The Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal (Book 1)

by Joshua Hoyt

  Chapter 1:

  “We’re going to get you, Tom,” the older boy yelled from down the hall. Tom pumped his legs faster, as he rounded the corner. Their laughter and pounding feet gained as he searched for a place to hide. His hand shoved the bathroom door open as he ducked in and ran to the farthest stall closing it tight behind him. The color drained from his face as the bathroom door banged open. Loud footsteps approached the stalls. He hugged his legs to his chest and held his breath.

  “We know you’re in here,” Jacob said.

  “Yeah and we know you’re hiding in one of the stalls,” Peanut taunted in a squeaky voice. The boys crept closer and Tom knew that he would have to do something quick. He searched desperately for a place to hide as his heart thumped louder and louder.

  The first stall door slammed open. “You might as well come out and get your beating or it’ll be twice as bad for you,” Jacob said. Tom’s heart raced and his knees shook so badly he feared they would hear them. Slam! The door next to his made a horrible sound as it banged into the wall.

  He jumped as the stall door crashed open in front of him. Jacob grabbed him with his meaty hands and pulled him off the toilet while Peanut snickered. Jacob’s blond hair hung limply around his round face. His pug nose and big ears forced whoever looked at him to think of a pig while his round belly just reinforced the image. Peanut on the other hand looked like a mouse with his scraggly brown hair and pointed features. He was about half the size of Jacob and Peanut squirmed behind his pal, trying to see the action past Jacob’s over stuffed clothes.

  Jacob forced Tom to face the toilet and said, “I told you that it would be worse for you if you didn’t come out.” Sharp pain pierced Tom’s neck and arm as Jacob pushed his head closer to the toilet. Tom gagged from the stench. He kicked out and managed to hit the door so hard that it swung back, and banged Jacob in the shoulder. Jacob only laughed as he slammed Tom’s head down onto the toilet seat. “Don’t you get wild now,” Jacob insisted.

  Laughter erupted from Peanut as the blood ran down Tom’s face. Jacob lifted the toilet seat and Tom strained to hold his head as far back as possible. His arm buckled. He clenched his mouth and eyes just before his head plunged into the dirty water. After a few seconds Jacob allowed him to lift his head and gulp for air. And each time Peanut’s laughter filled his ears. Jacob finally stepped back and allowed Tom to fall to the floor. He lay there coughing and gasping. A little ways off, a door squeaked as Jacob and Peanut left, laughing loudly.

  Tom caught his breath, struggled to his feet, and walked to a small sink where he methodically washed his face and hands. The bleeding had stopped but a giant goose egg took shape on his forehead. Tears formed but he gripped the sink and pushed them back. He lowered his head, closed his eyes, and forced the pain to go away. The image that appeared in the cracked mirror trembled with anger. What have you become? How can you call yourself an Alerio?

  He sank to his knees wishing Thaddeus hadn’t left him. Thaddeus had been the headmaster when Tom had first arrived at the orphanage, nearly eight years ago. He would have never allowed Tom to suffer so much from the other boys. Jacob and Peanut were the cruelest. They encouraged the other boys to taunt and ridicule him on a daily basis and even beat him since Mr. Aldofo took over. He had been Thaddeus’s assistant until Thaddeus died un-expectantly.

  Mr. Aldofo had had it out for Tom ever since Tom had overheard Mr. Aldofo scheming with a woman to sell boys to her. Tom had reported the incident to Thaddeus immediately. Of course Mr. Aldofo had denied the accusations but Thaddeus had told him he had one week to get his things in order and leave. A couple of days after the argument, Thaddeus had become sick and died. After Mr. Aldofo’s promotion to headmaster things had changed quickly. Jacob and Peanut were soon allowed to do pretty much anything they wanted with no consequences. The other boys quickly learned not to stick up for, or even befriend those who the cronies beat on. Anyone who did, would be next in line for a beating or, worse still, be sold to the witches.

  Tom escaped from the orphanage many times, finding it easy to climb out the window and down the tree next to the roof, but he always returned. He worried that if he left, his mother, or who ever she had promised to send, would be unable to find him. Besides he figured that at least here he had food and shelter. He’d heard stories of boys that lived on the street, and he didn’t want that. Another advantage to staying was the education Tom received. Mr. Aldofo always complained about the money spent on educating the worthless boys, but he knew they brought a better profit educated than non-educated boys. So, expense not withstanding , instruction continued. Often Tom crawled into a corner and dreamed of better times when his mother hugged him and made all the pain go away or of walks in the forest with his father. At his lowest points, he would hold onto the soft eyes of his mother and the strong smile of his father and know that they had always believed in him.

  On one of these dark days, Tom walked to the black fence that surrounded the orphanage thinking of the time his father and he walked through the forest next to his home. His father had stopped and pointed to a rotting tree. “See that tree.”

  Tom gazed at the tree and nodded.

  “What do you see?” his father asked.

  “A dead tree.”

  His dad smiled and tipped Tom’s head up until he saw a nest near the top. “To you it might be just a dead tree but to the robin it’s a home.” He then turned Tom toward him and said, “You can look for the good or the evil in this world and whichever you look for, you’ll find.” Such memories Tom closed up in his heart and never forgot. Still on such miserable days as today it was hard to believe the lesson his father had taught so many years ago.

  “Why haven’t you come for me?” he whispered as he stared at the angry face in the bathroom mirror. There’s no good. I’ve looked and looked for it but there’s no good here. Tom strode out of the bathroom down the stairs and out the front door. No one tried to stop him. He followed the front walk as far as the gate then turned right to follow the iron fence. At last he stopped and hidden by overgrown lilacs he wrapped his hands around the cold iron bars that kept him in this world of pain. He glared through the bars. Maybe it’s time for me to escape this place. I’m tired of waiting. After eight years maybe something’s happened to them, maybe I need to find them.

  The sound of a door rapping shut brought Tom out of his thoughts and he looked up to see an old man come out of a building that stood across the street. Tom warily stepped back from the fence as the man slowly walked across the street. “Tom?” the man asked. Tom's jaw went slack and he cautiously nodded his head. “This is for you,” said the old man, as he pushed an envelope through the fence and smiled reassuringly. Tom hesitated looking at the envelope in the wrinkled hand of the man. “It’s okay,” the man said.

  Tom stepped forward, slowly reached out and took the envelope. The man turned and hurried back across the street, disappearing into the building once again. Tom stood alone with the envelope limply in his hand. The letter wavered like a leaf in a gentle breeze as he held it gingerly between his thumb and forefinger. Could it be from them? He turned it over slowly and saw his name printed neatly across the seal. He stared at his name for a moment longer before sliding his finger under the seal and opened the letter. The letter contained a single sheet of paper.

  Tom,

  In one week you need to leave the orphanage. Follow the adjacent street until you come to the first alleyway. Follow it to the end. At the end you will meet two men at midnight. They will present themselves to you and you will then need to decide which of the two you will follow. This choice is yours and yours alone. Once you have made the choice it can not be undone without consequences.