The screams of the intruders filled the halls of Casita. Mirabel could hear them up in her room, but they didn't distract her. She was too focused on her latest taxidermy project, stitching up a dead groundhog caught in one of their traps. She already took out the insides and gave them to Isabela for her plants.
Her room was filled with different supplies used for her crafting. There were boxes of yarn and thread, jars with different organs of animals she'd use to make Frankenstein-like dolls, and journals she kept for her schoolwork and her observations.
A few of her taxidermy projects were on display as well. A stuffed partridge sat on a displayed tree branch, the skin of a lynx laid over her bed, and the head of a wolf with a dead squirrel in its mouth hung above the door. She has a talent for her hobby, especially when it comes to creating rogue taxidermy. Mirabel would even stitch together different animals together to make a hybrid of sorts.
She looked up when she heard the roof tiles clatter. The door swung back and forth and the floorboards moved up and down. Mirabel smiled, knowing Casita was telling everyone that dinner was ready. She finished the last stitch, brushing the fur before heading out the door.
As she walked down the stairs, she passed by a few paintings and photos of the family. She passed by the portrait of her mama, Tia Pepa, and Tio Bruno when they were young. It showed each of their unique gifts; Bruno's glowing eyes and rats, Julieta's potion bottle, and Pepa's rain cloud and hair braided into a noose. She then took a look at the individual portraits each family member had, with Julieta and Pepa posing with their husbands.
The girl slid down the stairs that Casita made to a slide. She walked into the dining room, seeing the rest of the family taking their seats.
Fuego floated above the chandelier, lighting the wax candles. He flew back down to the table, his light shining brightly at the sight of a plate of wood chips.
Camilo soared into the room in his bird form and landed next to the corn. Julieta brought in the pot of soup and then noticed that the bird was pecking at the plated food.
In one swift move, she grabbed the knife from the sheath on her waist and threw it in front of the bird. Camilio flinched back to a chair, changing back to his human form.
"You missed!" Camilo laughed. He grabbed the corn he pecked and started to fill his plate.
"That was a reminder to not eat food as an animal," She warned, grabbing her knife and returning it to her sheath on her waist.
"One of these days, she'll get you," Alma said. She sat at the head of the table, the painting of the family dead tree shown behind her. Camilo shrugged, taking a bite out of his corn.
Mirabel sat closest to her Tio Bruno. She has a strong relationship with him, spending some of her free time in his tower. She would often make props for his rat novellas, even making costumes for the small creatures.
"Just like Juli and Pepa would use me as a target," Bruno pointed out with a chuckle. He took a seat on the other end of the table. Luisa and Isabela entered the room, taking their seats between Agustin and Mirabel.
"Did our guest leave already?" Alma asked, already knowing to answer.
Isabela nodded, "They didn't see Afri do his tricks,"
Alma shrugged, taking a bite from her food. Antonio sat across from Mirabel, Parce sitting close beside him and Hades rested on the top of the chair. Dolores sat quietly in her seat, perking up at the sound she heard. Pepa noticed, the cloud above slowly began to drizzle in rain.
"Oýe!" Felix's voice rang through the halls. He walked through the door, his signature Cheshire grin on his face. Pepa sprung up from her seat and nearly tackled her husband with a hug. The two shared a long kiss, rain pouring above them.
"Can you please not do that while we're eating?" Camilo groaned in annoyance. Pepa looked at him, pretending to be in shock.
"Well, excuse me for missing my husband. Who was gone for days, may I add." She went back to her seat beside Felix, holding onto his hand and smiling.
"Terrible to see you back," Alma grimly smiled. Felix nodded, caressing Pepa's braided hair. The family resumed their meal, each taking a turn telling Felix missed during his absence.
Mirabel didn't pay much attention to the ongoing conversation. It was mainly what Luisa, Camilo, and Isabela did to scare off the intruders. Most of the family stayed inside Casita whenever they dared to come past the gates. The only family members who did go outside Casita were Pepa, Camilo, Luisa, and Isabela. Mainly because their gifts were more useful when it came to protecting their home. And the fact that the town feared them more than the rest of the family.
Mirabel picked at her food with her fork. Her mind always wanders into what the town is like. Her curiosity is making her go mad, and not the good kind. With all the talk of the outside world growing each day, her desire builds.
"Mirabel," She looked up. Bruno looked at her with slight concern in his eyes. He must have noticed her in deep thought, while the rest of the family continued eating. "What's on your mind?"
"Um, I-," Mirabel stuttered, but now seemed like a good time to ask. "I was just wondering," She paused, hesitantly asking, "What is it like in the town?"
Felix spat out his water, and Agustin nearly choked on his food. Camilo coughed as he shifted from a bird to Mirabel and back to himself. The room became silent in shock, but Abuela appeared to be more confused and annoyed than shocked.
"What?" Alma asked. Fuego's flame slightly dimmed. He flew to the lantern that stayed above the fireplace. Antonio stared at her in wonder, while everyone else stared in confusion and worry.
"The town," Mirabel repeated, with more confidence. "What is it like?"
The family could already sense the rising tension. Luisa looked worried, her eyes began to twitch. Isabela scowled and went back to eating. Pepa's cloud lightened up, Felix's signature grin was gone and replaced with an uneasy look.
Mirabel glanced at Dolores. Her older cousin stared at her, quietly tapping her fingertips on her glass. She knew most secrets in the house, so she must have known what Mirabel was feeling. She can hear Mirabel's heart thump wildly in her chest.
Julieta looked at her daughter. A mix of confusion and unsettledness could be seen in her eyes. "Why would you ask-?"
"The town hates us." Abuela Alma cut off her daughter. Her eyes sent a cold glare at her youngest granddaughter. Mirabel adjusted her glasses, not breaking away from eye contact with the matriarch.
Everyone looked back and forth from Abuela to Mirabel. This is the most interesting thing at the table in a while.
"Tio Felix gets to go to town," Mirabel argued.
"He has built a career there," Alma's voice began to shift from a fit of slight anger to annoyance.
"And a fantastic career it is!" Felix chimed in, his wide grin returning on his face. Alma didn't pay attention to him, her eyes still stared down at her youngest granddaughter. He took notice, cleared his throat, and looked back at his plate.
"The outside world has no place for our family," She continued. "We are fine in the here in Casita,"
"Papá and Felix came in with no problem," Augustin and Felix were best friends growing up. The two understood each other, unlike the rest of the town and even their families.
"We didn't plan on coming in," Her father pointed out. He smiled sadly at the memory. "This place felt more like a home than that town."
"But, there must be things the outside world has that we don't," Mirabel argued.
"We don't need what they have." Alma angrily sliced through her meat, the screeching of the knife and fork against the plate were like nails on a chalkboard.
"Why can't we go and see what it's like?" Abuela stabbed her knife into the table. The water glasses shook, and Mirabel immediately sat back against her seat, trying to not show her growing fear.
"Need I remind you what happened to you Abuelo!"
The youngest granddaughter didn't say anything. There was no point in arguing whenever Pedro was brought up. The entire family knew very well that Pedro was killed by the outside world, and his last gift was this safe hellscape. A place where the family would grow without the harassment of the normal people.
Alma stared at Mirabel, then turned sharply to Dolores. "What are they saying now?"
Dolores was slowly sipping her water, knowing that all eyes were on her now. She put down her cup on the table and closed her eyes, focusing on the sounds in the town. She tilted her head and listened to the voices no one else in the home could hear.
"They say we're freaks." She said as she looked out the open window. "The trespassers are saying that we'll kill anyone who gets too close,"
"We don't do that," Bruno scoffed, then thought for a moment. He shrugged. "Not anymore, at least,"
Abuela turned her head sharply back to Mirabel, who went back to picking at the food on her plate and avoided Abuela's glare.
The matriarch stood up, making her way to the window facing the dark forest. In the distance, white light from the town glowed above the trees. She didn't look outside at all, however. She instead stared at her reflection in the glass, imagining Pedro beside her.
She moved away from the window, making her way to the family tree that was painted behind her seat. "Your Abuelo left Casita to explore what was behind the gate. He soon found me, a witch from another town. He and I fell in love. We then married and had our children."
She shuddered, which she only did when she remembered one particular memory. The memory of the death of her husband. "Soon after, the people around us got word of our newborns. They didn't want us to wreak havoc on their town. A mob set fire to our house, we had to leave."
Abuela lips began to quiver. She would lose her strong composure whenever she would talk about her late husband. It was one of the only things that made her weak.
"He stayed behind so I could take our children here. The one place where we can be safe."
The room was silent, Mirabel looked at the rest of her family. She noticed her mama and Tia Pepa were close to their husbands, Tio Bruno softly petting the rat on his shoulder. Luisa was balling her hands into fists, and Isabela's vines curled around her chair. Camilio and Dolores stayed quiet.
Antonio, being a clever child, sensed as well as his animal friends that there was high tension. Parce was lying on the floor, ears drooping the feeling of the room
"Casita was a part of Pedro's family for generations." She finally said, her posture returning to its firm expression. She quickly wiped away a tear, hoping her family didn't see it. "We have to protect what is rightfully ours. If we go outside, then they will end up hurting us."
She returned to her seat, pulling the knife out of the table. Fuego peeked out of their lamp. He floated to Alma's hand on the table, placing his hand on top of hers. As usual, it felt warm and soft.
"Casita is the only place where we belong." She looked directly at Mirabel, sending her a look that was a warning that didn't need to be said.
"Don't ever bring it up, again."
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The rest of dinner was silent. No one said a word or told their stories. There was an uncomfortable silence as the family finished their dinner. The cutlery clicked against the plates, sounding rather loud in the quiet space.
Mirabel quickly finished her meal, to further avoid the glare Abuela sent her every so often. As soon as she finished, she got up and left the dining room without another word.
She ran to her bedroom as soon as she was out of sight of the family. She nearly slammed the door closed behind her, but Casita managed to slow it down.
Mirabel let out a long sigh. She went to her desk and went back to finishing her groundhog taxidermy project, trying to get her mind off what happened at dinner.
After about an hour of mounting the groundhog on a display and making sure her latest creation had all the details accurate, Mirabel placed her groundhog on one of the shelves in her room. She smiled at the display. One of her simpler works.
It didn't take long for her mind to wander back to what happened before dinner. She stared out her window. It showed a clear view of the front gate, but that's not where she was looking at. Instead, she set her eyes on the glow of the town lights in the distance.
She looked back at her open journal. It was left open to her fresh notes on the recent intruders. Mirabel kept records of the people who came beyond the fence. How many there were, gender, and what they were doing.
When she was about 10 years old, she often stared outside at the front gate. When Bruno told the family about someone coming in, something inside her told her to have a look.
She soon saw someone enter the home and what a sight it was. It was a boy about her age. He had glasses and curly hair, similar to her. Surprisingly, he made his way close enough to see Isabela and Dolores in the yard.
Felix would occasionally bring presents from town. One of the gifts was a journal. No one else wanted it, so Mirabel kept it and found a way to put it to good use. She began to write down all the details she could remember about the trespassers. Over the years, she organized her few journals. One book filled about two years of data.
"Luisa broke their weapon. Camilo chased them out as a giant rat," She said as she finished writing the last few details of the latest invasion. "Side Note: Attack attempted by machete,"
Mirabel stopped when she finished writing. In all her records, not once did anyone try to attack them from the inside. A few times rocks were thrown over the fence, but Isabela used her vines to nearly strangle them through the iron bars.
She closed her journal. It's probably nothing. There were stories of when the town settlers first found Casita. The home was in Pedro's family since before the town settlers found the home. There were attempts throughout the first years to take down their home, but the family was always able to defend their land.
Mirabel fiddled with her pen, continuing to stare out the window. Now that the sun had set, darkness filled the forest.
She soon saw Luisa back outside. The middle child would often stay close to the fence the night intruders come in. It was a safety precaution, though Mirabel wished Luisa would take better care of herself rather than just the family. Luisa would spend the whole night patrolling the border around their home, and she often slept in deep into the next day. She took her job very seriously. No one would come in or out on her watch. Not that anyone would go out to begin with.
Mirabel let out a sigh. She closed the window shutters and finally settled in bed after her usual nightly routine. Just like the day before and the day before that. As much as she loved Casita and her family, she wanted something different. She wants to see what the town was really like, not the stories Felix would tell them.
Her eyes drifted off into the darkness, finally getting rest for another day. Same as the day before, and the day after.
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Author's Note
Sorry it took so long for a new chapter. I've been busy with my college classes and preparing for the holiday's! Hopefully I'll post a new chapter before the end of the year!