Camilo x Reader -Broken Reflection

Chapter 6 (Late night dreams)

Camilo's POV (first person POV)

I'd had the same dream every night. Everything about it was identical, from the energetic party music that played while everyone danced, to the way I ate the same amount of fruit at the same time of my dream- even though I'd witnessed the dream hundreds of times, it still chilled me to the bone.

It was my birthday. I was turning fifteen again, which meant that I had my gift for ten years. There was a big celebration for me where mirrors were set up in my bedroom. Long streamers hung from the ceiling and a snack table was set up on the large wooden performance stage at the back of my room. The red curtains were drawn to reveal even more mirrors. Everywhere people turned, they could see their reflections bounce off of the looking glass. Everyone could see themselves but me. As I stared into the mirrors, my family danced around me in a large circle. My mother tugged at my arms and pulled me close to dance with her. I could barely bring myself to move.

"Turn into me!" My father shouted. I shifted to look like him without a thought.

"Turn into Abuela!" Antonio shouted. I spun in a circle and suddenly I looked exactly like my grandmother who sat on her chair and clapped, swaying to the music a string quartet played. I felt myself turn around for everyone to see, listening to how they cheered for me. Somehow the sound of their cheers got quieter and quieter by the moment.

"Turn into Bruno!" Mirabel shouted. She jumped and clapped as I grew taller. I bared my teeth and curled my fingers as my eyes glowed green and long black hair swished in front of my eyes. I turned around for the crowd to see, catching myself in the mirror.

Why was it that I could only see myself when I looked like someone else? I felt sick. My head swam and my eyes blurred but no one noticed.

"Turn into Isabela!" Someone shouted. I shifted without even trying to and felt my stomach flip.

"Now Luisa!" Someone else called. I could barely hear them over the sound of the music and my heartbeat. I wanted them to stop talking. I wanted them to leave me alone. I hated it. I hated my birthday. I wished that I never got my gift.

"No! Turn into Félix!" Pepa shouted. As everyone shouted over each other, their voices turned to sound more like taunts than anything else.

I whirled around, scrambling to find a table to lean onto or a chair to sit on. My legs didn't feel like my own. They weren't. They were the legs of the kid who drank too much coffee. I tried to lift my arms to rub my eyes but when I looked down at my hands, they were large and hairy like the farmer down the streets.

My breath came in short gasps and I tried to ask everyone to quiet down. They didn't hear me. They only demanded that I change into someone I wasn't.

"Wait," I croaked. "Stop... please."

No one listened.

"Why can't I just be me?" I pleaded, but they were too focused on the way I shifted into my mother. She squeezed me and hugged me and I tried to pull away but then Dolores held onto me too.

I struggled. The crowd stopped cheering and started to shout. They drew closer and closed the gap between us all. I pulled at my limbs but so did they. I felt the air being sucked out of my tightening chest. It was suffocating.

"Shift! Shift Shift Shift!" The crowd chanted. My eyes drooped closed as I pressed my hands to my ears to try and drown out their noise. I was starting to get swallowed up by the crowd.

I fell.

My head hit the glass mirror underneath me before I could ease my fall and I heard the high-pitched sound of it cracking. My eyes fluttered open to see my broken reflection in the mirror. Blood from my forehead dribbled onto it but I couldn't find the strength to panic. There, looking back at me were twenty copies of my shaking figure in the glass. Finally, I could see myself.

But I was fading. Glitching. I closed my eyes and it all went black.

"Camilo."

My eyes flew open. What was that? That wasn't part of my dream. After I fell, I always woke up. I'd always gasp and pant and realize that I was alive and that it was just a dream. Who was calling to me? Who's soft voice was it? Why did it warm my body? Why did I feel at peace?

And then I saw her. She wore the same yellow and orange dress that she wore at dinner. She still wore her stupid oversized glasses and had petals in her hair.

"Camilo," She whispered.

"Yes?" My voice was strained but she was there and for some reason, it was all that mattered to me. Her hand cupped my cheek. Her skin was soft and gentle against mine. It was a blatant contrast to how she acted towards me in reality. But I didn't hate it.

"Breathe," She whispered to me. I nodded, feeling my lungs expand and shudder as I took in a deep breath of air. Breathing had never seemed to be so easy. Air had never felt so fresh. It smelled of oranges and flowers and morning dew.

"Why are you here?" I mumbled. My lips barely moved. Her thumb brushed against them. She said nothing, only sat down next to me and held my head in her lap. I let her stroke my hair and run her thin fingers through the curls. It felt nice. My eyes slid closed. Her breath tickled my neck and cheeks and for a long time, I forgot about the noise and the people around me. Around us.

My head throbbed but she eased my pain. Why was she here? I wondered. It didn't matter. I just didn't want her to go.

+++

I awoke late in the afternoon. I missed breakfast but no one woke me up. My clothes were soaked through with sweat ad clung to my clammy skin just as they did every morning after I slept, but my heart didn't race like it usually did. I didn't awake with a spinning head and the dread of wondering what I'd have to do or who I'd have to be that day.

All I wanted was to see her.