Chapter Text
Bruno crouched in the darkest corner behind the walls of their casita. He was so grateful that nothing had changed when casita was restored, except for the things that he had hoarded inside his kitchen adjacent room...which had been transferred back to his original room.
Calls rang out from outside and the thunder that kept booming shook the narrowed space, causing dust to trickle on top of his hair.
He covered his ears and shut his eyes tightly. Trying to drown out the calls from his family.
He tried to ignore the déjà vu he felt the first time he hid behind the walls after learning about Mirabel’s prophecy. It was just as chaotic as this one. Though this one was definitely more chaotic.
Probably because of the ruckus he had caused.
One of the townspeople—Mariano of all people— almost died because of him!
Okay… not really.
It started when Dolores and Mariano were having a stroll around the town and were just passing by a house that was being built, when one of the carpenters accidentally kicked a brick off the roof towards Mariano’s head. And Bruno—who had been hiding in some bushes— tried to push him out of the way but he didn’t push him hard enough and the brick had ended up landing on the man’s outstretched leg—and there was a loud crack and then everyone was panicking and Mariano was howling in pain and- and—
“Wait, Tío Bruno… did you know this was going to happen?” Dolores had asked as she let Julieta (who was immediately on the scene after Mariano’s ear-shattering screech) check on her boyfriend.
A crowd had gathered, and Bruno could already feel the distrustful looks being sent his way, and he finds himself shrinking back as he looked at Dolores. She looked hurt.
“Is this why you’ve been tailing us this whole time?”
“I-I-I didn’t mean to – I -I mean, you were looking forward t-t-to your date the whole morning—I -I couldn’t- I-I didn’t want t-t-to ruin—”
He could hear the whispers again. So quiet but he could hear the harsh tones and hisses.
“Bad luck Bruno is at it again…”
He clutched his ruana as he clearly heard that familiar phrase while Dolores whirled around looking surprised and outraged. Though he was pretty sure the anger was because of him.
Seeing this as an opportunity, he quickly ran away, not looking back even when he heard his niece call out for him to wait.
Everything else was a blur as he practically crashed through casita and begged casita to open one of his secret passages which it did with no second to spare. He crawled through the dusty, narrow way, not caring how he had hit his elbow or accidentally knocked his head at the low ceiling as he held his breath and crossed his fingers.
As soon as he was sure he was at the farthest corner, he sat back and hugged his legs close to his chest, burying his face in his arms for good measure.
Why do he always ruin everything?
Bruno stayed like this for an hour. For an hour, casita was silent and peaceful, creaking here and there.
If only he could stay like this forever, always out of everyone’s way. Not troubling anyone with visions that he couldn’t control. Not having people look at him with so much anxiety when he has to tell them of their prophecy.
Things may have changed for the better, but people will always remember the bad.
And he had been the source of all that bad.
Just as he was about to doze off, the front doors suddenly slammed open. He could hear his familia calling his name as soon as they entered.
And that’s how he had ended up here.
“Bruno! Hermano!”
“Brunito, please come out!”
“I checked his room, he’s not there. But at least his door isn’t out.”
He pulled himself closer to the corner when he heard a nearby entrance of his secret passage open, “Tío Bruno?”
That was Mirabel. He froze and hope she wouldn’t find him or see him.
“Do you see anything?” That sounded like Isabela.
“It’s too dark. But I think we should check the town again—”
The entrance closed and Bruno sagged in relief.
But the relief was short-lived when he accidentally hit his head against the wooden beam above him. It wasn’t that loud but it was enough for him to hear a loud shush from outside.
Why did the miracle have to give their family a gift of super hearing? It was so unfair.
“Tío Bruno?” Dolores said out loud, her voice muffled by the walls, “You know I heard you.”
He tried holding his breath when the house became silent, even the booming thunder had stopped. It was a vain attempt of course as he eventually released his breath and mumbled, “I’m sorry…”
After another second of silence, he heard some shuffling outside and mumbled discussions. Soon after, he heard the entrance open and shut before grunts and squeaks of surprises filled the narrow passage.
He didn’t dare look up as he stared at the dirty ground with slightly blurry eyes.
A shadow then loomed over him and he sniffed, “I’m sorry, mi sobrina… I-I know I should’ve told you about the vision as soon as I got it… b-b-but you were so excited this morning a-and I-I-I thought I could stop it on my own. But of course with my luck- I just made it worse—and I-oomf!“
Dolores had suddenly pulled his arm and crushed him into a hug, “You did nothing wrong, Tío. I’m sorry that I made you think otherwise.”
He quickly pushed himself off from the hug, looking at her as if she were insane “W-what are you talking about?! I broke his leg-“
“You did no such thing. If you haven’t been there, that brick would’ve hit him in the head!” Dolores took his shaking hand, “You having this vision saved him, Tío. What those people said, they were never true. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re not bad luck—”
He pulled his hands from her grasp just to knock on the wood surrounding him, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Tío—”
“I should’ve been more prepared. I should’ve pushed harder or-or-“
“Tío Bruno—”
“Everything is always worse when ‘Bad Luck Bruno’ is around! I mean you noticed it too, right? A-a-all these bad lucks stopped as soon as I was out of the picture! Maybe I should go back—”
“Don’t you dare!”
He squeaked at the other’s angry tone, not used to hearing the soft-spoken Dolores sounding so furious. He was about to apologize once more, but his niece continued,
“During one of the town’s festival, after Mirabel’s ceremony, Señor Diego’s house caught on fire because he left a candle on after leaving for the celebration.” She said wide eyes staring intently at his own, “Not long after that, crops died because Mamá made it snow for five days! And just weeks before Antonio’s ceremony that same woman with the dead goldfish got another dead goldfish!”
Bruno opened his mouth, before closing it once more.
“Don’t you see, Tío? You don’t make bad things happen. They just… happen.” She took his hands once more and slowly started pulling him out of his corner, “…and you have been gifted to see the future. Both the good and the bad. Unfortunately, people remember the bad more than the good. And I’m sorry that I made you think that I was accusing you over Mariano’s accident.”
“You looked hurt…” He mumbled as he let her lead him out slowly.
“Only because you didn’t tell us that you had a vision.” She said softly looking down at their hands, then back up to stare at his own teary ones, “Do you not trust us, Tío?”
And just like that, he finds himself in the past, looking through the holes of the walls just days after he had been missing. That evening, during dinner, when his Mamá had stoically told everyone in the family that Bruno had lost his way and left his family.
He had abandoned them.
He had left them in a time of need.
And from that day on, they will never mention the name Bruno nor speak about him ever again.
He couldn’t see the expressions of the others clearly as his eyes blurred with tears, but he saw how Dolores had turned to his direction, she wasn’t looking at him directly, just at the area she knew where her uncle was, but it had hurt as he saw her lower lip wobbled, eyes going wide with unshed tears as if begging him to come out.
He almost did… but he didn’t.
Instead, he took a step back and turned away. He remembered hearing the soft sobs from his sobrina as he did so.
He remembered the guilt that grew as the days passed. He remembered the day that everyone had finally wrote him off as nothing more but a nightmare. He remembered the day Dolores had referred to him as the ‘rats talking in the walls’.
And he deserved all of that.
He did.
“I can’t—I didn’t want to cause any more trouble than I already have.” He looked up at Dolores, who in turn, looked back at him, eyebrows scrunching further, “I’m so—”
Dolores pulled him into a hug once more, this time a little more comfortable and firmer than when they were back in that cramped space.
“I will always be here to listen, Tío Bruno.” She tightens her hold around his thin frame, “Always.”
He blinked a couple of times at the other’s sincere tone, “…I…o-okay…”
After a couple of seconds of hugging, she eventually lets go of him, “Thank you for saving Mariano. I mean it. But next time, please don’t hesitate to tell us when you have your visions. The last thing we need is you ending up in harm’s way trying to fix things on your own.”
He winced in guilt at the other’s stern tone, “I-I’ll try not to…”
She rolled her eyes with a smile, (looking just like her mother when she listens to one of Felix’s bad jokes), before opening the portrait in front of them. A rush of relief flowed in him seeing casita once more and with the help of his niece, he climbs out of the hole and back into the warmth of his home. The others had been waiting for them by the dining area and had quickly welcomed them back with relieved smiles and warm arepas.
He was still a little uncomfortable with the sudden attention, and he knew there were still a lot of things that needed to be worked out now that he came back. But for now… being surrounded by his familia and finally being a part of it…
…it was all enough for him.