Disclaimer: The Loud House and associated characters belong to Nickelodeon and Chris Savino.
Kokomo: I'm glad you're enjoying the story. However, nobody has mentioned anything about death to clarify a point.
Delquea: Thank you. I hope you enjoy the rest as well.
nuuo: Yeah, that is quite the nightmare.
Alfonso Norman: Thank you!
U. N. Owen: Thanks, and you're right. Nothing concrete has gotten said as yet. The story could go many ways.
Restless
By LolaPresents (Editing by Catspeaker)
Chapter 2
Lori woke that morning feeling somewhat refreshed. Rolling over, she reached out her hand in search of her husband, wanting to draw up next to him for some early morning cuddles only to find his side of the bed was empty. Drawing a sudden breath, she rose and sleepily glanced around the room before remembering his offer to keep watch that night. Her sight moved to the reading chair he should have been in, but he wasn't there either.
Glancing at the clock and realizing she'd slept a bit late, Lori assumed her husband had risen early as he sometimes did. Getting out of bed, she donned her robe and headed for the restroom, only to get distracted by a yellow sticky note affixed to the large mirror over their dresser. Curiously, she snatched it up and began reading.
"Hi, babe! I hope you slept well!" it read. "You were snoring so soundly I couldn't bring myself to wake you. You needed it. Anyway, I fixed breakfast and got the kids on the bus. Don't worry about lunch. I made my own. Enjoy your day, and see you later! Love, Booboo-bear."
The blushing woman smiled and stashed the piece of paper into the top middle drawer of her dresser. Lori liked to keep the little notes Bobby left for her. It was a little silly and sentimental, but when she felt down, reading his love written in his words often cheered her up.
With the note secure, Lori pulled out fresh clothes for the day. After a quick shower to freshen up, she gathered her things and left the apartment. It was already nine o'clock, and she had an appointment with her sisters, Leni and Lisa, though the latter wasn't yet aware.
Her old red car sat in the parking lot behind their building, saving space along the street for customers, but Lori didn't mind the short walk. She had always been diligent about getting proper exercise, even if her yoga practice waned over the years. Opening the door and tossing her purse into the passenger seat, she headed for her Royal Woods.
As Lori headed down the familiar stretch of highway, she turned on the radio and began thinking. It was nice having the morning to herself, and the extra sleep had done wonders. She loved her husband and children, but sometimes it was good to have some time for oneself.
Bobby had always doted on her, as she did their kids. But Bobby didn't know the horrible truth of what kind of person she was. What would he think of her if he knew what awful things she could do? The question was too frightening to consider and almost caused a panic attack to start rising within her.
Lori pushed it away. The guilt over what happened was already too much to bear. Adding more would have destroyed her. Her only hope was that Lisa would get to the bottom of it and discover a tumor or something. There had to be a logical explanation for what she and Leni had seen.
Though not identical, their tales were similar enough to raise concerns. As a former child prodigy, Lisa was their only avenue. The PTSD theory was one Lori thought was most likely, but going to a therapist was out of the question. If they were to learn what transpired, the family would face more significant problems.
After a car honked as it passed in the adjacent lane, Lori snapped out of her trance and pulled her car back into proper alignment. Releasing a puff of air in frustration, she turned up the music and decided it best to occupy herself and focus on the road. Thirty minutes later, she got hungry and stopped to get fast food at the next intersection before continuing.
Lori arrived at her hometown of Royal Woods shortly before noon, giving her just enough time to reach Reininger's. She had cut things a little close, hoping Leni would be able to leave the store on a whim. Then again, Leni was the senior manager and had capable staff to fill in. How else would she get the occasional day off?
After pulling into the lot and parking the car, Lori grabbed her purse and stepped out. Not much seemed to have changed back home. The houses and buildings she had passed on her way to the mall were all still quaint and perky looking, without all the grime and trash of the city. It seemed like time had stood still for the little town, and Lori never wanted it to change.
Feeling a tentative peace settle over her, Lori strolled through the doors, navigated her way through the aisles full of clothes, and down the hallway leading to Leni's office. She had visited her sister occasionally and knew the path well. Yet, her nostalgia grew exponentially every time she walked down the short hall. Pausing to collect her thoughts, Lori knocked on the wooden door that sported her sister's name.
"Come in, please!" chimed Leni from beyond, sounding more professional than ever. "The door's unlocked."
Ever one for fashion, Lori expected something entirely different than what she saw upon entering. While Leni had ditched her old teal dress, she'd replaced it with teal business attire trimmed with white highlights. At least her sunglasses remained perched on her head, where she would surely forget to look.
"Hi, Leni," Lori announced as she stepped into the office and closed the door behind her. "I know I'm a little early. I hope that doesn't interfere with your schedule."
"I think you're forgetting..." joked Leni, smiling at her older sister, "I make the schedule."
"Oh, right," chuckled Lori, slightly embarrassed. "Anyway, I'm ready whenever you are. Just don't let me get in the way of business," she added as she sat in one of the plain wooden chairs across from her sister.
"Actually..." Leni chirped, dropping her wallet and keys into her purse before standing. "I'm ready now," she informed her sister. "Don't worry about the store. I've already appointed my assistant managers to handle things while we're away."
There was a time when none of their family thought Leni would amount to much. But somehow, she had pulled through, defying everyone's expectations. While she wasn't the most intelligent person, she was excellent at organization and never gave up, which resulted in her eventual success.
Lori smiled as she gazed around her sister's office, noting all the credentials, including one from the local community college and various in-house awards. Lori was so proud of her sister that she often found it challenging to contain. In many ways, Lori felt outdone, having abandoned her dreams of playing in the WPGA to become a homemaker.
"Shall we?" chirped Leni as she slung her purse over her shoulder and headed for the door.
Considering their tainted past, Lori was amazed at how well Leni seemed to adjust to everything. Even the nightmarish visions hadn't appeared to douse her enthusiasm. However, that might only be due to the hope Lisa presented. Lori, too, was giddy at the thought that their sister could provide some insight and a solution.
Freeing themselves from their tormented past would be akin to a miracle, and both girls pinned their hopes on Lisa. Whether or not she could do so was another matter. At the very least, they could rule out anything physical. Though that only left one possible alternative, scaring both of them senseless.
Strangely, the ride to Apex Industries remained relatively quiet for two sisters who hadn't seen each other in almost a year. Only short bursts of discussion ensued, avoiding the one thing they needed to discuss more than any other. Instead, brief updates on their lives, husbands, and children passed the time.
Leni had married her childhood sweetheart, Chaz, as Scott refused to immigrate from Scotland. Together, they lived happily for over a decade before trying to have a baby. After many failed attempts to conceive, they visited a fertility clinic and walked away nine months later with a healthy baby girl named Abigail, who was now two years old.
Thankful at not having to recount the numerous tales of Miguel's and Selena's adventures over the years, Lori pulled into Apex Industries' lot and parked the car as it sputtered a cloud of black smoke everywhere. After stepping out and walking around to let Leni out, Lori led them into the stark white building, highlighted with glass and a splash of black.
"Good morning," Lori said, greeting the well-built security guard who sat behind the gleaming desk. "We don't work here, but we have an appointment with Lisa Loud."
A moment of silence ensued as the stocky man consulted his computer. After checking his boss's itinerary and schedule, the man looked up at them, offered a faint smile, then pressed the buzzer that temporarily unlocked the wide glass double doors beside the desk before returning to his monitors.
Unlike her other sisters, Lori didn't visit Lisa nearly as often, which was outright seldom, and it took a few moments for her to remember the way to Lisa's office. Luckily, Leni stepped in and offered to lead the way, being a more frequent visitor since both lived in town.
After walking down a few hallways, they arrived at the elevator that would take them to the third floor, where the research and development team resided. Stepping inside, Leni politely pushed the correct button and stood back as the doors closed behind Lori.
As the small cubicle began rising, the overhead lights flickered slightly, briefly casting them in claustrophobic darkness, greatly unnerving the girls.
"What was that?" asked Leni pensively, staring upward.
"I don't know," replied Lori, just as nervous. "But I'm sure it's just a maintenance thing."
A moment later, the doors opened, and the girls dashed into the hall, afraid that something weird might happen had they lingered. Though neither spoke a word, both felt an oppressive presence bearing down on them as if a weight were increasing on their souls with every step they took.
Fortunately, Lisa's office was only a few doors down, and soon they stood before a sleek silver metal door. As Lori reached out her fist to knock, a thin beam of red light shone from above, scanning their faces before the door slid open.
"Greetings, siblings, it has been some time," Lisa offered from her high-backed black leather chair behind a glass desk held by metal supports. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
Lori sat in the remaining guest chair and sighed once Leni had taken the other. Going over everything a second time wasn't the most appealing thing, especially if it stirred something unpleasant. However, they needed Lisa's help, and she needed to know what was happening.
"Lisa," Lori coughed, forcing herself to begin. "We, Leni and I, we, um..."
"Out with it, woman," interjected Lisa sternly. "I do not have all day."
Lori felt a little guilty. She had not visited her little sister nearly enough, and their relationship's threads had already gotten frayed enough. She couldn't get angry at Lisa for being short with her.
"Right..." stammered the reprimanded girl. "It's about, you know, what happened when we were kids," she admitted hesitantly, not wanting to look the fool. "Leni and I have both had horrific dreams recently, some of which happen while we're awake, and we wanted to rule out anything physical or mental."
"Well, of course, there's a physical or mental reason, Lori," Lisa responded, sounding annoyed. The genius removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I do not recognize the supernatural, as you are aware."
"But Lisa!" chirped Leni, ever the one to point out the obvious. "What about the ghosts we met in Scotland?"
"Yes, well..." sighed the scientist with disgust. "I attribute that to mass hysteria over the stress of being geographically relocated and subversively ostracized by the castle staff and local populace. But on to more practical matters," she said, dismissing what her eyes had seen. "There are several possible causes. However, I'd need to perform a sleep test to narrow things down. Does that sound reasonable to you?"
"Yes, please," begged Lori, hopeful that something ordinary would come out of the experience.
"Of course!" interjected Leni, curious to know what a sleep test involved. "But I have to warn you. I didn't study."
"Leni..." muttered Lisa, putting her spectacles back on before standing. "Now, please follow me to the lab so we may proceed."
Lisa had grown significantly since her childhood. No longer a little girl but a fully grown woman of twenty-five years. Having shed her infantile body fat decades ago, Lisa filled out quite nicely, with well-rounded curves. However, her appearance was never a consideration, and she still dressed in much the same manner as before.
With her body and intellect, Lisa could've snagged anyone she wanted. However, science remained her life's focus, and she never entertained the idea of dating, much less marriage. Then again, she had enough to worry over. Her career and marshaling her sisters so their past never resurfaced had taken its toll on her.
Sometimes the sisters wondered if Lisa had gotten frozen in time on that day, never changing inside because of all the stress. Had they prevented her from having her own life and family with their shared guilt? Such was just one of the many troubling questions related to the incident.
Lisa led them down the hall past several unoccupied rooms filled with unidentified and questionable equipment before arriving at their destination. Each room had large glass panels along the wall bordering the hallway for clear viewing. The room Lisa entered was no different, save for the equipment selection.
Along the back wall resided four sterile beds, three along the hallway wall. The far wall had a series of computer banks along it, and the opposite had another window from which operators could view subjects. Each bed had restraints and a series of leads used for measuring various things.
"Alright, then," announced Lisa as she undid the straps on the first two beds along the back wall. "Let me get you strapped in, and we'll get started."
"Wait..." pleaded Leni hesitantly. "You weren't expecting us, so why do you have all this stuff ready?"
"This lab gets used for various tests," sighed Lisa, releasing the straps and organizing the cables, "everything from stimulus and response testing to monitoring the effects of other tests," she informed her sister before pausing. "But, to be honest," she muttered, powering up the equipment. "I've had some recent experiences that have made me doubt my sanity. I tested myself just yesterday."
"And?" Lori prodded, hoping to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
"And nothing," admitted Lisa. "The test was a complete flop. My physiology is entirely sound. However, further study is needed, and my results can get used as a control."
Nodding, Lori and Leni lay down and struggled to get comfortable as their brainy sister strapped them in and hooked up the probes. As she worked, Lori became nervous at what Lisa had said. Lisa had been having odd things happen as well. That made three of them. Whatever was causing the events didn't seem isolated, which greatly concerned Lori.
"Lisa?" she quietly asked. "What was it you saw?"
"It's not important, eldest sibling. We're here for your current predicament, not my own." Lisa replied dismissively.
Lori looked at her little sister with pleading eyes, "Lisa, please. It might help Leni and me."
Lisa stopped and sighed.
"I'm not entirely certain," she replied, finalizing the settings and preparing to enter the control booth. "Honestly, it could've been anything. However, I've started seeing a shadowy figure recently," she explained, "whether here at work, out shopping, or at home."
"Who were they?" asked Leni insistently.
"That's the strange thing," Lisa admitted, looking stressed. "I don't know. I couldn't see them. They were like a child's drawing that had gotten profusely smudged. I couldn't make out any details."
"What do you think is happening to us, Lisa?" Lori inquired, growing more confused and desperate by the moment.
"That's not how science works, Lori," replied Lisa, tired of the conversation and heading toward the door. "We test, evaluate, then conclude. Guessing ahead of time taints one's bias and perspective."
"Fair enough," sighed Lori, closing her eyes as Lisa dimmed the lights.
Lisa entered the control booth, sat at the desk, and queued up some white noise and other soothing ambient effects to induce sleep. While she could've injected them with a sleep-inducing agent, doing so might have affected the results. Turning her attention to the three monitors, she settled herself in for the long haul as she watched their progress.
One screen displayed the girls' vital signs, another measured muscular contractions, and the last monitored brain activity. In the past, such instruments were analog and showed their readings on paper, written with a stylus. However, over the years, many advancements got made, especially at a high-tech company like hers.
While her sisters fell asleep in the other room, Lisa enjoyed her lunch, occasionally making notes, entering information into the computer, or dictating things into her portable recorder. An hour in, the virtual needles barely moved, and everything appeared normal. Lisa was beginning to feel like she could use a nap herself.
She'd been having trouble sleeping lately, more than she let on to her elder sisters. Seeing them looking so cozy and everything seeming normal made her consider grabbing twenty minutes of rest. Things would change once the girls entered their REM cycles, the most active part of sleep.
While most sets of readings stayed within normal parameters, the EKG results indicated heightened activity levels, perfectly normal, and nothing to worry about during REM sleep. With nothing to concern herself over, Lisa sat back and watched for any signs of distress, and Lisa found herself slightly dozing off.
About thirty minutes later, the console beeped, indicating unusual activity, jolting Lisa from her small nap. A quick spike appeared on the girls' cerebral monitors, then faded just as quickly. Lisa rubbed the tiredness from her eyes and looked closely.
"Hm..." hummed Lisa as she yawned deeply. "Could've been a glitch," she told herself.
Stretching and yawning a second time, Lisa leaned back in her chair as she continued her vigil, doing her best to stay awake this time. However, her respite didn't last long as two more spikes appeared, along with some muscle spasms. Growing concerned, Lisa peered into the room but saw no movement from her sisters.
Three more spikes appeared upon the monitors, followed by a lengthy silence. Lisa stood up, hand to her chin, looking at the room, then back down to the monitors. She sat back in her chair when suddenly, the graphs erupted into a flurry of activity, going well beyond normal limits. Lisa was back up again and scanned the survey room but only saw her sleeping sisters.
"What the heck is going on?" asked Lisa, tired and frustrated as she turned her attention to her equipment, fearing she might have to abandon the study.
The scent of ozone and an audible hum began to fill the air, and Lisa began to panic. The room contained thousands of dollars worth of highly technical equipment. It could take months to recover the loss if it got ruined due to an electrical surge. Frantically, Lisa began flipping switches, expecting things to shut down.
"That should do it," she mumbled with a sigh.
Despite being turned off, the machines kept running as the overhead lights began flickering violently. Lisa was not one to frighten easily, but even she became unnerved at what was happening. She tried to tell herself it must be an electrical issue with the switchboard, but fear kept creeping up her spine. Backing into the center of the room, she stared at the lights until she heard rushing water.
"What the fuck!?" Lisa stammered, breaking her usual calm demeanor.
Returning her gaze toward the survey room, she was horrified to see that it had gotten filled with murky, yellow-green water. Sticks and leaves floated about, but no sign of Lori or Leni. Her rational mind left her at this moment. Forgetting how badly water interacted with electricity, Lisa thought only of her sisters and them drowning before she rushed to the door separating them and fumbled nervously with the handle.
The door wouldn't open no matter how Lisa pushed or pulled on it. Regardless of her efforts, it remained steadfastly closed. The knob physically resisted her attempts to open it. Terror gripped the young scientist's heart, and she began banging on the door, calling her sisters by name.
"Lori! Leni!" Lisa pleaded with tears in her eyes. Her heart pounded faster and faster.
She looked towards the window covered in murky water, and the unthinkable happened. The pallid corpses of her sisters floated into view, suspended in the occluded water, their hair drifting about aimlessly.
"No!" Lisa screamed, grabbing her chair and hurling it at the window, breaking the glass and sending a flood of water into the control booth.
"Miss Loud!" called a voice to Lisa's left. "Is everything alright in here?"
As suddenly as it had begun, everything returned to normal as Lisa sat up in her chair, gazing at the intern peering through the auxiliary door.
Stunned, she stood and looked into the room to see her sisters sleeping on the examination beds. Shaking the fog from her head, she addressed the intern.
"Yeah," she replied. "I guess I nodded off and had a nightmare. Everything is under control here."
"Very well," responded the young man before closing the door and heading off.
Lisa was at her wit's end and was ready to terminate the study. After checking the logs, she knew she had enough information and stopped the recordings before entering the survey room and waking her sisters. After gently nudging them to consciousness and removing the probes and straps, Lisa invited them into the control booth.
"Well?" asked Leni as she sat up. "Did you watch our dreams?"
"No, Leni," sighed Lisa. "It doesn't work that way. However, I did get some good readings," she said. "How about we go review them?"
"Sounds good to me," chimed in Lori, who took longer to rouse.
Once the three girls were seated in front of the console, Lisa turned toward her sisters, rubbed her face, and considered them.
"Before we begin, I must ask," she said softly. "What did you dream?"
"Literally nothing," sighed Lori dejectedly. "But at least I got some rest."
"Same here," agreed Leni unenthusiastically. "I think my brain was on the wrong channel."
Lisa stared at them both, her mind going one hundred miles a minute, trying to put the pieces together. Furrowing her brow, she turned to the monitors and rolled them back to the beginning. Then, pointing things out as she went, she explained the proceedings.
"Here," she said, pointing at a slight rise in levels. "That's where you entered REM sleep and started dreaming. Everyone dreams during REM sleep, even if you don't remember it," she informed them.
A moment paused while Lisa fast-forwarded the logs.
"Now, this bit is where things got interesting," she noted. "You see that significant spike? That's well beyond normal limits. At first, I thought it was a fluke. But then, a moment later, I saw these..."
To clarify her point, Lisa used the cursor to highlight the segments where two and three pulses occurred. Then, she turned and faced her sisters again.
"That's when something happened," Lisa solemnly announced. "I had another lucid dream. In it, the room you were in flooded, drowning you both. The registers went crazy, as you can see here," she said, indicating a long segment of spikes so dense in frequency the graph looked like a bar chart. "Unfortunately, I don't know what to make of the results other than something out of my expertise is happening."
"That's alright, Lisa," Lori reassured her. "At least we know there isn't anything wrong with us."
"Say, Lisa..." murmured Leni absent-mindedly. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to something in the corner of the room near the ceiling.
"Hm?" Lisa hummed, looking where her sister indicated. "Oh! That's just a security camera. We have them in every room. Why do you ask?"
"Well," sighed Leni. "Maybe they recorded what you saw."
"Leni, that's preposterous..." Lisa scoffed before her curiosity got the better of her. "And not a bad idea," she smiled, quickly bringing up the digital security logs on one of the monitors.
Lisa reset the time stamp and hit play, setting it to several times the average speed, and together they watched as events unfolded. The recording began after Lisa had entered the control booth and continued to play, showing her eating lunch, making notes, entering data into the console, then getting up and leaving momentarily.
"Hehe..." chuckled Lisa. "I had to use the restroom."
"Mmhm," hummed Lori, not entirely amused at getting left unattended.
Turning back to the screen, Lisa pointed out where they'd entered REM sleep and normalized the playback. A moment later, the initial spike occurred, followed shortly after by a second set, then a third before the recording faded to static. Bewildered, Lisa forwarded the recording until the booth came back into view as her intern entered the room.
"I don't understand," Lisa muttered. "It should've gotten recorded unless this is all some electrical phenomenon. Did you know there are people with such strong electrical fields that they can't wear a digital watch without it eventually malfunctioning?"
"So..." muttered Lori, her hopes vanishing quickly. "You're saying something might be wrong with us, after all?"
"Not precisely," Lisa corrected her sister. "However, I'd need to perform further studies to be sure."
"No thanks," Leni chimed in. "I've had enough tests for one day."
"Literally," agreed Lori as she came to a stand. "Besides, my kids will be home from school soon, so I need to go."
"Very well," sighed Lisa disappointedly. "Go home and get some rest. Maybe this will all blow over."
"Somehow, I doubt that," stated Lori, leading Leni out the auxiliary door with Lisa right behind them. "But thanks anyway. Bye!"
"Bye!" chirped Lisa as her sisters disappeared down the hall. "Well..." she sighed, clasping her hands with eagerness. "I guess I should probably recalibrate the equipment after all that. Nothing should ever read that high."
After seeing her sisters vanish into the elevator, Lisa turned and headed back into the booth to begin her work. However, as she did so, something caught her attention. Looking down, she noticed she was standing in a shallow puddle of water.