Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

140

"It was Rhett... But why would he take Rhett? And if Jessie was only used as bait, why didn't they just let her go after they got him?"

"They're not stupid, Link. You're Rhett's best friend. Not only would you do anything for Rhett, but you would do anything for his family also."

Link understood the implication of these words fully, shuddering as a chill rippled through his body. They knew Rhett was going to come looking for Jessie. That was how they captured him. They also knew Link would more than likely show up after him, further instigating their onslaught.

Link couldn't fall victim to their ploy, not like poor Rhett had. There was something he had to do to keep them from taking him too. He'd rather have a plan in place so he can take them down. Namely Teegan.

"Are you listening to me, Link? Now isn't the time to space out."

"Oh yeah. So you're gonna break the glass and pull the fire alarm, then what?"

"You're gonna go out back to the big green door and get inside to find Jessie, while I distract the wolves."

"Right. I'm ready. Let's do this thing," he said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them. Tremors raced through his body, his heart pounded in his chest, and beads of sweat glistening his forehead mixing with the drops of rain. He was terrified but he wasn't going to tell Jackson that. Jackson seemed to have an answer for everything, and Link didn't want to push his luck with him any further.

Without a single moment's notice, Jackson balled his fist and sent it through the glass. A shattering sound echoed through the night, followed by the rain of shards hitting the stone steps and rolling onto the pavement below. He thrust his arm through the spiked opening in the glass and fumbled for the alarm, finally grazing it with the tips of his fingers. Red lights began flashing throughout the building blindingly, with blaring wailing into the night chill. Link's eyes widened as he stumbled backward, before gaining his footing and making a sprint toward the back of the building.

He hadn't been prepared for it to happen so soon. To ease the creeping fear only a little, the rain had finally diminished to a light mist and it sprayed the sweat off of his face welcomingly. He veered the corner of the building, finding the outside dimly lit by a flickering light. All of the bugs seemed to be attracted to said light as he screeched to a halt and watched as they buzzed and bopped into the light.

Walking slowly toward the door, he kept his eye on the light, listening to the crackling sound that it made. Maybe it wasn't a typical light, but a bug zapper. Stopping in front of the green door, he took a few deep breaths before reaching for the handle.

A tingling sensation prickled its way up his arm as his fingers looped around the wet and cool handle. He closed his eyes and tried to turn the handle and pull, but it wasn't turning and the door wasn't budging. Had Jackson been wrong about all of the doors unlocking? Panic flooded Link's chest as he looked about. The alarm was still going off and it was only a matter of time before they were ambushed, right? Not only by the werewolves, but the firefighters that would be notified to come and investigate the scene.

He pulled, twisted, paused, then tried the same thing again. Suddenly the door flew outward, Link crying out in alarm as he went flying backward through the air. He landed on the ground with a smack, pain permeating through his back. His glasses flew off of his face and landed in a puddle several feet away from him, and he frantically began patting the ground for them as water dripped into his eyes. Footsteps sounded from in front of him and he quickly lifted his head to see the silhouette of a tall man approaching him.

Link could only bring himself to a sitting position before he felt himself being lifted by the front of his shirt. He cried out in alarm, desperately trying to make out the features of the man's face. He couldn't make out much, and he discovered quickly that his breath was rancid when he let out a guttural roar right in Link's face. Link turned his head to the side with a grimace, and he was soon tossed to the side. He landed on his hip with a cry, and before he could turn himself over onto his back, he was gripped by the shoulder and forced onto the ground. Link could see through the haziness that the man was smiling wickedly through a thick mustache, fangs protruding from his mouth.

This had to have been one of the ones Jackson was talking about. Link kicked his leg up, his knee making contact with the werewolf's groin. The man dropped to his knees with a howl, giving Link a split second to force himself onto all fours to quickly crawl away. Fortunately his glasses were right in the path that he was taking and he hastily applied them to his face, scrambling to his feet and making a beeline for the open door. He flew up the steps and grasped the handle, pulling with a lot more force than was needed to get the heavy metal door shut. It slid to a shut and Link locked it. He quickly looked around him and the first thing he noticed was a wooden chair that was propped up against the wall.

Sprinting over to it, he took hold of it briskly and marched over to the door, perching it at an angle against the door so that the top was wedged under the handle and the legs were braced against the door. Immediately a loud rapping rang off of the metal as the man on the other side mercilessly pounded on it. Link slowly backed away from the door as he watched it bow in slightly, bringing his fist up to his mouth to keep from screaming. Barking could be heard down the hall to his left, and he quickly snapped his head in that direction, wondering if Jessie was somewhere down that hall.

He peered at the door one last time before making his way down the hall, and as he passed through the hall he saw that the right side of the hall was lined with kennel after kennel. The dogs went nuts; jumping up and rattling the cages, barking relentlessly like Link was carrying a treat that they were desperate to get to. Some of them snarled and growled like they wanted to rip him apart limb from limb, while others were cowering in the corner with their tails curled downward with a sad look in their eyes.

He noticed some cats in the mix, and some of them were even hissing at him. He's never warranted this kind of behavior from an animal before in his life. He owned a dog and she never acted like these animals were acting toward him, and he couldn't help but lower his eyes as he walked. Was it because he was some freak thing now that nobody knew anything about? Link remembered Jackson saying something about Jessie being kept in a private room away from the other animals, and he found a door at the end of the hall and decided to go in, opening the door.

He fumbled for the light switch and as soon as light flooded the room, he gasped.

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