Falling Waters

|14| -Then-

"I already told you no. How many more times do I have to tell you?" Emily walked to the backstage area with Colter close behind.

Several weeks passed, and the group was about to play their third show at the same club that they had played their first show. Colter had a plan, knowing how big the arena was, he wanted to set off fireworks. He thought it would be the perfect way to start their show and bring in new interest. He had already talked to the stage crew, but he was leaving out their response when he tried to convince Emily.

"I already got the fireworks. Come on, please?"

Emily turned around faster than she thought she could. "How in Mother Earth's name did you get fireworks? They are frickin' illegal." She wasn't entirely angry, but semi-impressed.

"I know a girl. Doesn't matter how I got them, though. Can I please use them for the show?"

She didn't know how to respond to Colt. A billion and one questions were racing around inside her head, but the main one was: Were they made correctly, and were they safe? She looked at Colter and she had a decision. Either way, if she said no or yes, she knew he would use them somewhere else.

"If the staff says okay, then fine, but you must get Anderson's permission." Anderson was the owner and long-time friend of Emily's.

"Deal!" Colter jogged away knowing he wouldn't get permission or, in fact, even ask for it.

The stage was set, and fans and the band's small following that wasn't a part of their town, started to fill the room. When the staff wasn't looking, Colt set up the fireworks near the back and front of the stage. The band was ready and Scar had begun to take photos of the crowd, waiting for the guys to come on.

Colter had warned Ashleigh and Ty not to get scared by the fireworks. He told them that the staff and Emily were okay with it. They were excited and had a feeling that they could never top this show. They looked through the curtain and the MC walked up behind them, telling them it was time. Each of them hurried off to a side and waited to be announced.

At first, the concert went great, but by the beginning of the third track, Colter wanted something more interesting for that song. With a push of a button, the explosives went off and looked astonishing behind them.

The thrill of it made them play better. Each of them grew with confidence in the moment until the fire sprinklers went off. Their whole sound came to a screeching halt and Scarlet, from the crowd, pointed at the giant curtain behind them. It was engulfed in flames. Soon the fire team arrived and put out the fire and Colt was sitting in the back of a RCMP car for multiple charges including, reckless endangerment and handling illegal fireworks.

Emily had no idea what to do. She kept trying to convince Anderson that it wasn't a mistake for him to allow them to play there. She also said that they would pay for the damages, but at this time, they just didn't have the funds to pay for it in full. She was so angry with Colter. She didn't know what she was going to do to him the next time she saw him. She just couldn't believe that he would pull a stunt like this.

Across town, Colter sat in a cell full of tattooed men who weren't looking at him like they condoned his actions. His parents were in a distant room being shown and read everything that Colter was charged with. They, like Emily, couldn't comprehend everything that they were being told and didn't know what they would do to Colter when they saw him. Luckily, in his case, there would be police around, so murdering him wouldn't happen until they were far away from the station.

Near the end of the reading, another officer brought in Colt. "...and community service." The sheriff looked down at the paper under her hands.

"26 hours plus the $400 bail and the $4,000 bill of what Colter burned at the club."