I was in the dimly lit store room, the harsh fluorescence of the overhead light flickering intermittently as I struggled to hold back tears. My chest tightened, constricted by the grip of a panic attack that seemed to amplify the haunting memories of Noah's actions. The room felt suffocating, the walls closing in around me as I grappled with the weight of my past.
No one knows about my panic attack except Amanda. Noah was different when our mom was alive, a stark contrast to the transformation that occurred after her death. In those days, he was good to me, a protective older brother who I could turn to for comfort. However, the loss of our mother seemed to trigger a malevolent metamorphosis within him, turning him into a beast that no one but I had witnessed up close.
I kept the dark t
