WYLIE, Texas — Take a breath in for five seconds. Hold it for seven seconds. And exhale for eight seconds.
That rhythm is one of many breathing exercises Simone Valdez-Junkin does daily. It gets her though the conversation when she talks about what happened from 2019 to 2022.
Valdez-Junkin was 24 years old in 2019 when she moved in with Alicia Calderon.
"I had known her previously for a couple of years," Valdez-Junkin said. She helped Calderon with her house, her children and an older woman with disabilities that lived there. "Any of those common things that you would help a friend out with."
She said it started with a one-night stay. It eventually led to a week away from her parents until she made the move permanent with Calderon.
"I wouldn't have to pay to stay there." Valdez-Junkin said.
She said was convinced to stay for free in exchange for the help. But what seemed like a good trade became toxic.
"She was basically turning me against my family and my friends, and making me believe she was the only person that really understood or would be there for me," she said.
She was emotionally abused at first. The physical abuse started a year later.
"She would just take like a kitchen utensil and smack me over the head," she said. "I'm lucky if I get a meal a day at this point."
Valdez-Junkin said Calderon would make her steal from the store to pay a made-up debt she owed. Valdez-Junkin was caught and arrested for stealing, but was too afraid to tell police what was happening. She was afraid of the consequences.
"There was a lot of grooming involved. And that's a hard word to say. But it is a slow process of brainwashing you," she said. "She attacked me with a knife. She split my chin. I have a scar on it. She cut off the top of my head. I think she cut open my ear."
"She basically locked me in a crate," Valdez-Junkin recalled. "She comes in with this hot pot of water. And she got my legs. This is the first time she had burned me with hot water."
It happened again, only worse. Valdez-Junkin said Calderon put her in the shower and came with an even larger pot of boiling water. Valdez-Junkin lifted her arms to protect her face and got a third-degree burn all over her arms and on parts of her back. Her burns were left untreated.
Valdez-Junkin looks down at her scars daily. Her wrists can't rotate fully because of the scarring. It is a constant reminder of her survival.
"It's a deep nerve pain," she said. "It's a daily battle. It's something that I don't know if it will ever be taken care of."
On Feb. 1, 2022, Valdez-Junkin noticed the home was silent. She knew a man who relies on oxygen lived in one of the rooms, so she assumed he would be home. He was. She asked to borrow his phone, created a Facebook account, and sent urgent messages of help to her stepfather.
He called police immediately. Law enforcement and her parents arrived at the location in Wylie and found Valdez-Junkin locked in a room with stones blocking the door.
She was only 68 pounds when she escaped, around 100 pounds less than when she moved in with Calderon. Her sweater was glued to her skin from the untreated burns.
"I was basically days away from not existing in the world anymore," she said.
Her abuser, Calderon, was found guilty last week in Collin County for sadistic torture and sentenced to 75 years in prison.
"It feels really, very powerful to know that she will never be able to hurt anybody every again," she said.
Valdez-Junkin continues her recovery. Her family has created a fundraiser to help her with expenses.