Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

Seventeen

     Link's screams rang through the house once again, and Christy was forced to leave the younger kids with Lily as she barreled up the stairs. This time she had her phone in her hand and she didn't hesitate to call Rhett before she even made it to the top of the stairs. It rang a few times before Rhett picked up. "What's up?"

     "Rhett, I need you to come here as soon as you can. Something— Something's wrong with Link and I don't know what it is. Please." She ran her fingers through her hair as she busted into their bedroom to find Link sitting up in bed. He clutched the blankets with white knuckled fists, his eyes wide. He drew in deep breaths and turned his head to look at her, but Christy got the feeling that he wasn't all there. 

     "What exactly is going on? Like can you explain the situation to me?" 

     Christy took a deep breath as she looked at her husband. "Well he's sitting up in bed right now holding on to the blankets for dear life and it looks like he can't catch his breath. He's really struggling to breathe, Rhett." 

     "Why are you calling me and not an ambulance?" Rhett had raised his voice, which made Christy pull the phone away from her ear. "Sorry Chris, I didn't mean to yell but if he's struggling to breathe, you should be dialing 911. Like right now."

     "Hold on, I wasn't finished," she said nearly breathless herself. "He's been screaming. A lot, and he completely destroyed our bathroom. There's glass everywhere, the shower curtain is dismantled— I cleaned it up the best I could and got his hands and knees bandaged but—"

     "Did you two have a fight or something?" Rhett's voice slowly rose in octaves with worry. 

     Christy shook her head as if Rhett could see her, and she couldn't tear her eyes away from Link. "No. He came home from work and told me what happened to the car and to his glasses, then he went to take a shower. That's when he screamed and destroyed the bathroom. Then he barely touched any of his dinner and wanted to go to bed, and here we are with him screaming again and Rhett, I'm really afraid he's going to destroy something else. Can you please just come?"

     "I'll be there in a few minutes. Where are the kids?" 

     "They're downstairs," she answered as she narrowed her eyes in confusion. 

     "Good, keep them downstairs. I'll be right there alright? I'm gonna drop you a text when I come and you come downstairs and open the door. I don't want to alert the kids. In fact, try to get them to bed if at all possible."

     "Okay fine, but what's with all the secrecy—" 

     "Just don't ask okay?" Rhett hung up before she could ask anything else, and she was left alone in her room with her husband. She slowly walked over to the bed and sat on the edge as carefully as she could, and she met his gaze. She gave a little wave of her hand. 

     "Honey, Rhett is coming over okay? You can talk to Rhett, right?" Christy was careful with her words as she didn't want to set him off again, and he could barely meet her gaze. "I don't know what's going on with you and I want to help. Is there anything I can do to help you? Link?" She had begun to sound desperate as she searched his eyes.

     Link finally looked up at her. His mouth trembled as it hung open. "She's dead." 

     Christy tilted her head to the side and looked at Link in bewilderment. "I'm sorry?"

     "She's dead. He killed her. It killed her," he mumbled, and he lowered his eyes again as he gripped the blankets even tighter. 

     "Link what are you talking abou—"

     "We should have done something. She was my friend." Link rocked back and forth slightly, and Christy began to look at Link with concern. She pushed herself off of the bed and reached for one of the fleece blankets, and she draped it over Link's shoulders. She sat on the bed beside him and wrapped her arms around him. 

     "It was only a bad dream, honey. It was just a bad dream." She ran her fingers through his dark hair. 

     He adamantly shook his head. "Bad dreams come true, Christy," he all but cried. Christy was about to answer him when her phone pinged. 

     Rhett had finally arrived. Christy rose from the bed and looked down at Link. "I'll be right back honey, Rhett is here and I'm gonna let him in. The both of you can talk." She walked out of the room and looked over her shoulder before she disappeared into the hall. She traipsed down the stairs and walked to the front door, and right as she opened it Rhett had been approaching up the footpath. 

     "How is he?" He asked before she even let him in. 

     She stepped to the side and Rhett walked in past her, and she followed him up the stairs. She made sure to keep her voice low so that the kids wouldn't hear. "He's in some kind of stupor right now. He keeps talking about some girl being dead and I don't know why. He must have had a bad dream." 

     Rhett narrowed his eyes as he walked. "It wouldn't be the first time today," he mused as he walked down the hall toward Link's room. He stopped in front of Link's room and whipped his head around to look at Christy, who had nearly bumped into him. "Where's Link?"

     Christy shoved past Rhett and went into the room. Her mouth fell open in shock as her eyes fell on the bed, then moved to the open window. "Oh dear god." 

     Rhett gripped Christy by the shoulder and spun her around to look at him. "Christy, you have to tell me more about what he said. What exactly did he say?" Rhett's voice was frantic as Christy's eyes watered. She was so confused. 

     "I—He mentioned something about a girl dying that was his friend. Rhett— What in the hell is going on?" 

     Rhett looked past Christy toward the open window as he started to form a hunch. He grabbed her by her biceps gently and looked into her eyes. "Get the kids to bed. I'll be right back." He bolted away from her and down the stairs, leaving her to stand there like a fish out of water.