Miracle Snatcher

Chapter 2

It was quiet for a moment.

Each and everyone of them stared at Antonio for a moment before chaos began

Pepa was hastily stroking her hair while muttering 'clear skies, clear skies' repeatedly under her breathe as the weather started to go through numerous changes. Her husband, Felix, trying to shoo the gray cloud away from her and gently trying to calm her down. They remember how their first niece would always look after and keep Dolores safe when they were busy with the villagers. Felix remembered when Pepa locked herself in her room when she found out that Victoria left. She only left as soon as she saw how her sobrina's disappearance affected her daughter.

Dolores squeaked and looked like she was on the verge of bursting tears right then and there. She, along with Isabela, was the closest to her as a child. Victoria would always look after her when her parents were too busy working. The thought of Victoria hurt her deep inside because she just wished that she could've been able to help her when she needed it the most.

Isabela pursed her lips and turned away to face her plate, which was still so full of food. She always had mixed feelings about the whole 'talking about Victoria' issue. There were times when she was younger, where she just wanted to talk about her dear cousin to someone from her family but she would always get ignored or scolded, especially by the adults. Over time, she stopped asking about Victoria, already knowing that she will just get scolded for even mentioning her.

Julieta and Augustin just looked upset at the mention of her, especially Julieta. She treated Victoria as if she were another child child of hers. She smiled sadly at the memories of her constantly helping her around when Julieta was exhausted from cooking all day long. Victoria would always keep an eye out for Augustin whenever he was outside since he was always so clumsy. And because of his clumsiness, she would bring an arepa con queso with her so she could give it to him whenever he got hurt because of his clumsiness.

Bruno just stayed still and getting all stiff. He just looked down in defeat as he blocked out noises. He always felt like he failed her. His own daughter. He never really paid any attention to her when she really needed it. He would always just wallow in his self pity and he absolutely hates himself for that, till this day. He used to have hope many years ago. He hoped that she would come back but she never did. After some time, Bruno just gave up on that hope. He felt like it would just hurt him. Having hope.

Luisa glanced at those around her. She never really thought that much about Victoria like the others did. After all, she was only 6 when Victoria left the family. I mean...sure, there are times where her mind would wonder and think about Victoria but she never really tried asking like about her like Isabela. She was always too busy for that. But now that her family, especially her abuela, wasn't as strict as they were in the past, she will admit that she sometimes gets curious over her the cousins that she never knew for long.

Mirabel and Camilo looked at each other as soon as those words came out of Antonio's mouth. Mirabel remembers how she and Camilo would sometimes meet up in his room and talk about Victoria. They were young and curious, and they had a lot of questions that they knew they couldn't bring up with the rest of their family members. Both Mirabel and Camilo were 2 years old when she left and yet they always felt like there was more to her than just silly ghost stories that the villagers made up along the way.

Antonio sent them a curious look as he waited for their response. He overheard some of the villagers talking about her when he was on his way to meet up with the rest of Parce's, his Jaguar, animal friends. So now the young boy was curious and wanted to know about this mysterious cousin who he never met, much less knew.