Thanks for staying with me *hugs*
Antonio woke up with a start, panting heavily with sweat dripping down his forehead and bare chest. Out of instinct he made his way on tired feet to the window. He looked down at the yard, on the area under the tower.
Nothing.
The ground was bare, apart from the pools of water.
No body.
No blood.
Antonio shook his head at his own paranoia. He really shouldn't let a dream get to him like that. Antonio sighed in relief as his heart-rate returned to normal.
That was one scary dream.
Antonio laughed to himself and was about to go back to bed to try and forget the dream. That's when his eyes caught on a dim light on the yard. Within seconds, he was on alert again. As he focused on the slowly moving light, he made out a small figure, holding the lamp that was the source of the light. He could just barely make out a white night-gown, on the slender figure. The figure on the ground seemed unfazed by the rain that fell on it. The small figure walked across the yard with such lightness that it looked as though it was floating above the ground. Antonio watched in awe, finding himself paralized by the figure walking steadily across the yard. The figure stopped suddenly, right beneath the tower and sat down. It looked as though it was praying. Antonio suddenly shuddered, just then realizing how cold he was. Carefully, his fingers trailed across the small stand next to him, in search for some sort of a blanket. The only thing he could find was a couple of matches and lantern.
Well, at least that will keep my hands warm.
With fumbling fingers he lightened the lantern, regretting it the moment he did. As soon as the small light lightened the room, the figure on the yard went on alert. With great speed, the figure turned around, staring straight at Antonio's window. Antonio pulled back, feeling that he didn't want to be seen, and put the light out. He waited a few seconds, heart beating fast. After about a minute, Antonio dared himself to come out again, mind wanting desperately to keep watching the figure. Only, when Antonio looked down at the yard again, it was empty again, leaving no trails of the small figure behind.
Antonio stayed by the window almost an hour after that, if only to see if the figure would come back. At long last, he gave up and went back to bed, for another worried sleep, including more screaming, more blood and that boy.
Antonio was awoken a couple of hours later by a female scream. At once, his instincts kicked in and he instantly got out of bed, running out the open door and out in the corridor. He ran towards the scream, ending up on the second floor.
Feliciano's room to be exact.
Feliciano's personal servant, Ludwig was already there, as well as Marten standing on high alert, along with a blonde and brunette maid. The brunette looked to have been the one to scream, as she was being comforted by the blond. Feliciano was meanwhile, being comforted by Ludwig. Antonio looked around the room. It was all a big mess of former stuffing for teddy-bears now ripped apart.
"What happened?" He asked, still expecting to see a murderer somewhere.
"Young Mr. Vargas had a visitor during the night." Marten explained, empathizing the word "visitor". "And this visitor left a message."
Marten stepped aside, revealing another teddy-bear, nailed to the wall by a long knife.
"Who did this?" Antonio gasped.
"Vee~, I don't know. I was asleep all night. I didn't even notice anyone coming in." Feliciano sighed sadly.
"Don't worry, Mr. Vargas." Marten said. "We are sure to find it out."
"Vee~ that's alright. I didn't really like any of those anyway."
Antonio walked across the room, suddenly spotting a teddy-bear that wasn't ripped apart. It was a big bear, painted in green. The bear was holding one half of a white heart in his left "hand".
"Vee~ my favorite survived."
Feliciano instantly left Ludwig's side and skidded over to grab his bear and hug it tightly.
"That still doesn't answer who would sneak in to your room and do..." Marten gestured around the room. "...this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but young Mr. Vargas is well loved."
"I can answer that question for you Van der Meer. Mr. Vargas stated as he entered the room, a dark look crossing his features, as his eyes landed on the blond comforting the brunette girl.
"Isn't it quite obvious who is responsible for this?"
"No, Mr. Vargas." the blond suddenly shot up. "I-It can't be, Sir. I..."
"Be quite Ms Van der Meer." Mr. Vargas growled. "I think I've given you a fair warning. One more occurrence like this, and I will have to call Francis back."
"P-please Sir." Ms Van der Meer begged. "I can handle it. I..."
"Trust me; this is your last chance." Mr. Vargas warned, before leaving the room swiftly. "Oh, and Mr. Carriedo, what do you say we have a chat?"
"I'm terribly sorry for the misunderstanding earlier this morning." Mr. Vargas excused himself, sitting down on one of the couches in the great-room, motioning for Antonio to do the same. "I hope my servant's aren't being too much of a bother for you."
"It's alright." Antonio ensured, doing as told and sitting down across from Mr. Vargas. "I'm just glad no one was hurt."
"I'm sorry that, that girl overreacted like that. I can ensure you; it's nothing to worry about. So, shall we discuss business?"
"Oh, yes. Of course." Antonio agreed. "Shouldn't Feliciano be here for that too?"
"I believe Feliciano should try and calm down before being bothered."
"Of course." Antonio nodded in understandment. "Let's discuss this."
"Very well, then." Mr. Vargas concluded as he stood up. "I guess we should call it for the day, then. I'm sure you don't want to waste all of this beautiful day on business."
"Haha, it would be great to see the grounds." I admitted. "Perhaps, Feliciano would show me around?"
"I'm sure he would, but it would be good if you brought someone along, just in case. Like Marten, for example."
"Of course." Antonio agreed.
The two men exchanged small smiles before I stood up to ready myself.
About an hour later, Antonio was walking the Vargas' grounds with Feliciano, Marten and Ludwig.
"It's so beautiful here." The Spaniard breathed in pure awe.
"Vee~ it is." Italy agreed. "I love it here. I do wish big brother would be here too."
Antonio couldn't help but notice a small flinch from Marten and Ludwig.
"Your big brother?" he asked.
"Yes, Mr. Bonnefoy." Marten said hastily.
"Vee..." Feliciano said in the saddest voice possible. "Big brother Francis."
The four men walked in silence for a while since neither knew how to answer that. It all seemed... somewhat strange.
"I hope you're recovering alright after the incident this morning." Antonio asked finally.
Feliciano looked up at his fiancé, offering a bright smile.
"Vee~ it wasn't that big of a deal." Feliciano promised. "I didn't like any of the one's that were destroyed anyway."
"Mr. Vargas, that's very rude of you." Ludwig scolded. "You should be grateful for the gifts your father and brother are giving you."
"Vee, I am... but..."
"Now, now." Antonio said, trying to stop the tension that was growing. "Let's not fight on such a beautiful day."
"Vee, you're right." Feliciano agreed.
Just then, the group turned around the corner of the house and ended up at the front of the house and the spot beneath...
"The tower." Antonio breathed.
"Wie bitte?" Ludwig asked.
"O-oh, nothing." The brown-haired man excused himself. "I just think it's very beautiful."
Ludwig nodded in agreement.
"It is impressive indeed." he said thoughtfully. "According to old documents, the tower was added to the original castle a couple of generations back at order of Cratius Vargas."
"Why?"
"It's said that he build the tower in the honour of his dear fiance, Catherina."
"That's so romantic." Antonio said with a bright smile of adoration.
Ludwig released a deep sigh.
"It was, perhaps. Sadly, lady Catherina died during child-birth."
"Oh, how sad. What happened?"
"The lord was devastated and rejected his own child." Ludwig sighed.
"What happened to the child?" Antonio asked.
"Nobody knows." Ludwig continued. "Some believe that the child was killed. Others mean that he was saved by one of the servants. Some sources claim that the child was kept hidden in one of the rooms of the castle, the father wanting his own son to suffer. No such evidence has been found though. The tower has never been used since and no one is allowed to go there."
Antonio shuttered a little.
"That's quite a scary story."
Ludwig chuckled lightly.
"Not half as scary as some of the stories that the villagers make up."
"They were quite scary last night." Antonio said with a shutter. "But I suppose it was all just the weather and the darkness that made it so scary."
Antonio laughed a little nervously.
"Vee~" Feliciano said before breaking in to the brightest of smiles. "I want pasta. Come on, let's eat lunch."
And with that, all darker subjects had dropped and we moved onto pleasant small talk. Of course, I didn't know what was happening in the village.
"Shit." The boy mumbled as he dodged behind a barrel.
Angry voices were shouting after him in a mix of different languages. The poor boy really didn't see what they were making such a big fuss about. His breath hitched when he saw the furious Brit advanced towards his hiding-place.
"I will get you soon enough." he threatened.
The brunette cursed mentally, silently freaking out. Mr. Kirkland was getting closer and closer. Luckily, the boy was saved. Saved by the bell? No. Saved by the villages smith, Gilbert Weilschmidt.
"Give it a rest, eyebrows. Don't be such an unawesome stiff." the albino said, throwing an arm around the smaller's shoulder. "It's just a bread."
The young thief glanced around, looking for an escape route. It would be hard now, since Mr. Kirkland had attracted so much attention. He cursed under my breath. I was stuck until the crowd had eased.
"That's not the point." Mr. Kirkland hissed. "That brat stole from me. And for you to protect him is a violation against the law."
"Give it a rest, eyebrows. It's not like you lack of it anyway. That kid probably needs it more than you do anyway."
"Oh, you disrespectful git." Mr. Kirkland hissed. "Just wait until the sheriff finds out about this."
"Finds out about what?"
The boy gasped in fear. The damn fruitier had attracted the sheriff.
"What's wrong, babe?" the blond man said with a slight frown.
"I was robbed."
"What!?"
Sheriff Jones got a dark look on his face.
"Don't worry babe. He's bound to be a companion of that bastard in the cells." the sheriff said grimly. "I'll make sure to get that thief. Was there anything else."
"That blasted smith is covering for the brat."
"Is that true?" Sheriff Jones asked, eyes burning into the albino's red.
"Fine." the smith sighed. "I'll tell you where the brat is."
Said brat suddenly couldn't breathe anymore. The smith would give him away, and he had no chance of escaping anywhere. The sheriff was fast and strong.
"Where?"
"He went that way." Mr. Weilschmit said, pointing down at the exact opposite direction.
"Thanks dude." Sheriff. Jones said before both he and Mr. Kirkland ran off down that direction.
A couple of minutes passed before walked over to the other's hiding-place.
"It's clear now, kid."
The brunette hesitated.
"It's okay, I want Lord Vargas to go down too, I just never had the guts to do what you guys did."
The boy decided to take the risk and peaked out from my albino smiled at him.
"How did you know I'm with him?"
"I've got my contacts, now get going, kid. Your lover awaits you."
The man blushed deeply.
"He's not my lover... but thank you."
And with no other words said the wanted man shot off down an alley towards the place where he would find his supposedly lover. It didn't take long for him to get to the village prison. It wasn't much, just a three cells halfway buried underneath ground. And that's where he found him. Alone and miserable. The only long time prisoner there was. The only one who'd ever dared crossing Lord Vargas. In it for lifetime. The green-eyed man glanced inside through the cell window like so many times before seeing him hunched up against the wall.
"It's called Constantinople, not Istanbul."
The man's head shot up.
"Hera? Is that you?" he asked, eyes trying desperately to adjust after looking straight at the light.
"It's me, Sadiq, it's me." The Greek promised.
Sadiq was on his feet within seconds and stood as close to the window as he could get. There was an uncharacteristic worry in his eyes that Heracles wasn't used to seeing, especially since he was the one in prison.
"You had me worried to death, you stupid kid." he muttered and grabbed my hands as if to make sure that the Greek was actually there for real. "I heard there was a riot. I thought you'd gotten yourself killed."
"I'm okay, you old bastard." Hera repeated. "I've already told you that. I got you this though. In case you weren't properly fed."
Heracles searched through his old bag and handed the bread to the Turk. Sadiq accepted it gratefully and kissed his (to him not only supposedly) lover's hands with more tenderness than Heracles would ever thought possible of a brute like him.
"My beautiful savior, like an angel from above." Sadiq whispered.
Had Sadiq been a free man and not having the poor Greek worry every day for his stupid safety, he would have smacked the other for that comment, but now wasn't the right time.
"How are you holding up? That stupid sheriff is treating you alright, right?"
"Sheriff Jones isn't a bad guy, Hera." Sadiq promised. "He's way better than the last guy. He's feeding me properly, never hits me, doesn't even yell at me."
"He's the police." Heracles reminded him.
"He's just a kid, darling. He doesn't even know why I'm in here. He's a sweet kid." Sadiq said in an attempt to calm the younger man down. "Vargas is the only bad guy there really is. The Jones-kid is only doing his job."
"I hate seeing you in here."
"I hate being in here when you're risking your life out there. If anything happens to you..."
"Nothing will happen to me. I promise. Just promise me to be alive when I see you again"
"Nothing will bring me down, little princess."
"Don't push your luck." Heracles warned him. "I have to go now, or Jones's gonna catch me. Don't get into trouble while I'm gone."
"I won't, kiddo."
Heracles got up of the ground but before I left I turned around again and hunched at the window again.
"By the blood that runs in my veins, I swear to you, Sadiq Adnan; I will get you out of here if so it's the last thing I do." Heracles grabbed Sadiq's hands once more, squeezing them in comfort. "Hang in there."
"For you, babe."
One last squeeze and then Heracles Karpusi got up and ran like he'd done almost every day for the last seven years.
Thank you for reading so far *hugs* some hints of USUK in here too :-D
Please review