«ʜᴇʀᴍᴏsᴀ» ᶜᵃᵐⁱˡᵒ ᵐᵃᵈʳⁱᵍᵃˡ (ᴅɪsᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜᴇᴅ)

|31: ᴏɴʟʏ ɪɴ ᴇɴᴄᴀɴᴛᴏ|

I forgot why I thought it was best for me to just leave Mirabel alone. But I was definitely wrong for that.

I had just left the casa since I didn't want to be there any longer, much less get involved with their own drama. Everyone was locked up in their own rooms anyway, so I walked home. Did I want to walk in the rain without an umbrella? No, but I was soaked anyway. It wouldn't matter.

But as I arrived home I had to change, again. Because my wet clothes were getting annoying.

"So, why'd you come back so early?" Bianca mumbled, stuffing her face with tortilla chips. I's been home for about two hours now.

"What?" I asked, not listening to what she said before.

"The party you were at, or whatever it was. You're back already?

"Well yeah, it was crazy. I guess." I replied, staring out the window. She stood beside me.

"Any ideas on why it's so stormy outside?" The girl watched clouds slowly move through the sky with an anxious look. Unlike me, Bianca was scared of storms.

"I don't know." I lied. "Could be anything." Sighing, I walked to the kitchen to grab some water. My tia was cooking there, the boys were in the basement, Andre was in his room, and my tio was out.

Suddenly the house shook, and Bianca screamed. My tia's eyes widened in alert and I spilt some water on the floor. I placed the glass on the counter and paced towards the living room, where Bianca looked up at me with fear in her eyes.

"You have to see this." She said, pointing towards the window. I walked towards it and looked out, only to see a large crack between the middle of the road. And it was slowly spreading.

It seemed to be coming from casita. Since you could see the home from this angle, I saw that it was no longer a house, but ruins.

"Shit." I muttered, grabbing my satchel and swinging the front door open.

I would've gotten there sooner if it weren't for the cracks and the crowds of panicked villagers. Unwanted vines started growing across the ground, and somehow people were getting injuries like Mariano. But from what I could tell, the magic was gone. And the Madrigals were somewhat doomed.

Once I arrived at the scene, there was no one to be found at the ruins of casita. No one staring at it in disbelief, no one crying in the corner. 

"Where did they all go?" I muttered, across the broken floor. 

I then froze. What if they all got crushed to death? Shaking my head, I walked away. I wasn't going to start rumors about that and then seeing the family perfectly alive the next day. Just then I heard rustling in the trees.

Facing the forest, I found a familiar toucan sitting on a tree branch, staring into my soul. "Pico?" I spoke. Pico was one of Antonio's favorite animals. He was in fact the same toucan who first communicated with Antonio at the ceremony.

Pico loudly squaked and flapped away into a certain direction. I stood there, confused on how to react or what to do.

Sweet.

I turned to walk away, but then heard distant sobbing.