Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

Seventy Seven

     Link opened his eyes abruptly, his lips drawn in a tight line. He sat up in the bed and gave a big stretch, followed by an exaggerated yawn. That was the most bizarre, yet satisfying dream he had ever had. He turned his head to make sure Christy was still asleep and he shook his head with a silent chuckle. That was a dream he was gonna have to tell her in the morning. 

     In his dream, he felt incredibly well and apparently famished. So famished that he was imagining his house overrun by his favorite cereal, frosted mini wheats. His house. He was back in his house and everything was back to normal. His subconscious was still holding on to the fact that his house was demolished, and that he's having to bunk with his best friend and his family until they had repairs made. A sudden sadness gripped his heart but he didn't let it stay long.

     He rose to his feet and headed toward the door, reaching for his bathrobe and shrugging into it. He then moved out of the bathroom as swift as a skilled burglar and made his way down the hall toward the steps. When he finally reached the steps, he paused and gazed down the stairs. A tall shadow was lurking at the bottom of the stairs and he sucked in a breath. Wait a second. Something about this felt weird. It felt like deja vu. Like this scenario had already happened. Link narrowed his eyes, just waiting for Rhett to pop the hall light on.

     As if he had read Rhett's mind, Rhett woke up the bright lights in the hall and Link shielded his eyes. Rhett then stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, shaking his head with a somber look on his face. Link didn't recall it happening like this in the dream he just had, and he actually found himself breathing a sigh of relief. He honestly thought he was having another one of his strange premonitions. He slowly began moving down the stairs when Rhett began shaking his head. "You need to go back to bed, man. You're not feeling good remember?" 

     Link paused, giving Rhett a weird look. "Dude, I feel fine! I feel a lot better, actually! Whatever you gave me, I think Tylenol it was, it seemed to work. Really, I'm fine!" 

     Rhett was shaking his head even more and he moved a foot onto the bottom step, bracing himself against the rails. "Please go back to bed. I can't have you dying on me, Link," Rhett's voice was pleading and Link could even see tears glistening in his eyes. 

     He continued down the stairs, wanting to console his friend. He held his hand out as he traveled down the stairs. "Man... who said I was dying? I just got a little sick, it's no big deal," Link said as soothingly as he could, finally making it a step above Rhett. 

     Rhett suddenly looked irritated, his face drawn in a scowl. "It's no big deal? Just no big ole' big deal?" 

    Link narrowed his eyes, adjusting his glasses on his face. "I'm standing right here, aren't I? I didn't die! I'm not dying, Rhett."

     "You don't know that. You could be dying," Rhett said in a foreboding tone. 

     Link felt a shiver pass between his shoulder blades like a ping pong ball and then he shuddered, his glasses skewing a bit. "Rhett... why would you say something like that, man?" 

     Rhett's nostrils were flaring and Link noticed that he was glaring at Link's leg. Link slowly lowered his head to his leg and that's when he realized he hadn't had his pajama bottoms on. His legs were completely exposed, and so were the marks. He thought he remembered Christy covering the wound with bandages. 

     Had he torn them off in his sleep? Did they fall off by him tossing and turning in bed? Link looked at Rhett's face again, but he seemed to be in such a deep trance while staring at Link's leg. It was almost as if he was looking at the wound accusingly. 

     Something suddenly clicked in Link's head and his mouth fell open. "You... you think I'm dying because of this?" He asked as he pointed to his leg. 

     Rhett raised his head just enough that Link could see his eyes. He looked dangerous. Like he wanted revenge. "You don't seem to get it, Link. They're trying to kill you!" He jumped toward Link. Link's eyes widened and he stumbled backward, landing hard on his backside against the step. He cried out in pain, cowering below Rhett who towered over him. He stared wide eyed into Rhett's face, having never witnessed his friend this angry. 

    Then the anger seemed to melt to mourning, Rhett's eyes watering once again. He shook his head as he brought his wrist up to his mouth, looking at Link like he would a trampled delicate flower. "It's already starting," he cried, choking on the sobs nestling in his throat. 

     Link narrowed his eyes and he smacked his lips, tasting a strong metal in his mouth. Iron. He brought his hand up to the corner of his mouth where he started to feel something warm like chocolate syrup and swiped his first three fingers through it, lowering his hand to get a good look. 

     His heart stopped beating in his chest when he realized it was blood. He then felt the same warm trickling sensation through his nostrils, and he swiped at his nostrils, hastily looking at his hand. The very same thing happened with his ears even, and he cried out, looking at the blood in his hand one last time. It was all black.

     He looked up into Rhett's eyes with tears glistening in his own, his heart slowing ever so slightly.

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