General disclaimer: This is not my sandbox. I'm just playing in it
By the way, I made the image for this story, so I hope you like it.

Rated: It's AHS, so how can it not be M?

Chapter 1: Death

I died on a Sunday.

I regret not looking at the date but I know it was afternoon.

The sun was bright. The sky was blue. The air was warm.

Typical California weather

I was getting ready to visit the graveyard and bring some flowers to my brothers.

Lilium

Instead of visiting them, however, I joined them.

Permanently

Or so I thought

Death must be so beautiful.

I used to say when I attended a wounded soldier.

To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence

They liked it. Not many of them had found love in books

To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow

It was a good distraction, I suppose.

A distraction from the real world

A distraction from death

To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace

Once I was dead, I did not find peace. I didn't see my brothers or my father or my late grandparents whose face I had long forgotten.

I cannot say I was suffering though. I did not hear a crying baby like I used to in my sleep. Nor did I see blood in my hands. There were no screams of dying soldiers or sounds of bombs near my head.

There was only silence and blackness

At some point, I lost the sense of my body. There was only numbness… and darkness…

You can't forget the darkness

The thing about death – or the in between, since this is not heaven nor hell – is, it gets you thinking… a lot. I questioned all my life choices, what I did and didn't do and occasionally my thoughts would go back on the living; my brother, my mother, and of course, my husband.

It was pointless, of course. Given the fact that I was in nothingness, there was no reason to think about the living.

They were unreachable

Those who cannot sleep, should not dare to dream

How long was I here? I don't know. A week? A month? An eternity? I wasn't aware how long I would remain in this limbo… but-

Still here. But something changed. There was a tug, right below where my navel would normally reside - had I still a body. It feels like a string – and was pulling me forward.

This is the end

It should hurt…

But also, the beginning

…but it didn't

Still here. But something changed. There was a tug, right below where my navel would normally reside, had I still a body. It feels like a string – and was pulling me forward.

This is the end

It should hurt…

But also, the beginning

…but it didn't

Somewhere along the way, there had been a plunge. Now the string anchored me to a warm encasement of soft flesh and liquid. My mind was too far gone to register anything but comfort.

Tiredness swelled. Odd. I had never felt exhausted before.

I vaguely wondered if I would ever wake up

I didn't

At least I hadn't yet

Not entirely

Mostly, I just dozed. It was better than before at least. Before I couldn't sleep at all. Now I faded in and out of awareness. Though, any awareness I achieved was limited to slight vibrations and muted voices.

I was concerned

Had someone joined me? Or was I moved somewhere else?

Something changed again. It woke me, but I would rather it hadn't. All around, in all directions, I was being pushed and shoved. I felt suffocated.

It hurt. It was like dying all over again, so I struggled which apparently it wasn't a good plan. If anything, moving made the compression tighten.

I hated it because I was scared

What is happening?

The pressure continued building and then- I was free.

But this freedom was a cage. The squeezing pain was nothing compared to the biting cold that greeted me upon delivery. For starters, I was blind, my hearing impaired and my body immobile. I could feel hands on my body but they brought me no relief. So, I screamed. And screamed.

I did not feel my heart ache when I heard a baby crying

I was far too shocked over the fact that it was I.