Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

Fifty Nine

     Rhett snapped his head to look at Link, who was gaping at the door as it opened to reveal Terra. She tilted her head to the side and looked at the van sitting in her driveway with narrowed eyes. Rhett and Link exchanged quick glances, realizing they couldn't waste another minute. They undid their seat belts and stepped out of the metal machine. Relief flooded Terra's face and a smile cracked her lips as she realized who it was. "Hey guys! You kinda scared me there for a minute! I didn't recognize the beast," she said, eyeing the two of them. 

     Link half smiled, but Rhett was full on grinning. He put on a much better face than Link could, but he was still rather shaken up from the dream he just had. Terra smiled warmly, pulling her grey cardigan tight around her. "It's a little chilly out here. I'm glad you guys showed up, cause I accidentally made too much coffee and didn't want it going to waste. Come on in." She turned on her heel to open the door and stepped to the side, letting them in first. She walked in behind them and an amused look spread across her face as she watched their mouths hang open in awe.

     They found themselves in the front entrance and as they looked up, they noticed that this particular part of the ceiling was dome shaped. An elaborate crystal chandelier hung from the center of the cream colored painted ceiling, adorned by evenly spaced light fixtures that gave off an ambient alluring orange glow. It made them feel warm and welcome. Their eyes then fell on the spiral staircase that led to the balcony upstairs, their eyebrows shooting up their forehead.

     "While you guys are standing there catching flies, I'm gonna go make some coffee," she said with a playful wink and a nudge to Link's ribs before skipping off. He absentmindedly followed her toward the kitchen, catching sight of the living area. She had a cobblestone fireplace with a luring fire burning inside, and there were a couple cozy brown leather armchairs just calling Link's name. He hadn't realized just how tired he felt before he walked into Terra's incredibly spacious and comfortable home.

     A sadness bit his heart as he remembered that his comfortable home had been completely demolished, and he didn't have that to go back to. They stopped in the kitchen where there was an island in the center with a marble top, lined with a couple stools. He took a seat on one of the stools, the smell of the coffee inviting him further in.

     He felt Rhett take a seat beside him and he turned his head to look at him, reading the sullen look in his eyes. Link lowered his eyes to his hands that he had folded over in his lap, Terra spinning on her heel with a couple mugs in her hands. She looked between the two of them with her eyebrows furrowed. "What's the matter?" 

     The mugs clattered onto the island in front of them. Link swallowed nervously, fiddling with his thumbs. Rhett cleared his throat, propping his elbow up on the table. "We saw the wolf today-" Rhett began, his throat constricting once again. He looked into Terra's eyes and felt like his heart was ripped out of his chest. She wasn't smiling anymore, but the look in her eyes told him that she had been having a good day and they were just about to ruin it for her. He swallowed, bringing his hands up to his mouth and running them over it. He drew in a deep breath. "And-" he trailed off, turning his head to look at Link for help. 

     Link raised his eyes to look at Terra, and her facial expression was pitiful. Her eyebrows twitched slightly, her lips drawn in a tight line. 

     He decided to stand up and walk toward her for comfort, but her eyebrows furrowed and she turned to Rhett with confusion. "Terra-" Link said, and she slowly turned her head to look into his deep blue eyes. "I don't know how to tell you this. We don't know how to tell you this," he corrected himself, his tone wavering. "But we found Tessa." His eyes watered as he sucked his bottom lip into his mouth. He watched as the happiness was sapped right out of her eyes, and for a second she was breathless.

     "The wolf got her, Terra," Rhett said, his voice sounding foreign to him. 

     The color trickled from her face like sand draining from an hourglass. "Don't even play with me like that," she said, an icy tendril in her tone as she balled her fist.

     Rhett rose to his feet and started walking toward her. "Sweetheart, we're seriously wishing this was only a joke. We're really sorry-" he started, but was cut off by her wailing. She buckled at the knees and Link dove forward to catch her in his arms, her crying out again as if she'd been impaled through the stomach with a sharp object. Her face was screwed up, wet hot tears burning her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around Link's bicep while pressing her head into his shoulder. Rhett stooped to the ground in front of them and rubbed her back consolingly.

     "We feel really horrible, Terra. We wish there was something we could have done to save her," Link choked, feeling his eyes sting with tears as she drained her tears onto his shirt. He felt her body tremble against his as she sobbed uncontrollably. She was trying to speak, but the words were coming out as incoherent babble. Link met Rhett's eyes and he felt a tear trail down his cheek. He didn't have any biological siblings, but he had his blood brother sitting right in front of him. If it had been Rhett that had been on that stage floor with his throat torn out, Link would be totally destroyed. He would cry until he had no tears left to cry, he probably wouldn't eat...

     He could see himself laying in bed for days on end, waiting for the agony to go away knowing that his soul brother that was seemingly granted to him by the angels would never be there to make him laugh again. He squeezed his eyes shut and lowered his chin to the top of her head, her cries piercing through his heart and choking his soul. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

     Both Rhett and Link sat in silence as they let her cry it out, Link holding her head to his chest consolingly. She sobbed so hard that she was hiccuping, and Rhett patted her back while seemingly staring off into space. He had ceased patting her back unknowingly, his hand just above the part of her rib cage where he could feel her heart beating. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel her heart beating from her back and he slowly turned his head to look at her with his eyebrows furrowed.

     Link caught the look on his face and he mouthed "what's wrong?"

      Rhett shook his head, leaning closer to Terra. She had stopped shaking, and she had stopped sobbing. She was now perfectly still. The only thing that wasn't noticeably still was her fast beating heart. Rhett narrowed his eyes as he followed her arms, and then they widened as he saw that her claws were completely extended. Rhett scrambled to his feet as quickly and quietly as he could, and he was making a motion with his hands to get Link to move. Link gave him a confused look and he lowered his head just in time as she raised hers, her fangs protruding out of her upper and lower lips.

     Suddenly she snarled and gripped his thigh, her claws sinking through his jeans and flesh. He threw his head back and shrieked, shattering the nearby window.

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