Daughter of Darkness (AHS: Apocalypse)

Ch. 16 - Passing the Torch

The three made it back to the Vanderbilt suite so that John could shower the dried blood off his newly-resurrected body. He got dressed in a brown shirt and put a black, high-collar jacket over it with black pants and his rather-plain shoes. From there, they travelled to the Clinic in a hurry, using transmutation to get there faster. Once they were in the building, they ran down the initial hallway to the check-in desk, where Elijah asked about his mother.

"Where is Mallory?" he asked. "My mother."

"In the Euthanasia unit," the receptionist said.

"What?!" he exclaimed. "What room?!" He did not know about his mother's condition, as she kept it secret from him. The receptionist looked back at John, who smirked at her seductively and licked his lips. Melanie gave him a side glance with disgust. That didn't change a bit, she thought.

"Your mother is Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt, right? She was asking if we had seen you," she said.

"Yes, I'm back. Surprise, surprise. I'm alive. Tell that old bat to stop worrying about me," John chuckled.

Elijah rolled his eyes: "which room?"

"Second floor, room 244," the receptionist directed.

"Thank you."

As they walked through the halls of the Clinic, transmuted up a floor in the stairwell, Elijah was wrought with confusion and disbelief. Why would Mallory elect to kill herself by euthanasia? Had she been terminally ill, and he didn't notice? Or perhaps she didn't tell him, out of fear he would take an emotional fit or be angry with her. They neared room 244 and the door was ajar. He opened it and stepped in, then Melanie and lastly John, the latter who saw his mother, Coco. She stood up from her chair and looked at her son in horror.

"John Vanderbilt," she said through gritted teeth. "Where the fuck have you been?!"

"Doesn't matter where I've been, because I'm here," John snapped back. "Why don't you stop worrying and tell us what's going on with Elijah's mom?"

"She's very sick," Coco replied, looking at Mallory's son, who was at his mother's side. Mallory was in the bed, under the covers, attached to an IV drip. He looked up at the label and it read: FENTANYL – POTASSIUM CHLORIDE – PANCURONIUM BROMIDE – SODIUM THIOPENTAL. His heart was in his throat, struggling to get down a dry gulp as he put his hand on his mother's forehead. She weakly turned to face him, and saw the tears deluging in his eyes. It was almost like she was struggling to speak.

"Mom..." he sobbed. "W-Why are you doing this to me? Please...w-whatever I did, I'm sorry... so sorry..."

"It's not you..." she trailed off. He listened to her further: "I have... had this... condition... m-metastasis, since you were four, I found out j-just a few months ago...I couldn't tell you... b-because... y-you could not fully understand..."

"Understand?" Elijah whined, "what do you mean, mom?"

"The person inside... inside me... it's always tried to... c-crawl out... b-but it's in you now..." Mallory struggled to speak as the IV drip of lethal drugs was coming into her system and taking their toll.

"Mom... this is going to sound insane, but... y-you were... a Witch," he said with tearful, fierce pride. "The Supreme Elect... y-you mastered all Seven Wonders... I mastered six of seven so far... I..." He paused and thought for a minute. "Am I..."

"Yes..."