The Loud House - Wild Card

Chapter 8: Safe House

Lori stood at the exit gate at the Royal Woods International Airport. She desperately craved a cigarette, but was trying to make good on her promise to quit, so she opted for a nicotine patch. Three of them, to be exact.

She waited anxiously as the plane passengers began to disembark, exiting the gate. She was looking through the crowd, looking for a face she recognized. Although her outward appearance was calm, her stomach was churning like a washing machine. Even though she hadn't spoken to Luan since their grandfather died, she was happy that she agreed to fly out from Los Angeles on such short notice. Due to the sensitive nature of the situation, she couldn't explain to her what was going on over the phone, but promised a detailed explanation when she landed. At first, Luan was hesitant, but after Lori informed her that it was an emergency, she finally agreed to come.

Lori's face lit up as she saw her sister approaching, smiling at the former comedian, but she did not return it, instead staring at her older sister with cold, distant eyes. "I'm here, Lori," she said. "What's so damn important?"

"If this is a joke, it's in very poor taste."

Luan hadn't been a comedian for over ten years, but she still knew a bad joke when she heard one, and what her sister just told her was a doozy. Luan and Lori had left the airport and were now driving through downtown Royal Woods. Lori had explained to her that they finally discovered Lincoln's fate, only to inform her that he was killed by some comic book villain reject who was still running around Royal Woods after all these years. She didn't know whether to laugh at her or slap her.

"When have you known me to tell jokes?" Asked Lori, not an ounce of mirth in her voice. Luan was stunned, unsure of what to say. It was true, Lori was rarely one for jokes, but this outlandish story was too horrifying to believe. However, in the lack of alternative solutions, she was forced to confront the truth head-on. "How could this have happened?" She said, breaking the stretch of silence between them. "How could we have let this happen?"

Lori didn't have an answer for that. It was a question she lived with on a daily basis.

"Look, Luan," she said. "I know this is hard to take, and I know you probably still resent us for what happened, but we –"

"Resent you?" Said Luan, turning to Lori. "You think I resent you guys?"

"Well . . . yeah," said Lori, confused. "You haven't spoken to us in years, not since Pop-Pop passed away. We've tried to call you. Hell, I had to book an appointment with your secretary under a different name just to get a meeting with you."

"I don't resent you," said Luan. "I never have. I played a part in this fiasco as well, remember?"

"Then why the cold shoulder?" Asked Lori. "Why have you been avoiding us all this time?"

"You want to know the real reason I went along with pretending Lincoln was bad luck?" Asked Luan. "The reason I approved locking him out of the house? It's because I thought it was funny!" She spat the last word out of her mouth like it was poisonous to her. Lori continued to drive in stunned silence, unsure how to process this new information.

"Funny?" Was all she could manage to say.

"That's right, funny," Luan said again. "I thought casting our brother out as a pariah, boarding up his room, and locking him outside was all just good comedy."

"That. . . that doesn't sound like you," said Lori.

"Really?" Said Luan, raising an eyebrow. "After every prank I've pulled on April Fools day, after every burnt off eyebrow and broken femur, you think that I wouldn't be capable of doing something like that? I always saved the harshest pranks for Lincoln, because I always felt like he was the only one who could take it. But this joke. . . " she paused, tears welling in her eyes. "This was the joke that ended all jokes, at least for me. It was the joke that took our brother from us."