Everything was quaking, breaking, all around him. The walls had been cracking for some time now, but this was different. Casita was shaking, groaning like it strained with effort to stay upright. Bruno's heart sunk in his chest, dread pitting in his stomach. He had, in a way, known this was coming. Perhaps he had been a bit too hopeful after helping Mirabel. Still, Casita was crumbling, truly breaking this time, and he was not going to be able to patch these cracks.
He jumped upright from his chair; horror etched on his face and in his movements. He wanted to run, wanted to scream, but he could not yet. Instead, he rushed to the back of the picture, peering through the crack in the wall. Inside he begged to see them, see them running out safely. His breathing became panicked, and his heart sunk even further when he saw that the kitchen was empty. For a moment, he tried to assure himself that that was good, that they were probably running out. He stepped back, panting and shaking almost as bad as the house. He could hear his family's voices in the distance, heard their panic and their screams.
Oh, lord, the screams.
Casita lurched, reminding Bruno that he REALLY needed to get out of there. His wide, terrified eyes glanced one more time at his makeshift home of the last ten years. For a moment, he felt sorrow, and then it was gone. And so was he. He nearly tripped over his own feet several times as he scrambled through the walls, his teeth clenched tightly as he looked for an escape. Everything around him was falling, and behind him was destruction. He yelped to no one, to nothing as he felt some of the bricks fall dangerously close to him.
Nobody would hear him if he died down here. Not even Dolores.
As he ran, his pants so frantic his own voice was coming out of them, he could hear something outside the breaking. Julieta, screaming her daughter's name. The familia, screaming Mirabel's name in pure agony and horror. Something inside Bruno cracked as he rounded a corner, looking up as if he would be able to see what was happening.
Mirabel. No, not Mirabel!!
"MIRABEL!" Bruno shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice pitched with alarm and pleading. He reached out at nothing, at a faint flicker in the distance that he was probably just imagining.
Nobody heard him.
He was not able to outrun the death of Casita any longer. It gripped at his heels, and he fell. He could not even scream as his own home crushed him under destruction. Bruno could only feel the fear, the desperate plea inside him to whatever could save him, save Mirabel, save it all. It did nothing, and no sound from him came as it all came down.
All came down on top of him.
Bruno gasped sharply, sitting upright in a flash with his dark eyes wide open. He looked around frantically, his breath quick and panicked. Somehow, he managed to keep it quiet, even as his body trembled and an ache settled in his bones. Blinking rapidly, he found that he was sitting up in the middle of nearly finished home. His blankets were askew, and his mattress was crumpled beneath him. Around him, the Madrigals remained asleep, someone muttering something in their dreams and rolling over. There was almost no night sky to look up at, since the roof was finished at this point. He sat there for a few minutes, realizing that it had been a nightmare. The house had fallen, but not on top of him. That had never happened.
His breath came out quickly, forced and shaky. He drooped his head into his knees, which he had brought up to his chest. He sat there for a little while longer, letting his shaking body slowly relax. He muttered to himself over and over that it was fine, he was fine. Breathing in through his nose, he lifted his head and reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a handful of salt and threw it over his shoulder, and a little bit of relief washed over him. He repeated his mantras, crossing his fingers and tapping his leg. He wanted to get up to knock on wood, but he did not think his quaking limbs would allow that yet.
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It's Time to Talk to Bruno (Encanto One-shots)
Fanfiction(Bruno-centric) Bruno Madrigal lived in the walls for ten years. He watched over his family, and while he missed them terribly, he told himself he was doing the right thing for them. Especially for Mirabel. They could figure it out, and he would wat...
