"This woman was hiding in your room waiting to kill you in your sleep." The Killer said, obviously having had their mask fitted with a voice changer that made their voice sound like Roger L. Jackson, the voice of Ghostface.

"But the bitch sure wasn't expecting me." The killer said. "This is the third time I've had to protect you."

"Protect me?" I said. "What are you talking about?"

"So many people in this world. They just don't understand you, Linky." The killer said. "Not like I do. Do you think I wanted this? Any of this? Do you think I wanted to be the scissor slasher. Linky?"

"DON'T call me that." I ordered. "Only my family ever calls me Linky. And you're not family."

At least I hope you're not.

The killer stiffened as though I touched a nerve.

"You are under arrest." I said. "Drop you're weapon and take off that fucking mask NOW!"

"I'm not a psychopath Linky." The Killer said. "I only killed who I had to, to protect you. Just that mouthy bitch Darcy and that rotten piece of shit Chandler. And this uh..."

"Her name was Stacy." I informed the Killer. "But she preferred to be called Amara. Because she thought it meant Darkness."

"Amara means everlasting." The killer said. They looked down at the corpse at their feet. "Which is clearly not a fitting name for her."

"And Sheryl and Myrl." I reminded them.

"Them, I really didn't want to kill." The killer said. "Myrl saw me and I needed to silence her. And her sister, her twin. She was in the house when I silenced her, she had to go too."

"I said drop the weapon, take off your mask and get on the damn ground!" I yelled.

The Killer backed away.

"This is my last kill Linky." The Killer said. "I have no reason to kill anyone else. My job is done. Let me go, and no one else will die. I promise."

"Hehe, you're sure not acting very much like Ghostface." I smirked.

The killer pulled the cord on my wall just below my window, causing a blow up slide to inflate leading into the yard.

No way they could have known about that slide.

The killer whipped off their cloak and threw it in my face as a distraction, then jumped out the window and slid down to the yard below.

"GODDAMNIT!" I yelled. I went after them.

With the cloak gone, the killer was now wearing that damn black hoodie I had heard so much about. Along with black sweatpants and black shoes. They still had that damn Ghostface mask on though with their hood up.

The Killer made a dash for the family van, which our family had dubbed Vanzilla. The van started almost instantly. Which either meant that the killer was really good at hotwiring, or... or they already had a key.

BANG! BANG!

I fired my gun at Vanzilla as it pulled out of the driveway striking the front of the van two or three times. But not enough to slow it down.

I hopped in my squad car and switched it to manual drive. A car chase like this needs a human touch.

I blaired my siren and chased vanzilla down the street.

Think Lincoln. Who could own a Ghostface costume? Who do you know that's super into the scream movies?

GODDAMIT! THAT'S MY COSTUME! I like the scream movies. I went as Ghostface for Halloween back in high school.

I've since outgrown the costume, but by now for sure one of my sisters would have grown into it. Especially the younger ones. They could have easily gotten the costume from the attic. Hell, I had even gotten that voice changer.

Once the cloak was gone, and the killer just in that hoodie. They did seem to have a more feminine form.

But it's dark, and the killer was moving fast.

Damn I was so sure it was Stacy.

The van took a sharp turn knocking over a fire hydrant. I turned sharp to fallow my wheels skidding on the road.

Vanzilla is a lot faster than I remembered.

It could be one of Chandler's friends right? Who was that guy he hung out with again. Trent? It could be Trent

Let's see...

He uh.... FUCK I don't know!

I'll know once I catch this asshole.

But it can't be one of my sisters. None of them would ever... wait, what's that?

In my rear-view mirror, headlights. Is someone fallowing me?

Doesn't matter.

The van crashed into the flag pole in front of the middle school. The killer tumbled out.

I slammed the breaks so hard my car began to drift.

I got out of my car aiming my gun at the killer. The killer dashed into the middle school. I shot aiming for the killer's feet. Despite everything I didn't want to kill this asshole if I didn't have too. I just wanted to scare them enough that they would stop.

It didn't work and the killer continued into the school.

I thought I would corner them in front of the locked doors but they just broke the glass with a rock and unlocked the door.

They slammed the door in my face as I got close. I felt some broken glass cut my face but I didn't care, I just barged on in.

I continued chasing the killer down the hall.

The killer entered a stairwell leading to the roof.

I followed them and chased them to the edge of the roof.

"Nowhere to run now." I said aiming my gun. "Just give up man."

"Lincoln wait!" The killer said, their hands frantically waving in the air. I now had a good look at the killer. Even with the hoodie on I could make out an hourglass feminine form, and I could see the distinct shape of boobs under her black sweatshirt. This was definitely a woman.

She pulled the voice changer from under her mask and threw it on the ground. Then she said in a shockingly familiar and pleading voice.

"Lincoln, it's me. Let me explain." She said, All the malice in her voice was gone now, replaced with fear and sorrow.

She pulled off her mask and pulled down her hood.

I gasp and nearly dropped my gun. My heart sank at the realization. My world was spinning, this couldn't be real.

"Lana?" I said in horror.

"Yeah, it's me." Lana said in a defeated voice. Her mask in one hand and a blood-soaked scissors in the other.

I was speechless. I couldn't even begin to form the words to express what I was feeling in this moment.

Lana started to sob. "I... I didn't want to do this... any of this." She cried, tears flowing down her face like Niagara falls.

"You killed people!" I said.

"I'm sorry I..." Lana sobbed.

"Sorry!" I said in disbelief. "Lana, you're a fucking serial killer. Sorry doesn't even begin to..."

"I'M NOT A SERIAL KILLER!" Lana snapped. "The first time was an accident. I just wanted to talk to Darcy. Just to tell her how I felt about what she said, about you."

"She didn't mean what she said ok." I said. "She apologized to me and her and I are cool. You had no right to..."

"I didn't want to kill her." Lana said. "We just talked at first. She said she was sorry. Then we decided it would be fun to you know. Break into the school..." Lana sniffed and wiped her face. "Explore, see how it changed since we were there. You know, hang out a bit. Then once we got into the art room. I had brought some beers and we were both a little wasted."

I rolled my eyes.

She continued. "We came across a drawing that I did back then. It was a portrait of our family. Then we started talking about you again. I don't know how we got to the point but... we started arguing again. At one point she... she asked if you ever even cared about me at all. Then I snapped. I grabbed the scissors from the table next to me and...

By the time I even realized what happened she was already..."

Lana's face was beat red from her crying. I could tell she could barely even speak at this point.

"Then I found out Maryl saw me and I had to... her sister was in the house when I did that. I didn't want to separate them." Lana said. "I wouldn't ever want to be without Lola... I'd rather die, so I..."

Lana took a deep breath and continued.

"And when I saw what Chandler was writing about you." she continued. "It brought back feelings, so I sprayed the security camera with a can of paint I had picked up from the alley and... I am the janitor at the mall, I wasn't lying about that..."

So the killer really did return to the crime scene. When I found Chandler dead and I followed Lola. This whole time the real killer was right next to me. I couldn't believe it. My head was swimming, my body full of emotions.

Anger...

Rage...

Betrayal...

Sorrow...

Disappointment...

Empathy...

Lana took a good hard look at the murder weapon in her hands.

She looked back at me. Her eyes full of rage and hopelessness.

"You think I'm a monster." She said in a soft yet menacing voice.

"No Lana." I said. "I don't think that at all."

Lana held the scissors out in front of her. Was she planning to fight me?

"Lana..." I said in a calm yet stern voice. "I have a gun, and you have a pair of scissors. Fighting me is not an option for you."

"I can't go to jail." She sobbed.

"I won't let you go to jail." I assured her. "You're clearly very sick Lana. I'll make sure you go somewhere you can get the help you need. No matter what, you're still my sister, and I'm going to help you."

"SO YOU'RE PUTTING ME IN THE NUT HOUSE!!!!" Lana snapped.

"Lana, please." I said.

"It's over for me." Lana said.

What happened next will forever scar, me. With all the crimes I've faced. Even after coming face to face with some of the absolute worst human beings to ever live, and witnessing so much atrocities in the dirty streets of LA. All the murders, the muggings, the violence, the cruelty that I've seen. What happened next struck me worse than anything I had ever seen.

And my heart shattered into a million pieces.

Lana, my own sister shoved the blades of the scissors into her own neck. She tore the blades across her flesh opening a hole in her own throat. Blood gushed out like a fountain.

I dropped my gun to the ground...

Thump thump! Thump thump! I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. my head felt like it was swimming in some kind of fog. My breathing was rapid and I felt a hot sensation creep up my throat. Hot tears rolled down my face.

Lana pulled the scissors out of her neck and let it drop with a clatter.

She coughed up blood. The deep red stain growing bigger and darker on her black hoodie. Her eyes were glazed in an endless thousand yard stair. She was still alive but her mind had already checked out.

She stumbled backward and fell from the roof. I heard a metallic crash and the sound of a car alarm.

I looked over the edge.

She looked so small and helpless.

She'd landed on the hood of a car parked below. Her skull smashing against the windshield. Her body lay in a pool of blood and brain matter. Her sad eyes starring up at the sky, her expression blank.

I couldn't believe it. This couldn't be real. Lana Loud was dead.

I was so distraught and horrified I didn't even stop to think who's car that was.

It wasn't mine, and Lana came here in the family van. It was past midnight, no one should be parked in this driveway.

Then the car door opened and I was treated to my second surprise of the night. This time less horrifying, and more confusing.

Lisa stumbled out of the car. She looked at Lana's corps, then she looked up at me. A look of shock and confusion on her face.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?!?" She said.

...

I had made my way back to ground level and out into the parking lot to confront Lisa.

"What happened?" Lisa said again as I came out of the door. "Did she just? Did you? What?" she was spiraling. Understandably so. The poor girl probably had a million questions spinning in her head.

I took a deep breath and explained.

My chest felt hot and I felt my voice cracking as I told the whole story to Lisa. It almost felt as though I was outside my body watching myself tell the tale. My mouth was on complete autopilot as the awful truth spilled out like rancid vomit. I wasn't crying anymore I just explained, feeling everything and nothing at the same time.

Lisa's look of confusion turned into a look of shock and horror as the truth spilled over her like a bucket of ice water.

"Oh my gosh" she held her chest and stumbled back like she was about to faint.

Then my mind shot back to my chase with Lana.

"Lana." Lisa blurted out. "This whole time... it was... H-how could she?"

I had honestly never seen Lisa show this much emotion.

A realization washed over me.

Those headlights...

"Lisa?" I said. "Why were you following me?"

She looked at me, stunned.

"I..." She said regaining her composure. "I saw your squad car going after our family van. As a scientist that sparked my curiosity. So I followed you."

Lisa looked at Lana's body again.

"My own sister killed my best friend." She squeaked. "I...I..." She let out a sigh.

"I had a way to solve it you know." Lisa said.

"What?" I asked.

"To solve the case." Lisa said. "This killer was the worst criminal Royal Woods has seen in... as far I can remember. I figured we might need to do something drastic to catch... or... I guess... to catch her. I did have faith in your detective skills. But if you couldn't do it, I created a solution that... She killed my best friend. I couldn't just do nothing I... Why did it have to be Lana?"

"Lisa, what did you do?" I asked.

"I fixed the time machine." Lisa said.

"The time machine?"

"Yes." Lisa said. She whipped her nose. "The one we used to get rid of mom and dad's vase."

"You mean the time machine that almost whipped us from existence?" I scorned.

"I thought..." Lisa said. "Maybe I could save Darcy."

"By playing God?" I said.

Many years ago, Lisa had created a time machine out of our family van. We used it to go back in time to stop our parents from getting this vase our sisters and I kept breaking. But in doing so, we stopped our parents from ever wanting kids in the first place, and we each began to disappear one by one. After Lisa went back and fixed the time stream by returning the vase. We swore to never again travel in time.

I looked over at Lana's corps. Darcy's not the only one we'd save.

"I know the kind of damage breaking the space time continuum could cause but..." Lisa said.

We looked at each other in silence for a moment.

Then with a subtle nod we knew what we had to do.

...

Sweet creamy chocolate filled my mouth as I bit into a mouthwatering triple chocolate doughnut. That's a chocolate doughnut with chocolate icing and chocolate filling. And this doughnut was stuffed to the brim. Then I took a gulp of my ice-cold milk. A better combination there had never been.

It had been a few months now since I had moved back to royal woods.

It was a perfect spring day, Saturday to be exact. Not too hot, not too cold and a cloud in the sky. A cool refreshing breeze washed over my face as I sat in the outdoor seating area of the diner across the street for Royal Woods elementary.

My sister Lisa walked over carrying a cup of coffee and sat across from me.

We both looked at the school. The same place where the worst chain of events in Royal Woods history almost started.

That is until Lisa and I traveled through time to stop it.

"You know you really came in like some sort of Dause ex Machina." I said to Lisa.

"What?" Lisa said, confused for a second.

"You ever feel we took the easy way out?" I asked.

"No." Lisa said. Though I could tell she was unsure. "Luckily there doesn't seem to be any unintended consequences of what we did that night."

"Aren't you worried about the butterfly effect." I asked. "we changed one thing for the better. But what if that leads to something even worse happening?"

"I've been keeping my eye on that." Lisa said. "But another question comes to mind. Did we really stop Lana from killing Darcy, or did we merely create another timeline where that never happened. Meaning that Lana still killed Darcy in another timeline that still exists."

"Like the fucking multiverse?" I said. "Uh Marvel just called, it wants it's tired trope back."

I joked but the talk of multiverses did make me think. The theory is that every choice you could make exists in one reality or another. In theory every time you make a decision time splits into two paths, one path where you made one choice, and another where you made the opposite choice.

Even aside from the events with Lana, I myself have been faced with hard decisions before. What sort of man would I be if I had made different choices throughout my life.

"We know very little about the fabric of space-time Lincoln." Lisa said. "And I suppose... in the grand scheme of things... going back in time like that, was a bit of a... Cop out." She smirked at her own pun.

I let out a chuckle. "Luan would be proud."

"Not like we could ever tell her though." Lisa said.

"Hey girlfriend!" Darcy called out as she walked over to our table and sat down. "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing!" we both said nervously.

"The weather." I said.

"Yes it's been very mild weather for some time." Lisa agreed.

"And this doughnut." I said. "They pack so much chocolate in this."

"Hey funny seeing you guys here." Lana walked by and decided to join us as well.

Lisa glared at Lana for a few moments.

"What's that look about?" Lana asked.

I looked at Lisa and shook my head.

I understood why Lisa felt the way she did. But I also felt bad for Lana, from her perspective she's done nothing wrong, and ever since that night Lisa had been giving her the silent treatment for a crime she hadn't even committed.

"Hey, guys check this out." Lana held up a pin from AA that said "Three months sober."

"Congratulations!" I said with a warm smile.

Lisa said nothing.

Lana looked back at the school.

"That night at the school was a real wake up call" Lana said as she sat down. "When I almost got in that fight with Darcy."

"Good thing your brother and sister came to break it up." Darcy said. "Who knows what could have happened. They really do care about you."

Darcy gave a smile.

"Hey, how did you guys eve know we'd be in there." Lana asked.

Lisa opened her mouth to say something.

"Call it a detective's intuition." I interrupted.

"Huh." Lana said. I could tell she knew something was up. But she didn't say anything about it. I take it she didn't want to know what really happened.

The wind started to pick up. Some of the other customers seemed to notice. I saw one lady grasping tightly to the huge sunhat she was wearing. At another table some guy's drink spilled, pushed over by the wind.

Something felt off.

"Guess it ain't so mild now" Darcy said.

"All the wind seems to be blowing in the direction of the school." I noticed.

"So?" Lisa retorted.

Then the ground started to shake.

"Earthquake!" Somone yelled as the shaking grew more intense.

I stood up in shock as everything started to rattle.

"Look!" someone called out.

Then to my horror I saw that the school was starting to crumble an collapse.

Not wait, it wasn't collapsing, it was IMPLODING! Piece by piece the school was sucked into itself as if a black hole had appeared in one of the classrooms.

Within moments the entire school had vanished. In it's place a huge crater.

I made my way to the crater. Thankfully no one was actually in the school.

I looked into the crater. In the center I saw something strange.

It was almost invisible. But if I looked close enough I could see it. A shimmering, translucent orb.

Suddenly I realized what it was. It was a tear in the fabric of space and time, likely caused by Lisa and I traveling through time.