Chapter Text
The screams could be heard from almost a mile away. As soon as the jungle silence had been disturbed, Mirabel and Bruno had taken off running.
Please don’t be hurt. Please don’t be hurt. Please don’t be hurt!
Mira hated to admit that she recognized those screams, namely to deeper, older ones. Growing up with Camilo and witnessing the changes as he got into accident after accident. He rarely ever cried out so agonizingly now, which meant that something was truly wrong. And it scared her.
“Rapído Bruno, they need help!” The older man was far behind, stumbling over stumps and roots. “Ay, I’m not exactly the most graceful guy, sobrina! Wait up!”
There was no time to wait up. Her prímos were in trouble.
The closer they grew to the screaming, the quieter they became. It got to the point where Mirabel was close enough to hear audible words, pleas, and cries, coming mostly from a small voice. Antonio sounded so scared…it was heartbreaking.
“Stay away from him, p-please! Don’t kill him, stop it!”
Dios, Dios, Dios, Dios, Dios
Bruno caught up to Mirabel just as she reached a small clearing, where an overhang in the trees opened to the sky and showed a beautiful view of the mountains behind them. But that wasn’t in their focus.
In front of them, Antonio was sobbing across the clearing. The little boy’s arms were outstretched and his eyes were wide and begging. Across from him was a sight Mirabel would never, in the rest of her days, forget.
A large cat — a jaguar, like Antonio’s but definitely bigger and scarier — stood over Camilo with a great formidable stance. His jaws were outstretched, hovering over her cousin's face and ready to chomp down.
Mirabel didn’t hesitate.
She grabbed an abandoned stick from the ground and started banging it against a tree, screaming. Realizing what she was doing, Bruno started shouting and squawking.
“Get away from Camilo you híjo de puta!”
The jaguar roared and growled. The sounds intimidated the creature enough for it to step back, releasing Camilo beneath it. Mirabel started running, waving her stick around without a care in the world whether she got herself killed, and did so until the predator realized it was cornered and outmatched. With one last small growl towards the group, the jaguar turned and ran into the jungle.
The stick fell from Mirabel’s hands and she sighed in relief.
Then she lost her breath for a good moment when she was suddenly knocked to the ground by a blurry force.
“Mira! Mira! It’s you! You’re here, you’ve come to save us! I-I-I thought Camilo was going to die and that I would too, and y-you…”
Mirabel sat herself up so Antonio was perched in her lap, and wrapped her arms around him gently.
“It’s okay, Toníto, I’m right here. You’re safe now.”
She allowed the boy to cry into her chest. He shook either every sob, and she held him as he did so.
The reunion was ruined by, of course, Bruno. Though it was probably for the better.
“Mira, you need to come here!”
She placed Antonio back on the ground and stood up. As soon as she saw Bruno hovering over Camilo’s body, she was quick to run beside him.
“Cami? Cami, are you okay?”
No answer. He was breathing, but he was unconscious.
And he was bleeding.
“What happened, Kid?” Bruno said, speaking to Antonio. The boy sniffled. “W-We…he came in a-and saved me from the tree falling. H-he rolled over and-and stabbed himself so he could get us under a-a log so we wouldn’t get squished. When we woke up we were trapped and tried to get out…b-but…he…”
“It's okay, mí niño, breathe. Take a deep breath, alright? Okay, can you tell me what happened after that?”
The boy hiccuped, but nodded.
“H-He…we dropped it and it landed on his leg. I’ve never heard Camilo cry like that, never! It’s all my fault!”
“No, no, Toníto, no it’s not. It…It’s nobody’s fault that this happened, okay? How’d you guys escape?”
“W-We…I…I pushed it while he was sleeping and, I…I got out and rolled it off of Cami. Wh-When he woke up, he was r-r-really hurt and, and I told him not to, I swear! I told him not to take it out but he did! He pulled the stick out and he screamed. So loud. I thought he died, but he was still crying, so I knew he didn’t. After we cried together I helped him get up w-with a stick, a-and we started walking back home. B-B-But then we realized we were outside the Encanto and I started crying, a-a-and that’s when th-that jaguar attacked us. I’m sorry, I-I’m so sorry!”
Mirabel couldn’t help but cry with Antonio. How could someone so young go through so much trauma in barely the span of forty-eight hours? Longer, even, as his birthday had caused even more of a fuss. Why to him, her prímíto?
“Don’t be sorry, por favor. It’s okay, I’m here now, and so is your tío.”
Antonio’s hiccups paused.
“T-T-Tío?” he turned to Bruno with amazement in his eyes. “A-Are you Tío Bruno?”
Mirabel was unsure whether the man’s look was of amusement or awkwardness. Probably both.
“Sí, sobríno. I’m Bruno. But we don’t have time for any greetings right now, your hermano needs to get to your tía Julieta soon.”
Mirabel looked back down at her primo, nearly throwing up in doing so. There was just so much blood! A bright crimson puddle had formed beneath the boy, staining his white shirt redder than it had been before. It had soaked through his yellow ruana, tied around his waist, and leaving Mirabel to conclude that that was where the stab wound was.
Dios, all of that red was supposed to be flowing inside him!
“How are we going to do that?”
Bruno hummed. “W-Well I’m not exactly the strongest of either of us, but I think I could carry him. I need to have his left side pressed against me to decrease the blood flow and put pressure on the injury.”
Mirabel gaped up at him and her uncle merely shrugged.
“What? I grew up with your mama for a sister, okay? I know things. Now, ayúdame, por favor.”
The two slid their hands beneath Camilo’s limp form and hauled him up. Bruno pulled him to himself with ease, rather surprised by how simple the task was. How could a growing boy who ate so much every meal be so light? It was a concern he’d have to deal with later, for he’d need the boy alive to question him.
“Vamos, Antonio. Mira?”
“I’ve got him, Tío.”
Mirabel pulled her prímo up to her hip. The boy was out in minutes.
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“Luisa, how is mama?”
“Mama is terrified. Papa is out with Tío Felix looking for them now, but…so far we can’t find anything.”
Isabela rested against Luisa’s side, and they both cried.
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“Cami! Antonio!” Felix cried.
“Mirabel! Mí Niña, por favor, ¿dónde están?” Agustin called.
Both men were reaching the base of the Encanto mountains by now, with absolutely nothing to show for their three hours of work. No Mirabel. No Antonio. No Camilo. Nothing.
They both met up at the crack in the mountain, exhausted. Felix sat down on a piece of fallen stone, while Agustin kneeled in the grass and panted.
“I should have stopped him and gone in there myself.” Felix admitted out loud. “Maybe then I would know if both of my boys were okay.”
“I should’ve helped Mirabel more.” Agustin shared in reply, his voice tinged with regret and sorrow. “Alma has always been too harsh on her. I should’ve done more.”
“Now our children are all in danger. No magic, no safety, no more home.”
“Sí, Felix. And it’s all our fault.”
Felix turned with a grim expression.
“What did we do, ‘Gustín?”
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Dolores hated not hearing.
If her entire family were here, perhaps she’d actually enjoy being able to enjoy the peace and quiet of the village. She wouldn’t have to shame herself on being better to help find her brothers and prima, which is what she was doing now.
Her hands fidgeted where they clutched tight to a familiar little stuffy. Antonio’s jaguar, one with similar features to Parce that Mirabel had added after gaining that addition to the family. The little animal was dirty with small tears in the sides, but otherwise remained stable.
Dolores felt tears coming to her eyes.
What if her hermanos were gone? What if Mirabel was?
What would she do?
Her mama would surely never be the same. She’d isolate herself and barely ever socialize with anyone again.
Her papa would try to comfort Pepa, all the while concealing his own grief which would eventually reveal build up and erupt violently like a volcano.
That’s just how they were, as parents.
But what would Dolores do?
As of right now…she had no idea.
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Pepa held tight to both of her niños, playing with their hair as they giggled into her chest.
“Mamí, I’m fifteen! Stop it!” Camilo tried pulling away, but Pepa pulled him back with unsurprisingly little effort.
“I can’t help but love you, mi precioso! I just want to stay close to you both all the time!”
Pepa went to hug them both. However, when she did, she felt nothing but air. Opening her eyes, her sons were suddenly gone.
“Camilo? Antonio? Where’d you guys go?”
No answer.
Then…
“Mama! Mama, help!”
She didn’t pause as she jumped to her feet and started running. The screaming wouldn’t stop, plaguing her ears, and Antonio’s begging only made it so much worse.
“I’m coming, don’t worry! Antonio, where-“
She stopped.
Her heart stopped.
They were dead.
They were both dead.
Pepa cried herself awake.