Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

Fifty Six

     The air was sucked out of Rhett's lungs, a stab to his heart felt as he watched Link beeline for the stage. He turned around to give Mike and Alex the look that screamed 'do not move', and they simultaneously nodded their heads. Their features were etched with shock as Rhett took off after Link, calling his name. Link stopped just in front of the stage as the smoke had cleared, and it revealed the demon wolf like a set of the devil's curtains.

     Rhett skidded to a stop, nearly colliding into a young couple. The short blond screeched and clutched her boyfriend's arm as they pealed out of the auditorium. His stomach dropped to his hollowed out legs and weighted him to the spot, the two headed wolf scaling center stage as its eyes bore into Link. 

     Link turned his head to see if Rhett was behind him, and found he was only several feet away. When he turned his head back around, the wolf was in front of him. He imagined that if the wolf was an ant and he held a magnifying glass up to it, that's how large it appeared before him. 

     His eyes widened and he couldn't even think about moving before he was knocked off of his feet, a blow to the torso with its mighty arm. He flew through the air and smacked into Rhett, Rhett falling onto his back and crying out in agony. They rolled down the stairs, and Link crawled to his hands and knees, coughing and gasping as he struggled to suck in a breath. Rhett felt like he had taken a knife to his lower back as he forced himself to sit up. 

     He grit his teeth and moved with the pain, taking his hand and patting Link on the back. Rhett turned his head at the sound of a snarl and the wolf was already down the stairs walking on two legs. It snatched Link by the ankle and he cried out as it began dragging him back up the stairs. Rhett gripped Link by the arm and held on, but was forced to let go otherwise he would have torn Link's arm out of socket. Rhett flew up to his feet and narrowed his eyes, looking around for something to attack it with.

     Link's sobs echoed through the auditorium as the wolf pulled him directly underneath it. He was able to take on the wolf when it had one head and was significantly smaller, but this time he couldn't even find an ounce of strength to fight. He whimpered, unsure of which head to look at. They were equally menacing and snarled with fangs bared, dripping with saliva. 

     Mike turned on Alex. "Why does Rhett look like he's searching for extra change for the ice cream truck? That thing is gonna kill Link!" 

     "No it's not," Alex said, shoving his hand into his pocket and pulling out a handful of the stones. He looked at Mike with a gleam in his eye. 

     "So what do we do with these," Mike stammered as he held a trembling hand out, Alex dumping a small pile of them onto his palm. Mike peered over his shoulder at the stage and shuddered at the sight of Link being in such proximity to death. He was literally on its doorstep. 

     Alex clasped Mike's fingers around the stones and gave a rough squeeze. "If we learned anything from the Will It Bullet episode, it's that these things are lethal. Let's just toss it at the thing and see what happens."

     "And if nothing happens?" Mike kept his tone lowered, his chin pointed to the floor as he searched Alex's eyes. 

     Alex contemplated that for a moment, fixing his cap on his head backwards. "We run like hell?"

     "Good plan," Mike said, and he led the way as he darted toward the stage.

     "Rhett!" Alex called out, and Rhett turned his head. Rhett's eyes widened and his throat tightened. Alex tossed a larger stone into the air and Rhett saw it hurling toward him. He snatched it into his hand and Alex stopped. He gave Rhett two thumbs up and gestured to the wolf with his eyes. Rhett looked at the stone in his hand and remembered he had more in his pocket. He fished those out and he returned the look to Alex.

     Mike stopped just in front of the stage, Alex at his side. The three of them exchanged glances, and Alex held up one finger as he began counting. When he held up the third finger, the three of them tossed the stones at the wolf. The stones pelted the wolf's tough fur and bounced off of it, clattering to the floor with no effect. The wolf turned its head to look at them, a growl ripping through its chest. Alex and Mike's eyes widened as they looked at each other. "I guess we go with plan B!" 

     With that, Alex and Mike started running toward the door. Rhett narrowed his eyes. If they shot one of those rocks out of a Nerf gun and it exploded into blue flames upon making contact with a wall, there had to be a way to make it go off again. He wondered if he had to use the force of his arm plus contact with the hard ground to make it go off, like those bang snaps that kids used to play with. He took the stone into his hand, tossed it into the air, caught it and then moved as if he was hurling a baseball.

     He chucked the stone toward the ground in the general direction of the wolf and as soon as it made impact with the ground, a loud pop and blinding white light enveloped the room. Rhett stumbled backward and covered his eyes, listening as the wolf snarled. He heard something big hit the floor and the room rumbled like an earthquake. Now was his chance to run up on to the stage and grab Link. He took the steps several at a time and sprinted across the stage, stopping beside Link who was laying still on the ground with his eyes wide. "Hey man, you alright?" 

     Link didn't answer, but he moved his eyes to look at Rhett. Rhett stopped and wondered why the thing hadn't tried to kill him. As much as he was glad that it didn't, it was still perplexing. He looked around as soon as the plumes from the rock dissipated and he couldn't find the wolf anywhere. 

     He did however find a gaping hole in the wall  that lead directly to the outdoors, the late afternoon sunshine pouring in on them. The hole had ragged edges and was in the shape as if the wolf had sprinted through on all fours. Rhett's eyes widened as he realized the wolf fled through the wall.

     Link sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. His heart raced and his lungs burned. He had yet another near death experience and they had only been dealing with this for three days. He didn't know how much more of it he could take, until his eyes fell on the body of the girl that was only several feet away from him. He scrambled to his feet and began walking toward her. She had been laying flat on her stomach and he stooped to the ground, tilting his head to the side. 

     Rhett joined him by his side, looking down at her. "Is she still alive?" 

     Link shrugged, taking her by the shoulder and turning her over onto her back. He cried out and wretched at what he saw. Her throat had been torn out, her dark eyes stuck wide open. Blood covered the front of her white dress, the gash still oozing blood. Link shuddered and buckled at the knees, landing on his hip with a cry. He brought his wrist up to his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut.

     Rhett wanted to make sure that she was as dead as she looked, and he took two fingers to her wrist and tried to find a heart beat. There was none, and his shoulders slumped. The longer he looked at her, the more he felt like he knew her from somewhere. She looked so familiar that the sensation was at the forefront of his brain and tugging rather annoyingly at his subconscious. His eyes took in her tiny figure, her prominent facial features from the thin nose to the dark brown eyes, and that's when he realized it.

     "Uh Link."

     "Uh what," he choked. 

     Rhett thought Link sounded really far away and when he turned to look at him, he had skittered back so far that he was on the edge of the steps. "This girl looks an awful lot like Terra," he said rather solemnly. 

     It took Link a moment to register what Rhett had meant. He cried out as he forced himself to his feet and approached Rhett rather cautiously. He looked at the girl even though the gruesome wound and the blood, along with the fact that she was dead, made him feel queasy. Rhett eyed Link with sad eyes. 

     Link met his eyes, shaking his head. "No... no. This can't be her. This can't be Tessa." Rhett pressed his lips together, throwing his hands on his hips. Link's chest seared with a blinding hot pain as a flashback to one of his dreams hit him. It wasn't Terra he'd seen in the dream after all. "It can't be, Rhett. She's the wolf!"

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