The InBetween

Seven Shots (Miguel's POV)

"I want to know how this happened." Miguel demanded

"We often don't disclose those kind of memories, especially to children. It may be too overwhelming." Gabriel explained

"I don't care. I want to know."

"Miguel, you already have so much to process."

"Gabriel please?"

"I'm sorry."

"Please?" Connie begged this time "I need to know."

Destiny and Gabriel exchanged looks of worry. The woman frowned at the man while he raised an eyebrow at her. They went back and forth with facial expressions for almost a whole minute. It was as if they were having an argument with their eyebrows.

"Um hello?" Connie asked "Can we see how we died, please?"

At last Gabriel sighed and nodded, leading the children out of his chambers towards a different room. He knocked on it and it opened on its own, revealing a similar suite to Gabriel's. There was a man standing by the window. He wore a cream toga that had golden lining on the sides and around his waist. He wore a daisy chain necklace and fluffy slippers as he slurped on a strawberry milkshake. He turned around, plenty aware of the doors magical opening and smiled at his guests. He had rich, olive brown skin with golden amber eyes, like Gabriel's but darker. His hair was a honey-blonde, curly and bouncy puff on his head that seemed to move whenever there was a slight breeze.

"Miguel, Connie. This is Life." Gabriel went over and gave the man a handshake.

"Um, Life?" Connie asked. "Like, this is the concept of life?"

"Personified, just for your benefit." Life went over and gave Connie and Miguel a handshake and Destiny a kiss on the cheek. "Think of it as me being on the same platform as Jesus. Basically an angel, but on a higher level."

"Woah..." Miguel was really staring at Life itself. He wondered if he could possibly bring him and his friends back to their lives.

"What do you all need?" Life turned and beckoned the four into his home. Gabriel nodded at the kids, encouraging them to tell the non-angel of their problems.

"So, we are kind of dead right now." Miguel said

"You don't say." Life snarked.

"We want to know how?"

Life dropped his kidding face "You seek your memories?"

"Please." Connie begged once more.

Life's beautiful eyes filled with the same pity Destiny had upon first seeing them. "Are you sure?" He asked softly.

"We know everything that has happened. We know why and when, but we just ask of how." Connie pleaded, pressing her palms together in a praying gesture.

Life looked at the two angels, who nodded and mouthed 'let them.' Life led the children to the bottom of his chambers, towards a corner at the back of the room. He pressed his hand and this corner broke apart. Sunlight and laughter from the morning of Miguel's death echoed out into the halls. The boy looked at the man.

"Is this...?"

"You wanted to know, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Well here you go. Connie I shall open your corner now."

The man led Connie away with his arm around her to another corner opposite of Miguel's. The walls separated and the girl walked in with no second thoughts. Miguel sighed and walked in, feeling the warmth of the bright sun and the familiar tune of a Kesha classic overwhelm his ears... 

Earlier that fateful day...

"I hear you're heart beat to the beat of the drums!" Jacob called in Miguel's garden. He jumped into his dance poses before signaling at Tyrone, who did his bit with ease. "Oh what a shame that you came here with someone!" The boy saw Miguel staring from the front door. "You're up leader!"

"So while your here in my arms..." The boy left any negativity at the porch as he rushed to meet his friends. "Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young!"

"You will die young if I hear you singing that song again!" An older looking Miguel screamed from inside the house. He wore green sweatpants and a grey tank top for pajamas. His bare feet lingered just near the porch and he brushed his long hair out of his face so Miguel could see just how serious his brother was. "Sorry, Carlos. But we have to practice!" Miguel said grinning, satisfied that he ticked off his brother

"Practice in school you freaks," He gave out "And for goodness sake, shut the door behind you next time!" With that he slammed the front door shut, leaving the trio in the long bladed grass of the front yard.

"Masketeers unite!" Miguel pumped his fist in the air, waiting for his friends to copy. They just shifted uncomfortably at the mention of their group name. "I'm still not feeling it, captain." Jacob admitted.

"Yeah, we need something more creative." Tyrone agreed

"Fine, if you two are such geniuses, have a new group name for us when we get to school." Miguel said, lowering his fist. The three started on their way to school when the leader stopped suddenly.

"What now?" Tyrone asked impatiently.

"I forgot to say goodbye to my mama. Give me an minute." Miguel charged back inside, much to the dismay of his brother Carlos.

"Okay, but only a minute and we're abandoning you here!" Tyrone called out before the door slammed again.

"Mama?" Miguel went upstairs and called out with a quiet voice. There was his mother in the same position she's been in for months: Sat up, bedridden, and enjoying some soup. One of last things she could stomach. "I'm going to school now mama."

The disheveled woman opened her eyes to see a blurry Miguel. She reached out her hand the boy promptly took it. "When will you be back?" she croaked out.

"Depends if my plan works."

"Your plan? Explain this plan of yours."

Miguel gave his mama a toothy grin before explaining "Tyrone, Jacob and I are gonna perform our dance for our classmate Logan. Then he'll have no choice but to invite us to his birthday party, because we're just THAT awesome!"

"I'm sure it is." Miguel's mama chuckled before going into a coughing fit. Miguel reacting instantly, reaching for a glass of water and handing it to her. Her shaky hand accepted it and gulped down the water in a second. "So you'll be home late?"

"Yeah...but I promise as soon as I'm home I'll use all my weekend to spend time with you!" Miguel planted a kiss on his mama's head and turned to leave. "Te amo!"

"Te amo tambien." His mother said weakly before he closed the door after him.

************************************************************************

The class was boisterous as the teacher requested they take their seats for a 'special announcement.' None of the maskateers were paying attention, as they were in the midst of a heated debate.

"I think we should be called the Kesha Kids!" Jacob suggested.

"Jesus Jacob, do you want us to get bullied?" Tyrone said, keeping his eyes on his notepad.

"What are you writing?" The ginger asked.

"A new page in my memoir, the day we got invited to Logan Ruxton's party."

"Ooooh, could you add that this is the day we dubbed ourselves the 'kesha kids' please?"

"No because we're not calling ourselves that." Miguel snapped "We're calling ourselves the 'dance-breakers.' "

"The 'dance-breakers?' None of us can break dance though." Jacob reasoned

"I can break-dance!" Tyrone announced. Jacob looked him up and down for a moment before resuming the debate "Like I said, none of us can break-dance."

"Alright, how about the 'Kesha crusaders?' " Tyrone suggested, which led to a series of half-baked ideas being spat out by each boy.

"Jacob's angels!"

"Ocean's three?"

"Group C?"

"Miguel, Tyrone and Jacob! Did you hear a word I said?" The teacher, Ms. Uni snapped at the three boys.

"Yes miss." The trio said in unison, as a girl none of the boys had seen before made her way to the back of the room.

"Then repeat everything I just said."

"Miss, it's fine." The random girl said bitterly.

Ms. Uni looked rather surprised by the girl's outburst. The boys couldn't care less, scribbling down different names and ideas for their lunch plan and not even looking back at the stranger. Class continued as normal after that.

*************************************************************

Kids ran around laughing and screaming in the grey court yard while the trio worked in the shade on their dance moves. "Are we doing the full song or just the first verse?" Jacob asked, to which Miguel responded 'full song' at the same time Tyrone responded 'just the first verse'

You can imagine what happened after.

"We need to do the full song to show our full potential!"

"But we haven't come up with any dances for the next verses!"

"Then we repeat and freestyle!"

"He'll notice, that won't be so 'full potential' now would it?"

"Well you didn't have much potential to begin with."

"Are you insulting MY dancing, Miguel?"

"I'm simply pointing out long-term flaws you've had, Ty."

"Hey guys!" Jacob broke up the quarrel when he spotted the one and only Logan Ruxton across the yard. The famous blonde was passing around invites to his party like they were expensive Broadway tickets. The trio cautiously approached him. Miguel bumped Jacob up signaling for him to speak for the group. Logan looked at them, his blue eyes showing slight disgust "What?"

"Uuuhh, HIIIyaa." Jacob dribbled out, waving frantically. 

"Uh hi Logan." Tyrone promptly pulled the ginger away from Mr. Popular. "We were just wondering if we could show you our dance for your party..." 

Now Miguel had just heard it being said out loud in front of Logan himself, he realized how stupid this whole idea was. Before he could walk away, Logan smirked "Show me."

The boys exchanged gleeful looks before starting the routine. Jacob began his line, followed by Tyrone, Miguel then it exploded into this fun animated sequence for the chorus. Tyrone even showed off the very little break-dancing he knew. When they were done, Miguel began repeating the moves for the second verse, but Tyrone pulled him into the finishing stance "Quit while you're ahead." He muttered.

Logan had his hand clasped over his mouth, like he trying to hide his impressed face. Or his laughs, but Miguel chose to believe the former. "So can we come to your party?" Jacob asked out of breath.

"Hmmm," Logan looked over to his entourage and silently discussed the trio's fate. As they were hunched in that circle, Miguel noticed a huge shadow wash over the group. He looked up, thinking it was a cloud but it was clear as day. Weird...

"You can come." Logan's whole demeaner changed, from smug and confident to stiff and unreadable. He was like a robot as he handed the three each of their invitations. "Be there as soon as you can."

"We will!" Jacob exclaimed jumping and clapping like a little girl. Logan ignored the opportunity to tease him, choosing to just walk away with his peers.

As they did, a dark silhouette followed them on the ground. It had the head of a person and seemed to be grinning madly at Miguel.

Like before...weird.

**************************************************************************************

Arriving at the party was fine. Logan didn't recognize them at first, until he was reminded of the flashmob. The party games were alright, except it would get really dark and cloudy at random times for no reason. "Am I the only one noticing this stuff right now?" Miguel asked one of Logan's goons sitting beside him at dinner "Why the random weather shifts?"

The kid looked right at him, Miguel yelped. The boy's eyes were pitch black.

"Hey, why are yelling at Rocco?" Logan asked, scarfing down pizza.

Miguel looked back at Rocco. His eyes were a perfectly normal brown, full of sadness from being yelled at. "Sorry..." He stammered. A few kids began coughing and whispering about why they invited these freaks.

To ease the tension Tyrone suggested they play laser tag early. Everybody geared up and headed towards the withering woods to start the game. There was team red and blue, luckily the trio were kept together on the blue team.

Hours passed by as they boys played, the blue team losing horrifically. The boys shot at each other, bellies and mouths full of giggles as they travelled deeper and deeper into the forest. "Find them!" one kid shouted as he opened fire on an opposing team member. "There can't be many left!"

"That's what he thinks!" Miguel whispered from the bush as he re-loaded his amo. His friends nodded in unison beside him, filling their magazines with rubber studs.

"Wait until he gets a taste of the mustard trio!" Tyrone whisper-shouted "He'll have no idea what hit him!" Jacob's energy died down at the mention of the group name again. "Do we HAVE to be called that? It's tacky. I said this before, but we should be called 'Jacob's angels!' Eh, am I right?"

"You must be joking me." Tyrone said "Everybody knows Miguel is no angel."

The leader responded to that quip with a violent pinch. Him and the ginger then quickly muffled Tyrone's squeak of pain as red team members passed by. Miguel watched the two from the corner of his eye, and he could've sworn he'd seen a dark shadow loom over one of the boy's head. It had bright white eyes of it's own and seemed to be staring directly at Miguel...

"Miguel!" Tyrone pinched the boy back "We need a plan of attack."

"Ow," Miguel tried and failed to keep his pain silent "A plan of attack...uh..." The boy looked around to find him, his friends and the other boy's - one of them being Rocco - were the only one's in the area.

"The plan of attack, IS to attack. We charge 'em."

"Are you sure boss?"

"We outnumber them. What have we got to lose? Jacob?"

"Hey!" the boy in the sweater vest pouted in offence.

"We charge them! Got it?" Both Miguel's friends nodded "Good. In 5...4...3...2...1..."

The mustard trio hopped out of the bush, completely ambushing Rocco and his friend. They fired out until they were out of amo, but the red duo didn't move. They had there backs turned, minding their business like they weren't just eliminated.

"Hey, we got you!" Tyrone shouted, putting his satchel back on. They still didn't move, so he called out again "You're out! Hard luck."

The boys slowly turned around, their eyes empty and pitch black. Their faces were blank as they raised up their own guns...which looked a little too realistic for laser tag. Jacob walked up to them with his hands in the air defensively "Look guys, you did your best. Let's show good sportsmanship and just-" 

BANG! A bullet- that was definitely NOT made of rubber- pierced a tree trunk inches from Jacob's face. Rocco grinned evilly "I'm giving you three seconds to run-"

The boys didn't need a warning. They dropped their guns and sprinted as far back as the woods could go. Three seconds later, Rocco alone was chasing them, his friends looking dazed like he'd woken from a nap.

Wind rushed in Miguel's ears as he practically flew past different trees. He didn't want to think of why, how or what was up with Rocco. He didn't care, what he cared about was the fact Rocco had a REAL g*n and was looking to SHOOT them. Not as a joke, LEGITIMETALLY SHOOT THEM. Up ahead he saw the rapid rushing of the forest river. As his vision of it grew wider, an idea formed in his head. "We jump!" He called to his friends. "We WHAT?" Tyrone called to him. Miguel pointed to the upcoming river

"Jump! Remember swimming lessons? Rocco can't swim so he won't catch us."

"I'm too out of breath to jump..." Jacob panted. Miguel grabbed his wrist and pulled him along.

"We have to!" 

"I can't..." The ginger grabbed his arm back, falling far back into a stumble.

Miguel gulped down any fear he may have had and carried his legs further. He saw a girl by the river, huddled up sobbing. "Excuse me!" He called out, jumping over her, just barley kicking her head before landing on the other side. He felt a wave of calm come over him, he'd made it. He turned back to see Tyrone about to jump and Jacob unknowingly about to bump into the girl. Feeling smug, he shouted "Can't swim, Rocco?"

BANG!

Oh yeah...he has a gun... Miguel thought as he glanced at the hot bullet wound in his stomach I forgot... He felt a surge of coldness come over his entire body as he splashed into the river. He heard a scream, an "I can't swim!" and another six g*n shots before closing his eyes and entering a painless oblivion.

He opened his eyes again, he was standing in a dark hallway in front of a man with a black cloak draped over him. He extended his frail, pale hand and Miguel accepted, the pair walked down the hallway looking at memories from the boy's short life. Dating from events a few minutes ago down to his birth. A white light called for the boy. He accepted and walked right toward it, not even flinching at the bright sting.

Then for long barren seconds, Miguel wasn't anything.

He wasn't seeing.

He wasn't thinking.

He wasn't breathing. 

He simply wasn't.