“Charlie…
I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry.
I never wanted this to happen.
This is all my fault…”
As Charlie slowly regained consciousness, a girl’s tearful apology echoed beside him.
His first confused thought was that his girlfriend must have cheated on him and was now begging for forgiveness.
A moment later, he remembered something important.
He did not have a girlfriend.
So why was a girl crying over him?
Charlie tried to open his eyes, but a violent headache tore through his skull before he could move.
It felt as though someone had split his head open and poured countless unfamiliar memories inside.
Before he could understand what was happening, a mature woman’s voice interrupted the girl’s sobbing.
“This isn’t your fault, sweetheart.
If you need someone to blame, blame your father and me.
We should have told you the truth much sooner.”
“No!” the girl cried.
“I killed Charlie.
He’s dead because of me!”
Wait.
Killed Charlie?
I’m not dead!
I’m still breathing!
Charlie desperately tried to speak, but his lips refused to move.
His entire body felt numb and distant as though it belonged to someone else.
Even opening his eyes had become impossible.
The mother and daughter continued talking without realizing that the supposed corpse beside them was still conscious.
“No, Zoe.
What happened wasn’t your fault.
There are things about our family that I should have explained before today.”
Zoe’s crying gradually quieted.
“What things?”
“Your great-grandmother suffered from the same inherited condition.
I prayed that it would pass over you, but apparently my prayers weren’t answered.
I’m sorry, Zoe, but your life will have to follow a different path from now on.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The blood of the Salem witches runs through our family.
Those stories aren’t myths or superstitions.
They’re real.”
The woman paused before continuing in a solemn voice.
“Not every woman in our family inherits their power.
Sometimes it skips several generations.
Your great-grandmother became a witch, and now the same power has awakened inside you.”
“A witch?” Zoe whispered in disbelief.
Charlie was equally stunned.
Witches?
Salem?
A girl named Zoe?
Those words felt strangely familiar, but his aching mind refused to form a complete answer.
He struggled to search through his scattered thoughts while Zoe’s mother continued explaining.
“I’m terribly sorry about Charlie.
No one could have predicted this accident, but we can’t risk it happening again.
You need to learn what you are and how to control your power.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’ve already contacted the Witches’ Council.
Someone will escort you to New Orleans.
There’s a boarding school called Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies.
It was created to protect girls like you and teach them how to use their abilities safely.”
“You’re sending me away?”
“It’s the only way to protect you.”
“But what about Charlie?”
“I’ll handle the funeral arrangements.”
No!
Charlie screamed inside his mind.
He did not want to be buried beneath six feet of dirt.
Being cremated sounded even worse.
He had somehow survived whatever had happened to him, only for these two to start planning his funeral before checking his pulse properly.
I’m still alive!
The terror of being buried awakened a powerful will to survive.
Charlie gathered every bit of strength he possessed and fought against the invisible force imprisoning his body.
Something resembling the shadow of an ancient book flashed through his mind.
The pressure holding him suddenly shattered.
Charlie’s eyes opened by a fraction.
His arm trembled as he slowly raised it from the bed, drawing the attention of the mother and daughter.
“Hey…” he whispered weakly.
“I think…
I can still be saved.”
His remaining strength vanished the moment those words left his mouth.
Darkness swallowed his vision, and his arm dropped back onto the mattress.
“Charlie!”
Zoe’s joyful scream was followed by her mother’s shocked gasp.
Then he lost consciousness again.
When Charlie opened his eyes for the second time, he found himself lying in a hospital room.
The steady beeping of a heart monitor filled the silence.
Afternoon sunlight slipped through the blinds and stretched across the clean white walls.
A blonde teenage girl was asleep in a chair beside his bed.
Her head rested near his arm, while one of her hands remained wrapped tightly around his fingers.
The instant Charlie looked at her, a flood of memories surged through his mind.
Her name was Zoe Benson, and she was his girlfriend from school.
They had recently decided to take their relationship further and arranged to meet secretly at his house while their parents were away.
Everything had seemed normal at first.
Then his body suddenly failed.
Within moments, Charlie had stopped breathing.
Before he could process those memories, another life emerged from the depths of his consciousness.
In that world, he had been an ordinary American college student with few responsibilities beyond attending classes and enjoying campus life.
One weekend, he discovered an ancient leather-bound book at a neighborhood flea market.
The book had no title, and its yellowed pages were covered in strange symbols.
Curious about his discovery, he bought it and began walking back toward his dorm.
He never made it there.
A sports car ran a red light and struck him while he crossed the street.
His previous life ended before he could even understand what had happened.
Charlie stared silently at the hospital ceiling.
He had died in one world and awakened inside another person’s body.
Had he really transmigrated?
Judging from the memories inside his head, the original Charlie looked almost identical to him.
They shared the same face, height, and build, although the way this body had died was far more unusual than being hit by a reckless driver.
Something about the situation continued bothering him.
A sudden death.
A hereditary witch bloodline.
A girl named Zoe Benson.
Charlie’s eyes widened.
He quickly turned toward the sleeping girl and carefully brushed the loose strands of blonde hair away from her face.
Her features were delicate and familiar, confirming the suspicion forming in his mind.
Zoe Benson.
One of the central witches from American Horror Story: Coven.
Charlie finally understood why everything had seemed so familiar.
He had entered the world of American Horror Story and replaced Zoe’s unfortunate boyfriend, a character whose entire purpose had been to die moments after appearing.
Except this time, Charlie had survived.
“How is this possible?”
He lowered his voice, but the slight movement was enough to wake Zoe.
Her eyes opened slowly.
The instant she realized he was staring at her, exhaustion disappeared from her face.
“Charlie!”
She threw her arms around him before he could react.
The sudden impact pressed him back against the pillow, but the relief in her voice prevented him from complaining.
“Thank God you’re awake.
I thought I had lost you.”
Zoe pulled back just enough to look at his face.
Her eyes were red from crying, and dark circles showed that she had barely slept.
“I’m sorry.
I didn’t know something like that could happen.
I never meant to hurt you.
When you stopped breathing, I thought you were dead.
It was all because of me.”
Her words came out so quickly that Charlie barely had time to follow them.
“I—”
Before he could finish, Zoe leaned forward and kissed him.
Charlie froze.
In his previous life, he had never dated anyone.
His complete lack of experience left him unable to decide what he was supposed to do, so he remained still and allowed Zoe to take the lead.
The beeping from the heart monitor grew faster.
Zoe finally pulled away when the machine came dangerously close to sounding an alarm.
She blushed after noticing his stunned expression, but the happiness in her eyes remained unmistakable.
Charlie needed several seconds to recover.
Transmigration had already been difficult enough to accept.
Waking up in a hospital with Zoe Benson kissing him made the situation even more unbelievable.
Still, being reborn was better than remaining dead.
He possessed another person’s memories, a healthy young body, and a second chance at life.
Complaining about his circumstances would be unreasonable, especially when his new girlfriend had refused to leave his bedside.
Zoe poured him a glass of water before carefully helping him sit upright.
She adjusted his pillow, peeled an apple with a plastic hospital knife, and remained attentive to his every movement.
Her concern did not appear forced.
Every glance she gave him contained relief, affection, and lingering guilt.
Charlie drank the water and watched her place several apple slices on a plate.
Who wouldn’t be pleased after receiving a beautiful and devoted girlfriend immediately after entering another world?
Of course, there was one small problem.
Zoe was essentially a human black widow.
Not the red-haired superhero from the movies, but the literal kind whose romantic partners did not survive the experience.
Charlie glanced at the heart monitor and silently swallowed.
Even so, his situation could have been worse.
Some protagonists went hundreds of chapters without finding a girlfriend.
He had received one in the very first chapter.