The Madrigal Fox

You What...?

There was nothing left standing of the house, rubble was scattered everywhere and hardly anything survived.

The Madrigal's stood in front of the broken building in silence, some panicking more than others.

Alma took her time checking over her family, checking to make sure no one got hurt. She seemingly ignored the fact that one of her grandchildren were missing, though it was hard to tell if she even cared to begin with.

Mirabel walked slowly into the mess, calling Oliver's name as she went along. She got no response.

Soon the other members of the family joined them, leaving Alma to stand alone while they searched. Her action hurt many of them, questioning if she would search for them if they were in the same situation.

Isabela found the door first. It was closest to the back and mostly still standing. A large piece was missing and the door itself looked about ready to collapse. It did not glow, though it was clear who the door belonged to.

She quickly called everyone over while trying to push debris away from the bottom of the door.

Mirabel smiled and reached for the handle once everything was out of the way. She opened the door expecting to see the large forest everyone had gotten used to seeing only for there to be nothing. It was just a door, a door that lead nowhere. Her cousin wasn't on the other side, nothing was. There were no trees, no broken cobble road, no mini lake. Nothing.

A moment later the door crumbled, joining the rest of the mess on the ground.

Despair washed over all of them as they realized that the boy was gone. Julieta and Pepa feeling as though they had failed their brother once again.

Mirabel frowned before turning to look at Alma who kept a blank face.

"Why?"

She didn't answer, just kept staring at the girl.

"Why did you hate him so much? Why did you isolate him all the time? Why didn't you care more about him?" Mirabel practically yelled, her voice cracking as she glared at the woman.

"He was a curse. A child born from a devil woman. His gift was a curse, one that he and his mother deserved." Alma glared right back.

"Oliver wasn't a curse! He was there for us, he loved us, he made things better for us." Mirabel hissed, taking a few steps forward.

"He was a monster. He was incapable of love."

"Our cousin was not a monster." Louisa jumped in, standing behind Mirabel and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"And there was nothing wrong with Tia Azura." Isabela said, also moving to stand behind Mirabel.

"Everything was wrong with that woman."

"Azura was a fine woman, Abuela." Julieta muttered, refusing to look at her mother.

Abuela frowned at her family, quickly shaking her head and glaring at them.

"They have cursed you as well. Caring for those monsters, they have you tangled in their web of dacite. I can fix you, it got rid of the evil once it will do it again."

The family seemed to freeze at the woman's words, slowly processing exactly what she said.

"What...?" A voice called from behind, making everyone turn to face the man behind them.

Bruno stood behind all of them, his face pale and full of shock. His hands trembled at his side.

"I got rid of the evil in this house. Small amounts of monkshood over a long period of time. It took almost two years but the evil was removed from our home." She paused, smiling as if she had saved the family from some vicious beast. "Only her cursed spawn was left and now he is gone too. Our family is pure again."