In this story, you will find this surprising because we know one character that every writer and reader know, and always sees and believes him who he is. After you read this chapter, you're going to have a lot of thoughts and sympathy for this character.

You may not like it, but this is a theory converted into a story. I have to be truthful with this theory.

The room was filled with many denials all over again, he didn't want to accept the truth, but reality hurts, the truth hurts, and life… hurts. Lucy was a bit concerned about her brother's state to this new experience but wasn't entirely sure if this condition is temporary or permanent. Although she needs to see if one thing to snap him back to the old self that reminded him of anything, but he was able to remember her and Lily but why not his surrounding? Lincoln was quite the whole time as he was laying in his bed the whole time, he didn't even react to his sister's response. Lucy sat right next to him trying to get a response.

"Lincoln, please say something" Lucy shakes his arm, begging to get a response. She wanted to know whats wrong, but Lincoln didn't want to speak. Not even to Lily as her baby sister started to crawl her way to lincoln's face."wincon?" she tapped her hand on his face as she was also confused but curious. Lincoln noticed this and tried to ignore her call, but he didn't want to see Lily worried.

"You're worried too?" Lincoln asked in a friendly tone, along with a smile. He sat up and later held lily to make her feel happy. It's hard to keep it that way when his current situation is harsh. lily smiled and clapped her hand "ba!"

"Please tell me what's wrong?" Lucy was begging to feel impatient. She cant tell that her brother has something that bothers him and it pains her to see him that way. Lincoln turned his attention to his sister and later gave a heavy sigh.

"My life was a lie, I'm not sure if this life is real," Lincoln said as he gave a sad look on his face. Both knew what was wrong, but neither knew what was happening to each others problems. Lucy wasn't sure what was her brother talking about when they have sisters other than herself and Lily. lincoln was confused about his parents being sorry for, and this gave goosebumps to see them this sad. Lucy wasn't sure what he means by that, but she understood how he was acting differently and was unaware of his environment.

"What do you mean?" she asked

"The time, the house, the rooms, my conditions, my...family" Lincoln claimed, the time he was in before was summer but is now march. The appearance of the house is different, and his sisters, except Lucy and Lily….are gone. Lucy was in pain to see her brother to feel this way but she wanted her brother back, and what she meant by that is she wants her brother's memories back.

"Lincoln, I don't understand what you're going through, but I know you're not feeling well" She sympathize as she pats Lincoln's back to show how sorry she feels and make him feel less down, but didn't feel any better. "Why don't you read your journals or hear your audio recording to refresh your memories, ok?"

Lincoln hesitated but he was also curious about the Journals that the whole family was talking about. He started to think if these journals held memories of his other persona if he thinks he was in a mental illness of personality disorder. "Fine" He said as he was still down to dealing with depression.

Lucy nodded and head to the desk and kneel down to open one of the drawers. The drawers were all labeled with paper tapes, each was written to organize the sections. Each was labeled Spare parts, tools, vials, graph papers, blank/new journals, new micro SD cards, Li-ion batteries, DC motors, and balsa wood. She opened a large drawer that said 'journals' on the front and from what he could see is many stacks of books, and each was all different as one was a spiral notebook and the other is a composition notebook. But what Lucy pulled out was a small leather journal that has aged for who knows how long.

She later got up and give the journal to Lincoln. "here"

Lincoln grabbed the journal and sees that there was a label on the front cover that reads...

Chronic Journal

Property of Lincoln Loud

"Chronic Journal, what does that mean?" Lincoln asked as he turns to Lucy to see if she could answer that, but she raised her shoulder meaning she wasn't sure either. "I'm not sure, you weren't specific with these" she claims as she gets up and sits down next to Lincoln.

"But these journals you wrote were meant to help you with your memory problems" She said. Lincoln turns to see the book and the pressure were beginning to overwhelm the boy, but he wanted to know if this could help him understand his current problem.

"So, do I read the whole thing?" he asked as this journal's thickness predicts between 80-100 pages.

"No, just any random page" she assured like this happened before and she doesn't seem nervous to begin with. Lincoln did what she said and opened a random page where there's a title on the top right corner that reads...

Cursed universe

He wasn't sure what that means, but he was about to figure it out.

Every night I sometimes look up to the sky and I could see the stars illuminating the earth. Looking to the stars I can still feel the empty feeling of hopelessness and fear because of how they reflect me and my sisters, we are alone and stuck in the same spot of depression and lonely darkness. The vast universe, stars, blackness, and the void. It slowly takes me towards nothingness with scratchy somewhat nature-like music playing in the background of my head. I realized at one point the universe morphs and distorts, appearing like sand. The creepiest thing about it, when I look to the sky I started to see flashes of images which are so fast that I can barely understand what I've just glimpsed. I think it's some kind of "subliminal messages" the same kind I keep having very often when I'm in a dark place, in my dreams, and right now when I'm looking at the stars… it's making me feel crazy. I just want to see the beautiful stars for once without going hypnotic, or even insane. They told me that I'm worthless, I try to ignore the voices but they won't leave me alone, I just want to be cured and finally be normal… .but my doctor always says that there is no cure, but only medications. The universe is cruel, and the stars are lucky. They're alone with no voices to tell them they're worthless too-

Lincoln immediately closed the journal and gave a "creeped-out" look on his face. This was very unsettling to understand.

"Did it work?" Lucy desperately asked as she can tell that her brother's expression was a sign of change, but it has no effect.

"If you mean getting freaked out, then yes, memories, no."

"Are you sure?" Lucy was now getting nervous since this usually works in just one page read, but she didn't want to lose her brother for good. "Read another page" Lucy said but Lincoln is starting to regret reading another page since this book is bringing chills down his spine.

"I don't know, this started out….wrong, I'm not sure if i-"

"Please" Lucy begged as she grabbed lincoln's arm and holding him with a tone of desperation. Lincoln wanted to stop there but he could tell that Lucy was desperate to have her brother back, her real brother. Lincoln wanted to decline but he didn't want to leave her in distress. "Fine"

He opened the book again but a different page to begin with, and he was now feeling regret and a bit of cringe of fear to read another possible depressed writing. This page read...

She is...

She is sad

She is hurt

She is dying

She is alone

She is lonely

She is judged

She is ignored

She is suicidal

She is stressed

She is confused

She is fucked up

She is depressed

She is misunderstood

She is tired but still living

She is hurt but won't show it

She is screaming but is silent

She is in pain but she still smiling

She is my sister

Lincoln frozed as his heart skipped a beat after reading that last part. He stood there for a moment to realize that this is about Lucy, and how the poem goes it sounded like she was in a world of misery.

"Did it work, what did it say?" Lucy asked but Lincoln still didn't move his sight away from the book for a moment. Then he turns to Lucy "...have you read these journals?"

"No, I respected your privacy, why?" she asked, but she can tell something he read bothered him.

"...nothing… I still don't remember….and I don't think I want to remember" He didn't want to know the life he…. Or his other self had, it sounded very depressed like he was not having a happy life.

"Why?" she asked. she didn't like that answer but was more worried. "Isn't it working?"

"No, I don't remember, but I don't want to read any more of this" Lincoln said as he was now more unease than before. Considering that he was not feeling well when his sisters don't exist but reading some depressed writing was making things worse.

"Read another, maybe you-"

"Please I don't want to read another, I still feel sick in my stomach when my day is horrible and I don't want-"

"Please, just one more and that's it" Lucy begged. Lincoln wanted to stop but one more was not enough to make his day feel worse, so he could take another read. He was not in a mood to flip another page nor have the energy persuade him to do so, but considering that the sun is setting and dinner is almost time, he went for it. "Alright" he agreed as he flipped to a random page, but this page is different. This page has a piece of written crumpled paper glued to covered the whole page, and the handwriting is not his, but Lucy's. The page does not have a title, but he decided to read.

Here on my arm lies a mark that I made.

When I was so low, I cut with a blade

To punish my body for being a mess,

Though here is my testament, I must confess...

That seeing these scars left on my arms, legs, and chest

Makes me realize I was in a place of no rest;

I feel guilty inside for leaving this token.

Now I will see and remember that I am so broken.

"Lucy...is this what your feeling right now?" he turns to shows the page to her sister and her reaction was unexpected. She gasped and later snatched the book out of his hand which startled Lincoln and Lily. Lucy tour off the page from the book and crumpled the page to place it in her pocket. "Lucy…?"

"Nothing" Lucy answered immediately as she placed the book back to the drawer and sat back down to looks away. Lincoln now knew the reason why lucy always wear long sleeves, well in this reality but wasn't why in his memory, could it be possible that she cut herself and hides the scars and cuts under those sleeves. He thought.

"That isn't nothing-"

"Its nothing" she replied again but this time her tone was telling her brother that she was trying to hide this for so long and bring no attention. If the poem real was really telling the truth and her behavior, then this is the first time having this problem to discuss, but that would also mean that his other self didn't do anything about.

"No it's not, now I want to help you" This was getting serious, Lincoln did not felt low energy for the realization anymore. Lucy's condition now brought his attention considering that his other self committed suicide, he feared that lucy, in a state of depression and how she wants her real brother back, might do the same sooner or later. He didn't want to see her sister go through that path that his other self did. But she responded.

"I don't want you to help me or even save me, I want you to stand by my side so I could save myself" she claimed, but he wanted to do something at first but realized what she really means by 'standing by her side' meaning that she didn't want to be alone to suffer the hard and depressing life without anyone leaving her alone to deal with. Just as Lincoln was about to say something else, he heard his mother called.

"Lincoln, Lucy, your friends are- woah!" she sounded like she has fallen or tripped, but besides that, they could hear multiple footsteps coming up the stairs. Lincoln assumed that Clyde and his other friend had come by to see Lincoln, but also Lucy's friends too? Which is odd at first since all he remembered was anyone who the friend of Lucy was haiku.

The door slammed open and popped into the room was Clyde, Liam, Zach, Rusty, and... Chandler? Each ran into the room and heads towards Lincoln with a concerned look on their face as if they already knew the incident.

"Have you lost your mind!?" Liam was upset along with the others who feel the same.

"I thought you were getting better, why did you lie to us?" Zach asked, but Lincoln was unable to respond back when his best friend, Clyde, who grabbed him by his shoulders. "Don't we all matter to you, I tried to help you, but why this!?" Clyde yelled as there are tears forming in his eyes. The loud yelling was enough to scare Lily to the point of crying, and so she did. Lincoln and Lucy noticed this and were concerned, but not the others since the suicide incident was far more important than a child's cry because it was their friend's life who was almost gone.

Lincoln got out of Clydes grip and holed Lily to stroke her back to calm her down "Guys stop, Lily is crying, I'm not-"

"Not happy, of course not, do you have any idea how much stress we are in!?" Chandler yelled, but Lincoln was confused. It's not familiar for Lincoln to see Chandler concerned for him, actually, at all since they both don't get along.

"Lincoln doesn't remember" Lucy said.

"Well, read another-"

"Permanently" she finished.

"Wh-what?" Liam said in confusion. What does she mean by, permanently? He thought "What does that mean?"

"He's cured of his illness, but Lincoln is gone, it's just-"

"The new me" Lincoln said "But I can remember all of you, but I don't think my memories are true."

"Like you can remember us but can't remember us, or…." Clyde wasn't sure where Lincoln was going with his claim but wasn't sure if he believes his claim. Lincoln lifted his shoulders indicated that he wasn't sure either.

"I don't know, but for starters, why is he doing in here?" He pointed at Chandler. For the red-headed boy, he was now concerned about his response.

"Well duh, why wouldn't I be here? I'm your friend" He claimed

"You are…?" Lincoln tilted his head "huh, I guess it's different here, I mean you were a bully in my memories." He pointed out. Chandler flinched for a second and gave an annoyed look.

"Well, that's a coincidence, because he was in kindergarten" Rusty said as he pointed at Chandler and he crossed his arms while rolling his eyes.

"That was six or seven years ago, and that was the time when I didn't know bullying was wrong" he claimed. He noticed Lucy was different and gave an annoyed look again. "Do you really have to cover your eyes again?" He referred to her bangs that covered her eyes like they had this discussion all over again, but Lucy ignore.

"Where's Haiku?" Lucy wondered

"She's coming, Polly as well, and "John", heh heh" Chandler chuckled, but Lucy didn't find it funny as she grabbed a pillow and launched it to his face. Chandler fell back while the others gave a sigh of disappointment.

"Please stop" Clyde says

"Why can't you just let her be herself." Lucy scowled at Chandler.

"Stop bullying her" Rusty scowl

"it was just a joke, besides I'm not bullying him-"

"Her" Lucy corrected

"Ok, I'm not bullying 'her', I'm just joking around" he gets up and brushed off the dust and dirt off the back shirt that struck him from the floor. Lincoln wasn't sure what they're talking about but he noticed how Lily was now slowly getting quite and her hics are slowing down.

"So, Lincoln, your cured but your not you anymore, is that correct?" Rusty asked as Lincoln just raised his shoulders "I guess" he said and the rest, except Lincoln and Lucy looked at each other. They weren't sure if they believe him but considering how he reacted to Chandler and his presence was proven otherwise. Clyde has an idea to prove if he was there Lincoln, but first, he grabbed Lily and passed her to Lucy to proceed a process.

"Ok, if you really did blink out for good, then you wouldn't be able to dodge this!"

"Dodge what- OW!" Clyde gave a strong punch on to his stomach and Lincoln wrapped his arms around his waist and crouched down to the floor to roll into a ball. Clyde and the others gasped in disbelief, but Lily got scared seeing her brother get attacked, and she cried again but louder.

"Oh sorry sorry sorry sorry!" Clyde apologizes for the punch as he and his friends lifted him up and placed him on the bed. "What was...that for…?" his voice sounded raspy and gasping for air assuming that his lungs were having a hard time to function or were stunned while the pain is excruciating.

"I'm so sorry!" Clyde apologies again.

"Jeez, our Lincoln has quick reflexes to be able to dough a simple punch"

"I guess you really did blink out for good" Liam accepted the truth, but this also means their friend is gone for good and only left with a stranger who knows but with different recollections.

"im so sorry"

"Its fine... can one of you...get me some water" Lincoln requested, he still gasped for air but he somehow feels dehydrated. He feels as if didn't eat or drank anything in a week, although he actually didn't since he was in the hospital the whole time. Zach goes over to his pocket and later pulled out a small apple juice box and handed to Lincoln.

"Uh, I only have this juice box, will this do?"

"Yes please" he slowly grabbed the box and slowly sat upright, but just as he pulled out the straw from the side of the box he noticed something on chandlers leg when he sat down on the ground. It showed a small green LED light when his lower pants raise about a half an inch. "Are you wearing an ankle bracelet?" he asked but his response, he stretched his pants to hide the device, crossed his arms, and looked away. He didn't seem to be happy.

"I don't wanna talk about it." he quietly said, and the rest understood his pain but not Lincoln. Clyde knew, so he asked to tell why. "Dude, you already told us about it, but he seems to not remember that-"

"I still don't want to talk about it"

"Well do you want me to tell him or-"

"No, and I don't want to" he declined again

"Chandler" lucy motions, but he didn't want to talk about the ankle bracelet.

"No"

"You know that we heard the joke, you wouldn't mind if we tell her, right?" Lucy was now blackmailing, both know how "she" would react to the joke and it's not a pretty reaction.

"Hey no- I mean i-...fine" he accepted the defeat and gave a loud sigh of annoyance. He looks at Lincoln and showed his ankle bracelet.

"I had this ankle bracelet when I was ten, it's three or four pounds heavy which is hard to walk at first and still today. At first, they put it on me loose, you know, not skin-tight, which meant it would slam around whenever I exercised. But then some kids, apparently, started slipping the thing off, and so they brought us all in for tightening. they cinched it up right against my skin. I couldn't wear high-top shoes anymore. It dug into me. I still have the scar." he rolled down his socks and showed many rigged lines that looked to be very reddish. Lincoln cringed as it looked to be painful to experience.

"So is that why you're wearing pants, to hide that thing," Lincoln said he pressed the juice box with the straw and took a sip. He felt sorry for him, even though in his own memories he was a spoiled kid who would get anything he wants, but this is not him in this reality.

Chandler nodded "I had to wear pants all the time, even when walking to the store, I didn't want anyone to judge me and give me criticism. I can't even go to the beach, and pool anymore because I couldn't get it wet and I didn't want anyone to see it. It would be like raising my hand and saying, "Hey, everybody, I'm on probation!"" he shakes his hands in a sarcastic way. He sounded very displeased with himself.

"I had to charge it for two hours every day, all in one sitting. If I accidentally disconnected the charge, I had to start over." he rolled his eyes "The charger had this very short cord, like only a few feet, which meant I had to sit somewhere right near the outlet and couldn't go to the bathroom"

"If you had to go pee?" Lincoln asked as he was curious to know.

"Start over" he quickly answered

"If I didn't start over?"

"Violation. Jail. I had that many times" he said with sorrow as he already seen things that were too much for his age. "I'd do the charging usually at night, after I took out the trash and do other chores for my mom. I had a lot of work to do, so I couldn't start until 9 pm or so"

"What's even worse is when your dad forced you to work on your birthday" Liam added

"I didn't even get any smile from him or a "happy birthday son" no, just "do this" and "do that", but thanks for the surprise guys" he gave a small smile as the day after that he was thrown a surprise party from his friends, especially when it was thrown in the park.

"You would've done the same for us"

"I remember when Lincoln got carried away with the birthday confides" Clyde chuckled as the rest did the same, but Lincoln was confused.

"I did?"

"Yeah, we had to clean up the mess because the cop would've ticked all of us for littering"

"Wow" Lincoln chuckled for a moment. He thought for a moment that it's becoming very familiar to his recollection. He remembers the birthday invitations at school and the arcade, but this version it's different. Chandler then continues his story.

"Anyways, If I fell asleep, I'd have to bring the whole thing to school the next day and do it in class"

"Meaning" Lincoln asked

"sit right next to a plug in the wall, with the cord on me, like a leash. While all the other kids watching. At first, though, when I was ten, I'll admit that I thought it was kind of cool. "Yeah, that's right. I have an ankle bracelet on." But by eleven, I was like, "This is now getting annoying and irritating, I hate this, I don't want to be on some sort of leash."" he said as he showed irritation to his tone "And then I got some violations for missing my 6 p.m. curfew, by just ten minutes, and they'd call me into the probation office, take out their handcuffs, and send me to jail for a month just for that!" chandler begins to show anger in his face but he wrapped his legs with his arms and there were tears forming, which Lincoln grew worried.

"Are you ok?"he asked

"No i'm not, It disrupted my education, which I had to continue while I was locked up. I ended up graduating on time only because I stayed focused. but just as i enter fifth grade i realized that i just created this hatred in my heart for the police, but also more for the person who put me in all this mess."

"Who?"

"Well I was hoping you would remember, his name is Hugh, he put Chandler in all this mess"

"All because he hadn't listened to his demands" Clyde added

"Just like we're supposed to" rusty added

'Why does that name sound familiar' Lincoln thought

"We were all in deep trouble when he found out we committed crimes and violations, he even has recorded videos to provide evidence." Clyde claimed

"those crimes were accidents, but he was able to make us look like criminals" Zach says with disbelief

"Well, why is he doing this?"

"Money, we were forced to sell candy in school and make it look like a fundraiser, but in reality we're just making cash for him, doing his dirty work."

"Basically child labor" Lincoln assumed as they all nodded.

"Chandler had enough and talked back to him, but boy was that a big mistake" Rusty said "And if one of us snitched, we all get punished"

"Anyways, Curfew was definitely the hardest part. Getting home at 6 p.m. every night. 6 p.m. I'm eleven. I had energy! But I only had these two or three short hours after school to do anything, even activities like sports and extracurriculars. And then someone would say, "Dude, it's 5:50!" And I'd be so embarrassed and would have to sprint out of there and run home"

"It was crazy those days" Zach said

"At one point, I have a stupid job and would get off at night, and they'd hassle me even for that. The officer would point at the computer and show me every time the GPS said I wasn't home on time"

"It was kinda dumb at first, he was working but they didn't care" Liam added

Yeah, and I laugh or deny it, and they'd take out their handcuffs again and threaten me with jail and say, "You think this is funny?""

"And that's where it got unfair" Liam added

"Unfair indeed" Clyde agreed

"Especially this one judge who joked about how often he was seeing me, and that made me mad" Lincoln could see his hands beginning to clench into a fist, he could tell that he was not at ease. "It made me wonder whether this is how I'm going to live. I got pulled over for jaywalking four months ago. My probation officer said that because it happened at 6:10"

"They were lying" Rusty pointed out

"I know, it was 5:27 when I walked across the street, but the evil empire of this town is all about putting innocent people in jail or prison"

"jeez" Lincoln couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I was going back to detention. At that time I wore a jacket and he said that my leather jacket was "gang-related.""

"It was a stupid excuse to put him in bars" Liam added

"Yeah, Everyone in jail asked me, "Why are you in here?" "Jaywalking." Not so cool. When I got out, I had to wear the monitor for another nine months, I'm just tired of this, I don't want to be treated like a dog with a leash, I just want to live my life peacefully, not… this" he pointed at his ankle monitor and later slouched against a wall. Everyone knew what he is going through, they wanted to help him, but he's right. The town is corrupt with officers who are willing to frame and put down anyone for their own satisfaction.

"How many months do you have?" Lincoln asked, wondering when will they take off the bracelet.

"Five months, but I doubt they would let me free in five years" he gave a loud sigh, he was tired of being in this corrupted town. "All that time in jail, I saw a lot of violence, fights. I have low self-esteem. I have a lot of... what do you call it… existential concerns? I want to be someone big in life, a traveler. I want to go to different places, see more things than I have, but I can't"

"Every time he got out, he always acts a little… Impulsive" Clyde explained to Lincoln.

"Well wouldn't call it impulsive, just mad or angry, but I needed to be alone or otherwise I might say something that I might regret" Chandler corrected and looks towards Lincoln "but you had the guts to confront me and help me out, even if I said something I still regret"

Now that surprised Lincoln, that would explain his memory of him being a selfish jerk in the arcade, it started to make connections. 'Had the courage to face him and make him feel better' it's quite similar to getting on his good side for his birthday invitations in his recollection. But in this version is different but similar. Both are about making getting on his good side despite the benefits to be harsh or cruel.