Hummingbird // AHS Hotel

Chapter Twelve: The Undead

♪ Arms Tonite - Mother Mother ♪

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"Charlotte?" I opened my eyes, recognizing Elizabeth's voice. "Charlotte, I'm so sorry," she said as I looked up at her. I was laying in her lap, her arms holding me tightly. What alarmed me the most was that she was crying--something I'd never seen before.

"I'm so sorry, darling," she whispered, reaching a hand up to stroke my hair. "I was too late."

"What are you talking about?" I looked at her, my heart sinking. "What's going on?" Sally, Liz, and John were all gathered around us, looks of concern on their faces. James was standing a little further away, looking strangely solemn.

"Do you remember what happened?" Sally asked, placing a gentle hand on my arm. I struggled to sit up, realizing we were in the middle of a hallway. Elizabeth helped me, propping me up against the wall.

"Remember what?" My eyes darted around to all of them, searching for an answer. "You're scaring me."

"Honey, you got shot," Sally continued, tears falling down her cheeks. "We tried our best to save you."

"I was too late," Elizabeth said, wiping away tears from her own face. "I tried to turn you, but you were already gone."

A knot started forming in my stomach. I remembered Sally and John fighting over a gun, and then it accidentally went off. I remembered looking down at myself, seeing the wound, but not feeling anything. Presently I looked down: I was wearing the same clothes as before but there was no blood, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Am I dead?" I asked, my voice shaking. Their collective silence told me the answer. "Oh my god." I leaned into Elizabeth, and she began stroking my hair again as everyone offered their condolences and apologies.

"It's really not that bad," Sally said, forcing a smile. "Trust me, you won't even notice it after a while."

I looked around me at the carpeted floor and the beige walls, the hallway starting to feel more and more like a prison now that I realized I would be stuck here forever.

"Who's that?" I said, spotting someone on the ground a few yards away through the crowd of people around me.

"Shh, don't look at that," Elizabeth said, attempting to shield my vision by gently placing my head against her with her hand as I took a shuddery breath. It was too late: as Sally and John stood up, walking over to whoever it was, my eyes fell upon the person in horror. I recognized the person's clothes, her hair, her hands. It was me. My corpse. I heard Sally and John talking in hushed voices with James, discussing what they would do with the body. I caught the word "basement," imagining my body being thrown onto one of the ever-growing piles of this hotel's victims.

"You'll be okay, my love," Elizabeth said to me, planting a kiss on the top of my head. "But you..." Her voice suddenly changed as she glared at the people around us. She stood up, attracting the attention of the huddle nearby. "Whoever did this to her will not be so lucky." She pointed at me, and I looked at the faces of the people around me, each displaying some combination of fear and worry.

"If the person who did this is still living—" she glanced at Liz and John, "they will surely be joining Charlotte soon in her new state as a ghost. And if the person is already one—" her eyes lingered on James and Sally, "I will make sure they suffer immensely."

"It was an accident," Sally and I said in unison. Her lip trembled as she spoke, tears still pouring down her face.

"You don't have to cover for her," the Countess said to me gently.