My first fanfic ever, so I would love to get reviews about it. If the grammer isn't correct, I'm sorry, I'm not a native English speaker.
It was in the middle of the night when Mark was woken by a crashing sound downstairs. ''What…'' he mumbled, getting out of his bed and on his feet, feeling the cold floor underneath.
The sky outside was still dark, it had to be somewhere around midnight. Mark turned the key in the lock, wanting to know what or who made that noise.
When he opened the door, about 10 men were standing in the hall, maybe more maybe less but they were barely visible in the dark, talking to each other in a not understandable language.
That was not what Mark was exspecting. ''What…? What are you doing here?'' he asked confused and still a bit sleepy. ''Aah, that must be the eldest'' a voice said with a slight Southern accent.
''Get his sister and brother then we can go'' When Mark was realizing this wasn't a dream, he got angry. ''Who are you and what are you doing in my house?'' he asked irritated.
One of the figures moved and started talking. ''I'm Antonio and we are taking you and your siblings under custody'' Mark stared at the man, puzzled. ''Why?'' he asked, frowning.
''You aren't really quick-witted, are you?'' the man asked grinning. At that moment, his sister Bell and his little brother Sebastiaan were taken into the hallway.
Sebastiaan looked scared and was hiding behind the skirt of his sister, holding the cloth tightly. Tears ran down from the young boys face, he had to be really scared of the strangers in their house in the middle of the night.
Sebastiaan was only six years old, 10 years younger than Holland was. When Mark looked at Bell, he could see that she also was on the brink of starting to cry, trying not to because it would only make their little brother panic even more.
''Here they are'' one of the other figures said. ''Okey, let's go then'' the man, who said his name was Antonio, replied. Mark felt a hand in his back, pushing him towards the door.
He didn't realize what was happing until he heared the door of the carriage being locked behind him.
When he heared coins being thrown into a treasure chest, Mark shouted angrily. ''Hey! That's our money! You can't just steal that from us!''
Some muttering sounded outside of the carriage. ''Consider it as payment for me taking care of you'' Mark didn't understand what the man was talking about. Bell tried desperately to calm Sebastiaan down, who was still crying.
Suddenly the carriage started moving, Mark tripped and fell on a red velvet bench in the carriage. The carriage was shaking heavily as they rode away from their house.
Mark looked out of a tiny window in the wooden door. He could see they were moving away from their house, their home.
Where they had lived with their father and brothers. They had left the house to go to war and promised that they would be back in a few months.
That was two years ago and every day the hope for their return slightly faded away.
Why was Antonio talking about taking custody of them? Mark was perfectly capable of doing it himself, he had taken care of his younger siblings since his brothers and father left.
There had been rumours in the village, children of protestant families in other towns were taken away and placed under custody of a catholic.
But that was in cities, it wouldn't happen in a small village like here, would it?
Sebastiaan had fallen asleep on Bells lap, his eyes red from crying. Bell was stroking his hair, looking a bit shocked of what just happened.
''Mark…'' she whispered softly. Holland looked up to her. ''Where are we going?'' she asked, her voice still soft and a bit hoarse. ''I don't know…'' he replied, trying to sound calm.
Mark had absolutely no idea where they were going. The only thing he knew for sure that he and his siblings would stay together, not matter what.
He would do anything to stay with them.
Mark didn't know how long they were driving, but the carriage suddenly stopped. Bell also had fallen asleep, Mark woke them both up by softly shaking their shoulders.
The door opened, Mark blinked against the bright sunlight when Antonio appeared smiling in the doorframe. The drive must have for hours, because the sun was already up.
''Where are we?'' he asked, slightly confused, trying to look next to Antonio, seeing a huge country seat. It was much bigger than their own home. ''Well, let's go'' Antonio said to them and moved out of the way.
Mark looked at his siblings, Sebastiaan seemed to have calmed down a bit, but still held on to Bells hand tightly, scared to let her go.
He slowly got up and stepped out of the carriage, shortly followed by them.
The inside of the country seat was as richly decorated as the outside. A chandelier, with a few diamonds, was hanging from the ceiling.
When Mark looked into the hallway, he could see a long row of portraits. Sebastiaans mouth was hanging open a bit, staring at the richness surrounding him.
Antonio smiled when he saw them looking at the house. ''You will get used to it, after a few weeks'' he grinned. Mark woke up roughly from his daydream, glancing at Antonio. ''But we're not going to be here for a few weeks! We're going right now!'' he said while grabbing the hands of his younger sister and brother.
He was now fully awake and aware that they weren't at home anymore, nor this being a nightmare. ''Wrong'' Antonio said smiling. ''You're staying here, I'm your guardian now.''
Mark frowned and glared at him. ''What do you mean, /guardian/?'' he snarled. ''Your guardian, I'm going to take care of you guys now. You couldn't live in that shack by yourselves. You even left the catholic church!'' he said.
Bell and Sebastiaan were hiding behind Marks back, afraid of all the new things they were seeing, not knowing what to exspect. ''Yes, we did. The catholic church is just a bunch of thieves, murderers and scroungers. The protestant church on the other side, is…''
Mark couldn't finish his sentence, a flat hand made contact with the side of his head, leaving a red mark on his cheek. ''You will not /dare/ to speak of the catholic church like that /ever/ again'' the man said furious, glaring at Mark.
The teen put a hand on his cheek, looking a bit surprised of this sudden outrage of the man. ''Are you…are you a catholic?'' he asked.
Antonio nodded. ''Of course I am a good catholic. Why would I otherwise become the guardian of some heretic kids?'' Mark scowled at him but kept silent.
''What's a he…retic?'' Sebastiaan asked finally, breaking the quietness. Bell and Mark looked both at him, making clear that he should stay quiet with one look.
Sebastiaan already regretted he asked the question. But Antonio grinned and answered. ''You are and so are your brother and sister. It means that you aren't believing in God anymore''
Mark snapped. ''That's not true! We believe in God but not in that money spilling w…'' Antonio glared at him, raising his hand again. Mark held his tongue, his lips became a thin line.
Although he didn't speak anymore, his eyes were even more clear about what he was thinking. Antonio smiled lightly, let down his hand and continued his story.
''Well… you are going to stay in this house and do some chores. In return, I will /try/ to save you from hell. Although I'm not totally sure I will succeed for all three of you'' he said while shortly looking at Mark.
''But, let me first show you to your room'' the man said, while turning around and heading to one of the doors in the long hallway. Mark followed, looking at the frontdoor.
''And before I forget, you won't be able to escape here'' Antonio said when he noticed the teen looking at the door. ''The guards will catch you before you even reach the gate''
Mark grumbled something back, but continued looking out for ways to escape. He didn't want to stay here a minute longer, he would take Bell and Sebastiaan with him as soon as he found a way to escape.
Antonio opened a door and showed them the room. There were three beds in it and a drawer. On the drawer, three rosaries were put down. At the back of the room on the wall there was a cross.
''I am Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. What are your names?'' the southern man asked. It was quiet for a few moments until Bell started talking. ''My name is Bell, my younger brother is called Sebastiaan and his name is Mark''
Antonio frowned while trying to pronounce their names, unsuccessfully. Finally, he gave up. ''Well, from now on, your name is Bella'' he said smiling at Bell. ''Your name will be Sebastièn and your name Marcos''
Before they could react, Antonio walked out of the room. ''Lunch will be ready in about 30 minutes, you better get dressed, clothes are in the drawer'' before shutting the door.
''Rodriguez will show you to the diningroom, he's just outside of the room'' his voice sounded muted through the door. The sound of footsteps in the hallway died away.
Mark opened the door and faced a guard, Rodriguez. The Spanish man opened his mouth to say something but Mark slammed the door in his face. He sighed while turning around. Bell opened the drawer, grabbing a blue dress and holding it infront of her.
He scowled at her. ''What? You saw it yourself, this house is surrounded with guards, we can't go away here!'' she defended herself. Mark sniffed contemptoulousy.
Bell put on the dress and dressed her little brother. She also took some clothes for her older brother out of the drawer, while Sebastiaan was exploring the room.
''This room is boring…'' he decided, after looking under every bed for toys.
Someone knocked on the door. ''Are you ready?'' Rodriguez asked, with a heavy accent. Mark quickly put on the new clothes and opened the door, looking down on the guard with anger.
''There you are, follow me'' the man said, ignoring Mark's angry look. The four walked down the hallway, at the end a wooden door was opened. The dining room was big and the table was full of all kinds of food. Bread, milk, meat, cheese and lots more.
Antonio was already sitting at the head of table, pointing them to their seats. Bell put Sebastiaan on her lap, the kid was still a bit scared of the Spaniard. ''We are perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves. We don't need a guardian'' Mark snarled at Antonio.
The man smiled and ignored his words, again pointing at a chair. With his arms crossed, Mark sat down.
''Now you are living in my house and under my custody, we got some rules. First of them, no fighting, cursing or stealing. Second, you will go to church every Sunday. For the next weeks you will stay inside unless I give permission. You will not leave your room after 9 in the evening and you will not go out until 6 in the morning. You will /not/ insult the catholic church in /any/ possible way'' Antonio shortly looked at the eldest of them.
''And most important of all: you will leave the protestant church and rejoin the catholic one''
Mark had been staring at the wood of the table, following the lines with his eyes, until he heared the last rule. ''None of us will rejoin the catholics!'' he said firm, with a determined look on his face.
Antonio glanced at him, a bit disturbed in his sermon. ''Yes you will… you will go to the catholic church and become a good Christian once again. If you follow the protestant church you and your brother and sister will burn in hell. Do you want that?'' Antonio asked slightly irritated.
Sebastiaan started crying. ''I don't want to go to hell!'' he said sniffing, while tears ran down his face, hiding in Bell's arms.
''Are you happy now? You're scaring him'' Mark snarled at Antonio, while getting up from his chair to calm his little brother down. ''Hush…hush… you won't go to hell'' When Sebastiaan calmed down, although still softly sniffing, Antonio continued, this time a bit more careful picking his words.
''As I said, you will go to the catholic church on Sunday from now on. You already saw the rosaries in your room? If you don't want to go to hell, you better take those to church, then maybe you can get rid of your sins. Just confess your sins, pray a few rosaries and you're save from the hellfire''
Sebastiaan seemed relieved by this news and stopped sniffing, although Mark wanted to disagree with Antonio. But for the sake of his little brother, and his own night rest, he would better keep quiet.
Mark closed his eyes and prayed in silence before grabbing some bread to eat.
After they finished breakfast, Antonio spoke up ''And for today, Bella you will help our maid today with the laundry. Sebastièn can stay with you.'' Bell put Sebastiaan on the floor and took his hand, walking towards the door.
'Wait a second!'' Mark said irritated. Bell stood still and looked at her brother. ''They are not going to work, Bell is too young to work, there are so many things that could go wrong! Sebastiaan can easily get burned with that hot water! I won't let them!'' Mark said to Antonio.
''Mark… I'm not 7 anymore, I'm 15! I'm careful enough'' Bell replied. The Spaniard smiled. ''Indeed, she's old enough to be carefull, si? And for you Marcos, you will work today with Miguel, he's too old to do it all by himself''
Mark opened his mouth to protest but a glance of Antonio was enough to silence him.
''You don't want to start a fight with me the first day, do you? I'm still you guardian'' the Spaniard said, while getting up from the table and softly pushing Bell and Sebastiaan to the kitchen.
A old man, about 60 years old, appeared in the doorframe of the gardendoor. ''Marcos?'' he asked. Mark nodded and looked at the man.
At first, Mark thought about refusing to do anything, but now he saw the man, he couldn't let him do all the work by himself. He walked towards the door.
The garden was enormous, surrounded by a high white wall. In the middle, there was a paved square with a few benches on the sides. Lots of flowers gave the garden some color.
Carnations, lily's and roses. In the left of the garden, there stood a willow above a pool with koi fishes with spotted patterns. Antonio had to be very rich, Mark thought when he saw this.
Miguel smiled and walked to the end of the garden, to a hedge. The garden behind the hedge was totally different, no colourfull plants or benches. Just a few small crop fields, but still bigger than those at his own house.
There were also a few unknown vegetables and fruits, they looked nothing like cabbages or apples which Mark had known for all his life. ''The tares between the plants must be removed'' Miguel said, while handing him a bag.
''When the bag is full, you can empty it in that barrel'' while pointing at a wooden tun in the back, next to a wooden shack.
Mark nodded and walked to a crop field with strange plants, with red round fruit. He plucked the weed between the plants, putting it in the bag.
After a few hours, the crop fields were again free from tares. Mark wiped the sweat of his forehead, looking up at the sun. It was hot, probably after noon already. Miguel had sat down on a few crates in the shadow of the shack, gesturing to Mark for him to join him.
He sat down, leaning with his back against the wall. It was quiet for a few moments until Miguel started talking. '' If you accept that you live here now, it will be much easier'' He felt the anger coming back, biting his tongue until it started to bleed.
''I won't… We want to go home, he has no right to keep us here'' he said, a bit more angry than he wanted to, it wasn't Miguels fault. The old man sighed and closed his eyes, leaning back.
''Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. That's not what matters right now. The only thing is, you are here. And Antonio is determined to turn your sister, brother and you into catholics. He thinks it's the only thing that can help him gain respect from his father.''
Mark grinned softly. ''Is he really that insecure that he needs approval of his father of everything he does?'' A cloud covered the sun, making the garden much more dark. The pond with the willow looked gloomy, with branches hanging over the water.
Miguel again opened his eyes, looking at Mark. ''Antonio isn't that old yet, maybe two or three years older than you. And his father isn't quickly satisfied. '' Mark grumbled something inaudible back.
Miguel sighed when he noticed the teen refused to listen what he was saying, before getting up. ''Let's finish this before dinner'' he said, tossing the bag to Mark and walking towards one of the fields.
The teen pushed himself of the crates, continuing his work. Mark was used to working hard, but not under the burning sun. He felt like he was melting, when he looked at Miguel, it seemed like the old man didn't even notice the heat. It was a mystery, how the plants survived this sun.
After a few hours, which seemed much longer than the hours before midday, Miguel signed to Mark that they were done for today. Mark emptied the bag in the barrel, before hanging it in the shack. He had been thinking about what Miguel said to him.
Mark didn't really care about Antonio wanting to gain respect from his father but he now knew the reason.
And also that Antonio wasn't going to give up real easy. Being stubborn enough so he would sent them home was not going to work.
They had to escape. Otherwise they would never leave here. Just wait until the moment was there and run away. He hoped that his little brother and sister were strong enough to resist Catholicism until that moment.
It would be difficult, that for sure. Catholics cared a lot about appearance of their churches and houses, Mark knew his siblings would be drawn to that. He could only hope that they realized that behind that appearance there was nothing.
Inside of the house, it was much cooler. Antonio was reading a book in a room which seemed like a library. ''Aah, there you are Marcos!'' he said, while putting the book down and coming towards Mark. ''My name is Mark, not Marcos'' he replied irritated.
Antonio frowned, his mood becoming darker. ''New life, new name…Marcos'' he said, his voice much less cheerfully than before. Antonio turned around, gesturing to someone in the library. A kid, no older than 14 walked into the hallway, looking at Mark in disdain.
''This is Romano, my cousin'' Antonio introduced the kid to Mark. ''He lives here. Romano, this is Marcos'' Romano scowled at the much bigger Mark. ''Bastardo…'' he scolded at him.
Mark looked down at him, already starting to get irritated because of the kids behavior. ''Why is that bastard here?'' Romano asked Antonio, a frown on his face.
''This is one of the heretics who will live with us'' Antonio said. Mark glared at Antonio. ''I've told you before, I'm not a heretics and Sebastiaan and Bell aren't either!'' he said with a icecold voice. Antonio grinned, ignoring his words.
Romano walked away, towards the kitchen, mumbling something about tomatoes ''Be nice to him…'' Antonio warned Mark, glaring at him. ''Or otherwise…''