It all started with a Mariposa

Party Panic

I honestly don't even know what I'm doing at this point 💀

It was a night of celebration. With swirls of colourful lights and tasty appetizers, the air buzzed with excitement. 

Antonio's room seemed to be alive with laughter. Everyone was either dancing, laughing or playing music. Nobody's mood could have decreased with such a party. Everybody was having a great time. 

"Oh! We need a picture!" Alma suddenly exclaimed. "Everyone, come! Gather around! We need to capture this great night!" Everyone gathered around the front of the inside of Antonio's door.

You smiled. The Madrigal's seemed to be the happiest people in the world. At that moment, it seemed like nothing would go wrong. While everyone was making way for them, you wondered just why you hadn't been coming to these events even as a child. 

But then, your eyes wandered. The Madrigal's grouped together, organizing people by height for the picture. But someone was missing. Mirabel.

You looked around, hoping that she was just short compared to the taller members and she was hidden, but you were wrong. Mirabel was nowhere to be found. 

The tension was starting to get to you. Where was she?

Oh. Over there, hidden in the crowd. She'll come eventually. 

But she didn't. She just stayed there, watching her family with a sad face. You took a step towards her but then stopped yourself. No. Her family should notice that she's not with them.

You turned. They didn't. They were all too happy with what they were doing to notice that Mirabel was missing. And just when the picture was about to be taken, and Mirabel sighed as she was about to leave...

"Everyone together!" Alma shouted. That was it. You grabbed Mirabel's arm through the crowd and practically swung her over to the center. Julieta beamed as she brought Mirabel in between her and Agustín with open arms. 

Still surprised, Mirabel froze. But she then relaxed and smiled for the camera. 

"La Familia Madrigal!" 

The crowd cheered as the Madrigals retreated from their spot. And soon, everybody was in their own groups laughing and having fun as they enjoyed the party. 

Mirabel looked around. It was as if she knew that if somebody hadn't pushed her towards the centre then her own family would have forgotten that she wasn't with them during this happy moment. 

But fortunately for you, you managed to sneak away through the crowd of people just like you did when you had seen Mirabel for the first time, and Mirabel never knew it was you who had failed to resist the urge to make sure she was in that photo. 

However, someone did witness your actions. Camilo had seen everything. He had caught sight of Mirabel in the dark and was about to leave to go get her but somebody else beat him to it. He saw perfectly well just who that 'somebody' was. 

He looked around. He knew you were here somewhere. But it was like you were never there. After the picture, he lost sight of where you were. It was as if you had vanished into thin air. 

Where'd you go?

Camilo searched for you around the room, scattering away from the rest of the family. He finally spotted you fixing a piece of ribbon that had fell off of the wall. 

He started to walk up to you when he suddenly stopped. 

What was he even supposed to say? 'Hey (Y/n). I saw you push my cousin so that she could be in the family picture. Why'd you do it?' 

Stupid. He didn't even take a chance to stop and think. He just acted carelessly. All because he caught her talking to Casita? Was that so wrong? What did it even have to do with him in the first place? 

Why'd he have to get involved? Why did he constantly need to find excuses to approach you? This was getting ridiculous.

Camilo thought back to when he pestered you into telling him where you were going earlier. Come to think of it... Why did he need to know about that? 

It was a little rude now that he truly thought of it. Maybe he should apologize. 

But his thoughts were interrupted by a slight shout. "Camilo!"

Camilo's head shot up. You had caught sight of him looking down at the ground in deep thought, and thought that he looked a little lonely. So you had walked up to him. 

"Enjoying the party?" You asked. Your voice was much louder now. You had to shout a bit to be overheard over the crowd and the music. 

"Uh-yeah." Camilo nodded. He wasn't one to get startled so he was a little taken back. But he recovered quickly. "Your voice seems to be back." He pointed out. 

This time you nodded and smiled. "It does that a lot. Sometimes it just comes and goes." 

Camilo saw your grin and found himself smiling back. He felt warm when he realized that neither of you spoke up again and he ended up looking around. Now that he had found you, he had seemed to lose Mirabel. He thought that she would be back by now, hanging out with her friend but that wasn't the case.  

"Where's Mirabel?" Camilo asked curiously. This got your attention, and you looked around as well. "I'm not sure." You said. "I haven't seen her since you guys took that picture." 

"So you were there. I saw you push Mirabel towards us, too." Camilo blurted out unintentionally. There he goes again. Acting before he thought. 

You laughed nervously, as you walked over to place the abandoned ribbon back on the wall. 

Camilo followed. "So you saw that, huh?" You let out, perfecting the placement of the ribbon. 

"Yeah..." Camilo muttered. Though you didn't hear him over the party. 

"Well, it just bothered me a little. I don't really know why I did it. It just felt wrong seeing them forget her like that." You said. "Wait." 

You turned around. "If you saw that she wasn't in the picture, why didn't you get her?" 

"You beat me to it." Camilo replied honestly. 

You laughed at this. But then you instantly fell silent. That's when Camilo caught sight of your fingers weaken while tying on the ribbon. You swayed a little before steadying yourself. You looked tired all of a sudden. In fact, you looked as if you were about to faint.

"Are you okay?" Camilo asked, extending an arm but stopping himself from catching you when you stood up again. You took a quick breath and smiled at him. "Mhm." You nodded.

It was obvious you were lying. To him, the fact that you were in pain was clear as day. After all, he was an expert at hiding his pain sometimes. But Camilo didn't push it. He thought that he was already being nosy enough. 

You leaned on the wall for a mere second before getting back up. You felt a little light-headed. You closed your eyes for a moment, trying to steady yourself. 

Flash.

An image of a green cloak appeared in your head. It reminded you of Bruno Madrigal's. You knew he was known for his sinister glare and green ruana. After all, you had been sure to paint this verdant piece of clothing on the family portrait in the walls of the town.

But something was different about this cloak. It was dark, green and rusty. It gave off an eerie vibe. And as soon as the picture appeared in your head, it was gone and you opened your eyes.

Camilo was just staring at you, confused and concerned. "I'm fine." You stated sternly, getting annoyed at the amount of worry he held in his eyes. 

Though you pushed yourself off of the pillar, your body went limp and you found yourself staggering back to the wall. You groaned in annoyance. What the heck was going on?

Camilo blinked and took a step backwards. "Okay. I'll just go get Tia Julieta to help with... whatever's going on with you." 

But Camilo never made it to Julieta. Because a familiar hazel-eyed girl burst into the room. "THE HOUSE! THE HOUSE IS IN DANGER!"