The Missing Link

Chapter 2

    He sank his teeth into my nape and I moaned with a mixture of pleasure and pain. He quickened his thrusts and his hands grasped on to my ass to hold me in place as he came. Still reeling from my orgasm, I barely noticed that he had already released my neck and was panting while still holding me up.

     I knew he broke skin since I could feel the warmth of my blood coming out from his bite mark. It must be the tequila, but it didn’t feel very painful; quite the opposite actually. It perfectly complimented my orgasm and seemed to be the only thing that settled that horny frenzy.

    Although his scent still smelled very good to me, the need to have s*x had dissipated and my brain was becoming less hazy due to it. He gently lifted me up to detach himself from me and set me down on the ground. My knees felt weak so I kept my hands stationed on his shoulders. He chuckled as he brought his pants back up and began fixing his belt.

    “Not that I really want to ask this, but you should probably fix your dress,” the man said to me. “I’d really hate to have to rip someone’s head off for seeing you like this.”

    Although he had a point and I began pulling up the dress top and pulling the skirt down, I was annoyed by the possessiveness he was displaying. 

    “Thanks,” I replied tersely while finishing rearranging my dress.

    “Anytime,” he said, arching a brow in confusion. “Why haven’t you began to heal yet?”

    “Heal...?” I trailed off. On cue I felt a stinging sensation on my neck and looked to see blood trickling down my shoulder. “Right, what the hell is this?!”

    He just stared at me, dumbfounded.

    Suddenly, I began to really notice the music of the nightclub. Was it always this loud? I covered my ears with my hands and winced as the bass dropped and the beat came raging back. It seemed obnoxiously loud and was beginning to give me a headache. My eyes were also having trouble focusing due to how blinding the lights were in this stairwell. My sense of smell had even increased, if possible, to the point where I could smell the body odour, the different types of liquor being poured, the washroom...everything. It was like my senses seemed to be going into overdrive and becoming too sensitive for me to handle. I needed to get out of here.

    I looked past the man and saw the door exiting the club. With my hands still covering my ears, trying to breathe through my mouth to avoid the stench of everything mixed together, and squinting to circumvent how blinding the lights were, I must have looked like a lunatic fleeing from the nightclub and into the alleyway. However, it was the only way to get some relief from that music.

    I emerged out into the muggy Summer air and the man followed me and slammed the door shut behind him. That move garnered a little relief from the music and the lights but it still felt like my head was ready to explode with all my senses going into overdrive.

    “What’s wrong?” the man demanded with evident confusion while quickly coming around to the front of me and grabbed my shoulders to stop me from moving. “What the f**k is happening?”

    “I don’t know!” I half said and half shouted. What is this?

    I tried to look up but the street light was incredibly bright. My ears were ringing like I had an intense form of tinnitus and the sounds of the street weren’t helping. I could hear everything and nothing at the same time. It was too much. Whimpering like a dog, I fell to my knees and curled over. I got an intense whiff of the different types of garbage in the dumpsters and immediately threw up, right on the man’s shoes. 

    “f**k!,” he cursed while bending down to help me back up. 

    He grabbed on to my arms and began lifting me up. I began wiggling as much as I could and trying to rip my arm away from him.

    “No,” I protested weakly as I was dragged to my feet anyway. “Get away from me, now!”

    “I don’t get why you’re being so stubborn,” he said, exasperation evident on his face. With an almost pleading look in his eyes, he continued by saying “I’m the one you should trust the most.”

    “I. Don’t. Know. You.” I spat each word out, making my point clear despite my current condition. 

    I shoved him away while I fell back and landed against the wall with my knees buckling. I wanted to scream but I figured that would only hurt my ears more. Instead my body settled on beginning to hyperventilate. I couldn’t take this anymore; even the bite mark was throbbing with pain and I could see the blood had stained the top of my dress. I slid down against the wall, silently praying for this hell to end.

    I heard him sigh in frustration before he stooped down to pick me up again. “You’re really f*****g stubborn.” 

    “Get...away!” I said coldly before I got another whiff of his scent. It smelled so comforting and I couldn’t stop my body from responding to his touch. 

    I began to lean in to him, craving that smell, and he took my momentary fixation to throw me over his shoulder. He began to walk towards the exit of the alleyway and clamped on to me tightly with his one arm while he dug in his pants pocket and pulled out his cell phone. 

    The sound of him dialing hit me like a ton of bricks and I threw my hands back over my ears and tried to not scream at the pain in my head. He put the ear to his phone while still walking and carrying me.

        “Yeah. We need to go,” he said into his phone. “Meet me out front.”

    I began wailing on the man with as much strength as I could muster. There was no way I was going to let him take me with whoever was on that phone call, no matter how comforting and alluring his scent was. The man grunted with annoyance but held on to me so I took things a step further. I screamed.

    The sound of me screaming was enough to pierce anyone’s ears but, with how sensitive mine were, I almost passed out from the pain in my head. The man flipped me down against the wall and covered my mouth with his one hand and the other balling into a fist. His fist collided with the wall.

    “You’re really pissing me off,” he said through gritted teeth, his eyes glinting that gold colour again.

I wanted to talk back but his hand prevented me from doing so. So instead, I did the only thing I could think of – I bit his hand as hard as I could.

    “f**k!” he cursed while releasing me, blood droplets from his wound spewing on to my dress.

    I realized I only had a few seconds to make up my mind as my opening was very small but, I managed to slip out from under his shoulder. Although I was weak, the adrenaline from my fight or flight instinct pushed me forward and I ran as fast as I could towards the front of the club. I could see people walking near the alleyway entrance and kept running towards them. As I reached the entrance I heard a familiar voice call my name.

    “Morgan!” Kara grabbed me and pulled me into her. “Oh my god I was so worried!”

    “Kara...,” I responded weakly while holding on to her.

    She responded by holding me at arm’s length and gasping at my condition. “What happened to you?!”

    I looked back towards the alleyway, but something felt different. It didn’t smell as strongly of him down that way nor did it feel like he was down there anymore, which made my heart ache in a very strange way. Thankfully I didn’t have to think about it very long as my eyes began to go black and my head began to spin more. I gave in to how I was feeling now that I was safe with someone familiar.

    I heard my head collide with the sidewalk before I felt it and heard Kara yelling for help. A crowd had begun to form around us with some offering their help...and that’s when everything went completely dark.

                                                                                            *

    The first sensation I felt was a painful soreness pulsating from my head and my neck when I woke up. Groaning, I tried to move but only aggravated my injuries and sent shocks of pain throbbing throughout my body. What happened to me? 

    I wracked my brain to try and solve the mystery but I felt groggy and confused. Abandoning my conundrum, I turned my attention towards opening my eyes. My eyelids were heavy but, I managed to slowly open them to see a blinding light above me; within seconds my eyes adjusted to see it was just a normal fluorescent light. I began to look around the area and gathered by the surroundings that I was in a bed in a hospital room. There was a faint beep...beep...sound to my left and I moved to see that it was a heart monitor. I winced as I realized an IV needle had been placed in my left arm that burned every time I tried to use it.

    I brought my right hand and felt the back of my head. There was definitely a bump on the back of my head that was sore to touch. Grimacing, I brought my hand down to my neck to feel a large piece of gauze on my neck.

    I looked around and saw that I was alone; considering the only family member I had had passed away years prior, that wasn’t all that surprising. However, why was I here? How did this happen? I could see some nurses and doctors were passing by my room, oblivious to my awakening and knew I needed to get their attention to get some answers.

    “Hello?,” I hoarsely called out to no one in particular, just hoping someone passing by would hear me.

    Thankfully, a blonde haired lady stuck their head in after a few seconds. “Oh, good, you’re awake! Let me go grab the doctor.”

    I nodded as her head disappeared and rested my head back onto the pillow. With my mind racing, I was thankful that I didn’t have to wait long as only a few minutes passed before the same woman came strolling back in clad in purple scrubs with a slightly older and balding man who was wearing a doctors’ lab coat in tow.

    “Hello Morgan,” he addressed me warmly with a polite smile on his lips. “My name is Dr. Hampton and this is Lily, my nurse. How are you feeling?”

    “Sore,” I admitted with a strained voice. It felt like I hadn’t talked in a few days. “Where am I? What happened?” 

    “You’re at the general hospital. You came in three days ago,” he explained as him and the woman came further into the room. Dr. Hampton stopped in front of my bed while Lily moved towards my left side. “Lily here is just going to check your IV fluids, okay?”

    I nodded slowly as the woman came around the bed and began fiddling with the IV bag. I turned my attention back to Dr. Hampton as he continued, desperate for some answers.

    “You had us really worried there for a bit, you were refusing to wake up,” he admitted sheepishly, running his hand through what remaining hair he had. “I want to ask if you remember what happened to bring you in here?” 

    I struggled to recall at first; I mean, what did happen? Kara and I went out. We were drinking and dancing...and there was that man...and...

   My face paled as I began to remember. Images flashed before my eyes: the man, the s*x, his eyes, those teeth...I looked around wildly, half expecting him to be sitting in the corner of the room.

    “Hey, hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to think about that. You’re safe now,” Dr. Hampton said gently as he noticed my erratic behaviour. He placed his hand on mine but I ripped it away, thereby earning me a burning sensation from the IV needle.

    “Where’s Kara?” I asked abruptly while still looking around. I needed someone familiar near me. What if that man was here? Although, I couldn’t help but notice my heart fluttered thinking about that possibility. 

    “Kara...?” Dr. Hampton trailed off while looking at his nurse.

    “Her friend, doctor. The one who has been here every day,” Lily responded before turning her attention back to me. “It’s okay, Morgan. No one is going to hurt you here. Kara has been here every day after she’s done work. I imagine she will come back today.”

    I nodded, easing up slightly. “What...why am I here?”

    “You hit your head pretty badly when you fell the other night,” Dr. Hampton was the one to respond. I turned back to face him as he continued. “When the ambulance brought you in, you were unconscious. You did wake up but you were screaming. We had to use a sedative to put you back to sleep. Do you remember any of that?”

    I responded by shaking my head. Dr. Hampton continued.

    “Ah, I see. You were a little traumatized when you came in I think. Whatever bit you-” he gestured to my bandaged neck, “-might have done that. Or you might have been confused with how hard you hit your head. You kept screaming that everything was too loud and bright. We ran a CT scan on your head and everything came back normal there so I don’t want you to worry about having any damage from that fall. We ran some tests on your blood and everything but your iron levels were normal. Low iron levels can lead to fainting so this could have been an underlying reason as to why you fainted. Now, as for that bite.”

    I flinched as I remembered the man sinking his teeth into my neck. There’s no way that could have been what happened, right?

    “By the time you came in the bleeding had already stopped so we just had to stitch it up. It was a very deep and big bite; unfortunately I think you might have a somewhat nasty scar when it heals,” Dr. Hampton continued while smiling at me apologetically. “But, I think you’re going to heal up just fine.”

    I nodded slowly while he took a break to look at my chart.

    “Also, given the nature of your injuries, we did have to contact the police. You’re not in trouble or anything like that but they do want to speak with you regarding how you got that bite,” Dr. Hampton said. “I don’t want to pressure you to tell me if you’re still confused about what happened but they have some questions for you. Before you’re discharged they will probably come by and ask them.”

    “Okay,” I said tentatively. “When will I be able to go?”

    “I wouldn’t mind keeping you over here one more night just for observation. Your injuries aren’t extensive but, given how you were unconscious for three days, I would like to just be on the safe side,” Dr. Hampton replied. “We are going to run some more blood work just to make sure everything is looking good. We had to give you iron intravenously so I just want to make sure your levels are stabilizing. Also, before we formally discharge you tomorrow, I would like a neurologist to come by and just check you out to make sure everything is good there. Is that okay?”

    “Yes, of course,” I replied. I suddenly remembered what he said about my screaming about my hearing and sight and recalled how they were going haywire. “Hey-uh. Can I ask a question? Is it...normal to have your senses go...um, crazy?”

    He gave me a quizzical look. “What do you mean by that?”

    “Well. Just, before I fainted I remember that lights were blinding me, sounds were really loud, I could smell things really well,” I asked. I turned red at how it must sound insane. 

    “Hmm,” he paused while thinking. “Are you still feeling like that now?”

    I thought about it for a moment and realized I seemed to be back to normal. My normal heightened sense of smell was back but it wasn’t overpowering like it was back at the nightclub. Apart from being blinded when I first woke up I haven’t felt like the lights have been a problem in this room and, thankfully, my hearing wasn’t causing me an ear-splitting headache. 

    “No, I don’t think so,” I finally responded after some careful deliberation. 

    “Are you prone to migraines?”

    I shook my head. “I get headaches sometimes but I’ve never had a migraine.”

    “Ah...,” he trailed off. “Well, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. It sounds like a migraine, and those can be very nasty to deal with. I can write you a prescription for some fast acting migraine medication if you would like in case it happens again.”

    I nodded absentmindedly. Although I had never had a migraine, Kara was prone to them and this seemed more severe than that. However, considering how crazy my story would probably sound to someone, I conceded. “Yeah, that would be great, thank you.”

    “Did you have any more questions?,” Dr. Hampton asked me as Lily made her way out the door with a quick “be right back”.

    “No, I guess not,” I admitted sheepishly. I had a lot of questions but, something told me this doctor couldn’t help me. I threw a forced smile towards the doctor. “Thank you so much.”

    “No problem,” he replied while returning my smile. “I think Lily has just gone to grab you some food and she will be right back. If you need anything, that red button will call for the nurses. I’ll come by and see you a bit later.”

“Okay,” I responded politely as he began to make his way out of my room.

    I mulled over what Dr. Hampton told me mixed with my own memories of the night in question. My head was spinning and beginning to hurt when Lily came back in the room with a tray of food.

    “Okay! So we have some food for you here. Obviously not the best stuff but it will be better than the IV fluids you have been on the past few days,” she said cheerily with a wink. “Let me just sit you up and – voila! Food is served.”

    I smiled weakly at her. “Thank you, Lily.”

    “Anytime,” she replied while turning around on her heel. “Okay, I got to go help some of my other patients, but the nurses’ button is just right over here. If you need anything press it and I’ll come running, okay?”

    I nodded as she departed my room and turned my attention to the tray of food. It definitely wasn’t the most appetizing meal I have ever seen but I immediately opened the orange juice cup and drank the contents. My throat was feeling sore from the lack of fluids for the past few days and this seemed to help with that. Sighing, I looked at the sad-looking sandwich and took a bite out of it.

    I continued with eating until it was almost finished and pushed the tray away from me when my stomach couldn’t handle anymore of the questionable food. I leaned back into my bed and tried to piece together what had happened again.

    That man. Who was he? I must have imagined him, right? There’s no way that what I think I saw happened...right?

    I realized I had instinctively reached for my necklace and was playing with it absentmindedly. Wait – didn’t I lose this at the club, and Kara had it? I guess she must have put it back on me at some point during my three day stay at the hospital. I smiled at the welcome distraction. Kara was always looking out for me and trying to make me feel comfortable, ever since I arrived here a few months ago.

    “Morgan!,” a familiar voice cried. 

    I looked towards the door to see Kara start running into the room with the clack clack clack of her high heels echoing as she did so. She tackled me into a bear hug with tears streaming down her face. “You scared me! Are you okay?”

I squirmed under her thin frame and felt instantly relieved that she was here. “Yes, I’m okay, I promise. I’m so sorry.” 

    Kara released me after a final squeeze in her bear hug and looked at my face. “It’s not like you wanted to get attacked by that...thing.” 

    “Thing?” my eyebrows raised with my shock. Did she see the man too? 

    “Yeah, whatever bit you,” she said while looking at my neck. “They said it looked like an animal bite of some sort?”

    “Uh, yeah,” I replied after a moment, a little down-heartened that she couldn’t corroborate what I thought I saw. “The animal.” 

    Kara pulled up the seat next to my bed and sat down. I could tell that she had just come from work; her makeup was done in a very subtle way to highlight her naturally high cheekbones and blue eyes, her wavy black hair was pulled into a messy bun, and she was still wearing her all black salon outfit. She took my hand in hers and looked at me with concern in her eyes.

    “Morgan, what the hell bit you outside of the club?” 

    I looked away, trying to decide on the best course of action. Do I tell her what I think I saw? Or, do I lie? Would she believe me? Biting my lip, I tried to determine the best course of action.

    “Spit it out,” Kara demanded gently, seeing my internal conflict.

    I finally came to a resolution and sighed. “I’m not sure. I don’t even know if I know what happened.”

    Kara nodded thoughtfully. “Well, they did say you went through a trauma back there. Maybe you just need some time to process.”

    “Yeah, that could be it...,” I trailed off, not looking her in the eye.

    I disliked lying but, at the same time, I was right in telling her that I had no idea if I even knew what happened. If I tried to explain it to her she would probably think I was insane and, with her being one of my only friends right now, I didn’t want to risk that outcome.

    “Oh, thanks for getting my necklace back to me,” I quickly say as I remember, my hand going back up to it and grabbing the locket.

    “No problem!” she replied, instantly brightening up. “I swear I thought I was going to lose it. There was so many people in that club. Plus, I figured you would want it back.”

    I smiled at her in response. She really was always looking out for me. Kara had always been like that since I moved here; even though she was a few years younger than me, she really mothered me sometimes. 

    “But, more importantly, are you feeling okay now?” Kara asked pointedly while letting go of my hand and sitting back and crossing her arms.

    “Yeah, mostly. Just feeling a little sore,” I responded honestly. “Maybe a little confused about what happened too...”

    “That’s understandable, I’d probably feel the same way,” Kara said.

    From there, Kara stopped asking me questions and started to try and take my mind off of things. She talked to me about how the last few days were and told her anecdotes about work. 

    I started to zone out a little bit as she started talking about a cute new hairdresser who started at her salon. Not that I didn’t find it interesting, but because my mind kept wandering to the mysterious man and I couldn’t help but to wonder where he was. Or, if I would ever see him again. The thought of that made my heart ache and my stomach queasy.

    I shook my head. No, I would not allow that man to make me feel that way. I forced the images of the rough s****l encounter back into my head and focused on those gold eyes and teeth. I bit my lip; there was no way that was possible. Maybe something else happened.

    I started to recount the memories leading up to seeing the man on the dance floor. Were my drinks ever unattended? Could someone have slipped something into my drink?

    I was mulling over this while Kara was still chattering away about work when we were interrupted by an abrupt knock on the door frame leading into my room. I looked over to see two men wearing suits, one significantly shorter than the other one, standing in the doorway. 

    “Hi, are you Morgan Leighton?” the taller of the two men asked as they stepped into the room without asking for permission.

    “Who’s asking?” I responded while eyeing them with suspicion.

    “Morgan, no these guys are just some detectives,” Kara intervened quickly, seeing my obvious discomfort. “They just have some questions about that night.”

    I nodded and felt a sudden dread at knowing I would have to describe what happened when I was still so confused by it myself.

    “Thank you, Kara,” the smaller of the two men smiled at her while the taller one seemed annoyed by the interjection she made.

    “Do you mind if we ask you to leave while we are talking?” the taller man asked gruffly.

    Kara shot me a look, as if to ask for permission to leave. I nodded even though I would much rather have her stay. However, maybe having her gone while I try to recount the events to the detectives is the better outcome.

    “Okay, but if you need anything, I’ll be right outside,” Kara said while standing up from her chair. She shot the smaller of the two a wide smile, which caused him to turn red, and ignored the taller of the two men. The clack clack clack of her high heels echoed on the floor as she walked out of the room.

    Meanwhile, the two men came further into the room and stopped in the front of my bed. They waited until they couldn’t hear her high heels anymore before turning back to me.

     “My name is Detective Andrews and this is my partner Detective Roy,” the taller of the two introduced them while gesturing to his partner. “We just have a few questions about how you wound up in the hospital.”