Chapter Text
(Royal Woods, August 4th 2013... Leni's POV)
Three months. It had been three whole months since Lincoln vanished. The park, once a vibrant hub of our chaotic family outings, now sat stagnant, a monument to our collective misery. The swings creaked mournfully in the wind, mimicking the groans that echoed through the once-joyful Loud House.
Everything was muted. Gone were the symphony of squabbles, the cacophony of crashed instruments. Lisa's inventions lay dormant, gathering dust like neglected trophies. Luna's music box remained perpetually closed, its melancholic melody a constant reminder of the missing maestro.
The blame, a suffocating miasma, hung heavy in the air. After the whole "bad luck Lincoln" debacle, the sisters – myself included – had turned on him. We'd thrown accusations like insults, our words sharper than Lisa's chemistry set. Lincoln, our resident optimist, had shrunk, his once-bright eyes dimming with each harsh word.
Then, that fateful afternoon walk in the park. One minute, Lincoln was skipping ahead, the next, he was gone. Poof. Like a magician's trick, except the only magic trick here was the way our family had managed to disappear a brother we once loved to tease.
The police investigation hit a dead end weeks ago. "Missing child," the news reports declared, but their urgency felt hollow. The sisters and I? We were drowning in a sea of regret, each of us clinging to a different shard of guilt.
Today, the oppressive atmosphere reached a fever pitch. Lori, usually the picture of composure, slammed the refrigerator door, her frustration echoing down the hall. Luan's forced jokes died in the dead air, leaving an unsettling silence. Even Lola, the resident drama queen, seemed subdued, her usual bravado replaced by a haunted look.
I couldn' t take it anymore. Burying my face in a pillow, I muffled a sob. The familiar softness of the fabric offered little comfort. It felt wrong, empty, without Lincoln's playful groans from the bunk above mine.
A wave of anger, sharp and unexpected, washed over me. It wasn't fair! We were all hurting, but Lincoln hadn't deserved this. It was our fault. All of ours.
Tears streamed down my face as I pushed myself off the bed and marched down the hall. The others were gathered around the living room TV, their faces etched with despair as they watched a rerun of one of Lincoln's favorite cartoons.
"That's it!" I cried, my voice cracking. "This can't go on!"
Lori snapped her head towards me, her eyes red-rimmed. "Leni, honey," she started, her voice thick with emotion. "We know."
"No, you don't!" I shot back, my voice gaining strength with every word. "You all turned on Lincoln first! Blamed him for everything that went wrong!"
The room fell silent. Lisa, usually quick with a retort, simply stared at the floor, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Luan's ever-present grin faltered, replaced by a grimace of shame.
"You made him feel unwanted," I continued, my voice dropping to a low growl. "And now… now he's gone."
A choked sob escaped Luna, and Lucy, ever the stoic one, finally let a tear roll down her cheek. Lisa cleared her throat, but the words wouldn't come. Their silence was a deafening indictment.
Suddenly, a flicker of movement caught my eye. A flash of white, barely perceptible, at the edge of the window. It was gone in an instant, but the memory of it lingered. It looked like… a feather?
Scowling, I walked towards the window and opened it. A gust of wind whipped through the room, carrying with it the faint scent of… lilies? It was a strange combination – feathers and lilies. Not exactly Royal Woods' signature perfume.
But what really sent a shiver down my spine was the single, shimmering feather that landed softly in my palm. It wasn't white, not exactly. It shimmered with an otherworldly sheen, a color that seemed to shift and change in the sunlight.
A memory surfaced – a story Lincoln had once told us about a magical world called Elyos, a place filled with strange creatures and shimmering feathers. We'd all laughed it off as a typical Lincoln comic book fantasy. Now, however, that feather felt strangely real.
Could it be connected? Was Lincoln in some fantastical realm, lost and alone? The thought sparked a flicker of hope within me, a fragile flame battling the suffocating darkness. Maybe, just maybe, Lincoln wasn't gone. Maybe he was just… misplaced.
Looking around at the desolate faces of my sisters, I knew what I had to do. We were a mess.. Lincoln was gone,
Please, Lincoln, come back to us.
(End of chapter 1)
What happens when an autistic fanfic writer wants to write a fanfic about two of their favorite things?
For me? This is the result.
