“My older brother gives me ‘sleeping tea’ every night… until one night I pretended to drink it and discovered the secret hidden inside our house.

—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.