RHETT AND LINK: The Mythical Kings

Chapter 9: Doomsday Means Doom

Chapter 9

"Doomsday Means Doom"

Later that night, everyone but me was asleep. Link fell asleep as soon as he laid his head on the pillow. I can't tell if Julian was asleep since he was in a different part of the room. But he probably is because of the loud snoring. Later I realized that Jeffery was the one snoring, not Julian.

Let me put things into perspective: to save money and for an easy meet-up in case of trouble, we decided to settle in one room. It was a good thing the room had five beds because that night, I could've disturbed someone's sleep out of rolling to different positions for a comfortable sleep.

Nope. I was still awake.

I looked over to my right where Katherine was sleeping. It hit me. She wasn't sleeping. She's still awake, too. I was kinda worried for her.

I kicked back my covers and got beside her bed.

"Katherine?" I whispered.

Katherine turned around in shock. "I thought you were Jeffery,"

"Nah. He's still snoring away... You can't sleep, too, kiddo?"

She sighed. "No. I'm kind of an insomniac,"

"Julian said that you barely had sleep. You got to rest,"

"There's just so many things going inside my head all the time,"

"Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know. My duties, my responsibilities, the people I have to protect,"

I touched her forehead with my hand. She was getting a bit warmer. "Kid, you seriously need some sleep,"

She raised her eyebrow. "How about you? You're still awake,"

"I slept more than nine hours last night. What do you expect?"

"I'll shut my eyes if you want. But I still can't sleep,"

I sighed. "Fine. Do you want to talk? About anything, in particular?"

She sat up. "Well... I do miss Julian singing to me,"

I was a little surprised. "He sings to you?"

"Yeah. It helped me go to sleep as a kid. But I don't want to bug him now. I can tell he's got a lot on his plate. I don't want him to worry for me,"

"Is that why you left him?"

"Maybe. Don't get me wrong. I love my uncle... it's just... I feel like the world would be a better place without me,"

I shook my head. "That is not true,"

Katherine frowned. "I think it is,"

"No. Julian loves you. Link and I couldn't have gotten this far without you. Tell me something I don't know,"

"You don't know a lot of things about me. But I'll let that slide,"

"If there isn't someone in this world that needs you, you shouldn't have existed. Yet, here you are,"

Katherine's eyes twinkled. She stretched out her arms and gave me a hug. I hugged her back.

"Thanks, Rhett,"

"No problem, Katherine,"

When she pulled apart from our hug, she started to yawn.

"Now, I think I'm sleepy,"

I chuckled. She lay back down to her bed and I pulled her covers up to her chin. I waited for a few more minutes to make sure she really was asleep. Before she drifted off, I could see at the edge of her lips a small smile. It made me smile back. She was finally asleep. I bent down and kissed her forehead, something I wished I could've done to my kids at that moment. I brushed her soft tuft of brown hair lightly, happy to know she was safe.