Just Beneath the Surface: The Elemental Chronicals- Book 1

A Very Long Car Ride

Click, clack, clickity clack, click, clack, clickity clack. Emma clicked out a rhythm on her ballpoint pen staring out the smudged windows. Click, clack, clickity clack, click, clack, clickity clack. Click clack clickity clack 

"Will you stop that" said Arthur in an annoyed voice "I'm trying to read". Arrogance and superiority was edged in every line of his face, his blue eyes fixed upon her face, bright red hair sticking straight up. He  looked so punch-able right  now, Emma had to dig her fingernails into the leather seats to restrain herself. However she knew nothing good would come from a fight in this close proximity. So Emma tried to ignored him, and kept on clicking. Click clack clickity clack, click clack clickity clack, click clack clicki-

"Emma" said her father in a firm voice 

"What?" asked Emma in a not at all convincing tone of innocence  

"Please stop." said her Father

"Stop what?"

"Emma."

"Fine" Emma stopped clicking. Arthur smirked. Emma shot a piercing glare which he ignored. Emma contented herself with deciphering shapes of various clouds and humming under her breath, promising herself she would get him back later.

Emma was in the middle of contemplating whether one particular cloud looked like rabbit or a duck when Arthur bored and hot asked "Dad, where are we going?"

"I'm not telling you," he said in a mysterious voice. "It's a surprise."

 Arthur rolled his eyes returned to his book, muttering something undoubtedly sarcastic under his breath. The twins were used to their fathers "adventures" by now, and knew it was pointless to pry . They probably wouldn't want to know anyway. There was that "adventure" where there father had gone to investigate a small town in Maine, but found that it had" mysteriously disappeared". It turned out eight year old boys who had been lost in the woods for days, were not the best source. Or the time where they had dragged them to a conference on ancient treasures but found it turned out that it was less about shiny coins and more about rocks. Exciting. It turned out to be so boring Arthur finished the entirety of the Percy Jackson series and Emma filling half her notebook with dragon doodles and penguins in top hats ( though she was grateful two months later when she had done her geology unit in science class). These outings were rarely even remotely exciting and the twins didn't expect anything different today. How very wrong they were

The car came to a sudden stop and Emma woke with a jerk. She heard the car door open and close as her father got out of the car. Emma couldn't believe she had actually fallen asleep. It usually is impossible for her to fall asleep in a moving vehicle, heck not even in her regular bed. She sat up and yawned, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.  It was still dark outside but the sun was peeping over the horizon tinting the sky orange and pink. Arthur was still sleeping, head leaning against the car door, his various possessions scattered over the floor. Then Emma's eyes fell upon her dads water bottle in the front seat. A mischievous smile spread across Emma's face. Should she? Come on, he was practically begging for it. Plus she had promised herself revenge. She leaned forward in her seat a clasped the bottle in her hand. Then she squeezed.

A stream of water shot out of the nozzle and hit Arthur squarely in the face. His eyes flew open so fast she could have sworn he'd been awake the whole time. He gasped and spluttered water drip his face covered in water, his expression angry and confused. Then he saw Emma laughing. He lunged for Emma and she flinched a turned away. Just in time for Arthur to grab the bottle right out of her hands. Shoot. She clasped her hand around the bottle and tried to grab it back. Then she accidentally squeezed to hard. Shoot.  A stream of water hits her in the ear. She kicked Arthur in the chest  and wrenched the water bottles out of his hands. She would have squirted him again, but at that moment the front door opened. She dropped the bottle on the floor and tried to pretend nothing happened. Unfortunately, Arthur's face was covered in water and they were both out of breathe.

Her father looked at them both and said "I'm not even going to ask".

Hi! So what do you think? I know nothing really happened in this chapter, but I think it was necessary to introduce the characters, sorry. Something will happen next chapter I promise. Hopefully. Please tell me your thoughts, suggestions, constructive criticism, stuff like that. This is my first story and I would love to hear you feedback. I hope you enjoyed it!