Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

138

"I want to see you have more confidence in yourself, Link. I know you can do it, you just need to tell yourself that you can do it. Understand?" Jackson's voice was eerily muffled by the fangs protruding from his lower and bottom lip, but Link managed to returned the smile, feeling a twinge of pride rush through his chest.

He'd done it. He made his hand and his shoulder heal on the spot, and before he could get hurt even more. That was something to be proud of.

"Thanks man," Link said breathlessly, straightening himself out. Jackson's expression went deadpan as he whipped his head about, peering down the road.

"Don't thank me yet. We still need to find Rhett."

Link nodded his head, and he began leading the way down the road.

"I have a hunch about where he might have gone. We should have thought of this at first, right?" Link was saying as he began to sprint again. It was a wonder how they were able to keep up their energy throughout this whole ordeal, Link more so than Jackson. The run to the Animal Control Center was surprisingly short, and they stopped in front of the sign.

Tingling raked its way up his arms as he stood in the very spot that Rhett was standing, and he touched the spot on the bush where Rhett had with a flat palm. He then moved away from the bush and stalked toward the truck, eyeing the pavement with horror. Blood splattered the pavement like a child was flicking red paint at their friend, and Link swayed at the sight of it. That couldn't be Rhett's blood.

"Oh no," Jackson mumbled under his breath as he stepped over toward the puddle, his eyebrows knitting together.

"This isn't good. He must have been bleeding a lot for him to stain the rain water. Are you getting any idea as to what happened?"

The color drained out of Link's face and his bottom lip trembled. He couldn't help but be reminded of a shark attack, the water tainted a crimson color. It made the bile creep up his throat again.

"I've already had an idea what happened. Rhett was stabbed through the stomach."

Rhett had been forced to walk and was shoved into a vehicle, two people scooting into the seats on either side of him. His head was swimming and he craned his neck back, holding his hand close to the opening of the wound with a groan. He couldn't keep his eyes from watering no matter how hard he tried, like somebody was chopping onions nearby and smearing them in his wound. The warm blood continually oozed out of the wound, through the shirt and onto his hand. He kept pulling his hand away to look at it, worry creeping into his heart. If he continued to bleed heavy like this, he was surely going to die. He felt the person to his right leaning into his shoulder, and he turned his head to look at the man.

He looked like he was in his mid twenties, and he had his jet black hair spiked, his dark blue eyes lighting up the moment he gripped Rhett's upper arm. Rhett lowered his eyes to the man's hand, his eyes slightly widening at the sight of the claws. He pressed his lips firmly together, swallowing noisily.

"Nervous?" The man asked in a smooth, young voice. Rhett simply shook his head, and that made the man laugh. It was an airy laugh, dripping with a velvety tone that made Rhett fidget uncomfortably on the spot. This nestled the knife further into his gut and he let out a sigh, his heart aching with fear that it was going to kill him at any moment. He only had so many minutes to act, he figured.

"You don't have to be nervous. We could always change the topic, you know. Like," the man trailed off, tapping his finger on his chin. Rhett was eyeing him through the corner of his eye, his heart accelerating faster in his chest.

"That hella delish beard."

Rhett arched an eyebrow, nearly spluttering with disbelief. He uttered a silent prayer in his head that this wasn't going to be a long car ride, wherever it was that they were going.