Chapter 4 - Hidden

• -What is all this Eris? - I asked a little scared.
• -New shit, go in there and don't come out - Eris demanded.
• I moved all the clothes with his help, most of the clothes were heavy so it ended up being difficult for me due to the volume they generated together, my younger brother ended up pushing me to be able to close that secret place before closing the closet door. I heard the incessant whipping at the dining room door and there I understood the seriousness of this whole situation: Both my brother and I were in danger and despite everything, he had decided to protect me.
• It didn't take long until I heard the first door slam, it was fifteen seconds to be exact where I had never hidden before at such a great speed like this even though I had never had the need to do something like that previously either.
• My heart was beating a thousand per second, I didn't want anyone to hear it because of how loud it sounded. I was afraid, I really was, and being locked in a nook didn't help at all: The anxiety only increased and ironically I was drowning despite having an increased respiratory rate, my neck tightened and I couldn't find the life preserver. He was as afraid for me as he could be for Eris, he would always be afraid of anything that threatened her integrity.
• I needed to escape and stay in this place at the same time. I had to wait for my survival and I couldn't see how this made sense: I was consumed by each of the hypotheses that were floating around in my head, which were all contradictory. I wanted to understand the context of all this, I wanted to understand how Eris had a place like this prepared and why she had it. I wanted to not feel useless for being kept waiting in a space that was not even two square meters.
• I got as close as I could to the wall, it felt like it was just a piece of paper and I had them locked in with me in this darkness that overwhelmed me. I put my ear to the opposite end of the closet and tried to focus on certain key words that would help me understand.
• -Come on Prado, don't play children's games at us - Someone said and paused - These things happen to us because we are playing with children.
• -Wait, I'm doing what I can - Eris responded.
• "You're not trying hard enough it seems," said another man.
• Their voices were different, it was not difficult for me to differentiate them even though they sounded somewhat muffled due to the distance that separated us. Although I could understand what they were saying clearly, I was sure that it was not the same tone they would have if I were really standing next to them. I couldn't recognize any tone of voice, and that was something I paid attention to in people.
• -You bring us this misery and you want us to conform - The first one complained - This week there is no new money for you.
• New pasta? Was I consuming that shit again? I desperately wished that I had heard wrong, that everyone was lying because I refused to even imagine that everything would go back to the way it was four years ago.
• -If you can't pay the old one, we won't give you a new one - The man added.
• My heart accelerated a little more, I felt like I was suffocating even more and the only thing I managed to do was get desperate with each new breath I emitted. I needed more air than ever as I also needed my heart not to weigh or hurt like it did at this moment. It was as if the pieces of the puzzle were coming together by themselves while I tried hard to make sure that didn't happen. I was aware that I had to see reality but my heart didn't want that.
• I think I was beginning to understand why the debt was so difficult to pay off.
• -You are playing this game very badly, child - The man assured.
• He could hear with perfect clarity the blows that were given to him, one after another. While one part of me desperately wanted to go out and help him, another part was clear that it would mean going into the lion's den alone. It was trying to save him with the possibility of not saving any of us, this being the most realistic hypothesis.
• I couldn't stop crying and that complicated everything: It made me want to go out more because it increased the feeling of suffocation that I was already carrying, I shouldn't make any noise or it should be as little as possible. With each impact a small part of my body trembled trying to open the false closet door.
• Think with your head Nova for once in your life.
• -Next week I will have more money for you - Eris assured.
• -You know that patience is not a virtue that characterizes me - Someone said - And I'm getting tired of having patience with you.
• Calm down Nova, calm down. My breathing continued to accelerate and I felt more suffocated than ever. My heart was doing nothing to calm down and it seemed like it would soon break out of my chest. I was drowning more and more and everything seemed to weigh me twice as much, I didn't want adrenaline and impulsivity to win this situation.
• -Thunder, check that this drone doesn't have any more hidden there - He demanded first.
• -Of course boss - The second answered.
• I couldn't help but put my hands to my mouth as if I wanted to silence the screams that my chest was emitting but not manifesting. I couldn't outline any words and I didn't want to run the risk of doubting whether or not I could make a sound. The adrenaline ran through me completely and it was exasperating.
• I heard how he opened the door to the room, how his firm footsteps were getting closer and closer. They were so loud that it seemed like they were barely next to my body even though that was literally the situation behind these false walls.
• -Enough, there is nothing in my room - Eris stated.
• -You should shut up Prado - The man said.
• -Get out of there! - Eris exclaimed.
• He had only sold me or had sold the secret of my presence, at least he had given rise to the doubt that something else was within these four walls and that something was me. It was like a bucket of cold water on my head that tried to make me react but still there was something that wouldn't let me.
• -You are a child who doesn't even know how to lie - The man commented.
• . I cornered myself as much as I could to the back of this hiding place that deserved a lot of investigation on my part towards Eris. I hugged my knees in an attempt to become as small as I could and squeezed my hands on my legs. I did it so hard that I didn't realize that I was hurting my skin and nails because of the force I was exerting on them.
• I had such great stress that I did not clearly feel any type of pain that was exerted on me and that was scary: I was more afraid of not feeling than of feeling things excessively.
• The footsteps got closer and I heard how he moved things from their places with some violence, how the furniture fell, how the glass vase he had ended up crashing on the floor. I was attentive to every movement and sound I could hear while I kept praying that he wouldn't find me, that he would keep me safe in some way.
• Everything was fine until I heard the noise that the closet door made as it moved along the slide with some difficulty. I knew that the hanging clothes covered that false door that seemed not to be there, but I was also aware that it guaranteed me absolutely nothing. I noticed how he was throwing the shoes that were inside behind him because of the noise they made. I was so focused on it that the rest of the voices faded into the background and I couldn't hear anything but my head telling me to run while my heart begged me to stay.
• -Shit - The man mumbled.
• I didn't hear anything else, I didn't feel anything else either. Everything became darker than it already was and the air no longer felt like I needed it.