Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

Four

     "What the," Rhett said. He turned his body to look at the dent. Rhett plastered his back to the seat and he watched with wide eyes as this giant doglike animal jumped off of the car, and bolted right for the girl.

     Link pointed to the girl as his hand shook. "Rhett! It's... It's going after that girl!"

     Rhett flung the door open and tore out of the car. He left the door wide open, and Link watched as Rhett ran. Rhett stopped abruptly as a scream ripped through the air.

     The scream carried through the street, bounced off of the nearby buildings, and chilled Rhett to the core. It was on top of the girl, its jaw locked on her left side before he could even blink.

     Rhett was frozen still as he watched the animal growl and snap its head left and right, then he looked around feverishly to see if anyone else had been around to witness this.

     Was it him that was having the bad lucid dream instead of Link, or were they collaboratively having a lucid nightmare? His attention fell back on the animal, and he looked into its eyes.

     Its cold grey eyes. It ripped away from the girl, tearing flesh with it. She screamed again before her body fell limp. The animal ran toward Rhett, but Rhett was still frozen.

     That was for the better, as it ran right through his legs and it jumped into the air. It landed on the hood of the car again, and rocked the car. Link locked eyes with it and it snarled before it leaped onto the top and disappeared.

     Rhett took a few deep breaths before he ran toward the girl, and he threw himself to the ground, the first thing he wanted to do was check her pulse. He took two fingers to the carotid artery in her neck. Her pulse was very faint, the color already drained from her face.

     He looked over his right shoulder as Link joined him. "Is... Is she dead?"

     Rhett shook his head. "No. We need to call an ambulance. Call an ambulance now."

     Link fumbled in his pocket for his phone and his hands shook so much that he dropped his phone on the pavement, cracking the screen. He hissed through his teeth before he picked the phone up, and he finally dialed 911. "H-hello, we need an ambulance. We're at—" he cut off abruptly and looked at his phone. "I think they hung up on me!"

     Rhett shot him an inquisitive glance. "No... They wouldn't have hung up!" Rhett scooped the girl up into his arms.

     Her shirt lifted just slightly to reveal the bite marks on her side, and Link instantly swayed. "Oh my.. Oh my.. That's a lot of blood," he squeaked, a lump forming in his throat as he stared hard at her wound.

     "Don't look at it! Try them again!"

     Link nodded his head and turned his back, walking away from the two of them. Somebody answered him on the other line and he heaved a sigh of relief. Rhett brought the girl over to the car and laid her down on the ground in front of it.

     Her head lolled to the side and his eyes widened with panic. Link knelt to the ground beside them, and covered his mouth with the back of his hand as he squinted.

     Rhett lifted her shirt, the cloth sticking to the blood. The bite mark looked like she had laid in a bear trap on her side, the crimson red substance trickling from the wound. "I don't get it. Wolves don't attack people," he said as he looked at Link sidelong.

     "Are you sure about that buddy? That looked like a wolf attacked a person!"

     Rhett took a deep breath. "She's losing color from her face."

     "She's dying," Link said in a whisper. They could hear the sirens off in the distance, and the both of them glanced at each other with relief. They then looked at the girl, whose eyes flew open. Link fell backward, landing on his backside. Rhett looked into her chocolate brown eyes and registered the pain and confusion.

     She skittered backward and gaped down at her stomach. She brought her hand over the wound and applied pressure, then looked at the two of them accusingly. "Why did you let that dog bite me!"

     Link looked alarmed. "We didn't have control of it."

     "That wasn't our dog," Rhett said, realizing how silly he sounded. Pain ripped through her side and she winced. She threw her head back with a cry. She looked back down at the wound again as she whimpered. She couldn't register what she wanted to ask them. Like who they were and why the dog attacked her. She looked at them with watery eyes.

     Rhett reached his hand out consolingly. "Everything is gonna be alright. The ambulance is almost here," he said as he felt an incessant poke on his upper arm. He turned his head toward Link, who had then pointed frantically to her stomach with wide eyes.

     Rhett narrowed his eyes and the three of them watched in stunned silence as the wound seemingly disappeared, as if somebody had taken an eraser and was erasing it from the top to the bottom. The girl gasped.

     "Rhett," Link mumbled.

     "Yeah?"

     "Is this a dream?"

     The both of them simultaneously brought their finger up to their palm and pressed as hard as they could to see if it would go through.

     "We're gonna have a fun time explaining this to the paramedics," Rhett said as he slowly lowered his hands. He caught the girl's confused stare.