The Kinetic Ones (#Wattys2016)

Elements

I walk out of the bedroom clad in cloth shorts and a band tee. The sun is shining unusually bright this morning, and it casts beams through the Hideout's windows. I already felt like it was going to be a good day, and that very thought itself shocked me because there never seemed to be one. In the kitchen, Michael resides watching the reflections of the red lights on a bagel in the toaster. Stepping behind him, I tickle his sides softly. He jumps and turns around to notice me biting my lip trying to hold in laughter.

"Oh, you're gonna do that now, are you?" he giggles. He tries to tickle me, but I narrowly miss him. My triumph didn't last long because he takes hold of my wrists gently with one hand, and tickles my stomach and side with the other.

"Okay, truce, truce!" I laugh, and he stops and lets go of my wrists. His hands move to my hips now, and he pulls me close and places a kiss on my lips. My eyes wind shut as I wrap my arms around his neck. Suddenly, like always, the infamous creak of the bedroom door sounds, which makes us jump back. At the same time, Michael's bagel pops up, which make us jump again. Raven trudges in and glares at us suspiciously.

"What is going on in here?" she interrogates, her eyes narrowing on us both.

"Nothing, I'm just making breakfast," Michael answers.

"Yeah, and I'm waiting for the toaster."

"Sureeee," she replies as Muse, Alexander, and Luna enter the room. "Anyway, what did Ambrosia mean when she said that you two were in love?"

Alexander's gaze shoots up. "Yeah, what was that about? Are you guys, like, a thing?"

Muse's eyes get wide. "Uh, hey guys, why don't you help me, um, clean the place-mats?"

"Really, that's what you could come up with?" I say, and he just shrugs apologetically.

"Wait, you guys are actually a thing? I thought she was just being weird," Luna asks, shocked.

We look at each other and talk it over with our eyes. Finally, he speaks up. "She wasn't just being weird," he states, then looks to the chipping hardwood floor. "Abigail and I have been, well, together since the day Macy came to sign the forms."

"That was over a month ago!" Raven exclaims. "What, so you're just having some fun?"

"Well I think it's a bit more than that. It's really what Ambrosia called it," I glance at him, "Love."

The rest of the group stare at us, stunned. "Alright, let's get going," Muse commands. "I mean, come on, they were making out in the bedroom when she was here," he mumbles.

Luna whips around. "You knew?!"

"W-wha- let's just hurry up, okay?"

Hours went by, and it was eventually time to head over to the nightclub. We all stood by the door, awaiting Muse's classic inspection. "Files?"

"Check."

"Equipment?"

"Check."

"Location papers?"

"Check."

"Extremely professional and charming leader?"

"Never had one of those a day in our lives."

Muse glares at Alexander. "Whatever. Let's head out."

When we arrive at Elements, there were no cars in the lot except for one; it must be the owner's. Walking in, the club's interior was as dead as the exterior. Suddenly, two adults with slightly greying hair and a boy with striking blonde hair extend out of the shadows. Along with them came Ambrosia. The man holds out his hand. "Thank you for coming. We really appreciate it, you must be so busy."

Muse shakes his hand and laughs quietly. "Sure, if you'd like to believe that."

The man chuckles deeply. "Anyway, I'm Bobby Horan, and this is my wife, Maura."

The woman puts her hand out now, and he shakes it politely. "Nice to meet you."

"And this," Bobby announces, "is my son, Niall."

Niall holds out his hand as well, but this time, not to Muse. "Nice to meet you," he says to Luna.

Luna giggles. "I'm Luna, nice to meet you."

"That's my son. Always a flirt," Bobby laughs, resulting in a light tap from Maura.

"Yes, how delightful," Muse mutters in an annoyed tone. It almost sounded jealous.

"So, who is your little group?"

"I'm Raven."

"I'm Michael."

"I'm Alexander."

"I'm Luna."

"And I'm Abigail."

"Lovely names. And there's an Aussie in the group, that's awesome," he responds, smiling at Michael who returns the favor.

"We never got your name, young man." Maura glances at Muse expectantly.

"Muse," he replies with a small smile.

Finally, Ambrosia talks. "It's great to see you guys again." We all nod kindly.

After the tour and a refreshment of the claims, the family set out. "I'll see you when I get back." Niall winks at Luna.

"I'll be waiting," she coos.

Muse pushes his way to them. "Alright, alright we'll see you when we're done." He was talking to all of them, but was nudging only Niall.

The next hour was filled with setting up and testing technology. Then, once everything was set up, we all met at the van.

"Alright, so here are the teams for tonight," Muse tells while scanning a paper on a clipboard. "Raven and Alexander, Abigail and Michael, and me and Luna." We look at him suspiciously. " What? These teams just worked well."

"You keep saying that, smitten boy," Alexander says, patting his shoulder, causing another glare from Muse.

Night came quickly, and we all got to where we needed. Raven and Alexander were investigating outside, and Muse and Luna were watching the camera footage, so that left Mikey and I to investigate inside. We place the EMF recorder on a table and sat nearby it.

"Is there anyone sitting here with us?" Mikey spoke loudly, but gently.

"My name is Abigail, and this is Michael. Neither of us are here to hurt you, none of the people you may see are. We just want to talk." The EMF lights went up for a moment, but then went away quickly.

"Don't be scared of that device, it just helps us to know that you're here. You can use its energy to talk to us."

Like lightning, the small bulbs illuminate once again, all the way to the end. We glance at each other knowingly. "Okay, now that we know you're here, we're go-"

I was interrupted by a glass flying off the shelf towards me and smashing on the floor. I flinch as some of the shards touch me, a couple giving me a few cuts. 

Michael jumps up quickly. "Abigail!" He takes me from my seat. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, it just h-hurts a bit, but I'm f-fine," I say, struggling to hold in tears. 

"Abigail, you are not fine. You are hurt and scared. I can tell."

I tried, but I couldn't. I break down in front of him. He doesn't speak, but pulls me close, my face nestled in his neck. I could hear him reach for his walky-talky.

"This is Michael. We are in the main area, and Abby just got injured, could someone make it over here?"

A concerned and serious voice sounded in through its speaker. It was Muse. "I'll be right there." The 'good day' I thought I was going to have suddenly turned upside down.

It was going to be a long night.