Lucy appears smiling and laying sideways on a gravestone marked: "R.I.P. You"

"I have friends in low places." said Lucy.

The hand of a living corpse burst out of the ground.

Fiends in Low Places, Part 1

It had been a few weeks since Spring Break and Lincoln was walking home from school when he got a phone call. Lincoln took out his smartphone to see it was Clyde and answered, "Clyde?"

"Hey Lincoln, sorry I haven't called in a while."

"It's fine, are you okay? Everyone at school has been asking about you and I keep telling them you and your dads had a family thing going on."

"Well, that's pretty much been the case. I probably won't even come back to school until next year, my dads have been talking to me about homeschooling because they have a lot to teach me and apparently the American Public School system has been taken over by demon worshippers since the eighties."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Considering all the protected pedophiles and the constant promotion of deviant behavior, it wouldn't be too surprising.

"So, where have you guys been for the past six weeks? I still got a lot of questions!"

"Well...I can't exactly tell you over the phone. All I can say is we went to the Upper Peninsula, and there's barely any reception there to begin with, but then my dads took all our electronics and stored them in a storage unit up there, left the car, then we hiked a few days through the wilderness."

Lincoln waited a moment until it became clear Clyde wasn't saying anything more. "...and then what?"

"I can't really say. After that a lot happened and it's kind of a blur. We'll tell you guys when we get back, we're on our way home now."

"Well, alright then. Can't wait to see you again Clyde."

"Have you been okay?"

"Eh...not really."

"What's wrong?"

"Well...let's just say I've been a lot more...aggressive lately."

"Are you going into a montage of flashbacks?""

"Yeah..."

...

Luna barged into Lincoln's room, "Oi, bruv, any luck booking our gigs for next month?"

Lincoln looked up from an issue of "The Man from La Mancha" with a smirk. "Depends. You cool with me taking a twenty-five percent cut?"

Luna frowned, "Blimey, are you having a laugh, mate?"

Lincoln shrugged and went back to his comic. "Just being real, sis. Good luck finding another genius manager."

...

Luan was grinning ear to ear on March 31st, "Oh Lincoln? Guess what I'm doing-"

Lincoln grabbed a packed duffel bag and walked out of the house, "Nope, not gonna be around the house this April Fool's Day, burn it all down for all I care."

Luan's smile faded and she rubbed her chin, then shrugged, "...eh, not what I had in mind, but alright."

...

Lincoln whistled as he carried a lot of trash bags from the house and set them on the curb. Soon enough, the garbage truck came up, took the trash bags, and left.

Lucy then walked out of the house. "Lincoln, have you seen Lynn's sporting equipment? They seem to have gone missing."

Lincoln smirked, offering a playful shrug. "Ah, Lynn's gear? Well, I wouldn't worry about them. Not now, not ever again."

...

Lola stormed into Lincoln's room while he was immersed in a video game. "Lincoln, I need you this afternoon to carry my shopping bags."

Lincoln barely tore his eyes away from the screen. "Yeah, no thanks, got other plans."

Lola stepped right in front of the laptop screen, glaring. "You're going to do it, or else!"

Lincoln paused the game, rose from his seat, and loomed over her, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Or else WHAT?"

Lola hesitated for a moment before retreating, muttering, "Uh... forget it."

...

Lincoln was in the garage, venting his frustrations by hitting Vanzilla's engine with a golf club. Suddenly, the engine sputtered and roared to life.

Lana popped out of the van, beaming. "Hey! I think you fixed it, Linc!"

Lincoln paused, a bit surprised, then shrugged, "Uh, yeah, I meant to do that."

...

"Woah! That's way more aggressive than the Lincoln I know! Have you thought about seeing a therapist?"

"Yeah, but Dr. Lopez cured me of that idea."

"Fair enough, but you really need a healthier way to vent that aggression...and figure out where it came from."

Lincoln was approaching his house, "Well, I got a few ideas...gotta go Clyde, I'm about to enter the den of the beast."

"Take care, buddy!"

Lincoln hung up and put his phone in his pocket, he took a deep breath and entered the house.

Lola and Lana were jumping up and down and squeeing in the living room. The rest of the family that weren't in college or in Canada were gathered around as well.

"We got free tickets! We got free tickets!" The twins cheered.

The rest of the Loud family were full of excitement, Lincoln smiled and approached, "You guys won something? Congratulations!"

Lana beamed at Lincoln, "Yeah Linc! We won a contest for free tickets to Dairyworld!"

"Don't you mean Dairyland?" Lincoln asked.

Lola chortled, "No, Dairyworld! It's a new location! It's got a waterpark!"

The two held up two golden passes each saying "Dairyworld Amusement Park VIP" on them.

"Huh, I didn't think they made something like that." Lincoln remarked.

"Looks like they did, isn't it exciting?" asked Lynn Sr.

"The tickets are good for all of us for this weekend, so why don't we all get packed up to go?" Rita asked.

The kids all scrambled to pack aside from Lucy and Lincoln. Leni then ran up carrying Eris, "Eris gets to come too, right?" Leni asked.

"I don't see why not." Lynn Sr. answered.

"How are you this strong?" Eris asked as Leni carried her back upstairs.

Mr. and Mrs. Loud left to pack up themselves. Lincoln smiled at Lucy and Grim, "Hey, a fun day at a Dairyland brand amusement park could be just what we need to take our minds off of junk!"

"Speak for yourself, mon. With my luck, I'll have to be on standby for eventual accidents...those are always messy." Grim remarked.

"And I don't know why, but I'm getting a bad feeling about this..." Lucy commented.

Lincoln waved them off, "You guys worry too much, I'm sure it's gonna be a fun day!"

Lucy sighed, she headed upstairs and went into Luan and Luna's room where the latter was picking out an outfit and the former was packing a bag with gags and props. "Luan, I need to ask you something.' Lucy told her.

Luan smugly grinned, "If it's about the housefire, the courts already ruled it to be an accident with the judge saying he rather not ruin a young lady's future."

Lucy shook her head, "Not that, I need to ask you if you think it's weird that there's now a Dairyworld that hadn't existed before."

Luan laughed, "Lucy, this may surprise you, but I've known about Dairyworld for a while now!"

"You...you have? Wait, it's real?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah dude, it's real. They got a website and everything." Luna told her.

Luan got out her laptop and opened up the website for Dairyworld, "When I worked at Dairyland, I overheard their expansion plans. They've been working on Dairyworld for the past few years now!"

Lucy looked over the splash page of the website, "...it says it isn't supposed to open for another year or so."

Luan shrugged, "That's just an estimation, either they got done earlier than expected or they're just letting in a few test groups to see if it's ready."

That seemed to make sense, yet it still felt ominous. Lucy sighed and went to her room. She didn't have much to pack, nor did she want to as the bad feeling would not go away.

Lucy needed answers, and felt there was only one place to get them now. She laid down on her bed and tried to concentrate her mind to go back to the Oblivion.

...

Lucy found herself seated at the blue velvet table, across from the Wraith, again.

"Welcome back, Lucy. It's good to see you." greeted the Wraith.

"Hello..." Lucy fidgeted a bit in her seat, "I'm surprised I was able to come back here, and now I'm not sure if it was the best idea..." she thought to herself.

"Is something wrong? Feel free to ask me anything, and I'll answer to the best of my ability."

"The amusement park...there's something wrong with it, isn't there?" Lucy asked.

The Wraith nodded, "Yes, there is. That is where your next trial will take place. The Calamity is there, and it is drawing your family in. Especially Lincoln."

"Why Lincoln? What's so special about him? First the vampires wanted him and now this...Calamity?"

The Wraith held up Lincoln's tarot card, "His card is The Fool. Isn't it obvious?"

Lucy thought for a moment, trying to recall it's meaning, "...it is empty, yet full of possibilities."

"He holds something that many beings want for themselves. Something that could turn this world upside-down."

Lucy figured she should ask while she had the chance, "What...are you?"

"I am the Wraith." answered the Wraith.

Lucy sighed, "Okay...wraiths are ghosts or ghostly images...but of who? Of me? Am I going to die soon?"

The Wraith smiled an unsettling yet somewhat genuine smile, "You're a clever girl, Lucy. But no, you aren't going to die soon, not as long as you have Grim at your side. As for myself...I'm the Wraith."

Lucy frowned and leaned over the table, "You keep saying that as if I should know what it means!"

"Yes."

Lucy pulled herself back as something dawned on her, "...so not me...but another me? Like Great Grandma Harriet or my ancestor Lucille?"

"Older than that, but you're on the right path."

Lucy didn't know who came before that, but another question came to mind, "...why is your hair white?"

"That's due to the-"

Suddenly a high pitch noise pierced Lucy's ears and she instinctively plugged her ears to avoid the pain, "OW, OW, OW!"

The Wraith immediately stopped talking and Lucy unplugged her ears after the ringing stopped, "...I apologize, you aren't ready to learn that."

Lucy slowly unplugged her ears, "...okay, forget all that...what am I supposed to do about the Amusement Park?"

The Wraith frowned, "Unfortunately, nothing. Right now all you can do is prepare yourself for the worst."

"And how-" Lucy suddenly lost her voice.

"I'm sorry Lucy, but time moves on in your world, and you can't stay here in Oblivion for too long..."

...

Lucy awoke and it was suddenly morning. Grim was standing over her, rubbing his jaw.

"Grim?" Lucy asked.

"Welcome back to the land of the living..." Grim greeted, "I see you've met the Wraith."

"Huh? How did you-"

Grim answered by plucking a hair from Lucy's head, "This always happened when-"

"Ow! What the heck, Grim?" Lucy cried out.

"This is serious Lucy, look." Grim showed the hair to her. Instead of it being black as night, it was white as snow.

"That's..."

"The same colour as her's, yes."

"Wait, Grim, how do you know about her?"

"It's a long story, you see-"

Then there was banging on Lucy's door, "Hey Lucy! Grim! We're leaving soon! Come down for breakfast!" Lincoln shouted.

Grim sighed, "Looks like we'll have to save this for-"

"Wait, are you really going to avoid telling me now for the sake of drama?" Lucy asked.

"Well, that and the fact that this is sensitive information and saying it with these thin walls is something I rather not do." Grim admitted.

"Hey, are you guys spouting exposition without me?" Lincoln asked from behind the door.

"This does not CONCERN you, Lincoln!" Grim told him.

Lucy sighed, "Sigh, all right. Later then."

...

After a noisy roadtrip we are just going to skip over, the Louds pulled into an empty parking lot for Dairyworld which had a large chainlink fence and a large wooden fence around the park with large signs saying things such as "Coming Soon!", "Private Property", and "Keep Out!" on them.

The Louds found a place to park near the entrance, and got out of their packed car, "Uh, Lynn, are you sure this is the right place?" Rita asked her husband while holding Lily.

"It's the right address...plus there's a big sign that says 'Dairyworld' right above the entrance." Lynn Sr pointed out.

"Huh, I wonder how I missed that."

Truth be told, the sign needed a few more coats of paint to be obvious.

"Hello Loud family!" everyone turned to see a tall man wearing an old fashioned carnival outfit consisting of a red and white striped blazer and slacks, a white dress shirt, a black tie, a pair of black shoes, and a white boater hat. He gave them all a slight bow, "I am N. Ergal, Theme Park Manager of Dairyworld!"

"Oh! Hello Mr. Ergal!" greeted Mr. Loud.

"Uh, Mr. Ergal, is the park closed?" Mrs. Loud asked.

Mr. Ergal gave her a wide smile, "Well...yes, to the public at least! There's still quite a lot of construction that needs to be done."

"Wait a minute! Does that mean we can't see the whole park? What a rip!" Lola cried out.

Mr. Ergal spread his arms out, "Now, now Miss Lola, there are still plenty of rides to enjoy here! In fact, we were counting on you and your family to test out what we had built already, and give feedback on how we can improve the park!"

Lana waved an arm around, "Ooh! Can I get in on the construction? I'm certified for several heavy machinery! Even the forklift!"

"I appreciate the spirit! Unfortunately no construction is scheduled for today!"

Lana lowered her arm and deflated a bit, "Aww..."

"Don't be too disappointed! What is scheduled is a weekend of fun and a big surprise for you all!"

Everyone except for Grim and Lucy cheered with a "Yay!"

Lucy turned to Grim, "Well, this guy is definitely suspicious."

Grim nodded, "You'd have to be incredibly oblivious, naive, or dumb not to think so."

"Oh, you two are being too harsh!" Leni scolded.

"Case in point." Grim remarked.

Eris tsked, "Don't be so mean, Grim."

"Sigh." Lucy looked for anyone else who would see her side, "Lisa, don't you find any of this suspicious?" she asked the child genius.

Lisa shrugged, "I do admit that the entire event seems to be a little outlandish, nonetheless this seems like a perfect opportunity to be part of a group experiment. Worst comes to worst, we can either use the Grim Reaper's help, the Chaotic Good Eris, or any of my secret gadgets."

N. Ergal was then in front of Lisa, Lucy, and Grim, smiling at them with that wicked smile, "Ah, Mr. Grim Reaper! It is an honor to finally make your acquaintance! I do hope you enjoy the park as well!"

Grim gave N. Ergal an odd look that shifted from a confused glance to a suspicious glare.

"Is something wrong?'

Grim pointed at N. Ergal, "Listen mon, I don't know what you are, but I got me sights on you."

N. Ergal kept his smile, "No need for hostilities! I only seek to entertain my guests!" he walked away towards the entrance and opened it up, "Come along now, we mustn't keep burning daylight!"

As the Louds and Eris started to walk into the entrance, Lucy turned towards Grim, "Do you know him?" she asked.

Grim leaned over and covered part of his jaw, "Lucy, I have no idea who or what he is, but he isn't human. He's something...ancient, powerful, and dangerous..."

"Hey, come on you two!" Lincoln called out.

Grim approached him, "You're oddly excited for someone who's been in a bad mood lately."

Lincoln nodded, "Yeah, and I rather not be in a bad mood my whole life, Grim! That's a miserable existence!"

"...I won't argue with that."

The Louds, Grim, and Eris walked into the entrance with N. Ergal following close behind to shut and lock the doors.

"Uh, hey, are you supposed to be doing that?" Rita asked.

N. Ergal nodded as he walked ahead of the group, "Of course I am! The park is meant to be closed after all, wouldn't want any unwanted rubes getting in!"

"Ugh, I know all about that." Lola remarked.

"Everything begins here! Will you all stand together on that giant X on the floor?"

The Louds, Grim, and Eris spotted the X and they all gathered around it. N. Ergal meanwhile walked up to a lever on the wall.

"We will start with my favorite ride: The Drop!" N. Ergal pulled the lever, and suddenly, the floor beneath the Louds, Grim, and Eris dropped down to reveal a pit. Everyone looked down and started falling while screaming in terror.

Well, everyone except for Leni. She was enjoying the ride.

TO BE CONTINUED...