Façade (AHS: Hotel)

Chapter 27

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NOTE: May contain explicit material. Discretion is advised.

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The following night, Angela took care to look her best knowing full well it would be her last dinner with Mr. March. Her dress, which came just above the knee, had a folding collar but it was hard to adjust because it was entirely covered with gold sequins sewn into the rather flimsy fabric. She also wore a pair of peep-toe nude heels and kept her hair down while wearing hot pink lipstick and heavy mascara with winged eyeliner.

When she knocked on the door to his suite, she felt rather nervous and was even feeling a sense of fear build up in her core—what if something bad were to happen on this final night dining with Mr. March? What if this was a trap for banishing John and his family from the hotel under threat of their deaths? What if the food was purposely poisoned for this reason?

Don't worry, she thought to herself, I don't think he'd do that. He saved me from jumping from a window for god's sakes.

Knock-knock!

The door opened to the same pitch-black eyes that captivated her, instilling more fear but at the same time making her feel sorry for the sense of longing he had. His grin was larger than life, but her eyes were caught onto his as if in a trance.

"Good evening, Miss Saxon," he said happily, extending his hand, "welcome."

She took his hand and after he closed the door for her, he led her to the opposite side of the long table adorned with a white tablecloth, polished silverware, and bronze candlesticks protruding flickering white, clean-burning tapers from the tops of them. Angela, however, noticed something odd about the vicinity, pointing it out as soon as March pulled out her chair for her to be seated before seating himself to a cigarette.

"Uh...Mr. March?" she asked.

"Yes, my dear?" he questioned, tapping the end of the rolled cigarette on his leather case.

"W-Where is Miss Evers?"

As soon as he got the flame from his lighter, March's intimidating, pitch-black gaze turned up to Angela, slowly dragging in the initial inhalation of the nicotine for three long seconds before slowly taking the lighter away. Putting the cigarette in his holder, he looked straight to her with a glare that made her heart shrink in her chest.

"Never mention her name again."

"Uh...what?" Angela said, looking at him with confusion before noticing there was no food prepared on the table, not even a glass of blood for her to drink from and satisfy her need to feed.

"She is banished from my presence," March replied with aggravation in his voice.

"Can you tell me why?" Angela pressed.

He was silent for a split second before responding: "well, the trollop confessed to betraying me all those years ago. She left behind a handkerchief for the police to encounter during their search here in the Hotel Cortez. I had used that same one to clean up some bloody evidence."

She continued to listen to him explain everything that happened in detail, feeling her hands shake on her lap as the need to feed on blood grew more intense with each passing moment.

"She wanted me for herself, and after all this time, she confessed her love for me," March said, his voice turning from calm aggravation to a sharp, piercing scream of anger and resentment: "I WOULD MUCH RATHER HAVE BEEN CAPTURED BY THE POLICE!" He took a breath. "ALL THESE YEARS SPENT DEAD AND ALONE IN MY OWN PRISON! MY ELIZABETH WOULDN'T EVEN DARE COME TO DINE WITH ME OUT OF DESIRE BUT OUT OF OBLIGIATION! I BELIEVED MISS EVERS TO BE LOYAL AND I GET STABBED IN THE DAMN BACK, DRIVEN TO SLASH MY OWN THROAT AFTER KILLING HER AS MY LAST VICTIM!"