Darkness Falls on the House of Loud (Loud House)

Blood

Lola awoke with a start, her eyes jolting open; what time was it? She grunted drowsily as she pushed herself up to a seated position and glanced at the clock. She had to wipe the sleep from her bleary eyes to make out the numbers... one thirty-five, it read. Still frozen. Lola groaned, glancing out the window to find that it was still pitch black outside. She wasn't sure what had woken her... she couldn't recall any nightmares. In fact, she couldn't remember having any dreams at all, which was unusual for her.

So why was her heart beating so fast?

"Lana, are you-" Lola began, before realizing that her sister wasn't in her bed. She frowned deeply; she was used to this, as Lana would often go to Lori for comfort when she had a bad dream. Lola would never admit it, but that always bothered her a little bit... though she and her twin had a tumultuous relationship even at the best of times, she did love Lana very much, and found it hard to sleep when her sister wasn't by her side.

Lola lied back down and tried to fall back asleep, but couldn't. Perhaps it was just due to the nerve-wracking events of the evening, but something just felt... wrong. Lola felt a pit in her stomach that physically pained her, as though she were having a bad stomach ache yet not quite. She wanted her sister. Lola ignored her tiredness and slipped out of bed, yawning loudly as she headed towards the door.

The hallway was quiet; she could vaguely make out Lisa babbling some dull nonsense from her room, but ignored it and made her way down the stairs.

"-need to do something. It's been two hours, at least... probably more than that." She heard Luna's voice from the living room. As the room came into view, she saw Luna, Leni, Lincoln, and Luan in the midst of a conversation; Leni was cradling a sleeping Lily in her arms. All four looked incredibly stressed out... even Lily seemed to be having an uneasy rest, her brow furrowed slightly as she slept.

"Lori told us to stay here." Leni said quietly.

"I know that, but Lori's not here, Leni! She could be out there hurt or worse, and we're just sitting on our hands waiting around! She could be dead for all we-"

"Luna, don't say that!" Lincoln scolded, a hint of edge to his voice; Leni had visibly tensed up at the mention of death, and he gently grasped her hand to reassure her. "I know it's hard, but Lisa also said we shouldn't go outside... don't you think we should listen to her, at least?"

"Ugh, I know, it's just... there's got to be something we can do!" Luna groaned, flopping back into her seat. "What about that walkie-talkie of yours?"

"Tried it already... no luck." Lincoln sighed. He could only hope that Clyde was alright.

"L-Lori's still not back...?" Lola stammered, catching her siblings' attention.

"Lola?" Leni gasped. "What are you doing up?"

"I-I couldn't..." Lola whimpered, looking at Luna with tears forming in her eyes. "Luna... y-you really think Lori might...?"

Luna's face fell; she mentally cursed herself for thinking out loud as she rushed to her little sister's side, pulling her into a comforting hug. "No, little dude, no... I'm sorry. I'm just all out of tune right now, and I said something stupid. Lori's fine, I know it." Luna forced a smile to try and reassure the little princess.

Lola sniffled, clinging tightly to Luna. "I... I want Lana." Lola whined. "She wasn't in bed..."

"Wait, Lana hasn't gone back up yet...?" Luan muttered in confusion. Leni looked at her with a mildly annoyed expression.