The Curse of Water

Chapter 19- Many Acts of Rebellion

Chapter Nineteen – Many Acts of Rebellion

The operation at the cosmetics factory went smoothly. No one saw us coming, and it was really fun to sneak around the dark empty building with a big hammer and spray paint to make our stand against the importance of artificial beauty.

Benvolio has taken me under his wing, and for the past two months the two of us have been leading a great many other acts of protest. The teams have been expanding more and more and I cannot believe how many people have had to suffer because of my father's arbitrary rules and discrimination.

James has been getting more and more ambitious, and Gershon has been getting more and more impatient. He has begun to see the connections between the threats, the vandalism, the posters against the system and the series of unfortunate “accidents” that targeted his sources of power, his ministry.

Each day more of the guards with special physical powers that he had collected over the many years of the Tournament began to not show up to work due to some unforeseen circumstance, like being glued to their beds, having been knocked out by an excess amount of sleeping pills, or even being kidnapped.

“James is getting a little aggressive about his approach.” Beni whispers as if he just read my mind.

“What do you mean?” I ask, looking around the corner, watching and guarding as Ryder and plasma boy sneak into the palace garden to do some inappropriate rearranging of some of the statues made in the King's image. “I don't think this is bad.”

“No...not this, this is just silly.” Beni laughs quietly as plasma boy pulls a lifesaver over Gershon's marble head. “Though that's part of the problem.” He adds, retreating into the shadows and watching his breath erupt with a visible mist from his mouth in the cool night air.

“What?” I slide to a more comfortable position against the wall.

“He's inconsistent. First of all we had said in the beginning that we don't intend to hurt anyone, but I just found out that some new members beat up a shop owner a couple days ago. Then a security guard got a piece of glass...a big piece of glass, stuck in their side after a Tournament merchandise store blew up. Then there is the kidnappings...also something I didn't know was part of the plan...”

“I guess.” I ponder on the thought he put in my mind, but come on, it's James. Sure he got a little carried away, but that's because he's so proactive. “Well...maybe...sometimes...you have to count your losses to achieve something greater.” I swallow my nerves, not wanting to upset Beni, but also not wanting to say anything bad about a close friend of mine. I guess it will be important to consider once my efforts begin to save the world...even my mom has said you have to lose your life to gain it or something. Maybe you have to lose some lives to save others, right? Ok, I'm so not going to be the right person to do this. I glance at the countdown with a heavy sigh, then at Beni who looks very troubled. Yup, he probably didn't agree with me.

“All I mean is maybe he got a little radical because he's so eager. He probably just wants to get his point across, keep the snowball effect going...and maybe the result of that is bigger protests and grander acts of rebellion, more extreme measures with...some unforeseen consequences.”

“Then there are things like this assignment that doesn't do more than make the King infuriated with the rebels.” He says with a casual glance around, but the night is quiet and clear.

“But isn't that what we want?”

“It should be a little more complicated Marcus. There is no depth, it's a little bit like little boys who play with lighters. Sometimes they burn down the entire house, sometimes just a hole in the carpet. But if their father is going to be mad for both...well in our case we don't want it to be over something insignificant.”