What You Wish For

Lori pulled Vanzilla into the driveway of her house. Another stressful Friday of a high school senior's life in the books once again. Between texting Bobby between classes, studying for those classes, and making sure she was always a step ahead of that tramp Carol, every day seemed to take more and more out of her. Since she was the only Loud besides her parents with a license, she was usually the first to make it home while her siblings had to ride the bus.

She used those oh so valuable hours of peace and quiet to regroup, to compose herself before the inevitable onslaught of noise that would fill her house on a Friday night. Lori needed those hours, and she needed them badly. She turned off the van and got out of the car, nose deep in her cellphone as she continually texted. As she followed the sidewalk to her porch, she felt her shin whack against something hard.

Lori hopped on one leg as she clutched her bruised shin, letting out a torrent of curse words only ever uttered if she was sure her parents would be nowhere near. After she got done rubbing it, she glared down at the cause. Lincoln's bicycle lay carelessly across the sidewalk. She growled to herself as she walked around it.

She had forgotten he occasionally would ride his bike to school with his nerdy friend.  Nailing her shin was strike one. The fact that he was home during what was supposed to be her hour of peace was strike two.

Lori climbed the steps to her house and opened the door. The living room was empty. She figured Lincoln was probably upstairs in his room reading comic books. It was just as well. As long as he was quiet, he could do whatever he wanted up there as far as she was concerned.

She closed the door behind her and kicked her shoes off. Lori walked towards the couch and sat down. She gave herself a moment to absorb the sweet sound of silence as she melted into the well-worn cushions.

Her repose was short-lived, as her hands found her phone once more. Soon, she was texting at her normal speed.

Suddenly, she felt it.

Lori looked up from her phone. Her eyebrow twitched.

"No..." she whispered to herself, springing to her feet and heading up the stairs. She only made it halfway up the stairs before she heard the shattering of glass coming from her room. Lori sprinted the rest of the way, flinging her door open to discover her little brother holding his class' pet tarantula, cringing at the broken glass on the floor.

"What did you do?!" Lori shouted.

"I'm sorry Lori, Frank got out, and I thought I saw him go in here, so I wanted to find him before you or Leni got back and I must have bumped into your dresser when—"

She focused on the glass and the overpowering flowery smell in her room. He had shattered a bottle of perfume Bobby had brought her back from Paris.

That was strike three.

"You have no idea what you just broke, do you?" she muttered threateningly. "That perfume was $150 dollars an ounce!" Lori roared.

"I'm really sorry, I'll just save up and buy you some more when I—"

"Please tell me how you are going to save up enough money to fly to Paris and buy me $500 dollars worth of perfume!"

Lincoln cringed as she kept up the shouting. No matter how many times she told him, no matter how much security she put on her door, this always seemed to happen.

"I, uh, well—" Lincoln was visibly shaken. He had never seen her this angry before, and Lori was certain she'd never been this angry.

"Exactly what I thought! You literally have no idea, do you? I tell you to stay out of my room to keep shit like this from happening, but it just doesn't get through your thick head, does it?"

Tears were beginning to form in her little brothers eyes. She never swore in front of her siblings, and most certainly never at them directly. But everyone has their breaking point.

"It's like you just disregard my fucking privacy just because you let your stupid spider out of its cage AGAIN. How dumb do you have to be to literally make the same mistake twice?" She paused to catch her breath. Two lines of tears had escaped from her little brother's eyes, now wetting his cheeks as he still gingerly held on to the tarantula. She had never seen such fear in his eyes before, but her rage would not be quelled by waterworks. Not this time. "None of your sisters do this, because they all know what the words STAY OUT mean! Christ, I wish I only had nine sisters! Maybe then I could actually manage to own expensive things that don't end up broken by asshole little brothers! Now GET OUT!" Lori shouted, her fist shaking in anger.

She had always managed restraint, especially when it came to Lincoln, but irreplaceable gifts crossed the line. Lori looked into his teary eyes as her words sunk in. He looked devastated, but her fury blinded her to his battered feelings. A small part of her was glad to see she may have finally gotten her point across. Maybe now he wouldn't so much as look at her room without her permission.

Lincoln ran past her. She could hear him sobbing as he hurried down the hallway and back into his room. Lori slammed the door and locked it. For a moment, she felt a tinge of guilt. After all, she had said some pretty harsh things to him, and she had swore at him; something he could definitely rat her out to their parents for as revenge.

The intense aroma of her spilled perfume hit her nose and brought her anger roaring back. She grabbed a towel and cleaned up the shards and scented liquid, soaking it up as best she could before tossing it all in the trash. The smell was beginning to give her a headache, so she opened her window.

Lori immediately plopped down on her bed and began texting Bobby about the whole incident. As they went back and forth, she yawned, her eyelids getting heavy. She told Bobby she would talk to him after a quick nap. As she tried to fall asleep, she began to wonder how Lincoln got past all of her countermeasures, when it hit her.

Leni was the last one out of their room this morning, and she was notorious for forgetting to lock the door. In a way, she figured Leni should have gotten some of that abuse, too. But what was done, was done.

Lori eventually drifted off to sleep, the harsh smell of her concentrated perfume spill still irritating her nose slightly, even with the window open.

Lori woke a few hours later to her mother calling them to dinner. She rubbed her eyes and checked her phone.

No new messages.

She stuffed it in her pocket, and opened her door to the chaos filling her hallway. Her sisters began filing down the stairs for food when Lori noticed everyone but Lincoln heading to the dining room.

"Ugh, he's probably still mad I yelled at him," she mumbled to herself as she walked towards his room.

"Lori, dinner is downstairs," Leni said, stopping on the top step as she noticed her sister walking the wrong direction.

"I know, Leni, I just need to apologize to Lincoln so he doesn't starve himself to death." After she had slept on it, much of her anger had dissipated. Granted, she was still upset about the loss of the perfume she didn't even get a chance to wear for Bobby, but that was another matter. One that she would take payments for in installments, if it came to that.

"Lincoln?" Leni asked.

Lori rolled her eyes. "Yes, Leni, Lincoln," she said, knocking on the door to his room.  "C'mon and eat dinner, dweeb, I'm sorry for yelling at you."

Leni eyed her sister with concern. "Luna..." she called downstairs worriedly.

Luna hustled up the stairs beside Leni. "What, dude? Our grub is getting cold—"

Leni pointed silently at Lori tapping her foot impatiently in front of Lincoln's door. "What?" Lori said, noticing her sisters staring at her. "I'm apologizing to Lincoln for yelling at him earlier."

Luna and Leni exchanged worried looks. "Uh, are you feeling okay, Lori?" Luna asked.

"Oh c'mon guys, is me apologizing to him really that unusual?" Lori scoffed, knocking on the door again. "Seriously, Lincoln, the silent treatment? Are you literally six?" She waited a few more seconds before her patience had run out. "Alright, that's it. If you don't respect my privacy, I won't respect yours!"

Lori pulled open the door to Lincoln's bedroom. She expected to see him pouting on his bed, in his room full of things a dorky 11 year old boy would like, comic posters draped over the walls and models suspended from the ceiling.

The only thing to greet her was a dark closet full of old linens.

Lori blinked.

She stared into the linens as though they would part to reveal her brothers room if she looked at them long enough. The shock began to wear off as she stuck her head into the closet. The window was still there, but instead of a bed the size of a young boy, there hung old, ugly christmas sweaters. Lori looked to the other side of the closet. More seasonal clothing, old bedding and decorations, all covered in a fine dust, as if to suggest they hadn't been moved in months.

Lori closed her eyes and let out a chuckle. Lincoln had put quite a bit of time and effort into pranking her like this. Usually this kind of thing was more Luan's territory.

'He must have got her to help him out,' she thought, closing the door to the closet and turning to face her concerned sisters.

"Alright, you can tell him he got me, just make sure he eats dinner, 'WHEREVER HE'S HIDING!' she called out loudly. Lori trotted past her sisters as Leni and Luna followed her down the stairs while they whispered to each other.

"Who the heck is Lincoln?" Luna asked.

"I don't know, maybe she made up an imaginary friend?" Leni replied.

"Pfft, more like imaginary boyfriend," Luna laughed.

"Luna, that's mean!" Leni chided as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

Lori sat down at her usual spot at the dinner table, paying no mind to the sporadic glances Leni and Luna would give her as they ate. The chaos from the kids table filled the silence between the clanking of silverware as the 'adults' ate their meatloaf.

"So girls, anything new?" Mr. Loud asked, taking a bite of his meatloaf.

"I blocked one girl's shot so many times in my basketball game, their coach almost benched her!" Lynn said with a smile. "But then she started to get mad, so she charged me, and the ref didn't even call it!" she continued, gesturing wildly with her hands. "So after that, I shoulder checked her! You drive in Lynn Loud's lane, you hafta pay the toll."

"Sweetie, isn't that a foul?" Mrs. Loud asked.

Lynn looked down at her peas, moving them around with her fork. "Well, I mean... technically... but we won!"

Mrs. Loud sighed. "How about you, Luna?"

Luna sat back in her chair. "Well, Chunk went to pick up the new amps we ordered from the music shop, but they fried the moment we tried to jam! Can you believe that? So we spent all day digging through Chunk's gross gear trailer trying to find the receipt so we can get a refund. It a long way to the top, if you want to rock and roll..." Luna sighed.

"Interesting..." Mr. Loud replied. "And Luan? How was your day?"

"I tried out this great new practical joke on our librarian!" Luan giggled happily. "Long story short, we need a new librarian."

"What have I told you about pranking school faculty young lady? You are banned from your prop trunk for a month!"

"Aw, but Mom, she'd only let me check out three comedy books at a time!"

"I don't want to hear it, Luna. I want that trunk in my bedroom after dinner."

Luan slumped in her seat, a rare frown on her face as her elbows rested on the table now that she'd lost her appetite.

"And Leni? Did anything noteworthy happen to you today?"

 "I... um..." Leni looked around nervously. "Lori thinks someone named Lincoln lives in the hallway closet."

"Leni!" Luna scolded.

"What? I couldn't think of anything!"

Lori rolled her eyes. Looks like Lincoln had gotten everyone in on this. "Okay guys, seriously, I'm sorry I yelled at Lincoln, but he snuck into my room and broke the perfume Bobby brought me back from Paris! Enough with his practical joke, already!"

All eyes were on her as silence washed over the table, the only sound being the subdued ruckus from the kitchen.

"Who the hell is Bobby?" Lynn asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Lynn junior!" Mrs. Loud snapped.

"Heck! I meant heck!"

Mrs. Loud snapped her fingers and pointed towards the kitchen. "Get the soap and I'll meet you in the kitchen, its dishes for you, miss potty mouth."

"Can't I at least stay to hear who Bobby and Lincoln are?"

"NOW, missy."

Lynn groaned, taking her plate to the kitchen as the rest of the family focused back on Lori.

"Lori, who is Bobby? Someone from school?" Mr. Loud asked.

"Dad, stop. You're literally acting crazy. You know who Bobby is. You've met him! I've been going out with him since literally forever!"

"I think I'd remember meeting my daughter's first boyfriend."

Lori's jaw dropped. What the heck was going on here? "Bobby Santiago. He came to visit me when I had my appendix taken out! He wouldn't leave my bedside, even when that cop tazed him for matching the description of an escaped patient from the psych ward!" None of this seemed to be ringing a bell. How was everyone in her family able to keep a straight face for so long? "We took Lincoln and his little sister Ronnie Anne out on a double date together!"

"Uh, princess, I keep hearing the name Lincoln, who is that, exactly?" Mr. Loud asked.

Lori's expression flattened. This had gone on long enough.

"Lincoln Loud," she replied. "He's your son!" Lori shouted.

"You will not raise your voice to your father, Lori!" Mrs. Loud interjected.

Lori paid her no attention, focusing on Luan. "Okay, you got me. Tell Lincoln I'm sorry, the joke's over."

Luan looked around the table, pleading with her eyes for help from her sisters or parents. She swallowed nervously before uttering "What joke?"

Lori growled, standing up from the table. "Are you guys literally just messing with me? Our little, eleven year old brother Lincoln, who lives in the old hall closet you converted into his bedroom!"

By now, even the kids table had fallen silent, every junior Loud peeking their heads into the dining room to see what all the fuss was about.

"This isn't funny anymore!" Lori barked, before storming off into the living room. She quickly dug through the stack of old photo albums until she found a rather huge one with 'The Loud Family' written in fancy script on the cover. She brought it back to the dining room and slammed it on the table, opening the dusty cover. The album was divided by tabs, with Lori's baby pictures starting at the front, the progressively younger Louds occupying the back pages. "You can pretend all you want, but I know you wouldn't go this far!"

Lori flipped past her pictures, then Leni's, Luna's, Luan's, Lynn's, and finally...

"Lucy?" she mumbled in shock.

Lori flipped back and forth between Lynn's and Lucy's section. She could clearly see Lincoln's baby pictures in her mind, but nothing stared back at her from the album but the chubby cheeks and first bath times of her younger sisters.

"Lori, I think you need to lay down," Luna suggested. A shortness of breath began to come over her as she stumbled backwards. Leni and Luna raced forward to catch her arms just in time. They laid her on the couch as her parents rushed over, followed quickly by the rest of her sisters. They were speaking to her, but she couldn't quite make out what they were saying, as thought they were trying to talk to her while she was underwater. Darkness tunneled her vision as it soon faded to black.

Lori woke up on the couch, her mother and father sitting next to her in the living room, waiting for her to wakeup. She felt a cold dampness across her forehead. Her eyes flicked open as her vision swam into focus.

Her mother was the first to notice as she knelt down beside her on the couch. "Sweetie, are you okay?"

Was it possible it was all a dream? A stress dream brought on by Lincoln breaking something her beloved Bobby had gotten her?

Lori removed the cloth from her head. "Ugh... yeah, I think so... where's Lincoln?"

Her mother and father exchanged worried glances.

"Lori, no one named Lincoln lives here."

Clearly her luck wasn't that good. She groaned.

"Please, Mom, Dad, he's your son..." she was tired of fighting. Her family would never be cruel enough to keep up a joke after seeing what it had just done to their eldest daughter.

"Honey, we don't have a son. Not to say I didn't want one—" Rita elbowed her husband. "B-But I still love you girls just as much as I would love a boy. Lori, are you sure this wasn't just some crazy dream you had before dinner?"

"He's right sweetheart, sometimes dreams can feel very real at the time," her mother added.

She couldn't believe what they were suggesting. Lori could remember everything about him! His first steps, his first words, his first kiss! How could she have imagined another person's life? For eleven years?

"Listen, right now, we just need you to get some rest, okay? Here's the remote, and your phone. I made your sisters promise to play upstairs so you can have the TV," Mr Loud said, handing her both devices as he and Mrs. Loud went back to their bedroom.

Lori could hardly concentrate on the TV. She grabbed her phone and opened her text messages. The text chain from Bobby was gone! She flipped frantically back through her old messages, but found nothing, not even a chain from Lincoln, which she knew she'd used only yesterday!

She searched her contacts.

No Bobby.

Panic was beginning to set in again. Her heart began to race.

"You look like you've lost something."

Lori nearly jumped out of her skin. Lucy sat on the arm of the couch, legs crossed and arms folded.

"Or someone."

Lori rubbed her eyes. She didn't know what to think anymore. She raised herself up on her elbows. "I know he's real, Lucy, you have to believe me!" Lori pled.

"Listen, you really freaked everyone out today. You need to keep this 'Lincoln' business to yourself, or Mom and Dad will have you committed."

She didn't believe her either. Lori felt like she was losing her mind. Were they all right? How sure was she really that Lincoln even existed? If he had, there'd be some evidence, wouldn't there?

Lori sank back onto the couch as Lucy hopped off the armrest. "Try and rest," she said aloud before leaning in closer. "Everything will make sense after a good night's sleep," she whispered. Lucy hovered over her for just a moment longer than was necessary. "Trust me."

Lori paid her words no mind as Lucy disappeared in her usual fashion. She turned to the tv, but nothing on it could take her thoughts off her little brother. The hours passed as she lay on the couch in her daze. Her sisters came and went all around her, but she hardly noticed them. At some point, Lola came down the stairs and stood in front of her. Instead of her usual confident smile or angry glare, she wore a concerned frown. Not unlike the time Lori and her siblings thought a ghost was haunting their basement. A ghost which Lincoln bravely attempted to fight off until it turned out to be laundry.

"Feeling better?" Lola asked tentatively. It looked like Lucy had been telling the truth. Lori sat up on the couch and yawned.

"Yes," she lied.

A bit of a smile tugged at the side of Lola's lips. "Great! I got a favor to ask you..." she looked shyly down at the ground. Not like her at all. "Could you braid my hair? Leni always pulls too hard."

Even through the madness of the past twelve hours, her little sister managed to recover a smile from Lori. "Okay, sit down, squirt." Lori slid back on the couch as Lola sat between her legs and handed her a brush. Lori lost herself in the repetitive motion as she smoothed out Lola's beautiful blonde locks. She was about ready to begin when Lola turned around.

"Can I watch the Princess channel?"

"Sure," Lori replied, handing her the remote.

The more time she spent perfecting the braid, the more Lincoln faded from the forefront of her mind. However, he wouldn't go away completely. Before long, she had reached the bottom, tying the end in blue hair tie. "There you go, pretty as a princess," Lori mused. She rested her hand on her chin as she glanced up at the clock. "I think it's past your bedtime,"

"Aw, but the pageant's almost over!"

"You know the rules. Just record it and you can watch it in the morning." Lori said as Lola hit record on the DVR and pouted off to bed.

Lori instinctively reached for her phone to text Bobby, only to slowly lower it back on to the couch. Lori thought back. What did she do before she met Bobby?

'Oh yeah, golf,' she thought. She was actually on the high school women's golf team before she stopped playing. Unfortunately, 11:30 at night was no time to hit the links. Lori stood up from the couch and stretched. Wearily, she climbed the steps to her and Leni's bedroom. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she stopped. She knew what was behind her, waiting in the quiet of the darkened hallway. Lori turned around.

The closet door was as unassuming as ever. Lori walked towards it slowly, her eyes filling with tears as everything she'd done to push Lincoln to the back of her mind came flooding back. She prayed that this door would open to reveal the room she had been in hundreds of times before. If only for a moment, a spark of hope lived in her heart.

She reached for the handle, and closed her eyes. "Please..."

The closet door squeaked open slowly. Lori opened her eyes.

Her back met the wall with a soft 'thud' as she slid down onto her butt. The tears flowed freely now as her makeup began to run. Lincoln was gone. Why did none of her family remember someone she remembered so vividly? How could any of this be happening?

"You know, the Alice Cooper look doesn't really do you any favors."

Lucy didn't startle her this time. What could after losing her little Linky? Every memory of him growing up weighed heavily on her mind. There were so many times she'd helped him, yelled at him, and comforted him, and every memory seemed to smother her.

"Lucy..." she sniffed, wiping her eyes and trying desperately to compose herself in front of her little sister. "You should be in bed."

Lucy looked down the hallway, making sure the rest of the family was still asleep. "Look, I had to wait until everyone was asleep to tell you, but I remember Lincoln too."

Lori stared at her little sister. She knew the tell of each of her sisters, even Lincoln's. But Lucy was a mystery. All she revealed was her cute little nose, and mouth. Not much to read.

"Y-you do?"

"Yeah. White hair, likes to read comic books in his underwear, best friends with the kid version of Steve Urkel?"

Lori couldn't believe her luck. Her mood brightened instantly. "Yes, that's him! You remember him too, right?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, but it looks like you and me are the only two that do."

"But... why? I took a nap in my room after yelling at Lincoln, and now he's gone!"

Lucy looked away from her sister, her cheeks tinting red only slightly. "I, uh... may have had something to do with that..."

Lori's mouth fell open. Her shock quickly morphed into the rage so many of her sister's were all too familiar with.

"WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?"

Lucy took a step back. "Hey, take it easy, you want me to disappear, too?"

"How the, how did you—"

"So, lets just say I had a ouija board, and I didn't really think it would work, so there would be no harm in trying it—"

"A ouija board? Are you serious?! Have you never seen any horror movies, this is literally how they start!" Lori whispered harshly.

Lucy frowned. "It's not all my fault, the demon feeds on negative emotions, and when you started shouting at Lincoln, it took notice. If you hadn't started raging at him, we wouldn't be cursed!"

 "Yeah, but we'd still have a DEMON in our house!" Lori replied sharply as she caught on to the last few words Lucy said. Lori held up her hands. "Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean, 'cursed'?"

"Demons aren't just pure evil, they've been known throughout time as tricksters, too. The fight you had with Lincoln was only temporary, and the demon knew it. So by cursing you to remember him when no one else in our family does, he could feed off your guilt and sadness for the rest of your life."

Lori scratched her head. "But, then why do you remember him?"

"Before I summoned him, I took precautions." Lucy produced a necklace from beneath her nightshirt. A small disc with a five-pointed star covered in weird symbols shone dimly in the light of Lola's nightlight in the hallway. "This is supposed to protect me from its tricks. So far it seems to be working."

"None of this still excuses the fact that you literally summoned a demon into our house! Why would you do that?" Lori demanded.

"I didn't think it would work! I've tried all kinds of arcane rituals that didn't do anything before!"

Lori rubbed her eyes. "Okay, forgetting how incredibly dumb what you did was for a second, how do we fix this?"

Lucy took a seat next to Lori. "To lift a curse, you have to do three things. First, we need to find what was taken. In our case, that would be Lincoln."

"Wait, so he's still alive?" Lori asked hopefully.

"Yeah, a demon can't just kill a mortal," Lucy replied matter-of-factly.

"But, what if it sent him to the other side of the country? Or the world? How will we find him?"

"I went with a lesser demon, so he won't be powerful enough to pull something like that off. At most, Lincoln's one town over."

"Oh, well I'm glad you stuck with a lesser demon. Maybe next time just go for broke and try for Satan himself?"

"I deserve that," Lucy sighed. "But it's not going to help us fix this. Tomorrow, we'll need to go find Lincoln."

Lori stood up from the wall and helped her little sister off the ground. "Oh, and one more thing. The demon is still out there, most likely possessing human form. We can't tell anyone what we're doing, because if the demon catches wind, he'll only make things more difficult."

"So the demon could be anyone?"

Lucy nodded. Lori walked her back to her and Lynn's room, her athletic sister already snoring away in her sleep.

"Get some sleep. We've got a busy day tomorrow."

Lori headed to her room, opening it softly so she wouldn't wake Leni. She dressed herself for bed and looked out the window. Leni must have closed it. She turned back to her bed, crawling into it and pulling the blankets to her chin. Would she dream about him? Would she revisit the life she had in her dreams? What if Lucy was just messing with her? What if she really was crazy? And what happened to Bobby?

Her errant thoughts eventually settled down as she remembered her talk with Lucy. She had a spark of hope to set things right. It was all she had, but she clung to it. She messed things up, and it was her duty as the eldest sister to fix it.

A tear escaped as she thought of her memories. Lori remembered the day Lincoln came home from the hospital. She absolutely adored his hair, even thought she'd later pick on him for it. She took a special interest in their only brother. She jumped at the chance to comfort him when he was crying, and to play with him when he was bored in his playpen.

Lori remembered teaching him to try and ride a bike without his training wheels, and how scared he was at the very idea.
"Lori, you have to promise not to let go, okay?"

"Okay, I won't let go!" Lori said for what felt like the hundredth exasperated time.

He was petrified of falling, even though he was covered head to toe in padding. Lori's hand was firmly planted on the back of the bike as Lincoln began to pedal, Lori jogging behind him, still holding on. His sisters had gathered outside to watch as they cheered Lincoln on.

"Pedal Linky, pedal!" Lori shouted as she slowly let go of the seat. Lincoln pedaled down the sidewalk on his own. Lori beamed with pride as the other sisters cheered him.

"Did you let go?" He asked, not daring to turn his head or change anything about his body position, lest he meet the pavement.

Lori didn't have time to answer before Leni replied. "Yeah, she did!"

Almost instantly, Lincoln crashed.

It had taken quite a few bandages and some time for him to trust her again, but eventually, he learned to ride, no problem.

Comforting thought's of her life with Lincoln lulled her to sleep as she drifted off into this strange new world.

Something woke her shortly after she'd fallen asleep. Lori sat up in bed and looked beside her. Leni was still sleeping peacefully. An uneasy feeling, like she was being watched, came over her. Lori got out of bed and crept to the window overlooking the street.

In the light of the streetlamp, stood Lincoln, staring up at her.

Her heart leapt into her throat. There he was! If he could just stay there, she could get outside and talk to him, tell him that she and Lucy were working on fixing everything, and that they'd all be a family again soon.

Before she could head downstairs, the cone of light Lincoln stood inside began to flicker, then extinguish entirely. Lori inhaled sharply before the streetlight came back on. Only this time, Lincoln was gone, replaced by a Carol, her arms folded, smiling menacingly up at her, small wisps of smoke curling from beneath her shoes. Her eyes flashed red before the light began to flicker again. This time Lincoln stood beside her, the look of sadness on his face breaking her heart.

Carol put her arm around him. Even though she was on the street, Lori could hear 'Carol's words like she was standing right next to her.

"He's mine now."

Lori bolted upright in bed, a cold sweat beading on her forehead. It had only been a dream, but she knew exactly where she wanted to start looking for Lincoln tomorrow.

Lori woke up to Leni dressed and heading downstairs for breakfast. She dreaded having to face her Mom and Dad after what happened last night, but she had to take Lucy's advice and play it cool.

'If they ask, I'll just tell them I was super stressed out, and I had a really crazy dream. They'll believe that, right?' she wondered as she glanced at herself in the mirror before heading down to eat. Still in her pajamas, she noticed the breakfast table had been ravaged by most of her younger siblings already. There were only a few pancakes and the more crunchy strips of bacon still available. Lori poured herself some coffee and sat down at the table.

"Ready to go demon hunting?"

Lori nearly spilled her joe. "Geez, Lucy!"

"I've been sitting here since you came downstairs. At a certain point, it's your fault," she replied flatly.

"Sorry. Anyway, I think I have a hunch who the demon might be."

"Really?" Lucy replied curiously.

"I had a pretty creepy dream last night, and I think we should start with Carol Pingry."

Lucy couldn't help but chuckle. "Carol? The girl you lost homecoming queen to?"

"Well where do you suggest we start looking then?" Lori growled.

"Okay, we'll start with her. But we also need to keep an eye out for Lincoln," Lucy insisted, slowly finishing the rest of her scrambled eggs.

"Didn't want them burnt today?" Lori asked.

"What? No. Who would eat burnt eggs?" Lucy asked, as though it were a dumb question.

"It's just that... never mind. I'll be in the van."

Thankfully, Lori managed to get to the van without seeing her parents or any of her older siblings. A short time later, Lucy trotted out of the house and down the sidewalk to the van.

Once she climbed in, Lori set off to find her rival.

"I remember her working as a life guard at the Royal Woods country club, so that's the best place to start," Lori said, as Lucy scribbled something quickly into a little black notebook she'd brought with her. A few more moments of silence passed before she recalled something she'd been meaning to ask about. "So, you seem to know a lot about this stuff, why would Bobby not be my boyfriend if Lincoln didn't exist?"

"Maybe he was responsible for you two meeting?" Lucy suggested.

Lori scoffed. "No way, we met at the mall while I was..." she paused, thinking back to that fateful day. "Oh, I was only there because Lincoln wouldn't leave me alone about taking him to get some dumb new video game!"

Lucy nodded. "No Lincoln, no Bobby."

She sighed, wringing her hands on the steering wheel. "Just wait till I find that Carol!"

Lucy slowly turned her head towards her older sister. "You mean demon, right?"

"Y-yeah! The demon who might be Carol. That's what I meant."

Lori pulled into the fancy iron gates at the club, Vanzilla sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the cars of Royal Woods' elites.

Lori and Lucy left the car in a far parking spot as they headed towards the clubhouse. The interior of the clubhouse was as stuffy as it looked on the outside. Old men in weird golf clothes sipped overpriced drinks and talked stocks and bonds while Lori held Lucy's hand, guiding her through the clubhouse and towards their target. All the stares and snobby looks was why Lori preferred the public courses over places like this.

"Lucy, if you wanted me to turn the A/C on in the car, you could have just asked." Lori said, peering over a multitude of bald heads and thinning grey hair to locate the sign pointing to the pool.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"You're burning up! Your hand is making mine sweaty!" Lori said, finally locating the door to the pool and scanning the mass of kids and parents splashing about.

"Sorry," Lucy replied, wiping her palms on her dress.

As she looked around, she spotted a shirtless Bobby talking to an employee loading towels into a shed by the pool. Lori could hardly control herself as she dashed away from Lucy.

"He doesn't know you..." Lucy sighed in vain, resigned to her fate of watching her sister embarrass herself in a public place.

"Bobby Boo Boo Bear!" Lori shouted, nearly sprinting towards him. Bobby barely had time to turn around before she tackled him into a stack of towels. Lori squeezed him tightly as he gasped for air. Lori felt someone trying to pry her off him as she finally relented, leaving Bobby gasping for breath atop a heap of towels. "Bobby, I'm so sorry, I know you probably don't remember me but we've been dating for like, months!"

Bobby lowered his sunglasses to get a good look at her, his eyes scanning her features. A smile spread across his face. "Oh yeah, I know you!"

Lori's eyes brightened. "Y-You do?"

Bobby nodded to whoever was still holding Lori's arms in restraint. "You can let her go now, Lincoln," Bobby said.

Lori's eyes widened as she turned around. An annoyed Lincoln Loud stared down at her, arms folded. He wore the red polo and white shorts of a cabana boy. "Thanks for wrecking my towels, lady."

Lori couldn't decided who to address first, but Lincoln began cleaning up the mess she'd made, so Bobby seemed like the obvious choice.

"You remember me, Bobby Bear?"

"Of course! How could I forget?" Bobby smiled. "You sat a few desks behind me in trig and you cut that huge fart that cleared out that entire back row! That was hilarious! Me and the boys still get a laugh out of that."

Lori's heart shattered. He was still the same Bobby, only... without her.

"Ahem. You mind?" Lincoln asked, trying to pick up a towel Lori happened to be standing on. She forgot about Bobby for the moment and focused on him.

"Hey!" Lincoln shouted as she knocked the towels from his hands and bent down to look him in the eye, both hands on his shoulders.

"Lincoln, listen to me, I need you to remember. I'm your oldest sister, Lori. You have nine more sisters not counting me, and I made a stupid mistake that I promise I'll never make again if you please just remember who you are." Lori pled breathlessly, tears now beginning to run down her face as she looked into the clearly frightened eyes of a confused eleven year old boy. "Oh, please remember who you are, Lincoln!" she asked one more time before pulling him into a equally bone crushing hug.

"Help!" Lincoln wheezed as Lucy finally caught up with her crazed sister.

"Just what the heck is going on here?"

Lori recognized that voice. She let go of Lincoln and got to her feet before turning around. Carol stood in her red one piece lifeguard swimsuit, her rocking baywatch look catching the eyes of all the men at the pool, both young and old.

"Carol," Lori growled.

Carol raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you?"

"She's the trig girl, babe. You know, the one I told you about?"

Lori nearly blew a gasket. "BABE?!" she repeated. "Bobby, how do you know this tramp?"

Bobby's happy-go-lucky attitude shifted on a dime. "Whoa, my girlfriend is not a tramp, trig girl."

"Yeah, leave my sister alone you pyscho!" Lincoln chimed in, standing beside Carol.

Lori was dumbfounded.

"Y-your... what?"

"My sister." Lincoln said, gesturing towards her as Carol put her arm around his shoulder. "And this is Bobby, her boyfriend. Are you deaf AND crazy?" Lincoln looked over their shoulder, noticing the club security beginning to swarm. "You should probably leave before security gets here," Lincoln insisted.

"B-but... but..."

"I got her," Lucy sighed. This time it was her turn to lead Lori by the hand and out of the country club they were now almost certainly barred from entering.

Once they were back in the van, Lucy simply watched Lori stare off into the distance before erupting into a string of obscenities fit for a sailor. She flailed in the drivers seat, rocking the van on its springs as she pounded on the steering wheel with her fists.

"First that bitch takes Lincoln, and now Bobby?! Oh, that demon is gonna pay!"

Once Lori caught her breath, she turned to Lucy. "Well, we found them, now what?"

"Now comes the hard part. We need to prepare a ritual space, and we need to bring them there. Once we do..." Lucy paused. "You'll have to cleanse her body of the demon."

"Like with what? Holy water or something?" Lori asked. "She's not gonna turn her head backwards and puke on me, is she?"

"It's a possibility. But you won't need holy water," Lucy replied, as she began rooting around underneath the passengers seat. She produced a rectangular black box inlaid with runes and symbols Lori didn't recognize. Lucy opened the box to reveal a sinister looking dagger. "You'll need this."

Lori's eyes widened as she took in the shimmering blade, the handle made up of two twisting snakes, whose bodies flared out to form the hand-guard.

"Lucy, you're barely allowed to use the real scissors!" Lori gasped. "Where did you even get something so dangerous?"

"You'd be surprised what you can find on ebay." Lucy closed the box and handed to her.

"Wait, so I have to literally stab Carol?" Lori asked in horror as she realized the implication of her eight year old sister handing her a knife. "I mean, sure, I don't like her, but I've never wanted to hurt her! I just wanted her to constantly live in my shadow and always know how much better I am than her." Lori blinked. "That's all!"

"Insane motivations aside, this blade will only harm the demon." Lucy brushed a bit of loose hair behind her ear. "According to the guy I bought it from, anyway."

Lori rubbed her temples as she began to realize how crazy all of this was beginning to sound. "So, let me see if I have this straight. We have to kidnap Carol and Lincoln, take them to our pagan ritual site, stab Carol to send the demon inside her back to hell, and the only thing that can do that is this creepy knife that you bought on ebay," she recapped, arms folded.

"Yeah," Lucy replied.

"And the only guarantee we have that this will even work in the first place is that the shady weirdo you bought the knife from off the internet said it would?" Lori clarified.

Lucy hummed to herself as she went over what her eldest sister had listed. "Yeah, that's pretty much it."

Lori sat back against the car seat, tears welling in her eyes as the pressure and anxiety from the last two days crashed over her all at once. "How can this be happening?" she moaned, quickly wiping the tears threatening to spill from her eyes away before they ruined her makeup. "What if I'm literally losing my mind?"

Lucy inhaled deeply through her nose and smiled. "You're not crazy. Having a brother one day and then not having one the next is." She grabbed her sister's hand and looked her in the eye. Well, Lori assumed she was looking her in the eye, anyway. "That's why we've got to fix this. We need to get our brother back." Lucy let go of her hand and buckled her seat belt. "Let's get back home. I'll need to do some research and collect some supplies. Also, now that the demon has seen you, it might suspect we're on to it. Keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary."

Lori composed herself long enough to start the car and buckle herself in. They left the golf course as Lori and Lucy rode in silence. Lori scanned the road ahead of her, her thoughts still mired in what she'd just witnessed. Bobby, HER Bobby was dating that demon-slut Carol, and to top it off, she had Lincoln believing he was HER little brother! And they were both acting like this was normal! That's what fumed her the most. She was deep in thought as she waited for the light to change at the four-way intersection where she and Lucy found themselves.

The light changed to green as Lori pressed the gas pedal. The van begrudgingly lurched forward before Lucy noticed the light blink back to red, skipping yellow entirely.

"STOP!" Lucy shouted as Lori slammed on the brakes, nearly at the intersection. A semi truck raced by them, horn blaring only a few feet from the front of the van. Lori's heart raced as she caught her breath, coming only mere feet from certain death for both of them.

"But, it was green! I saw it change!" Lori gasped, her chest still heaving.

"I did too. We need to get home." Lucy reminded her. Honks from behind the van helped nudge them through the intersection as Lori cautiously drove back to the Loud house.

"I thought you said the demon wanted to keep me alive?" Lori said as they pulled into their neighborhood.

"Demons hate hell more than they enjoy suffering. It can't directly kill a mortal, but it can set events in motion that will. So if it knows we're coming after it, it'll get desperate. It can always start over with a new victim now that it's been released."

Lori pulled into the driveway and shut off the car. "I'm gonna gather my supplies." Lucy said, unbuckling her seat belt and opening the car door.

"What about me? What should I do?" Lori asked, realizing that this was the first time she'd ever posed a question like that to a younger sibling. She was the one who was supposed to have all the answers, and yet here she was taking cues from an eight year old demon hunter.

"Just act normal. Theres no reason to bring anymore attention to yourself. I'll let you know when we're ready to act."

Lucy got out of the car and headed straight to the side door while Lori headed towards the sidewalk leading up to the house. When she opened the door, she noticed her mom and dad seated on the couch, along with an older man in a tweed jacket and slacks she didn't recognize. Her mother noticed her come in and stood up, as did her father and the stranger.

"Lori, sweetie, this doctor Mathews. We want you to talk to him about last night." The doctor stepped forward and smiled warmly at her, extending his hand.

"Hello Lori, I understand you just had a bit of confusion last night?"

Lori returned his handshake and forced a smile. She glanced up at the bannister, seeing Lucy mouthing the words 'BE NORMAL'. Lori's eyes flicked back to doctor Mathews.

'Never thought I'd hear that from Lucy,' she thought.

Lori's parents left the room, leaving just the two of them. She took a seat on the couch as the doctor sat in an armchair across from her.

"So, Lori, how has your day been so far?" he asked innocuously.

She shrugged. "It's been okay I guess..."

"That's good to hear," Dr. Mathews replied. Lori couldn't place it, but somehow his voice seemed to have a calming effect. As though, if he were to talk to you long enough, he'd put you to sleep. "So, has anything traumatic happened in the last week? Any big tests you weren't prepared for, something terrible happen to a friend or acquaintance?"

'I literally don't even know where to start with that one,' she thought, before shaking her head. "No, nothing that I can think of,"

"Uh huh," Dr. Mathews said, reaching into his briefcase and retrieving a small pad of paper and a fancy looking pen. "Now, your parents told me about the uhm... event that took place yesterday. Care to tell me a little bit about that?"

Lori neutral expression morphed to a scowl. "I'm sure they already told you how crazy they think I am," she huffed, folding her arms.

Dr. Mathews raised his eyebrows as he began writing. "Oh, so you don't believe you're crazy?"

Lori glared at him incredulously. What kind of Dr. asks a question like that?

"No, I don't," she replied defensively. "What kind of doctor asks a person that?"

"I didn't mean to imply, it's just standard practice. Now, would you like to tell a little about this 'Lincoln' you said was your little brother the night before?"

Lori gulped. Where should she draw the line? Too much detail, and they might haul her off to the asylum that day. Too little, and it would look like a harmless cry for attention that would only cost her family however much this quack's hourly rate added up to.

"Well... he's—er, was, my eleven year old little brother."

The doctor nodded. "So you still believe him to be your younger brother?"

"No," Lori answered quickly. She was going to have to choose her words more carefully around this guy. "I know he isn't now, but... I dunno, maybe I just had a really convincing dream or something."

"Dreams can trick our minds into believing what transpired in the dream world actually happened. There have been case studies of people reporting to lead entirely different lives only to wake up back in a reality they'd nearly forgotten."

"Do you think that's what happened?" Lori asked anxiously. "I have so many memories of him growing up, I just don't know how to get them out of my head!" She was a little past acting normal at this point. Lori was beginning to believe that maybe she had dreamt the whole thing, and that Lucy was just leading her on some kind of wild goose chase.

"The phenomenon is extremely rare, but it is possible." Dr. Mathews leaned forward in his chair towards Lori. "Now, Lori, I need you to be 100% honest with me. Do you still believe Lincoln is, or ever was, your brother?"

Lori's pulse began to quicken as she looked into his eyes, and then quickly away. Did she really believe it? Was this new reality the way things had always been? Her answer would determine her fate. She inhaled deeply before reconnecting with his eyes.

"No. I know he wasn't real."

Satisfied, he put his pad away and sat back in the chair. "It is my expert opinion that you are doing just fine, Lori. You're a teenage girl in high school, preparing to head off to college. An incredibly vivid stress dream is not unheard of. Just try some relaxation methods, and remember not to work up your anxiety over things that are out of your control."

Lori nodded quietly as the doctor left his seat to rejoin her parents in the kitchen. Her phone buzzed against her thigh as she hurriedly fished it from her pocket, forgetting for a moment that there was no chance it was from her Bobby.

It was from Lucy, who had no doubt been spying on their session. "Good job playing it cool. That guy was a quack."

Lori set her phone in her lap and sighed. Now she wasn't so sure. Demons? That was the territory of Hollywood and crazed religious zealots! Nothing like that has ever literally happened! Besides that, she was now looking at kidnapping a friend turned rival, and her little brother! That was literally a felony.

'Maybe it would be better to just try and become friends with Carol again, then at least that way I can be around Lincoln and... Bobby,' she thought, her eyes filling with tears.

"I know what you're thinking," Lucy said, startling Lori's phone from her lap as Lucy caught it in mid air. "But you have to trust me on this. You didn't imagine Lincoln. I miss him just as much as you do, which is why we have to get him back."

Lori wiped the tears from her eyes, her eyeliner beginning to streak. "But how do I know I'm not just crazy? What if he was literally  just a stress dream or whatever?"

Lucy folded her arms. "If it was a stress dream, then why do you and I share the same memories of Lincoln?"

Lori narrowed her eyes at her younger sister. "How do I know you do?"

Lucy sighed. "In an effort to get into the family trophy case, Lincoln took embarrassing videos of all of us, and posted them on the internet. We found out, got mad at him, and he took it down, but not without humiliating himself to level the playing field." Lucy tossed her phone back to Lori. "Remember?"

It was true, just as she'd described.

"If you give up on this, the closest you'll ever get to getting Lincoln and Bobby back is befriending Carol, and clinging to their happiness like a shipwreck survivor clinging to driftwood," Lucy continued flatly. "And trust me, that's exactly what the demon wants."

Lori pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. It seemed like neither option would be easy to live with. "Okay, I guess... I guess I'm in. But how are we gonna kidnap two people without Mom and Dad knowing something's up?" Lori whispered.

"We'll have to divide the work. I'll get Lincoln, and you get Carol. Since they work at the same place, the easiest thing to do would be to wait for them after their shift."

Lucy began walking upstairs. "I've still got to gather some supplies. I'll meet you at the van at nine pm."

Lori looked at the clock. Nine was still over half the day away. "But what about Mom and Dad? Won't they hear the car start?"

Lucy stopped on the stairs and smiled. "No, they won't. Leave that to me."

She was putting more faith in her eight year old sister than she'd ever put in all of her other sister's combined. Lori sat back on the couch and contemplated the plan about to be set into motion. What if Lucy was the crazy one? What if Lori was just vulnerable enough to follow along with this whole 'demon' theory?

Lori brushed her bangs away from her eyes, the white noise of the droning TV providing the only soundtrack to her thoughts. After all, even if Lucy was wrong, how did she know about the memories Lori could recall about her baby brother? Not much was making sense right now, but but she had to hope that everything would work out in the end.

Hope seemed to be all she had left.

Time passed slowly. Without Bobby to text, she really had nothing else to do. She vegged out on the couch, idly watching whatever came on the television. Doubt and sadness crashed over her in waves as the hours dragged on. The more she thought about her situation, the more uncertain she became. The battle inside her raged on as the sun began to set, casting beams of orange light through the living room windows.

It wouldn't be long now. Only as her legs began to fall asleep did she realize that she hadn't moved from the couch all day. Lori forced herself from the sofa and headed up the stairs. Luna spotted her in the hallway.

"Hey, Lori, feelin' better?"

If there was one thing she'd become good at during this time, it was faking normalcy. She put on a smile. "Yeah, last night sure was crazy."

Luna breathed a sigh of relief. It was certainly easier not to have to walk on eggshells because her oldest sister might snap and start going on about this 'Lincoln' character again. "Yeah, you were a little nuts," Luna laughed, putting a hand on Lori's shoulder. "Listen, I know I probably don't say this as much as I should, but I'm glad you're okay."

Lori's fake smile soon became a real one as she looked into her younger sister's eyes, beaming with sincerity. "Thanks, Luna."

Luna pulled her into a hug and Lori gladly returned it. At least she had found some semblance of normalcy in this crazy world.

"Oh, and Lucy said she wanted you to meet her in her room," she said, breaking the hug. "Something about moving ahead of schedule."

Lori bid Luna goodbye as she headed towards Lynn and Lucy's room. Lynn was nowhere to be found, but Lucy sat on her bed, as though she was waiting for her to enter.

"Shut the door."

Lori did as she was told and walked beside her little sister's bed. "Do you have everything?"

Lucy nodded. She hopped off her bed and began digging beneath it. "The ritual site is set up, all we need now are Carol and Lincoln." She produced a small water pistol and handed it to Lori.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Lori asked skeptically.

"It's filled with holy water. Just in case," Lucy said, finding the ornate box she had showed Lori earlier and climbing back onto her bed.

"Where did you get holy water?" she asked, examining the toy.

"Well, the church was locked when I got there, so I had to use the faucet on the outside of the building, but it should still work."

Her doubt began to grow as Lucy handed her the box with the blade in it.

"We can't wait until tonight, we'll have to stakeout the country club and wait for them to get off."

"Why?"

"The demon needs to be purged at the stroke of midnight to send it back to hell. If we kill it too early, it'll just jump into someone else."

Lori sighed. The complications just kept on coming. "How do you know all this?"

Lucy scoffed. "Any student of the dark arts worth their salt knows to do some research on the deity they're summoning before they do it. Duh."

Lori swallowed her apprehension and pressed on. "Fine, let's go."

Lucy grabbed a duffle bag and followed her out to the car. Fortunately, there was no one around to ask where they were going, which was quite unusual for a house with so many people living in it.

"I've got zip ties and duct tape, and a pair of handcuffs I found in Mom and Dad's closet," Lucy rattled off as the car sputtered to life.

Lori fought back a dry heave. "Don't touch the cuffs, let's just stick with the zip ties."

"Oh, and I couldn't find any ski masks, so I borrowed Lynn's luchador masks. Do you want red or green?"

This was truly the pinnacle of insanity. But she'd come to far now. That demon had not only messed with her Bobby, but it crossed the line taking her baby brother away from her. Lori's face morphed into a determined glare as she stowed the water pistol and blade between the front seats.

"Red."

Lori backed out of the driveway and headed into town. A thought occurred to her as she left the neighborhood. If Lincoln was truly all in her head, then that would make her crazy. And kidnapping and murder based on a delusion is definitely something a crazy person would do.

"Lucy..." Lori sighed, her resolve beginning to break. "What if I did just imagine Lincoln?"

"Do we really have to go through this again?" Lucy asked rubbing her temples. "Every doubt you've had about what happened is exactly what it wants! It wants you to settle for this 'new' life. It wants to haunt you with memories by making you think you made them up! That's what feeds it!"

Lori struggled to contain her conflicting thoughts as they drove. She nearly missed several turns, her anxiety ratcheting up the closer they got to their destination. By the time they reached the parking lot, sweat was beginning to bead on Lori's forehead, despite the air conditioning steadily pumping in cool air.

The darkness had already fallen across the town as one by one, the fancy cars evacuated the parking lot. Lori was able to see the employee entrance from the van as they waited for their prey. Carol drove an older model sedan, parked in the back parking lot; perfect for an ambush Once only a few employee cars remained, Lucy turned to Lori.

"We should hide by her car. It'll be easier to surprise her."

Lori couldn't help but agree. She took one long, deep breath in a futile attempt to calm her pounding heart. She opened the door, grabbing the duffle bag, along with her other tools.

This was it.

The deserted parking lot gave them little cover as they quickly moved from shadow to shadow, eventually reaching Carol's sedan. She had parked right in front of a rather large bush, providing wonderful concealment beneath a parking lot street lamp that just so happened to be burnt out.

Lori couldn't tell how long they'd been waiting in the bush as her heart refused to slow down. On one hand, she couldn't help but think this was wrong, crazy, and completely unnecessary. On the other, if there was even a shot that this would make everything in the life she knew she had been living real again, she had to take it.

She had to try, for Lincoln. She had to try for her baby brother, the little boy who loved her, and who she loved with everything she had. Even if she never admitted it nearly as often as she knew she should have. Lori had seen movies in which people killed to avenge their family member's deaths. Now, she would kill to bring her family member back.

"Look!" Lucy whispered, pulling Lori from her thoughts. Her heart leapt back into her throat as she noticed Carol and Lincoln casually walking towards the car, laughing and joking, completely unaware of what was to come. Even as she prepared herself to kidnap Carol, Lori couldn't help but notice how cute Lincoln looked in his little uniform.

This only furthered her resolve. This wasn't Carol she was fighting. This was a demon, a denizen of the underworld, and moreover, one that had robbed her of the life she was only now realizing she loved more than anything.

She gritted her teeth and donned her mask, Lucy following suit. They were almost to the car now, a mere ten feet away from the ambush zone. Carol and Lincoln's steps seemed to come in slow motion, as all sound from their conversation faded into nothing. Lori had tunnel vision, focused solely on her target. She saw Carol reach into her purse for her keys, and Lori struck.

Lori's original plan was to tackle her to the ground, quickly using the zip ties to secure her hands and feet before applying duct tape over her mouth. But, her growing anger at what the demon possessing Carol had done to ruin her life presented a knew option.

Lori sprang her trap, bursting from the bushes with lightning speed. Carol hardly had time to turn her way before a right hook connected with her jaw, sending her to the ground in a heap.

Lincoln only had time to inhale to scream before Lucy speared him, knocking the wind from his lungs in nothing more loud than a pathetic whimper. Lori grinned, her hand throbbing in pain, but satisfaction overwhelmed it as she began to restrain her target.

'We've only just started with you' Lori thought, restraining her lifeless captives limbs before leaning around the car to check on Lucy.

She had already hog-tied Lincoln and put duct tape over his mouth. She was sitting on his hip with her chin resting on her hand.

"Done yet?" she asked, noticing her peer over.

Lori couldn't help but be impressed. "Yeah, I'll bring the van around, stay with these two."

She sprinted back to the van and fumbled for the keys. Her adrenaline was still flooding her body as she struggled to find the right key. She ripped her mask off and finally stuck the key in the ignition, the van roaring to life. She peeled out of the parking lot like a woman on fire, slamming on the breaks dangerously close to where Carol lay unconscious.

Lori hopped out of the car and grabbed Carol beneath her arms. "Ha, I knew you were fatter than me!" she huffed, hoisting her captive up into the lip of the van, then tossing her across the back seat. She hurriedly went to the other side of the car where she easily picked up the utterly terrified Lincoln.

He was trying desperately to speak, but the tape only produced strained, frightened muffles.

"Shh, shh... it's okay, Lincoln. Lori's gonna make everything go back to the way it was, I promise!" she whispered to him as she laid him on the floor next to his unconscious sister. As one might expect, the ramblings of a crazy person you met earlier that day as they're in the act of kidnapping you did absolutely nothing to calm his nerves.

"Lucy, take this extra duct tape and ride in the back with them," Lori ordered, finally finding her big sister voice for the first time since this ordeal began.

Lucy nodded, hopping in the back and closing the sliding door as Lori ran around front.

"Hey! Stop!"

Just as Lori opened the drivers side door, she looked back. Bobby was running full sprint from the clubhouse.

'Oh c'mon Bobby, you really had to show up now?' she thought, climbing in and putting the petal to the metal. The wheels spun out, leaving Bobby coughing in a trail of smoke.

Lori speed off down the street, following the directions to Lucy's ritual site. She reached between the front seats and opened the box with the blade inside it. She grabbed it, and placed both hands back on the steering wheel. The ornate blade pulsed with the reflection of the streetlights as the van raced by them.

Lori stared at the blade.

"This ends tonight."

She could hear Lincoln's terrified attempts to speak through the duct tape as they sped out of town, heading to an abandoned park at the edge of Royal Woods.

"This is it," Lucy said from the back seat. Lori parked the van and quickly hopped out of the car. Lucy opened the sliding door as Lori came around the van. Carol was still unconscious, but Lincoln continued to struggle against his bonds. It broke her heart to see her little brother so scared and alone, but she knew this was for the best.

This would set everything right.

"Lincoln, I know you're scared right now, but trust me, I promise I'm not gonna hurt you."

This did nothing to comfort him as Lori drug Carol's limp body from the van. She hiked Carol over her shoulder and turned to Lucy. "How far into the park?"

"Straight down the path, you can't miss it."

Lori set off into the overgrown park, struggling to keep from dropping Carol until she noticed flickering lights through the trees. Coming around a bend in the path was the ritual site. A large five pointed star had been carved into the dirt, black candles cast shimmering light into the darkened woods and a cow skull had been placed on a stick behind the star. She knew nothing of the occult she was dealing with, but this place certainly sent a chill down her spine.

Lori unceremoniously dropped Carol from her shoulder. She turned back to get Lincoln, only to have Lucy startle her. She had somehow brought him all the way out here by herself. She figured Lynn was beginning to rub off on her as Lucy grabbed Lincoln's ankles.

"We need to lay them both in the star," Lucy said, checking her watch. "We have to hurry, it's almost midnight!"

Lori quickly drug Carol into the circle as she began to wake up. She struggled against her bonds as Lucy drug Lincoln into the circle next to her.

"Remember, don't listen to anything the demon says. Above all else, it doesn't want to go back to hell," Lucy reminded Lori as she produced the knife. The flames from the candles danced along the blade as Lori stood over Carol and Lincoln.

Once they saw the knife, the color drained from their faces. It was all too obvious what was to happen here.

"Get ready, it's almost midnight." Lucy said.

Lori straddled Carol, putting her weight on her hips, the knife still at the ready in her right hand.

Somehow, Carol had managed to free the tape from over her mouth as Lori sat on her, more than ready to get her life back.

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" she begged, tears and mascara running freely down her face.

"Shut up! This is all your fault, you fucking demon!"

Terror and confusion gripped Carol's heart as she continued to plead for her life.

"I don't know what you're talking about! Please don't hurt us!"

Lincoln managed to free his mouth as well.

"Please don't hurt my sister!"

Hearing him say the words 'my sister' stoked a fire in Lori's heart. If it weren't for the demon beneath her, none of this craziness would even be happening in the first place! She put another hand on the dagger and raised it above her head.

Lori glanced over at Lincoln.

"She's not your sister. I am," she said coldly.

This was it. Lori took a deep breath, staring intently on the spot between Carol's breasts where she intended to plunge the knife. Lincoln continued to beg, as did Carol, but she heard none of it. Lori had tunnel vision, a mind obsessed with a single goal. Get her little brother back.
Lori felt tears sting her eyes, the anger fueling her beginning to turn into raw frustration. How far was she truly willing to go to get Lincoln back?

"It's midnight." Lucy whispered from behind her. "Do it,"

Lori steeled her nerves. She closed her eyes and tried to send the demon back to hell, but her arms remained frozen above her head.

Lucy stood beside her, noticing her hesitation. "We're running out of time!" she said urgently.

"I... I can't do it," Lori sighed. "I just can't!"

"Are you serious? This thing isn't Carol, it's a demon. If we want Lincoln back, we have to!"

Lori's arms slumped by her sides. "Fine, then we'll do it together."

Before Lucy could react, Lori grabbed her hand and put it onto the handle of the dagger with her own.

"Ow!" Lucy screamed, quickly pulling her hand away. "Do you have any idea how much that burns?" Lucy snapped.

Lori's eyes widened as she stared at her little 'sister'. It took both of them a moment to process what had just happened.

Lori was the first to find her words. "You... it's been you all along..."

Lucy still held her injured hand, pausing before flashing a small smile.

"Took you long enough."

"You mortals are just as dumb now as you were 2000 years ago."

Lori could hardly believe what she was hearing. "But... but all this, everything you said..."

"Yeah, yeah, and you almost pulled it off, too. But, like most mortals, you're weak."

Lori stood up off of Carol, still in shock.

"I know you've probably figured this out by now, but I hope you don't think your little dream last night was a coincidence."

She pointed the blade at the demon. "What have you done with Lucy?"

It smiled. "When you summon a demon, something has to take its place."

Lori gasped, covering her mouth.

"C'mon. Have you ever met the girl? She probably likes it down there."

"Shut up!" Lori screamed. Her little sister Lucy... swallowed by the infinite abyss of the lake of fire. It was far too much to take in at once. She felt the knife shaking in her grip as she attempted to crush the hilt in her palm.

Before she could form a reply, a bright light flooded from behind them. Everyone shielded their eyes as all attention focused on the source.

"DROP THE WEAPON!"

After her eyes adjusted, to the blinding intensity, she noticed flashes of blue and red.

Lori turned back to face the demon. It was smiling again.

"So everything didn't go exactly as I planned, but that's okay." The demon crossed it's arms. "You're going to jail, but don't worry. I'll come visit you."

Lori gritted her teeth, ignoring Lincoln and Carol beginning to shuffle away from them. The beast was right. She'd go to jail, and no one would ever believe her little sister was actually a demon summoned from hell to feed on her misery. From the looks of it, Lori had to agree. This situation would not end well for her. The demon wanted her pain and misery, and that seemed to be what it would get.

Unless...

"You think you've won?" Lori growled. There was only one thing left to do.

"Let's see, we're surrounded by cops, you're holding a knife at a satanic ritual site over two people you kidnapped. I'm just your innocent eight year old sister you coerced into going along with it." Lori had no idea demons could be so appallingly smug.

How could she have been so blind? The most the real Lucy did was read and write poems, and occasionally perform 'seances' that were usually nothing more than their mothers old candles and that crystal ball she bought at a yard sale! She walked right into this trap and was none the wiser.

"I..." Lori began, as a simple truth crashed over her. If she had paid more attention to her sisters, then maybe she would have caught on to Lucy's unusual behavior. If she hadn't blown up on Lincoln, none of this would even be happening in the first place.

"I know that look, I've seen it a thousand times." The demon said softly. "Regret. It's one of my favorites. Besides, you never cared about Lincoln."

Lori inhaled sharply. "Don't you dare say his name!"

"DROP THE WEAPON, NOW!"

The guns were drawn, trained on her. She ignored them. Lori didn't care about the cops. There were only two things that mattered now.

"Admit it, you only wanted him back because you knew it was your fault he was gone."

Lori knew there was a kernel of truth in those words.

"You know it's true."

Lori couldn't take another word. This ungodly beast had done enough to her and her family already. She took a step towards the demon.

It laughed.

"What are you gonna do? Attack me? The mortals will kill you before you even get close."

This was a world without Lincoln. A world without Lucy, and Bobby. She didn't belong here. She belonged with the family she knew, the one she loved, and the one she knew she had before. She took a deep breath, calming her nerves before she stared down her enemy. It was time to put her plan into action.

"Then who will you torture?" Lori asked.

The demon's expression broke. That was all she wanted to see.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, DROP THE WEAPON, NOW!"

Lori lunged at Lucy, tackling her around the waist. They tumbled across the ground as they fought for dominance. The demon was strong, far stronger than the body it had stolen let on.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE, WE DONT WANT TO HIT THE GIRL!"

After a few more rolls, Lori had her pinned. She sat up, the knife still in hand and raised high above her head.

The demon released an unearthly screech as it's true form began to emerge.

"Looks like you should have picked Lynn!" Lori snapped.

Before she could plunge the knife into the beast's heart, she felt a sharp pain in her chest, followed by a building burning sensation. Something akin to warm rain splattered across her cheeks. Lori glanced down. Her teal tank top had picked up a crimson stain. She looked ahead towards the flashing lights. Another flash, another bolt of pain as a matching crimson hole joined above the first.

She felt a chill outweigh the hurt. They wouldn't stop until she dropped the knife.

But she couldn't. Not until the fight was over. Not until she avenged Lucy, Lincoln, and Bobby.

With all her remaining strength, the plunged the dagger downward putting all of her weight towards the killing blow. The demon's little arms caught Lori's, but by sheer for of will, she managed to overpower it. With a last push, the knife hilted itself into the beast's black heart.

Her task complete, Lori rolled off of the now lifeless corpse of her slain monster. She gazed up at the sky as her breaths became shorter and more labored. The stars were beautiful. It was a shame she had never really taken the time to look at them whenever Lisa was in the backyard looking through her telescope.

That was but one in a long list of regrets as her vision began to fade. Her chest began to burn as she fought for her last breaths. She would never see her baby brother again. She would never hear him laugh, never comfort him while he cried, never swell with pride when he graduated high school.

She would never be able to give him advice about dating or how girls think. Cold tears formed in the cool night air and ran down her cheeks. In what she figured to be her final moments, she thought about death, and what waited beyond for her. Most described death's grip as cold, but a warmth began to spread over her. Starting at her heart and slowly moving outwards.

The stars had faded now.

All she could hear were muffled, distant voices feeling as though she were floating in an endless, empty sea.

She expected to know the answer to life's greatest mystery in the next few moments.

Instead, the voices became clearer, as though they were moving towards her. She strained to listen, unable to anything else. One word came through sharply.

"Clear!"

Her two gunshot wounds burned again, then faded away.

'What is this?' she thought, still amazed she was able to think, even in death.

"C'mon, Lori! Clear!"

That voice! She recognized it! That was Lisa!

One final burning pain forced her eyes open. She gasped for breath like she'd been starved of air. Her vision began to swim into focus as she recognized her genius sister standing over her holding two defibrillator paddles.

"Oh thank heavens," Lisa sighed, as though she was holding her breath. She was in the hallway of their house, just outside her room!

"What... what—" before she could finish her question, the entire family attacked her in a group hug.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Lori nearly screamed as they withdrew. "What is going on here?"

She was confused and terrified, as anyone in her situation would be.

Lisa wiped the sweat from her brow and disposed of her rubber gloves before explaining.

"The perfume Bobby brought you back from Paris mixed with the Acetone in the leaky nail polish remover Leni had deposited in your trashcan. This lethal mix of fumes in the enclosed space of your room nearly killed you, had it not been for Lincoln going to your room to apologize for breaking it earlier."

Lincoln! Lisa knew Lincoln's name!

Lori sat up, back against the wall, frantically searching for the boy she felt like she'd just spent a lifetime fighting to get back. She found him behind his sisters, which she nearly bowled over trying to get to.

Lincoln flinched, fearing even more anger and abuse from his older sister. Instead, she hugged him tighter than either he or she thought possible.

"Oh my god, Lincoln, I literally can't tell you how sorry I am!" Tears streamed down her face, as she nearly hyperventilated. "I promise I'll never say anything so horrible to you ever again!"

"Lori... I'm glad you're okay... but I won't be... if I can't breathe..." he choked before she released him.

The rest of the Loud siblings crowded around her before Lisa pushed her way to the front.

"I still need to run some tests, and my patient is still recovering!"  Lisa shooed them away and began checking Lori's vital signs.

"So... what happened?" Lori asked, still not quite sure this life was the real one.

"Well, in laymen's terms, it's as I said before. The toxic nature of the combined chemicals quickly rendered you unconscious, and very nearly lead to your death."

She took a deep breath. She had come incredibly close to death, all over a stupid argument about perfume.

"And... Lincoln saved me?"

"That he did. I had just arrived home when I heard him shouting. I didn't feel any pulse, so I used my trusty defibrillator to keep you with us. Lana is in the process of decontaminating your room." Lisa said, taking her blood pressure. "I must say, had Lincoln not intervened..." Lisa paused, wiping her eye beneath her glasses. "We might have been dealing with a very different outcome."

Lori drew Lisa into a hug, which she eagerly returned. Lori stood up, her knees still weak. She made her way down the hallway, visiting with and hugging each of her sisters before coming to Lincoln's bedroom. Most of her siblings were in tears, having believed they had almost lost their oldest sister. She assured each one that she was fine now, and wasn't going anywhere.

She knocked gently on his door.

"Lincoln?"

She cracked the door open, relieved to see the interior she expected, not the lenin closet she had experienced. He was sitting on his bed, crying into his hands.

Lori immediately sat next to him, wrapping him in a much gentler hug than before. "What's the matter? I'm fine... in fact if it weren't for you—"

"It was my fault..." Lincoln replied through his tears. "I-if I hadn't gone into your room, you wouldn't have almost... almost—"

Lori shushed him, pulling him into her chest as his tears stained her shirt. She was still overjoyed to be hugging him. It seemed like only moments ago she was fighting for her life in an abandoned park. What she had experienced seemed so real, just as real as hugging him now. "Lincoln, I was being stupid. It was just perfume. Everything I said to you was literally not true. Lincoln, I love you," she whispered to him. "There is nothing you could ever do to change that."

She put a hand underneath his chin and raised his eyes to hers. "Lincoln. You are my little brother. No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you." She wiped the tears from his eyes. Lori gave him a kiss on the cheek and stood up from the bed, her own eyes having grown moist from her confession.

"Put your shoes on, we're going for ice cream," she smiled.

That seemed to brighten his spirits. Sometimes it was too easy to win back a young boy's heart.

"There's just one thing I need to take care of first..." Lori said, leaving him to his task as she walked down the hall towards Lynn and Lucy's room.

She entered in. After sharing hugs with Lynn and Lucy, she turned to her little gothic sister.

"Lucy, do you have a ouija board?"

"Yeah, why?" Lucy replied.

"I'll give you fifty bucks for it," Lori said.

Lucy dug beneath her bed and happily handed over the board and reader. Lori gave her the cash and walked towards the door.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Lynn asked as Lucy counted her money with a smile.

Lori glanced over her shoulder with a smile. "Don't worry about it."

With that, Lori headed downstairs and out the back door. She opened her father's grill and set the board atop it. Lori emptied a third of a bottle of lighter fluid onto the board, a calm smile across her lips as she found a book of matches.

A flick of the wrist, and the match was lit. She watched the flame dance across the match head as it roared to life and then tampered down. Lori smiled a little bit wider as she glanced down at the lighter fluid soaked ouija board. She dropped the match, a ball of fire erupting from the grill as the item burned. She knew everything that she'd been through was all a product of her poisoned mind, but... better safe than sorry.

"Ready to go?" Lincoln asked, walking up behind her. "What are you doing?"

Lori put her arm around him, and closed the grill with her other hand.

"Nothing. Let's go."