Unplugged: The Hidden World (#2, Unplugged Trilogy)

Chapter Thirty One

Enna

I collapse onto the couch, dizzy with soreness and the memory of hallucinations. After Sam scolded me for the whole sword thing, I found myself spiraling into the same hallucination. This time, I fought hard to avoid the Voice, following my instructions of commanding the creatures. Their roars and jeers still fill my ears.

The silver stairs loudly echo my mother's footsteps as she descends them, and I jump from surprise. She still looks sick as ever, though her eyes light up in joyful recognition at the sight of me.

"Mom."

"Oh, Enna. I thought I'd never see you again." I almost cringe at the sound of her croaking voice, but instead I stand and hug her. I can feel her hands trembling weakly.

"What happened to you? Why are you still here?"

"They didn't give me a job to do. I'm too sick." My stomach jolts painfully when I realize that this is my fault. I'm the one who entered the Base in the first place.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper, my voice catching in the middle of the sentence. I can feel warm tears gathering behind my eyes.

"Stop saying that," Mom says, her tone hardened. She pulls away from the hug. "You have nothing to do with my sickness or this situation. All you tried to do was help people, which is more than any of us can say."

"You tried to help me," I point out quietly. "Matthew tried to help me." She doesn't have a reply to that. Just then, the door in the entryway slams open and I turn to face a very sweaty--and slimy-- Matthew. I don't know whether the look on his face makes me want to laugh or back away.

"What happened to you? You look awful!"

Matthew grumbles and mutters imperceptibly under his breath as he passes by, eventually closing himself inside the bedroom.

"Nice," my mom says. I roll my eyes, suddenly very tired. My mouth opens in an involuntary yawn.

"What did you do today?" She asks seriously. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It's just..." Realizing that I can't come up with the words to describe what Sam had put me through, I shrug. "They asked a bunch of questions and I answered them. Nothing exciting."

My stomach utters a monstrous growl, interrupting our conversation. My mother laughs shortly, taking my hand and leading me to the kitchen.

"When's the last time you ate?" She rasps. "You look like a straw." I sigh.

"The last time I ate period, or the last time I ate anything I wanted to eat?" I leave it at that. As Mom goes to prepare some soup on the stove, Ariel lightly descends the stairs and stares up at me, looking worn out.

"Enna?" She whispers.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I'm hungry..."

"Come in here, Ariel. I'm making some soup!" My mother shouts.

Ariel dashes into the kitchen, her droopy demeanor brightening instantly at the mention of food. Sorrow drops heavily into the pit of my stomach when I see how skinny the little girl is. I push my next thought out of my consciousness and head into the living room, plopping onto the couch in exhaustion.