"Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow."

-Frankenstein, Chapter 4

Runaway

On a nearly empty metro bus, a tall blond-haired teenage girl wearing a tourquise and black sweater with baggy black sweat pants sat shaking a bit in her seat. She kept her hands on the flap of her black messenger bag, lightly grabbing onto it and letting go. Too many thoughts were running through her head, but she tried to keep herself from panicking. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes.

"What am I doing?" she thought to herself, "This is probably the dumbest thing I've ever done."

...

Her mom and dad had been fighting again, this time they seemed to be louder and angrier than usual. They didn't notice that their daughter was eavesdropping on them. They fought about the usual things: her mother's financial decisions, her father's emotional outbursts, her mother spending too much time with a certain member of the board of directors, her father being unsatisfying...that led to the first bombshell.

"You think I don't know?" her father asked, "I know I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but we both know damn well you've been lying to me all this time!"

Her mother sneered at him with crossed arms, "About what? You being good in the sack? "

"No! About your daughter! I know Loan isn't mine!"

Then her mother shrugged, turning away from her husband, "Well whoop-dee-doo, what took you so long, genius?"

...

"Penn Station!" yelled the bus driver.

Loan opened her eyes again, hearing the name of her stop. She quickly got up, nearly stumbling out of her seat. She regained her balance, and headed out the door. The train station was a little bit a walk away from the bus stop. Loan took a deep breath, and gripped the sash on her bag, "Okay, you can do this...you can do this..." Slowly, she stepped towards the station; trying not to make eye contact with anyone, sometimes even looking at the ground in front of her. She entered the large concourse and made her way to the ticket counter.

After waiting in line for a few good minutes, Loan stood in front of a smiling teller, "Hi! How can I help you?"

"Um...my name is Loan Santiago. I'm scheduled for a train going to Michigan?" she nervously asked.

The teller looked at her computer, "Let's see...yup, here you are! A cabin rental even!" she then handed Loan a ticket, "Your train is the one heading for Jackson, have a safe trip!"

"Th-thanks." Loan said as she took the ticket.

"So they really did get me one..."

Loan didn't need to wait too long for her train, boarding it soon enough. An attendant helped her to her cabin, and Loan shut and locked the door. Loan took a seat, setting her bag in the seat next to her, she leaned back into the cushion.

"...I'm really doing this. I'm really getting away. This is happening."

Loan rubbed the left side of her face, feeling a small tinge of pain.

...

Loan was unsure if it was smart to ask, but she felt she had to. She took a deep breath and walked into her mother's home office, "Mom, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" she didn't even bother to look up at her.

"Um...I heard you and dad yelling the other night..."

Her mother made a groan, looked up from her paperwork, and took off her glasses, "Loan, sweetie, your father and I love each other very much. It's just...hard sometimes for us. You'll understand once you've been in a marriage."

Loan looked down, she had her hands folded on her belly, "Um...it isn't about that..."

Her mother narrowed her eyes, "Oh? Then what is it?"

"Dad said...he wasn't my father."

Her mother's eyes widened.

Loan kept her head down, "Um...I love dad and all, but um...is it true? If he's not, then who-"

Loan hadn't notice that her mother crossed the room until she felt a hand smack the left side of her face. The sudden strike took Loan by surprise as she fell back onto the floor. On reflex, her left hand went up to soothe the pain from the impact, and her eyes began to water.

Loan looked up, shaking in her seat. The face her mother was making was nothing less than pure fury.

"Get up and go to your room. Now."

...

"-tion passengers, we will soon be arriving at Jackson Station, if you have checked baggage you may claim your luggage at-"

The announcement went on as Loan awoke with a headache, having fallen asleep in her seat. She put her hands to her forehead and groaned.

"When did I fall asleep? I haven't been able to sleep all weekend..."

She reached for her bag, opened up the flap and picked up a bottle of asprin. She popped a few into her mouth to soothe her headache. Loan put the bottle back before pulling out folded piece of computer paper. Loan unfolded the paper and looked over the instructions she was given.

"Train – If you are reading this now, you must be on the train, if you are not, then cease reading. Loan, understand that it is too late to turn back now. It may be hard to accept it all at once, but you need to understand that it is too late to run back home. Even if you did, you know what awaits you there. You know that your mother will never tell you the truth. You know that your father is not your real father. You know that you will never feel fulfilled.

The train you are on is taking you to Jackson, Michigan. There you will meet a Ryde driver by the name of Jonathan. He will drive you to the last destination. Do not read on until you're there."

Loan folded the paper and put it back in the bag. She prepared to disembark.

...

As Loan walked out of the station, she saw the sun beginning to set. Michigan's brisk April air gave her a bit of a chill. Loan looked around the parking lot and found a car with the infamous "Catch-A-Ryde!" slogan detailed on the door. She approached the vehicle and the driver stuck his head out.

"Loan Santiago?" he asked with a smile.

Put on the spot and not knowing what to say, Loan just nodded.

"I'm Jon! Thank you for requesting me!"

"Um, no problem."

Jon looked at her bag, "...is that all of your luggage?"

Loan looked down, "I uh, travel light."

Jon nodded, "Yeah, I get that." the back passenger door opened, "Well, hop in! We're wasting daylight!'

Loan hesitated a moment, then quickly got inside, nearly bumping her head on the roof of the door. The door shut behind her, and the car came to life, slowly pulling out of the parking lot. Loan sat back, still feeling exhausted, she rested her eyes again.

...

Loan couldn't sleep, not with all the questions on the forefront of her mind. Who was her father? Why is her mother so adamant on not telling her? The left side of her face was still feeling a bit of a sting.

It wasn't the first time her mother had slapped her, but it certainly was the most painful.

Loan found herself at her computer, trying to find any sort of advice for her situation. She found herself on forums where people were discussing DNA tests and finding biological parents through birth certificates.

Suddenly, a message appeared on her messenger.

"L_DOG says: Good evening."

Loan exited out of the messenger, did she even have it on in the first place? She went back to the forums.

"L_DOG says: Are you there?"

Loan exited out of the messenger again. She knew she had it off. She was starting to get-

"L_DOG says: You cannot ignore me forever Loan Santiago."

Okay, now this person had her attention, "You say: How do you know my name? How are you turning on my messenger?"

"L_DOG says: I have my ways. I see that you are looking for answers. I take it Lori didn't tell you anything?"

"You say: You know my mom? Who are you?"

"L_DOG says: I do. I am only a concerend individual who can help you with what you're seeking."

Loan couldn't believe it. She knew that even responding to this person...whoever they were, was a stupid thing to do. But her curiosity and longing for answers overrode her common sense.

"You say: Do you know my father?"

"L_DOG says: At the most I have a lead. There is a man living in Michigan, his name is Lincoln Loud, he may know more than I do. I can arrange for you to meet him, if you're willing to leave your home on your own accord."

Loan didn't know what to make of that, she hardly ever left the apartment in the first place and this was sounding more and more suspicious. Suddenly, the printer came on and started printing some paper.

"L_DOG says: I am out of time. I'm sending a list of instructions that you must follow to the letter. If you do not wish to follow through with this, destroy them. I won't be able to contact you like this again."

"You say: Wait! Don't go! I still have a lot of questions!"

"L_DOG has left."

Loan looked down at the printed paper, unsure if she should even touch it. Hesitantly, she reached for the instructions and brought it to her, lighting up the words with her monitor's light.

"Loan, I'm sorry that there wasn't much time for formalities, but believe me when I say I'm here to help you. I know of your living situation, and I know there isn't much I can do about it. But what I can do is give you a way out. If you do not wish to leave or find your father, destroy this note. Your mother will not tell you the truth, of that I am certain.

Right now, you need to start packing. Don't pack too much, just enough to get you out on the road like a change of clothes and basic essentials (toothbrush and such). Whatever you do, DO NOT bring your smartphone. Your mother can be track you with it.

Do not read further until 6:00, that's when you need to leave."

Loan stopped reading there. She briefly wondered if it was all just a sick prank or trap by some creeps online who were watching her. Once again, her curiosity took the reins.

...

"We're here!"

Loan woke up in the Ryde car that had come to a complete stop. She looked outside, the sun was gone, night had fallen. She had been asleep for a few hours at least. Loan nevously asked the driver, "Um, where are we?"

Jon looked back at her, a bit puzzled, "Uh, where you told me to take you on the Ryde app? You paid me on there too."

Loan looked down, avoiding his gaze, "O-oh yeah! Sorry, just a bit uh..."

"No worries, I'll get the door for ya."

The backdoor opened and Loan got herself out of the vehicle. The door shut and Jon started the car again, "Have a good night!" he said before driving away.

Loan looked around, almost getting a heart attack. She was standing just outside of a cemetery. The road she was on looked to be a bit of a curve that wrapped around one side of the cemetery and kept going down a hill while the other went right into a woodland area. Loan couldn't hear anything aside from the sounds of what may be frogs and Jon's car. Then the car was gone.

"Okay...calm down...calm down...what does the note say?"

Loan opened her bag and took the note out. She tried reading it in the moonlight.

"Final Stop – If you are reading this now, that means that Jonathan has dropped you off. If this is not the case, then cease reading. Loan, if you got this far then I applaud you, and I'm very happy for you to make it this far. Unfortunately this is as far as I can get you. The rest you'll need to figure out on your own. Follow the white rabbit."

Loan stared blankly at the note for a moment, reading the last sentence a few more times, going over the whole thing one more time to make sure that there wasn't more to it. She then crumbled up the note and threw it on the ground.

"Are you fucking kidding me!" she yelled, "This is just wonderful! Brought here in the middle of damn nowhere with no phone, no idea where I am, and it's dark! Fuck!"

Loan took a deep breath, "Smoke, need a smoke..." she opened up her bag and fished inside for her pack of cigarettes. She found the partially crumbled, half-full pack and took one out, putting it in her mouth. She went back inside the bag to find her matchbook, which wasn't too far from the pack.

The matchbook was empty.

She sighed angrily, "...of course it's fucking empty! Why wouldn't it be!" Loan was nearly screaming at this point, the cigarette fell out of her mouth.

"Hey, you alright?"

Loan jumped a little, she slowly turned to the source of the new voice and saw a little white-haired girl wearing a black hoodie and grey jeans sitting on a low brick wall. The girl was staring at her with dull eyes and a blank face.

"...are you done yelling? You're bothering my friends." the girl asked in a calm, even voice.

The fire of anger died in Loan's chest and she slowly started to shake again, "Oh, uh...yeah. Sorry."

The little girl pulled out a lighter from her hoodie, "Need a light?"

Loan looked at the lighter, feeling a bit more uneasy than before, "Uh, aren't you a bit too young to have that?"

The girl pointed at Loan's feet, "Aren't you a bit too young to have cigarettes?"

Loan looked down at the dropped cigarette, and stomped on it, "Uh, well, you know..."

"Can I have one?"

Loan looked up at her in disbelief, "What?"

The little girl's expression remained blank,"My dad doesn't smoke anymore, and my aunts are away from home. I can't exactly buy or steal any, so can I have one of yours?"

Loan looked down at her bag, contemplating, "Is this kid for real? I really need to smoke, but giving one to a kid seems kinda..."

"Give me one, and I'll light yours for you."

Loan looked back at the girl. Her expression still showed little to no emotion. It was honestly kinda creepy how serious she was acting. Loan slowly put her hand back into her bag and pulled out the pack of cigarettes, "...okay, just one though." she took one cigarette out and handed it to the girl.

"Thank you." the little girl took the cigarette, put the filter in her mouth, and used her lighter to burn the other end.

Loan pulled out another cigarette and put it in her mouth, she put the rest of the pack back into her bag and got closer to the wall. The little girl held out her lighter, and lit Loan's cigarette for her while she held it up.

The two rested on and against the wall, looking over the empty graveyard. The uneasiness Loan felt started to wane, although this girl she'd met still gave her a creepy vibe. She decided to ask the big question on her mind, and took out her cigarette to ask, "What are you doing out so late?"

"I'm visiting my friends with my mom." the girl quickly responded, cigarette still in her mouth.

"Uh...your friends?" Loan didn't see anyone else around.

The girl took out her cigarette, and turned towards Loan, "They're resting now. Your outburst made them uncomfortable."

"...and your mom?"

"What are you doing here?"

Loan's anxiety started to creep up on her, she took a puff from her cigarette before answering, "Oh, well, I'm uh...I just sort of came here to get away from home."

The girl took her cigarette and put it out on the top of the brick wall, "So, what's your name?"

"What's yours?"

"Lupa, Lupa Loud."

The surname rang a few bells in Loan's head, "Loud? Really?"

Lupa shrugged, "Yup."

The name of the man she was looking for echoed in Loan's head, "...do you know a Lincoln Loud?"

Loan could almost swear she saw her face twitch a bit, "Who's asking?"

"Oh, my name is Loan. Loan Santiago."

"Santiago...huh?" Lupa looked away from Loan to her other side.

"...something wrong?" Loan asked.

Lupa kept quiet for a moment, then she nodded, "Okay mom." Lupa then turned back to Loan, "Hey Loan, you want to meet my dad?"

"Huh?" Loan wasn't expecting that question.

"You asked about my dad, you want to see him?"

"Lincoln Loud is her dad? Odd coincidence." Loan thought before nodding.

Lupa jumped off the wall and started walking down the road on the hill, "Follow me."

"Huh?"

Lupa kept walking at a brisk pace, putting a bit of distance between herself and Loan.

"Hey, wait for me!" Loan started jogging after her.

Loan followed the white-haired Lupa down the hill, which lead to a long country road with a lot of fields for growing crops. In the darkness, Loan could make out a few buildings on farmland. They were mainly houses or barns or silos. Lupa kept up her pace, never bothering to slow down or look back to see if Loan was still following her.

They walked for quite a while, Loan losing track of time as she tried to keep behind the quick-footed Lupa. "Have we walked a mile already? How did this little girl walk all the way here by herself?" Loan wondered. Lupa hardly made a sound aside from that of her footsteps on the paved road.

A mile or two later, and Lupa finally turned off the road onto a driveway that led up another hill. Loan looked up and saw a large house at the top of the hill. Loan hesitated to climb the hill, a bit intimidated by the sheer size of the estate, it looked to be two, maybe three stories tall, the front of the house facing the road had stairs that led up to a porch with what looked like wooden furniture and a large wooden double doors.

Lupa seemed to ignore the stairs though, and followed the driveway.

Seeing that she was going to lose sight of the white-haired girl, Loan jogged up the hill to see that the driveway was leading to a garage that was seperate to the house. On the side of the house, Lupa was climbing a stairway that led up to another porch, this one being indoors. There were also two other stairways, one leading up to what looked like a wooden deck that was connected to the house with big wooden walls and a wooden gate while the other seemed to lead downard to another door, possibly to the basement.

"You coming, or what?" Lupa suddenly asked. She was at the top of the steps, just before the single iron door.

"C-coming!" Loan hurried up the steps, Lupa opening the exterior door, then a screen door, entering the porch. Loan entered afterward, before both doors could close on her. She saw Lupa walking to another door and opening it.

"Hey Dad, I'm back." she flatly announced.

"Welcome home sweetie!" Loan heard a warm voice, then saw a tall man with white hair wearing a long-sleeved orange top with navy jeans approach the little girl, patting her head with a smile, "Back so soon?"

Loan eyed this new stranger, he was easily over six feet tall, taller than her or her parents. His white hair was the same color as Lupa's and he even had a bit of a scruff of white hair around his face, chin, and neck. His eyes looked kinda tired, as if he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long while. In the light, she could see freckles on both him and Lupa, she hadn't noticed before.

"I brought home a new friend."

The tall man snickered a bit, "You did? What are they-" he then looked up to see Loan standing in the porch. His smile ran away from his face and his eyes widened in alert. "Lupa, go to your room."

"Okay." Lupa walked past him, Loan could hear a door open and close from inside the house.

Loan's heart started to beat faster. Lupa's father was staring at her with one arm crossing his chest while the other was held up, his fist resting on his chin. Loan wasn't sure what kind of face he was making, but it sure wasn't a welcoming one.

Suddenly, he sighed and lowered his arms before stepping aside, "Well, you'd better come in."

Loan shook a little as she stepped out of the porch and into a kitchen with an island in the middle surrounded by stools, and a counter along the wall below windows that faced the outside of the house and the deck. On the island was a laptop, smartphone, and a cup of what Loan assumed was coffee. The tall man waited for Loan to walk in.

"H-hello. Are you...Lincoln Loud?" Loan hesitantly asked.

The tired tall man with white hair looked at Loan in the eyes, "Yes. I take it you're Lori's daughter, Loan Santiago."

Loan flinched, "How did you know?"

Lincoln looked away and scratched his neck, "Well...I'm your mother's younger brother."

"You're my uncle?"

"...yeah, your uncle." Lincoln sighed and looked back at her, "..okay, what do you want? Why did you come here?"

"I...I'm looking for my father."

Lincoln's eyes widened, "Your father?"

Loan nodded, "I found out that my dad isn't really my dad...I was told that you would know more about him."

"By who?"

Loan looked down, hands folded, "I...I dunno. They called themselves 'L-Dog' or something. They knew my name and your name and helped me get here so I can ask..."

Lincoln scratched his chin, shaking his head, "It couldn't be..."

"So...do you know him? My father?"

The white haired man looked down at Loan for a good part of a minute, then he closed his eyes and sighed, "Yes. I know him."

"You do! Who is he? Where is he? Please, I need to-"

"I promised your mother that I wouldn't tell anyone about him."

Loan's heart sank, she started to breathe a bit faster and gritted her teeth, "No! No you don't! Please, tell me! I didn't come all this way to-"

"Calm down!"

The commanding tone in Lincoln's voice halted Loan's grilling. Her eyes started to water, and her breathing slowed. She lowered herself to the ground, nearly curling into a ball, "Please...please...I need to know."

Lincoln sighed, he couldn't stand watching her like this and crouched down with her, "Listen to me Loan, I promised your mom and I honestly don't want to talk about him. I'm sorry."

Loan just tried to keep breathing. In and out. In and out. She slowly stood back up and Lincoln rose with her, "...what do I do now?" she asked.

Lincoln picked up his smartphone on the table, "Well...I can call your parents, what's their number?"

"No!" Loan smacked the phone away, landing back onto the table, "No! I'm not going back there!"

"What the hell? Wait, don't they know you're here?"

Loan shook her head, "No. No they don't."

Lincoln's face started to fill with worry, "...you ran off?"

Loan nodded.

"Why would you do that?"

Loan started to rub the left side of her face, "I...my mom...I dunno what to really make of her. I don't want to think of her as horrible, but she..." warm water started to drip out of her eyes again, "...she just makes me feel like I'm a mistake. A mistake she made and just wants to sweep it under the rug and forget that it's there."

"...did she hurt you?"

Loan nodded, she looked up again to see that her uncle was tearing up as well.

"...I'm sorry."

Loan looked back down, "...I just don't want to end up like her. I wanted to be like my dad, he was nice but he always seemed kind of...distant. Never really wanting to spend much time with me, and now I know why..."

Lincoln shook his head, he looked out the window. Loan peeked up at him, seeing the conflict on his face. She looked away when he looked back at her, "...okay. It's late, my daughter brought you home, and you don't want me to send you back or even contact your parents. Why don't you stay here for the night at least? I'm going to get in touch with my...uh...my partners, and we'll try to figure out what to do with you."

Loan raised an eyebrow, "Partners? More than one?"

Lincoln sighed, "Yeah."

"Oh." Loan didn't know what to make of that. She had heard of polygamous relationships but this was the first time she met someone who had one. Her own uncle even!

Lincoln started to walk out of the kitchen, "Follow me."

Loan did so and followed Lincoln through a door that led to a large dim-litted room. At the end of the room was another door that Lincoln opened, and turned on the lights. There was a huge TV in the corner of the room closest to the door with a few game consoles in front of it, a large divan couch stretched from one wall of the room, around the corner, and along another wall, and in the center was a coffee table that had a TV remote control along with a bunch of game controllers. Loan's jaw fell in awe.

Lincoln walked inside and approached a chest leaned up against a part of the wall not occupied by the couch and opened it, revealing a bunch of blankets, "Please, take a seat. The others are asleep and I dunno which one would like a roommate so you got the couch for tonight. I hope that's not a problem."

Loan headed for the couch, "N-no, that's okay!" she sat down, then caught onto one of his words, "Others?"

"You'll meet them tomorrow. I promise, they'll make themselves known." Lincoln brought her a blanket and put it around her, he then lifted the TV remote up off the coffee table and handed it to her. "Hey, you're free to make yourself at home, you can even watch TV or play games if you want. Just please don't make a lot of noise."

Loan nodded, taking the remote, "Wow...thank you..."

Lincoln shrugged, "Don't mention it. I'm going to be sleeping in the next room over. Keep it quiet, now."

She nodded again, "O-okay!"

Lincoln nodded a bit, a warm smile forming on his face for a split second, "Alright, I'm gonna get back to work. Have a good night Loan."

Lincoln left the room, turning off the light and shutting the door behind him. Loan sat on the couch, sinking into its soft cushion, and turned on the TV, making sure the volume was down.

It all felt so comfortable, so warm.

So safe.

Loan had stopped shaking.