Repressed Memories - Chapter 2

choking ghosts (and dreams)

plane-theory

4

Lincoln Loud's eyes shot open.

He looked around in a panic before realizing that he was in his room. He tried to get up, but it felt as if something was pinning him to his bed. For some reason, the hair on his neck was raised, he had goosebumps on his arms, and he broke into a cold sweat.

He heard heavy footfalls behind his closed door, and his heart dropped into his stomach. He could hear his heart thumping as if it was inside of his ears. Blood rushed to his head as he readied a fight or flight response.

A few seconds passed. Then a minute. Then 5 minutes. Lincoln stayed on high alert, starting at the doorway, still lying on his back, pinned by an unknown force.

Lincoln took a couple of deep breaths. He unclenched his hands, and let his head fall back onto his pillow.

Doesn't that pillow feel a little weird to you?

Lincoln was about to respond to the mocking voice inside his head, when suddenly the door slammed open, a shadowy figure appearing in the doorway. The hall was pitch black, but he could somehow see the silhouette against the black.

"Linkyyy…" He thought the voice belonged to one of his sisters, but the voice sounded off somehow. It was too deep, almost demonic.

Lincoln attempted to get up, but his arms and legs seemed to turn into lead. The weight on his body was still there, and he attempted to thrash his body around, but his limbs wouldn't respond.

His heart raced. His breathing quickened. His chest tightened. He clenched his eyes closed again, praying the figure was an apparition.

"My dear brother…" The demonic voice wafted around the room. Lincoln forced his eyes back open, watching in horror as the abomination inched closer and closer to his bed. He felt like he could feel the monster's breath on him, its presence forcing his body into stillness.

The monster stopped at the side of his bed, and he saw its 'head' turn towards him. The pit of his stomach turned into a chasm as he saw a jagged smile cross the face of the figure.

Suddenly the monster leaped at him, straddling his body. Even though he was paralyzed by fear, he could feel the pressure on his nether regions and he involuntarily blushed. His blush was short lived, however, as the head of the figure started moving towards his face, the darkness threatening to consume him. All he could see was that damned jagged smile.

Lincoln screamed, and that seemed to stun the shadow. It recoiled, and Lincoln found his time to strike. He grabbed the shoulders of the figure, and rolled over on his bed to instead straddle the figure.

Since when was your bed this long?

Lincoln, pumped full of adrenaline, ignored the voice. He pinned the figure to the bed, breathing heavily. The figure's face had changed, the smile dropped, the figure seemed… scared.

Something's wrong bud, I think you should stop and breathe for a second.

The voice in his head sounded anxious, and something snapped inside Lincoln. He felt in charge, powerful. The cocky voice in his head was showing weakness, and the demon in front of him was struggling in his grasp.

Lincoln roared and grabbed the figure by the neck. He squeezed, and he felt the figure paw at his arms and flail against his body.

You're going to regret this, man.

The voice in his head sounded equal parts resigned and horrified. Lincoln ignored the voice once again, keeping the pressure on the neck of the figure. The figure whimpered, and Lincoln pounced on the perceived weakness, now choking the figure in earnest.

The figure started to panic, mouth opening and closing, but Lincoln couldn't hear it over the blood rushing in his ears. The blows against his body intensified, and Lincoln tightened his grip in response.

Suddenly, he felt a heavy blow to his stomach, and he released his grip to cradle his midsection. He doubled over, breathing heavily. He briefly registered the figure desperately crawling away from him, but he reached an arm out and snagged the leg of the figure.

As the pain in his stomach subsided, Lincoln raised his head and saw the familiar scenery of his room melting into the inky background. He let go of the figure in shock, and briefly registered it disappearing into the darkness.

Wake up you FUCKING IDIOT!

The voice in his head suddenly roared, and Lincoln grasped his head as the words bounced around in his skull. He realized that he was kneeling in the darkness, nothingness stretching in every direction, and a feeling of dread seemed to permeate his body, seeping into him with every passing second. It all became too much and Lincoln tilted his head back to scream. He opened his mouth…

But no sound came out.

Lincoln Loud's eyes shot open.

He was on his knees, head tilted towards the ceiling, trying to regain his bearings. Clutching his chest, he felt his racing heart beat at a million paces a minute. He scanned the walls around him, the familiar feeling of dread beginning to seep into his head.

He looked to the left, seeing gothic decor and a black bed, and something in his brain told him, no - begged him to not look to his right. Against his screaming instincts, he looked to his right.

Time seemed to slow as Lincoln laid his eyes on the shivering black heap. His head momentarily clear, he could hear her quiet sobs echoing in the room. "Lucy…" He whispered, wincing as the girl curled tighter into herself. Lincoln crawled towards her, whispering her name with tears in his eyes. Reaching her in the corner of the room, Lincoln put a hand on her shoulder.

Lucy jerked away from his touch, crawling backwards and keeping her eyes locked onto him. Her breathing was labored and panic was clearly evident on her face. Hitting the other side of the room, she brought her knees to her chest and continued to sob.

Lincoln was frozen in place with his hand out. His eyes were locked onto Lucy as she desperately crawled away from him. Her usually impermeable bangs were in disarray, revealing her blue eyes. He saw tear streaks framing her face, and bruise marks starting to form on her pale neck. His eyes were again drawn to her eyes, there was something in them that he couldn't quite place…

Pure, unadulterated fear.

Lincoln's heart broke as he realized that it was a fear of him - his favorite spooky little sister was downright terrified by him. He slowly got up, trying to not startle her, his chest tightening as she saw her begin to hold her breath as he started moving. He unsteadily walked towards the door, watching her eyes follow him every step of the way. Hand on the door, he opened his mouth. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I had a nightmare that I was fighting a figure in my room and-" He stopped trying to apologize as he realized that she wasn't listening, her hands covering her ears and her head in her knees. Lincoln took an involuntary step towards her, his brotherly instincts screaming at him to comfort her, but stopped as Lucy pressed herself further into the wall, looking terrified.

Lincoln hung his head in shame and despair. He opened his mouth to try and apologize again, but he couldn't muster up the words. Opening the door, he quietly slipped into the hallway and walked back into his room. Tearing a page out of a notebook of his, he began to write.

I'm sorry.

I failed you in every sense of the word.

Nothing I say could ever justify what I did to you today.

I have to confess something.

I think I might have some problems with my head.

Sometimes I hear this voice and I have this unexplained gap in my memory, and I get jumpy and panicked for no reason.

This does not excuse what I did, and I hate myself for my actions.

I understand if you want some distance from me, but just know that I love you.

The worst brother,

Lincoln Loud.

Lincoln stared at the paper, almost trying to burn a hole in it with his eyes. He had no idea what had possessed him to write about his issues, the last thing he wanted was to burden his favorite sister further. Lincoln expected a snarky remark in his head about the situation, but no such remark came.

He stood up and excited his room, clutching the paper in his hands. He thought about throwing the paper away and writing another apology, but he discarded that thought as he reached Lucy and Lynn's door. Putting his ear to the door, he could hear quiet cries and sobs coming from the room. Starting to lose his nerve, he quickly slipped the paper under the door, deciding against knocking on the door.

Lincoln began to feel sick to his stomach. His stomach churned, and he covered his mouth, resisting the urge to scream. He felt the unexplainable urge to run, to escape. He felt like he was being boxed in, his eyes darting left and right, sweat beginning to pool in his armpit-

Get out of the house, you're going to hurl.

Lincoln had never been so relieved to hear the voice in his head. He stumbled towards the stairs, getting ready to bolt.

What, you wanna listen to me now?

The voice was regaining its usual swagger, a far cry from the resigned and frustrated one in his dream.

Lincoln steeled his resolve, and sprinted down the stairs. He could see the shocked faces of his family, all of them in the living room, but Lincoln didn't care. He threw the front door open, pulling on his shoes and sprinted out into the warm afternoon air. He slammed the door behind him and began aimlessly running up the road.

He heard shouts behind him, and knew at least Lynn was in hot pursuit of him. He suddenly cut through a backyard, hopping a fence and crouched behind a bush. Hearing Lynn shouting his name and running past, he figured he was free for at least a little bit. Jumping the fence again, he suddenly came face to face with an angry Luan.

All the exercise he just did, as well as all of the anxiety he was balling up inside of him was hitting him all at once. As Luan opened her mouth to yell at him, Lincoln turned and threw up against the fence.

Well at least you didn't hurl onto Chuckles here, and look at the bright side, if you didn't throw up just now, I think she would have been ready to throw down. Get it?

The mocking voice in his head was back in full force, and Lincoln groaned. He was beginning to regret missing the voice, in all honesty.

"Lincoln?" Luan called out to him, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Lincoln grimaced, still feeling the effects of his vomiting episode, starting to speak again, but just as he opened his mouth, he could feel the bile rising again and turned away, throwing up for the second time against the fence. Luan's concern was compounding his guilt, and making him feel much, much worse. He would have even preferred her being mad at him, he deserved it, in a way.

Seeing that Luan's guard was down, her concern overriding her anger, Lincoln decided to make a break for it, attempting to push past her and escape back onto the street. For a brief moment he could see the light, he had almost escaped, when a foot connected with his ankle and he tripped, breaking his fall with his arms. Flipping from his stomach onto his bottom, he saw an angry Luan advancing towards him.

You better brace yourself, Chuckles looks like she ain't done yet. Get it? Because she has brac-

The mocking voice was cut off as Lincoln felt a fist connecting to his face. He felt his head hit the ground and his world began to fade to black as an angry Luan towered over him, looking slightly apologetic.

Well, shit.

A/N:

I know I said that there would be more Luan this chapter, and that was the plan, but the only thing I hate more than myself are the characters that I write, and I had to write in some more conflict.

Never fear, Luan will be back with more puns in the next chapter of this story, but the next entry with Lucy will be mostly Luan-free. I haven't really decided on what characters will be present, but oh well.

I was originally going to have Lincoln write a poem on the paper, but I gave up because it was too hard :(

Additionally, this is where the stories will get more disconnected from each other, with Lucy and Lincoln separating for the foreseeable future.

Lastly, I was wondering if people would want a combined story, with me putting all the chapters together in one big story, rather than two separate fics. This would be after the stories are both completed, but it's something that I have been thinking about for a bit.

Reviews Welcome