Make You Smile (Camilo Madrigal x Reader)

Faced With A Haunting

You couldn't believe you had been through so much in order to find an ounce of gratefulness in this situation, but here you were - here you were, chuckling over one thing... At least they didn't knock you out this time.

The anger you felt could not be at the surface for long.

Sure, you were angry. Sure, you could certainly hold onto it. But keeping the same level of resentment throughout your entire blind-folded trip would not do you any good. About 3 hours into your back-of-the-wagon ride, you had no other choice but to "calm" down.

Every so often you would try to distance your hearing from the rickety wheels of the wagon you were in to make sure you could still hear the creaking from Camilo's as well. You had but a clue of where you were going, let alone if you were going to be separated from Camilo. While listening wasn't giving you many cues as to where you were, it had to do. 

Not like you had another choice.

You had gotten used to the dull feeling of being alone in the back. No changes in pace, no changes in conversation, no sense of presence next to you. 

Your muscles tensed at the light, but noticeable and sudden change in the way the wagon was feeling. It didn't stop, but you could feel footsteps hopping into the back to join you. Who it could be was uncertain, but it's not like it mattered. You thought of them all the same.

You unknowingly held your breath as you began to feel the presence looming over you, inching closer and closer. You felt the rustling of the bag over your head as a hand fumbled with it, eventually pulling it over to reveal your face to the outside once again. You squinted your eyes as your pupils got used to your surroundings.

One thing was for sure; you had absolutely no idea where you were.

Once your eyes had focused, staring back at you was an unfamiliar man with a scar across his right eye and a stern look on his face. He proceeded to shove a piece of bread into your mouth, not letting your hands be unbound.

"Eat," he said monotonously, his cold eyes piercing through yours.

If you had any ounce of strength in you at that moment, you would have spat it out right in his face. You didn't want to eat their garbage.

But you were hungry.

Too hungry.

You didn't even have to swallow your pride before the bread was completely engulfed between your teeth.

You felt like an animal. You hated it, but the only way your brain had been functioning these past couple of days was to think like one.

So, you felt no external shame in taking the bread. You needed to.

Your internal pride, however, was screaming at you.

"Tastes good, huh?"

Your senses all shot with utmost alertness, your eyes shooting forward and landing on your mother, who was riding a horse solo and pacing you. You didn't respond.

"Oh, come on, Y/N. I'm still your mother. I wanted you to eat."

Your face grew from blank to inhospitable. 

"And what about him?" You nodded your head over to Camilo's wagon, watching your mother raise an eyebrow.

"What about him?"

"You need to give him something," you firmly stated. If you had a free foot, you would have put it down.

Your mother scoffed at you. "You really think you have the upper hand here?"

Your gaze did not leave hers. If she thought you were scared of her, she thought wrong.

After holding your stare for a solid 10 seconds, your mother caved and broke the contest, calling out to one of the men to give Camilo some food.

As unpredictable as she was, you still knew you could crack her.

You quickly turned your head over and fixed your eyes in Camilo's direction as they took the bag off of his head. The second the bag was off, his eyes met yours. There was an instant sense of relief. To see each other meant you were okay, and that's all the confirmation the two of you needed.

The moment was broken by one of the man blocking his view, presumably to give him the food they were ordered to. You turned back around to face your smug mother.

"It's probably the right move anyway," your mother carried on. "He needs to be well fed to meet your pá."

Your could physically feel your face turning a ghostly shade of pale in that moment. All blood had been drained, your mind filled with no thoughts. The only sound you could make was to ask "what" over and over again.

Pá..?

You knew this was coming. Somewhere inside the crevices of your brain knew that this was inevitably happening. Still, it didn't feel real once it was spelled out in front of you.

You might have chosen to ignore it out of pure shock. You probably would have. Alas, you were unable to do so once you began to get through a clearing of trees. Once you were able to see a building approaching. Once everyone had stopped.

There was nothing here. Why would they bring you here? It made no sense. It was solely an abandoned building with nothing inside. Why is everybody still?

It all made sense when something - someone appeared out of the decrepit doorframe. Someone hauntingly familiar who you never thought you would have to face again.

It was your pá.