Chapter 19 - After the Chaos
Sophia had her back to the door, crying in her mother's arms; obviously, she hadn't noticed that her father had already mustered the courage to take the first step and open the door. But when she looked up for a moment at the people around her—wiping away the tears that still streamed down her face—she saw that both her mother and everyone else in the room were frozen, their eyes fixed on the doorway leading to the room where Noah was.
Sophia slowly turned around while continuing to wipe away the persistent tears, and when she noticed that the door was already open, she abruptly stood up and ran toward the room. As she ran, the tears she had been trying to dry kept streaming down and dripping onto the floor with every step.
Sophia's mother had no choice but to follow her into the room, while her father—seeing her cross the threshold—shouted,
"Sophia!"
And, just like his wife, he followed her inside.
The room was no longer as it had once been—every wall had been perforated from top to bottom. Besides the walls, the plants, pots, and clothes inside had been completely destroyed.
But the strangest thing of all was that the bed, and Noah himself, remained entirely intact—or nearly so, considering that all of Noah's clothes had been torn to shreds, leaving only his sheets behind, and even the blankets that once covered him had suffered damage.
Upon entering the room, Sophia immediately headed for the bed and, when she reached it, felt an immense relief at seeing that, apparently, the boy was all right—much to everyone's astonishment, and with good reason. However, when she realized he was practically naked, and knowing that her mother and father were just behind her with nothing at hand to cover him up, and that her mother was only a few steps from the door, Sophia—already on her way to fetch something—shoved her mother out of the room.
"Wait, what are you doing? Is he all right?" Mrs. Radiance demanded as she was pushed.
"Yes... but I don't think it's appropriate for anyone to see him like this," Sophia replied bashfully as she pushed her mother further away.
"What? And why not?"