Darkness Falls on the House of Loud (Loud House)

Descent

When Lori hadn't returned after ten minutes, nobody thought anything of it.

After fifteen minutes, some started to worry... Luna assured them that everything was fine, and she had probably gotten caught up with something.

After thirty minutes, however, things were starting to grow tense.

"This is ridiculous!" Lynn cried in annoyance. "She was just going next door, right? Something must have happened to her!"

"We don't know that," Luan replied calmly, though the concern was evident in her voice. "Maybe someone else needed help? Mr. Grouse is an old man, after all... he could have gotten hurt." The others grunted in approval; it was certainly possible.

"Even so," continued Lynn, "Someone should go look for her."

"Lori said to stay here," Lincoln reminded her with a frown.

"If you haven't noticed, Lincoln," Lynn scoffed, "Lori isn't here. She said Leni was in charge, remember?" Lynn glanced over at her older sister, who was gently rocking a fussy Lily in her arms. "Leni, you agree with me, right?"

"U-um..." Leni mumbled softly, a nervous frown plastered across her face. "...I think we should stay put, like Lori said."

"Wow, what a shocker." Lynn grumbled sarcastically. "What about Luna, then? Is she just supposed to wait for Lori all damn night?!"

"I'm fine, dude." Luna sighed. In truth, she was feeling a lot better; though her broken fingers were still in a lot of pain, the aspirin had worked wonders in dulling it down to manageable levels. "Just chill, okay...?"

"Luna's right," Lincoln agreed. "Freaking out isn't going to solve anything. Lori can take care of herself... I'm sure she's fine. Besides, it's only been..." He picked up Leni's phone and pressed the button; however, to his confusion, the time still read 1:35. "...Huh. Guess the clock froze..."

"Am I seriously the only one that thinks that something's up?!" Lynn asked, looking around the room for some sign of support; however, everyone seemed to be avoiding eye contact. "...Nobody...?"

"Lynn," Luan chimed in softly, "You need to relax."

Lynn grit her teeth in frustration. "Well, screw you guys, then." She spat. "I'm going to find her." With that, she headed over to the door.

"Lynn, stop!" Lincoln pleaded, grabbing Lynn by the arm. "We need to stick together!"

"It could be dangerous out there!" Lola cried.

"All the more reason we should be looking for Lori! And if you cowards don't want to help me, then suit yourselves!" She wrenched her arm from Lincoln's grip and turned to the door...

...Only to find Lucy blocking her path.

"Move, Luce." Lynn grunted, but Lucy simply shook her head. "I said move."

"N-no." Lucy stammered. "Lynn, you can't leave."

"Move!" Lynn shouted, pushing her sister aside harder than was necessary. Just as her hand touched the doorknob, Lucy suddenly hugged her around the waist, trying with all her might to pull her sister away.

"You CAN'T!" Lucy begged as Lynn struggled against her grip. "Not again, please!" Lucy was in near-hysterics, giving her enough strength to actually hold back the athlete.

"Dammit, Lucy, let go!" Lynn hissed, finding herself actually needing to put forth effort to pull free from her sister. As she pulled at Lucy's arms, she inadvertently squeezed the girl's injured hand, making her cry out in pain and loosen her grip; Lynn slipped free, but the momentum sent her crashing headfirst into the door. Lynn hit the ground with a groan.