Trouble

EIGHT

EIGHT

Two days later, I woke up to the rather frightening sight of the Abigail Creature staring at me from the foot of my bed. I let out a very undignified sound at the sight of the tiny ninja I hadn't heard coming and sat up.

"Um... Can I do something for you, Abigail?" I asked.

She seemed to be debating whether or not to tell me what was on her mind. She perched herself on the edge of my bed and said, "James is in trouble."

I was instantly awake. "What trouble?" I asked. I didn't stop to wonder why she knew this when I didn't. I always knew when James was in trouble.

"They blocked you," she answered my unasked question. "They didn't think to block me. And I know stuff. Get up. He's hurt, Michael. It's... bad."

I didn't need to be told twice. I was ready to run out the door in my pajamas. Abigail rolled her eyes and tossed me my clothes. She stepped outside and left me to change.

When I got to her, Emily was with her. She'd also changed in a hurry. "I'm going with you," she said.

"Me, too," Abigail said.

"No, Abby. It's too dangerous."

"Mom, it's James."

"I said no. You're staying with Jamie until we come back. She already agreed to watch you."

Abigail looked like she wanted to argue, but she nodded. I was worried. That had been way too easy. What was the Creature plotting?

We took her to Jamie before rushing off to rescue James. I focused all of my energy on the minions since James was blocked from me. I tried to read their thoughts from a distance. I was striking out until I caught a snippet from Storm.

Poor, pathetic little Spud, he thought over and over. It was odd that I caught Storm of all people. His shield was ridiculously strong. You walked into the wrong rodeo, Spud, he thought suddenly. Saddle up, Cowboy.

I told Emily what I was hearing. "That's... odd," she said finally. We were driving through a fairly abandoned part of town when she proclaimed, "Stop!"

I slammed on the brakes. "What? What is it?" I asked her.

"Look!" She motioned toward a set of three attached storefronts. They appeared to be empty.

"Yeah, so?" I asked.

"No, look up, Michael!" She pointed at the awning.

I read the signs aloud. "Lenny's Bagels... Cheese Please... Cowboy's Rodeo Burgers- oh shit!"

"It can't be a coincidence. Storm loves making bad puns at inappropriate moments."

I threw the car in park in the middle of the street and jumped out. There was no time to waste with parallel parking at that point. Emily and I ran inside. Although the place looked abandoned, I could hear the thoughts of several members of Team Baddie. It was MVP's loud-ass voice speaking aloud, however, that gave away the fact that they were beneath us.

I texted Jeff our location. He was also out trying to find James. Wes and Lauren were with him. Wes had insisted because we knew James was hurt and he was a trained medical professional. Lauren had come along because it was James, and even she couldn't leave our Rockstar Spud in danger. He was too loved by everyone at TNA. Taking James definitely meant shots had been fired by Team Baddie. None of us were going to stand for that.

Emily and I crept down into the basement silently. MVP was laughing. "Look at this little bitch!" He proclaimed. "He's such a pussy."