Lincoln, Lynn, and Lucy stood there like deer in the headlights, frozen on the spot and bracing themselves for the worst. All three figured that their siblings had either seen what happened, or they grossly misread the situation. Given their luck, the latter was more likely.
Kathleen was likewise nonplussed. Her mind raced, hoping that Lynn and Lincoln's imbecilic siblings had grossly misread the situation. Lyle nervously stepped behind her while searching his pocket and putting on some spare shades. He knew that at least two of the Loud sisters in the jeep might recognize him.
"Heya, guys!" Leni waved at the group from the open-roofed back of a safari-type jeep, accompanied by Luan and the twins.
"That's them?" the ranger in the driver's seat droned as he leaned out of the window and flashed his light at Lincoln, Lynn, and Lucy, who shielded their eyes.
"Oh, totes. All three of them, and Kathy too!" Leni affirmed cluelessly, while the others all widened their eyes as they noticed how roughed up their siblings were. Lola narrowed her eyes and shifted her gaze towards Kathleen.
The ranger yawned. "Good, and here I was worried that we would have to conduct a search, past my shift no less." He shuddered at the thought.
As both parties processed what was going on, Kathleen grew a big smile while Lyle backed away and slinked off into the night, worried that his "partner" would pin any potential blame on him.
"You...you saw nothing, did ya?" Lynn deflated in bitter defeat.
"Course we didn't!" Lola uttered in her shrill voice. "It's like nighttime, and you all just disappeared without a trace hours ago! What were you even doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"
Lincoln groaned and rubbed his temples. Why was he being so optimistic? If their family had misread the situation, it might have led to an actual change, which was preferable to going back to square one.
The twins looked just as battered and disheveled as his team and Kathleen, for obvious reasons. And that stunt also wound up being in vain.
"I'm so sorry, guys." Kathleen suddenly slung her arm around Lynn, grabbing her in an asphyxiating, one-armed hug.
"Lynn and I got caught up in a...friendly if intense game of capture the flag."
Glaring daggers at the rich girl, Luan stood up, grabbed her throat and started bending back and making choking faces. Needless to say, nobody on the jeep got the memo.
"What's that idiot doing?" Lola complained.
"Uh-uh! I know this one?" Leni put her finger to her lip, trying to think. "You're a fish out of water, right? Am I warm?"
"Nobody wants to see your stupid mime act, Luan!" Lana said crassly and waved her hand. "Sheesh."
Watching their older sister, Lucy and Lincoln grew nervous as Lynn fumed and sent a murderous glare in Kathleen's direction.
Her enemy was unfazed, offering her a subtle smirk in return, essentially saying "Try me".
"Funny?" Lana chuckled. "Me and Lola had a not-so-friendly game too. And I totally whooped her butt at ball pit wrestling!'
"No, you…" Against all odds, Lola resisted the argue to argue, unable to ignore Kathleen's battered appearance any longer. She only sparred her twin a nasty side glare.
"Kathleen?" she asked worriedly. "What happened to you? Did that ruffian Lynn brutalize ya?"
"Oh, no. It was all part of the game." Kathleen responded casually, going into acting mode. "The obstacle course simply turned out to be more difficult than either of us had anticipated. Well….I had my misgivings but you know how your sister tends to be. And I'm not one to take a challenge lying down, guess it's a shared quirk of ours." she chuckled while eyeing Lynn again.
"Wouldn't you agree, Lynn?"
Lynn suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder. Lincoln and Lucy jolted, as did Lola, while Luan watched with an eager expression.
But Lynn just grunted and shoved Kathleen away from her, before exhaling through gritted teeth. Whether it was experience, fatigued or both, she resisted exploding this time.
"You haven't bested me yet." She hissed to Kathleen, who grimaced with disappointment before smirking slightly.
"I assume that makes me the victor, hmmmm…?" she probed but Lynn did not bite.
"Whatever…" she looked away.
Sighing in relief, Lincoln turned back to his other sisters, and did a quick head count. His eyes widened in horror, and his blood ran cold. Two were unaccounted for, and the absence of one was far more worrying.
"Guys...have you see-where the heck is Lisa?"
"She left the carnival with Darcy and her parents. Said something 'bout doggies and hide and seek…" Lana shrugged, much to Lincoln's immediate relief.
"Thank heavens…" he found himself leaning onto his knees.
"Did she say anything else?" Lynn inquired with a grim look. The others exchanged glances.
"What do you mean?" Lola scowled, not understanding the source of their curiosity. "She was just acting like a cloying weirdo again and being all besties with Whats-Her-Face."
"Short attention span…" Lincoln realized. This time though, it was probably for the better, as the new Lisa was il-equipped to articulate what had happened to her.
"Forget it…scuse me, sir." an oddly calm Lynn approached the ranger and held out her hand. "Could you lend us a few flashlights?"
The ranger grumbled. "How about I give them to you after I drive you-"
"GIVE US THE DAMN FLASHLIGHTS!" Lynn snapped, making the ranger cower and quickly hand over three flashlights.
"Thank you." Lynn turned calm again as she gave her two siblings a flashlight each, and started searching the ground. "Find the stupid camera."
Kathleen grew nervous again and moved out of the way as Lana and Luan jumped out of the jeep, the latter casting her a hateful glare, and joined the search.
"Camera? I wasn't aware that you were...filming our little competition for your home movie." The rich girl fiddled with her fingers.
"So ya didn't ask for her permission?" Lola put her hands on her hips. "How inconsiderate can you be!"
"Where is it?" Lynn lamented as she searched the forest floor. The stupid thing couldn't have fallen far?
All she could see was a clustered mess of grass, sages, moss, twigs, and rocks. Her siblings had no better luck, much to their mounting frustration, other than Lana, who quickly got distracted by other "treasures" hiding in the nooks and crannies of the forest floor.
"Are we having a scavenger hunt? What are we looking for?" Leni grew excited as she watched her younger siblings crawling across the ground. The ranger groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Sorry, Leni." Lincoln cut her off. "You gotta be thirteen or younger to participate, dem's the rules."
"Awww…shoot." Leni snapped her fingers in disappointment. She had no idea there was an age limit for scavenger hunts?
"Ewww...count me out." Lola shook her head. "I ain't searching the dirty forest floor."
"Fine by all of us." Lucy retorted, making the princess humph indignantly.
Sweating a bit, Kathleen tried to keep her composure and patted Lola on the back.
"I agree. I think it's about time we hit the hay, we all had a very exciting day. And it's hardly safe to…poke around in the woods at night."
"Nobody is forcing ya to stick around!" Lynn spat as she searched the ground, throwing away rocks and sticks.
Pondering a bit, Kathleen grew a smirk. "True, I wouldn't wish to spoil your game, but you guys do know that it will be a long trek back to my place? Your vacation home? Not something that I would advise doing on foot."
"We'll manage." Lynn grunted. She would rather spend all night trudging through the woods than suffer another second in Kathleen's presence.
"You want to walk all the way back to my home in the dark?" Kathleen said coyly and turned to the ranger as he leaned on the palm of his hand, his eyes half-lid as he was on the verge of dozing off.
"You wouldn't recommend that, would you, sir?"
"Whh-what now?" he stirred back awake.
"I said, you wouldn't recommend traversing the woods at night, would you?" Kathleen repeated, making sure she had all the siblings' attention. "The forest can be quite dangerous at nighttime?"
Still drowsy, the man stared blankly before shrugging. "Well...yes. There's all sorts of predators roaming these woods; bears, wolves, lynx, wolverines, coyotes..."
Hearing that, Lincoln paused his search, his back turned to the others as he found himself staring off into the darkness, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.
He didn't want to think about Ryan and his potential fate, but he knew One Eye...Soto…whatever his name was, that vengeful wolf could and would almost certainly return, sooner or later.
And the group accompanying him suddenly had a lot more targets, far easier ones. Targets that were blissfully unaware of the danger lurking in their immediate vicinity. Forced to weigh out his options, he sighed and reluctantly turned around.
"She's right, guys. Let's call it a day and head back home."
"Say what now?" a dumbfounded Lynn turned around and threw a branch away.
"You can't be serious?" Lucy asked. Luan, standing next to her, gawked at her brother in stupefied silence.
"Kathleen's right." he said in defeat, to their enemy's surprise. "We can't stay here at this hour, poking around and not knowing what we might find."
"Look at what I found!" Lana's voice cut in.
"The camera?" Lynn grinned and spun around, but her face dropped at what she saw instead.
"Ain't he pretty?" Lana said while holding the squirming, slithering reptile in her hands.
"You stupid kid, that's a rattlesnake!" the ranger recoiled into his jeep. "Keep it away from me."
"Nuh-uh! It's a legless lizard. They don't even have a rattle." Lana scoffed as she scratched the lizard's chin. "Isn't he cute? Can I keep him?"
"Lincoln." The exasperated Lynn turned back and scowled at her brother. "We are not leaving until we find the damn camera."
"Lynn, we can't find it now. We might never find it." Lincoln put his hand on her shoulder, locking eyes and trying to keep his voice down.
"Sure we can find it, you idiot! Have you gone completely-"
"It's lost somewhere in the thicket. For all we know, some animal dragged it away, like afoxor something. Do you get it?"
Lynn stared at him, knitting her brow.
"You know, afoxmight have dragged it away." Lincoln repeated in a hushed whisper, but Lynn still didn't get the memo.
The others looked at each other in confusion.
An annoyed Lucy leaned towards and whispered to Lynn, "He's talking about Fenton."
"Oh...right..." Lynn said in a small voice. Of course, they could send Fenton to retrieve it, and Kathleen would be none the wiser. Not like anyone would come and steal the camera in the middle of the woods at this hour, nor would any woodland critter care about it.
"What are you talking about?" Lola demanded to know. "Why are you all whispery-"
"Nothing, the stupid camera is lost forever." Lynn turned to her. "Let's just go home."
Luan watched them with a stupefied, slack-jawed expression. Unable to vocally object, she felt Lucy grab her hand.
"Just play along. We have a secret ally that will take care of it." The goth whispered to her.
Kathleen raised an eyebrow before narrowing her eyes. That was too easy.
She knew the freaks had something up their sleeve, but at least it wasn't the camera. For now.
Crying in pain, Ryan rolled backward as he was sent tumbling across the forest floor. Digging into his pocket for his switchblade, he jumped to his feet, only to receive a blow to his face, and then get slashed across his side.
Chuckling malevolently, Soto swung his paw again and slammed the boy into a tree, and the latter unceremoniously slumped to the ground.
With blood dripping from his mouth, Ryan hissed as he was grabbed by the shoulder and flipped onto his back.
He cried in pain again as Soto stomped on his injured arm, making him drop his switchblade and pinning him to the ground. Instinctively, Ryan grabbed the wolf's limb, but needless to say, he lacked the strength to make his opponent even budge.
Overwhelmed, Ryan plopped down onto his back, breathing raggedly. Somehow, he had a nagging suspicion that wouldn't win any pelts tonight.
"You humans always opt for the hard way, but I'm not complaining." Soto smiled as he loomed over him. "As I told you before, challenging prey makes the hunt all the more rewarding."
His mirth waned as saw Ryan grin all of a sudden and let out a weak chuckle.
"Why are you grinning?" the baffled wolf glowered.
"Rewarding challenge, huh?" Ryan chuckled. "Y'know...differences in species aside, you're still a grown-ass adult beating up a 12-year-old kid. How sorry can you get?"
Growling, Soto pressed Ryan's arm again, making him hiss and squirm.
"Hmmm…perhaps I am overindulging." Soto grinned. "But this is a new experience, to be able to relish humbling a human to such an extent. Mere death wails become stale after a while."
"What? You want me to beg for mercy or somethin'?" Ryan sneered.
"I'm sure you will once I relieve you of a limb or two." Soto countered.
"Uhhh…how scary." Ryan cooed mockingly. "Hate to break it to ya, fuzzy…but pain...she's like my oldest frien-ugghk!"
Soto's paw seized him around the throat and lifted him to his knees.
"You think you can maintain your impertinence to the bitter end?" the wolf growled coldly.
"That...might be my plan." Ryan croaked while gripping the wolf's paw.
"A very futile one." Soto narrowed his eye.
"Heh. Ya...think...ya can...break me?" Ryan managed to grin, making it all the harder for Soto to maintain his composure.
"That's cute."
The second he said that, Ryan found himself flying towards a tree and his face slammed into it. Dazed, he dropped to the ground, lying on his side and barely conscious until he was smacked in the face and sent tumbling around.
So far so good. The idiot was drawing things out and excruciating pain alone couldn't keep Ryan Taylor from stalling indefinitely. Just until something happened, something to turn the tables. Something, anything.
Soto growled furiously as he heard the boy giggling like this was some kind of game. Ryan didn't stop, he sat up and crawled backward as the wolf marched towards him until his back hit a tree.
Ryan figured a while ago that pain had an odd effect on him. Mixed with adrenaline, it was like coffee. It just made it harder for him to stop giggling. Watching his enemy's look of flustered furry made it all the better, even as he squeezed Ryan's throat again.
"This is too much." Ryan kept talking as he was throttled again. "You...you gonna keep… slappin' me around...till I say "uncle"?"
His vision blurred as Soto's grip tightened. "Heh...can't do that...if you…suffocate me…think, wolfie…"
Soto growled as he maintained his grip. He knew he could have and should have killed the malformed nuisance right there. There was nothing to stop him. He was the one in control. Except he wasn't. Seeing the demented little brat laugh in the face of his own impending demise, it infuriated him to no end. It would rob him of his victory if the little monster died grinning.
Both were startled by a series of bangs, and Ryan saw a few bright lights being shot up into the sky, right above them. Snarling, Soto looked up as both of them got bathed in the bright red light.
He loosened his grip, which allowed Ryan to breathe again and he realized what he was seeing. This was the break he had been waiting for. He knew what came next. Hurray for dumb luck!
BANG!
"Fire?!" Soto panicked as the fireworks exploded right above them and he instinctively leaped into the bushes. Shielding his eyes, Ryan instantly scrambled to his feet and ran in the opposite direction.
Cowering below some tightly packed trees, Soto saw more fireworks going off all across the night sky but they fizzled out just as fast, and nothing was set ablaze. Turning his gaze back at the woods, the furious wolf saw that his prey was getting away, again!
"Rawwrr…it's no "sky fire"!" he pushed his way past the trunks. "It's another bloody human trick!"
Pushing his way through the forest, Ryan knew he only had a few moments to spare, the dumb mutt wouldn't be fooled for long. His first instinct was to clamber up the nearest tee.
He did so, but stopped halfway as he heard bleating and saw a herd of small ungulates bolt through the forest, right below him. Stampeding pronghorns, also spooked by the fireworks.
Ryan grinned wildly before hearing growling, and turned his head around to see Soto running towards him.
"Time to ride bareback!" Ryan wasted no time pushing himself off the tree and he landed on the back of a pronghorn.
It bleated in fright and Ryan gripped its horns as it bucked for a few seconds, before Ryan twisted its head to their right and it saw Soto zeroing in on them.
Forgetting about Ryan, the pronghorn bleated and made a run for it as the wolf snapped his jaws, barely missing its hindquarters.
"Yeehaw!" Ryan held on tight as he heard Soto barking furiously, and saw him keeping pace with them. But the pronghorn kept accelerating and Soto started panting and falling behind until he was eventually forced to stop.
Laughing, Ryan blew a raspberry and held on to his steed. "Tough luck, Dog Breath! See ya!"
Dumbfounded, Soto's face twisted with pure, unadulterated rage as he barred his teeth and raked the ground, when he suddenly heard wing beats.
"Soto! There ya are!" a raspy voice slurred and a certain bird slammed right into him.
Growling, Soto didn't budge while Raza fell on his back, giggling and hiccupping. The buzzard reeked of alcohol, making Soto's nose wrinkle.
"Soto...old buddy...ol' pal...do I 'ave news for ya..." Raza smiled stupidly as he staggered to his feet and lurched towards his boss, who remained silent.
"Ya won't believe it..." the vulture slurred as he leaned against the wolf, blissfully unaware of what he was doing.
"...but dem runts...hehe...they're at the carnival!" Raza prattled on as Soto's nostril flared and the fur on his neck bristled.
"You don't say?" he responded with thinly-veiled rage.
"I sure do! Who'd 'ave funked it? Bet ya had no clue 'bout it?"
A second later, Raza felt a tight, suffocating grip around his throat and was sent flying high into the sky, but not of his own volition, until he plunged head-first into the lake.
Remaining where he was, Soto grunted and grit his teeth as he mused and reassessed his situation. He was getting nowhere with this. As much as it sickened him to admit it, he needed a new strategy.
He had blown the element of surprise back at the Taylor residence, and prey that was alert to your presence and worse still, knew that you wouldn't give up easily, was not caught easily, no matter how puny and weak they were.
After so many years, he was forced to do the unthinkable…seek out help. Hunt in a pack again. Not with other wolves but perhaps another predator? One that could make up for Soto's very few shortcomings.
One that could climb like the runts, one that could squeeze himself into tight spaces like the runts, one that was fierce and powerful, not afraid of humans, but preferably too weak-minded to not easily give into the will of his alpha?
A gleeful smile formed on Soto's face. Of course, the choice was obvious!
The journey back home was over in the blink of an eye, or at least it seemed so to Lynn, Lincoln, and Lucy. Even Leni's usual incessant chattering was barely registered by them as they all sat in the roofless back of the jeep, while Kathleen was riding shotgun, silently fuming and plotting her horrible retribution. She was dropped off at the motel she was staying first.
They hadn't technically lost this battle, but after everything that happened today, it sure felt like it was all in vain. A stalemate at best. Lincoln used his communicator to contact Fenton, writing to him to go retrieve the camera, and he gave him the necessary coordinates. But to his confusion, he received no reply. That couldn't be good.
Lynn had nothing to distract her, so all she could do was think about Ryan. Despite the humidity, she hugged herself for warmth the entire trip, unable to block out the horrible fate that might have befallen Ryan from her thoughts. She felt numb, the entire world around her went mute, it ceased to matter as she retreated into her own mind, which was plagued by horrific visions. It took all her will power not to break down sobbing like a pathetic wreck. She couldn't let Lincoln, Lucy and Lana see her like this.
Lucy being silent and morose was nothing unusual, except that this time, the reason behind her melancholy was far more severe. As she let Fang rest in her arms, she felt Luan sitting by her side and putting her arm over her little sister. Luan was all too familiar with feeling of being curb-stomped and having Kathleen get away with everything. Her experience on the yacht was the most recent example. At least she could take solace in the fact that Kathleen clearly took a severe beating from Lynn, something Luan could only do in her vengeful fantasies.
Watching the mime, Lynn almost envied her at that moment. Despite all the misery Luan had endured, she was blessed with not knowing what had transpired in the woods, especially in regards to Ryan. She couldn't even remember whether they had ever told her about One Eye, her mind was hazy. Lana did know about the wolf, to an extent at least. Though the latter likewise didn't know about what happened in the woods, as evident from the fact that she spent the trip awkwardly watching the others, sensing that something was wrong but being left in the dark.
"How's your voice?" Lucy spoke up in her hoarse tone. Fang shifted and chirped weakly.
Rubbing her throat, Luan frowned and made a raspy, unintelligible noise when the vehicle came to an abrupt stop, snapping the foursome out of their funk as they were hurled into a pileup with Lana and Leni.
The siblings groaned and grumbled as each tried to free themselves out of the entanglement.
Getting up first and shaking his head, Lincoln saw an ambulance that had been parked in front of the house leaving, much to his frustration, as he didn't know whether any of his family were on it or not.
"Rides over, get out." the ranger said curtly as he leaned out of the window and pointed at the house, clearly eager to leave and call it a day.
Lincoln was happy to oblige and jumped out first, needing to see if his parents were alright. The other siblings followed suite as the ranger grumbled and hit the gas. Nobody noticed a figure watching them from the woods and sneaking closer to the mansion.
"Thanks for the ride!" Leni waved goodbye. "The view was lovely!"
As the others walked up to the porch, Lynn stayed behind and gazed into the darkness, until she was the only one left. Lincoln and Lucy saw her standing there but decided to give her some space. Not like they could say anything to comfort her.
Several minutes passed as Lynn remained in front of the building, caught up in her own thoughts. Once more, she felt her body shake and hugged herself for warmth as the summer breeze blew through her hair.
"Scuse me, miss…" she was startled by a familiar voice and spun around to see Ryan's silhouette staggering up to her behind a tree, close to a window, until he was in full view and leaned against the trunk for support, highlighted by the light coming from the kitchen.
With one eye swollen shut, he chuckled in a punch-drunk stupor "…but may ah relive ya of your mind-numbin' concern this time?"
"Ryan? You're alright?" Lynn couldn't believe her eyes.
She was dumbfounded, overjoyed, but also nervous. Ryan was standing right next to the kitchen window, where anyone could see him. She noticed a tall figure moving around in the kitchen.
"Heheh…don't tell me you guys actually thought that I was a goner?" Ryan quipped when Lynn lunged at him and pushed him away from the window and into the shadows.
Glancing back at the window while gripping Ryan by his shoulders, Lynn didn't see anyone lean towards the glass. Whoever was inside seemingly didn't seem them.
Sobering up a bit, Ryan worried for a second that he was in for another killer right hook, but instead, Lynn just gazed him with her brown eyes, looking like she barely restrained herself from crying before she embraced him.
Caught off guard and blushing, Ryan cautiously returned the hug and heard Lynn sniff as she rested her head on his shoulder.
Ryan's mouth tugged into a smile. Finally being alone with Lynn… it made all the clobbering and clawing and throttling he had been subjected to not matter anymore. However, seeing how dejected Lynn was, he felt a twinge of guilt for enjoying this too much.
"You okay?" he asked in concern. "...really, I'm fine. Hunky-dory. The cur just roughed me up a bit. No more bites or-"
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry...for what?"
"For punching you earlier, at the carnival." Lynn whimpered. "I didn't...I didn't want to. I just.." her voice cracked "...I was so worried 'bout ya, and I...jus' can't control my emotions."
Ryan didn't know what to say. "It's...it's okay-"
"It's not okay." Lynn said firmly. "I hurt you for no reason...all cuz I can't freaking control my temper."
"Hey...I'm still one piece, aren't I? I'm fine."
Lynn didn't say anything but her grip on him remained tight. After everything that happened today, she had zero intention to let him slip away from her a third time.
"Ryan...just please don't leave me again." she said in a pleading tone, to the boy's surprise.
"I...I don't wanna go anywhere either. Why would I?" He chuckled lightly as he leaned in and kissed her cheek, making Lynn blush furiously.
"…not now." She mumbled as a smile tugged on her lips.
"Can't I be happy to see ya again?" Ryan asked cheekily.
Lynn almost wanted to agree until something dawned on her and reluctantly, she felt his arm, making Ryan wince.
"Your arm, he bit you..." she remembered, noticing some dried strains of blood on it.
"It was just a nimble..." Ryan insisted, less-than-convincingly.
"You need to get that treated. Maybe Fenton will know what to do..."
"Fenton? Swell." Ryan rolled his eyes, hating medical procedures.
Lynn let him go and leaned towards the window, peeking inside and seeing the figure from earlier looking around suspiciously before grabbing a bottle from a cabinet. Lynn knew she couldn't see Ryan, not yet at least.
"Shit. You…you think you can sneak in without being noticed?" she asked Ryan.
Noticing a nearby tree trunk in his peripheral vision, Ryan smiled smugly.
"Lynn, I'm a certified ninja, this will be easy." He touched his chest. "Just tell me which room is yours?"
Lynn saw him eyeing the tall pine tree adjacent to the house, making her sigh and shake her head.
At least that was one loose thread tied.
Earlier…
As Lincoln and the others entered the foyer, the boy instantly looked around for any adults. He completely missed Charles running up to them, barking, wagging his tail and jumping around.
"Hey, Charles. Did ya miss us?" Lana kneeled and petted his head while Lincoln saw that the tv was on, and promptly rushed into the living room.
Holding Luan's hand, Lucy shifted and rubbed the back of her neck, knowing what the exhausted comedian was probably thinking.
"Look…I'd love for you to join us in our room tonight." She started. "But it's a bit crowded and Lincoln, Lynn, and I…we'll need to discuss some things."
Luan raised an eyebrow, somewhat disappointed but she was too tired to care about it. Another night in the cellar it seemed. She just sighed and nodded.
Lucy instantly felt bad, but it's not like she had anywhere else to bunk unless they made Lana spend the night in the only room with a free bed, the same one inhabited by her twin. That was just a disaster waiting to happen. And Luan wasn't keen on sharing a room with "her highness" either.
Smiling softly, Lucy patted the teen's hand. "Don't worry. I'll make you some honey lemon tea and find a sleeping bag and bring it to the cellar. Not a pretend one, a real one."
Hearing the c-word word, Lana jolted and stood up, shifting nervously.
Charles perked his ears and let out an inquisitive whimper.
"Umm…can ya like…eh…not do that?" she started awkwardly, earning the attention of the two oddballs. "I mean…not go to the cellar."
Charles scowled and let out a disapproving throat growl.
"Why not? Luan used it as a spare room last night. And grandfather won't be leaving the couch any time soon." Lucy pointed out.
"Yeah, I know…but it's jus' that…" Lana fiddled with her fingers and looked away, blushing slightly.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that the tomboy was hiding something. Lucy then recalled them tending to various wild animals the previous day, and it all made sense.
"Lana…what did you do that you don't want us to know about?" she asked.
Flustered, Lana glowered defensively. "What makes ya think I'm hiding something? I'm like…so not!"
"You let wild animals in the cellar, didn't you?" Lucy decided to cut the BS, startling Lana.
She stepped back and rubbed her arms. "…no. I did not."
Luan sighed and facepalmed. The cellar had officially become uninhabitable. Bunking with Lola seemed a lot more appealing all of a sudden. At least the spoiled princess was house trained and didn't carry rabies.
Lucy, meanwhile, started to realize that there might be more to Lana's shenanigans. Unless they liked to take long walks, most of those critters would have been well within the blast radius. If her hunch was right, this would be a hell of a lot harder to explain than just having regular vermin on Kathleen's property.
"Don't tell me they spoke to you? As in plain English?" she suddenly asked, startling the tomboy even more. Luan also looked at her oddly.
Her little sister's fearful reaction was all the confirmation Lucy needed, despite the former inevitably trying to deny it.
"What…no? That…can't happen. Animals don't talk. You nuts?" Lana rambled and raised her hands, stepping further away.
"How many?"
"Shut up…I don't have to take this bunk." She tried to leave in a huff. "You're crazy. I'm gonna go to the cellar for…reasons. Definitely not to talk with my talking animal buddies."
Luan didn't know what was going on. Staring at the goth, she saw her palm her head and shake it, as Fang clambered up onto her shoulder, chirping.
"Of course you weren't given the gift of speech." She eyed the bat, who chirped in affirmation.
Unable to raise her voice, Luan just opened her mouth and raised her index finger but her little sister forgot about her as went searching for their brother.
"Sigh…Lincoln's not going to like this."
Meanwhile…
While the sisters were talking, Lincoln entered the living room, where he found his grandfather still lying on the couch, just like how they had left him.
The lights had been turned off in the living room, so Albert was illuminated by the tv. His old ears not picking up the footsteps, Albert was startled and looked over his beefy arm as Lincoln placed his hand on it.
"Oh, it's you? The rest of ya has finally returned." Albert smiled, not quite remembering what Lincoln and his team had set out to do today. "How was the cruise?"
"The rest of us?" Lincoln didn't waste another second. "Pop-Pop, did mom and dad and Luna come back? Are they fine?"
Hearing the urgency in his grandson's voice, Albert tried to jog his antiquated memory before finally remembering what Lincoln was talking about and his tone turned serious.
"Don't worry, they're okay…mostly. Those paramedics brought them in over half an hour ago. I didn't get the gist of what their deal was cuz…" he groaned as he tried not to strain himself "…y'know…bad back and all, but they're fine."
Lincoln sighed in relief. "And where are they now?"
"I think they were all taken to their rooms. Still seemed a bit woozy from what I recall, so they're probably sleeping like babies-" Albert recounted when both of them heard a clanging noise in the kitchen, where the lights were still on.
It sounded like a utensil hitting the floor, followed by someone mumbling "Dammit…"
"Mom." Lincoln recognized her voice and saw her staggering through the lit kitchen, her blonde hair a mess and wearing a maroon bathrobe.
"Hey, did ya bust that Kathleen girl or…" Albert finally remembered, but by the time he did so, Lincoln was already well on his way to the kitchen.
The old man sighed "…aaannd… I'm all alone again."
Stepping into the kitchen, Lincoln found his mother leaning on the counter, using a bottle opener on…
"Of course…" he exhaled dejectedly and approached her, careful not to startle her like his grandfather.
"…eh, mom?" he said gingerly.
He kept his voice soft, figuring she had a splitting headache, and was proven right when she winced and turned around, sporting eyebags and a furrowed brow.
Realizing who it was, Rita's face softened and she hid the bottle of whiskey behind her back, looking like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
"Lincoln…sweetie, you're back…?" she started.
"Hey, mom! How are ya!" Rita cringed and dropped her bottle, causing it to shatter and its content spilled all over the floor.
Lincoln had a similar reaction at the sound on Leni's shrill voice, as the blonde cluelessly barged in, with no volume control as usual.
"Hey, mom! I'm like totes happy to see you! How is your attitude sickness? I hope you're feeling much better! If not, I won't rest til I nurse ya back to health. Are dad and Luna alright? I'll make ya some tea. And I promise, I won't set the stove on fire again. Don't worry about Lori and Lisa. Lori's with Bobby! How romantic! And Lisa went to have sleepover with her new bestie Darcy. What are the odds those two would be here too? The power of love is like totes incredible! So is the power of friendship! Oh, snap? I have quick question? Were we supposed to keep quiet about Kathy's Thanksgiving parade? I sometimes have trouble keeping my lips-"
"Leni." Lincoln grabbed her face and pulled it closer to his, before shuddering through gritted teeth.
"…I'll help mom. Why don't you go and nurse Luna back to health instead?" he suggested. "Let's split the duties."
Leni blinked. "But… isn't Luna like asleep right now?"
"…yes?" Lincoln tried to think. "But…you could go and…eh…open the window to let some fresh air into your room? It will help her recover faster, and then you can…watch over her, just in case she suffers night terrors. Everyone knows that's a common symptom of altitude sickness."
Leni gasped, her mouth twisting into an oval shape, and she clutched her face.
"OMG, you're right? How could I have been so thoughtless? Thanks, Linky." And like that, she ran upstairs, much to their mother's relief.
"Forgive me, Luna…" Lincoln pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Thank you, Lincoln…" Rita groaned as she pulled a chair to the counter and plopped into it.
"Sweet mercy…that girl's voice…" she muttered while messaging her temples.
"It's nothing." Lincoln tried to avoid looking at her, less she noticed the bruises on his face, even with her likely impaired vision. Grabbing a broom and dustpan, he wasted no time cleaning the broken glass.
Lucy entered the kitchen, but upon seeing their mother present, decided to postpone the bad news and instead help Lincoln. She went to grab a dust mop, while Fang got distracted by a passing mosquito, licked his chops, and flew after it.
"Ehh…am glad you're better, mom." Lincoln awkwardly started, noticing Lucy joining them and cleaning the spilled liquor, the smell of which made Lincoln's stomach churn.
"You are feeling better…right?" he tried to make sure.
"Ughhh…I've been worse, but I still have a splitting headache…." Rita mumbled as she rested her forehead in her palm. "I don't know what the hell possessed me and your father to go parasailing…"
"We know why…" Lucy muttered as she cleaned the floor.
Rita was startled by a sudden pop as Lincoln opened a second bottle of whiskey with the opener. Unbeknownst to them, the flying cork collided with Fang's head as he chased his prey, causing the dizzy bat to clumsily flutter out of the kitchen and into the living room.
He flew straight into one of the antlers of the mounted moose head and spiraled towards the floor, but was caught by a yellow paw.
Blinking in a daze, Fang squeaked as his whole body was gripped by the paw, and he found himself face to face with Marceline and Cliff.
He cowered and lowered his ears. To a tiny mammal like him, there were few things more terrifying than the green eyes and slit pupils of a housecat.
"You're Lucy's bat, right?" Marceline inquired. "Fangs, or whatever your name is?"
Fang just nodded fearfully and drew a breath to speak.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Cliff cut in while eyeing the bat with disgust. "Bats are like vectors of disease?"
Marceline ignored him and stroked Fang's head with one digit, in a half-baked attempt to ease the tension. Her diplomacy skills were on par with her master's, so she decided to cut to the chase.
"Look, Batty. I know I tried to eat ya and all, but that's old shit and we're currently facing a mutual dilemma. So me and the boys would appreciate having our own guy with wings."
Confused, Fang drew another breath but Marceline placed a silencing finger on his mouth.
"Lemme elaborate." She cut in. "See, we got a bit of a vermin infestation, all cuz Lana can't say "no". The bottom line is, if you make good with us, you will have our protection. And lemme assure you, you'll need it with all those savage beasts hiding in this house-"
"There you are." Lynn suddenly appeared from behind the felines and picked up the Savannah, causing her to release Fang, who clumsily flew away.
"Quit trying to eat the flying rat and come with me, before someone sees ya." Lynn shushed her, trying to hide the cat from prying eyes. "Come on, Ryan's upstairs."
"Meow?" Marceline perked her ears as Lynn carried her to the bottom of the stairs.
Seeing a fidgety Lana pass by them, Lynn whispered, "Psssttt…Lana?"
As the little blonde turned to her, Lynn continued, "Tell Linc and Lucy that Ryan is upstairs."
"He is?" Lana blinked. "Hey, that's Mar-"
"Yes. Mum's the word." Lynn nodded curtly and headed up the stairs.
On their way up, Marceline saw Fang perch on the moose head and shot him a finger gun.
"Glad we came to an understanding." She said cheekily.
The shaken bat watched her disappear with Lynn into the hall on the upper floor.
What was that about wild animals in the house?
"What happened to your shirt?"
"It got caught on a branch…I'm such a klutz, huh?" Lincoln tried to play it off like it was no big deal.
Rita blinked as her gaze drifted back to the bottle that had been left in front of her, the one her son had willingly offered to her. Lincoln had turned his back on her again and finished scooping up the broken glass, throwing it into the trashcan.
"It's alright…you had a rough day…" Lincoln said preemptively as he watched Lucy finish mopping the floor, telling her to be wary of any remaining glass shards.
Despite her headache, and all the pills she took, not all of them necessarily being prescribed to her, Rita felt that something was off about her son.
"Lincoln…is something wrong? Did something happen?"
Lincoln froze as he walked over to the fringe, pretending like he was searching for something. What was he supposed to tell her? He had no way of knowing what Kathleen would do next? Whether she would come back the next morning with assault charges or some other ploy for getting the whole family into trouble.
Begrudgingly, he accepted the reality that something bad was guaranteed to happen by the crack of dawn and his parents would find out one way or another. It wouldn't be pretty, so all he could do was focus on retrieving the camera, which meant reuniting with Fenton first.
"Nah…nothing happened, other than me and Lynn having to spend the day with Kathleen." He tried to sound indifferent. "We don't really like her. You know all that…it was actually…" he swallowed "…kinda boring."
He avoided looking at his mother as he pulled out a coke and fiddled with it. "I know you need something to numb your headache…just don't drink too much, okay? You know it will only give you an even worse headache when you wake up…"
"Actually…" Rita reconsidered and put the bottle down "…I'll settle for a soda pop or something."
"Good call, mom." Lincoln was quick to agree. Though he didn't know whether his mother being sober in the morning or not would be a good or bad thing.
"Lincoln…" Lana snuck up to her brother and quickly whispered something into his ear, making his eyes bulge.
"That son of a bitch…" Lincoln tried to compose himself before his mother noticed. At least one good thing happened tonight.
"Lincoln?"
"Soda pop, sure. Coming right up…" Lincoln dug into the fridge and pulled one out, while Lucy was already leaving with Lana.
"Here ya go, mom." He gave his mother the can before hastily excusing himself.
"Don't want to be rude, but I really need to catch some Zs…" he backed way quickly and disappeared behind the door frame. "Good night."
Now alone, Rita couldn't shake off the irksome feeling that something was wrong with Lincoln.
But it was late and she wasn't in the best state of mind, so she would have to tackle the issue after a nice long rest.
The night sky was turning cloudy and thunder could be heard in the distance.
At the nearby motel, the lights were out in all the rooms, sans one. Through the curtains, one could see a silhouette angrily pacing back and forth, ranting and flailing her arms around.
"They'll rue ever making a fool out of me! They'll pay for robbing me of my destiny! I'll make them bleed! I'll spare no one! I'll…" she paused as her phone rang.
Picking it up in shaky hands, the exasperated Kathleen looked at her phone, ready to shout all sorts of profanities at whoever was calling, until she saw the caller ID.
"Daddy…it's you?" she grinned awkwardly as she pressed the phone to her ear, looking like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "How are you?"
What he said next was unexpected.
"You're proud of me?" Kathleen's eyes widened, daring to feel a slither of hope. "You mean I am finally off the hook, don't have to…"
Her enthusiasm quickly waned as her father kept talking. A very bad feeling manifested in the pit of her stomach. Why was he talking about that stupid holiday?
She chuckled awkwardly "…I know you are a proud patriot, a true-blooded, flag-waving 'merican. But…but what do you…"
Her face contorted, she bit her lower lip, and her left eye twitched violently, all while she sweated profusely. This could not be happening. Who told the old bastard?
"But…but…" she stammered "…that was a t-tightly kept s-secret.."
She had completely forgotten about that inane cover story, but now it had come back with a vengeance.
"…but…of course I know how to avoid nosy newshounds…I was…"
Instinctively, Kathleen turned on the tv and by sheer luck, the first channel she happened upon showed her a familiar face, someone she hated almost as much as the freaks. She was standing in front of the lake, talking into her mike and listening in on her earpiece.
"…you heard it from me first, folks. The scoop of the year, uncovered by moi, Katherine Mulligan. As is now clear, our country's youngest philanthropist hasn't disappeared from public eye for sake of a vacation, but to plan the grandest celebration in honor of our country's birthday…"
Shaking like a steaming pot, Kathleen's face was cast in shadows as she clenched her teeth at the infuriating sight. She barely registered her father cutting the call short with the usual "I have a dozen other callers on hold" line.
"How do I know?" Mulligan touched her earpiece, as the image of a male anchor in a news room was seen in a box on the upper right corner of the screen.
"Let's just say every journalist worth their salt knows how to sniff out an informant eager to spill the beans…"
Kathleen's eyes widened, veins bulging with fury. It was all starting to add up. The freaks hadn't just fried Lisa's brain so Kathleen couldn't have her, there plan had been far more insidious. They had intentionally caused that explosion to bait the nosy reporter, so they could screw Kathleen over even more, oust her as a liar to her father!
"Oh, I've just been informed that Mr. Tisdale won't be able to attend the festivity personally…big surprise…" Mulligan muttered snidely from the side of her mouth before clearing her throat.
"But he states that he will be eagerly watching it on live television from the comforts of his private jet while on his way to Tokyo."
"Life television?" Kathleen snarled, curling her fingers while her hands chook violently.
"Do you have any more details, Mulligan?"
"Any more details? Hmmm…maybe I do, maybe I don't." Mulligan toyed with her viewers, as haughty as always. "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. Besides, it won't be a surprise in about 24 hours or so-"
Screaming, Kathleen threw a chair right into the television, making it short-circuit and fall over, leaving its smashed husk to fume just like Kathleen herself. She had been pissed plenty of times before, but the raw anger she felt at this very moment was beyond description.
She would murder that bloody reporter! She would murder those freaks! If she could, she would murder her imbecilic patriot of a father! If he was taken out of the picture, the others wouldn't even matter! Goddamn it all! She didn't even have any of her three goons to beat the ever-loving daylights out of. She had completely forgotten about them, and had no clue where they were.
Right then, the door to the bathroom shot open, making a startled Kathleen spin around as copious amounts of steam came billowing out of it, and a diminutive figure sauntered out, wearing a pink, grossly oversized bathrobe that dragged behind her feet, while her blonde hair was wrapped in a towel.
Kathleen's rage had effectively blurred her vision. She could not register who this was. She could not decipher their face. All she could process at that moment was her unquenchable need to inflict pain.
"What sort of substandard suite is this?" Lola complained as she cluelessly approached the furious teenager. "This place is such a downgrade from your summer home. That bathroom is unusable, it doesn't even have-"
She cried as her face met the back of Kathleen's hand. She slapped her with such force, that Lola was sent hurling into a dresser, smacking the back of her head against it. The drawer shook and Lola shielded herself as a vase fell down and shattered on impact, but one small shard managed to cut her cheek.
With warm blood dripping down her cheek, she opened her eyes to find Kathleen looming over her, snarling and breathing heavily. Lola's bleeding cheek hurt like hell, making tears well up in her eyes.
"Y-you…you hit me…" she sobbed.
"You little bitch!" Lola cowered to the floor and shielded herself as Kathleen screamed at her, her fists raised.
"What the hell are you doing here?!"
"I…I…" Lola wheezed.
"Answer me, idiot! Answer me before I-"
"I snuck out!" Lola blurted, struggling to catch her breath. "When t-the others w-weren't lookin'…"
As she processed the pitiful display in front of her, Kathleen's anger subsided ever so slightly. This was Lola she was looking at. The only good Loud. She was like a little sister to her. She wasn't supposed to hurt her. The freaks were supposed to bleed, not poor little Lola.
Kathleen felt something. It wasn't regret. No, it was more anger. Not mindless rage so much as seething resentment, and it wasn't directed at Lola. This wasn't Lola's fault, and it obviously wasn't Kathleen's either. It was all Lynn's fault. Lynn and her pack of freaks made Kathleen do this! They set out to ruin her life, to deny her what was rightfully hers, to make a fool out of her. Now look what they made her to do? Kathleen kept underestimating the full extent of their evil machinations.
Still on the floor, Lola choked on her own tears as she dared to look up, sensing that Kathleen had calmed down somewhat.
"I…I didn't mean to make ya angry-AH!" she squeaked as she was seized around the arm and forcefully yanked up.
"Come with me!" Kathleen barked as she dragged her back towards the bathroom.
"Kathleen! You're hurting me!" Lola cried as she felt her arm being crashed, her slippers dragging across the floor.
None of that seemed to register with Kathleen as she opened up the medicine cabinet above the sink, while Lola wheezed heavily and tried to break free.
She didn't know what was going on? This all felt like a horrible nightmare. It was like she was in the presence of a complete stranger, some violent, heartless monster that taken on Kathleen's visage.
"Hold still!"
Lola hissed in pain as a clump of tissue drenched in hot water was scrubbed against the cut on her cheek.
"You stupid girl! Look what you made me do." Kathleen lamented as she repeated the process with some antiseptic, making Lola tear up and sniff.
"Why did ya hit me…?" she asked in an uncharacteristically timid manner as Kathleen pressed a plaster over the cut.
"Turn around."
"Whaa?"
"Turn around!" Kathleen did it for her and inspected the back of her head, making Lola cringe in pain.
"It's only a bruise…good." Kathleen accessed the damage. It was nothing compared to what her own scalp had been subjected to just hours ago.
Once more, she dragged Lola after her but this time, her grip wasn't as tight as she led the princess to the kitchen and searched the freezer compartment of the fridge.
Lola started to figure out what Kathleen was doing and was promptly handed a frozen bag of peas, and she pressed it against the back of her head. She said nothing as Kathleen watched her with a passive glare before forcing a strained grin onto her face and shaking her head.
"Lola, Lola, Lola…" she exhaled tensely "…what have you done?"
"What have I done?" Lola didn't follow and flinched as Kathleen grabbed her and hoisted her up.
"Please…don't hit me again…I'll be good…" she pleaded but calmed down as she realized that she was in Kathleen's lap, the latter having seated herself on a chair in front of the kitchen table.
"You shouldn't have done this, Lols." Kathleen repeated. "Look what you made me do?"
Lola didn't know what to say to that. She felt an odd mixture of fear and confusion. She didn't know what she did wrong, or why Kathleen had lashed out at her with no provocation. The older girl took notice of her confusion and leaned back into the chair, exhaling.
"Lola, I had a very stressful day. A very miserable day. Most of all having to deal with that Lynn and her cohorts. I reckoned you'd understand that you shouldn't badger me at a time like this?"
Lola blinked away tears. "I…I didn't mean to badger you…Like I said…I jus' wanted to be with you-"
"You picked a bad time, Lola." Kathleen narrowed her eyes. "Given everything that happened today, I would have preferred some peace. But here you are anyway, denying me that peace. You were very selfish...how disappointing."
"I…" Lola shrank with shame. "I didn't mean to, I'm sorry."
"I know you're sorry." Kathleen chuckled and caressed Lola's other cheek. "And I forgive you for your poor behavior. Let's just forget about this nasty little incident and I won't hold it against you."
Lola paused. Something about this didn't feel right. Kathleen was the one who hurt her, yet Lola was the one who was supposed to apologize? It didn't make sense but Lola figured that she shouldn't question Kathleen. Kathleen was such a great person, more of a sister to her than any of her actual relatives. Lola supposed it was technically her fault for not taking into consideration how taxing Kathleen's daily work could be on her.
So she just nodded. She never wanted to see this side of Kathleen again, just thinking about it shook her to her core. She shouldn't force her friend into acting this way by being a nag.
"Good, and you hopefully understand that it would be best not to bring this up in front of your family. They might get…the wrong impression. You tripped while running up the stairs. You understand that?"
Swallowing, Lola shifted before nodding again. Kathleen was right. Half of the Loud family couldn't stand her, Lynn and Lincoln could easily spin this accident to convince mom and dad to…
Something dawned on her. She was hesitant to ask, worrying that it might upset Kathleen again.
"You said "Lynn"?" she said gingerly. "Did she…did she…"
"Oh, you have no idea…" Kathleen grimaced. "Perhaps calling our little altercation in the woods a "game" was me being too generous…you know how Lynn is. But I didn't want to stir trouble."
"I do know…she hurt you?"
"Mmmm…she did, but I guess that's her idea of "fun", isn't it?" Kathleen grinned sardonically. "Her and Ryan…"
"Ryan's here?" Lola's eyes widened. How could that creep lay a hand on Kathleen?
"Don't act surprised, Lynn's boyfriend follows her everywhere." Kathleen scowl deepened. "She probably insisted upon it, given how she has him wrapped around her finger."
Speak of the ugo, the thought occurred to her that Ryan might be dead. The mental image of his bloody, disarticulated body littering the forest floor brought her some much-needed joy, but Kathleen knew that was too much for little Lola to take in, especially the part with the talking wolf.
"Kathleen, I…I'm sorry they did that to ya." Lola said just before finding herself being carried off in Kathleen's arms.
"Well talk further in the morning, you need to sleep." Kathleen insisted and brought her to the bedroom and placed her in a double bed, with another one right next to it.
Kathleen pulled the blanket over her and kissed her on the forehead before heading to the doorway and grabbing the handle.
"And remember, this will remain our little secret." She smiled sweetly. "You were being an impulsive little klutz who rushed up the stairs trying to catch up with me, even though I didn't ask you to come, and you hurt yourself in the process. You stayed here so I, being the responsible person I am, could nurse you back to health. That is what happened."
"Yeah…sure…I know…" Lola mumbled. Kathleen nodded approvingly and closed the door.
Lola spent a few minutes tossing and turning, her mind being anything but at ease. She couldn't ignore the horrible experience that was still fresh in her mind. It was like Kathleen had been possessed by a demon, the change was like a light switch, and it was terrifying.
Despite her unease, Lola must have been more tired that she had thought, because the world around her soon started to fade.
Just before she dozed off, she vaguely remembered hearing voice from the living room, one sounded like Kathleen, and the other one was also familiar but Lola couldn't attach a face to it. It was also fainter, as if the person was shouting from the outside. It sounded like the two were arguing.
"I don't care if it's raining and you have nowhere to go! Fuck off and take those useless mutts with you!"
Well, that ended on a very dark note. Lola just experienced the downside of wanting an unstable, mood-swinging psychopath to be your cool big sis. But some good old gaslighting helped convince Lola that it was her fault that Kathleen smacked her across the room.
Meanwhile, the animosity between Ryan and Soto continues to grow as the wolf learns that Ryan has too much of a pain tolerance and too many screws lose to let conventional torture break him. He can't fight Soto in terms of raw strength but he can exploit the latter's biggest weakness, his pride, since simply killing his nemesis isn't enough for the wolf if he can't break his spirit as well. Such a clash of egos can't end well.
Anyway, the next chapter is largely finished, so it should be up soon. The protagonists find out that the animal kingdom might appreciate their good deeds more than their own kind, but at the same time, some wild beasts might agree more with Soto.