Lincoln muttered in his sleep and rolled over, bringing Luan out of her reprieve. Though she got a full eight hours' sleep the night before, she was starting to doze, even despite the worry festering in her stomach. She sighed, rubbed her eyes, and rolled her neck. She looked at her phone. It was 11:30. Luna had only been gone fifteen minutes, though it felt more like fifteen hours.

Where are you, Luna? Luan asked, wrapping her arms around her chest. And what are you doing?

She wished Luna told her. As it stood, she was alone with Lincoln behind a flimsy door with a cheap interior lock and something dangerous was out there, it had to be, otherwise Luna wouldn't have told her to lock it.

It was their mother, wasn't it?

Luna might be (have been?) in denial, but Luan was not. Sure, it was a bitter pill to swallow that maybe your mother did something horrible to your brother, but Lincoln didn't wig out over nothing. There was a reason. And what was that reason? Well...he didn't freak when Luna told her to go get Lori, he didn't freak when Leni came in, he didn't freak at her or Luna. He freaked at three simple words: Go get Mom.

He freaked out at the idea of Mom.

Which meant she must have done something to him. That kind of surprised her but at the same time it kind of didn't. Luan (and the others) were often subject to their mother's wrath during her little "moods." She never actually hurt them, but if you looked into her eyes or at her sneering lips, it wasn't a stretch to imagine her throwing a slap or grabbing a handful of hair. But she was different with Lincoln. She treated him like mommy's pet or something. It was actually kind of weird. Almost like...

...Luan shook her head. She looked at her phone again. Nothing. She sat it back down and looked at Lincoln again. Tears ran down his cheeks, and her heart cracked in two. She put her hand on his forehead. Poor Linc. She felt so horrible for him.

"What did she do to you?" she asked herself.

Did she...touch him? Luan shivered. God, what if she did? What if she...did something to him, something...sexual? He was naked when she and Luna found him. She doubted he slept that way: Every time she saw him in the morning, he was wearing underwear, and sometimes she came into his room before he was even out of bed; after all, for some reason it always fell to her to wake him up if need be. Why was he naked?

Goosebumps raced up and down Luan's arms. She picked up her phone, opened her contacts list, and found Luna's number. She pressed the icon and held it to her ear. It rang and rang. Luan knew for a fact that Luna never put her phone on silent; one time she did and lost it, and couldn't find it for three days. If she had it on her, she heard it.

Luan hung up and texted her. Where are you? I'm still with Linc but I'm getting scared. What are you doing?

She set the phone down in her lap.

"No," Lincoln muttered in his sleep, and Luan looked at him. "No...Mom..."

Luan's heart stopped.

In the basement, Rita Loud picked up her daughter's phone and read the text. The only four words that she recognized where I'm still with Linc, and rage swept through her. The sender was little Miss Hike-My-Skirt-Up, and she was fucking Lincoln right now!

Rita flung the phone against the wall, where it shattered, and picked up the sledgehammer: Blood dripped from the metal head, along with flecks of bone and pieces of pink brain matter. No more games...she was going to kill all of them, even if it was the last thing she ever did...

Of all the things to forget, Lucy thought as she sat on the end of the couch in Francine Davis's basement den. She crossed her arms and sighed. Next to her, Tommy Davis, Francine's son, played a handheld game, his lips muttering soundlessly and his eyes scanning the screen. Lucy had always liked Tommy...he was cute for a mortal. He was more interested in video games than girls, though, so she pined from afar. Typical.

How could she forget her notebook? That would be like someone else forgetting to put on pants or a shirt. Without it, she was naked...and bored. Lola, Lana, and Tommy's sisters were sitting in a row on the floor, mesmerized by the TV, where Elsa the Ice Queen spun in a winter wonderland and sang about letting it go. Lisa was off in a corner with her portable chemistry set, mixing strange and potentially dangerous liquids together in what Lucy could only imagine was an attempt to blow the Davis house off the face of the earth.

She drummed her fingers on her elbow and tried to lose herself in her imagination, but couldn't: She was stuck on not having her notebook.

Could she run home and grab it? Her house was only a couple down. There was a chance someone would be there, so the door would be unlocked.

No harm in checking, right? At least it would kill some time.

She got off the couch and went to the sliding glass door. No one noticed her as she slipped outside and shut the door behind her. She went around the side of the house (ducking below the windows so Francine wouldn't see her), and hurried down the sidewalk, throwing nervous glances over her shoulder. She was proud of her stealth level; she was as good as that guy from Assassin's Creed. Heck, she was stealthy without even trying to be: Twenty times a day she scared her siblings into the stratosphere just by walking up to them. She honestly didn't do it on purpose, she was just quiet.

When she reached her house, she paused for a moment and studied it. The windows were dark and an air of darkness hung over it that was so thick it was almost choking. She thought of Lynn and her mother. Mom was lying about Lynn. She was certain of it. She wondered if they had an argument and Lynn ran away, and Mom was lying because she didn't want Lynn back. Or maybe Mom made her leave.

A tiny voice in the back of her head told her to turn around and go back to Francine's house. She could occupy her time with trying to get Tommy Davis to notice her.

If something was wrong, though, she had to know; her brother and sisters might need her.

Mind made up, she hurried down the walkway to the porch and climbed the stairs, her heart inexplicably pounding. She opened the door and went in, closing it behind her. Tomb-like silence hung over the house like a funeral shroud. Lucy stood in the foyer for a moment, looking around. Was anyone even here?

She went to the bottom step and laid her hand on the railing. She cocked her head and listened.

Nothing.

She started to ascend, but something dropped onto the floor in the kitchen, and she jumped. She backed up and craned her neck around the bannister. The living room and kitchen both stood empty.

Or so it seemed.

She stepped off of the tread and started through the living room. "H-Hello?" she called, surprised to find her voice weak and trembling.

No one replied. The kitchen was desolated, bathed in warm sunlight. She reached the threshold, and suddenly something was arching down. It hit her in the stomach, and agony exploded within her. She flew back in a sideways V and hit the floor, grayness stealing over her vision. The thick, coppery taste of blood filled her mouth.

Her mother's face appeared over her, her eyes wide and staring and her hair stuck out at crazy angles. "You bitch..." Mom spat, and wrapped her hands around Lucy's throat. Adrenaline shot through Lucy as she realized what was happening, and her heart started pounding. She tried to move her legs, but they were numb.

Panicking, she grabbed her mother's hands and dug her nails into her flesh. Mom's grip only tightened. "He's mine..." she growled, spittle spraying Lucy's face.

I'm going to die, she realized then, tears springing to her eyes. She'd talked her entire life about the sweet release of death, but in that horrible moment she didn't want to die; she wanted to live, to fall in love, to marry, and to have children. She wanted to feel the warm light of the sun against her skin, to taste the rain on her tongue, to eat ice cream with her brother and sisters and to show them the love that she felt but didn't often display.

She wanted a lot of things, but death was spreading blackly over her, and she could feel herself sinking, the wild, desperate pounding of her lungs and heart fading, fading.

A spasm ran through her body, and her bladder released.

She knew now what happened to Lynn...and was she hallucinating, or was that her big sister in the gathering haze...her smile wide and her eyes warm?

Lucy reached out to her, and the last sensation she ever felt was Lynn's hand in her own.

Upstairs, Luan covered her quivering lips as Lincoln trembled beneath the blankets. "Please, Mom, don't..." he whispered, and started to cry. "Please don't..."

A vise of horror squeezed Luan's lungs. She tried to take a deep breath, but her chest ached. Their mother did do something to him. She hurt him. Hot tears filled Luan's eyes. His face was pale, drawn, his eyes closed tight. He looked so small and pitiful. How could she? How fucking could she? Luan reached out and touched her brother's arm, and he let out a strangled cry. He tried to scoot away from her.

"It's okay, Linc," Luan said quickly, her voice thick with tears, "it's just me, Linc, Luan, your sister. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise, I would never hurt you."

She had to tell someone. Lori. Or Leni. Lori. Pull it together, Lori, we need you. She picked up her phone, but dropped it when the doorknob rattled.

"Lincoln?"

Luan's heart stopped.

It was Mom.

"Lincoln...unlock this door right now!"

Next to her, Lincoln stiffened and his eyes flew open.

The knob rattled again, harder this time. "Goddamn it, Lincoln, let me in!"

When something (a fist?) pounded against the door, Luan let out a tiny squeak.

"You are in there, you little whore!" Mom screamed. Next to Luan, Lincoln sat bolt upright, his face a mask of terror. He scooted up until his back was against the headboard, and Luan shot her hand out, grazing his chest. "I-It's okay, Linc," she stammered, "I won't let her hurt you."

Mom slammed the door again. It shuddered in its frame. "Right goddamn now, let me the fuck in, you fucking cheap shank!"

"Go away!" Luan cried. She hoped to sound tough, instead it came out as a sob.

"You can't have my Lincoln! He's mine! Mine! Mine!"

For a second, nothing happened, then something crashed into the door, and it cracked. Lincoln screamed in terror and pulled his knees to his chest. She had to do something. She looked around for a weapon, something, anything she could defend herself with. The only thing even close was the alarm clock on the nightstand, which she snatched up just as another crash came. Something came through the wood, and splinters showered the carpet. Lincoln was shaking like a leaf, his head buried in his arms.

Mom wrenched the hammer back, and shoved her face into the opening. When Luan saw her narrowed eyes and ugly sneer, her blood ran cold and she froze where she was. Mom's eyes scanned the room, then fell on her; Luan could swear she actually felt them: Cold, hard, sharp. "You..." Mom snarled.

Leni's voice drifted down the hall. "What's going on?"

Mom turned. "Get back in your room, you little bitch!"

Leni uttered a high-pitched scream, then the sound of a slamming door filled the house. Freed from her mother's mad gaze, Luan came alive, pushing herself off the bed. Mom's face appeared in the gap again, and when it did, Luan surprised herself by winding up and throwing the clock. It soared through the air and connected with Mom's face, driving her back with a shriek of rage.

Luan looked jerkily around. They were trapped. There was no way...

The window! It was right above the nightstand. She could get Lincoln out and...

Behind her, the door exploded open, and Luan spun with a scream. Her mother stood there, huffing, her eyes wide with insanity and her teeth bared. Blood trickled from her nose. The hammer was gone. In her hand she held a knife. Lincoln howled and Luan stumbled back against the nightstand.

"You little cunt," her mother said, coming forward like a lioness moving in for the kill. "He's mine!"

Luan had never been more terrified in her life: It was as though she had turned to jelly...cold, cold jelly. Her mother grabbed her by her ponytail and yanked. Luan screeched and failed her arms.

"Stop!" Lincoln sobbed. "Please stop!"

Mom's eyes flashed and an evil smile crossed her face. "He's mine, Luan..." she raised the knife, and Luan started to cry.

"Let her go!"

Through blurred eyes, Luan saw Lori, a baseball bat in her hands. Her brows were angled down. Leni was behind her, looking afraid. Mom shoved Luan away and turned; Luan fell to the floor in a heap and wept.

"What do you think you're doing, Lori?" Mom asked dangerously. She started forward.

"Stay away!" Lori said. "I'll hit you!"

Mom giggled evilly. "You wouldn't hit me...I'm your mother." She took another step forward, and Lori fell back, bumping into Leni. Mom gripped the knife and held it at her waist, the blade pointing at Lori. "You know all about being a mother, don't you? Pregnant with my son's child!"

Lori blinked. What? She gripped the bat tighter. Her knees were shaking and her bowels were loose. She wasn't a weak girl, but in that moment she felt very weak...very shaky.

"You all thought you could have him, but he's mine! He's mine!" Mom leapt forward, and, with a cry, Lori brought the bat around: It smashed into the side of Mom's head with a sickening crack, and she toppled over, crashing into the wall and hitting the floor with a thud.

On his bed, Lincoln rocked back and forth, tears streaming from his eyes. Luan wept into the carpet, her body prostrate. Leni started to cry too. Lori dropped the bat. Her mind was fuzzy and she was numb. Sit down. She needed to sit down.

From the floor, Mom moaned and rolled onto her back. The side of her head was caved in, and blood soaked into the carpet. Her chest rose and fell spasmodically. She flopped her head to one side, and fixed Lincoln with her dying gaze. "My...Lincoln..." she muttered. "you belong...to me."

One look in his shattered, empty eyes, and his sisters knew it was true. He did belong to her.

And he always would.

Ten miles away, at Royal Woods General Hospital, Lynn Loud Sr. came awake.

And started to drool.

There were many times when writing this story that I sat back, read over what I had, and said, "Jesus, Flagg, you're a monster." There were a couple times I teared up, and I'm a steely son of a bitch...Lucy's scene in this chapter especially made me sad.

Anyway, my next story will be happier, I promise. It's called "We Love Our Brother" and the first chapter will be up sometime this afternoon. Hope to see you there.