Author's note: I accidentally unpublished this chapter; here's the repost of it! Sorry for the inconvenience!
"And... he's the reason one of us will die."
You shuddered as if icy fingers had gripped your skull. One of the Madrigals could die. Or me. Does the prophecy include me?
"What does that mean?" Mirabel nervously exploded. "Did your prophecy say that? Who is he?"
"No, stop asking questions," Bruno demanded, cringing away from Mirabel as she pressed forward. "Give me personal space. I really, really don't want to talk about it. Not now. Not ever, really."
"You can't just drop that on us, Tio Bruno!" Mirabel cried, her hands exasperatedly flying to her hips. "And you need to tell us. You're not allowed to keep this prophecy to yourself; somebody could die."
"I don't want to talk about it." Bruno stubbornly repeated, closing his eyes. "But I'll help you look into the future. Antonio's room?"
Troubled, Camilo shook his head. "Let's use mine. I don't want him to have to worry about this."
Bruno quietly nodded. "Then let's go."
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The unmolded, smooth floor in Camilo's room rose and fell as if breathing. When Camilo stepped in, a midnight purple insidiously polluted the surface like an ink spill on paper.
What emotion does purple come from? Scared? Angry? Upset?
"I need leaves. And sticks," Bruno gravely said. Camilo inclined his head, creating crunchy, dead leaves that littered the floor. Bruno kneeled, shoveling them into four heaps. "So, uh, just to be clear, what do you want me to look into?"
"The kidnappings. Who's doing it, and how we can stop them," You clarified. After a brief pause, you added, "Please."
The leaves crackled with golden flames, and Bruno cracked his knuckles. Sand evaporated from the ground and violently whirled around him. Bruno's eyes burned emerald green, and he cautioned, "Stay back. I can look for longer if I'm in here by myself."
"So you knew?" Camilo uncomfortably confronted Mirabel when the thick cloud of sand had encased Bruno. "You knew Tio Bruno was here and you never told us?"
"No!" Mirabel desperately denied. "Well- I've only known for a few days. He looked into the cracks for me. I needed to hug Isabella, which I did, but now she's..." Mirabel bit her lip and trailed off. Camilo mercifully didn't press.
When the green-tinted sand settled to the ground, Bruno's fingers tightly clung to a glowing, emerald tablet. He launched to his feet with haunted eyes, as if startled from a nightmare.
"This is bad, we need to hurry, we need to hurry..." He panted, his feet shuffling through the sand as he paced. "Camilo, Mirabel, you need to go! Go find Pepa!" Camilo and Mirabel hesitated, bewildered, and Bruno wildly gestured to the door. He begged, "Right now! Go!"