The flashlight switched off.
Complete darkness.
I pressed myself against the wall as the door opened and a line of yellow light spilled into the corridor.
Daniel’s shadow stepped out.
And behind him… another man.
Daniel stopped.
—Who’s there? —he asked.
That wasn’t my brother’s voice.
It was the voice of someone ready to do the worst.
At that moment, something saved me.
My phone vibrated.
Alarm.
The alarm I had set earlier before doing any of this:
“LEAVE. NOW.”
The vibration made a faint sound.
Daniel’s head turned.
He saw me.
—Ah… —he whispered—. So you didn’t drink it.
He stepped closer.
I backed away.
Until my back hit the wall.
—Sister… you didn’t have to make this difficult.
The other man said:
—Come on. We don’t have time.
Daniel smiled slowly.
—We do. She always falls asleep.
At that moment, I ran.
I threw my phone to the ground to make noise and sprinted up the corridor.
Behind me I heard him shout:
—CATCH HER!
I reached the panel in my room, crawled out, shut it, and pushed the wardrobe against the wall.
Not enough.
I heard him pounding on the door.
—Open it —he said sweetly—. Don’t make a scene.
I grabbed my phone and called 911.
The operator answered.
—Emergency services, what is your situation?
But before I could speak, I heard Daniel’s voice on the other side of the door.
—If you call… you’ll end up like Mom.
Then I remembered what our neighbor Aling Amalia once told me:
—If you hear banging in your house… don’t lock yourself in. Run outside. Houses have ears.
I looked at the window.
I opened it.
When the door lock shattered behind me, I climbed through the window and jumped.
I landed on the grass, twisting my ankle, but I kept running toward the gate.
Behind me I heard Daniel shouting my name.
I ran into the street.
And for the first time in a long time… I could truly breathe.
In the distance, I heard sirens.
I didn’t know if they were coming for me…
Or if Daniel was already preparing another lie.
But there was one thing he didn’t have anymore.
I wasn’t sleeping.
And I had seen the room.
I had seen the documents.
And I had heard the words:
“Just like Mom.”
And even though my hands were still shaking, I knew one thing.
The secret of that house would no longer remain trapped inside its walls.
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