Chosen to Rise; Destined to Fall

Chosen to Rise; Destined to Fall

Part One: The Awakening

Chapter Three

- Revenge -

"Do you have it?"

"Yep."

"And you didn't leave anything out for him to see?"

"No, I'm not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice."

"So you're sure."

"Yes! Blimey, Tom, you would think you're in a life and death situation here, instead of a prank."

"I'm just being careful, Vincent. I don't want to mess up this time."

"It'll all go as planned. Don't worry."

"So you have it?"

"YES!! Now stop worrying!"

"You're sure?"

"TOM!"

"Okay, okay! Sorry . . . where is it?"

"In my trunk."

"Not in an obvious place so Joseph will see it?"

"No!"

"Dinner. That's when it has to happen. All the nuns and the Abbess are in the chapel right now for their mass. Joseph is outside; Shawn is reading in the library, and Henry is cleaning the gardens so that the nuns don't have to worry about hauling everything. We'll go out and help him as soon as we finish setting our prank up."

"I'll go get it then. Meet you in the dining hall?"

"Yes. Now go."

"Already gone."

* * *

Tom stood in the dining hall, tapping his foot anxiously as he leaned up against the doorframe. Come on, Vincent. He peeked around the corner, but there was no sign of his best friend. This prank is going to be good, just as long as we don't get caught again.

Finally, he heard the soft pad of footsteps and a few minutes later, Vincent entered the dining hall, lugging a huge bucket full of dark gray liquid.

Tom peered into the sea of gray. "Are you sure this is it?"

"Yes. Will you stop worrying?" Vincent said, laughter in his gray eyes.

Tom rolled his eyes. "I'm just being careful."

Vincent smiled. "Whatever you say."

Tom grinned and walked over to Joseph's chair, squatting down next to it. "Here, bring that stuff over." Vincent hauled the bucket over and dropped it next to Tom.

"You wouldn't believe how heavy this stuff is! How much are you planning on using?"

"Just enough to work." And then Tom pulled out a piece of metal and scooped some of the gray mass onto it, setting it on the chair. The brilliant part was, the gray stuff matched the cushion and so Joseph would not have a clue as to what he was sitting on.

Tom grinned as he slathered the liquid all over the seat. Vincent glanced around. "Hurry up. Dinner is going to be served soon," Vincent said.

"Don't worry." Tom looked at Vincent. "All done." He stood and dropped the metal piece into the liquid. "Let's go." Tom grabbed the handle on the bucket and, making sure the chair looked inconspicuous, the two boys left the dining hall.

* * *

As the nuns and the five boys entered the dining hall for dinner, Tom and Vincent kept sneaking glances at each other, grinning the entire time. Joseph just rolled his eyes and plopped down in his chair, folding his hands and waiting for the prayer. Once everyone was assembled, they said their prayer and began eating. Tom had to try very hard to not look at Joseph and burst out laughing, so he focused instead on his dinner; pork chops, mashed potatoes, and carrots.

Dinner went surprisingly smoothly and then came the highlight of Tom's evening. Joseph went to stand to leave and he did stand, but the chair came with him. Tom smothered his laughs as Joseph tried to pry the chair off but it stubbornly stayed attached. "What is this?" Joseph growled.

"Joseph? Is there a problem?" the Abbess asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," he said and tried to pull of the chair again, but it didn't work. His face was quickly turning a very bright shade of red. "Bloody chair," Tom heard Joseph hiss. Then Joseph looked at Tom, who just grinned back. "Tom, of course. What did you do?"

"Why are you accusing me?" Tom asked innocently. "It's not my fault you can't get the chair off of your arse." Tom suppressed a chuckle as he watched Joseph struggle with the chair.

"May I be excused?" Joseph asked, looking at the Abbess. Out of the corner of his eye, Tom saw Sister Mary stifled a bit of laughter as Joseph turned even redder.

"Of course." Then, to make Joseph's predicament even worse, the Abbess smiled slightly. "But you may want to remove the chair before you decide to go to sleep."

Joseph didn't say anything and, glaring at Tom, he stalked out of the dining hall, the chair swaying behind him, causing him to stagger. Then it got caught on the door and Tom couldn't hold back his laughter anymore and it burst forth, filling the hall. Finally, Joseph freed himself from the door and they heard the sound of the chair clattering on the stone floor all the way to his room.

"Tom." Tom looked at the Abbess' stern face and his smile disappeared. "Did you do this?"

"Perhaps . . . perhaps I aided the chair in sticking," Tom admitted, for he wasn't about to lie to the Abbess, not with the rest of the nuns looking at him.

"Go to the chapel and pray for this sin." The Abbess shook her head. "I know you love your pranks, but you need to know when to draw the line. Please refrain from gluing any of our chairs." Tom saw a hint of a smile on the Abbess' face and he immediately relaxed.

"Yes, Abbess. May I be excused?" The Abbess nodded and Tom left the dining hall.

* * *

"That was brilliant!" Henry exclaimed, sitting on his bed and looking at Tom with a grin on his face. "You two and your pranks!"

Vincent grinned. "Well, it was the least he deserved."

"Exactly," Tom agreed. "That dirty little snitch got what was coming to him."

"I believe he will not be sitting in any chairs any time soon," Henry said with a laugh. Tom and Vincent joined in.

"Not likely," Tom said.

"You shouldn't have done that," Shawn said quietly. The three boys looked at him and he stared back. "Getting revenge isn't the right thing to do. It's just going to come back to you."

"Oh, come on," Tom said, sighing. "You never like our pranks, but they've never hurt anyone!"

"Maybe not hurt physically, but what about emotionally? You may not think so, but I doubt Joseph would agree with you. Why do you think he hates you two? All you do is play on his emotions!"

"What, are you on his side now?" Tom asked, the grin on his face fading.

"I'm on nobody's side," Shawn said, his face expressionless. "I just don't think that was the right way to go about getting revenge, which is something you shouldn't even do in the first place."

"But he embarrassed us!"

"Does that give you the right to embarrass him so horribly?"

"Yes!"

"I don't agree."

"Well, you don't have to," Tom said, growing angry. "You're always so perfect, aren't you? You just have to be mister 'no, I don't break any rules, because I'm perfect', don't you? Why can't you just let us have some fun? Why do you always have to look on the dark side?"

"Don't get mad, Tom," Shawn said, his face growing worried. He hated it when people argued and he hated to see people mad. "I'm not trying to upset you."

"Well, you failed miserably. Don't talk to me." Tom stood and stalked out.

Shawn looked at Vincent, who shrugged. "Don't look at me," Vincent said. "I don't have any control over his mood swings."

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt him."

"It's okay," Henry said, patting Shawn on the shoulder, who looked up at him. "Tom has a short temper. But don't worry, he'll be fine tomorrow. Don't lose any sleep over it."

Shawn smiled slightly. "I suppose."

"Exactly. That's the spirit," Henry said with a smile. "Now, let's get some sleep, shall we? Plenty of excitement for me, today."

Vincent smiled and the three boys climbed into their respective beds. Vincent stared at the far wall, the shadows playing across it, caused by the light from outside. He wanted to go after Tom, but he knew that when Tom got like this, there was no talking to him. It was like speaking to a brick wall. A very stubborn brick wall. It was always best to let him steam it off. He'd be back to his normal cheerful self the next day. He always was.

Vincent rolled over and closed his eyes, falling asleep. He didn't noticed Joseph coming in later, the chair removed, or in the middle of the night when Tom finally came back and went to sleep.

* * *

By the next afternoon, Tom and Vincent realized something was amiss. Shawn had avoided Tom all day, muttering quick excuses about needing to find something or speak to one of the nuns whenever he had approached him. Henry had likewise steered clear of him, giving a sympathetic glance in his direction when he caught Tom staring at him in confusion.

Joseph had also been acting strangely, alternately glaring at them in anger and smirking at them in triumph. Though he normally would scowl at Tom, Tom had a feeling that there was more behind that smirk that he would flash every once and awhile. Finally, Tom decided to speak to Vincent, who was still talking with Shawn and Henry.

"Vincent, what's going on?" Tom asked, pulling Vincent aside during the afternoon break outside.

Vincent looked at Tom. "What do you mean?"

"With the others. Shawn and Henry refuse to speak to me, and I realize that maybe I got a bit angrier then I meant to last night, but I just have this bad feeling. And then, there's Joseph, who's acting very odd with that smirk that's on his face. I think he's planning something."

Vincent looked at Shawn and Henry, who were tossing a ball back and forth. Then he looked back at Tom. "Well, I'm not sure about Shawn or Henry, but you're probably right about Joseph. After all, we did embarrass him last night and I'm sure he's out for revenge."

Tom snorted. "Joseph couldn't be devious if his life depended on it."

"Well, his pride does depend on it," Vincent pointed out. "And if he really is planning something, he probably let Shawn and Henry in on it."

"He probably blackmailed them or something," Tom said, smirking. "You know he's about as scrupulous as a toad."

"Toads don't have scruples," Vincent said, confused.

"Exactly my point," Tom replied with a grin. "So, we should go and ask Henry and Shawn about this."

They ran over to the other side of the yard, and Tom intercepted the ball as it was heading toward Shawn. Shawn froze and stared at Tom fearfully. Henry just glared and said, "Give that back."

"So," Tom began, ignoring Henry's request. He tossed the ball from hand to hand. "I was curious..."

"About what?" Henry said, not moving an inch.

"Joseph seems a little... off today."

Henry shrugged. "Why would I care?"

"Maybe because you're acting a little off also?"

Shawn glanced furtively back between the two boys. Vincent moved to Tom's side, ready to see what Henry had to say for himself.

Henry just sighed. "He's planning something, you know."

Tom nodded. "What?"

Henry shrugged. "He didn't say anything specific. He just wants us to cover for him if you try to snitch on him."

Tom nodded, and turned to Shawn. "That true?" Shawn nodded quickly. "And you all were just going to go along with this?"

Henry looked unabashed. "Yeah."

"I see," Tom said, and turned to leave. "Come on, Vincent."

Vincent followed Tom over to where Joseph had been watching the conversation with blatant curiosity.

"What have you got planned?" Tom demanded before Vincent could say anything.

Joseph smirked at the two boys. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Are you sure?"

"Would I lie?" replied Joseph. "It's a shame, though, about the stray."

There was only one stray at the convent. It was a horrid looking tabby that was affectionately called Tawny by the majority of the nuns. Of all the nuns, Sister Tabitha, in particular, had taken a shine to the scruffy creature. Though, Tom was also quite fond of it as well. He was impressed by the cat's low, feline skulk while it tracked small mice and dust mites around the convent.

Tom tried to leap at the smug boy, but Vincent managed to hold him back by one arm. "Wait, Tom," Vincent cautioned, "don't do anything ... rash."

Tom grumbled, but complied with Vincent's wishes after noticing Sister Mary watching them from in the distance. Tom spoke again. "What did you mean, about the cat?"

"You call that mangy stray a cat?" Joseph snorted. "Well, I do suppose that abandoned street trash does tend to stick together. You and that cat are just alike."

Tom glared, and very nearly leapt at the little prat, but he didn't. Instead, he just ground out a single question. "Where is the cat?"

Joseph smirked again, and pointed up at the roof of the convent. "I put the mangy thing in Sister Tabitha's old songbird cage, and put it up there." He grimaced, and held out a hand that had several angry red welts on it. "Cursed thing scratched like it was possessed."

"Possessed with the good sense to not like you," muttered Vincent.

Tom resisted the urge to elbow his very good friend, and glared at the other boy. "How did you get the cat up there?"

"Attic window," Joseph replied.

Vincent snarled under his breath, "You dirty, no good, rotten little brat. It's no wonder your parents didn't want you..."

Luckily, Joseph was too busy chortling to himself over the brilliance of his first dastardly plot that he didn't hear Vincent's words. Tom looked up at the convent's roof. It didn't look all that high up, but Tom knew that appearances could be deceiving. He hissed to Vincent, "I'm going up there. Keep an eye out for the nuns."

Vincent nodded in agreement. Tom set off for the entrance to the convent. Just then, Sister Mary emerged. "Tom! Just the boy I was looking for!"

Tom froze and smiled at Sister Mary. "Good afternoon, Sister. What did you need?" Should I tell her about the cat? The nuns could get it down and then it would be fine . . . but . . . no, I'll handle this myself. Besides, the cat is in a cage, so it's not like it'll be able to walk somewhere and fall off. It's safe for now and I'll get it later. This is between me and Joseph and I don't need the nuns interfering.

"Come, walk with me," offered Sister Mary, motioning towards the garden. "I wanted to discuss your performance in history. You seem quite interested in the subject."

"I am," Tom agreed, shooting Vincent a desperate look. There was no way he could break free of his conversation without looking horribly rude and ill-mannered. "It's my favorite of the subjects taught here."

"And you're particularly interested in... Great rulers, aren't you? From the Caesars of Rome to barbarians of the likes of Ghengis Khan, correct?"

"Yes," Tom agreed, smiling slightly, and followed Sister Mary into the garden. He took a quick glance back, and noticed that Vincent was nowhere in sight. His smile vanished.

That wasn't a good sign.