For a few seconds, nobody moved.
The lights were back on.
The room was exactly as it had been.
Except my mother was gone.
“Mom?”
My voice came out barely above a whisper.
Then I screamed.
“Mom!”
I ran toward the stairs.
Damiano caught my wrist before I could reach them.
“Wait.”
“Let me go!”
“Elena, stop.”
“She’s upstairs!”
“I know.”
He released me, and we rushed up together.
Rafael and Amelia followed close behind.
The hallway was empty.
My mother’s bedroom door was open.
I ran inside.
The room was a mess.
A chair had been knocked over.
One of the curtains was hanging halfway off the rail.
There was a broken glass on the floor.
But there was no sign of her.
“Mom!”
I searched the bathroom.
Nothing.
The closet.
Nothing.
The balcony.
Empty.
I stood in the middl
