"F-from Lincoln? But why would he want to talk to you? W-why would he want to come back in the first place?"

"W-well, I've been talking with him for a while now, just to know how he's been and…" Lana was explaining, but stopped on her tracks after seeing the angry faces of her sisters. Lana knew they'd eventually realize she's been talking to him, but she never thought it'd be this way; maybe Lola would snitch on her, since she was the one that caught her. And even though she got her phone back, Lola was still mad at her.

She, however, knew this was a topic that even she wanted to avoid, even when she loved gossip.

"Alright, alright, you kept in touch with him, so what? That's not bad," Leni was the first one in recovering from the initial shock, and tried to throw a lifesaver to her sister. "What else does he say?"

"N-nothing, he just wants to see me."

"Let me see that" Lori snapped and snatched the phone, once in her hands she read the message. "It literally just says that, 'I want to see you'"

"Oh no oh no oh no"

"Now what, Lana?" Lola asked.

"What if he comes back with…"

She couldn't even complete that sentence. She turned to see Luna, who grew pale of all sudden as if twenty years had fallen on her back again like an avalanche.

"Yeah, whatever," Lana said, realizing she made a mistake. "I'm not sure I want to see him after all" She tried to sound as convincing as possible. "He says he wants to see me out of the blue and without giving me reasons…"

"But you're curious…" Luan spoke with a voice that came almost like a whisper.

"Yes…" Lana did the same. Yes, she was still hurt, but she just couldn't be in peace without knowing he was ok.

"Of course you do." Lisa said. "You miss him. Besides, it didn't affect you as bad as it affected us; you still talk to him after all."

"Eh?" Lana asked. She wasn't sure, but the way Lisa spoke sounded like she was recriminating her actions.

"Ok, ok, calm down girls." Lucy intervened.

"What I really want to know is…why would he want to come back?" Lynn asked.

"Maybe it's because…I don't know…that day is getting close…" Lily said. Everyone grew silent. At this point it was useless to try and suppress the memories, they'd always come back.

"And, about meeting him, I think I should go and see what he wants so…you know, his trip is not in vain." Lana said. She knew she was lying, she wanted to see him, and she would go even if they all were against it. "But you know, I don't like the idea of going alone; I don't think I can face this on my own… could somebody…go with me?"

For the third time, she grew silent. Her sisters just looked at her, afraid of the sole idea of seeing their brother again. Deep inside they wanted, but the pain was so strong and has been building up over the years that it buried the love they feel for him in the deepest part of their minds. Why now? Why come back when their lives are getting back to normal? They were starting to get the will to move on and he wanted to return…

"I won't." Lola said, her voice forced like she didn't want to say that.

"Neither will I." Lisa spoke.

"I c-can't…" Lori said, looking away.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Lynn commented.

"It's not that we want to leave you alone," Lucy said, not sure what to say; like everyone else, she wanted to see him, but the fear was stronger. "But this…this is just too much."

Everyone avoided looking her in the eye; they knew this was hurting her, but none of them had the guts to be strong. Lana was about to give up, until two of his sisters took a step.

"Well, I will go," Leni said. Lana's face lit with surprise and happiness. "I won't leave you alone."

"I want to go, too!" This time was Lily, the last sister Lana thought would support her. "We haven't heard of him in a while and… I'd like to see him."

"Fine, do whatever you want," Lola snarled. "But don't count on any of us; we won't see that traitor again!"

Though the term she used wasn't out of place, the other sisters didn't want to refer to him as such.

Lana looked at Luan, and the comedian just nodded; she has a joke for every situation and can crack one out of nowhere, but right now she just couldn't find the words to say that she wanted to go. Luna, on the other hand, was lost in her turbulent sea of thoughts; she was almost as pale as Lucy, and hadn't said anything since they finished eating dinner.

"Luna?" Luan got near her.

"Ho-what?" she snapped out of her thoughts, looking at her surroundings and remembering the situation. "Oh, sorry sis, but I just remembered I have to go to…you know."

Without even letting her sisters say anything she left the house, not looking back at any moment. They all understood, but still were worried and felt bad for her. Nobody followed her; they respected her decision and hoped that she would come back with her thoughts in order.

But even knowing she needed her space, Luan felt a strong need to follow her, so strong her feet moved by themselves. Someone stopped her in time, putting a hand on her shoulder; Luan turned and saw Lori shaking her head.

"I know you two are very close but…let her go, at least for now." She said in the softest way she could, with a serenity not common in her.

"B-but it's dark out there and…"

"I know, but we can't do anything right now. Let her assimilate this," She responded. "Besides, she can't go far; you know how she is, she'll be back by midnight."

Luan didn't protest, but she desperately wanted to go after her, it was noticeable in her face. Lori saw it, and squeezed her shoulder tight. "Let's go and see a movie; I promise you she'll be back before it ends."

Luan gave a weak smile and followed her to the living room. She tried to enjoy the movie, but every couple of minutes her sight would go to the door in hopes that her sister would walk through it at any moment.

In the end, Lori was right; it was a little past before eleven when Luna arrived.

Luan quickly got up from the sofa and called her name. "Luna…"

But she didn't seem to hear her. She passed them and kept walking towards her room.

"I don't know if she's going to listen, Luan, but you can try and cheer her up." Lori commented, and hugged her sister tight. "But just in case it doesn't work…please go to sleep early, ok?"

Luan nodded, and after breaking the hug she followed her sister upstairs. In her room, all she could see was the silhouette of her sister laying in her bed; all lights were off, and the only noise came from her steady breaths.

"Luny?" Luan asked, but no answer came. She insisted a few more times, but after getting the same results, she gave up.

Who could have known that something as simple as a message could change the course of an entire day? The Loud sisters had yet so much to discover. The story about how everything ended up so bad came to them in the form of a dream… or a nightmare.

It all came back to them. No matter how hard you try, bad memories will always be there, stalking you like a tiger hunting its prey, waiting for the moment to attack. What they so much tried to avoid found its way to get inside their heads, and tormented them in the darkness.