The Figure: A Rhett and Link Horror Story

The Experience Of Link Neal

   Darkness. Everywhere. Pure Darkness. My face is uncomfortably blood-filled. My shoulder is screaming at me in pain. I was told not to move, but every force in my body is telling me to get up, run away, and to take Rhett with me. Beside me sits my long-time brother, panicked. Scared. I don't know how he got here. I don't fully understand how I got here.

When I saw that thing... that... that figure... it seemed as if it had been waiting for me to pull up, only to take me somewhere; do something to me. I think it is one of the most horrifying things that my eyes have ever come in contact with. It towered at least three feet over me while I was in my minivan, kind of like a David and Goliath scenario; except I don't think that I can wrap my brain around the idea of trying to conquer it. It has two deformed, dim eyes. I could see swirls of ferocity painted throughout them when I was terrified, and sitting in the car.

   Rhett has pranked me before, and we frequently joke around, but as soon as Stevie let me know that he wasn't at work, a thump in my heart told me that something was very wrong. He hasn't ever been the quiet type, either. Even when we're sitting in this room together, he won't talk. Which, if I think about it, isn't such a bad idea. Has the figure communicated to him to not let any expression whatsoever come from anywhere on his body?

Rhett has probably been threatened by this figure. I look around, and quickly come to a conclusion that it's too dark to see anything. I look back up at Rhett. Totally expressionless. He's looking straight ahead, not moving a muscle. I stay still.

   After a while, my head starts to get heavy and my eyes scream at me for sleep. I try to stay awake longer. I last about another hour. Then, I slump over and fall asleep. Something tells me I shouldn't be resting, but my body simply can't go any longer.

•  •  •

I'm floating in complete darkness. Strings of thin, white smoke are in motion all around me. I can move, but I can't go anywhere. I look around. Complete quietness. Complete stillness. Nothing below me, or above me. Nothing around me, but complete blackness; with little wisps of white.

I bring my hand up to my face to feel for blood: it isn't wet. No signs of dry blood, either. I slowly bring my hand back down into my line of vision. It's too dark... too dark to see even my hand.
  
I bring my hand back up to my face, but this time to see if my glasses are perched on my nose. I feel around; they're there... crooked, but they're there. I straighten them on my nose, and bring my hand back down.

   Is this a dream? I can't tell... sometimes dreams are so close to our familiar reality that it's hard to pick them apart from each other. Although, in reality we're usually not capable of floating, and since I'm floating here, I would say that I'm dreaming... I could be wrong.

Suddenly, stiffness overwhelmingly takes over my body... I can't move any longer. I look around. Complete quietness. Complete stillness. Nothing below me, or above me.

   But... the wispy white smoke surrounding me has formed itself into a person. Someone familiar. Someone that's I've cried and laughed with over a period of time. Someone that I love with all my heart... mom.

Her face forms out of the wisps, and her body follows close behind. She progresses leisurely towards me, but with authority. She's always had this warm smile, and that's how she's presenting herself to me right now. I want to reach out and touch her... I haven't seen her in so long. She opens her arms to hug me, but I can't hug her back. "Sue... mom... help me. I need you... I love you, mom." I softly tell her. Can she hear me? It doesn't seem so. Her smile quickly turns into a frown. She starts walking backwards, away from me. "M-mom! Please!" I scream. Before she gets much farther away, she turns back into white wisps. "No.... I miss you." I softly say. A lump starts to form in my throat.

The wisps start to form into someone else... a few people... it's Rhett's family. His two boys and his wife are now looking straight at me... or through me... can they see me? They start running my way, and they come to a halt right in front of me. They're saying something... but I can't hear them. Their lips seem to be mouthing the words "Behind you." They're screaming it. My eyes grow wide in terror. I can't spin my head around behind me to look at what's coming... or what they say is coming. "Please help me! I've seen Rhett!" I urgently shout. They float away, just like mom did. The lump in my throat becomes larger. I'm scared. I'm lonely. I'm confused. I want out.

The wisps form another family, with one more person in it than the previous one. It's mine. My family. They're all crying. Christy is hugging the kids, trying to keep them from running my direction. They have to see me. All of them. "Dad! I love you!" Lily said. I can hear what she's saying. "I miss you, daddy", Lando said. Lincoln is just crying, trying to tear towards me. "Please don't make me have to say goodbye!" He cries."No, no, no, no.... it's okay. I'm right here", I cry. Christy looks at me, decides to let the kids run towards me, and starts running behind them. They're all dashing towards me; but when they get within a few feet of being able to touch me, they all vanish. "N-no! C-come back! I'm not g-gone yet!" I plead. Tears are falling down my face, falling into the nothingness below me.

"I'm dreaming... none of this is reality", I try to convince myself.

The wisps take on a new form; Rhett. He's running, but not towards me. He running everywhere. "PLEASE! S-SOMEBODY HELP ME!" He frantically shouts. It concerns me. "R-Rhett." I whisper. He looks around, trying to find someone... something. "Link... LINK! HELP! HELP! I CAN'T!" He screams at me. "It's ok-kay! You c-can't what?" I cry. "I can't get out... and neither can you." Rhett lowers his voice. He starts pacing towards me. I want to run away... no... I want to run to him. He is scaring me, but I want to help him. And he wants to help me... but we can't do anything. He has this demented look on his face as he comes closer and closer to me. "No, this isn't you", I say to him. It's not Rhett... it's the wisps... or is it? I frantically want to run away, but I physically can't. He has an evil but desperate glint in his eye. Then, right before he touches me, a wispy hand comes out of the darkness and pulls him back to where it came from: The nothingness below me.

I watch all of this happen. I scream. I've been told that there is something behind me, and coming at me. I'm terrified. The wisps turn back into smoke, and linger all around me as I float. Then, my body becomes loose and limber like it was before. I can move, but I can't go anywhere. I float for a few more minutes... or hours... I can't keep track of time. Then, the wisps take to the wind again and transform into a single person. Me. My eyes widen as I look at the Link that is staring at me through the darkness. He doesn't have a single drop of blood on his face, and he walks slowly towards me. His face is expressionless, and his pace is constant. He doesn't break eye contact with me. Instead, he just keeps walking. As he gets closer, blood starts to appear on his face... is that really what I look like, or looked like earlier? He doesn't stop walking. Suddenly I'm not floating anymore. I'm falling, but only for a few feet. The sudden fall scares me and I don't land correctly, but I get back up and start walking towards him. Soon enough, we're face to face. I reach up, and so does he. We touch fingers, and suddenly the other Link is engulfed in darkness, and all is quiet.

Then, I remember the McLaughlins warning me by saying "behind you". I gasp, and then hold my breath... I slowly turn my head around to see what's coming... Complete quietness. Complete stillness. Nothing above me, but now there's a floor below me. I hear something. Footsteps. Footsteps that aren't even close to human-sounding. They stifle. Now I hear nothing again.

Suddenly, I feel something grab me by the arm. I pull away, and start running. This thing... or... or the figure... is chasing me, and I can hear its footsteps getting louder. All of a sudden I'm not running anymore. I'm falling. Falling for a long time. I scream. I flail my arms. Then, this thing snatches me up by the arm, and I'm pretty sure my shoulder is done for.

I'm not falling anymore, but being pulled upwards, and I end up on the ground again; the figure drops me. It's impossible to move with my now-achy body. I painfully look up, and see the figure towering over me.

That's the last thing I see before it grabs me.