~**[{ S i c k. S y n d r o m e s }]**~ 🦎Camilo Centric~~

{~*Chapter 2*~}

Camilo beckoned the kids to come closer near the bench, Staring worriedly at the fading sunlight. The sky was already showing faint stars, and the chill of night came over in small breezes. Camilo hated to disappoint the kids, but it would be so much better if he could just put on a story tomorrow, where he wouldn't be on the verge of collapsing at just one shift.

And he could already picture the kids' parents, scolding him for keeping them out at night. However sheltered by the Encanto, it was still Colombia, where danger could lurk anywhere on the streets, especially when darkness was upon the village. He stared back at the kids apologetically, just maybe he could wiggle his way out of this and just do it tomorrow. "I'm sorry-but we'll have to do this tomorrow." He gestured to the darkened sky. The kid's faces fell, and he felt incredibly guilty; as a Madrigal it was an unspoken duty to help the townspeople, and serve them. The kids all nodded, and walked away, their heads hung low. He frowned deeply, feeling disgusted with himself. The children rounded the corner, and Camilo held his head in his hands, a headache pounding inside him. However grateful he was he didn't have to shift, he still felt unsatisfied, like he had to do more to entertain and serve the village. Little did he know, a set of beady eyes were peering at him through tinted glass, observing his behavior.

He let out a deep sigh, and looked up. With a jolt, he realized that the sun had already retreated fully, and it was nearly pitch black if it had not been for the lonely lanterns scattered on the streets, to act as streetlights. How long did he sit there, with his head in his hands pathetically reflecting on himself? He scrambled up, feeling immensely dizzy from the headrush, and whatever the heck that had been going on within him throughout the day. This wasn't the first time it had happened, but today was worse than the other "dizzy and wanting to collapse" days. He regained his balance, leaning on the handle on the bench until everything stopped spinning.

Once the disortainting feeling was gone, he felt like something was prickleing on his back, and his belly dropped. Was somebody watching him..? He whirled around, and saw a shadow quickly slip out of sight in a nearby alley. He was firmly unsettled now, and his breathing accelerated. He heard footsteps behind him, and In a flash, his legs were moving in a repeated motion, and he was whipping past buildings in a blur.

He didn't even know who was walking behind him, but something deep in his gut tore at his insides, making his run as fast as he could. A monster ripped at his brain, shoving horrific ideas of whoever the person behind him was and what they would do. They were immensely scared, for seemingly no reason other than a gut feeling. It was an immense paranoia that he couldn't dismiss, it was instinct. The only sound he heard was the slapping and pounding of his feet, not even realizing that he had shifted.

Only when a tiredness and exhaustion that was only worthy of the most weak, washed upon him much quicker than it should have, he realized. He couldn't be that out of shape for an effect like that, he must've shifted. Panic overtook him as he realized if anything was chasing him, he wouldn't have enough energy to run...what would happen to him? He noticed a window pane right next to him, and he was horrified to see the rapidly shifting forms that were reflected in it.

He felt the constant changing of his nose, eyes, and the nerves silently panging and stinging as they constantly shifted. He looked at the reflection, and he wast even sure what they were looking at. Who was the person in the immense bodies that were shown..who were they? Hot Tears gathered in his eyes; They felt like they were in a world so far away, torn apart from reality and thrown into a dimension of an empty void of confusion, pain, and...was the person going to catch them now? But he no longer heard footsteps.

The shifting stopped, and it felt like he was being forced into his body. The feeling of being shoved into a corporeal form and the sheer weakness and exhaustion of his body threw him forward. The tears were now released, and he sobbed without a sound. He stuck out both his arms, his hands scraping painfully against whatever was in front of him that contained the glass pane. He breathed so heavily he thought his lungs were bursting, and not even his arms could hold him. He collapsed against the wall, sliding down the brick and plaster that he felt his body scrape against. The urge to close his eyes was incredibly strong, but he couldn't pass out, not now..not today. With incredibly shaking legs, he attempted to push himself up again, to no avail however as his legs gave out. Camilo brought his attention to where the hell he was.