Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

Sixty Nine

      Rhett had finally ceased choking and he held his hand up. "I'm alright. I'm alright," he breathed, his eyes bugging. "My spit totally went down the wrong tube," he said as he eyed Link. 

     Link saw the gesture in his eyes. They were both equally as alarmed at what she said. 

     Link unbuckled himself and turned in his seat to face Lily. "Okay, here's the plan. You take us in the house right where you found the marks and we'll take a picture. But we have to make it quick. I don't want to be out too long and worry your mother."

     "That sounds like a good plan," Rhett agreed, and Lily nodded her head. The three of them wandered out of the vehicle, Link in the lead. He fiddled with the set of keys until he found the house key, then inserted the key into the lock. To his surprise, the door had swung open and he spun on his heel to look at Rhett. Lily was right behind Rhett, holding on to his leg.

     "Did you forget to lock the door?" Rhett asked, scratching the back of his head. 

     Link's eyes were nearly bulging out of his skull. "Did you forget who I am? Mr. Obsessive Compulsive?" 

     Rhett made a face as if he should have known that, and then his face fell as he realized what they were facing. "Somebody broke in." 

     Link ran into the house, reaching for the light in the hall. Rhett flew in after him, looking about wildly. Everything was still out of place as it had been when they left it the night before. Rhett narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized the place to find anything out of place more so than it already had been. He wandered into the kitchen, his eyes falling on the broken table. Nothing new there.

     While Rhett was in the kitchen investigating, Link took Lily's hand and they ventured through the living area. Looking at all of the broken furniture squeezed his heart. A biting chill blew in through the broken windows and he shivered. He looked down at his daughter. "Where were the marks you were talking about?" 

     Lily began leading him down another hall that led to the downstairs bathroom, the flooring transitioning from carpet to wooden panels. Lily flicked the hall light on, and Link looked to the floor. There were indeed claw marks across the floor where it looked like the wolf had been running. They weren't nearly deep enough to account for anything, more like cat scratches. He stooped to the ground at a spot closest to the wall that grabbed his attention. Four distinct claw marks raked the wall, marking the baseboard and some of the floor below it.

     Link hurriedly pulled his phone out of his back pocket and brought up the camera app. He snapped enough pictures in case one of them didn't take, and then he slipped his phone back into his pocket. He then watched as Lily stooped to the ground, taking four of her fingers and lining them up with the claw marks, dragging it down the wall. 

     She slowly turned her head to look over and up at her father, Link's lips curling into a frown as his eyebrows furrowed. "What's wrong, baby?" 

     Lily hesitantly brought her hand up to her face, looking underneath her nails. Link's face mirrored horror. He quickly snatched Lily's hand into his and scrutinized her nails. It appeared that there was a red substance beneath them, and he had the constricting feeling in his chest like he knew what it was. He quickly moved to his feet, dragging her along behind him to bring her to the bathroom sink.

     He turned the light on, reached for the bar of soap and took to washing her hand under hot water. Lily stared at her hand with a blank expression as he worked her nails into the bar of soap. "Why was there blood on the wall, dad?" 

     Link shook his head, heaving for a breath. "I'm not sure, honey. It could have just been,-" he cut off and the both of them snapped their heads up at the sound of something thumping upstairs.

     "Link? Lily?" He heard Rhett calling. The both of them took off out of the bathroom, Link thinking the worst possible thing. He wound up in the living room and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Rhett was at the foot of the stairs, looking up curiously. They ran up behind him and Rhett spun around with a gasp, his hand flying up to his chest. "I thought you two were upstairs!"

     "We thought you were upstairs!"

     "So what made that sound?" The three of them exchanged glances and Link took his glasses off of his face, rubbed his eyes, and then slipped them back on.

     "I'm going up. Lily, stay here with Rhett."

     "Dad," Lily cried, locking her arms around his leg. He had the feeling the both of them had the same sickening feeling in their stomachs. Rhett gave Link a look.

     "What?"

     "Don't go up there without something to protect yourself." Rhett made a good point and Link turned and made a beeline for the closet in the hall, flinging the door open. He took a metal baseball bat into his hand, tapping it into his hand while giving Rhett a mischievous grin.

     "You're not the only one with a fancy metal baseball bat," Link said as he walked toward them cooly. 

     Lily had a grin on her face and Rhett shook his head, amusement in his eyes. "Be careful brother." 

     Link nodded and he started up the stairs, careful with how he applied pressure to each step as to not cause the step to creak. He kept this up until he made it to the top landing, and he bent his knees into a protective stance as he stalked toward Lily's room. He held the bat over his shoulder and nudged the door completely open with his free shoulder, as it had been cracked. The door swung open and he walked in sideways, eyeing the room.

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