Rhaven pointed the end of the extinguisher and tried to pull the handle, but nothing happened. It took her a second to realize there was a safety pin in there that she had to take out. The whole time, the fire was growing. It was now hot enough that she had to back off, and papers had started to catch. The back of Amy's chair was burning with a fury, the vinyl covering melting before her eyes.
The pin came free and she tried again. This time, it worked! A cloud of mist spewed from the end, smothering the flames but her aim was bad. She honestly had no idea how much stuff was in one of these things, so she tried to make the most of it, aiming a little better before trying again. The sound was just like in the movies, a deep whoosh that accompanied the white fog.
Rhaven managed to get the chair put out, then worked her way backwards. The wood paneling was now crackling. The paint or coating over it was burning much too easily, and this shit was hot! Aiming at the top, she worked her way down, hoping there was some residual fire prevention, and then she just gave in. Spraying and praying, Rhaven coated anything she could reach, working her way around the curved front of the desk and over to the other side.
Sure enough, the spilled gas was burning there as well. Scorched lines marked the tile, but it hadn't caught anything else yet. She put that out and pushed in for the back wall again, seeing a few papers still smoldering, and then the screaming sound just stopped. The silence was almost deafening, but Rhaven wanted to make sure this was well and truly out. She sprayed again.
Pain crashed into the side of her head. Her world tilted, and then she found herself on the floor, looking at a pair of combat boots. Not Amy's. That was her first thought. The second was to brace, because the boot was moving. A swift kick hit her in the gut and Rhaven cried out, completely disoriented. She'd been alone a second ago.
Then glass shattered again. "Go, go, there's people in here."
Rhaven could only think of one thing. "Braden!" she screamed as she lunged to grab the guy's leg.
Their world would burn. Not the world. Not our world. The forums had said their world, and this was what they'd meant. Screaming like a mad woman, she yanked as hard as she could, pulling the man to the ground with her, and then surged in. Fuck being pretty. Fuck being scared. This guy was with KoG, and so far as she cared, he deserved everything he got.
He tried to push her off. She refused to let him, moving until she was close enough to punch him in the face. Pain flared up her hand, but that wouldn't stop her. Then, just when she was sure she had this, someone grabbed her hair, yanking her off her target.
Six men. Her eyes jumped between them, counting quickly before another man's fist hit her right in the eye. They all wore black hoodies. They also weren't the small and dorky kind of guys she'd expected to hang out with an incel group. No, these men looked terrifying. Rhaven tried her best to fight back, but she was outnumbered, and the man on the ground was getting up.
A fist hit her gut. Another landed at the edge of her neck and shoulder. Someone kicked. She flailed wildly with her hands, but it wasn't doing much to stop them. Not until the roar of an enraged monster burst into the room.
Braden tackled the first guy, dropping his extinguisher in the process. The rest turned on him, all but forgetting that Rhaven even existed. Her head was spinning from the abuse, but that clatter of metal on tile had made it through. Desperately, she crawled back toward the receptionist desk to find her own fire extinguisher - only to see more flames licking up the wall.
That had been the second glass-breaking sound she'd heard. They were using Molotov cocktails or something! No, she had to focus. She had to help Braden. They weren't alone, and that was all that mattered. She'd stand with him or fall with him, but they didn't have to do it alone!
Grabbing the fire extinguisher, she forced herself to her feet and turned to find a man's back right before her. One step, and then she