"Beca-"

A voice called my name, hauntingly familiar though it was one I couldn't place.

"Beca-"

Lights, bright, blinding white lights glaring down at me. I wasn't sure if my eyes were open and if I was actually seeing what I was seeing.

"Rebeca."

A whisper.

I was home.

When Beca came to, it was difficult to see. Her eyes fluttered open briefly before she shut them tightly and turned her head away groaning.

Then, she almost immediately reopened them and shot up into a sitting position.

Where was her headache? The dizziness? The dry throat? Really, where were any of her symptoms of a hangover? Her hand reached up to touch the back of her head, right where it'd smashed against the stall of the bathroom multiple times. There wasn't a bump there, not a bruise. It wasn't even sore. Dumbfounded, she crossed her legs beneath her and rested her head in her hand. Upon looking at her surroundings...

She seemed to be in a hotel of some sort. In the lobby. There wasn't anyone else around; the place was practically empty. The check-in counter fostered a sign saying "Be Back in Ten". Beca must've passed out on one of the loveseats right there in the lobby the night before, though she hadn't a clue how she'd ended up here.

There were skylights overhead; the natural light blinding her again in its brilliance. There was a plush green carpet laying over delicate tan marble tiles. A large off-white couch was positioned across from where Beca sat, and to the left of her was another loveseat. Between the three chairs was an oval coffee table. There weren't any magazines on the coffee table, but there was a book. Small, with black covers; it was upside down.

Curious, Beca nearly picked it up to see what it was... however she forgot the idea when she caught a sight of the main entrance of the hotel. Large, wide, mechanically sliding glass doors that were framed under a beautifully decorative cream-colored arch featuring two smiling cherub faces. A way to leave this place (wherever she was). Fantastic.

Beca stood up to go, and started walking towards the door, when a voice called out to her from seemingly everywhere.

"I wouldn't go that way if I were you."

Beca startled, openly jumped at the noise and made a strangled cry before she twisted around to see where it came from.

There, sitting comfortably on the tall check-in counter with one leg dangling and the other slightly bent, grinning at her while munching on a deliciously red apple, was Stacie Conrad. It was a shock to Beca's system. Stacie was Beca's older half-sister by seven years. It was such a surprise because she'd been missing for over ten years.

"St- Stacie?!" Beca exclaimed incredulously. How could her sister be sitting there, right in front of her? "You don't look a day over twenty-one!" And it was true. In fact, despite her foggy memory Beca could've sworn that Stacie was wearing the clothes she'd been last seen in. The same clothes, the same hair. Rather than reply, Stacie just took another bite of her apple and flashed Beca that knowing smile that promised something Beca couldn't understand. As the juices ran down her chin from her latest bite, Stacie made sure to catch at them with her tongue before the flavor got away. "Stacie?"

After another few bites, the apple was gone and Stacie Conrad was left holding its core. She hopped down from the counter, taking a moment to stretch, before she tossed the core over to Beca. On reflex, Beca caught it in her hands. Then she almost dropped it just as quickly when she realized she was holding her sister's eaten apple core. Her face shifted from one of disgust to one of bewilderment, however, when she noticed that she wasn't holding an eaten apple.

Beca was holding one whole, delicious red apple in her hand. Smooth, shimmering, and so tempting to eat.

She blinked.

"That's because I am twenty-one, Beca," Stacie said slowly, as if speaking to a child, as she moved to stand behind the check-in counter. The taller brunette quickly did away with the "Be Back in Ten" sign, turning on a computer and grabbing a clipboard with multiple sheets of paper on it in its stead.

Horribly confused, Beca dropped the apple she was holding in favor of walking over to the sister she hadn't seen in ten years. Stacie almost looked disappointed by the act, her eyes now staring longingly at the bruised apple on the ground. It's luster seemingly gone. "But- but how-"

Beca had been fourteen when her twenty-one year old sister disappeared. It's been ten years.

Stacie simply smiled.

"Stacie, where have you been? All these years-"

"Working. I have a job here, you know. I don't get to stop just because I want to." Rolling her eyes, she continued darkly, "And most of us don't get to leave." She smiled suddenly, her face brightening immeasurably. "But maybe you can! Let me see what you're booked for-" As Stacie was typing away at the computer, the hotel's phone rang. It was an old, refurbished 1894 European telephone. The phone clattered in its holster. It was a miracle the thing rang at all. Stacie barely spared a glance at the phone. She let it ring. And ring.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Beca inquired, brows furrowing.

Stacie laughed at the question. "No, silly. That call's for you." She made a weird face at her computer, her hands finally stilling, leaving only the phone to ring on in the silence. She spoke as if talking to herself, "Oh, Beca. What a case this is." Sighing, she turned to the other girl, "Well?"

"Well, what?" Beca was genuinely confused.

"Aren't you going to answer the phone?"

Groaning out her exasperation for her sister, who still had yet to answer her questions, Beca answered the phone, "Hello?"

For a moment, she didn't hear anything... And then.

"Beca? Can you hear me?"

It was Her voice, crackling on the other end of the line, and Beca gasped.

"I don't know- if you can- but... I'm- I'm so sorry Beca." The other girl swallowed on the line.

"For everything. We're- we're going to do everything we can to help you get better."

Beca couldn't take the other girl's voice sounding like this, broken and scared and vulnerable, no matter what She'd done. "Chloe! Chloe, it's alright! I'm alright. I'll move on from this, just like every other time..."

"I'll- I'll be with you, every step of the way. Every single step. I promise."

"I'm fine, Chloe! I'm fine! It's fine."

"Oh, God, Becs- This is all my fault!"

"Chloe- I said it's okay-" Beca's eyes widened in panic as the girl who'd destroyed her burst out in sobs, just before the line when dead. All Beca heard then was the dial tone. She spun to face Stacie, whose face was stoic.

Stacie shrugged, plopping down in an office chair, crossing her arms. "We get bad reception from this side," she stated. "Most often they can't hear us."

Glaring, "Why? And how are you here? What happened to you? How did I get here? Where is here anyw-"

"Here," Stacie was laughing as she made a wide gesture. "Is limbo."

Scrunching up her nose in confusion, Beca attempted to clarify Stacie's meanign, "Like, that dance-y game limbo?"

"No. I mean limbo; as in the place called Limbo where dead people go when they don't belong in heaven or hell, or where people almost dead go to wait. People like you."

Wide eyed and unsure, "People like me?"

"Teah, you." For the first time since Beca found her sister, alive and well here (at some prissy hotel of all places) Stacie's face was deadly serious. "You're dying, Beca. That's why you're here. That's why she couldn't hear you," and there was that knowing smile again. "And I'm already dead."

Beca felt like her heart was pounding in her chest, racing. What's going on? None of this is true- Stacie can't be dead. Beca couldn't be dead, or dying, or whatever she was. In an effort to calm her heart, her hand flew up to clutch at her chest... except nothing was there. She couldn't feel a beat. There wasn't a beating in her heart. That racing she felt, that pounding in her chest-

"Welcome to Hotel Limbo," Stacie's teeth were a point too bright. "Your first and only stop before heaven or hell." She winked, "I hope you enjoy your stay. You get the family discount."

-A literally phantom feeling.

AN

I'm not sure that this is anything like I thought it was going to be, but I'm actually enjoying writing this. Also, any confusion about this was made purposefully. I don't want you to understand exactly what's happening just yet, though it might not be all that difficult to figure out. Keep it in mind.

Side note: Thanks for the support guys! Entirely worried about tomorrow, but I'll suck it up and adjust eventually. I just need a little time.

Dracossack:

While there admittedly isn't any direct plan into which direction this is taking, I love the supernatural and mystery just as much as you. Don't really have all that much "mystery" writing experience, so I can't promise I'll be too perfect in that aspect. But this will definitely, hopefully, be just as intriguing. I'm enjoying writing this story. Hope you continue to enjoy reading it!

Snow White Misery:

It's kind of funny; I say the same thing that you do. You know, "I wish I could write like you do, I really, really wish I could... but I'm only capable of reading." That sort of thing. I'm not really a fantastic writer, but I have fun with it. I just sort of write what I've got on my mind and it turns up here. Sometimes it's not particularly amazing, but it's something. I'm glad you're enjoying it. :)

Remix-This:

I think I'm going to be bringing Chloe into this fic in fragments; as memories or as a voice. Maybe as something more, a little major, a little later. We'll see. She's the one who broke Beca's heart; just in case I wasn't clear enough with this. Sometimes I think I'm crystal clear, and then I find out I'm not, so I don't know. Thanks for your actual, honest opinion! Glad I could spark your curiosity.

To Everyone Else:

Thanks for leaving a review and for the support! Thanks for the follows, and favs. I didn't think that the first chapter would get as good of a reception as it had. There's a lot for me to appreciate of your response, so please understand that I mean it sincerely when I say thank you. You can't fathom how pleasant it is and how greatful I am to receive your encouragement in both this fic and in life. So thanks. :)

For those of you who just started reading; thanks for reading this! If you particularly enjoyed it, or even if you didn't, I encourage you to please leave a review in the area below. Let me know what you think. I like honest opinions. Thanks again!

(P.S.: Terribly sorry about any grammar or spelling mistakes I wrote in the first chapter. It's just me writing this and looking over this, and it's usually extremely late at night when I get around to writing anything, so I'm not always in the best phase of mind. I'll go over and fix it eventually.)