Innu was clearly letting out his frustration by shouting and yelling at the scene in front of him. The other two boys were left too shocked to even say anything, while Tom remained silent. He had never seen this look on Gary before, who was beyond mad. His hands were clenched so tightly that the veins on the front of his hand were showing.
“Who did all of this? Screw me, this place might look even worse than before!” Innu continued to yell, and rightly so. The place had been completely wrecked. The pool tables, cues, and even the barstools had been destroyed. Glass shards were also everywhere, surrounded by the liquid that was once inside the former bottles. All of their hard work had been ruined just like that.
“This… has to be intentional.” Kai slowly spoke. “Sh*t! They were supposed to come to us to talk first! … Why didn’t they send out their representatives?! … I made a mistake… F*ck! I never thought they would act this fast.”
It was clear that Kai wasn’t his usual self, yet all of them turned around as they heard the sound of an incoming motorbike. Austin could feel that something was wrong when none of the other boys greeted him and Gary continued to stay in the door. Getting off his bike, he entered the pool club, his reaction being somewhat similar to Innu’s.
“Who did this? Who dared to touch our place? Tell me their names, so I can pound their heads in!” Austin shouted, punching his fist into his other hand.
Tom was just left there baffled, and was wondering who this new scary figure was that he hadn’t seen before. He could only assume Austin to be another employee, but now didn’t seem like the best time for an introduction.
What he also didn’t understand was why everyone was so upset that their place of work had been destroyed. Their employer should have insurance which would cover all of this damage. Sure, they had every right to be a little upset about being unable to work for a while, but each one of them took this really personally.
He hadn’t been told that they were actually the ones who ‘owned’ this place, nor that they had been the ones who had invested their own time and sweat to transform it into an establishment. It had only been open for a single day, yet someone had come in and destroyed all of their hard work…
While the others were still busy coming to terms with the grim situation, Gary was still standing by the door.
“Tom… I smell blood.” Gary finally said. “Why do I smell blood?”
Tom suddenly understood why his best friend had been more than just a little angry about his place of work being destroyed, if he smelt blood, it could only mean one thing.
“Guys! Where is Marie? Didn’t Kai say she was supposed to be here already?” Tom loudly asked, having connected the dots.
In the room, another one of the group was standing there frozen by the bar area, they were looking down, and Gary noticed that was where the smell of blood had come from and had rushed over. Kai fell to his knees and held Miss Degrace up. The middle-aged woman had been beaten and there was a cut from the top of her head.
Seeing Miss Degrace in this way, was sending images back to Gary’s head of when he had found his own mother like this.
“No! No! No! Not again!” Kai screamed, holding her. “Wake up! Can you hear me!?”
Soon the others had gathered just behind to see the state she was in, and what state Kai was in. The calm person was startled and clearly was out of it.
Eventually though, through the shouting, Miss Degrace had opened her eyes and looked like she had regained conciseness.
“Kai, you’re here…” She said as her eyes immediately started to well up. “I’m sorry, I tried to contact you… I tried to stop them.” Her voice sounded very weak.
“They took her…they took Marie. I’m sorry… I really did try to stop them.”
“I know you did!” Kai held her hand, tears running down his face. “Don’t worry, I’ll get her back! Just tell me who did this to you!”
“They were wearing… grey… I think it was the grey colour gang…but there were another two with them.” Mrs Degrace answered in a weak voice, the act of speaking was clearly exhausting to the current her.
Kai’s main suspects had naturally been the black and gray colour gangs who would fight over the area. Normally, they should have sent out their scouts, so the real gangs would visit the business to offer their ‘services’. However, two things didn’t make sense to him.
Why did they outright attack them rather than try to force them to pay up? With the pool club in its current state, there was nothing to be gained from it. Nevertheless, the more pressing matter was why did they take Marie with them?
‘I can’t… think straight.’ Kai realised. It was then that an unexpected person, and placed their hand on top of Kai’s shoulder giving him some reassurance.
“Let’s get her to a hospital first. They’ll make sure, she will be okay.” Gary said, concerned that her condition might worsen. “Tom, can you take her there? Get a taxi and make sure she’s alright. An ambulance might take too long.”
“Wait, what are you going to do? Aren’t you guys going to come with me?” Tom asked, as he had already dialled the number.
Gary looked at the faces of the other teenagers. Everyone seemed to feel the same, and he couldn’t’ get the image of Marie out of his head yesterday.
“We’ll go and find Marie. Please, Tom, take care of her for us.” Gary requested.
His best friend had heard who had attacked this place. It was the grey colour gang, and while they might not be as dangerous as the main gang backing them, he couldn’t imagine what Gary and the other three could do on their own. He wanted to stop them, but Gary’s words seemed firm.
“Alright, but promise me, Gary, don’t do anything you will regret.” Tom said, as Austin helped lift Miss Degrace, and the two of them went out to wait for the cab. When Austin returned, he could see that Kai was standing there in place, still looking at the spot where the woman had been.
‘He’s too angry, his head isn’t in the right place, but who can blame him. Usually, he would be the one to tell us what to do in this situation, but since he’s out…’
Austin turned to Gary. “So, boss, what are we going to do now?”
It was then, Innu turned to Gary, and even Kai had turned around to look at him. All eyes of the Howlers were on him.
“Isn’t it obvious?!” Gary asked aggressively. “This is our place… and Marie is part of the Howlers. They’ve messed with us and our place, so we’re going to storm their fu*cking place, get her back and MAKE THEM PAY!!!”