Fire Through The Windows

 Cassadee flipped her head in every different direction, her hair flying. Francois Van Coke was leaning into the crowd, his screaming personified by the microphone he was holding to his mouth. The guitarist had a cigarette held between the holes in the nut of his guitar. The music vibrated the small bar and guitar riffs shook through the small group of Fokofpoliesikar fans. As the band broke into Antibiotika, Cassadee stopped head banging to listen to the song. It was slower, steadier somehow. Her hair stood in a wild array of red and orange that she pushed all over her left shoulder. Next to her stood Tanya, who was gulping down shots faster than you could say Fokof. She turned her head back to the stage and read the huge sign that hung on ropes from the roof. It read Fokofpoliesikar in big red letters. She hummed along to the chorus, analyzing every Afrikaans word down to a T. " Cassadee" a shrill, harped voice sang from to close. She turned her head to Tanya who was jumping up and down, screaming her name. " What, Tanya" Cassadee said, tugging her friends arm and pulling her back down to earth. " I'm flying" Tanya slurred drunkenly. She let go of her arm and went back to watching the music, unsurprised by her friends behavior. Francois was shaking, completely silent, looking like he could punch somebody in the gut. This was real. The best live act in South Africa. Appreciating the music made her thirsty. Cassadee made a bee-line for the bar, pushing past hordes of angsty teenagers.

The bar was a wooden counter, with eight cushioned seats. Behind the bar was at least twenty four stacks of liqour. " One coke please" she ordered, brushing hair out of her face. The bartender raised an eyebrow. " Coke and what?" he asked, rubbing out a glass with a yellow checkered dishcloth. Cassadee raised an eyebrow. " Just coke" she said, biting her thumbnail. The bartender put his elbows on the table and leant down. " Your pretty" he said, looking her over. " Order something pretty like your friend". His beady eyes followed to where Tanya was jumping up and down to the music. Cassadee mimicked the bartenders motion, put her elbows on the table and put her fingers in her hair. " I don't need to be drunk to have fun" she said, almost spat. The bartender was taken aback as she put the money on the table. He grabbed the ten rand note, gave her her coke and went back to work, wordlessly shaking his head. 

She'd slept for what felt like an hour, and woke up groggy. A rotating noise had woken her up, like the sound of an alarm. Loud. Cassadee got out of bed and opened her door to a short fat woman. " What?!" Cassadee asked, sleepily. The womens eyes panicked under the hazel green. " Theres a fire, quick, come with me" the woman said. It took three whole minutes to get Tanya standing straight and out the door. " Move" Cassadee barked at who were running around like monkeys throughout the burning hall. " Move faster" Cassadee barked again, gripping Tanya's arm and pulling her down the cement steps. The building was coming down in flames, and the cheap roofing wood came down in full planks around them. " Run" the fat woman squeaked. They were almost at the door. Casadee could feel a blister rising on her foot. " Ouch" she whispered to herself. Finally, they were at the door. The fat woman held it open while Cassadee pushed Tanya outside. Cassadee finally took a breath, exhaling all the fumes she'd kept stored from inside. Tanya wobbled off towards a car and sat down on the hood. Masses of people came screaming, running out of the door. Cassadee followed the fat woman, frantically to the car and people were beginning to cluster around them. Things looked generally calm from inside. A fire martial was speaking to the hotel owner, who looked devastated. Some children were crying and others looked amazed hotel spat burst of fires through the window, that left specks of ash, rubble and debris falling to the ground. 

Anxiety swept over Cassadee like a blanket when children screamnt for dear life and people ran around her in every direction. One particular thing came to mind. " D****t" she shouted. Cassadee jumped to her feet. People called after her. She pushed past the bolted door and was inside. In the office, everything but a bookshelf had gone up in flames. She ran barefoot up the cement stairs that led through to the first storey. She ran further, to the next flight of ruined stairs that would lead straight to the third storey. The stairs were falling apart beneath her. Each step she took, something seemed to crack. The third storey was the worst. Every door had been left open except for room 203, three rooms ahead of hers. The heat penetrated through her, making her sweat. Her hair matted to her forehead. She ran fast towards room 206, where she almost fainted. Her room had gone up in flames and the smell of plastic burning hurt her nose. She ran towards the dressing table, trying her hardest to step over the small fires that could come up out of nowhere. She scratched around on the table, throwing clothes, c both of them. There were women with rollers in their hair, screaming at children wds and Tanya's liquor bottles to the floor. The glass clattered and irratated the flames. Cassadee grabbed the pixel heart pendant off the dresser and ran, tears welling in her eyes. She skidded down the third storey hall way. The stairs were destroyed. Cassadee hesitated and took a step. The stairs foundation had crumbled. She took her steps faster, less stead and ran, clutching the pendant to her heart. 

Why did she go back for it? Was the pendant really worth her life? Her mother would understand. As she was thinking this, the stairs collapsed from underneath her. Cassadee screamed, as she fell, headlong into a fire. She could feel the heat on her skin and propelled herself forward. She landed and shrieked. She was on the first storey. She pulled her charred leg out of th fire and ran, limping towards the door, her throat stocked with ash. She pushed the door open with her body and collapsed, still breathing, at the fire martial's feet.