Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

118

"And what about Jessie, huh? Your own wife? Why is it so important for you to find the body of this missing person?"

Link sighed, removing his glasses from his face and running his hand over his eyes before placing them back on. "Like Rhett has said before, I can't just turn this on whenever I want to. What happens, happens and I have to roll with the punches. If I don't, bad things could happen. We need to find this little girl's body. We owe it to her to have a proper burial. Hell, her actual parents didn't even want her, so she was born into this world in vain."

Rhett's eyebrows shot up his forehead, but Link took a step toward Christy.

"And besides, I owe it to Baker for saving my life and teaching us everything we know about these creatures so far. This is just one of millions of pieces in this crazy puzzle."

Rhett nodded his head, clasping Link on the shoulder.

"He's right, Christy. Stay with the kids. Lock the doors, all of the windows, and do not let anybody in. Unless it's Jessie of course," he trailed off, his eyes lowering to the floor. The mention of Jessie's name sent a strange pang through Link's chest and he narrowed his eyes. The feeling didn't make him feel that all was for naught.

"Okay... And if you guys do find a body, what are you gonna do? What if this is a trap? Haven't you ever thought of that?"

Rhett and Link glanced at each other briefly, the look in their eyes clearly evident that they hadn't thought about that.

"If the Alpha has his life forces and is controlling his every move, what makes you think he didn't implant this premonition into his head to draw him to the house? You could be walking right into an ambush!"

Rhett sighed, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth. He knew that Christy had a valid point, but what else were they supposed to do? They had no choice but to take that chance.

"That's the chance we're going to have to take," Rhett declared, and Christy pressed her lips firmly together. Rhett left no room for argument in his tone of voice.

Christy sighed and dropped her shoulders. "I guess I'll start getting the kids ready for their day. I don't want them getting any more involved in this than they already have," she said as she turned to walk away from them. Link took her by the elbow and spun her back around, pulling her close to him in a tight embrace. She stood there awkwardly for a second, but then wrapped her arms around him and nestled her head against his chest. She felt as Link's tight hug squeezed all of her broken pieces back together, and for a moment she felt like everything was going to be okay. She pulled away to look up at him. He took her by the face, dabbing the tear that had escaped her eye with his thumb.

"Everything's going to work out. We're going to figure all of this out and take this guy down for good. You just let me and Rhett handle it, okay?"

She nodded her head, her lips trembling.

"Don't cry, sweetie. You need to stay strong, okay? Please? For me?"

She nodded her head again and took to wiping her cheeks with her sleeves.

"I just don't want you to get hurt again," her voice trembled as she spoke and he pulled her close again, smoothing her hair down. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't console her by telling her that he wasn't going to get hurt again, because he truthfully didn't know if that was going to be true. There was no guarantee on what was going to happen and he needed to be up front and honest with her.

"Look, I can't promise that I'm not going to get hurt again alright? But I can promise that we're going to do everything we can to take this guy down. Okay?" She took a deep breath. "We're also going to find Jessie. That's a promise," as he spoke those last words he made eye contact with Rhett. Rhett half smiled, but it never reached his somber eyes.

Rhett and Link left Christy to the kids as they began toward the abandoned house. It was chillier than normal, the sky still darkened by the night's embrace. It was almost as if the stars and the moon were fighting the sun over the territory of the vast sky, and the darkness was winning. Link glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearing 6 am. It was uncanny for it to be this dark around this time in the morning, and the mere aspect of it made his skin crawl. Who knows what the Alpha is capable of controlling, if that even included the time somehow. He shook the thought away and took to gazing at the steam billowing from the pavement in wispy vapors. Uneasiness settled into his stomach and he shifted in his seat, catching a glance from Rhett.

"Link if you're feeling something, you better tell me buddy."

They continued down the road in silence, and then turned off the exit. It was all like deja vu, and Link felt like he was being slapped with it. They traveled down the nice long line of developments and then took a turn down a dirt road. The moment they pulled up in front of the house, and Rhett took the keys out of the ignition, Link gulped. It was the exact same house he'd seen in his dreams, and seeing it in person was even more terrifying. He felt a sudden pain in his stomach where he had been impaled in the dream and he took his hand and gingerly placed it over the spot.

Rhett cocked an eyebrow. "What happened?"

Link took a deep breath. "In my dream, I had gotten into my car and driven to this place. Totally on accident, or without my knowledge for lack of better terms. I started hearing whispering,-"

"Whispering?" Rhett interrupted, leaning over the steering wheel as he watched Link recount his dream.

Link nodded. "Yes. I heard two adults and a child. The adults were telling the child that she was basically adopted, and that she wasn't wanted by either her birth parents or adoptive parents. And they killed her." He stopped and blinked, a lump forming in his throat. "For some reason I was inclined to go into the kitchen, where the whispering was even louder, and she was pleading for her life. The kitchen smelled something awful."

"Oh trust me, I know," Rhett remembered, wrinkling his nose at the memory.

Link's face went deadpan. "That's because they stowed her body away under the floorboards."

Rhett's eyes widened, and he ran his fingers through his beard. Link opened the door and stepped out, gripping the door as half of his body was still in the car. Rhett did the same, and the both of them stared at the house.

"I didn't even tell you the worst part yet," Link said, and Rhett quickly swiveled his head to look at Link.

"There was a hooded man in the house with me. I don't know where he had come from, but I was so heartbroken at finding the body that I hadn't realized he was right in front of me," Link's eyes watered as he remembered. "He stuck a blade right through me, impaling me completely. He told me," Link trailed off, having to catch his breath. He didn't finish his sentence and Rhett gripped the door with white knuckles.

"What? What did he tell you, Link?"

Link turned his watery eyes on Rhett once again. "He told me not to scream. Rhett, I really want to scream."

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