This story was written in response to "No Such Luck" an episode that I hadn't seen as greatly despised by fans in comparison to "Trash House." Basically, the idea came to mind when I was thinking that what would happen if Lincoln was kidnapped during the events of the episode. And such, here's what I came up with. It isn't a complete story per of course.


Normally one would try to avoid having bad luck any way possible. With Lincoln, however, he fully embraced it. Ever since Lynn lost that baseball game, she prohibited him from attending any of her sports-related events, fearing that he might jinx them. Truth be told, Lincoln would rather have the house to himself than go to one of his sisters' stupid presentations. So, when Lynn began to spread the rumor that Lincoln was cursed, he took advantage of it. While his family was away, Lincoln had full range of the house. He freely read his comic books in his underwear, among other things. Sure, it was dirty of him to lie to his family, but he'll they'll forget about it once he sets the record straight with them.

Unfortunately for Lincoln not only was he being excluded from his sisters' personal events, but he was also left out of attending events he truly wanted to engage in. Soon, his parents fell victim to his lie, and they kicked him out of his own home. Despite his insistence that he wasn't bad luck, Lynn continually pointed out that when he went to her game she lost, thus solidifying their superstitions. Not once was Lincoln allowed back in the house, not even to use the restroom. Slowly, the day turned to night, and the Loud family was preparing for bed. Before excusing themselves to their bedroom, Rita and Lynn Sr. approached the door, and gave Lincoln a blanket and pillow.

"Please, let me back in," begged Lincoln "I swear that I'm not bad luck."

Lynn Sr. shook his head. It hurt him to do this to his son, but he believed that it was for the best.

"Sorry, sport," he began "better safe than sorry."

How could his father say something that thoughtless? Rita bent down and gave her son a kiss on the forehead. She clearly didn't like this anymore than her husband did, but she tried to ease her son's anxiety the only way she knew how.

"Besides, your father and I are taking the girls to the beach tomorrow. We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to any of them, right?"

Lincoln knew that this was supposed to come off as reassuring, but the way that she worded her explanation almost gave off the impression that his sisters' lives were more important. Despite this, Lincoln begrudgingly nods his head in understanding. "Yes I guess so," he replied. Rita rubs his head comfortingly. "Don't worry, sweetie, we'll check up on you in the morning."

With that, Lincoln was left alone in the darkness. He tried to situate himself on the porch, but it proved to be bumpy in comparison to his bed. Even so, Lincoln found himself slowly drifting off to sleep with the sound of crickets chirping. Morning slowly crept upon the horizon. Rays of sunlight seeped its way into the parents' shared bedroom, stirring them awake. After getting themselves fully dressed, the two descended down the stairs, and entered into the kitchen. Rita grabs a box of cereal from one of the cabinets, and pours the cereal into a bowl. She then walks towards the refrigerator, takes out a jug of milk, and pours the contents of the jug into the bowl. She then heads towards the front door.

"Good morning, sweetie," chimed Rita "breakfast is ready." She slides the bowl of cereal through the doggy door. There was no response on the other side of the door.

The lack of a reply surprised Rita. She knew that her son was upset about having to sleep outside, but at the very least he would be thankful enough to accept the bowl of cereal. Rita called her son's name a second time only to be met by the same deathly silence. Worried, Rita opens the door, to find that his blanket had been abandoned. Lynn Sr. was fixing a cup of coffee when his wife rushed back into the kitchen. "Is Lincoln up?" he yawned. He nearly dropped his cup upon listening to her answer. "I can't find Lincoln anywhere," says Rita frantically. Lynn Sr. takes a few deep breaths before speaking. "Can't find him?" Lynn Sr. exclaimed in a shocked, but slightly controlled tone.

Rita nods her head. "Nothing but his blanket is here." Sparking his interest, Rita produces the discarded blanket. Lynn Sr. analyzes the blanket for a few minutes. From the look of it, the blanket was slightly dirtied, though it should be expected as the porch can get rather dirty, but what caught his attention were the tears along the side. There appeared to have been some scuffle during the night. Fearful, Lynn Sr. returned his glance to his wife, and attempted to flash a hopeful smile. "Don't worry dear, I'm sure he went over to Clyde's house," he suggested.

Rita sighed a breath of relief. "Right, how couldn't I think of that?" she proclaimed. She dashes towards the phone, and dials the McBride residence. The phone rang a few times before the call went through.

"Hello," droned a voice. The voice was unfamiliar to Rita at first, but upon further inspection, she deciphered the voice as belonging to Howard. Given the irritated tone, Rita correctly concluded that he just got out of bed. "Yes, Howard. I'm just calling to see if Lincoln happened to spend the night over at your house." Howard yawns. "No, Rita. I hadn't seen him all day." Saddened, Rita thanks him for his cooperation and hangs up.

Lynn Sr. walked into the room the moment she ended her call with Howard. "He's there?" he asked.

Rita shook her head depressingly. Lynn Sr. returned her worried expression. As if on cue, the girls descend the stairs, rubbing the tiredness from their eyes. "What's with the ruckus," yawned Lori. A silence as sharp as a knife befell the room. The parents struggled to break the news to their daughters. Eventually, Rita spoke up. "Girls," she manages to choke out "Your brother's missing."

The girls' eyes widen in shock. "Did you call Clyde's house?" inquired Luna. "I did, and they said hadn't" Rita explained. Lori quickly grabs her phone, and dials her boyfriend to ask if he had seen him. Instantaneously, Bobby states that he hadn't, and neither had his sister. "Oh, this is bad," groaned Lori.

Lana worriedly looked at the front door.

"You don't think he ran away because we kicked him out," she asked.

"I think so," Lola says regrettably.

Lynn stretches her arms, yawning while doing so "Maybe he's just playing some prank on us."

The other girls perked up at this. "That's right," exclaims Lori "he's probably somewhere in this house!" All of the sisters went about trying to find their missing brother. Lori and Leni crawled underneath the stairs of the house's porch, only to come across the artificial skeleton left over from Halloween. Lucy checked the attic, only to find her bats situated there. Luan and Luna checked the boiler room almost as if to expect that Lincoln would be hiding in the boiler. They opened the door to the stove, but only to find it empty. The sisters gutted the house in hope of finding their brother. For all of their efforts, they only manage to leave a huge mess.

"I believe Lincoln really is gone," bemoaned Luna.

"And it's all my fault," added Lynn. Luna looked at her with confusion.

"I was the one who said that he was bad luck in the first place. Now he's gone because of me." Lynn drops her head in shame. Lori gently pat her back reassuringly. "No don't say that; I'm sure he'll show up." Lynn refused to return her glance, but she decided that there was some truth in her words. "You promise," she asks. Lori nods. The family goes about their day. The sisters wanted to skip school so that they could devote their time to searching for Lincoln, but Rita goads them into leaving. By the time that the girls returned from school, Lincoln had yet to return.

" It's been hours," states Lucy observantly "are we sure that Lincoln isn't…"

Lola interrupts her thought bubble. "Isn't what?" she inquires.

"Dead" Lucy bluntly states. Lana walks over and shakes her.

"Don't say that, Luce!" she yelled.

Unfazed, Lucy continued her explanation "It's been 6 hours. What would you expect?" As much as one could deny it, there seems to be some sliver of truth to her analysis. Lana refused to accept this possibility.

"You're wrong! Lincoln's coming back, I know it!" She hits the side of the couch in blind fury. Before the room could erupt into a full-blown battle, the parents came into the room having finished their conversation on the phone with the authorities.

"What did they say," inquired Lori. Rita rubs her temples in exhaustion.

"We've just filed a missing person's report." Leni tilts her head curiously. "Who's missing again?"

Lori sighed. Sure, her sister does have her moments of being ignorant to what's in front of her, but she didn't want to be bothered with this today. "Lincoln is missing," groaned Lori. Leni's eyes grew as large as dinner plates. "Linky's missing?" she shrieked. The family sighs.

"Will they be able to find him, mom?" Lana asked. Rita gave her 6-year-old daughter a grim look. She would love for Lincoln to return home to prove her suspicions wrong, but at the same time, it's been 8 hours since he had gone missing. Rita sighed and got down to Lana's level. "I just don't know, dear. All we can do is hope for the best." Lynn Sr. informs his daughters that a search party had been sent to look for Lincoln. They'll report to them once they have accumulated enough evidence pertaining to his whereabouts.

A few more hours go by as the girls tried to go about their usual activities. However, a sense of gloom prevented them from fully enjoying them.

"It's been how many hours now," moaned Luan. Lisa looked down at her wristwatch. "Approximately twelve hours."

Lola's lip quivered at this. "Lincoln must really be mad at us." She quietly wept into her handkerchief.

Luna sets her guitar down and hugs Lola tightly. "Even if he is, he isn't the type of guy to just walk out," suggested Luna.

Lola turned her glance towards her; her tears were messing with her mascara. "He tried to tell us that he wasn't cursed, but we let our stupid superstitions get in the way."

Lana goes over to comfort her sister as well. Lynn leaned against the couch, nearly crying herself. "I hope he returns real soon. I need to make up for what I said." Her sisters were in agreement. Perhaps when he comes home, they could respect his decision and not force him to attend their events. They'll be sure to give him the privacy that he deserved.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. "That must be the search party!" declared Lori. She dashed out of the room to alert her parents. Without fail, they rushed towards the front door. Rita went to open the door, and sees two officers standing there. One was short and heavy, while the other was tall. What both men had in common were their forlorn looks.

"Yes?"

The skinny officer talked first. "Yes, we've been out searching for your son. After some thorough research, my partner and I may have the answers to his whereabouts." Rita's heart nearly burst out of her chest.

"Where is he?" she asked excitedly.

The two police officers looked at each other. This time, the heavy set officer responded. "Ma'am, may we ask that you send your daughters out of the room?" An odd request, sure, but she obeyed. Lori tried to protest saying that she and her sisters had every right to know what happened to Lincoln, but she tumbles on her words when her father gave her a stern look. She quickly hustled her sisters out of the room.

With the kids gone, the parents immediately resume their discussion with the officers. "Well, did you find our son?" begged Lynn Sr.

The skinny officer nodded his head. "Yes, we have."

Rita sighs in relief. "Oh, I'm so delighted!" she proclaimed "please, may we speak with him?"

The police officers looked at each other in hesitation. "Ma'am, I don't think he'd have much to say."

Rita was perplexed. Sure, she knew that her son would most assuredly be enraged that he had to sleep outside all night, but maybe he'd find it in his heart to forgive them for their foolishness.

"Doesn't have much to say? But wh…" Her mind meditated on those words. Suddenly, his cryptic words began to become clear. Fully realizing the context of his explanation, Rita's eyes began to swell with tears. Without as much as a word officer produces a plastic bag, and shows it to the two parents, their mouths agape with horror. In the bag was Lincoln's orange shirt. The shirt was drenched with stained blood which gave the shirt a rusty appearance. Rita threw herself into her husband's arms as Lynn Sr. did his best to comfort his distraught wife.

"Mr. and Mrs. Loud, you have my condolences," said the officer.


Hey, AustinDR here. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Shattered Innocence. I'm still currently trying to get my thoughts together to complete the story. I'll continue to work on it.