!M-Rated Chapter!

!TRIGGER WARNINGS!

War

Air raids

Explosions

Narrow spaces

Sexual abuse

25th July 1943

Mary lay on the bed with her hands clasped over her stomach and stared at the ceiling. It was about one o'clock in the morning and she had been in Hamburg since early noon. Hamburg-Altona, to be precise.

Actually it was not strange at all, after all she was often working in various European countries as a nanny. But she didn't have a good relationship with Hamburg.
Because whenever she was in this city, unpleasant memories came to her.

Memories full of insecurity.
Memories full of guilt.
Memories full of pain.

Several years ago something happened in this city, in this very part of the city and that could never change. She was sure that even if she had the power to turn back time, she couldn't undo certain things.
For years she had been consuming these feelings and tried to forget them, to suppress them.
But it was getting harder and harder for her and at that moment she had the feeling that she finally had to speak plainly.
After all, there was one person who was also affected by the events of that time, but did not know anything about it.
Mary chewed her lip as she considered how to confess to this person.

Should she just tell that person the next time they saw each other?
Should she write this person a letter?
Or should she do exactly what she's been doing all along and be silent?

It was also an odd coincidence that she was reunited with the family she had helped back in 1923. Only this time the eldest of the three children from back then was the mother of a daughter.
Yes, Gerda Seeler still knew her, but both quickly agreed that they would introduce Mary as Maria Schmidt. Anything else would be too risky in times like these.
But why was she with this family of all people!? It wasn't easy for Gerda and her daughter Elke, but she would probably be needed more urgently elsewhere. And why was she in Hamburg and not somewhere in England?

Questions after questions swirled around in her head when suddenly a sound reached her ears that neither she nor anyone else wanted to hear: sirens.

With a racing pulse, she went into the nursery which was right next to her room. Only Mary and eight-year-old Elke were in the house. Gerda was a nurse and had to take over the night shift for a colleague who had just lost everything.

"Elke?" she called when she couldn't see the girl.

"I'm here."

Mary followed the voice and bent down to lift the blanket off the floor. The little brunette girl lay under the bed and covered her ears.

"Come," Mary said and stretched out her hand to show Elke that she wasn't alone.

As they walked down the stairs, Mary tried to focus on her feeling that the bunker down the street was the better shelter and not the basement.
Meanwhile, the noise of aircraft engines grew louder and they already heard the first explosions.

"If I say 'now' you run to the bunker, do you understand?"

Elke looked at her with a frightened look: "And what about you, Maria?"

"I'll be right behind you, taking care of you."

The girl nodded and got ready; she was stretched like a bow.

Mary, on the other hand, closed her eyes and tried again to focus on her feelings. Yes, her magic was strong, but normally she let wind and logic guide her rather than instinct. But she learned from Elizabeth that this isn't all that wrong.
On the other hand, the young lady was also a master at letting her feelings guide her.

Despite everything, Mary opened the door when her instinct told her that now was the right moment and called out "Now!"

Elke ran onto the street, closely followed by the nanny. The little one tried to concentrate on the way, while Mary kept the all-round view. A look at the sky sent a shiver down her spine: there were planes everywhere; British by the looks of it.
It wasn't long before the two arrived at the bunker and settled down, panting and shivering - It was cramped and stuffy

While Mary let her gaze wander over the other people of Hamburger, Elke snuggled up to her and buried her face: "I want to be with my mother."

"She will be safe... I'm sure of it."

The nanny held her closer and covered her ear so she wouldn't hear the explosions.
But while Mary tried to block out the noise, a voice in her head got louder and louder. "You must reveal your secret soon, Mary Poppins. It's either that or it's not going to end well."

-

26th July 1943

Elizabeth sat on the mossy forest floor, leaning against a massive beech tree as she absentmindedly braided blades of grass and watched the ducks on the nearby pond. It was hot and dry, so she had her shirt unbuttoned quite wide and her sleeves rolled up.

Bert and Andrew were fighting again and her foster father had sent her away before she would cast another spell that would tie her to a tree again.
Not wanting to repeat the incident herself, she obeyed and walked away.

It's been unusually quiet the past few days. There were no traces of other soldiers, nor was there any news of any successful or unsuccessful operations.
And there were no letters from Mary either.

In her last letter she said that the wind was turning for her and that she was getting ready for a new family soon. She said that it would go to Hamburg, but that it would not be the first time that she was in Germany. Besides, Liz would have been there, too.
Elizabeth wouldn't worry too much after a text like that if it took a while for new mail to arrive. But something was different.
On the one hand because of the way it was written and on the other hand because an oppressive feeling spread through her.

She put down her braided work of art and let her head fall against the tree. A few rays of sunshine fell through the dense foliage and created a play of light and shadow on her face.
Elizabeth tried to banish all her evil thoughts for just a moment and closed her eyes to get a few minutes of rest.

But her brief rest did not last long, for not far away she heard a harsh voice cursing. She opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the source: Andrew was walking straight towards her.

'Just ignore him,' she thought to herself, letting her head fall against the trunk again. But that was a mistake - she should have walked away.

Her eyes widened when two strong hands grabbed her collar and a stinky breath rushed into her face. Andrew reeked of cigarettes, stale alcohol, sweat and dirt - a smell Elizabeth's nose had to smell too often.

"Now to you!"

"Let go of me, you bastard!" Liz growled, trying to free herself from his grip, but he was just too big and strong. So she didn't have much choice but to let herself be pressed against the tree and wait until he finally let her go.

He ignored her. Instead, his gaze slid down and he examined her chest and a dirty smile spread across his face, revealing his yellow teeth.

"On the other hand," he ran a hand to her shirt and played with the button, "you might be good for one thing after all."

"Are you deaf!? I said let me go!" Her voice had a note of panic, but he still ignored her.

He took her face in his hand with which he had just opened the button and apparently wanted to kiss her. Even though Elizabeth wasn't strong, she had another ability: she was fast.
When he briefly let go of her with his other hand to bring it to her shirt again, she took the chance and freed herself.

She ran in the direction he had come from, but stumbled over a root and fell to the ground - her shoelace had come loose and caught on a piece of wood.

"Shit!", she cursed and tried to free herself - but due to the rush she only made everything worse.

If she didn't have her gaiters on, she would have just taken off her shoe and gone on barefoot. But she would have had to wind up the gaiters first, which would have taken time.

Just as she freed herself, Andrew pinned her to the ground, "Hold still, dolly."

The young woman didn't listen to him and tried to free herself from the grip again, this time by trying to kick him somehow.
The sergeant was visibly annoyed by the fidgeting, which is why he gave her a violent slap in the face: "Hold still, I said!"
As he approached again, Liz had an idea. She looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and only a little later he let go of her and staggered.

Andrew looked at his hands: they were on fire! The small flames swept around him and spread to his uniform and the dried leaves he had touched to keep from falling.

Elizabeth smiled maliciously before she got to her feet and ran back to the others.
As she did so, she buttoned her shirt and vowed she would never tell anyone about it.
All she needed now was an excuse for that swollen and bleeding cheek.

As soon as she reached the others, Bert, who was standing not far away and talking to Jerry Butterfield, looked in her direction.
She turned her battered face away and wanted to go to the paramedics to be able to treat the cheek a bit.

"Lizzy, wait."

Inwardly, the young woman cursed and would rather ignore him and just keep going. But she knew Bert and knew that if he wanted to know something, he wouldn't give up.
So she turned to him.

He opened his mouth to say something before seeing her cheek and pausing for a moment, "What 'appened?"

Liz was about to reply when a young private came around the corner and yelled, "There was a successful attack."

Both the Alfreds and a few others looked at him questioningly before turning away and continued minding their own businesses. There were almost constant attacks, so it wasn't anything special. Maybe it was something new for the private. After all, he hadn't been a soldier for long and even volunteered. He was probably so blinded by the propaganda that he felt something like pride after such attacks.
Pride - An emotion neither Liz nor Bert could understand at times like these. They, on the other hand, felt more of a feeling of disgust.

"Last night over Hamburg. A big German city."

Bert and Lizzy instantly looked at each other wide-eyed and their hearts began to race: Mary was in Hamburg.

I was FINALLY able to translate this chapter. Sorry again that it took me so long :/

And I wanted to wish you a happy 2022!

I'll try to finish this story this year, but fear not! I already planned a sequel and prequel ;D