I smiled as always, nodded as always, and brought the rim of the cup to my lips as always… but instead of swallowing, I let the liquid linger on the tip of my tongue.
Bitter.
Metallic.
Nothing like valerian.
“Drink it slowly,” Daniel said, leaning against the doorframe, with that calm expression that had recently begun to terrify me. “It will help you.”
I played the part: a few fake sips, a sigh, my eyelids pretending to be heavy. Then, when he glanced briefly toward the hallway, I carefully tipped the cup and poured the tea into the vase of dried flowers in the corner behind the curtain.
“Goodnight, Dani,” I whispered, lowering my voice slightly.
He smiled.
—Goodnight, sister.
I heard his footsteps moving away.
Slow.
Without rushing.
As if he knew exactly what time everything was supposed to happen.
I waited.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Fifteen.
I remained completely still, controlling my breathing, until the silence began to feel “safe” to me… even though in that house nothing was ever truly safe, only disguised as such.
At exactly nine o'clock, almost as if the clock itself were complicit, I heard the first creak in the corridor.
Then another.
Steps.
Daniel was coming.
I lay on my side on the bed, as always. I let one arm dangle slightly off the mattress, like someone sleeping. I opened my eyes.
just a splinter.
My heart was pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it.
The door opened without being pushed. Daniel had left it slightly ajar before and now he slipped inside.
He wasn't carrying the cup.
He had a key with him.
An old black key, long and strangely shaped, with peculiar teeth: the kind of key used for very old houses… or for doors that were never meant to open.
He walked over to the bedside table, opened the bottom drawer, and took out something wrapped in a cloth. He slowly unwrapped it.
A small glass bottle.
Inside were some white tablets.
My throat went dry.
“Only valerian.”
I watched him put the bottle back, as if he were hiding a secret in his pocket. Then he approached the bed and leaned over, studying my face.
I held my breath.
Daniel felt my pulse, trying to feel my pulse.
A.
Two.
Three seconds.
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