This will be my first big contribution to the Yumikuri fandom, and the SNK fandom. I'm looking forward to this being a fun ride, but please, this will contain triggering material so always check the notes at the beginning in case you have a trigger.
Triggers for this chapter: drowning, violence, manipulation, death.
I'm shooting for an update a week, but I might put out two if I have the ability to do so.
If you want the song in the chapter, it's called Bottom of the River by Delta Rae.
"Oh, Daddy ain't gonna be happy wit' ya, Hannah." The girl in the doorway taunted, a twisted smirk curling on her pretty face. A stark contrast to her twin's mortal terror, frozen in her place by her sister's presence.
A deeper voice came from behind the girl in front, interrupting the stare off between the two blondes. "N-No! Miss Reiss, ya ain't gotta tell the mast'ah 'bout this!" The slave woman's voice laced with the fear her lover felt but could not speak.
Her sun darkened skin clashed with the pale flesh of Hannah's as she scrambled to pull her up from the ground.
"Miss Reiss—"
"Sarah—"
"Silent," Sarah commanded, enjoying the power she had. Her perfect sister caught rolling around with the monstrous slave? Oh, the scandal she could tell her friends and absolutely ruin Hannah's chance with any good man in the town. "Y'know wha', sis? If it wer'n't for th' fact ya let th' freak talk for ya, I might'a let ya get away wit' this but you ain't got a single word t'say!" She laughed, pushing her sister's lover out of the way to pin Hannah to the wall.
"Daddy'll be so cross! He might whip both'a'ya t'death for tarnishing our good name! I can't imagine the hoots an' hollers y'all'll get from e'eryone!"
Hannah's dark eyes went wide, her stomach rising into her throat. No! She wouldn't let Lawry get injured on her behalf again! They were so close to making it out of the town and up north where she could be a free person! Blue met brown in a brief moment, her eyes flashing panic and anger. "Sarah, father won't care 'bout me bein' wit' a slave if there ain't no one to tell 'em."
Fair brows knitted together, confused. "I don' think ya understan'. Y'ain't talkin' yer way out of thi—"
A sickening crack of stone against bone echoed through Hannah's ears as Sarah fell to the ground and Lawry kept her eyes locked on Hannah.
Stepping over her sister's body, she leaned over, watching for her chest to rise and fall to signal life.
"'nah?" Lawry asked, shaking as she reached for Hannah's wrist to pull her back up. "Wha've I done? Wha' did ya make m'do!" Her voice started to rise as everything set in. She hit a white woman—her owner's daughter—with a rock! She was going to hang high for sure!
Gentle hands manipulated Lawry's face to look at Hannah's, panicked but calming. "I… I couldn't let 'er hurt ya'! I acted on wha' Momma taught us and y'were the nearest person!"
"Yer Momma died fer usin' that!" The older woman said, shaking Hannah roughly.
Hannah yanked Lawry down for a kiss, if only to silence her for a moment, before letting her go. "Help me move 'er t' the last shack in the village. We'll fix this t'night." She said, holding Lawry's hand to her chest, over her heart. "Trus' me, m'love. Jus' trus' me."
As daylight turned to dusk, and dusk to moonlight, the two waited separately, waiting for candles to go out. It was going too slow for Hannah's liking. Her daddy would be asking questions before breakfast the next morning about her sister.
Out the backdoor and down the path, bare feet made no sound on the grass or footpaths. Neither lover said a word as they found one another. There was nothing to say. It was their safety over hers, and no one would truly miss the girl, right? She made people miserable for fun, claiming to be touched or harassed by slaves to see them whipped… Hannah couldn't imagine a sicker mind.
"Did y' bring th' cotton like I asked?" Hannah murmured as she glanced up, waiting for Lawry to nod.
"Ay. Are ya sure ya don' need it?" She replied, pulling out the pieces picked from the land and looked to the blonde she stupidly fell in love with.
Hannah shook her head. "She ain't got th' ability t' control me. Shared womb, shared soul. Put 'em in, Lawry." She pulled open the door to the shack, finding the same face that had stared at her for her entire life, disgruntled and cross.
Almost immediately, Sarah started to thrash around, making as much noise as possible to ring out through the thick, damp southern air. The gag was tight, but she could still slam her feet down and make a ruckus.
"Get 'er legs." Hannah stepped down on Sarah's knees, keeping her from moving until Lawry had them. She wanted this done as fast as possible, lest someone catch them. "And put yer cotton in. Thick an' deep."
Her weight was nothing to the slave worker, handling Sarah like a bale of hay as Hannah walked behind her. Reaching forward, she took the gag from her sister's mouth.
Sarah coughed, rotating her jaw with a dry laugh. "Really funny, Hannah. Y'ain't got th' gall t' hurt me."
"I ain't said I would hurt ya. Yer my blood. Blood harming blood has it's consequences." Hannah stepped over a puddle with grace, lifting her skirt to not get it dirty. "I can't let y' ruin wha' we've got planned."
Another laugh ripped from her throat, cut short by Lawry adjusting her on her shoulder. "An' wha've ya got planned? Run off wit' th' slave an' have a family? Is she gonna pretend t' be a man an' you'll marry 'er? So niave, Hannah."
"Shut yer mouth. Ain't no one gonna judge us up there but God 'imself." The blonde shook her head with a smile, soft and sweet. Married? They had already snuck off and done that, blessed by Marcus in the village. No one else could make her believe differently.
The silence enveloped them, only the sound of footsteps to keep them company with Lawry deaf with cotton.
Softly, Sarah started to hum a familiar tune, mumbling the words under her breath.
"It's not gonna work. No one here t'hear but me an' I can't fall fer it." Hannah said, looking ahead to see the lake on their neighbor's land.
"The lord's gonna come for yer first born son," Sarah continued, getting more clear word by word. "The Lord's gonna come for your first born son. His hair's on fire and his heart is burning. Go to the river where the water runs. Wash him deep where the tides are turning." Twin sets of dark blue eyes locked on one another. "And if you fall… And if… you… fall..."
The longer she sang, the more twisted her face became. The edges of Hannah's vision started to go dark. Thin wisps of dark smoke lapped around her, answering to their owner's calling.
Hannah gently pushed on Lawry's back, beckoning her to go faster. That song only meant trouble.
"The wolves will chase you by the pale moonlight… drunk and driven by a devil's hunger," Sarah sang louder, in no rush to finish, as if the mere threat of the song was enough.
"It's not gonna work, Sarah! I won' let ya take 'er away from me!" Hannah said louder, her once confident and sweet expression regaining it's apathetic facade she used to mask her unwanted emotions.
"Drive your son like a railroad spike! Into the water, let it pull him under~!" Undeterred, she continued, adding a giggle in. This was fun. Death was never a threat to their kind. She would be reborn, just like Momma said.
Scowling, Hannah pushed Lawry faster, determined to get her to stop singing and cut her song short. The two stopped at the edge of the water, just long enough for Hannah to come forward and rip Sarah from Lawry's shoulder.
The twin screamed as she fell into the water, but as she surfaced, her song rang loud and clear. Panic was setting in for Hannah. Her vision getting darker.
"Hannah- there's somethin' here wit' us-" Lawry nearly shouted, ears clogged with cotton.
"Don't you lift him, let him drown alive. The good Lord speaks like a rolling thunder!" Sarah barely kept herself above water with her limbs tied, treading water to finish her song. "Let that fever make the water rise and let the river run dry!"
Acting on impulse, Hannah jumped into the water. The song had to stop! Sarah had to be silenced! "It's a long way down to the bottom of the river! Hold my hand!"
A shout came from Lawry on the ledge, falling on deaf ears. "Wha're ya doin'!? Y'can't hurt 'er!" Lawry reached down into the water, trying to ignore the demons dancing around them. Her hand hooked into Hannah's dress, pulling her back.
"Long way down, long way down!" Sarah finished, laughing harder as Hannah fought to get away from Lawry. "We're bound, sis! We ain't meant to be apart! Yer hands put m' in here! My blood will bathe yer hands for a millennium now!"
Ripping away from Lawry, Hannah lunged at Sarah and held her under the water. "Damn ya! Damn ya and yer corrupt soul!" She screamed, angered by her sister's words and the actions that led them to the lake.
Sarah's body fought for a while longer, struggling for air even as her spirits swirled around the lovers. Hannah only wanted a happy ending for her and Lawry. She couldn't have cared less about anyone else. Blood or not, but Sarah had to ruin it! She had to ruin everything!
Her anger fueled her movements and will, no longer concerned about people hearing or finding them.
It seemed like an eternity, but Sarah soon went limp and stopped struggling, leaving Hannah panting for breath and her vision clearing. "Lawry… Lawry we did it!" Hannah said, turning back toward the lake edge. "Lawry…?"
The tall brunette stood there, her eyes solid black as the last wisps of the demon's smoke curled into her mouth and unclogged ears. "Lawry!" Hannah trudged up to the shore, catching her freckled lover before she hit the ground. "What've ya done?!"
In a blink of an eye, the black of Lawry's eyes disappeared, leaking out of her body as it went in, leaving a black mark on the side of her throat. "H-Hannah?"
"I'm here! I'm here…" She said, holding Lawry's face to see if she was okay. "Are ya…" Hannah knew better than to ask if Lawry was who she was. There was no way to tell if the demon had stayed or if they had only marked her. "Who married us?" She asked, tears brimming. This wasn't supposed to happen…
"W-What kinda question is tha', Han? Marcus… right? Right?"
Hannah laughed softly, resting her forehead against Lawry's, gripping her wife as tight as possible.
"Historia?"
The blonde sat up, staring at Lawry, eyebrows came together. "Whose Historia?"
"Historia, get up!"
All too suddenly, the world that seemed so real shattered in front of the blonde, sitting up as she clutched her chest. Her heart raced; it was as if she had been there, doing it herself. Every inch of her ached, burning with every movement as she fought to find her footing and awake headspace.
Right. Historia, not Hannah. I really need to stop watching old southern movies when I'm trying to sleep.
"If you don't hurry, the inquisition will be here before you're even dressed." Having forgotten about the person waking her up, Historia jumped and looked to her left to see her roommate, Annie, looking at her with the utmost apathy she had ever seen someone wear. "Get your ass up and down there before they drag you down. Or don't. It's been a while since we've had entertainment like Hanji dragging a girl out." Annie turned, going back outside their room and to whatever it was Annie did during the day. The girl was downright displeasing, but Historia was sure she had her strong points.
She turned to get out of the bed, placing her feet on the cold wooden floor.
It had only been a few days since she arrived to Saint Maria's School for Girls. And she wanted nothing to do with this today.
As always, I'm open for critiques and reviews help me more than you know! You can leave them here or at findingmyownhonor on tumblr! :D
