Chapter Text
Camilo hated to admit it, but most of the time he didn’t feel like talking to people, let alone trying to make them laugh. Before Casita had been rebuilt, he would do his best to put on a happy face and bear the weight of being the town jester, but now Bruno was back, and Camilo used that to his advantage.
Whenever Camilo couldn’t stand being isolated in Casita or when one of his parents forced him to go into town, he would just shift into Bruno. Everyone in town was still wary of him, and wouldn’t go out of their way to talk to him. Some people even blatantly avoided him. Camilo felt bad for using Bruno’s poor social standing as a disguise to get out of telling jokes, but as long as Bruno didn’t find out, Camilo couldn’t find an issue with it. At least, that’s what he though until a group of three men approached him.
Camilo recognized them as friends of Mariano’s. He liked his sister’s boyfriend well enough, but Camilo had seen some of the people he hung out with and he did not care for them. Camilo eyed them warily as they approached him, still in Bruno’s form.
“Hola Señor Bruno. Is there any way you could give one of us a vision real quick?”
The man who asked was clearly the ringleader of the trio. Camilo remembered his name was Oscar. The other two men were chuckling quietly to each other.
“Lo siento, I’m not doing any readings today. It’s my day off.” Camilo turned around, trying to stop the conversation as quickly as it started, but Oscar grabbed him by the forearm, and Camilo looked back at him in surprise.
“Aw come on. I’ll be quick. We could really use your help.” The other men smugly nodded in agreeance. Camilo only now realized how much these men towered over him.
I should just switch back. Camilo briefly thought to himself, But then Tío Bruno will find out I've been pretending to be him to avoid people, and he probably doesn't want to deal with these guys either. I'll just make something up.
"Ah, okay just this once, but don't tell anyone or else they'll all want a vision on my day off."
"Gracias, Señor Bruno." Oscar sounded almost relived. "We actually made a ring of sand already, so we don't have to climb all those stairs."
" Oh right... the sand..."
"It's right this way if you'll follow us." Oscar began to lead the group through the town, and soon they stopped in a secluded alley. Camilo chuckled nervously.
"I don't see very much sand here." He started backing up, but din't get far before he bumped into someone, who quickly shoved him towards Oscar. In one quick motion, he grabbed a fistful of Camilo's hair and slammed his head into the nearest wall. Camilo heard a crack, and felt something warm flow down the side of his head as he fell to the ground. His body went numb, and his vision blurred. Camilo could hear hushed voices talking over him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.
Camilo knew he had turned back into his normal form.
At least it was me, and not Tío Bruno.
**********
"What the hell! That's not Bruno."
"Mariano's going to kill us."
"What do we do now?"
"We take the kid with us, and go back to the original plan. I guess we have an extra bargaining chip."
***********
Dolores could normally hear throughout the town, but she was in her soundproof room with Mariano. They weren’t doing anything, but it was easier for her to focus on just her boyfriend, rather than everyone within a mile. To be honest, Dolores could see why Isabela didn't want to marry this man. He was so mind-numbingly boring. All he wanted to talk about was how much love he had to give to her, which Dolores knew was the exact same spiel to Isabela while they were together. She was actually considering breaking it off with him tonight when she heard a gentle tapping on her door. She went to open it, and was surprised to see Bruno standing there.
”Hey, Tío. Did you need something?” she said, glancing back at Mariano.
”Haha, uh, yeah. Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to let you know that you’ll have the house to yourself. I’m heading into town to find Julieta. I think Helena has a cold.”
”Ok.” She went to close the door before pausing. “Wait, who exactly is Helena?”
”Oh!” Bruno reached into his ruana and pulled out a large, grey rat. “She can be a bit of a diva, but she’s one of the most talented actors I’ve ever trained.” Helena chirped happily from the praise, and Dolores drew back slightly into her room.
”That’s…. nice.” She started inching the door shut. Even though she knew her uncle had never left, that didn’t mean she knew how to talk to him. She though he was unsettling.
“Uh, well, I guess I’ll be going then.” Bruno gave an awkward wave and started for the stairs. Dolores closed the door and Bruno glanced back as the doorknob clicked.
I really need to work on my social skills. he thought. While absentmindedly scratching his chin, he made his way down the stairs and to the front door. As he was reaching for the doorknob, there was a loud, sharp knock. Bruno jumped back, startled for only a second before taking a deep breath and preparing to face someone from the town for the first time in a while. He opened the door slowly while peaking around the side of it timidly. There were two men from the town.
"Hello..." Bruno started quietly, "Is there something I can help you gentlemen with? Do you need a vision or something? Because that's just about the only thing I can help with."
"We don't need a vision, but we know someone who does." The taller of the two men stated.
"Well, I can't really do a vision without a certain setup, and I already have one in my room, so if this person wants a vision, they need to come to me."
"That's not going to be possible."
"Well, then I can't really help you. I'm sorry...." Bruno trailed off, feeling dejected that he couldn't even help one person while his family was out helping the whole town.
"Really Señor Bruno, just come with us. It will be quick."
"I can't." The men exchanged a glance before one of them grabbed Bruno by the arm and began dragging him out of Casita.
"Stop! Wait!" Bruno struggled against the man's iron grip, but his time in the walls had left him weak from malnourishment. "Dolores! Casita! Help!" Casita fluttered its tiles helplessly, as Bruno was already dragged beyond its threshold, but Bruno saw Dolores's door burst open. He knew her room wasn't completely soundproof!
"Help me, please!" he yelled again before the other man clamped a hand over his mouth. Dolores rushed to help him, before falling to her knees in agony. Mariano had dashed to the kitchen and was banging a pair of frying pans together, effectively deafening her and paralyzing her in pain.
Bruno was roughly thrown to the ground on his stomach before the taller man pinned him down. The shorter one made quick work of tying his wrists behind his back and tying his ankles together. A piece of cloth was tied over his mouth, gagging him, before the taller man hoisted him onto his shoulder. The men dashed into the forest next to Casita with Bruno in tow, as he watched his home slowly disappear.