It all started with a Mariposa

Secrets in Casita's Walls

Camilo's curiosity piqued and he stepped closer, his face inches away from mine. "Mind some company?" He asked, a hint of mischief in his eyes. 

I wondered how he could look so much like himself after the ordeal that just happened. It made me think that he was forced to act like everything was okay... but way more often than he needed to.

I considered his offer. Did Mirabel want him coming along? We didn't know what kind of dangers lurked behind the walls of the magical house. And I was torn between the urgency of the mission and the unexpected question. 

But the sudden outburst from earlier flashed through my mind and I found myself nodding. He seemed so worried about Mirabel and so upset about all of the events that he almost hyperventilated. How could I say no to him?

Camilo smiled, and together we ventured down the dimly lit corridor. 

"Is there anything you know about this stuff that can help us?" I asked after I had filled him in.

"No," Camilo said, shaking his head. "This is the first I'm hearing of all this."

"Alright." I nodded. Now I just had to remember which portrait was the portrait Mirabel went into. 

Camilo stepped in front of me, looking at them. He then walked over to a painting with a fern placed on top of a table. "You said a painting, right?" Camilo asked. "What about this one? It looks tilted."

"Let's try it." I mumbled softly, my voice getting quieter and quieter by the second. 

Camilo unhooked the canvas and placed in on the ground to reveal a hole in the wall. It looked like the one Mirabel had disappeared through. 

I looked at him. Did he really just find the right portrait by chance? It didn't seem tilted to me.

"Looks about right." I said. Camilo looked ahead of him and over his shoulder to check if anyone was there. When there wasn't, he looked at me and did a fancy, theatrical bow. "Ladies first." 

I deadpanned while grinning. "Oh where have I heard that one before?" 

Camilo only looked up and winked. I climbed into the passageway and jumped down. Camilo, after placing the portrait back from the inside, jumped down, too. 

We both turned to see that the inside was completely covered in cracks. 

"Let's move slowly." I suggested. "For all we know, this place could cave in at any moment." 

Camilo looked to me and nodded in agreement. He grabbed my hand and we both started moving deeper into the darkness. 

As we moved further through the narrow corridors into the twisting labyrinth, I lightly traced my left hand onto the wall. "Someone's been patching the cracks..." I mumbled. 

As I looked around, Camilo instantly stopped me from moving. Startled, I looked at the ground. The floor had caved in. 

"Thanks." I said gratefully. As I looked ahead, I noticed that the other side wasn't too far away. "Should we jump?" 

"Wait, look." Camilo said, pointing to little ledges of wood in the middle. "I think we can jump from ledge to ledge and get to the other side."

I hummed a response. It did look like it was used for that purpose but it didn't look stable. 

Camilo let go of my hand. "Here, watch." He said. He took a few steps back and I stepped aside. Then with a running start, he jumped. He hopped onto the ledge on the left. Wasting no time, he leaped to the one on the right. Then jumped to the floor on the other side.