I Love Lucy

>Lucy folded the letter she had just written into a black envelope
>She sighed
>"It's for the best"
>Lynn barged into their room, drowning out the dim candlelight with light from the hallway.
>Lucy raised an arm to shield her eyes, even though her bangs already had her covered
>Lynn opened their closet, throwing aside her sports gear as she looked for something
>I'll try one more time' Lucy thought
>"Lynn, I think something's wrong with me"
>"Yeah?" Lynn replied, not stopping or looking away from her search.
>Lucy sighed again
>She wasn't surprised.
>"Yeah, I think I'm going to slaughter all of you in your sleep and bathe in your blood after I sell my soul to Satan, my dark lord and master."
>Really? Sounds fun."
>She knew she wasn't listening.
>How could two sisters that shared a room feel so far apart
>Lucy felt a tear well underneath her bangs
>She wiped it, and looked back at the letter.
>Lucy wasn't surprised Lynn didn't listen to her
>None of her sisters did
>She was just there, even before she became the Lucy her family knew her as
>She was merely a shadow
>So she decided to become one.
>Ever since, she just watched, staying aloof of the drama in the house for the most part.
>Maybe it was better she die of this horrible affliction she'd contracted.
>They probably wouldn't miss her anyway
>She sniffed up a tear
>Lucy grabbed the letter off the desk and headed into the hallway to find the one sibling she could trust.
>Her big brother Lincoln.
>Lucy knocked softly
>'Please be in there'
>The door opened slowly
>Lincoln poked his head from around it
>"Lucy?"
>"Hey Lincoln."
>By now she had gathered herself
>She was the toneless acolyte of darkness they all knew her as once again
>"I have something to give you."
>Lincoln's expression flattened
>'Great, another poem' he thought
>His change in demeanor almost crushed her attempt before it began
>but she powered through it
>"Promise not to read this until I'm gone"
>Lincoln raised an eyebrow
>This was new
>"Gone where?"
>"Gone off this seemingly endless mortal coil."
>She might as well have been speaking korean
>Lincoln slowly nodded
>"Okay, whatever you say, Luce."
>She handed him the envelope
>"If you'll excuse me, I need to pick out my dress and casket for the big day."
>That in and of itself was not unusual.
>Lucy had picked out quite a few funeral outfits
>Funerals for her were like weddings for normal girls
>"Okay, see ya." Lincoln said, closing the door to his room
>He tossed the envelope on the bed before he realized it was black, unlike her other poems
>"Don't open till I'm gone?"
>Lincoln looked back at his door, as if Lucy were to burst in the second he even thought of opening the letter
>He slid his finger beneath the flap and tore it open
>Lincoln unfurled the letter and began to read.
>His eyes darted back and forth, growing wider by the line.
>"Oh no!"
>He burst out of his room, plowing over Lynn, both twins, Luan and diving over Lili to catch Lucy just before she entered her room
>"Lucy wait!"
>She turned around, noticing the envelope and letter still in his hands
>"I told you not to open that until I was gone!"
>He looked down at the paper in his hands
>"But—"
>"You were the one person I thought I could trust, Lincoln."
>He swore he saw her chin quiver, but only for a moment
>"I guess I was wrong."
>She slammed the door in his face.
>He looked down the other end of the hallway.
>Surely that must have caused a scene?
>It hadn't.
>His sisters went about their business as though nothing had happened.
>"Lucy, can we please talk about this?"
>He asked, banging on her door
>The door didn't budge
>"C'mon Lucy, please open the door..."
>He nearly turned to leave
>The click of an unlocking door stopped him
>He slowly turned the knob
>"Lucy? Are you okay?"
>He peered into the darkness, a lone candle flickering on the nightstand next to Lucy's bed.
>Lucy sat on the edge her bed, staring into the black candle's flame.
>Lincoln noticed two thin streaks of tears rolling down her ghostly white cheeks.
>"Close the door."
>She whispered weakly
>He complied, pushing the door closed with his foot
>"Are... are you crying?"
>Her lips curled in anger
>"Sorry, sorry! It's just, I don't think I've ever seen you do it except once."
>Silence filled the space between them as Lincoln tried to think of something to say.
>"I'm sorry I read your letter Lucy."
>She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them
>Her tears still silently slid from her eyes.
>"But, why was this one so special? I mean, you talk about dying and death and stuff all the time."
>"Because Lincoln. This isn't some hoboes in Detroit or a raccoon that chewed through electrical wires dying. This is about me. I'm dying."
>Lincoln refrained from his usual reactions to Lucy's gloomy predictions
>"Uh, well, like I said, you're constantly telling us how we're all slowly dying right after we're born and stuff, so...
>She punched her pillow, letting her legs dangle off her bed once more
>"I mean it this time!" she growled
>"Okay, okay," Lincoln said defensively.
>"But would you mind telling me why you think you're REALLY dying now?"
>Lucy sighed.
>She supposed they'd all find out eventually.
>"I guess I can tell you. The whole family will find out from my autopsy anyway."
>She seemed to compose herself as she wiped her cheeks and eyes with her sleeves.
>"A few weeks ago I woke up with my pajama bottoms soaked in blood"
>"At first, I thought it was because I had finally realized my dream of becoming a nightstalking nosferatu. But then I realized it was my blood."
>Lincoln rubbed his chin.
>"Blood?"
>"That's right Lincoln. I had to destroy the clothes and wash my sheets in the dead of night. I thought it was only when I slept, but then one night I was watching a little late night horror, and there it was again. It even got on the couch."
>Lincoln gasped.
>"So Lana really DIDN'T spill her fruit punch on the couch?"
>"No. But I couldn't tell anyone what I'd done, or what was happening to me."
>Lincoln's brow furrowed
>"What? Why not? You don't think we'd want to know if one of our sisters were sick?"
>"It's not that I didn't try to tell any of them, Lincoln."
>"What?"
>"It's that they wouldn't listen. I tried Mom, Dad, Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn... none of them cared. I doubt they even heard me."
>Lincoln's shoulder's slumped as he stepped closer to her bed
>"And so... you thought I wouldn't listen either?"
>"Think about it Lincoln. No one in this house even knows I exist half the time. Why would you be any different?"
>Lincoln stuck out his chest indignantly
>"Wait a minute, I would listen to you!"
>Lincoln walked even closer, until he was nearly nose to nose.
>"Just because you aren't the loudest, doesn't mean you aren't a Loud."
>Lucy said nothing.
>She raised her chin.
>Even though he couldn't see her eyes, he knew she was looking into his.
>"Yeah, well... I'm still mad at you for opening my letter."
>"Yeah? Well I'm glad I did. Now come on, we're going to get Mom and Dad, and we're taking you to the hospital."
>He grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her from her bed
>She dug in her heels and stopped him
>He turned back to her
>"What's wrong?"
>"Well, that's not all of the story..."
>"It's not?" Lincoln asked, letting go of her
>Lucy sighed, brushing some of her hair behind her ear.
>"This kind of thing went on for days. At first, I thought I was undead. I mean, how can something bleed for days and not die?"
>Lincoln scratched his head
>"I mean, I guess that makes sense..."
>"Then one day, it stopped."
>His mouth hung open slackly
>"It stopped? Just like that?"
>"That is, until this morning. I thought I was over it, but only three weeks later, it's come to finish me off."
>Lincoln was sure he'd heard these symptoms before, but where?
>That's when it hit him
>"Oh, duh!"
>"What?"
>"Lucy, I have a hunch, but I'm pretty sure you aren't dying."
>She frowned
>"How do you know? You're not a doctor."
>"Wait here while I got get my laptop!"
>Lincoln dashed out of the room, leaving Lucy alone
>In the time he was gone, she thought about the letter she'd given her brother.
>Maybe she wanted him to open it.
>Perhaps she knew deep down that he would.
>Maybe she gave it to him because she knew that out of everyone in her house, he would be the one to pull her back from the edge after she'd leaned over it for too long
>Lincoln reappeared with a smile and his laptop.
>"Okay, so they made us sit through this class about 'personal hygiene' or something a while back, and they mentioned something that happens to girls around your age and older"
>He opened his laptop and misspelled menstrual cycle into the search engine.
>The first link was a health site
>He scrolled through the info as Lucy looked on over his shoulder.
>The more she learned, the more horrified she became.
>Lincoln wasn't exactly reveling in the graphic details either.
>"So... you're uh... just" he squinted back at the computer screen
>"Beginning the journey into the beautiful garden of womanhood... apparently."
>Lucy's frown had turned to a quivering chin once more
>Only this time, there was no time to compose herself
>Lucy burst into tears
>Startled, Lincoln tried to comfort her
>"Woah, lucy, what's wrong? You aren't dying! Even to you, that's got to mean something, right?"
>"It's not that... it says that this is going to happen once a month!"
>Lincoln scrolled down the page.
>Sure enough
>He turned from his computer and drew her into a hug
>He could feel her tears staining his shirt, but he wasn't about to let go.
>"Lucy, it's gonna be okay, I promise"
>"Easy for you to say," she said in between sniffles as she held on to Lincoln as though he'd float away if she let go
>"I know, puberty is a lot less painful for boys, but I promise you that all your sisters have gone through the same thing."
>She kept her face buried in her brother's chest, thinking about what he'd said.
>After a few moments, Lucy looked up at her brother.
>He brushed her bangs out of her eyes with one hand
>"Thanks Lincoln."
>They released each other
>Lincoln closed his laptop
>"So, I'm not 100% sure about this, but I'm pretty sure they make stuff to help with the uh... you know..."
>Lucy sighed heavily.
>"Something wrong, Lucy?"
>"Just readjusting to my invisible existence. I couldn't get my sister's attention when I thought I was dying. Why would they care about me now that I'm not?"
>Lincoln smiled at her
>"Look, I know our sisters can be self-centered pains sometimes. If none of them will listen, just remember that I will. No matter what gross or weird stuff we have to look up on this baby," he said, patting his computer
>"I'll do it. For you."
>Lucy smiled
>Maybe one more hug wouldn't hurt.
>They pulled each other close and held on tightly
>Lucy's tears beginning to dry as well as Lincoln's shirt.
>"Lincoln?"
>"Yeah, Lucy?"
>"It would have been pretty awesome to be a zombie."
>Lincoln chuckled.
>"Good to have you back, Lucy."