A/N: Hello lovely people! This is my attempt at writing Bendy and the Ink Machine fanfiction. If you like it, that means a lot to me and I'm very grateful for your interest. If you don't, that's fine as well and I appreciate you for at least reading this.
Small warning: This story contains brief and vague mentions of sex and child abuse.
Also, I posted this on Tumblr under skyblue199 if you want more info.
That said, onto the story!
1911
Lampposts buzzed overhead as Mother Shirley Hammonds walked out of the wine shop. Merlot bottles for tomorrow's mass swished and clanked in her arm as she made her way back to the church. She fiddled with the cranberry red glass beads on her rosary with the other hand, praying under the moon and stars against the sound of roaring steam engines from finely polished automobiles.
Shirley was an abbess at the Second Chances Church & Nunnery. The abbess was just a simple country girl from the hot deserts of Texas. Born and raised under the bible's teachings, she quickly learned to worship God through the church like everyone else, but went beyond expectations at a young age. When she was five, she organized an entire sermon on the meaning of joy. At six years old, she composed a new Christmas gospel and got the church chorus to sing it during mass. She went from being a churchgoer to an alter girl at age seven. From adolescence, she had a talent of bringing peace and comfort to those in need. From volunteering in soup kitchens to teaching children how to read, she became known as Texas's angel. Realizing she had a gift, she decided that other people across America needed salvation from sin. So, with her family's blessing, her small town donated her a ticket to the biggest cesspool of temptation and sin in America on her 18th birthday; New York City.
Despite her young age, the nunnery opened their doors and initiated her into their church. Her prayers and services were noticed by the former abbess, earning her admiration. It didn't take long for her to rise up among her peers. Within three years, after the former abbess passed away, Shirley became the new abbess of her nunnery, leading her and her fellow God worshipers of the church.
As she walked under another lamppost, a piece of her robe snagged itself on a crack, catching her off-guard. Tossing the bottles aside, she broke the fall with her hands, scratching them in the process. The bottles shattered as Merlot stained the pavement and trickled its way to a sewer drain. Her palms stung against the open air, making her hiss under her breath. The large forming bruises on her legs made her wince when she moved. Before she could try to stand, a gloved hand extended itself to her from the darkness. A light pink blush crossed her cheeks when he stepped into the light. She was entranced by her rescuer's dashing smile. Her eyes wandered to his slicked back hair that adorned a fedora. She noticed how his gray pinstriped suit outlined his tall slim figure. His large polished black leather spat shoes glistened under the lamppost's light, making her gulp with anticipation. His eyes were hidden by his fedora's shadow, but she knew that he was gazing at her with intent. She placed her hand into his, despite the pain, tenderly gripping it as she stood up.
"Are you alright, Sister?" he asked, placing a kiss on her hand. "That looked like a nasty spell."
Shirley recoiled her arm as if his kiss burned like a freshly lit stove.
"I'm fine. Nothing a little prayer can't heal. Now, if you'll excuse me."
But the stranger stepped in front of her, blocking her way. Shirley's blush grew as he persisted. She wouldn't admit it, but she was starting to think unholy thoughts about the man.
"Wait, at least let me patch you up. Wouldn't want people thinking you're a simp," he said, stepping closer to her.
With some reluctance, Shirley offered her hands to him. He took out two handkerchiefs and wrapped her palms, his touch lingering on each hand. Shirley bit her lip the longer he stayed.
"You know, Sister, there's this shindig a few skips from here. Maybe we could get to know each other?"
"Shirley."
"Pardon?"
"My name is Shirley, not Sister."
"Shirley, huh? Isn't that the bee's knees? Well, Shirley, if you're not busy, I—"
"No," she said, taking a timid step away from the beautiful stranger, "My God and Sisters need me to prepare for tomorrow. I think He wants me to go now."
"Shirley," he said, stepping closer and pulling her into his embrace, "I think God meant for us to meet."
She breathed in his cologne as she leaned against his chest. Her heartbeat raced and her breath deepened with each passing second. She feebly tried to push the stranger away, yet she yearned for his touch. For the first time in her life, temptation clouded her Lord's teachings. She wanted more. So much more.
"Perhaps, but not like this," she said.
A wicked smile spread across his face, his hands tracing down her back.
"Then let's introduce ourselves like Adam and Eve did."
Shirley smirked as she stretched out her arms and loosely hung them over his toned shoulders.
"You sound more like a demon than Adam."
He grasped her chin and leaned close, his whisky breath intoxicating her senses.
"Well, I can be rather beastly if you prefer."
Whatever hesitation she might have had melted away as he leaned down to meet his lips with hers. Shirley moaned as their passionate kiss deepened. The stranger carelessly removed her vail, running his fingers through her dark brown hair. His touch burned under her skin. Shirley grabbed his tie and made their way into an empty alley, whispering sweet nothings and embracing each other under the moonlight.
Shirley massaged her throbbing head as morning came. She woke up on the pavement with her clothes amiss and her rosary's glass beads decorating the alley floor. The stranger was gone, and in his place was five dollars and the bitter taste of old whisky. Grime stained her robes and last night's mishandlings tattered them to rags.
"That grafter," she said as she tried to salvage the remains of her clothing.
Shirley limped to the nunnery's back door as sunlight peeked over the horizon, wincing with every step. The tiled floor threatened to announce her presence against the high curved ceiling, enhancing every sound regardless of volume. Just as she passed the archives, a few novices could be heard around the corner chattering about a scripture. Shirley crouched behind a nearby statue, holding her hands against her mouth until silence overtook the space again. Sneaking past the other nuns making breakfast, she wobbled down the corridor until she reached her room. A gentle voice called out to her before she could turn the handle.
"Mother Shirley?"
Shirley jumped, making her wince again. Sister Maria Ellison stood behind her, grasping her rosary with her trembling wrinkled hand. Before Shirley came, she was supposed to be the church's next abbess since she was the oldest nun, but gracefully stepped to the side as Shirley took over. She never saw Shirley in such disarray. She reached out to tend to her wounds, but Shirley dashed behind her door with a slam.
"Mother, are you alright? Mother?"
Maria jiggled the doorknob, but it didn't turn. Before Maria could knock, Shirley opened the large oak door a crack.
"Tell the others to start without me. I trust you to lead the prayer, Sister Maria."
"Mother—"
"Now, Sister Maria."
Maria stepped away slowly, contemplating what she saw, but put it in the back of her mind as she followed her Mother's orders. Shirley hid her wounds and limp with a stone face later that afternoon.
Several weeks later, Shirley kneeled with the other nuns on the altar leading their morning prayer. Their Hail Mary's were interrupted when Shirley threw up into her bible. The nuns carried their Mother to the infirmary, each praying for Shirley's health. After an hour, a nurse stepped out to a herd of nuns demanding a diagnosis. The nurse looked at them with sullen eyes. Shirley's stomach grew rounder and she missed her cycle. She was pregnant.
The nuns pushed the nurse aside and stormed into the room wide eyed. Shirley was crying in a bed wearing a white nightgown, hiding her hands with her face. Her robes laid folded on a chair with her vail on top. She wiped her tears before announcing to her followers:
"I was raped by a demon!"
1912
After Shirley's pregnancy was announced, she was forced to step down as abbess, making Maria the new Mother of the church. Such an action normally would have anyone excommunicated, but Maria took pity on her, despite her sin. Maria decided to let her stay and raise her child in the church. If it was a girl, she would be raised to be a nun. If it was a boy, he would be raised to be a priest.
As the nuns began preparing for their future member, Shirley's fall from grace left her in shambles. She couldn't eat in the dining hall without thinking that everyone was judging her, even the statues guarding the church. Everyday felt like a punishment, and the baby that occupied her uterus infuriated her to no end. It was as if God made it the personification of her sin. She tried everything to get rid of it. She began to drink more wine, throw herself down stairs, and even slam her stomach against any table corner when no one was looking. Despite her efforts, the baby kept growing as time passed. After nine months, Shirley gave birth to a baby girl, Mary Hammonds, much to the nunnery's pleasure until they saw her face.
In Shirley's efforts to take away her pregnancy, she ended up giving Mary Autism and a hideous complexion. Her right eye was as brown as chocolate with a patch of smooth pale skin above it, but the rest of her face was scarred pink, puckered, and shined in the light. Her left eye had no pupil and was as white as a cloud. Shirley used Mary's appearance to prove that a demon deflowered her and that Mary was the Antichrist. The house of God that welcomed everyone with sanctuary became Mary's prison from Hell.
The nuns feared for their salvation, thus they kept her at arm's length and disallowed her to become part of their congregation. All except Maria. Maria tried her best to give Mary comfort despite her fear. She held Mary when Shirley wouldn't, fed her, bathed her, and taught her how to speak before starting school. She was like the mother Mary wanted Shirley to be.
When Mary was a few years old, Shirley took out her hidden frustration on Mary behind closed doors. Mary was subjected to physical abuse under the guise of the bible for every misdoing, no matter how small, leaving more scars on her back. Of course, since everyone though that she was the daughter of Satan, they turned a blind eye and sang their gospels louder when they even heard Mary cry.
Never the less, no matter how bad the abuse was, Shirley couldn't break Mary's smile. She saw life's small joys, like summer breezes and freshly picked flowers. She tried to tell the nuns about her mother's wrongdoings when she was older, but they either fled or claimed that it was out of love. Although Shirley told her that God despised Mary, she prayed to Him every day for years for one thing: a new life with lots of friends. Her prayer finally came true in 1930.
