Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

Fifteen

     Christy heard a shrill scream and dropped what she was doing. She ran out into the living room because she thought Lincoln and Lando had gotten into a fight and one of them hurt the other. Once she emerged into the living room, she saw the two of them playing with cars on the carpet. Narrowing her eyes, she looked around for Lily.

     Lily ran up behind her, frantic. "Mom, I think it's dad!" 

     Christy took off up the stairs, and she felt like she just couldn't get to the bathroom door fast enough. Her hand found the handle and she tried to turn the knob to get it open. It was stuck because Link had locked it. She banged on the door frantically. Her heart lurched into her throat when she didn't receive a response. "Link! Honey, is everything okay?" 

     When she didn't hear anything for several more seconds, she pressed her ear against the door and listened intently. She heard heavy breaths and what sounded like Link's whimpers. He sounded genuinely afraid of something and her worst fears came to the forefront of her mind. She tried to wriggle the doorknob again. "Link, you need to unlock the door! Is everything okay? Are you hurt? Did you fall?"

     Link heard Christy's frantic voice from the other side of the door but he couldn't move. His entire body had been totally taken over by the snakes. His eyes had watered but he didn't want to cry. He fought the tears as best as he could. The doorknob rattled, the sound cutting into his subconscious.

     Either you can lay here and let these snakes control you, or you can get up and unlock the door for your wife. Link took a few deep breaths, and squeezed his eyes shut as he bared his teeth. He threw his arms outward, freeing his arms. Then he freed his legs with a kick upward, and he raised himself to a crawl position. He sat up completely and wrapped a towel around himself before he reached for the lock on the door. His fingers barely grazed it, and as soon as Christy heard the click, she flung the door open. Link collapsed back onto the floor on his stomach, his glasses skewed on his face.

     She threw herself on the floor in front of him and took him into her arms. He shook like a leaf, and his hands and knees were cut up with shards of glass. She gaped around her at the pool of glass, and at the shower curtain that had been half torn off of the rod along with the water that overflowed from the tub. She pulled Link away from her and cupped his face with her hands. "What happened?" She fought so hard not to let her own eyes water, her voice barely a strangled sob.

     He shuddered with a sob as he leaned forward, and he rested his head on her shoulder.

     "I... I can't breathe," he cried. A tear snuck out of his eye and fell onto her shirt. She ran her fingers through his hair, unable to find the right words to say to console him. 

     A lump formed in her throat as she looked around at the mess in the bathroom, unable to make sense of anything that happened. "Everything is going to be alright honey. Everything is going to be fine."

     "What's happening to me," he whined as he buried his face in her shirt and cried. She had never seen him this bad, not in the past 15 years that they'd been married. 

     A small figure appeared in the doorway, her blue eyes wide with worry. "Is daddy okay?" 

     Christy looked up at Lily and tried to pull off a reassuring smile. "He's fine, sweetheart. Please go downstairs and watch your brothers." That was enough to persuade the girl, as she turned around and skipped down the stairs. She couldn't pass up a look over her shoulder as she went and she collided with her brother, nearly knocking him off of his feet. "Sorry Lincoln."

     Lincoln brushed himself off and gaped at her with worry. "So was it dad? What the heck is going on?" 

     Lily lowered her eyes, and she scratched the back of her head as she made a face. "I really don't know. It's really strange."

     "What do you mean?" Lincoln pressed, his voice frantic. "That was dad screaming wasn't it?" 

     Lily nodded her head in annoyance. "Yeah it was dad, but that's not what I'm talking about!" She leaned in toward Lincoln and Lincoln widened his eyes slightly as Lily dropped her voice to a whisper. "I caught dad in a lie." 

     Lincoln tilted his head to the side as he leaned away from his sister. "A lie? Lily, what would dad possibly have to lie abou—" 

     Lily cut her brother off by forcing her hands over his mouth. "Shhh! He told us that he broke his glasses on set with Rhett, but he told mom that he fell." 

     Lincoln's face dropped, and he pulled Lily's hands off of his mouth. "I don't get it. Why?"

     Lily shook her head. "I don't know. I know there's something seriously wrong with dad, though." Lily didn't want to mention that her ears had ached after she heard their father scream, and when she brought her hand up to her ear and pulled her hand away to look at her finger, she saw a little drop of blood.