Time passing
A whole week went by. Thea and Dabria didn't really talk for the first few days. But as Thea's black eye faded, so did her angry feelings towards the whole situation.
Sel, Katkin, and Bree, spent time together just the three of them. Bree felt relieved that it wasn't just her and Katkin, still unsure about her feelings. Sel invited the two over to his house on day, and they baked some muffins and just talked.
Towards the end of the week, both Thea and Dabria got tired of the tension between them, and as they met in the hallway, just silently hugged it out. They didn't talk about it yet though.
Sel brought two leftover muffins with him to school, and just as he had expected, Bethany joined him behind the science classrooms again.
Katkin kept some of the confetti in her bag, she wasn't sure yet what she intended to use it for. When she noticed that Dabria and Thea weren't keeping as much of a distance to each other anymore, she decided that it was time to get the gang back together.
Pranksters
Sel entered the stables, he's late. They said to meet here, but he should have been here 15 minutes ago. He remembered how to get to the saddle room easy enough, and as he got closer, he heard voices. Sure enough, when he entered the doorframe, he saw his friends sitting there.
"I thought we said to meet 8 o'clock sharp?" Thea asked him.
He carelessly threw his bag into a corner, and took of his jacket.
"I'm sorry but the old moped isn't as fast as it looks."
"It doesn't look that fast though does it?" Dabria said from the corner she was standing in.
"Anyway, I'm here now. What did I miss?"
"We're planning a revenge prank on the Fource." Katkin said and stood up.
She pulled out her bag, and showed how it still contained a lot of the tiny confetti. Bree sat crossed legged on a table behind Katkin. Katkin pointed at her with her thumb over her shoulder.
"We have a double hit here, so it needs to be at least three of them at once."
Sel looked to Bree, trying to read her feelings towards the whole thing.
"So this is it then? Bree's first prank. Officially one in the gang?" He said, and winked at her.
"You have a point there!" Thea said, clearly having an idea.
She walked over to where Bree sat, and put an arm around her shoulder. She pulled her close to her.
"Let's have Bree decide the next one! What better way to join this war!"
"War?" Bree piped up.
"In lack of better terms." Thea said and pulled out a chair.
The rest of the gang huddle together around Bree. Dabria stayed, resting her back against the wall, but listened all the same.
"I don't even know what you want me to say." Bree started, and looked down on her friends from the table. "I have no knowledge about pranking people."
"Even better, a new fresh perspective." Sel tried to pep-talk her.
"So you want me to come up with a plan on how to prank them back?"
"You got it! It's no harder than that."
Bree nodded slowly, and tried to look cool and composed. Her mind went in circles. She tried to quickly come up with something that she knew that they had not already done. She realised quickly that she did not actually know that many of their previous pranks.
"So, what's it gonna be?" Thea asked impatiently.
Bree's thoughts went back to their very first conversation about the pranking, when they first met.
"Sel makes stink bombs right?" She tried, and held up her hands in a defeated shrug.
"Yeah, but we've done that more than once already." Dabria sighs from across the room.
Dabria and Bree were at eye level with each other, even though one of them was sitting on top of the table. Bree looked at her, and felt a bit like she had failed the test.
Katkin stood up, almost in a jump. She shot a glare at Dabria and shook her head. She put her butt against the table, and with both hands, lifted herself up backwards to sit beside Bree. She tilted her head and looked Bree in the eye, clearly thinking of a way to help her.
"Maybe we can use that as a base and then build something new around it?" She suggested and looks down to Thea and Sel who still sat on the chairs.
They all sit silently for a minute, trying to figure out a new way to surprise the other group. Thea made an attempt to say something, but regretted it before she even started and went back to thinking. Dabria sighed heavily again, and started to leave the room.
"Where're you going?" Katkin asked her.
"Just getting some air." she grunted back.
Katkin and Bree look down to Thea, both with questioning looks on their faces.
"We haven't really sorted it all out yet. I'll talk to her later." she offered as an explanation.
"Hey! I don't know about stink bombs, but I have something new cooking!" Sel suddenly shot out of his chair.
The three girls looked at him, as he went back to the door for his bag. He rummaged through it for a second, before he stood up and proudly turned to them with a tin can in his hand. He held it out, in his flat palm, and walked up to them. Katkin immediately nicked it for him and turns it around to examine it.
"Careful, don't shake it to much!" Sel warned and sat back down, clearly trusting Katkin to do as he said.
"Didn't you throw that bag over there when you entered? How fragile can it be?" Thea snorted out.
Katkin lifted the can to her face and gave it a sniff.
"Gunpowder." she said quietly.
"You threw gunpowder on the floor? In a stable?" Thea asked with a tired voice.
"Not my brightest moment I admit." Sel scratched the back of his neck, and offered Katkin a smile. "But, this might be the answer we're looking for?"
"I don't think we want to make a bomb." Bree said, not sure if that wasn't what Sel actually wanted.
"Not a bomb-"
"- more like a fire explosion." Katkin finished his sentence. "I remember that."
"So how does it work?" Bree scouches closer to the end of the table and untangle her legs, to let them hang over the edge. "What's the difference?"
"Well, technically there is none. If you're talking about the word itself, then yes it is a bomb. But, we don't intend to harm anyone, or anything. We just want to give them a little scare." Sel leaned in closer, and placed his elbows on his knees.
"Maybe if we told them to come here, we could make them think that their car exploded?"
"They have a car?" Bree got stuck on the wrong detail.
"Garthan got it from his dad or something, it's not the nicest one, but it's frequently used." Thea explained. "I could call Amber and see what they're up to. Ask them to come here?"
"I don't think the rest of them want to join if they think you and Amber are gonna hook up in the stable." Sel teased.
"Please don't hook up in the stable." Katkin pleaded.
"We're not- You're getting of track. How do you want to convince them to get here then?"
"We tell them that you and Dabria are fighting again and that we need them to come and help separate you."
Both Bree and Katkin made hm-ing sounds and nodded a little, as they looked over from Sel to Thea. Thea looked between the three of them, sighed, and hanged her head down.
"Okay…" She almost whispered.
"Awesome. Go and brief Dabria of the situation, and Sel, you tell us exactly how you're not going to blow up the car for real." Katkin decided and jumped down from the table.
She lead them all out to the parking lot to set up.
The group stood around Sel, all of them with their arms crossed, a bit unsure. He had just finished explaining how he had built the can-bomb, and how he was going to set it up to explode only in one direction. He pulled out a long string out of his bag.
"This is a fuse. We will attach it to the can, and then plant the can like this," he held the can with the lid away from him "and the force is going to exit the container at the weakest point." he pointed at the plastic lid he had put on it. "It's going to be a big fire blast, and it is going to look amazing. And they will probably think that the car is completely ruined, before the smoke settles and the car is going to be standing there, all fine."
"And this is not going to make a large sound that will spook the horses?" Katkin asked, not for the first time.
"No it's not. There will be a big woof, when the powder ignites, but no bang."
"Are you sure? I'm not that familiar with gunpowder but guns do have the property that they make a big bang."
"I'm 99 percent sure, promise."
"If we want to do this today, that's as good as it's gonna get." Dabria said to try to help convince Katkin.
"Okay fine. Lucky that the family is away." Katkin said and pointed at the big house on the far end of the parking lot.
"Then I'll text Bethany about the fight." Sel saif and winked at Thea and Dabria.
He took up his phone and started writing. Thea looked over at Dabria.
"Everything alright?"
"No not everything. But this is fine. It's nice to do something together again."
"Are we gonna be alright?"
"Yeah. Let's head inside. We need to make some good noise to lure them away from the car."
A few minutes after Sel's panicked text, an older mercedes entered the parking lot. It went a bit faster than expected of a car that is supposed to stop, but Garthan hit the breaks and got the car to a full stop, a bit away from the stable itself. Gravel shot out from the tires and barely stopped rolling before four doors open at once.
"If you're gonna drive that fast then at least park closer!" Bethany shouted out at Garthan and gestured to how far away they were from the building.
Sel met them as they approached.
"Thank you, quickly, this way!" He shouted and ran back inside the stable.
The four newcomers follow him hastedly. As they made their way inside, Bree sneaked out from Katkins room on top of the stairs, and started to quietly make her way up to the car. She planted the can as per Sels instructions. She stayed still for a second, to listen.
From inside the stable she heard some raised voices. She heard Katkin shout something about taking it all outside. That was her cue that she needed to get going. She backed her way away form the car and rolled out the fuse as she went. She stopped by Sels moped, and got ready with the lighter.
Meanwhile, inside. Dabria and Thea had heard the car, and started to pull at each other. They tried to drag each other down by the shoulders, and threw a fake punch in the air now and again. Katkin pretended to jump around and separate them, telling them angrily that they were scaring the horses. Though she had made sure that they were far away enough to not do so. Sel lead the gang inside, and Garthan and Amber immediately grappled one sister each and pulled them apart.
"What are you doing?" Amber asked with a demanding voice, as she pushed the struggling Thea away from Dabria.
Bethany and Carl had both stopped with Sel, just two meters away. Carl held his phone in his hand, filming the commotion. Thea feinted past Amber to launch another punch at Dabria. But she miscalculated and when Dabria dodged it, it hit Garthan square on the jaw.
"Ooohh" Both Sel and Bethany made grimaces as they saw Garthan almost throw Dabria to the side, to face Thea.
He was much bigger than her, and she knew that she could not take him in pure strength. As Garthan stared her down, moving up to her, ready to answer the hit, Katkin interrupted them.
"No! If there is going to be more fighting, YOU NEED TO TAKE IT OUTSIDE!"
"Now who's disturbing the horses?" Bethany asked sarcastically.
Katkin didn't take notice of the comment, but instead started to push at them and wave her hands.
"Out with you. It's enough."
They all got outside, everyone a little confused as to what just happened, the Fource more so than the others. As they turned the corner out to the parking lot again, Sel made a sharp whistle. The others looked at him, confused. But Bree knew her signal. She lighted the fuse, with the lighter that Sel had lended to her. She stood up from her hiding place behind the moped, and watched at the burning string as it got shorter and shorter, approaching the car.
"Hey where did you come from?" Carl suddenly called out.
Everyone turned to look at her, and then saw the fuse as it travelled across the gravel. Bree saw as Garthan realised what was about to happen. She had not accounted for how fast he was, and how tall he was. In fewer running steps than she'd ever guess, he made his way towards the car. He reached it with just a decimeter left of the fuse.
They all watched as in slow motion. Sel called out, but it was to late. Garthan kicked the can, with all his might. They watched it fly, rotating wildly in the air, the fuse still burning. Some of them threw up their arms in front of their faces, to protect from what was about to happen. And they watched as the can flew several meters into the air, and up on top of the roof of the stable.
A loud metallic bang echoed out, as a big fire cloud exploded on the roof. They stood still, shocked for a second, before they realised that the fire had found a grip in the dry wood.
"Fuck fuck fuck!" Katkin ran inside.
"I thought you said no bang?" Dabria shouted at Sel.
"I really didn't think it would make a sound!" he shouted back.
"Don't stand there, help me!" Katkin's voice came from inside.
They all ran inside, and Bree followed as well.
Katkin was already getting busy opening the boxes, and letting loose the horses from the stalls.
"You, open the paddock!" She pointed at Bree. "We don't want them to run into the forest."
Bree turned around and ran back outside.
"Garthan, Bethany, join her and try to lead them there when they come outside."
They nodded and followed Bree.
"The rest, help me get them all out. First this row, then the ones in the other hallway."
The smoke quickly got thicker in the ceiling, and the fire crackled loudly above them. They worked as quickly as they could. Trying to hurry, and at the same time not get trampled by panicking horses. They set them loose from their stalls, and led them into the hallway, where they just let them go, so that they would run out to the connected paddock.
"Carl, go outside and call the firefighters!" Katkin shouted at the short boy, who struggled with reaching as they made their way to the bigger horses.
For every horse that exited the stable, the smoke came lower and lower. They started to cough and tried to breath through the neck of their shirts. They made their way into the second hallway, with bigger but fewer boxes. The sisters helped each other to open the big doors. Sel and Amber also joined up, but had a harder time with the old metal locks. Amber coughed harder and harder, and bent forward to put her hands on her knees.
"Get out of here, there is no use in us getting stuck here." Sel said to her, and urged her towards the door. He had to bend over himself, as the smoke reached the top of his head.
"Katkin, this is the last one!" Dabria shouted through the darkness.
Sel struggled to see, and just managed to push himself against the wall as a big horse rushed past him. They all gathered outside the saddle chamber, crouching to their knees to avoid the thick black smoke. Thea started coughing uncontrollably, having inhaled a lot of smoke as she had pushed herself to open all the doors. Dabria put her hand on her back, not knowing how to help.
"Just get out, there is nothing left, get out!" Katkin pointed towards the door.
Thea stood up to run, but didn't make it far before she fell to the floor, half unconscious. Dabria crawled up to her, and started pulling her out. As she got closer to the door, she started to call for help. Two hands reached in, and helped pull Thea out. Bree held her breath as to not inhale, and pulled for all she was worth. As she pulled Thea out into the fresh air, Garthan pushed past her and leaned into the smoke and pulled Dabria up to her feet and outside as well.
Sel looked at Katkin as good as he could.
"The cats!" he exclaimed.
Katkin coughed and nodded, and they crawled into the saddle chamber. They reached the box with the kittens in it, all of them screaming with tiny peeping sounds. Sel picked them up and put them inside his hoodie. Katkin took the bigger cat and held her close to her chest.
"You go first." Katkin said and they started to make their way across the floor.
Sel moved as quick as he could with four kittens against his chest. He figured that slightly squashed kitten were better than burnt ones, and pushed on.
"Katkin are you behind me?" He shouted out, as he couldn't turn to see.
"Yes, keep going!" came her now raspy voice between coughs.
As Sel also got closer to the door, a pair of hands reached for him and helped him get out the last meter. He gestured towards his chest and the others helped him get rid of the kittens as he coughed violently and tried to breath normal air. When he calmed down, he looked at the group. They all stood still for a moment, counting each other. At the same time they realised;
"Katkin!" Dabria shouted and turned to the door again.
The grown cat came running out. Dabria took a deep breath to jump back in, but before she made it all the way, a big creaking sound made her raise her head. She looked up and saw the door frame crack in the middle, and crash into the opening.
Sirens reached their ears, declaring the approaching fire trucks. Dabria stood helplessly and looked at the now closed off doorway. She turned around to look for help in the others. Thea laid on the ground, with Bree kneeling over her, making sure she was breathing. Garthan and Bethany patted Amber hard in the back, trying to help to cough. Carl ran towards the road to meet the trucks.
Speechless she stumble between her friends, and sat down beside her sisters body. She looked around once more, all sound disappearing. The flames flared out from the upper part of the building. The blue light from the fire trucks blinked against the blackening wood. Firefighters and ambulance personnel got up to them. They put a oxygen mask on Thea and Amber, and led them all away from the burning building.
"Is there anyone inside?" she heard someone ask.
"Yes, she's in there, I can't save her." She answered, she shouted, over and over, unsure if someone heard her. She barely heard herself.
She watched the smoke divers enter, but she was escorted into an ambulance before she knew if they came back out.