Super (Ish)

Chapter 23: Astral Awakens

Everything aches.

"Charity?" Mum's voice floats through the darkness. I try to move, but I feel like I'm frozen. What happened? Where am I? Mum?

"Oh, sweetie."

Light bursts through the darkness and suddenly she's sitting in front of me. But she doesn't have her blonde hair. It's shaved, and there are marks in her skin. Her cheek bones are hollow and her breaths are sharp.

"Mum? What happened to you?" I ask, wincing as I push myself forward. "Are you okay? I missed you."

She reaches out, stroking my cheek. "Honey, it's okay. Even in these times, we still have each other to lean on."

I touch her hand, pushing it against my skin. The crinkles around her eyes deepen and I frown. There's something I'm missing...

"Oh thank God," a new voice comes. "You need to stop being so reckless," Ryan says, appearing beside Mum.

Ryan... Oh. "Shit."

"Honey?" Mum tilts her head to the side, stroking my cheek.

"What happened?" I repeat.

Ryan sighs, pushing his hands into his pockets. "After we talked to Grayson about your nightmare, you ran out of the room. Somehow, you managed to get outside. It was only after you'd been missing for several hours that the team outside contacted us about you. I thought you needed to be alone, but I should have gone after you. This is my fault."

Mum turns, giving Ryan a warm smile. She touches his arm softly. "Don't beat yourself up. This isn't your fault."

My memory finally begins to work, everything coming back to me. I reach for my eyes, rubbing them until I see bright spots. I must have passed out after the car fell. The only thing present on my mind is Teddy and Lucid. The home I no longer have. I look back at Mum, the realisation finally hitting me.

"You're awake," I say, my lip trembling. She nods and reaches for me, pulling me into a hug. Her smell is foreign and unwelcoming, still smelling of blood and sterilised objects, but her hug is the same as it always is.

"I've been awake for a few hours now. We were starting to worry that you weren't going to wake up," Mum says, sadness swimming in her eyes. "They found you unconscious in the snow. You could have been stuck in a coma, or almost dead of hypothermia. A sundress isn't something you should wear in the snow," she scolds.

A smile wavers on my lips, tears threatening to spill. "I'm sorry."

"No, no," she hums, reaching back to cup my cheek. "Don't cry."

"I'm glad you're awake now," I say, forcing myself to swallow my emotions. "You can finally tell Grayson I don't have powers. Have you met him yet?"

Mum and Ryan share a look. "I have, sweetie. But, uh..."

"What?" I frown, anxiety twisting in my gut.

"Grayson wasn't wrong. You do have powers."

Bile lurches in my throat, filling my mouth. Without warning, I lean over the side and empty it onto the floor. But seeing it and watching it come out makes me throw up again. And a third time. Mum moves to rub my back.

"I'm sorry, honey," she whispers.

I sit back up, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. So many emotions are screaming at me all at once. I don't know how to react.

"I don't understand," I manage to say, my head shaking profusely. "You lied to me? Did you drug me too?"

Mum bites her lip, her eyes dropping from mine. "There's nothing I can say, other than sorry."