Chapter 5

Lynn Sr. and Rita had originally moved to Royal Woods as a safety measure. Yet, in the years since they first arrived, the city's reputation had slowly degraded. Now, it was no longer exactly the safest place to live.

Far from it, in fact.

The day Mayor Davis lost the mayoral election to her competitor, Chadwick McCann, was the day everything went down the pipes. The first thing the new mayor did was fire half of the city's police force. Next, he set up a new business: a marijuana and mushroom dispensary.

Nowadays, you couldn't walk a single city block without coming across at least three separate people laying on the sidewalk, stoned out of their minds. Even worse, armed robberies were becoming more frequent so that the addicts had a way to pay for more drugs. The police couldn't do anything because they were just spread too thin. Anyone who became a shareholder in the dispensaries that were cropping up like a bad case of acne became rich beyond their wildest dreams, creating the entitled children Lincoln was always trying to put back in their place. One of which, coincidentally, was Chandler McCann, the new mayor's son and Lincoln's biggest rival and target.

Today, Lincoln, Clyde, and Ronnie Anne were eating lunch together at their usual table in the cafeteria when they were approached by the very same girl Clyde had been admiring earlier, Penelope. They had never officially met her yet, as Penelope was a relatively new student who'd been spending the previous three weeks getting acquainted with the rest of their peers.

"Hello! Mind if I join you?" she asked cheerfully. Too surprised to verbally reply, as no one had ever willingly sat at their table before, the three friends simply nodded their consent. Penelope sat down next to a blushing Clyde and pulled out a notebook and pen. "Can I ask you all some questions about yourselves? I'm trying to get some practice in so that I can hopefully become a journalist someday. Everyone else kept telling me to stay away from you three, so I thought I'd save the most interesting stories for last."

"Well, if it's interesting you want, you came to the right place. But for the record, it's him you need to stay away from," said Ronnie Anne, pointing an accusatory finger at Lincoln. "Clyde and I would have been just fine on our own, but nooooooo, he had to drag us down with him!"

"My word, Ronnie Anne! I didn't think you had the heart for that kind of flattery!" Lincoln feigned shock with a hand over his heart, to which Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes.

"My point is, as irritating as Lincoln can be, he stood up for both of us when no one else was willing to. I trust him more than anyone," she finished.

Penelope went on to ask each member of the (very) small friend group questions about their lives and hobbies, scribbling their answers down in her notebook. She started with Ronnie Anne before moving on to Clyde. By the time she got to Lincoln, they had relocated to the playground for recess.

"To answer your first question, my particular situation at home is rather unique," Lincoln began. "To start with, I happen to be the middle child amongst eleven children. All of my siblings are female, with five being older than me and the other five being younger. They all have unique talents, hobbies, and personalities that often clash with one another." Penelope whistled.

"Geez! How do you stay sane in a family like that?" she asked. Lincoln's smile only widened.

"My dear, let me ask you one simple question: What in the world gives you the mistaken impression that I'm sane?" Something in Lincoln's tone, combined with his eerie ear-to-ear grin and the glint in his eyes, sent a chill down Penelope's spine, making her involuntarily shiver. The strange feeling abruptly vanished when Ronnie Anne smacked Lincoln across the face with the heel of her shoe.

"¡Oye, estúpido! What did I tell you about scaring the new students?!" the Hispanic girl scolded. Lincoln only chuckled as he rubbed the sore spot on his temple.

"My apologies; I let my habits get the best of me. Questionable state of mind aside, where were we?" he asked. Penelope cleared her throat and held her pen at the ready before asking her next question.

"Out of everyone in this building I've noticed that you're always smiling. Literally; you never stop. Why is that?"

"Ah, excellent question! You see, my dear, in this day and age a smile is one of the most valuable tools you can have. In my case, my family isn't nearly as well-off as some of the others around town, so I smile to reassure my relatives in times of hardship. Furthermore, I'm guessing you've heard at least a decent number of the rumors circulating around me?" Penelope looked up from jotting down notes and nodded. "There you have it: another reason for my smile. No matter what kind of predicament I find myself in, my smile states to everyone around me that I am the one in control."

"The way he smiles also indicates how angry he is," Clyde added. "The more strained his smile is, the more likely it is that someone's getting a nasty surprise in their desk or locker. If he ever stops smiling, someone's gonna get buried alive in an unmarked grave."

"Once again, Clyde, you overestimate my cruelty," Lincoln chastised with a sigh. "I'd at least have the decency to mark the grave!"

"You're not putting any of those rumors to rest. You know that, right?" Penelope asked while inching away from Lincoln.

"Oh, he knows it, alright," Ronnie Anne confirmed. "Don't worry, though; you're safe for the most part. Oddly enough, Lincoln's a lot nicer to girls than he is to guys." The air was then pierced by three different screams, causing the four kids to turn their heads toward the source.

Chandler and his goons had Lana and Lola, as well as one of their friends, a small Hispanic girl in an oversized gray dress, pinned to the ground. With their feet on the girls' backs holding them down, the bullies searched their squirming bodies for any semi-valuable trinkets they may have been carrying. Ronnie Anne, Clyde, and Penelope looked back to Lincoln, whose facial expression was somewhere between a smile and a snarl.

"I deeply apologize for cutting this interview short, Penelope. But alas, who am I to neglect my duties as the elder sibling?" Lincoln then strode over to the unassuming Chandler, who only became aware of Lincoln's presence when he felt the dhampir's long, bony fingers wrap around his neck and heard the hiss of his voice in his ear. "Now, Chandler, I've warned you numerous times what would happen if I caught you picking on my sisters again. Kindly release them right this second, or I shall be forced to intervene. And trust me..." he paused for a dry chuckle. "...you don't want me to intervene."

Chandler gulped and started sweating; he was all too aware of what Lincoln was capable of. He knew the white-haired boy would have no problem throttling him then and there. But no; that would be too fast, too easy. Lincoln wouldn't outright kill him; Lincoln would torture him and let the scars serve as a reminder and a warning.

"Y-you heard him, boys. L-l-let his sisters go!" Chandler ordered. Immediately, his henchmen moved away from Lana and Lola, and the twins clung to each other like a pair of magnets, bodies quivering with unshed tears. However, the Hispanic girl only wailed louder as the bullies got even more handsy with her, rooting around in unmentionable places with unsavory expressions.

"The other one, too," Lincoln snarled, his fingers tightening around Chandler's throat. With a strangled gurgle, Chandler frantically signaled to his henchmen, who jumped away from the other girl like she'd shocked them. Chandler sighed in relief when he felt Lincoln's grip loosen, only for Lincoln to appear right in front of him. "Now for the fun part!" Lincoln declared with a mad glint in his eyes.

Before Chandler could react, Lincoln sent him flying with a palm strike to the chest, knocking the breath from his lungs and leaving a fierce ache in his sternum when he landed. Lincoln turned to the other bullies, who scattered like the cowards they were. Lana and Lola were attempting to comfort their friend, who was curled into a ball and sobbing hysterically.

"Is everyone alright?" Lincoln asked, kneeling next to the trio. Lana looked at him in worry, a pleading look in her eyes.

"We are, but I don't think Meli is. She's never dealt with Chandler before," she replied.

"I see," Lincoln nodded, knowing what he had to do. Moving in front of the girl, who he now knew was named Meli, he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Meli, look at me. Look into my eyes," he softly commanded. When Meli looked up, she was captivated, entranced even, by a pair of brilliant blue eyes swirling with flecks of gold. "You are safe now. I give you my word that those ruffians will never set foot near you again, not while they associate you with me and my family. You can relax now."

As soon as Lincoln finished speaking, Meli felt a sense of calm wash over her. Not enough to make her fear and trauma disappear, but just enough to get her to stop crying. In reality, Lincoln was using his powers on her. His "hypnotic" gaze wasn't really hypnosis; instead, it dulled the senses of his victims by suppressing certain neurotransmitters, forcing them into a state of suggestibility, which was useful for situations like this.

"Th-thank you," Meli peeped in a hoarse whisper, wiping her eyes and nose with the too-long sleeve of her dress. Lincoln smiled at her, and this smile was a comforting one.

"You're very welcome, my dear. Now then..." Meli squeaked as she suddenly found herself being carried bridal-style in Lincoln's arms. "...I think a trip to the school nurse is in order. Wouldn't you agree?" Meli nodded, and Lincoln started walking.

Once at the nurse's office, Lincoln knocked on the closed door. It was soon answered by Lincoln's classmate Cristina; a girl significantly shorter than him with curly rust-colored hair held in place by a yellow headband, wearing a blue denim dress over a white short-sleeved blouse, white stockings, and black slip-on shoes. Nurse Patti happened to be her adoptive single mother, and the two often ate lunch together.

"Hi, Lincoln. What happened this time?" Cristina asked with an unamused expression.

"Ah, salutations, Cristina! I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your lunch, but this unfortunate young belle had a rather traumatic encounter with Chandler's pack of mongrels," Lincoln explained. "In my opinion, a call to her parents and a note excusing her absence are what she needs most."

"And in my opinion, you're probably right," Nurse Patti chimed in, appearing behind her daughter. "You can go back to recess, Lincoln, I can handle it from here." Lincoln bowed and took his leave after giving Meli a final pat to the head.

The moment the door closed behind him, Cristina gave a loud groan and ground her palms against her eyes, flopping into the nearest chair.

"Why does he have to be so freaking hot?!" she complained, her whole face turning almost the same color as her hair. Nurse Patti clicked her tongue as she gave Meli a once over.

"I've told you over and over; the only cure to this affliction of yours is talking to him!" she admonished, picking up the phone to call Meli's parents.

"How am I supposed to do that?! You know what he's like! There's no way to tell whether he likes me back or not!" Cristina cried out.

"And that's exactly why you need to talk to him. Now shush, I'm on the phone..."