Haunted (A Rhett and Link fanfiction)

Chapter Sixteen

Jessie smiled as she heard her husband's voice. "You can do it, Rhett. I can't wait to see you again, darling."

"The very same to you, Jess. Just hang on. It won't be much longer." Jessie nodded with a smile. "I know."

Rhett took a deep breath. "So, Link, any ideas of why you got through last time and I didn't? Do you think it could happen again?" Rhett's voice was soft, too soft for Jessie to hear. She stepped out of the room to answer the phone that was ringing.

"Well, I don't know why it happened, it's not like any of this actually makes sense, but I think we have to go at the same time. I think that's our best bet of being able to both make it through." Rhett nodded and sat down. He took a shaky breath and Link's calm expression immediately changed to confusion. He sat down next to Rhett and the two remained silent for a while. Link knew Rhett well, very well, they had known each other almost their whole lives, and he could tell Rhett wasn't yet ready to go back. Maybe he was scared, maybe it was something else Rhett had been hiding, Link couldn't tell yet. So, he decided to let Rhett tell him. "Brother," Link spoke up after a minute or two, breaking the silence, "what's wrong? Are you scared? We're almost back, Rhett. You can go home. Are you scared that one of us will get trapped again? And that no matter how hard we try, the other will always be stuck?"

Rhett only shrugged in reply, his head hanging as he fiddled with his shaky hands. Link reached his hand, cupping it over Rhett's, trying to calm the trembling. Rhett squeezed his eyes shut. "Is that all, just a shrug? It's gonna be alright, we're alone, it's just me. You can tell me anything and you know I'll listen. It's okay to be scared, Rhett. I understand that you wouldn't want to say anything like that in front of Jessie, she's your wife, she's depending on you. But, you can tell me anything. Please, tell me." Link spoke softly, calmly, urging Rhett to open up and tell him what was wrong.

"Link, yes, yes I'm scared. I've been scared ever since you disappeared. I've been hiding it, the fear, the anxiety. And it's all been building and I'm at the breaking point. I can't handle this. Yes! Yes I'm scared I'll be left behind again. or you will! I'm shook up by this whole thing, we almost died in a house of horrors in another demension! A-and you're so dang calm about it! I don't get it, man!" Rhett's tone had changed from one of fear and vulnerability to anger in the blink of an eye. Link jumped back, moving his hand away from Rhett. Blood rushed to Rhett's face, making it turn as red as a tomato. And then it hit Link, something was not right. Not right at all. It made no sense that Rhett couldn't get through the portal. Because Rhett could, but this man here, was not Rhett.

Link stood up, backing away from the man who appeared to be his best friend. "Y-you're not Rhett! Rhett's still trapped back there, isn't he? You're the man of stone! What did you do to Rhett?!" Link dived at the man, knocking them both to the ground. Right before his eyes, the man of stone changed out of his disguise and into what he truly looked like. He lifted his arms, grabbing Link's shoulders and squeezing as hard as he could. Link screamed as his weaker shoulder was reinjured. He had injured it a couple years ago, but it never fully healed. Link slipped away from the man's grasp and ran to the other portal, the one they had first entered. He jumped through it, falling to the floor of the chapel and crying out in pain again. His shoulder throbbed deeply, the pain coursing through his whole body. Link forced himself to his feet and ran, he ran through the house as fast as he could.

He couldn't believe he had returned here, the place he thought he had escaped. He had seen his family, and then he left them again. "RHETT!!!!!" Link screamed at the top of his lungs. Fear built up in him suddenly, its icy cold fingers seized his heart and his legs slowed. He turned his head and saw Rhett, the real Rhett, and his heart dropped. Rhett was lying still on a bed, his chest going up and down rapidly as he tried to breathe. Rhett was blindfolded and gagged, his hands and feet tied together. He seemed so weak. Link walked over and knelt at his friend's side. He placed his hand on Rhett's shoulder and Rhett jumped. He seemed to yell something through the dirty cloth tied up to him. Link's heart broke and he immediately untied the rag from Rhett's mouth. He threw it to the side.

"N-no, pl-please, don't hurt me again. Please!" Rhett's voice was terrified and weak. He sounded broken. Rhett's lips were dry, cracked, and blue. Link reached up and untied the blindfold. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't. He was so scared and heartbroken, his throat had gone dry and was closing up. Rhett blinked a few times and saw Link. He gasped and before he could say a word, Link had leaned over and wrapped his good arm around Rhett gently, not wanting to hurt the seemingly fragile man. "Rhett, Rhett, what did he do to you? A-are you alright? How long?"

Link quickly untied Rhett's limbs and looked at the man's face searchingly. Rhett was so pale, looked so weak. "You remember, he said something about keeping us here, to feed off our lives?" Link nodded and Rhett continued. "Yeah, well, he tried doing just that. While you were unconscious in the chapel. But then he went back there when you started waking up. The fire, that was me. After that.." Rhett slowly shook his head and closed his eyes. He spoke softer, slower, than usual. Link gently grabbed his hand, trying to comfort Rhett. His heart was broken completely at this point. The man of stone had tricked him, tricked Jessie, and he had almost killed Rhett. Rhett reached up an arm slowly, and rested it on Link's shoulder. Link flinched, but Rhett didn't seem to notice.

"Hey brother, it wasn't your fault. How could you have known? And guess what?"

Link looked at Rhett, his eyes brimming with tears that wanted to fall. "Yes Rhett? What?"

"I'm still alive, and I'm going to be for a long time. Come here." Rhett extended both arms and welcomed the one armed hug Link gave him, as well as the tears that fell from Link's eyes onto Rhett's shoulder. "Link, I love you, brother. Thank you for coming back for me. We are gonna get out of here. And this time, I mean it. We know how, you went to the chapel, I saw you. He let me watch, and it hurt, but, we know how to get out of here now. We are going to. Life'll go back to normal, and the only people that will know this ever happened is our families and us. We'll tell the crew something came up, and we film so far in advance, we're not even out of episodes to upload. Everything will be okay. Thank you, you saved my life. Thank you so very much."

"I-I would never leave you, Rhett. And I know you saved mine from this nightmare too. I love you too, as a brother." Rhett smirked, it was weak, but it was there. He slowly sat up, letting Link sit down beside him. "I almost lost you, Rhett."

"Key word is almost, you didn't. I'm gonna be okay. Just need a little time to recover. He didn't get me. Just weakened me a little, and no, he didn't take time off my life. I'm gonna be just fine. I need rest, but other than that, I'm perfect. Trust me?" Link looked at Rhett and nodded.

"Yeah, I do. I promise." Rhett smiled.

"Good, don't worry about me. This is almost over."