Sireen’s POV

“I’m not going to let you stay in today, Sireen, this is becoming a habit, and it needs to stop.” Mom’s soft berating comes from within my room, outside the dark shield I’ve formed around myself with a heavy blanket, so I can’t see her. I groan, not in the mood to talk yet, but also because my throat feels hoarse, like a ton of granite was dumped in it.

I know she’s not going to relent, so it doesn’t surprise me when I hear shuffling, followed by my cover being pulled off me, causing light to tear through my eyelids from the two bulbs above my head....