Camilo ran.
With a leaden weight of futile steps, dull, and heaving from fear; in a dream at least once everybody had: running towards a destination but never reaching it, despite trying so hard.
Camilo ran, eyes fixed on his goal, a familiar form desperately trying to reach the Candle, while their world was falling apart.
Voices echo behind them, anguished cries and screams, calling out their names like a prayer that would keep the crumbling pieces together.
Camilo ran the endless-long corridor of his childhood, past wooden doors of fate, swift and unwavering, a mission he is not allowed to fail.
Isabela was way ahead, aiming for the Candle, or her sister, or both, with a newfound determination on her angelic features, and just in the peak of momentum, in the middle of swing, her power flickering out, the vine snapped.
Camilo ran, never halting, heart a little less tight with crushing fear catching the sight of Casita extending out to cushion his cousin's fall; Isabela tumbling down hard, but unhurt on the cracking ground.
Mirabel was still struggling to get higher on the unsteady roof, hands grasping and body strained with effort, fighting for a greater cause like she always did; a butterfly in the storm. She seemed so small and vulnerable, an easy prey, still, there was neither fear nor hesitation in her movements, as she kept going forward.
Camilo ran, dodging falling debris by shifting into smaller and increasing speed by shifting into a more athletic form, racing against time as the cracks got closer and closer to his door, to break its light forever.
His family, all of them were shouting now, their voices combined with the frightening rumble and deafening crashes almost enough to suppress his own heartbeat thundering in his ears; and for a fleeting moment, Camilo wondered, if this is what Dolores must be experiencing every day.
Camilo ran, on borrowed, longer legs, against fate and time, desperate to reach his cousin before the house gives way to a greater force before his own power succumbs to the inevitable.
He heard his Mama, hysterically screaming his name, and Tia Julieta, begging her own daughter to get out, before the voices faded, as Casita pushed them out onto the more steady, safer ground, all of them but...
Camilo jumped, as an ice-cold feeling gripped his heart, as his light flickered one last time then faded away, eyes widening in horror as his extended hands turned back into their normal form, smaller, shorter...
The scream cut off, desperately grasping fingers caught something solid so sudden he swore he could hear his shoulders crack. His body aching as it twisted, halting mid-air, as he got a handful of the railings Casita pushed into his way. Trembling from shock, he just hung there, trying and failing to catch his breath, as realization fell upon him. Powerless. Useless.
It was numbing. Defeating.
Mirabel almost reached the window by now, hand shooting out to grab the Candle, when a faraway, deep rumble shook the ground, pushing terror into their hearts, causing the teens to look swiftly into the direction of the threatening sound. The mountain, their guardian, which protected their home for 50 years, just split into two right in front of their widening eyes. The shock, or the shockwaves, caused the girl to stumble backward, and Camilo felt a power he didn't know before pervading his body.
He pulled himself up quickly, pushed forward, and amid the chaos and destruction, chest heaving, eyes wild, grabbed his cousin's arm. Hazel eyes met green, and Mirabel finally realized, she is not alone for the first time.
