You Are My Encanto

Chapter Eleven

As you walked away from both Mirabel and Camilo, you were surprised to feel your heart beating steadily, and slowly. You couldn't care much less about Mirabel's words, nor could you find yourself broken up on turning your back on her. She'd said so many things to hurt you, mostly out of spite, anger, and betrayal. You couldn't say it wasn't well deserved, though you couldn't find yourself to agree it was a proper outlet for her anger.

At the moment, you  didn't quite mind turning away from Mirabel. However...you'd also turned away from Camilo. The boy who'd been with you through thick and thin. The boy who held one certain special little part in your heart. The boy who took care of you when you so certainly couldn't do so yourself. You weren't sure whether the pain you were feeling was for yourself, or for him.

The fog which clouded your heart constricted, reducing you to staring down at the ground as you descended the steps Casita made for you into the courtyard. The clattering sounds of wooden floorboards, and metallic screeching sounds of iron railing falling into place, was a cold echo of Casita's usual symphony. Cracks webbed the walls anywhere you looked, exposing the hollow shell within. You almost avoided looking into them for the fear of finding eyes staring back at you from the depths of the shadows, waiting for you to trip over the last step.

Where you were going, you couldn't say. Who you'd see on your way, you weren't quite sure. What would happen to the Madrigals, and to Casita, you didn't know. The vision Tío Bruno had of your future came to mind, and you wondered if it had anything to do with whatever was happening around you. How it could have connected to Mirabel's vision was unclear...but both of your prophecies defied all laws of Tío Bruno's gift. Your futures were undetermined, and fuzzy. They came up out of order, so there was no one way to read them. What if they did cross over at some point, and that's why you felt so out of tune with your gift anytime Casita quivered. Why your gift brought more pain than it did peace.

Darkness now fought to consume your gift, though you offered no resistance as it began pooling and swirling around your feet as you walked. You wondered if the darkness you felt spread just as easily as the blame burned its way through the Madrigals.

You could hear the harsh sound of the wind howling around you, but the fog was unaffected. Pepa's storm was growing, and the open courtyard was especially vulnerable. The heavy winds blew in fallen leaves from outside and thunder rolled far above, past the sea of ash-grey clouds. No doubt Pepa was stressing after what'd happened at dinner, and you could practically envision Abuela losing her patience with her daughter as the clouds spread past the sun. Poor Félix was likely at his wife's side as always, working to try and soothe her nerves the way his wife deserved. A stray thought crossed your mind, and you began to hope that, maybe, using the brighter side of your gift could bring back some sense of warmth to the family. No one knew of your prophecy, nor did they have to. There wasn't any outright reason for them to turn away your help...not unless there were more who felt as Mirabel did.

Looking up to the clouds, you uttered a silent prayer that there weren't any others who felt as Mirabel did. You didn't dare look to the candle, for the fear it would extend its reach to you yet again. You really couldn't take any more surprise miracles at the moment.

As you made your way to where the wind howled the loudest, you couldn't help but let out a little gasp as you felt a hand grab at your arm, and as it pulled you back. You raised your hands in self defense, but dropped them in shock when you saw who'd grabbed you.