His Snow Queen

siete

Mirabel's Pov

I followed the rats up the stairs. When I got upstairs I didn't see them until I turned my head and saw them climbing behind the panting.

I slowly reached my finger out pushing the now open frame. It slowly creaked open.

I stood up to my full heights and pulled open the frame to show a open dark tunnel in the wall.

I opened the door all the way and made my way in. The frame closed behind me as I crawled through the cramp space.

I watched as the wall cracked. The crack going higher and higher. I heard a rat squeak startling me.

I watched the rat scurry across the wooden floor with a piece of Tio Bruno's vision.

The rat went to the dark dusty end of the hallway. Lightning struck and a man draped in a green cloak with a hood appeared holding the rat.

The hooded figure look towards me. The lightning flashed again and when it struck the hooded man was gone. I gasped before running after him.

I ran through the cramp walls hitting them as I went. "HEY!" I yelled out after the man ducking under the poles.

The hooded man climbed the poles and bars getting away faster.

As I took a sharp turn I ran into a wall hard and heard someone yell. It sounded like Camilo and Tia.

I chased after the hooded man. He turned back to see me still tailing him. "Stop!" I yelled reaching out.

I ran faster jumping over the poles on the ground. "Stop!" I yelled once more.

I reached out for the hooded man's cape. Maybe he was the reason the house was cracking or knew why.

Before I could grab him he jumped over the huge deep whole.

I stopped just in time gasping. I watched the hooded man take a leg. I needed answer.

I took a deep breath before backing up. Get ready to take a huge leap.

I ran across doing the same as the hooded man.

I landed perfectly. But the old creaking wooden floor broke right from under me.

"AH!" I fell grabbing one of the broken pieces of wood. "No..No.. Help! Help! Casita! Casita!" I yelled out panicking.

"Help me!" My hand started to slip. "Help me!" Just as I was a about to lose grip a hand caught mine.

The hooded man who I was chasing. "You're very sweaty." The wood he was in broke and we both fell.

I quickly grabbed a Radom branch holding us both up.

He looked up at me with a smile. A rat came from under his poncho. "Ah!" I let go letting my tio go.

All I could hear were his screams. The last thing in my mind was his terrified face.

He stood up. I blinked for a moment. He looked around before using his poncho to clear the dusk to show the whole wasn't even deep and was solid ground.

"Hmm." We both climbed out. Tio looked back at the hole then me. "Bye." He walked off without another word. "What?- No! Hold on!" I chased after him.

"Wait! Wait- Ow." I ran into another wall. "Why did you take the vision?"

"Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. Knock on wood." Tio closed his eyes and took a deep breath in.

"What does it mean? Is it why you came back or..?"
Tio let out a big sigh. "Tio bruno?"

"Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. Knock on wood." He did it again.

"You were never supposed to see that vision. No one was. Not even Sofia."

"But-"

"A little salt."

Salt was thrown in my face.

"Sugar."

Then sugar was thrown in my face.

Tio was mumbling something in Spanish that I didn't quite pick up.

I looked around to see the patched up cracks on the walls.

"Wait. Have you been in here patching the cracks?" I looked at my tio.

He turned back. "Oh, that? No, no, no. I'm too scared to go near those things. All the patching's done by Hernando."

I make a questionable face. Looking back down.

"Who's Hernando?-"

"I'm Hernando and I'm scared of nothing!"

"..."

"It's actually me. I used say my real gift was "acting.""

"..."

"I'm Jorge. I make the speckle."

"...How long have you been back here?"

Time Skip Third Pov

"You never left." Mirabel said looking around Bruno's new found 'home'.

"Well I left my tower, which you know, a lot of stairs, and- and here! Eh? Kitchen adjacent!" Bruno said clicking his tongue pointing at the arepas.

One of the rats crawled along Bruno's old dusty red chair. "Ooh! Ooh! Plus! Free entertainment!"

"So-so what do you like? Do you like sports? Game shows? Telenovelas? Their love could never be."

Mirabel stood on the slide looking confused and slightly concerned. "I don't understand."

"Well, because she's his aunt and she has amnesia so she can't remember that she's his aunt. It's like a very forbidden kind of-" Mirabel interrupt Bruno's rant.

"I don't understand why you left, but didn't leave."

"Oh, well, because- huh? The mountains around Encanto are pretty tall. And uh I said, free food and everything."

Bruno turned to his rats trying to avoid his sobrina. "You guys love the free food, don't ya? Always hungry. Never satisfied."

Mirabel looked over at the small table where the small lighting was with the boarded up like window.

She walked over and peeped out to see the inside of casita. The dining room to be exact. Mirabel could see her Tia Sofia sitting down at the dinning room table sighing.

Looking down at the green wedding ring on her finger. Her hand resting on her forehead slow tears streaming down her face.

Mirabel looked down to see a fake drawn plate that said 'Bruno' on it.

"Yeah. My gift wasn't help the family. But, uh, I love my family. You know? I love my wife. I just don't how to.. I just don't know how to- well, anyways, I think you should go because um- I don't really have a good reason- but if I did you'd be like 'I should go because that's a good reason.'"

"Why was I in your vision? Tio Bruno I just wanted to make the family proud of me. Just once. But if I should stop...If I'm hurting my family..just tell me."

Bruno looked away. "I can't tell you.. because I don't know."