Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

108

Once all of the lights were out throughout the house and their parents were in bed, Lily threw the covers off of her, revealing herself still dressed in her day clothes. She tiptoed over to the dresser and grabbed her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder. She reached for a hair tie out of her bag and threw her hair up in a messy ponytail, giving herself a once over before moving over to her bed to make it. 

She didn't suspect they were going to be out very long, so there was no need to pretend like somebody was still lying in bed. She snuck out into the hall, looking left and right before slinking to Locke's bedroom. Locke opened the door and let her in, and he shut the door before flipping on an industrial sized flashlight. Lily peered over at their beds and started chuckling when she saw that they had pulled the old trick of stuffing pillows under the blanket to make it look like there was a sleeping person under the covers.

"What? We can't have them suspect anything," Lincoln said in a harsh whisper. 

Lily shook her head. "It's whatever. What's the plan? Are we sneaking out a window or through the front door?" Both the boys glanced at each other with the question in their eyes and she groaned.

"You two dweebs are SO unprepared for this," she said with a dramatic eyeroll, marching over to Locke's window and pulling it open. She stuck one leg out into the cool air, ducking so that she could fit the rest of her body out the window. The boys heard a whoosh and thump as she disappeared, and their eyes widened as they bolted toward the window, Lincoln throwing his head out first. Lily was on the ground and she gave a sassy wave, a grin plastered on her face. 

Lincoln drew himself back in and looked at Locke incredulously. "She's crazy!" 

Locke shrugged with a chuckle, taking a turn at coming out the window. He did what he assumed Lily did, and when he dropped to the hard grass below him, he ducked and rolled to his feet. Lily clapped her hands excitedly, but quiet enough that their parents wouldn't hear. 

Lincoln stared out the window, his face looking pale in the streetlights. Lily beckoned with her hand with impatience, pointing at her wrist as if she was wearing a watch to indicate that they didn't have the whole night, and he looked left and right before sticking a leg out. He managed to squeeze his other leg out several seconds afterward, his behind resting on the window sill ledge. He scoot his butt further until gravity took hold and he plummeted.

Lincoln landed on the ground directly on his feet, biting his bottom lip between his teeth to keep himself crying out from the agonizing pain that shot through his legs. Locke was shaking his head as he approached his friend.

"Dude, you're supposed to bend your knees if you're going to land like that. You know, to prevent the shock waves from killing your legs?" 

Lincoln gave Locke a disgruntled look and he straightened himself out to walk and he hobbled a little, causing Lily to giggle. The three of them reached for their bikes, feeling glad that they didn't have their little brothers with them to slow them down this time. They began pedaling toward the school, long past disappearing from view of the house.

Link rose his from his bed, holding on to his head as he trudged to the bathroom in the dark. He didn't like turning the light on and disturbing his sleeping wife, and without his glasses it was even more difficult to navigate in the dark. He collided with the wall, thinking he was passing through the door frame and cried out in surprise. Christy rolled over and murmured something, and Link almost laughed. 

He shook his head and went into the bathroom, closing the door before turning the light on. The light was so bright that he closed his eyes as he did his business. Once his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the light, he was able to open his eyes and as he was washing his hands, he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked in his eyes, trying desperately to find what that darkness was that Terra had seen in his eyes a few days ago.

Did that really depict that he was a Kitsune? He really couldn't be sure. He sighed as he shook his head, his eyes not giving way to anything. The only thing that he saw was disbelief. Why disbelief? He thought he believed that the possibility of him being a Kitsune was a strong one, so what was the big deal? He just felt like there was more. There could be more. His curiosity had not been satisfied, and he wants to crack the book open again and read further. 

There had to be hundreds of other creatures in the book. Granted, the Kitsune seemed like a dead giveaway, but Link wanted to know more. Maybe the curiosity stemmed from wanting to find out how much more there was out there in the supernatural world. What did they have to prepare themselves for? Who would their enemies be? Who could their possible allies be?

Link raced out of the bathroom, shutting the light off and moving into the hall. He went downstairs into the kitchen where he would hopefully find the book resting on the kitchen table, and there it was, beckoning to him like a large slice of chocolate cake to a person on a strict diet. He moved over to the book and hastily flipped it open, alarmingly landing on the page that revealed the Banshees. He was curious to know what those were and he read in a soft whisper to himself.

"The banshee, typically a female spirit originating in Irish folklore, are both a blessing and a curse for they're a death omen. Their scream or cry alerts the family that they watch over that a family member of theirs is about to die. They can also sense lurking danger, and have psychic tendencies. Their screams have been powerful enough to shatter glass," Link's eyes narrowed as he clamped his lips shut to swallow. "Seeing a banshee is not considered a rare happening. A woman once alerted the police to a strange woman standing in her front lawn, screaming for no apparent reason. The police couldn't find the woman that she spoke of, but was aware of the many banshee sightings throughout the area. The woman then called to check up on her family, only to find out that her mother had died." 

Link's eyes widened and he felt a prickle on the back of his neck as a chill crept through his spine. He had that feeling in his stomach as if he was being watched, and he quickly spun around to see Rhett standing in the doorway. Link quickly clamped the book shut and tossed it on the table. He brought his hand up to the back of his head and rubbed it gingerly.

"What's up, man?" Rhett stepped forward and flipped the light on, and Link blinked.

"I was just curious, that's all," he said plainly, feeling slightly disappointed. Although he fit the characteristics with the glass shattering scream and predicting things, it didn't make sense and he didn't fit the bill because he wasn't a female.

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