My Best Friends Cousin

The Fall of Casita

"The miracle is dying, because of you!"

No one could have expected those words to come from Mirabel. Least of all her grandmother. A stunned silence rang through. Then the floor split in two, dividing the two arguing Madrigals. Casita had started to fall.

The entire house shook. As if that was the straw that broke the camels back. Everything was crumbling.

"No, no, no!" Pepa shouted. Her hands going in the direction of the candle.

Every pair of eyes went to the window above the eldest Madrigal's room. The candle fell as the window frame gave way. Thinking fast, Mirabel ran toward it.

"Casita! Get me up there!"

A piece of the railing was moved to be used as a make-shift ladder. Before Mirabel started climbing, she saw Abigail running after her. Heart racing, she made a decision.

"Abbi, get my family out of here."

"What about you?! I'm not gonna let you do this alone! Not this time!"

"I'll be fine. Just go!" She pushed the brunette away before ascending to the candle.

Her eyes followed Mirabel's figure before scanning the upper level and spotting Camilo sprinting for the candle as well. Fear gripped her as she saw the ceiling about to cave in right over him. "Camilo, look out!"

He looked up just in time, shifting into a small child to avoid being hit, and slid out of the way. Taking the appearance of an adult next and continued running. He could feel his power slowly leaving him, and it scared him.

Isabela grabbed onto a vine she grew and swung after her sister. That's when the light on her door went out. Her vine snapped and if it wasn't for Casita, her fall would've been much worse. She rolled to the floor with only a few tears in her dress and a small cut across her cheek.

"Isa, we gotta go!" Abigail hated that she would be leaving Mirabel behind, but they had to leave. Before someone got seriously hurt.

Shaken from the abrupt lose of magic, the flower child only nodded. Upon hearing a small scream, however, both females looked up. Camilo was just able to grab hold of some railing to help stop his speedy descent from where he had jumped. He let go and landed next to Abbi and his cousin.

Hand stinging from the impact, he lifted it and saw a little gash of blood trickling down his palm. His breathing came out in short, rapid breaths. Feeling a pair of hands on his shoulders, he saw his butterfly. She was almost frozen in fear.

Swallowing dryly, he tried to give her a reassuring smile, no matter how forced it was. "I'm ok. But, we gotta move."

The three of them bolted for the exit. A loud booming sound was heard and the ground continued to shake. Everything was coming down all at once.

"Careful, Antonio!"

Abigail looked in the direction of Felix's voice. She saw how he ran to his youngest child. The boy frozen in fear as he watched the animals he had befriended run in a panicked frenzy away from the danger. How his own door was going to fall right on top of him.

She ran for him. Heart pounding in her ears, only thinking of getting to Antonio and keeping him safe. Reaching him just in time to take the full force of the door.

"You ok?" she asked with a grimace.

The boy just looked at her, tears streaming down his face. When Felix got to them, he was able to push the door off of Abigail and was grateful that it looked like they weren't hurt. She passed Antonio to his father and together they barreled through the still falling debris. Abigail trying to ignore the growing pain in the back of her head the whole time.

"We gotta get out of here!" Felix told them.

When they reached the front door, Camilo immediately wrapped his arms around her. Not knowing that his hold was the only thing helping to keep her grounded at the moment. Abigail, in turn, returned the embrace a tight as she could.

Julieta and Agustin screamed for their youngest daughter to come with them. To stop trying to get to the candle and just leave. Casita started pushing them out just then, wanting the family to be safe.

Quickly, they all ended up on the front lawn (Casita having successfully gotten them out). Abigail almost lost consciousness from the impact, but hearing the Madrigals fearful shouts for her friend kept her awake. She wouldn't sleep until she knew Mira was safe.

"Mirabel! The house is going to fall!"

"Mirabel, get out!"

"Mirabel!"

Everyone watched in horror as the tower collapsed with one of their own still inside. Abigail couldn't move, parallelized by the thought of someone she cared for being hurt, possibly dead. A tear slide down her cheek.

Dust settled. The Madrigals began to survey the damage. Julieta finding her youngest daughter covered in dust, but otherwise unharmed.

Abbi slowly started to make her way after the healer, but then she felt dizzy. The sounds around her starting to fade in and out. She put a hand on Camilo's shoulder to help stabilize herself.

"Mariposa?"

".........Dizzy........."

"Let's sit you down, then."

Just as she was about to take another step, her legs gave out and she fell. She would have hit the ground if Camilo hadn't caught her. Cradling her in his arms, he started to panic. "Mariposa?! Mari--Abbi! Abbi!"

"Julieta, come quick!" That was his mother. She was by his side in an instant. "Julieta!"

Pepa tenderly put a hand on the back of the girls head to help her son support her. However, she pulled back, feeling a warm, sticky substance. Both sets of eye widened at the sight of blood on her fingertips.

"Abbi, abre esos lindo ojos, por favor!" She didn't respond. Not a single twitch to acknowledge she'd even heard him. Camilo was so scared, he didn't even notice when his brother came over to them, tears running down his face.

"Antontio, don't cry, papito."

The young boy just clung to the ginger woman. Watching as his older brother tried to keep himself from completely falling apart. As his aunt looked over the girl who had save his life. The girl he thought of as a sister.

"It's not a lot, but we need to stop the bleeding. I'll be right back," said the former healer. Pepa tore at the hem of her dress and pressed it to the wound.

"Milo, she'll be fine." She ran her other hand through his hair, trying to comfort him as best as she could. Sighing when he buried his face in the crook of he neck.

With fast footsteps approaching, the woman smiled. Her sister was always quick and efficient. When she felt a tug on her dress, she looked to her youngest child.

"Mama?"

She turned her head in the direction of where he was pointing. Oh no. A man was walking toward them. And not just any man. That was the little sunflower's father.

Dante was home.