Light

Blood and Water

The echoing screams of agony were almost as horrible and earsplitting as the sounds that came from the reason for the poor woman's pain. Kuchel lay in her bed, panting and covered in a thin sheet of sweat, as her companions did their best to soothe her pain. One of the other girls, short with a lean frame yet a determined face, pressed a cold rag to her head as another's hand was broken by her vice like grip. "Not much longer now," the one forced to do the bidding of bringing an unfortunate child into this hellhole they called home, said sympathetically. None had seen a pain like this, yet the unbearable amount of pain that came just from seeing one suffering was enough to make them resent their lifestyles more than they already did.

"You can do it, Chel," the girl with the cold, wet rag, Carmen, said with soft brown eyes. Kuchel cringed and released another bloodcurdling and spine chilling scream as another wave of pain rippled through her body as contraction after contraction hit. "Merry fucking Christmas!" she screamed and the girl who would undoubtedly sport a broken hand chuckled with nervousness and pain. "You don't want to hear your baby's first words be a swear do you?" she asked as sweat bead down her forehead from the pain. Kuchel glared at her. "You have a watermelon headed baby come out of your vagina and control your language!" she snapped and the girl inched away before her other hand was grabbed as another contraction struck.

"One last push," the woman forced to deliver, Eris, said without hesitation. Kuchel nodded before screaming and giving all of her remaining energy into one last push. The disgusting sound of squelching and blood squishing made her cringe as she fell back onto the grime stained pillows. A resounding slap was heard before the cries of her newborn child echoed in all of their ears. "A boy," Eris said with a gentle smile that didn't meet her already darkly colored eyes as she wrapped him in a surprisingly and fairly clean towel. "Beautiful," Carmen whispered as she stared at the boy who already donned a head full of raven colored hair. "What're you going to call him?" the girl who clutched her hands, Rosemary, asked as she flexed her fingers with a grimace. "Levi," Kuchel said and the three women smiled, though Rosemary and Eris's smiles sat only within their lips. Not at all their eyes.

"Don't you think--?" whatever Eris was going to ask was never heard as another scream of pain left Kuchel, causing the baby, Levi, to scream with anger as Rosemary took him away. "Are you fucking serious?!" another voice, that of another woman, snapped. Carmen and Rosemary turned to see the owner of the voice standing there with fury in her dark green eyes. She had dark reddish brown hair and eyes that blazed like emerald colored fire at the moment with fair skin that was scarred along her bare arms and torso. "Two?" she asked and Carmen nodded hesitantly as Kuchel screamed in pain. "Two fucking hours with that little fat head," the woman who was known by the name of Scar, began with an accusing finger at the newborn. "And you've got another," she growled. "I DIDN'T FUCKING CHOOSE THIS!" Kuchel snapped as the unmistakable sound of another infant being removed was heard.

Another slap was heard and was followed by a cry just the same. "Shh," Carmen hushed the second child as she wrapped it in another blanket. "You didn't exactly keep your legs shut, either," Scar retorted sharply. "Don't go there," Eris said in a dangerously low tone as Kuchel fell back onto the bed. "I quit," she said simply. "Better hope there's not three," a masculine voice said from behind Scar, revealing a rather much more frightening appearing person.

He was tall with a lanky but dangerously scarred frame. His arms and legs and even his face and neck were littered with pale scars and even fresh cuts. He even sported a faint black eye and a cut lip as he leaned on the door frame with his arms folded over his chest. He wore a casual attire with a stained shirt that had surely once been white, but it was now splashed with sickly yellow and blood red from previous battles and the lack of proper cleaning as well as black pants and dark brown, worn down boots. His head, holding thin stranded black hair that was graying on the sides, lay against the wood and his eyes, brown as mud and darker than the night itself, stared at both children with an unknown emotion if there was any emotion at all.

"They can't stay, Ackerman," he said and the women glared at him, even Carmen. "She stays," Eris said threateningly. "She can stay, but her brats cannot," the man said and the firstborn, Levi, shifted at the sound of the word 'brat'. "I'm not giving up my children," Kuchel said as she attempted to lift herself up. "Sit down, stupid," Rosemary warned as she used her free hand to push her back down. "Give them to your brother," the man ordered. "You think Kenny Ackerman can be a father?" she asked darkly as she gratefully took the water from Eris. "Better than you could be a mother," he retorted and she hissed in a breath. "I told you to get rid of it before you got attached, now look at you. You think that client is going to come back or any client is going to come forward as the father?" he asked rhetorically.

She frowned. "I am not giving up my children," she said firmly. "You could hardly take care of yourself, what makes you think you can take care of two kids AND yourself?" he asked and she didn't answer verbally, but she glared at him again and flipped him off. "Go," Eris ordered and he made a tch sound before exiting the door frame and closing the door behind him.

"He is right, you know," Scar said, surprisingly sympathetically. "I can take care of myself... It's gotten better," Kuchel said. "For you, but it's going to get worse with two babies," Carmen said softly. "Well as long as she keeps herself fed and watered and doesn't get sick, they'll just have to live off tit milk," Scar said with a smirk and Kuchel flushed as she glared at her. "That's disgusting," Carmen said. "It'd work, probably," the redhead retorted with a nonchalant shrug. "You didn't give her a name," Carmen pointed out.

"You do know that Levi means "attached" or "pledged", right?" Eris asked. "Well, what would you name her then?" Kuchel snapped as she took each infant in a separate arm. "Something that means something better than this hellhole," Eris said simply. "Like what?" Rosemary retorted as she massaged her fingers. "We all look for light in this dark world. We all look for mercy in this cruel place," Scar said softly. "Something that means light," she said.

"Lucille," Eris said simply. "Lucille?" Kuchel asked with confused and narrowed eyes. "It means "light", and don't we all look for the light here?" she asked. "There is no light here, only candles and shadows," Scar said gently. "Maybe not for us, but maybe she could," Eris pointed out while pointing the girl who was nuzzled into her mother's arms. "You could maybe survive with one child, but that would mean sacrificing the other and if you're still going to prostitute... that's not giving much of a light to your daughter or a strong womanly figure. Then again, none of us could give her that," Rosemary said bitterly. "Then I'll take Levi," Kuchel said sorrowfully as tears welled in her dark eyes. The four women frowned and Carmen began to cry as well.

They would go with her if they had a choice, to leave the stripping place where they were forced to appease the men's sexual and primal desires. Kuchel was desperate enough to submit into prostitution, and while it did give her more money it also brought Levi and Lucille into this dark and cruel world that lacked light and mercy. They had promised to support Kuchel to the best of their abilities, without allowing her child near their workplace of regret and shame and sweat. But to have Kuchel keep one and give up the other... "We could make a deal with Homer," Carmen said instantly, referring to the man. "He wouldn't take it," Scar snapped. "I would do it..." Carmen said as she flushed. "If it meant helping Kuchel..." she said and the other four women instantly scolded her, Kuchel most of all. "And if some bastard put a bun in your oven?" the new mother snapped and Carmen lowered her eyes. "There is a thing called a condom, you know," Scar said. "I know," Kuchel grumbled.

"What if we took Lucille and you took Levi?" Carmen asked. "You could try to support two, even with Scar's stupid idea," she said awkwardly and Scar smirked. "I can support myself and a child better than I could support myself and two children..." Kuchel said quietly as tears began to stream down her cheeks. "But you shouldn't be burdened with my child," she said. "Blood is thicker than water," Scar said and the other four stared at her with confusion. "What?" Kuchel asked. "Blood is thicker than water. Water may give us sustenance and life, but blood keeps our hearts pumping. We may not be related by blood, unless it's really old back to the times where you'd screw your mom and your sister," Scar explained bluntly and the others grimaced with disgust. "But we are your Sisters, so why would we not take care of our niece?" she asked rhetorically and Kuchel smiled sadly. "You're the worst and best sisters anyone could ask for. Even if you are perverted half the time," she said softly. "It's called being honest," Scar said with a huff. "I don't need to ask if you'd keep her safe and raise her well," Kuchel said, and they noted she hadn't said "raise her right" as others often did. "But of course," Scar said simply. "We are blood and water," Eris added. "And she is our newfound light."