Point of Departure (TLH)

A Lincoln Loud sat alone on a snow-covered bench; glaring at his watch. He counted the ticks and the tocks, each one bringing a knot to his stomach. He felt nauseous, as if he was about to ask a girl he’d never talked to before to a date. But this date was bound to end in disaster. It would be a date with a girl whose presence he dreaded with a passion that would put any artist or writer he ever knew to shame. It was a ‘date’ with Carol Pingrey, the girl who had been tormenting several of his elder sisters ever since they entered high school.

  A little less than thirty minutes ago, he broke into his sister’s high school and planted a note on Carol’s locker. Well... he politely asked the lady at the Visitor’s center if he could go visit his sister, and then went rogue. From what he had learned from his sisters, Lincoln was easily able to navigate the hallways and find the locker that belonged to the esteem queen of their school. It turned out that Linc could have easily found it by himself, however, as it was perhaps the most bedazzled hunk of metal he had ever seen.  Lincoln struggled to find a bare spot to put the note, eventually opting to place it right over the nameplate that read ‘Carol W. Pingrey’. He pressed his hand against it to smooth out the creases, and then double-checked his spelling and wording.

	‘Meet me at the Bench where Fairview Rd. and Sixty-Sixth Avenue meet. We have business to discuss – Mr. Lincoln L.’

It was short, simple, and professional. Just the way Lincoln liked it. It was only in hindsight that Lincoln realized putting a time to meet at would have been a good idea. His lack of thought resulted in his current predicament; waiting in the cold without knowing how long he should stay or when to call it quits.  The ticks and tocks began to dull as his brain began to replay recent events involving his sisters.

Lincoln recalled how two weeks ago, Leni had come home crying with a near broken nose.  Leni said she just walked into a wall again, just a little harder than usual; but Lincoln knew better. His sources, as well as Lori, told him otherwise. She had anonymously entered in a state-wide contest, one involving the arts. She had put in weeks of work into creating a two-foot tall oak statue modeling it after a picture of Luna at a concert. Spent nearly ninety bucks out of pocket for the tools and supplies to compete too; even went to the effort of making miniature replicas of her outfit to boot!  However, Leni being the way she was, in a moment of carelessness let word of her endeavor slip to the wrong friend.

The very next day, when Leni brought in her project to ask their woodworking teacher for help, Carol had ‘accidentally’, and very roughly, bumped into Leni while she was on the stairs. Her little bump sent Leni down two flights of stairs straight onto her face. While Leni was lucky to get out with only a screwed up nose; her Oak Luna wasn’t as fortunate. Her statuette had snapped into dozens of little pieces.  Then Carol had the audacity to call Leni a clumsy bitch before leaving; then gave her a swift kick to the side for good measure on her way out. When the teachers confronted any of the students who were there about it, each one said that Leni was the one at fault. Not a one saw Carol nearly shove his sister down the two flights of stairs or kick her while she was down.

Carol had instigated many incidents like this involving most of his elder sisters.  For starters, she had sabotaged many of Luna’s attempts at starting a band. Gotten their instruments smashed, spread nasty rumors about anyone she came in contact with, among other things. Carol did the same to several of Luan’s gigs too, either breaking her props or pulling fire alarms to clear out everyone whenever she was starting to get in the zone. She was also behind those nights where Lori came home late with her hair and clothes in tatters, nights Lincoln had yet to build the courage to ask about. And these were just the things he knew about. The more Lincoln dwelled on what he knew the stronger the pain in his heart grew; his anxiousness continued to rise as he worried about what could befell his sisters if this ended up only making Carol angry.

The sounds of a girl giggling nearby broke Lincoln away from his thoughts. His head swerved to the left to see Carol standing over him. Once their eyes met the she took a seat next to him, and Lincoln’s unease spiked instantly. He could barely keep his eyes on her she was so beautiful. Despite his hate of the girl it took all his mental fortitude to keep himself from falling into a limp puddle like his sisters did at the sight of Hugh.  Carol smiled at the sight of the flushed boy and then shoved her hands into her jacket pocket, bringing out a note.

“You wouldn’t happen to be the one who left this on my locker?” She asked before crumpling it up and throwing it to the shrubs behind them. “Sorry cutie, but if you’re here to ask me to a date then you better look in a mirror; I only date boys who are thiiiiis tall and handsome!” She said while raising her hand up, gesturing to somewhere in the six-foot range. “Though maybe if you were a few years older I coulda said sure, you totally look like someone with hottie potential!”  The girl spoke while putting her hands over lincoln’s face. She inspected him as if she were checking an exotic animal for any deformities or wounds that would damage its value.  She roughly jerked his head around as she inspected his face and neck, then let him go and brought her hands back to her pockets. “Oh sorry, you probably want a chance to woo me with poetry or something before getting rejected right? Go ahead!” Once she was quiet, a smile formed on her face that radiated a level of innocence that would put Lily to shame. It took Lincoln a solid twenty seconds to recoil and recover from the dysfunction between how she spoke and the appearance she gave off. Carol's head jerked to the left, and then the right as she checked their surroundings. Lincoln's eyes followed hers and found that the roads were both completely devoid of life.

“Actually Miss Carol…I-I’m here to talk about my sisters.” Lincoln replied, trying his damndest to keep his cool. “D-Do you know who I’m talking about?” He stuttered and broke eye-contact while speaking, but went back to meeting her eyes once he spoke. Carol’s innocent smile twisted to a deformed and malicious grin. Lincoln couldn’t help but notice how sharp her teeth looked when she smiled, or how easy it was for her to go from innocent and beautiful to…this.

“Are you referencing the slut who thinks she’s my ‘rival’? Or do you mean that monkey-looking bitch who couldn’t tell a joke to save her life?” Lincoln winced visibly as Carol spoke, a sight that sent the girl into a short giggling fit. “Oh wait, you wouldn’t happen to be related to that one Leni girl would you? Now she’s a nutcase if I’ve ever seen one! You ever see her in school? Even the teachers get embarrassed when she tries to help out! You’d be amazed at the hoops people would jump through to avoid having to do projects with her! Dumbest shit I’ve ever met!”

Lincoln couldn’t even speak more than once in the conversation and he was already on the verge of wailing. Just hearing someone talk trash like that about his sisters made him angry and uncomfortable, but with Carol he couldn’t help but be wracked with despair. Lincoln sniffled and did his best to hold back the tears; something that Carol took great joy in seeing. “So, which one was it? None of the above? Was it Luna? You know how ugly she looks when she cries? The way her face scrunches up and twists looks so awful! No grace at all!” With that, Carol took her right arm and slung it over Lincoln’s shoulder, bringing their heads together. The dam Lincoln had tried to build cracked, and the tears began to flow.

“Now if you’re here to tell me off about those people who bully that little dyke of yours I’ll have you know only half of it was my fault. I guess the cheerleaders had a bone to pick with her; they were the ones that wrote all the nasty stuff about her…and broke her stuff. I just tagged along and took pictures of it! Wanna see?”

Before Lincoln could turn his head or avert his eyes, her phone found its way in front of his face. She forced it right in front of him as she flicked through all of the photographs she had. Each photo was of Lynn’s locker and equipment, which she paid for herself, broken and covered in nasty sloppily written slurs. “This one’s hard to read, but I’m pretty sure it says ‘Eat dickcheese you pathetic cunt’. Oh and this one’s pretty good too!” Carol flicked her thumb to the right while forcing the phone even closer to lincoln’s face.

This time it was a video of some girl stomping on a soccer-ball shaped trophy, heavily denting it. Incoherent shouting could be heard in the background as another girl joined in and punted the trophy against a wall, breaking the base of it in two. The video ended and then auto-looped, but when it started again Carol was quick to pause it and pull away from Lincoln.

“Oh I’m sorry for going on a tangent there. You wanted to say something?” Carol asked, her grin fading back into an innocent and beautiful smile. She gingerly brushed a few stray hairs from in front of her face as she laid back into the bench, waiting for Lincoln to speak.

Lincoln gulped, and brought his wrist to his face to wipe away a few tears. He sniffled, and then turned towards Carol to look her in the eyes. He felt his heart twist and churn in his chest as anxiousness overwhelmed him, he could feel each of beating of his heart like it was a blacksmith pounding at an anvil.

“… sisters alone.” Lincoln mumbled, barely able to get two words out while under the weight that was Carol’s gaze.

“Huh? Could you repeat that?” Carol leaned in close, her smile forming back into a sinister grin.

“Please leave my sisters alone!” Lincoln shouted at Carol as he grabbed at one of her hands, squeezing it tightly. Carol returned Lincoln’s gesture in kind, taking her spare hand and wrapping it around the young boy’s.

“And If I don’t? What’ll you do then?” Carol asked, giving lincoln’s hands a tight squeeze. He could feel his bones cramp in his hand as they were forced together by her iron grip.

“Please! I’ll do anything you want! Just leave my sisters alone!” Lincoln continued to beg as the trail of tears down his face began to grow. “I don’t have much money but…” Lincoln shook his hands free from Carol’s and then put them into his jeans. He swiftly brought out his wallet, which was full of single dollar bills and quarters, all of which he poured out onto Carol’s lap. “I have some c-comics that might be worth a lot! I have a first edition copy of Ace Savvy versus the Punny Dead! That’s worth at least fifty now! I have some consoles I can sell as well or give to any of your friends if you want. I-I-I can –“

Carol rested a finger against Lincoln’s mouth. Lincoln was quick to pick up the message and shushed himself, only letting out little whimpers and sniffles as he tried to best to keep himself from wailing. With her spare hand she slowly scooped up the money Lincoln poured onto her lap and dropped it onto his.

“Did I mention how adorable you look when you cry yet? Your sisters could learn a thing or two from you!” She moved her finger away from his mouth and then gestured to the money she dumped back into his lap. “Please, take this back. If there’s one thing I don’t want, its money. Daddy already gives me an allowance that would put your dad’s paycheck to shame!” Carol let out a terrible cackle while Lincoln slowly and sloppily dumped the money he let out onto Carol back into his wallet.

“However, you said you’d be willing to do anything? Is that right?” She asked once Lincoln finished putting everything back to where it should be.

“Y-Yes! Anything!” Lincoln shouted. Hope filled his voice and actions, the young boy now gave off an aura of determination and confidence. He would do anything he could to make this girl leave his sisters alone. No matter how much it hurt or how long it took.

“Hmmmmmm...” Carol put both her hands in her lap and leaned back and forth in her seat. After swinging back and forth for a minute and silence she brought one of her hands to her mouth, and imitated the thinking man. “Hmmmmmm…” She pondered loudly, puffing out her cheeks slightly as she continued to think.

“I’ve got it! Hey Lincy…mind if I call you Lincy?” Carol turned to Lincoln and asked, then kept talking before he had the chance to reply. “Have you ever been interested in hypnosis? I know I’ve always wanted to try it out, but my friends were all too scared to do it, that or they laughed it off like it was some sort of joke.” Carol let out another heavy sigh before leaning forward. “Would you be a dear and let me try it out on you? I’ll consider letting your sisters be if you play along.”

“Of course! I’ll do it!” Lincoln leaned forward while replying. “When do you want to start?”

“Now!” Carol shouted full of energy. “Though, before we get started…” Carol took a look across the street the bench was placed, once, then two times. They were still completely alone in this snow-covered road. Once she was sure it was clear, she took out a golden pocket watch from inside of her purse. She dangled it in front of Lincoln before speaking.

“Focus your eyes on the watch, do not let them stray.” Carol began as she slowly began to wave the watch back and forth; mimicking a pendulum in its movement. Lincoln sat still as he followed the make shift tool’s movement, flowing left and right, left and right.

“Now Lincy, focus on my voice. Watch the watch sway left and right…back and forth…” Carol slowly repeated the phrase as she gently dangled the watch in front of the boy. Lincoln’s body occasionally twitched as his followed the watch, but even that began to slow as his eyes continuously followed the tool.

“Good boy…Now, breathe in and out. Slowly In….slowly...out.” Carol guided his breathing, bringing it to a very calm and sluggish rhythm. “Remember, focus on the watch. See it sway left and right…back and forth…”

“Now, with every swing of the watch you will feel your thoughts slowly leave you. Your body is less and less your own. Every time you exhale you find yourself feeling more obedient, willing to do as I say. Now, watch the pendulum swing left and right…back and forth.”  Lincoln’s neck and arms twitched as Carol spoke, but his eyes continued to follow the watch.

“Good boy. Now, keep breathing in and out… Slowly in….Slowly…out…” Carol continued the process of guiding Lincoln’s breathing, alternating between that and telling him to keep his eyes on the watch as it swayed left and right. Nearly seven minutes passed until she began to quiet, and just let the watch sway left and right without speaking a word. Lincoln’s body didn’t move at all, he even stopped twitching. A small strand of drool oozed from his mouth as he watched the makeshift pendulum way.

“When I snap twice Lincy, your will be fully entranced and lose all conscious thought. While entrance, you will only obey me and my commands.” Carol spoke softly as she slowly halted the pendelums movement. Once it came to a near-complete stop, she brought her spare hand in front of Lincoln’s face. His eyes instantly focused on her. Once she had his attention Carol snapped twice. Lincoln’s breathing and his eye’s focus slightly shifted, but otherwise remained the same as when he focused on the watch.

“…Hey Lincy.” Carol waved her hand in front of his face. “If your faking this I’m gonna be totally pissed!” Carol shook his body violently, causing the bench to shudder as she pushed him back and forth. “Lincoln if you're fuckin’ with me, fess up! If I find out in two or three minutes you're just pretending, your sisters will have hell to pay!” With that, Carol brought up her hand, then slapped Lincoln across the face with all her strength. The resounding smack the hit left behind could've been heard out to thirty feet easy. Instantly she felt her hand pounding with pain, and she let out a little whimper as she brought it back and waited for the shock to pass. While doing so, her eyes fell over Lincoln’s face. His nose was now leaking blood, and his face already looked swollen. Yet his eyes remained unfocused and breathing unaltered.

Carol swiftly brushed the end clothe of her sleeves against Lincoln’s face, quickly and sloppily wiping up the blood. For another thirty seconds she brushed her sleeve across his nose in order to soak up all the blood the boy let out. Though the flow quickly subsided, and once it was over Carol brought her face over to the boy and gave him a quick peck on each of his cheeks. “Sorry for doubting you Lincy!” Again, Lincoln gave no response.

“Lincy, stand up!” Carol shouted, testing the boy’s trance. Lincoln quickly stood up from the bench and faced forward. “Turn around!” She shouted again, and Lincoln obeyed.

“What’s your name?” The boy stood still, not making a single noise or movement.

“Tell me your name.” Carol repeated, altering the phrasing of the question into a command.

“Lincoln Loud.” He spoke. As Carol had expected, his voice was near-monotone. He talked without an ounce of emotion or feeling in his voice.

“Sit over here!” Carol commanded Lincoln, while gesturing to her lap. Lincoln obeyed, and turned around while planting his rear on her. She wrapped his arms around him and rested her head atop of his, then put her mouth next to his ear.

“Now, tell me about your sisters.”

Two hours flew by in the blink of an eye. Carol prodded and poked at Lincoln’s mind, slurping up everything she could think to ask and more. Towards the end, she also took pleasure in adding little clauses and triggers in his mind. Even she took a pang of guilt from the actions she performed as she molded Lincoln’s mind into something that would cause him so much pain, but at the same time she couldn’t have been having more fun.

“And now for the finishing touches…” Carol mumbled to herself as she added a last few notes to her phone. A few swift clicks later and her phone nearly flew back in her Jacket pocket. “…Now Lincy… Whenever I snap twice, like I did earlier, you will enter this trance again. If I snap twice while you are inside of this trance, you will return to your normal self. Now…wake up!”  Carol put her hand in front of the boy and let out another two swift snaps in succession.

The glazed over look in Lincoln’s eyes faded as his breathing began to pick up. Then, once his eyes found purpose, he leaned back in his seat and put a hand to his mouth. He trembled slightly as he resisted the urge to throw up and hurl out today’s two earlier meals.
“There there, it should pass shortly…” Carol half-heartedly comforted the boy as she slowly maneuvered him off of her, helping him into the set directly to the right of her. “…well. It’s about time I head home. Why don’t we meet here again tomorrow, same time? Sounds like a date!” Carol brushed her fingers through Lincoln's hair before turning around. She walked down the road home; performing her own exit stage left.

Meanwhile, Lincoln’s body began to recover from the sudden bout of nausea. He stood up, and took the time to gather his bearing. His head was spinning, and it took a little longer then he would have liked for it to stop. Though eventually he was able to regain his bearings, and the moment he could walk straight he made a bee line straight home.

Aside from a few stray patches of slippery ice, Lincoln managed to get home in one piece. He opened the doors to the house, checked left and right, and, once he was sure the coast was clear, bounded straight to his room. The second he cleared the threshold he brought the door to a close behind him; locking it in the process.

He heard the click of the lock behind him, and then relaxed. He threw himself onto his bed and stared at the ceiling, replaying today’s events in his mind’s eye. As the footage played his electronic clock caught his eye; the time was seven-fifty. Yet Lincoln could only remember up to around four-thirty. Memories of the watch, meeting Carol, all of it flew through his head. Yet there was a two hour gap that he couldn’t remember. He put his hands to his head and desperately tried to search, to find an excuse. Though the more he searched the more and more the answer became clear. It worked, Carol did it. She got in his head. For two hours she pried and prodded at his mind. What did she know? What did she see? What did she change? Lincoln sat in his bed and worried, trying his best to keep himself calm. Could Hypnosis even work like that?

As he sat on his bed and pondered, there was a heavy knock at the door. Lincoln turned over on his bed to gaze at the entrance, but otherwise did nothing about it. The knocking quickly stopped, and the sounds were replaced with that of someone exploring the vents above. Two minutes later, his vent was slung open to the side as a dark and gothic little girl fell from the ceiling and onto his bed.

“Why’s your door locked Lincoln? You know Mom and Dad don’t like it when you do that.”  She asked as she shuffled around some papers she brought in with above with her.

“I’m sorry, just needed some time to myself. Thanks for knocking by the way.” Lincoln retorted, gesturing with his head towards the door. Hoping Lucy would understand his gesture.

She did not.

"I've written a few poems Lincoln, would you like to read them with me?" Lucy asked with a soft smile visible on her face. "I'm certain they would impress even the greatest of those who reside in the abyss... please?" She pushed her paperwork forward, looking expectantly at Lincoln.
He sighed, and then smiled back as he grabbed the paperwork from his younger sister. As he held them in his hands, he saw that the four pages she had given him were covered almost entirely in poetry. He would have to compliment her on her dedication later, but now he must read. So he brought up the first page to his face and as he began to read the first line he froze in place.

Lincoln’s arms and neck twitched and he jerked in place. Lincoln slowly brought the paperwork away from his face and then put both of his hands on the side, where they were all bound together with a crudely attached pair of staples. Once both of his hands were on it, he swiftly tore all four sheets of paper into two. And then tore them into four. Lucy didn’t make a peep, but her gaping mouth and the way she leaned back told Lincoln all he needed to know.

“Is this really all you have Lucy? This is already the worst stuff you’ve ever made!”
Once Lincoln was done tearing apart her work he dumped the chunks of paper onto her lap, and then pointed towards the door.
“Make sure to lock it again on your way out.”

Lucy sat in shock, and then gathered all of the paper pieces she could before making her way to the door. Tears quietly fell from her face as she looked away from Lincoln. Meekly hiding herself, she tried pitifully to hide her contorted, tear filled face. In one quick motion she unlocked, opened it, and then re-locked it as it slammed shut behind her.  He heard his sister’s muffled sobs once the door was closed, and then footsteps that trailed away in a hurry.

Lincoln couldn’t believe himself. What the hell just happened? Lincoln looked down at his arms, and the three extra pieces of paper Lucy hadn’t managed to grab in her hurry to leave.  Disgust filled Lincoln; he didn’t have the energy to deny what this encounter meant. Carol definitely screwed with him. Nauseousness filled the boy, he needed fresh air. He needed to take a very long walk, and figure out how he could fix this. With that in mind, Lincoln threw on his winter-jacket and ran out his room and down the hall. He barreled out the front door and took a right, heading nowhere in particular.

His parents weren’t home at the time, which was great. As they wouldn’t have let him outside at this time of day under any circumstances, and they also wouldn’t have let Lincoln do anything after hearing about what he did to Lucy. So Lincoln walked, and he thought. Simulations flew through his mind as he tried again to figure out what Carol had planted in his head. Would this happen every time he saw Lucy? Just when he read her Poetry? What if she read it aloud? The devil was in the details, and Lincoln didn’t even have the contract.

Lincolns head was a swimming pool of thoughts, none of which could swim. Every time he tried to figure out what she had done, the complete lack of information he had quickly caused the idea to be drowned out.  The sound of bike-bells also drowned out Lincoln’s thoughts. He brought his face up from facing the ground and saw one of his older sisters, Lynn, riding towards him on her bike. “Hey Lincoln!” She shouted while bringing her bike to a stop besides him.

“What are you doing out so late?” Lincoln asked, taking three steps away from her.  “It’s nearly eight!”

“Football practice went on little longer than expected. And I should be asking you that! Its dangerous out this time of night!” She retorted, drawing closer to her brother. “Come on, I got room on this bike for one more, lets head home!” She latched her arms around Lincoln’s neck and gave him a noogie while dragging him to her bike.

Lincoln twitched again, jerking in place. Then suddenly, his fist flew into Lynn’s gut, knocking the wind of out her.

“Wha –“ Lynn tried to speak, but Lincoln brought his fist to her stomach again, this time causing her to double over in pain.

“I hate it when you do that!” Lincoln shouted while trying to escape his sister’s grasp. Her arm was locked around him though, and he couldn’t get her to budge.

“And I hate it when you do THAT!” she shouted as her grip around him intensified. Lincoln threw another blow at Lynn, though this time though she was prepared, and it had nowhere nearly as much impact as the previous two.
With the third blow landing, Lincoln could feel something snap inside Lynn. Her grip around his neck tightened to a painful degree, and she began to lay on blows against his stomach in return. Soon Lincoln could barely stand as she repeatedly pounded her fist into his stomach. He dropped onto his knees as Lynn started to hit against his sides and his chest as well, only stopping once Linc fell to his side.

“Don’t do that again Lincoln, now, it’s time to head home.” Lynn put her hand out in front of him, offering to help him back up. In a show of good faith, Lincoln took her hand and let her bring him to his feet. Then, he sucker punched his sister across the jaw. Lynn swore under her breath, and then returned the blow once more. Soon the two of them brought each other to the ground as they both did their best to injure and lay waste to the other. Soon it became clear that Lynn was going to win, however, as once again Lincoln was the one to fall. This time though, Lynn continued to beat Lincoln once he was down, and only stopping once his nose began to leak blood once again.

Lynn would then silently return to her bike and headed back to the Loud residence; leaving Lincoln alone on the ground covered in bruises and blood.

It took a great amount of willpower from Lincoln to bring his body up to the standing position once his sister had gone. He found himself with a minor limp and he slowly traced his sister’s tracks back home; cursing all the while about how terrible of an idea this walk was.

Although Lincoln thought about how horrible the walk was, he couldn’t help but be satisfied with today overall. If Lynn’s wrath and Lucy’s tears was all it would take to quell Carol, Lincoln would let them hate despise. He already began to form ideas for presents he should get the both of them when this all ended. Granted, Lucy’s trust would not be something he might get back soon, but it was worth it for the safety and happiness of five elder sisters.

So Lincoln made the slow limp home, coming to terms with the fact that tomorrow everything could make everything shift back to normal. The rest of his walk was uneventful, boring even. When he reached the Loud residence and came in through the doors he saw that Luna, Leni, and Lori were all together watching TV. The others were nowhere to be seen. As he passed through the doorway, he could feel their gazes rest on him, and he could feel their wrath. As Luna began to stir from her seat, Lincoln dashed from the doorframe downstairs too his room.  Once he was inside, he locked the door and rested against it, waiting. One minute passed, then three, and then then five. No one knocked, no one shouted for him to come downstairs. Usually his parents would have shouted him down by now if they needed to talk to him, but the house remained silent. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to believe they told their others sisters, and not their parents what transpired.

After the danger of being confronted by his family had passed, Lincoln stripped. He threw his shirt onto a nearby laundry heap and walked to his mirror, gauging the damage Lynn had done to him. His chest and arms were covered with different colored welts and goose eggs, and simply lifting his arms caused some of them to ache violently.His right eye was also discolored and bruised. Great. He figured this would take four to five days to recover from at the very least, another small price to pay for her happiness.

Lincoln checked his electronic clock again, the small device read that it was currently nine-twenty. It was time for bed; something felt he had been looking forward too much more than usual. He quickly stripped off the rest of his clothes and jumped onto his bed, waiting for sleep’s sweet embrace.  Sleep found Lincoln and he rested, looking forward to tomorrow events as his consciousness faded.
Morning came and it was pleasantly uneventful. The family shared waffles with sides of strawberries and chatted, though the chatter was a little less active than usual. Lucy refused to make eye-contact with Lincoln the entire morning, and the few times Lincoln was around Lynn she didn’t stay around him for long. Lincoln didn’t want to push it, and didn’t bring anything up.

Lincoln was one of the first to finish his meals, and was one of the first out the door. He rushed from his home and straight to school, hoping to avoid any potential confrontations post-meal. On his way towards school he ran into Clyde, and they performed their daily morning routine of guessing what the school day was going to be like. Although Lincoln made sure to steer Clyde from talking about Lori, he didn’t want to talk about his family at all that morning. Though it may be mentally exhausting, Lincoln could steer conversations with his friend away from certain topics. Something he loathed to do, both because it wasn’t too fun and because it was a drain on his psyche.

They reached school without incident, and met up with Liam at the gates. The moment Liam saw Lincoln; the boy gave Lincoln a playful tackle. Nothing too different than usual, but the moment Lincoln saw his hand he broke into a cold sweat.  Lincoln tried his best to break free from his friend, and nearly threw Liam off of him.

“Wow Linc what’s the prob? It’s just a noogie!” He said before tightening his grasp over the boy and bringing his hand to his head. Lincoln prepared for the worst and flinched as he felt the boy’s fist brushed against his nead. Lincoln squirmed, as his friend but-not-for-long noogie’d Lincoln.

Lincoln squirmed, and then went limp. Resigning himself to his fate, Lincoln let his friend do what he pleased before letting him go. Lincoln fell limp to the floor and waited for the hypnosis to kick in….

“Hey, uh Lincoln, you ok?” Liam bent over Lincoln and prodded his shoulder. Nothing happened.

Nothing happened? The thought brought Lincoln to his feet nearly instantaneously. Nothing happened!

“Do it again Liam!” Lincoln shouted as his friend. Liam returned lincoln’s bizarre request with an uncomfortable gaze, and then gave Lincoln another noogie. Once again, Lincoln wasn’t forced to punch his friend in the gut.

“Thanks dude!” Lincoln gave him a bear-like hug before skipping to his locker and then to class.

To his relief, Lincoln’s morning classes passed by without a hitch. No torn paperwork, and no broken noses to be seen anywhere. During Lunch Clyde had to do stay over with Ms. Johnson to work on a project he was running late on, so Lincoln ate with Liam and company. It also turned out that Ronnie was sick, something Lincoln was secretly happy about. The only class that ended up giving Lincoln a scare was English, due to Ms. Johnson’s sudden interest in sixteenth century poetry. However, even that failed to give Lincoln a reaction. Knowing that poetry outside of Lucy’s wouldn’t give him the jump gave him a feeling of peace.  Though he wouldn’t enjoy following through, now Lincoln knew what he had to do. It was avoid his sisters.

After his little revelation, the rest of the day passed by in a blink of an eye. Before he knew it, Lincoln was outside the school heading to meet carol. Though he made sure to sneak outside the back end of the school, this was not something he needed Liam or Clyde to find out about. Escaping their potential gaze was easy enough, especially when he knew where they would be looking. Lincoln couldn’t help but feel another little pang of guilt for ditching his friends without explanation.  Though his cause was pure, and soon everything would return to as it should. He’d make it up to all of them; make them glad he was their friend. Though, again, things for a later date.  Lincoln needed to focus on tonight. He needed to focus on today.

The walk to the crossing between Fairview and Sixty-sixth treated Lincoln then it had the night before. Most of the snow had already melted away, and the sun shined weakly across all roads he needed to walk. Though, just as before, anxiousness clouded his mind as he drew in closer. Each step quickened his pulse until he reached the bench. Once again he hadn’t even seen Carol and he had broken into a cold sweat. What if tonight went terribly? What if he said something stupid and ruined things for his sisters? His head became a tornado as thoughts flew left and right, worry filled him and he became a little more than restless.

Eventually he reached the meeting point, and had twenty minutes to spare. So he sat, and he thought. His heart felt like a jackhammer as it beat in his chest, his legs twitched and repeatedly tapped against the ground .To say he was antsy would be a little more than an understatement. Someone going to prom is nervous. Lincoln was a wreck. The ticking of his wristwatch got louder and louder as his legs tapped the seconds away. Lincoln anxiously shifted his gaze constantly. Every shadow in the distance was a cop looking to call his parents for breaking curfew. Every snapping twig in the park was a sign of hostility. He flinched at every strange sound coming from the darkness around him.

Soon twenty minutes passed, and once his wristwatch ticked to thirty-three two hands emerged from behind the bench and grappled Lincoln. The boy struggled and attempted to scream, but one of them was quick to muffle his mouth, the other covered his eyes and pulled him backwards into the chair. Once he had been caught he heard a feminine giggle, before hearing a familiar voice.

“Guess who?” She asked, before letting out another fit of giggles.

“Gish Ishn’t fummy!” Lincoln’s voice was muffled as he shouted through her hands, trying his best to pull her arms away from his face. Though it was to no avail, she easily managed to keep his head locked in her grasp, forcing his head into her chest as she laughed at his plight. “Carol stop!” He shouted again as a gap between her fingers formed, allowing him to annunciate properly.

“You’re no fun!” She said before loosening her grip over him. Lincoln slid through her hands and scooted alongside the bench away from her. Carol sauntered around the bench and made her way right next to Lincoln. Before she sat, her eyes scanned the horizon as to reassure herself that they were alone once again. Just like last time, they were the only ones here. Plopping herself down, she gestured expectantly to her lap.

Lincoln’s expression turned from confusion to exasperation and irritation.  Again, Carol pat her lap and gestured for him to move over. With palpable reluctance Lincoln leaned over and rested his head on her lap. He could feel one of her hands massage his scalp with the other explored his back.

“Now Lincy, tell me, how was last night?” She asked, leaning forward as to have her head directly above the boy’s. “Anything fun happen?” She asked again, bringing herself closer to the Lincoln.

“When I got home after seeing you yesterday…” Lincoln started, surprising himself with how quickly he was to comply. He told Carol all that happened, what happened with Lucy and her poetry. Then he told Carol about his fight with Lynn, and the walk of shame home. He even told her about how his sisters avoided him during breakfast. All the while, Carol didn’t speak a word as Lincoln poured out the details. When he had finished speaking, he turned to her and couldn’t help but quake when he saw her. The grin she wore put all of the Disney villains combined to shame, her face twisted and contorted in ways that shouldn’t have been possible with the way she smiled.

“That’s great! I can’t wait to hear what happens again tomorrow!” Carol spoke excitedly, her grin spreading even wider across her face. “I knew this was gonna be fun!” Once she was done talking she leaned back in her seat and rested as she continuously brushed her hand through his hair, occasionally letting out a little laugh or a sigh. Lincoln was little more than uncomfortable, though he let her do as she please as to appease her. Two minutes passed before an alarm rang out from Carol’s phone, giving them bought a heavy fright.

“Wo-oops! Sorry Lincy, but I need to go home. Got an IB Chem’ exam I need to study for. Cya tomorrow!” She quickly lifted Lincoln’s head and stood from the bench, giving him an oddly heart-felt wave before leaving him to jog home. A wave of disgust washed over Lincoln as he lifted himself up, hopefully she wouldn’t pull anything like that tomorrow. Though, aside from disgust, something else washed over Lincoln. Excitement! He knew just how he was going to best Carol’s cruel pranks and keep himself from hurting his sisters. It was simple, really.

So Lincoln began the slow walk home, making sure to take the scenic path every chance he could.

Nearly two hours passed as Lincoln took his time getting home. Stopping every time he could figure out an excuse to, and even he couldn’t find a decent reason too. Eventually as he returned to the Loud residence, Lincoln snuck next to the front door but let it remained closed. Instead, he peeked in through the window to the left of the door, checking for his sisters. As he expected, eight of them (All aside from Lily and Lisa) sat at the couch watching television.  Occasionally they would visibly groan or sigh at what the tv displayed, as well as whenever Luan opened her mouth.

Lincoln knew getting inside without being seen would require another method of entry. One that Lincoln kept secret, solely for days like these when being caught would mean a potential fate worse than death. So, Lincoln bolted down to the right side of the house between their home and the garage. One foot off the ground on the wall was an old broken vent, one that led only to the attic. Lincoln quickly dismantled the entrance and began the uncomfortable process of squeezing himself inside the dust-ridden place. Once he was inside, he twisted his torso down so he could reach back outside the vent, then brought the plate back over the entrance; making it so it looked as if he hadn’t had touched it at all.

Once that arduous process was over, Lincoln began the even more painful process of forcing his body up the vents. Had their house not been owned by Lynn Sr. Lincoln knew this process would’ve involved at least five different spider nests at the least, but luckily every inch if their home was coated with anti-pestilent spray three times over. Even unused vents like this somehow managed to get coated in the stuff, something Lincoln took less and less for granted the more he thought about it.

Twelve minutes later and Lincoln finally managed to squeeze himself up into the attic, shoving open an un-hinged vent that was hidden in the corner of the room next to where his father kept those magazines of naked ladies. Again, he carefully repositioned the vent’s cover to make it look as if he had never been there. Once that had been taken care of, Lincoln dove into the opposite corner of the attic where he kept his little emergency stash of comics, notepad paper, and pencils. He quickly threw together a note about how he would be spending the night with Clyde, and that his dads would be dropping him off later in the night. Once the note had been completed Lincoln brought himself to the ladder-space and opening that lead to the second floor. He put his ears to the cracks and listened. As he had hoped, not a single footstep or voice could be heard. Lincoln was quick to open the hatch and drop down. He did a double-take of the hallway and it was still clear.

Once he knew that he was safe, he bolted to his room and pressed the post-it note against the door. Once it was on, Lincoln went back to the hatch and pushed up the ladder and closed the opening. Once the attic had been shut properly, Lincoln shuffled into his room with the note still attached to the door and gently closed it behind him. A reassuring click followed as he turned the lock, he sighed and quickly began to brush the dust off his body. Once he didn’t feel like a two year old feather-duster, he grabbed some of his older comics and indulged himself. Well, that would imply he had fun doing so. Truth be told the moment Lincoln closed his door he was already bored to death, but going outside to find other sources of entertainment was something he was not ready to do.

Lincoln was prepared for this though, or so he’d like to think. Lincoln sat on his bed and stared at the ceiling, and did nothing. He sat and waited. Waited. And sat. Doing nothing. Doing nothing, Lincoln waited. Plus he sat. He reached over and grabbed two random comics off his shelf; ‘Ace savvy versus the Plumbarians’ and ‘The Lightest Abyss’. The boy sighed as he dropped them on his face, completely uninterested in rereading anything he had in his room.

He twisted on his bed to face his posters. How exciting. He then turned back to face his desk, and gazed over its content. He weakly grabbed towards his travelplay handheld and turned it on while bringing towards his face. Again, nothing he felt like doing. He had to force himself not to toss it aside and instead slowly browsed through his small collection of games. The night slowly dragged by as Lincoln forced himself to grind in one of his RPGs that he had completed thrice times already.

Though it dragged on slowly and painfully, the night eventually came to an end. Lincoln found himself alone in his room at nine on-the-dot and decided it was finally time to hit the hay. Sleep overtook the boy faster than expected and soon he found himself letting out Zs.

Lincoln’s alarm clock sent the boy flying out of bed and onto the floor. Confusion gave Lincoln a swift quick to the face, but then he remembered why he made his alarm go off so early. Four thirty wasn’t something he wanted his clock to read when he woke up, but it was a necessary step to take. Lincoln grabbed his wallet and his clothes and made way to the bathroom, ripping off the note on his door en route.  A hot shower and one teeth-brushing later and it was now five. Lincoln made his way downstairs to raid the fridge before heading out. To his delight, half of one of his dad’s roast-beef sandwiches and  a full jug of orange juice remained. He threw the sandwich in the microwave and poured himself a glass to drink. Once the sandwich was warmed he grabbed it and threw himself out the door, heading to school.

The dark and cloudless morning turning to a vibrant orange was a sight Lincoln could appreciate as he slowly made his way to school; it certainly helped the passage of time ease by as he had something to gaze at during his walk. Once he arrived at his destination, the parts just fell together. The wait for classes to start was negligible after finding out Liam came to school early to work on a science project, one Lincoln was eager to help with. After that, the bells began to ring and aside from Ronnie Anne still being sick(something Lincoln was secretly hoping for) the day was actually pretty enjoyable. He felt a good omen was upon him, something he wasn’t about to take for granted.

Two more classes and one pop-quiz later and school was just about out. Lincoln performed the same strategy as he did the previous night and hid behind the school; waiting for his friends to leave before heading out to rendezvous with Carol.

While on the move Lincoln prepared his crocodile tears. He was never too good of an actor, but if there was one thing he could do well it was cry. If need be, Lincoln would be willing to force a tear or two to help sway his sisters to his cause. However, now his talent was being put to use for them instead of against them.

He also ran through the lies he needed to feed carol in his head. Lincoln couldn’t afford to be anything but vague. All he knew is that the triggers came in effect when his sisters did something they did fairly often, or so was the case for Lucy and Lynn. Maybe she didn’t do it for all his sisters though? Lincoln pondered the thought; chances were Carol did at least one for each of them.  Though not knowing what they are would easily bring down his farce, even if he was vague about hanging out with them.

As he walked, Lincoln’s brain ran through hundreds of simulations. How poorly this could go, how ‘well’ it would go. He didn’t know much about Carol, but he knew just enough to guess her reactions. The closer and closer he got to the destination, the more Lincoln felt he knew what had to be done. The lie was close to completion, and the tone had been set.  Snow had already begun to gently fall from the sky as lamps on the sidewalk gently flickered on and off, their bulbs needing to be replaced.

He spotted Carol as he got closer to the rendezvous point. Although he was surprised she was there a bit early, twenty minutes early, he couldn’t help but be glad. The sooner this is over, the better. By the time Carol saw Lincoln coming his eyes had been filled to the brim with fake tears, and he looked like he could barely keep himself from wailing. With the way her eyes light up, and the smile that accompanied her gaze, Lincoln knew she bought it. He had her; hook, line, and sinker.

“Over here Lincy!” She said in a sing-song voice while gesturing to her lap again. When Lincoln stepped forward Carol’s hands quickly reached out to him, and once she had a hold of him she pulled the boy straight into her lap. Her hands wrapped around his chest as she rested her head against his. She nuzzled into the boy as Lincoln continued to sniffle, trying his best not to break the façade. As he felt her arms around his body, Lincoln couldn’t help but twitch as she tightened her grip around him.

“There there, let it all out…” She mumbled to him softly as her hands slowly felt up Lincoln’s sides. The boy continued to force out more and more tears. The longer he sniffled and ‘cried’, the harder he felt her hands press up against him. And out of the corner of his eye, he could see her grinning; a euphoric expression across her face. She repeated herself twice as she held him, her demeanor not at all matching her expression.

Lincoln’s breathing normalized as he pretended to recover. Once the fake sniffling ceased and he could talk regularly, Carol’s grip over the boy loosened. Though once her grip weakened; her hands began to get much friskier with him, finding the gaps in his clothes and slowly snaking inside of his shirt.

“Now Lincy, tell me what happened!” She asked; excitement filled her voice as her hands grasped at his skin. Lincoln let out a weak gasp as her hands tugged at his chest. Lincoln quickly swung his face left, then right to make sure that the street was empty. The coast was clear as ever.

“Come on, I wanna hear about what happened! Tell me!” She said, softer this time. Her mouth was close to his ears this time, and she could feel her breath tickle the side of his face as she spoke. Again, just like when she first hugged him, Lincoln twitched. He forced out two more crocodile tears before letting out another sniffle, the most pathetic one he could muster. Then spoke.

“Nothing happened.”

“Nothing happened?” Carol asked from behind, he could almost hear the gears in her hind grind to a halt. “You came up to me bawling your eyes out, spent five minutes in my arms in tears, and now you say nothing happened? You better start explaining Loud.” Her hands went from being frisky to violent as her grip around the boy tightened. What was once something Lincoln found comfortable (unfortunately) quickly turned painful as her arms began to crush the boy’s chest with how tightly she was holding him.

“I-I was faking it.” He managed to sputter out through the pain. Carol’s grip on the boy loosened as she contemplated what his words meant. Then, the light bulb in her head lit up. Her hands quickly left the boy’s clothes and found their way to his shoulders. She leaned up against him as her arms dangled in front of his chest.

“I see now. Lincy! You thought you could lie to me! Didn’t you?” She asked. The arms that were dangling on the boy’s chest quickly found themselves around his neck. Her right arm quickly encircled Lincoln’s neck while her left hand grasped at her bicep and pulled it back, putting Lincoln in a chokehold. Lincoln instinctively brought up his hands and tried to pry her off of his neck, however it was to no avail.

“Oh I can see it now. You thought you could fool me didn’t ya? Make up some dumb little story about how you were with your sisters, and how ‘then it happened’? Then you’d probably lie about how you’d need to be home soon as soon as you finished spewing bullshit from your mouth. Right? Right? Wroooooong!” The girl’s grip on his neck tightened further, causing Lincoln to let out a weak murmur as he used all of his strength trying to pry her off of him. Again, Lincoln couldn’t even get her arms to budge.  “You probably don’t remember this, being in a trance and all when it happened, but I made sure to make it so you can only tell the truth when we touch! And no half-truths either!”

“And here I was, about to tell you about how much fun I was having! You know, these last two nights have been more fun than any other date I’ve been on before. You know that? Huh?  And now here you are, trying to ruin our time together by feeding me lies! That’s not gentlemanly at all!” Then she let Lincoln go. Her arms returned to her side as his hands felt up his neck. As Lincoln wheezed in and out trying to catch his breath Carol gave the boy a heavy push, shoving him to the ground right in front of the bench.

“But it’s ok. I forgive you!” She spoke before ruffling the boy’s hair; then standing up in front of him. “However, I’ll still need to punish you for this. Teach you a lesson and all that. ” Carol put her hand to her chin and rubbed it while mulling over her thoughts, thinking of a suitable punishment. Meanwhile Lincoln would also stand back up, and take a solid three steps away from her. Though before he could get any farther than that, Carol took two forward and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“I got it! Luan and Luna share a room right?” She asked, an evil sparkle twinkling in her eye.

“How did you know –“Lincoln tried to ask, but what quickly cut off.

“Great! Ok, so Lincoln. I want you to go home, and destroy all of Luna’s amps! Every one you can find in her room! As for Luan…” She put her hand back to her face and pondered what he should have her do.

“No! That’s almost worse than any of the things you’ve done to her! I won’t do it!” Lincoln shouted back, stomping his foot against the ground to emphasize his point.

“Oh Lincy, you’re so silly.” She spoke as her arms drapped around Lincoln again. She pulled the boy into her chest and continued to brush her fingers through his hair as she started to speak again. “This is a punishment! It’s supposed to be bad! Besides, you don’t have a choice.” The hug she gave Lincoln quickly became more intimate as she brought his head to her breasts, forcing him to rest his head in her chest. “As for Luan, you’ll need to break all of the props you can find! Got it?” She asked, though Lincoln gave no physical or verbal response.

“Now…to make sure you follow through…” Carol took a deep breath, pausing before talking.

“Lincoln. Go home and enter Luan and Luna’s room. Desecrate Luna’s amps and destroy of Luan’s props.” Then, she brought her face down to the right side of Lincoln’s face. She gave his ear a quick kiss before whispering, “Do it for your sisters.”

Lincoln’s body twitched and jerked at the phrase, and he would have fallen to the ground in his convulsions had Carol not held him up. “Great! See you tomorrow Lincy! Same time as usual!” Then Carol rested Lincoln’s twitching body against the bench they were just in. As she left, she gave the boy another heartfelt wave before breaking into a light jog and heading home; leaving Lincoln alone on the bench once again.

Two minutes passed before the tremors stopped, and Lincoln was in control of his body once again. Well, somewhat in control. Actually, he wasn’t really in control at all. Though his thoughts were his own his body was not. The moment he could move, his body instantly stood and broke into a jog heading straight home.

The run home only took a few minutes, as this time Lincoln definitely wasn’t taking his time. The sun was even still in the sky when he had gotten home, unlike the previous nights. Lincoln’s body instinctively moved towards the vents he had travelled through last night, mimicking his previous actions. In half the time it had before, Lincoln easily managed to crawl up the vents and into the attic. The sounds of footsteps could be heard in the hallway bellow, so Lincoln waited before coming down. As the wait dragged on, Lincoln’s eyes scanned the attic to help find something that would ease his boredom. Instead, he found his dad’s tools. Resting atop the red box that held all of his rarely used utensils was a dust-covered claw hammer. Lincoln let out a whimper as he felt himself stand to retrieve the tool, something he would unfortunately put to use against his sisters belongings.

Once he retrieved the tool, Lincoln returned to putting his head against the crack of the attic door, listening to the sounds of footsteps and warped voices. They slowed, quieted, and eventually silence rang throughout Lincoln’s ears as he continued to press them against the doorway. Once all the sounds had disappeared, he did what he done before. Quickly opening the hatch and then shutting it once he was down.

His eyes scanned the horizon as he moved towards his sisters’ room. The hallway was empty, quiet. Lincoln pressed his ears against Luan’s and Luna’s room and tested the waters. There wasn’t a peep coming from the other side. Lincoln twisted the nob and was gracious that it was unlocked. He pushed the door open and his eyes felt up the room, looking for anything related to his objective. From what he could see, Luna currently owned six amps of varying quality. As for Luna, her side of the room was just covered in gag items and silly tools.

Lincoln felt a lump in his throat as he closed the door to their room, twisting the lock before closing it. At the very least he was glad that this room was soundproof, because this process was going to be a loud one. The last thing Lincoln could will his body to do was sigh before he began to raise the hammer.

The room was quickly filled with the sounds of crunching metal and plastic. Each time Lincoln brought the hammer down he felt as if he was hitting one of his sisters. Each thud the hammer made put a crack in Lincoln’s heart. He could remember helping Luna save up for some of these amps. How he had slipped a dollar in her piggybank whenever he could because of how excited she was about getting them. He even helped her set them up, listened to her play with them for the first time.

Then there were Luan’s props. Those were easy enough to even Lincoln to break with a meager swing of his arm and the hammer. Though, there were many more of those then there were amps. As Lincoln made progress on Carol’s command, his head was flooded with memories of him helping Luan at birthday parties. He remembered how Luan had gone out of her way to help him save face, how she forgave him for acting out, and all the fun they had afterwards working together.  Lincoln could barely hold his tears in as his arm continuously slammed the hammer up and down against his sisters’ belongings.

As he listened to the rhythm created by the sounds of smashing plastic and bents parts Lincoln was completely oblivious the sounds of knocking in the door.

He was also oblivious to the sound of a key twisting the lock open. The sounds of two young girls’ gasps completely evaded him as well as he continued to bring down the hammer.

Lincoln was, however, just lucky enough to see Luna’s fist before it crashed into the side of his face.

The blow sent the boy nearly three feet back and onto his side. Before Lincoln could fully register what happened, he felt hands quickly grab at him and pry the hammer away from him. Though the damage had already been done, as chunks of plastic and broken buttons and wires were already scattered across the room.

Lincoln winced and put his hands in front of his face, preparing for follow-up blows. Though they wouldn’t come, instead he was assaulted by the sounds of his sisters trying to hold back tears. When he uncovered his face and looked up, he saw Luan leaning over the chunks of props on her bed and Luna looking down at him from above. Her expression was a cross between disappointment and confused, with a dab of disgusted. The room was silent for near thirty seconds; then Luan cleared her throat.

He could see her try to speak, to spit something out. The words got caught in her throat; there wasn’t a good way to ask what she
wanted to ask. As for the answer, Lincoln rubbed the side of his face Luna had hit and whimpered. He had no idea what to tell them. The truth? What would they think when he told them he did it because the girl who’s been harassing all of his elder sisters had hypnotized him and forced him to do it? What were the chances of them even believing it? Probably around zero percent was Lincoln’s guess. Besides, if they did find out, then the gig was up. Carol would know, and she would keep harassing them.

While Lincoln thought and Luan tried to force out the question, Luna leaned over Lincoln. She rested her hand on his shoulder and looked straight in the eye. In one word she managed to ask all that Luan had wanted, and more.

“Why?”

Luan turned her head after Luna spoke, both expectantly looking at Lincoln. Luan’s face, now that he could see it, nearly brought tears to Lincoln’s eyes. Luan had always been an expressive girl; her emotions could rarely be kept in check. When she was happy she looked happy! And when she was bored it was obvious to all around. To see her face scrunch up with sorrow and watch the tears stream from her face as she looked at all that Lincoln had done made any pain he had felt while doing the deed pale in comparison.
“Lincoln?” Luan spoke his name, waiting for his response.

“I-I –“ Lincoln stuttered, trying to figure out what he needed to say. The sparks of an idea were being formed in his head. Lincoln knew that if he let these sparks burn, a fire form that would leave a mark on him forever. He panicked, and time seemed to slow as he argued against himself. He knew that Carol and Lori would be going to the same college, and how much crueler the pranks could get there. Luna and Luan would inevitably try, and hopefully succeed in doing the same as Lori in attempts at a higher education. If Carol was this horrible to them now, he could only imagine what kind of cruelty she would be capable of living in a dorm with his sisters.
Lincoln bit the bullet, and quite a bullet it was.

“I-I’m tired of your guys’ antics!” Lincoln nearly shouted as he stood back up, taking a few steps back from his sisters as he began his tirade.

“Y-You always play your music too loud all the time, and you never stop to consider how horrible it is for everyone else! You know how many sleepless nights I’ve had because of you? How many times I’ve gotten in trouble for falling asleep in class because I couldn’t at home? How many tests I’ve failed because I was too busy trying not to fall unconscious to concentrate?” Lincoln began to shout, he could feel the air grow heavy and Luna stepped back. She nearly fell on her back after almost tripping on the debris on the ground. Lincoln raised his finger and pointed it at Luna, trying to get the message across.

Though Lincoln didn’t mean a single word he said, it looked like Luna believed him. In reality, Lincoln always had a blast listening to Luna rock out, and having her be happy always made it easier for him to be happy. Every night he lost sleep because of her was always a good night to him, no matter the consequences. But now, just like Luan, tears now dripped off of Luna’s face. She brought her hand to her eyes and tried to wipe them away, but it was clear the damage had been done.
Then Lincoln moved his hand, pointing his finger at Luan.

“And You!” Lincoln shouted, before taking a deep breath. He steeled himself, forcing the façade to stand tall before continuing. This was going to hurt, almost as badly as he was about to hurt Luan. “And you! Do you know how many dates your ruined? How many times Ronnie Anne’s nearly broken up with me when all the gifts I’ve given her turned out to be gags? How many times I’ve hurt Clyde because you thought switching people’s lunches would be funny? Or…Or how many times you broke my stuff with those traps you lay everywhere?” He took another breath, and then took the chance to calm himself.

Truth be told, Ronnie Anne actually loved those little mishaps on their dates. Clyde was always understanding about the stuff that his sisters did too, and his allergies had only ever acted up once due to Luan. Lincoln could still remember how worried his sister was when he told her what happened to Clyde. How she vowed never to make that mistake again when playing pranks. As for the traps breaking Lincoln’s stuff, that was never big of an issue. Not that she needed to know the truth.

When Lincoln lowered his finger, he couldn’t bear looking towards Luan. Lincoln thought she was crying pretty hard earlier, but listening to her sob and weep now really put a stake through his heart.  But Lincoln wasn’t done yet. Lincoln tightened the grip he had over his heart, hardening it as best he could.

“Now, you guys aren’t going to tell Mom or dad about this ok? If word gets out about today…” Lincoln gestured to the parts scattered around the room. “I’ll make sure to tell them about those four concerts you’ve snuck out to see. I’m sure dad would love to hear all about the night you went to see Dead Man Laughing. Or how you broke Mom’s vase on accident when trying to go –“

“Lincoln!” Luna shouted at Lincoln, trying to get him to stop. However, the gloves were off and Lincoln couldn’t drop his pace. He knew that the moment he started to slow down, the mask would drop. He needed to keep going, to stay strong. Stay strong for his sisters.

“And Luan! You say anything either, and I’ll make sure to tell Mom about all those times I saw you sneak alcohol from dad’s liquor cabinet! I know you snuck bottles into some of the parties you went too, trying to make a good impression on your potentials friends’ right? I’ll also make sure to mention all the twenties you’d sneak from mom’s purse when she wasn’t looking.”

“You wouldn’t dare! You know how much I wanted to see them live! I saved every penny I could find to pay for those tickets!” Something else Lincoln chipped in on when he could, not that she knew. “You would’ve done the same thing if they told ya you weren’t allowed to go after getting front row tickets to smooch!” With that, Luna gave Lincoln a forceful shove.

“Oh I would dare.” Lincoln returned the shove as well as he could, though he didn’t push her nearly as far as she did him.
Luna’s right fist tightened and she stared daggers into Lincoln. She turned her head back to the door to make sure it was closed. Once she saw that it was, she took a single step closer to Lincoln and threw her fist at him again. Luan gasped from across the room as Luna pounded into Lincoln again. Lincoln easily fell to the ground as she pounded on him. Once he was down, she leaned over his body and brought her hand to his face once, twice, then three times. Each punch made a fearsome ‘THWACK’ as it connected. The blows shook the entire room as they landed. By the time Luan tried to grab Luna and pull her off of him, both her hand and Lincoln’s face was covered in blood.

Once Luan had dragged Luna a yard away, Lincoln did his best to stand up. He stumbled and tumbled twice as he tried to stand, but eventually got it right. He leaned against the wall as he slowly made his way to the door, occasionally bringing up his arm to wipe away the blood oozing from his mouth and nose. As he traversed the landscape, eyes locked with Luna trying to escape from Luan, eventually his sister’s rage would settle. He could see as it turned from a violent wildfire to a tranquil flame. She would hate him for weeks, but Lincoln knew that this was necessary. As he reached for the door and unlocked it, he turned his head away from his sisters before speaking one last time as he left the room.

“Remember, tell anyone about what happened and I’ll tell Mom and Dad everything I know.”  With that, Lincoln left his sisters’ room and trudged over to the single upstairs bathroom. As the fates would have it, it was free to use. Lincoln locked the door behind him as he began the process of cleaning up all the blood he was gushing from his face. His mind replayed the footage it had of Luan and Luna while he cleaned up, and he felt his heart beat faster as the film continuously played over and over and over again. Lincoln wanted to cry, to weep. But he knew that this was not a time for tears. No, not yet. There was still work to be done before he could let himself relax. Once the business with Carol was finished would Lincoln be allowed to rest.

By the time Lincoln could return to his room it was nearly nine at night. Once again though, Lincoln would plan to leave early the next morning. Though before going to bed, Lincoln sat on the edge of his mattress and faced the mirror in his room. The bruises that Lynn gave him weren’t faring well after what happened with Luna, and if he got another beating like that he feared his nose might get hurt irreparably. He brought his hand up to his cheek, and immediately winced. The black eye Lynn gave him certainly wasn’t looking much better either. He couldn’t even force himself to sigh as he threw off his clothes and lay on his bed. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

Eventually the sand man gave Lincoln his dose of sleep, and the boy fell under. The morning came with annoying stream of Ticks and Tacks as the alarm on Lincoln’s clock went ballistic. The moment Lincoln could stir he began to go through the motions. Quickly taking a shower, getting dressed, making himself a breakfast out of whatever he could scavenge from the kitchen with no prep-time, and then head out. The morning was uneventful, almost peaceful. Though Lincoln couldn’t afford to enjoy it, the boy was in too much of a hurry to leave, he desperately needed to avoid his sisters. He knew that Luan and Luna didn’t tell on him to mom and dad. But would they have told on him to the rest of the sisters? Of course they would.

Minutes passed and by the time his sisters began to wake Lincoln was already long gone. Though before he left Lincoln had made sure to dump every extra dollar and coin he had into Luna and Luan’s piggybanks up on the living room mantle, as well as let out a silent prayer to whoever would listen to his pleas.

The rain was heavy on the way to school, and by the time he could get indoors he had been soaked to the bone twice-over. The day dragged on, and Lincoln could barely focus on his classes as he gazed at the clock in each of his classrooms. As the hands of time moved around each of the clocks he gazed at, Lincoln felt each click of the hands took longer the previous. His only comfort was that Ronnie Anne had returned to school, but she was too busy catching up on schoolwork to spend time with him. Though the mutual waves in passing and just hearing her voice was just enough to Lift Lincoln’s spirits. Maybe he could confide in her after school? The boy doubted it, there was no way Ronnie Anne would be able to help him. Though it would be nice to have someone who understood his plight, to know what he was going through. But would she believe him? The last time he checked, hypnotism was a joke to nearly everyone. No, this was something he wouldn’t tell her about.

So when the time came to go home, Lincoln was even more careful as to avoid her. Lincoln didn’t like to brag, but the boy always believed that he could be hard to find if he wanted to. That he could disappear from sight, like a ghost vanishing into the air. There were days where he could hide from the entire town if he needed too in the blink of an eye.
Today was not one of those days.

As the boy was half-way over a fence at the end of the schoolyard, a familiar voice rang out to him.

“Hey Lincoln! Where are you going?” Lincoln swore under his breath, using words that got Lori in trouble on several occasions.  He turned his head to see that Ronnie Anne was jogging towards him. A smug smile spread across her face as she closed in on the boy.
Lincoln came back down to her side of the fence and gave a half-hearted wave back as his pseudo-girlfriend drew closer to him.

“Oh, hey there Ronnie Anne! I’d love to talk but I need to get out of here. My sisters need me to get home as soon as possible! We have uh….” Lincoln stuttered over his lie, trying to figure something out. Though before he could finish his thought, Ronnie Anne spoke up and interrupted the boy.

“Wait, isn’t your house that way?” She pointed away from the fence, the opposite way Lincoln was going.

“We actually are going to meet up at…the church! Yeah!” Lincoln continued to lie. “Lola needed to do some community work so she could look good at her next pageant, and she asked me to help!”

“Really? Want me to help? And after we help out Lola you think you can help me catch up on school work? Bobby already said its ok if you came over tonight.” Ronnie Anne grabbed Lincoln’s arm and tugged him away from the fence, pointing to the path that led to the other side that was a few yards to their left.

“I’m sorry but Lola isn’t allowed to bring more than one person. This is supposed to take the entire afternoon too! I’m sorry, but maybe we could do this another time?” Lincoln asked, somewhat rhetorically, as he made his way to the path Ronnie Anne had pointed at. The smug grin that covered her face had melted to a frustrated frown. Lincoln wanted to take her up on her offer, he wanted too badly, but today was not a day for frivolities. By the time Ronnie Anne had begun to speak, Lincoln was nearly jogging away towards the park.

“Oh-Okay. Well I’ll cya tomorrow Lame-O!” Ronnie spoke before giving Lincoln another wave.

Lincoln stopped dead in his tracks, his left arm twitched and his head jerked to the right. The boy let out a pathetic whimper as he felt his body turn to face the girl.

“Hey Ronnie Anne.” Lincoln speaks before turning around. “Close your eyes.”

“O-okay.” Ronnie anne does what he asks, a smile forming on her face. Last time Lincoln told her to do this he had given her a quick kiss on the cheek before heading home, something that had kept her blushing for hours. This time Lincoln had something else to give her.

The boy was a foot away from her before he raised his arm. Under his breath, audible to no one but him, Lincoln struggled to force out an “I’m Sorry” before throwing his fist forward. He could feel Ronnie’s nose shift as the blow made contact, and he sent her staggering nearly two feet back. Lincoln was quick to take steps forward and throw his right at her as well, this time knocking her to the ground. By the time Ronnie Anne could process what was going on, Lincoln was already atop of her, continuously bashing his hands against her face.

Ronnie Anne threw up her arms and tried to push him off, but she wasn’t quite strong enough to get the boy off. Tears mixed with blood as the red ooze began to flow from her nose, while fear and pain fell from her eyes.  “Shtap!” She cried out as she flailed upwards, giving Lincoln blows to the face and stomach as she tried to keep him off. Though Lincoln stood firm, she reopened wounds on him as well, soon he was bleeding from the face as well, welts on his body that had begun to heal reopened and bruises once again became visible across his chest and face.

Eventually Ronnie Anne’s struggling ceased and she simply curled together against herself and attempted to cover herself from Lincoln’s blows.  After a few more minutes of pounding and kicking his soon to be ex-girlfriend, Lincoln stood over her nearly conscious body. “Don’t you ever talk to me again.” He spat out at her, before breaking into a sprint towards the crossroads.
As he ran, Lincoln couldn’t help but wonder. Ronnie Anne should have kicked the shit out of him. He wanted her to beat him up! Why did she hold herself back? Ronnie Anne regularly beat up boys that were thrice her size, there’s no way a surprise hit to the face or two could have done that much to her. Lincoln didn’t hit that hard!

Lincoln quickly tired, and his sprint turned to a jog, and then slowed to a walk shortly after that. The sun broke through the clouds as Lincoln avoided the puddles the snow left behind once it melted. The sun’s glare reflecting off of the soaked ground made the walk much worse than it had already been. All the while the boy kept trying to staunch the flow of blood that leaked from his face. It was taking much longer than it had previously, even now as he approached the meeting spot there was still a red trickle riding down his face.

The boy pressed forward; occasionally wiping away the blood from his face. In the distance, he could already see Carol’s figure resting against the bench staring into her phone, taping wildly on it. The back of his mind tugged away at him, telling him he should run back home. How he should cry and apologize to his sisters, beg Lisa to try to save him. He stopped mid-step, pausing to think.  Though it didn’t talk long to come to his decision, he already knew what had to be done. Lincoln’s walk resumed, and he held his head up as high as possible. As he grew three meters closer, Carol’s head raised away from her phone. She gave a lazy gaze to the surrounding streets, scanning the sidewalks and paths until her eyes rested on Lincoln. The nonchalant expression she carried warped to a twisted, almost love-struck like one.  A satisfied smile spread from cheek to cheek as she waved Lincoln over, before gesturing to the open space on the bench next to her. The hairs on Lincoln’s arms stood tall, and nausea began to fill the boy. He wavered in his steps, but eventually found his way to the bench. As he sat, he could feel Carol’s eyes glued to his mouth, more specifically his upper lip, which was still coated with a thin and warm layer of blood.

“Now, before we get started…” Carol speaks, trailing off as she leans in towards his mouth. Her eyes clothes and her licks pucker as she closes the gap between them. Lincoln backs his head away faster then she approaches, leaving her lips untouched when she opens her eyes. First she is confused, and then lets out a heavy sigh before wrapping her arms around the back of the boy’s head. She nearly slams his face into hers as she drags him in. Her lips wrap around the bridge under Lincoln’s nose, and he feels her tongue run across his face licking up all that she can get.  The boy can only whimper as she prods him with her tongue, watching her tremble as she tastes him.  After she had gotten all that had been left on his lips, Carol slowly withdrew from him, leaning back like she had before. It was only now where she began to hastily look left and right, to see only that two elderly couples walking by were giving them some very sad, disappointed looks. She took another look into the distance, and aside from the couples walking by there seemed to be no one else nearby. With no hesitation she put her lips back against Lincoln, this time giving his lips a quick taste before pulling away. “…there we go.”

Her lips were smeared with his blood, and her eyes filled with a desire the boy couldn’t comprehend. She was quick to lick off the remnants on her lips with her tongue, and gave off a satisfied sigh once she had finished. “Thanks for the treat Lincy, it was delicious.”

Her hands, which had been loosely wrapped around the boy’s head, pulled him into her lap. He faced upwards towards her as one of them moved towards his chest and the other towards his scalp. She gently began to run her fingers through the boy’s hair as the other began to rhythmically drum at his chest.

“Now, I’d like to preface today’s session by saying that if you do well enough, we’ll be done. I’ll leave your sisters alone, and undo everything I’ve screwed around with in your adorable little head.” Lincoln nearly jumps up when she finishes. Had literally anyone else besides Carol been around, he might’ve just leapt at them to give the greatest hug he’d ever deliver. Instead, he could only hide the smile that began to sneak across the edge of his lips. He’d be free! She’d leave his sisters alone! The ride was almost over, and more than ready was Lincoln ready to get off.

“Thank you.” The boy had to turn his head away, to hide his budding joy. Though it was obvious that Carol saw him.

“No need to thank me just yet, I’m sure you’ll be wishing I was dead by the time you’re heading home!” She spoke in a sing-song like voice as she forced Lincoln to look back up towards her. “Now, how was last night?”

With that, Lincoln lost a few ounces of control.  As if on command, he began to recount the events that happened to him in the past twenty-four hours with a disgusting amount of detail.  He couldn’t even leave out his thought processes on the way to meeting her, or his worry over why Ronnie Anne might not have bashed his teeth in.

Carol giggled madly as the story dragged on, twirling his hair around his finger all the while. By the time he was finished, the hand that was drumming on his chest had moved upwards towards his cheek, brushing it even as he spoke. She only stopped to rest her hands once Lincoln became silent.

“So that’s why this guy is so busted!” Carol taps Lincoln’s nose twice, causing the boy to flinch. “And you really don’t know why that little Ronnie girl didn’t beat you to a pulp? You’re really dense, Lincoln.” Carol continues as she wiggles the boy’s ear with the hand that had previously been drumming on his chest. “I’ve never met her and I already know exactly why you’re face isn’t in hundreds of pieces right now!”

“Huh?” The boy tried to lean upwards, only for Carol to swiftly (and rather harshly) force him back into her lap.

“Moving on, after you finish what I ask you to do today, I want you to come back and meet me here. Ok? “Lincoln nods upwards towards carol, and she smiles softly before she continues on.  “Good boy. Now, if I recall your younger sister Lana has a few little green lizardy friends. That’s Lana, right?”

Lincoln gulps, and slowly nods yes again as contact with Carol forces out the truth. “Thank you! Now give me a second…” She slowly pets lincoln’s head with one hand while another draws her phone from her pocket. He hears her finger tap against the screen furiously for several seconds, as she continues to press against the screen she asks Lincoln, “The small one she plays with most often is Izzy right?”

Lincoln is forced to nod again, this time the gesture was accompanied by a weak ‘yes’, barely audible to even Carol. “Good!” She nods at her phone and quickly pushes it back into her breast pocket. “Now, I want you to go home, sneak into Lana’s room, and kill Izzy! Ok?”

“Eeea-what?” Lincoln falls on the ground as he rolls off of Carol, yelling all the while. “You…what did Lana ever do you to? Why do you want me to do that? That’s horrible!” Lincoln began to rise shakily from the ground, finding his footing as he continued to step back from Carol.

“It’s not that Lana did anything wrong. If anything, she sounds like an adorably fun girl. It’s you that I’m doing this for now.” Carol stands from her spot on the bench, and takes three steps towards the boy. Again, her hand brushes his cheek as she extends her hand forward.

“I haven’t had this much fun in ages, every class at school, every tick of the clock I’ve been waiting to see you. It’s not healthy at all, really. Why do you have to go out and be so tempting?” Now both of her hands rested against his face, and she began to lean in against him once again. Though this time, Lincoln had other plans. Again he resisted, pulling away, but this time he covered his ears as well. He cupped his ears as best he could, and broke into a sprint heading home.

The sprint didn’t last long, as he felt an arm wrap around his waist from behind. With a painful tug, Lincoln’s momentum is instantly broken as he is pulled back. “Gotcha!” She cried out. With one arm she held Lincoln against her, and with another she grabbed Lincoln’s left hand, which was still covering his ear, and pulled it away with ease. She rested her head on his shoulder and began to whisper in his ear.

“Lincoln. You are going to go home, go into Lana’s room, or wherever she is keeping that dumb little lizard, you’re going to get rid of it, and then you’re going to meet me here when you are done? Okay?” With that, she gave him a quick nip on the ear before whispering into him again.

“Do it for your sisters.”

Instantly Lincoln fell limp in her arms as he twitched and jerked around. Carol cackled maniacally as Lincoln continued to convulse in her grasp. A minute passed before Carol was able to safely release the boy from her grasp; stepping back as she let go. Lincoln stood still, and then turned back towards Carol. His face was devoid of hope and happiness, an expression that Carol clearly enjoying seeing. He glared at her before turning back towards the road in front of him, beginning the walk home.

Lincoln was barely conscious until he got home, a true husk of his self until he reached the back door. He considered going in through the attic as he did before, but instead decided it would be faster and more efficient to just rush in through the back. Though, first, Lincoln peeped into his house through the windows on the garage-side of the house, testing the waters.  Lana and Lola were in the kitchen cooking god knows what, Leni and Lucy were watching television, and Luan was with Lily in the dining room. The others were nowhere to be seen, he could only guess where they could be. Luna and Lynn were most likely away somewhere, either practicing or doing some club activity. Lori might just be in her room calling Bobby, and Lisa performing some experiments in her room. Though it was risky, this was the best time to make a move.

Lincoln muttered a prayer to himself while opening the door. The hinges were silent as he slipped in, and he held himself against the wall as he stalked his way towards the stairs. Not one of his steps made a sound while he skulked up the stairs, his eyes ever vigilantly searching for signs of any incoming sisters. None would bother him though, and he easily made his way to Lana and Lola’s room.  He slowly shut the door behind him; the only sound being made was the lock clicking back into place once it was shut.

Lincoln shuffled to Lana’s side of the room, easily making his way to the counter where Izzy’s home sat. He could see the green lizard inside the box, dancing in place as the boy approached. The Lizard ecstatically jumped onto Lincoln’s arm as he opened the top of the box.

“Hey there little guy…” Lincoln whispered as let the lizard rest in his hand. For several seconds Lincoln and Izzy sat in silence, until shouting erupted from outside.

“Lincoln did WHAT?” He heard Lori scream, her voice shook the floor almost as much as her door being slammed shut. Footsteps echoed throughout the room as she passed by Lana and Lola’s room. Again, her fist became thunder as she pummeled Lincoln’s door. “LINCOLN LOUD OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW.” Then she heard him grab at the handle, and slam the door open as soon as she realized it wasn’t locked. Another angry scream resonated through the house once she realized he wasn’t in his room.

“Has ANYONE seen Lincoln?” Her footsteps quieted as she thundered down the stairs, and again Lincoln was left in silence with Izzy.
With one hand he held the lizard, which would occasionally shuffle as it looked around the room enjoying its newfound altitude. With his spare hand, Lincoln rubbed the underside of Izzy’s head, causing the lizard to hold its mouth open in awe. It made no sound, but Lana always said that expression meant he enjoyed it.

He could remember helping take care of Izzy when he hatched, feeding him with Lola and picking out a home for the little guy too. He helped calm Lana down too whenever Izzy got sick, and was always there to help nurse the little one back to health too. Izzy always listened to Lincoln whenever he gave a command, second only to Lana in authority. Lincoln’s heart shattered when his body began to move against his will once more, wrapping his spare hand around the little one’s neck and upper body. With great force he began to squeeze while taking the lizard and holding it in his pocket. The lizard flailed silently; its arms, legs, and tail thrashing in his pocket as Lincoln began to head back to the door. He put his head to the door and listened, there was not a single sound emanating from the other side. He quickly opened the door and gently closed it behind him, starting to trade speed for sound in the process. His head turned both ways, and he let out a sigh when he found the hallway was empty. He walked towards the stairs and worry filled his every fiber of being while he descended. His head began to spin as he heard chatter bellow him, and he made sure to check every angle as he walked. This next part was all Luck, and knowing he couldn’t afford to be caught today made it that much worse. As he reached the bottom of the stairs the boy nearly tripped on a magazine on the floor. Though he didn’t fall, the sounds of paper crinkling and him shouting in fear were definitely audible.

“Lincoln?” Leni’s voice rang out from the couch. So much for not being seen.

“LINCOLN?” Lori’s voice thundered again from the kitchen, repeating Leni’s outcry.

Lincoln’s brain kicked into fight or flight, and he ran towards the door in front of him. He twisted the knob as he pushed himself against the door, then flying out the front as his weight pushed the door wide open. Taking his momentum in stride, Lincoln kept moving forward and sprinted down to the sidewalk, then sharply turning as he ran towards the park.

“LINCOLN YOU LITTLE SHIT GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!” Lori’s cries out to him as she reaches the doorframe. Though Lincoln was already too far gone to be chased once she was outside, and Lori could only scream once again as she shut the door to the house as she went back inside. He couldn’t hear it, but he was sure Lori was entering another rage right about now.

A half-minute of sprinting later and Lincoln began to run low on steam. He quickly slowed his pace to a brisk walk, and only then did he realize the thrashing in his pocket had stopped. His heart skipped a beat, but Lincoln didn’t dare raise hand yet. Instead, his grip tightened. There was no response from Izzy. Lincoln slowly withdrew his hand from his pocket, raising the Lizard into the air.

Izzy’s body was limp, discolored as well. He felt his stomach rise as he held the creature, and he buckled over onto the ground, dropping Izzy in the process, as he tried his best to keep his stomach intact. He failed, and hurled over the sidewalk next to where he had dropped the Lizard’s corpse. Once he was finished with his business and his mouth was tainted with the taste of bile and acid, Lincoln’s body weakly stood up. He looked over to Izzy’s body, now partially covered in puke, and sighed. Grabbing Izzy by the tail, he lifted up the Lizard and walked towards a bush next to the sidewalk he stood on. He held the dead creature above the center of the bush, and then dropped it; the lizard sank in between the leaves and vines, quickly disappearing out of sight. The deed was done, now it was time to return to carol.

Tears gently rolled off of Lincoln’s face, though he did not snivel or whimper. He only walked in silence, fearful of whatever lay in wake for him at home, and fearful that his sisters would never forgive him for any of the actions he had performed this week. Flashbacks of the week consumed his mind as he slogged forward; each step was filled with the faces of his sisters’ disappointment. Lucy, Lynn, Luan, Luna, and soon Lori and Lana too, he could feel their disgust even from here, and it hurt more then all that he had suffered through yet combined. Soon though, it would all be over, and he would be free.

As expected, Carol sat at their rendezvous point and waved energetically as he approached. Lincoln waved his hand back once as he approached before putting his sleeves against his face to wipe off the tears which continued to flow. As he sat down next to her, the first thing Carol did, even before speaking, was pass him a cup of a deep-yellow looking juice. Lincoln accepted it in silence and downed it all in a single chug. It washed down the taste of vomit well, though the juice itself was rather nasty.  Carol reached over and began to pour more of it into his cup, the sticker across her bottle reading something about Starfruit juice. Though once she finished pouring him his cup, Lincoln quickly downed it again, washing away the rest of the vomit in his mouth.

“You’re welcome by the way; you know how expensive this stuff is?” Carol remarked before pulling the bottle back into her purse, zipping it up before taking one of her hands and wrapping it around Lincoln’s shoulders.

“So, how’d it go?” She asked, a shit-eating grin spread across her face as she spoke.

“It…It…” Lincoln focused as he prepared to talk. He wanted to spit it out, to just say that it was done and get it all over with. But something else began to rise up instead, and in seconds the silent tears he shed began to change as he started sniveling.

“Izzy is…” The sniveling morphed into whimpering. He hunched forward, and the floodgates broke.

Any cool or composure Lincoln had was thrown out the window as he wailed. He cried out, loudly, and blubbered to himself and to Carol.
“I-I-I Don’t whant my shishters to hate me! I-I-I’m  shorry!” he screamed out, before putting his hands against his face. He tried to dry his eyes, but the tears continued to flow and he continued to blubber to him and his captor.

“The-they’re gonna hate me fowever! L-Lana’s gonna hate me! L-Luan and Luna t-too! I don’t whant my shishters to hate me!” His speech continued to slur as he raised his head up, tears falling from his cheeks onto his lap. So Lincoln wailed, and he cried, blubbering about his sisters hating him. Carol only leaned against him more intently, gently rocking him back and forth as his sobbing began to slow.

“Shhhh…” Carol whispered to the boy, shushing him as she continued to gently lean against him, still rocking him back and forth on the seat.  Lincoln looked up to Carol as his sniveling ceased, only to be frightened by the expression she was wearing. She was flushed red, and her body felt warmer to the touch then it had before, and her grin spread from ear to ear. It hurt him how satisfied she looked, and he couldn’t help but feel fearful as she pulled his head into her chest. “There there…” she whispered again, planting a kiss on his forehead while gently rubbing his back.

Eventually Lincoln’s crying stopped, and his body limply rested against Carol. She gently smooched his forehead again before bring her mouth down to his cheeks, she rolled her tongue against the side of his face to lap up two straggling tears. Then she withdrew, and guided Lincoln’s back to rest against the bench.

“No need to say anymore. Now, are you ready to continue?” She asked, now resting her hands atop the boy’s lap.

“You said that this was over! That what I did to Izzy was going to be the last thing we did!” Lincoln shouted, though Carol’s hand was quick to cover his mouth.

“Hush, I said today was going to be our last session together. And as far as I can tell, the day is far from over!” Lincoln began to tremble in his seat. Again he wanted to run, to hide, but he knew he didn’t stand a chance when it came to escaping Carol.

“No need to look so worried, I’m not sending you back home. I doubt I’d ever get the chance to spend an evening together with you like this again if you just went back now.” Carol stood from her spot on the bench, and tugged Lincoln off of it with her in the process. “Oh no, the next thing I have planned today is something that will only involve you…” Her hands grab Lincoln by his lower-waist, pulling his torso into hers. “And me!”

She brought her face down to his, forcing her lips against his. Lincoln didn’t struggle, and instead let Carol do as she pleased; which was explore the inside of his mouth with her tongue. As her tongue danced on top of his and tasted the deepest parts it could reach her saliva began to slowly pour into Lincoln’s mouth. It sickened him how sweet it tasted; how comfortable it was to have her explore him. Eventually she withdrew from him, leaving a trail of saliva in her wake as her mouth departed.

“You know, you remember what I said when I first met you? I said you’d maybe stand a chance with me once you were a few years older. Turns out I couldn’t have been more wrong!” Her hands moved away from his side; one towards his face and the other towards his neck. The one that moved towards his neck pulled at the hair towards the back of his head, forcing his head to face upwards. Her other hand rested its fingers against his mouth, slowly pushing their way past his lips. Her fingers played with his tongue and rubbed against his gums and teeth while she continued to speak. “I haven’t had this much fun in years. You know how amazing it is to see you squirm? To cry? It’s so…” She withdrew her fingers from the boy’s mouth, bringing them to her own. She sucked the saliva off of her hand, letting lout a quiet moan as she did so.  “…Delicious. Now, let’s go somewhere a little less public shall we?”

Carol linked her right arm around Lincoln’s and began pulling him towards the public restroom down the block. The boy did little to resist or question Carol’s motives, allowed himself to be dragged by her into the women’s restroom; which she promptly locked after entering. She also kicked the stopping-wedge into the door for good measure.

“Before I let you go Lincy, there’s one last thing I’d like to do. Think of it as a…a gift! It’s a memory to cherish, an experience to remember whenever you ever get intimate with a girl ever again.” With that, carol unzipped her jacket and unbuttoned her jeans, letting both of them fall to the floor. By the time Lincoln’s brain began to realize where this was heading she pushed Lincoln against the bathroom wall and leaned against him, holding him in place with her weight. Her mouth lowered to his once again and even more viciously than before she made out with the little boy. Their saliva mixed and fell from their mouth as Carol’s kiss lacked any composure or grace. With her spare hand she began to also unzip Lincoln’s jacket and jeans, letting them fall to his feet as she began to feel up the little boy’s crotch with her hands. Lincoln whimpered as she roughly groped him through the fabric of his underwear; only stopping when Lincoln’s legs began to grow weak and he started to slide down the bathroom’s wall.

“Looks like the juice has already taken effect…” Carol mumbled to herself as she looked down towards the boy’s bulge. After Lincoln began to rest on the floor, carol leaned down to pull away his jeans and jacket and throw them where she had left hers. She also stripped herself of her panties and bra, throwing them in the pile as well.

Carol quickly sat herself on one of the nearby toilets, the cleanest one she could find, and then spread her legs. Using her hands she gently began to present her insides to Lincoln. “Over here, Lincy.” Lincoln weakly walked on his knees towards the girl, resting his face next to her entrance. Her insides were a beautiful and vibrant pink, and the walls he could see gently rose and fell with her breath. Occasionally a part would twitch or shake as he breathed onto her crotch. Before Lincoln knew it, his head had slowly drifted closer and closer to her entrance, to the point where he could easily reach out and graze it with his tongue.

“You like what you see? Not many boys your age get to enjoy such a pretty sight. Now, start licking.” She commanded as her hands gripped the side of the boy’s head, pulling his mouth into her crotch. Lincoln let out a small yelp as she pulled him in, but was quick to get to work. A strange, needy feeling begin to rise from within him as his nose rested against her skin. It hurt him to think how nice she smelled, and it hurt even more when her fingers began to dig into the side of his head. “I said, start licking Lincy.”

The boy kissed her entrance, and then he began to sink his tongue into her. He quickly began to push his tongue as far as he could into her, and pushed it against every wall he could reach. He felt her twitch as his tongue grazed her walls, taking note of the ones that made her moan and the ones that made her twitch. Another wave of disgust rolled over Lincoln when he began to realize he enjoyed how she tasted. Had it been anyone but her, and Lincoln wouldn’t have minded at all just absentmindedly doing this for hours on end. However, for carol, he made sure to get this over with as quickly as possible. The boy tried his best to keep his tongue against the walls he believed she enjoyed the most. She pulled him even tighter into her snatch, her nails digging into the side of his head; some even began to draw blood with how tightly she held him. It hurt, but Lincoln knew this meant he was doing a good job. So he licked, lapping up her nectar as he continued to harass her walls with his tongue. Carol began to cry out in pleasure, and her insides began to quake. Lincoln started to continuously rub the edge of his tongue against the first spot that made her cry out, rubbing against it back and forth. It started to lightly convulse, and then Carol screamed as she leaned forward over Lincoln; her insides contracting violently as his mouth was flooded with a delicious syrup. Carol let go, and Lincoln fell back into the clothes pile as Carol did the same into the top of the toilet, both of them shaking. Lincoln from fear and exhaustion, and Carol from ecstasy.

Even after Lincoln had fell, Carol continued to weakly shake her hips, as if she was chasing after his tongue. A few weak thrusts of her hips later, and it finally clicked with Carol that Lincoln wasn’t eating her out anymore.  She turned towards the young boy, who was laying against the clothes alongside the dirty restroom floor, and smirked. She stood up and went over to Lincoln, then grabbed at his undies. She quickly dragged them off of the boy and tossed them aside, leaving him completely nude except for his socks. Carol squatted above her victim and chuckled, spreading her legs as she looked down at the boy.  She grabbed Lincoln by his ankles, and lifted his lower half up to hers. His erection waved back and forth as his legs rose above his head; his upper back now supported all of his weight against the ground as Carol gently placed his manhood against her entrance. Lincoln gasped as he felt the head of his cock kiss her flesh.

“They call this the amazon position; I’ve always wanted to try this!” With that, Carol thrust herself down to Lincoln’s base, causing the boy to go breathless as he felt her walls contract and squirm around him. Carol forced Lincoln to savor the moment, letting herself stay still as Lincoln’s brain tried to comprehend all the pleasure it was receiving. Once she let herself sit still for a moment, Carol resumed the onslaught of pleasure. She bobbed up on and down on the boy as quickly as she possible, each thrust causing Lincoln to twitch and moan. It only took a minute to push Lincoln over the edge, and before she knew it he could feel his dick twitch inside of her before spurting out his warm, gooey seed across her walls. Yet even as he continued to cum, Carol continued to bounce off of the boy, causing him to grunt pathetically as she continued to overload the boy’s mind with ecstasy. His dick remained hard after emptying inside her, however, courtesy of the drugged juice she had fed him earlier.

Carol continued to shift herself over Lincoln while thrusting, each time she’d move or swivel causing the boy’s hips to rise slightly, chasing after her of their own accord. Eventually Carol positioned herself just right, so that every time she went to his base the head of Lincoln’s cock would kiss her favorite spot. Once she was ready, Carol jackhammered Lincoln with her pussy; thrusting herself down as hard and as fast as she could possibly go. Lincoln was still sensitive from before, and having her move so fast and so roughly was more than enough to cause the boy to release again. His hips buckled as he spurted inside of her, his dick still making contact with Carol’s weak-spot as he came, a sensation that caused both of them to holler out in ecstasy. He could feel Carol’s walls tighten around him, each bump caressing his glans and base, as if her insides were giving the boy hundreds of kisses at once. He couldn’t tell when his second ejaculation ended and when his third began as her insides milked him. By the time he stopped, Carol grew weak in the knees and fell forward, toppling on top of the boy. Carol let go of his ankles, letting his legs fall back to the ground with a thud. Even though her legs couldn’t move much, Carol continued to shake atop of Lincoln, weakly moving up and down atop of him. Lincoln could only moan weakly as Carol rested her face right on top of his, her mouth open and drooling into his as she savored the experience. Lincoln weakly thrust upwards towards Carol, his lower half seeking out the pleasure as best it could.

Occasionally Lincoln would shoot out another round, each one causing the boy’s entire body to shake and quiver. Carol could only imagine that each one was getting more and more painful, but she didn’t care. It felt amazing to have him inside of her, and it felt even better when he painted her insides white with his seed. “Hey Lincy?” Carol spoke to the boy after removing her lips from his mouth. The boy could only reply with a weak grunt, and his eyes lifted to meet hers. “I’m gonna turn us over now, you mind taking the lead for a bit?” With that her arms grabbed the boy by the back and she rolled over onto her backside, bring Lincoln atop of her. The boy could only grunt again as his dick continued to grind against her walls. Carol chuckled as the boy followed her command without hesitation, absentmindedly seeking pleasure.  Carol hummed and held Lincoln’s head to her chest, feeling him tremble against her filled her with a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction.

Eventually the boy above her began to slow, and then stopped entirely in his thrusting.  Carol brought Lincoln away from her chest and closer to her face to inspected him. The boy was out. The thought of him fucking himself unconscious couldn’t help but but make Carol chuckle. As much as she would’ve loved to lay with her unconscious victim on the floor of a public bathroom, this would not do. She gently picked up the boy and rested him against a nearby toilet seat. Carol wiped herself off, taking the time to scoop out her lower mouth so that it didn’t drip down her legs or onto her panties when she put them back on. Once she was ready, she was quick to put her clothes back on; as well as Lincoln’s back onto him.  Once they were both clothed, Carol kicked away the door-stopper and unlocked the door. She picked up Lincoln, and carried him like a prince would a princess outside. She carried him down the street, and further still. As she continued to walk away, she nuzzled herself against the boy’s face and whispered to him.

“As I promised, I’ll never do anything to your sisters ever again.” She planted a quick kiss against the sleeping boy’s lips.

“But after today, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop bullying you!”

♡