lynn snored as loud as she thought, and what a surprise, she did.
She went to the hall to see that there was no line to use the bathroom, which was no surprise since all her siblings like to start their day at 7:00 o'clock, or until the sun show up through the window directly to their faces. She eventually went in the bathroom, taking off her clothes and throwing them in the laundry basket, and then she opened the cold water faucet and got in the shower. At the very moment when the water touched her soft pale skin she felt how all the slumber and the tiredness banished, waking her up completely. She always takes a cold shower in the morning because that's the only way she can completely wake up, and since she's always the first in get up in the morning, she doesn't want to keep the hot water to herself. Well, not in the morning at least.
After a cold and good shower she dried herself and put on her classic outfit, and went to the hall to meet with a line of eight sisters and her brother.
"Morning guys" Lucy said to all her sleepy sisters, who jumped in fright when they heard their little sister; everyone except for Lola, who just like Lucy, she woke up earlier than her sisters, and that was the reason she was the next in line.
"Morning Luce" Lola said, which caused a smile in the little goth girl. Everyone recovered from the sudden fright, and returned the greeting. Lucy went to her room to gather all her stuff from school; putting into her backpack all the stuff she would need to survive, including the book she took from the attic the last Friday.
"You all will pay…" She said as she put the book in the backpack. She went downstairs to eat breakfast before going to school, throwing her pack in the couch and not noticing that it opened when it fell.
Eggs and bacon were always welcome in the mornings, especially when last night she didn't eat dinner because she spent several hours reading the book from the attic. Lucy ate all her breakfast; not leaving a single piece of bacon in the plate. She even had a second portion, which was possible because Lori was not in the table, which was noticed by everyone there.
"Where's Lori?" Luan asked.
"She said she didn't feel good this morning, so she's not going to school today." Leni said with a worried expression.
"Again?" Lana asked. "This is the third time in a week, why this keeps happening to her?"
"I don't know." Leni said. "Maybe she ate something that wasn't good or something. But she's been feeling that way since last Saturday and she refuses to go to the doctor."
"She bought stuff in Flip's; she said she was going to Bobby's house and…" Lynn said before blushing. The older sisters noticed that (except for Leni), and they got the message.
"Well…"Luan said. "We all know Flip doesn't sale the freshest food…"
"What's happening girls?" Lola asked. "Why are everyone red?"
"And is Lori going to be okay?" Lincoln asked.
"Yes, dear siblings." Lisa said, grabbing her toasted bread. "And I might advise that the symptoms she's suffering point that this is a typical case of…"
"Careful Lisa, don't drop your bread." Luna, who was sitting aside her, grabbed her bread and shoved it in her mouth, preventing her to reveal something that they don't know if was true.
"So… who's driving us to school?" Luan asked.
"I will, honey." Rita said as she got in the dining room. "I'll take the day to take care of your sister; she's not feeling good today.
During all the conversation Lucy reminded silent, which didn't pass unnoticed by Lynn who watched her little sister the whole time. Lucy didn't lifted her gaze from her plate; she just was there looking at the crumbs, as if she were thinking in something else. Lynn knew something was happening to her; even when the goth told her that she had nothing to worry about, the jock felt something was up. Lynn finished her food and got up from the table with the excuse that she had to prepare her stuff for school, so she left the dining, heading to her and Lucy's room.
She began to search between Lucy's stuff to see if she could find something, but it looked like she was losing her time since she didn't find something. All she could find was a book with a lock and the initials "L.L.L" in it; Lynn supposed it was Lucy's diary, but since she couldn't open it she couldn't be sure. She left their room and walked downstairs to look for her backpack; but instead she found Lucy's backpack, she just threw it to the couch, not seeing that it opened and all her stuff were around the sofa. Lynn took a closer look at them; it was mostly books and notebooks, but what didn't seem to fit with school stuff was a book with a cover of leather, which had the same size as the other books. Lynn took it to see its content, and when she opened it she saw it had an inscription in the first page written in a language she supposed it was Latin.
Nesciunt quid sit inter lucem et magicae nigrae est key.
Clavis est ad nos sinit ingressumque ingeri Nostro refusus pectori.
Harriet Loud
So this book belonged to Great Grandma Harriet… It made sense that Lucy had it, since she said she always talked to her and her other ghost friends. Lynn saw the rest of the book to see if there was anything useful or at least something she could understand, but all she could see was Latin and some draws about plants, animals and stuff. The jock suspected that it was a magic book, but when she was about to see further, she heard her mother say something.
"Kids, hurry up or we're gonna be late!"
Lynn quickly left the book where she found it and grabbed her backpack, and then she headed to Vanzilla to get the sweet spot before any of her siblings.
Meanwhile in the dinning room, Lucy was lost in her thoughts; she couldn't believe what she was about to do, especially when Grand Grandma Harriet warned her about the dangers of the book, telling her that the book was the cause of her death, but Lucy made her mind already. She never thought that she would use that book ever, but seeing this situation she had no option. The moment when those bastards messed with her little sister, she didn't give a damn anymore; she would make them pay no matter what…
…or how.
Her mother brought her back to earth reminding her that she was going late for school; the little girl took her plate and her glass to the sink and then headed to the living room to grab her stuff. When she passed the dining room, all her siblings were gone; nobody took their stuff to the sink as she did, but that was no surprise again since they always lived in a hurry. Everyone were already out trying to get in Vanzilla, except for Lola, who was in the living room looking down, staring at her backpack as if she knew what she had coming. Lucy went to her, and silently, she placed her hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry Lola; just remember what I told you." Lucy said with a warm smile.
"But what if they hit me worse because I told on them?" Lola asked with fear.
"You can always count with me. And if they keep picking on you, just tell me and I will make them pay."
"Thank you Lucy." Lola said, giving a quick hug to her black-loving sister, and then they walked through the door to get in Vanzilla.
Once they arrived there, Lucy sat in the same seat as Lola; Lynn sat with Luna, and Luan sat with Lana. It was weird that Luan and Luna weren't sitting together; maybe they had an argument they couldn't settle, but whatever it was, it wasn't Lucy's problem. She had enough problems to take care of already. She and Lola kept talking about stuff, and Lucy learned a lot about Lola; like how hard was the pageant world. Lola told her that she had a lot of enemies there, but also she had a reputation of being a tough competitor, causing fear to the newest competitors and envy in the veterans. Lola learned a lot about Lucy too; the goth told her that she likes to talk to dead people, like Abraham Lincoln, or their great grandma Harriet. Lola knew that already, but Lucy told her about the conversations she had with them. Lucy even showed her a photograph of Great Grandma Harriet; Lola at first thought it was a photo of Lucy taken by a really old camera, but Lucy told her that she were their grandma Harriet. Lola had never seen her, and now she knew why Lucy was so different to their siblings.
Their talk came to an end when the family van stopped in the Royal Woods Elementary School; Lucy, Lana and Lola got off the vehicle and went in the school, and in the entrance they separated to go to their lockers and grab their stuff.
Lucy went to her locker, which was not an easy task because there were a lot of kids in the hallways; most of them from first grade who were trying to get on time to their classes, and she had to go as silent as always to make sure not to meet with certain persons. Once there, she set the combination and the door opened, revealing a lot of paper falling from inside the locker. Lucy thought it was the paper from the recycle bin in the classroom; Very original, she thought, but when she took a closer look, she found out that the paper was from the wallpapers about Vampires of Melancholia she had inside her locker. This really irritated her, but the worst was yet coming when she saw a bag with a strange powder inside; Lucy inspected the content of the bag; it was a grayish powder, really soft at touch. She was thinking, when suddenly she remembered what happened last week.
The bag contained the ashes of her poetry book.
She closed her locker; not gathering the mess she made when she opened it. She knew soon this would be over, so she would let them have their fun just for this time. She went to the classroom for math class; again it wasn't her subject, but neither it was like she was really bad with numbers. She sat in the farthest corner, that way her bullies would have to turn if they want to tease her. Unfortunately for her, when she took from her bag her math book, a pair of kids stood in front of her desk; one of them put a hand on the book, preventing Lucy from read it.
"Hello Loud, did you like the little gift we left in your locker?" One of the little kids asked.
"It was pretty nice, Mark." Lucy replied sarcastically. Mark was a tall boy with brown fluffy hair; the boy was sturdy, and had a bad mood. The reply of the little goth left the other kid confused, but then Mark suddenly hit the desk with her fists, and then he got closer to Lucy.
"Hope you got any other thing we could take. You know, to give you a similar gift since you enjoyed this one." Mark said with a hiss.
"Unfortunately, I don't have any other thing as special as that book." Lucy said without taking her eyes out of her math book.
"Then maybe one of your little sisters has something." Mark said with an evil grin, then he and his dog went to their seats.
The class was as boring as always; numbers here, letters there; who the hell had the idea of teach algebra in third grade? All her elder sisters didn't have it until middle school, and yet it was hard as always. However, Lucy managed to respond correctly all the answers her teacher asked, as well as all the exercises in the class. Luckily for her, the bullies didn't tease her during the class; maybe because they didn't want to risk to be seen by the teacher, or maybe because they were really interested in the class.
Definitely it was number one.
Lunch time came, and when the bell rang all the kids in the classroom ran to the cafeteria. Lucy wasn't hungry since she ate two portions of eggs and bacon in breakfast, so she went to the playground to see if she could find her sister Lola.
Once outside she tried to look after her sister; but there were a lot of kids playing and running, so it wouldn't be easy. There were a lot of kids of 1st and 2nd grade playing and running all around, not letting Lucy to see her little sister. She probably was eating in the cafeteria, since she didn't touch her food at all in the house, so Lucy headed there, but when she was about to get inside the building, she heard a scream; a scream she would recognize everywhere since it was her sister's voice.
The scream came from behind a building where you only could get access through a gate on a steel fence; but since the door was cracked open she could pass easily. It was weird because that gate was always locked, but if her suspects were right it would make sense that the door was open. When she reached the back of the building, she could confirm her suspect as she saw a horrific scene; Lana was lying in the floor, trying to cover herself while being beaten up by the two bullies from earlier. Lucy quickly ran to the scene, and with all her forces she charged against one of them, taking him down and making him trip to the dirt. The other kid grabbed Lucy by the neck of her blouse and slammed her against the wall; Lucy tried to escape from his hold, but suddenly an intense pain in her stomach stopped her from fighting back. She fell on her knees, covering with both hands her torso while trying to breathe, but another hit came from her left side, taking her down. The kid that she took down recovered, and between him and Mark they began to kick and punch Lucy while she tried to crawl in an effort to escape, which failed miserably.
While they were beating her, something jumped from the floor to the Mark's face, which made him step back while trying to get that thing out of him. When he finally did it, they could see it was a frog, a frog they knew was Lana's pet.
"Hops… no…" Lana said in a voice that came like a whisper; she was so tired and hurt she could barely talk.
Mark threw the frog to the floor, and then he kicked it against the wall. This left the frog all dizzy, but it still with the will to fight.
"Hey Mark, looks like we made a new friend." The other kid mocked.
"We shall give him our welcome, don't you think?" Mark said in a vicious voice.
"No… Please…" Lana said in a supplicant voice, lifting her hand in an effort to crawl and save her friend.
"Good bye you stupid thing." Mark said as he lifted his foot over Hops, and with his entire straight he stomped the little amphibious over and over again. Lana just witnessed as her little friend was being beaten violently with a 4 sized shoe. The frog at first was moving slowly due to the dizziness, lying on its back and lifting its legs to try stopping the giant foot, but the little animal was massacred merciless until it stopped moving.
They stopped when they heard the bell ring, and when they were about to go back to the building, they said something to Lucy.
"Hope you enjoyed that gift too, Loud." Mark said as he and the other kid left, leaving Lucy on the floor.
Lana recovered from the beat down those bastards gave her, and as fast as she stood she went to Lucy and help her to get up. As soon as they were standing they went where Hops was lying; some blood was coming out of its mouth, and the bottom of Mark's shoe was marked all over its body. Lana fell on her knees, and with all the care in the world she lifted the dead body of the frog.
"Hops?…" Lana said, poking the chest of the frog. "Hops… wake up…"
But Hops never woke up.
Lana began to sob as she hugged tight the body of her friend, but as soon as the tears were falling from her cheeks, she began to cry hard, burying her face in her sister's shoulder, drowning her screams. Lucy was trying to be strong for her, but she couldn't; a single tear came from under her bangs, and she hugged her little sister as she began to sob too.
Hello again, guys.
This chaptes was supposed to be larger, but I decided to cut it here, so I would have something to get inspiration from.
Red the Pokemon Trainer: Honestly I don't know if there will be a Lucy-Lincoln moment in the story; I want to focus in giving protagonism to Lucy and some of the other sister like Lola, Lana, Lynn and maybe, in future chapters, Luna and Luan.
Dolpher: Yeah, thanks for reminding me that bro.
Hatoralo: Thanks for the advice. And yes, magic will be involved in the story in the future. I wanted to give Lynn a real character, not like may fics where in every scene she appears she's exercising or sparing or doing whatever related with sports. I personally think that deep inside her she's very femenine, and she really worry about her family.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this story; and if you like it you can follow, fav and review. Every coment is welcome.
