METAMORPHOSIS. / c.madrigal

(4) Beyond the Limits

(4) Beyond the Limits

Like promised, you took Mirabel up to Bruno's tower.

Was it a good idea? No. Did you get caught? Hell yeah.

You snuck out at midnight. You figured that it'd be a late enough hour where everyone was asleep. Boy, were you wrong.

As you and Mirabel snuck out to the tower, the floorboards creaked and you froze. Casita! She was sabotaging you, threatening to make your mission a bust.

Camilo emerged from his room, holding a flashlight. "Ay, dios mio. Look what you've gotten yourselves into. Where are you headed?" he asked cautiously.

"Bruno's tower." Mirabel blurted out.

"Jeez, could you be any less obvious?" you asked, facepalming.

"Can I come with you? Pretty, pretty please?" Camilo begged. He looked so... cute? No, you definitely did not have a crush on Camilo. Nuh-uh. No way.

"Sure!" Mirabel insisted and linked arms with her cousin. What started out as a duo mission was now a field trip. You tried not to be annoyed with Camilo, he was your friend after all. But why had Mirabel been so quick to accept? You started to wonder if Camilo got... angry. In a way you didn't want to see.

"Fine." you said, crossing your arms. You ran ahead and checked to see if the coast was clear. Who knows who would've woken up from Casita's betrayal. Maybe she had only done that to wake up Camilo? You didn't know.

"C'mon, guys," you said, signaling for your friends to stop playing around with their arms linked and skipping around merrily. "We need to hurry."

"Dolores could wake up at any second." Camilo said, finally serious. He dropped Mirabel's arm and walked ahead, giving you a subtle wink as he passed.

You ushered the two up the staircase and twisted the doorknob. You opened it a crack, huddling up and looking inside. You couldn't see anything except for an hourglass shaped hole with sand flowing like a waterfall just through the hole. It looked safe enough. You stepped in and walked through the short hallway before the hole. You filled your hand with sand. It was just normal sand. You jumped through the hole after checking that your mission partners had closed the door. As you fell, you could feel sand covering your entire body. You spat, letting the sand in your mouth go to the sand dune that you were currently sitting in. Mirabel wiped her glasses while Camilo brushed the sand off of his ruana. You stood and stared at the seemingly millions of stairs in disbelief. You were supposed to climb those? Nuh-uh. No way. Not in a million years.

"I'll race you to the top!" Camilo challenged with a devilish smirk.

"Oh, you're on." you smiled, returning his energy. He started bounding up the stairs. You knew that it would be a stupid idea, so you started at a normal pace. You didn't change your pace until you caught up with Camilo a little while later. He was droopy and looked like the equivalent of a raisin. It's like he had aged forty years and you realized that maybe he was making it appear that way on purpose.

"¿Cómo estás?" you asked with a huge grin on your face. You knew he had caught onto your tactic, and he wasn't visibly happy about it. He only responded with panting. You checked behind you to make sure Mirabel wasn't within hearing distance. She was about 80 steps behind you both, so you decided it was good. You turned to Camilo and asked, "What was that thing you wanted to ask me?"

"Oh," Camilo remembered. "That. Well, I wanted to tell you - I mean ask you - if you have feelings for me. I've been getting... I don't know. I've never had a crush before. It's not very big yet - well, I don't know how to judge that, but don't worry. If you have any clue what it all means..." he trailed off.

Wow. You'd never thought of Camilo that way. Come to think of it, he was pretty cute. And super sweet. And considerate. And great with kids... the list could go on and on. I mean, did you know about the warm buttery sensation you get from a crush? Yes. Had you ever gotten that feeling from Camilo Madrigal before? You hated to admit it, but yes.

"I think I know what you're talking about," you admitted. "Let's come back to this conversation later." You looked back and smiled at Mirabel who was slowly catching up to you and your... Camilo. The group was only about 100 steps from the top, finally. You sighed out of relief.

All of a sudden, sand started pouring from the ceiling. It fell exactly where the two of you were standing. Mirabel caught up as you tried to move. The sand only followed you, making the hole in the ceiling bigger. You shot your friends a frightened look.

"We have to go back. Otherwise, we'll get trapped up here." Mirabel wisely commented. You realized just in time as the hole grew bigger and bigger. The three of you raced down the stairs in a panic, the Casita giving you no help on the way. You ran like it was life or death - which it very well could be. Adrenaline filled you up and fueled you for the sprint.

As you reached the bottom, you frantically ran up the sand dune, slipping and sliding a few times. You were either the fastest runner of your group or you had the most left over energy. You left the door wide open for your friends so they could easily follow. As soon as you crouched down to catch your breath, your breath caught and your heart skipped a few beats when you saw the legs and slippers of one Alma Madrigal. You looked up to see the stern look on her face.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked as calmly as she could.

"Look, Alma," you explained. "I didn't realize the tower was off limits. I was just looking for something to do, really. Please don't punish Camilo or Mirabel for this."

"Fine, I won't punish them." she smirked. She proceeded to slap you in the face - hard. You crashed to the floor, clutching your swollen cheek. Once Camilo had his bearings, he ran over to you and held you tight.

"How could you do this?" Mirabel screamed.

"I invite this... person into my house and they just trespass? You have to understand, Mirabel. This is our house, our Casita." Alma tried to justify herself when Julieta came out of her room holding a rolling pin.

"There is no way I will let you talk to my daughter or our guest this way, mother." Julieta shouted. Casita agreed, throwing her down the stairs and into her room. Casita slammed the door behind her. 

A/N: Sorry for the late update! I'm doing this super rushed right now, so thanks for reading! I'll try to update tomorrow, my schedule is super weird. I'll also show my funky analytics in the next chapter as well. Love you guys, thank you so much! <3