broken | camilo madrigal

BONUS CHAPTER; We Don't Talk About Bruno

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"We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no. We don't talk about Bruno." Pepa tried to get her niece and husband to stop but when she looked at Félix, he motioned for her to spill the truth about her brother.

Pepa took Mirabel back to the past — specifically the day of her and Félix's wedding, "But! It was my wedding day."

"It was our wedding day."

"We were getting ready and there wasn't a cloud in the sky."

"No clouds allowed in the sky."

"Bruno walks in with a mischievous grin."

"Thunder!"

"You telling this story or am I?"

"I'm sorry mi vida go on..."

"Bruno says 'it looks like rain.'"

"Why did he tell us?"

"In doing so, he floods my brain."

"Abuela, get the umbrella's..."

"Married in a hurricane!"

"What a joyous day, but anyway..." As rain poured down on them and the hurricane winds blew everyone into the air, Pepa shot Félix a look, "We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no. We don't talk about Bruno."

Mirabel gets pulled to the side by Dolores, the cousin who can hear everything, and suddenly they are in the family courtyard, "Hey. Grew to live in fear of Bruno stuttering or stumbling. I can always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling. I associate him with the sound of falling sand, ch, ch, ch." As Mirabel attempted to escape, Dolores took the brunettes arm and pulled her back.

As her cousin edged away from her, Dolores stepped onto a drawer, making sure Mirabel understood every word being told to her. "It's a heavy lift with a gift so humbling, always left Abuela and the family fumbling. Grappling with prophecies they couldn't understand. Do you understand?"

Mirabel then gets pulled into a creepy underground space with Camilo, who shape-shifted into Bruno to add a dramatic effect to his extra creepy tale, "Seven foot frame, rats along his back, when he calls your name it all fades to black. Yeah he sees your dreams and feasts on your screams (Hey)." Mirabel then fell down a dark passageway but was caught by Camilo who placed her on the ground safely.

"We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no. We don't talk about Bruno."

Mirabel emerged from the cavernous underground, to find herself in the town plaza, surrounded by townsfolk who had bad run-ins with Bruno. Osma held out her fish bowl to a confused Mirabel, "He told me my fish would die. The next day dead! (no, no)."

"He told me I'd grow a gut and just like he said (no, no)."

"He told me all my hair would disappear, now look at my head (no, no)."

"Your fate is sealed when your prophecy is read!"

As the spotlight turned to Isabela who was gently swinging on one of her vines, Mirabel realised that she's back in the courtyard. "He told me that the life of my dreams would be promised and someday be mine. He told me that my power would grow like the grapes that thrive on the vines." Mirabel looked at Isabela with a bored expression on her face.

"Oye, Mariano's on his way."

Dolores, on the balcony, heard her approaching with Mariano, "He told me that the man of my dreams would be just out of reach. Betrothed to another. It's like I hear him now."

Isabela turned to Mirabel with a pointed finger, "Hey sis, I want (It's like I hear him now) not a sound out of yo."

"I can hear him now."

Mirabel glanced in her bag at the shards of the vision, "Um Bruno. Yeah about that Bruno. I really need to know about Bruno. Give me the truth and the whole truth Bruno!"

Camilo transformed into Mariano who was walking up to the house, "Isabela, your boyfriend's here!"

"Time for dinner!" The family all prepared for the arrival of Mariano - who was parading up the street with a wedding ring.

"It was our wedding day (it was our wedding day), we were getting ready and there wasn't a cloud in the sky (no clouds allowed in the sky). Bruno walks in with a mischievous grin (thunder!), you telling this story or am I? I'm sorry mi vida go on."

"Grew to live in fear of Bruno stuttering or stumbling. I can always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling. I associate him with the sound of falling sand, ch, ch, ch. It's a heavy lift with a gift so humbling, always left Abuela and the family fumbling. Grappling with prophecies they couldn't understand, do you understand?"

"Seven foot frame, rats along his back, when he calls your name it all fades to black. Yeah he sees your dreams and feasts on your screams."

Mirabel passed Luisa's door which started to fade. The brunette watched on in horror as she realised her sister was losing her strength.

"He told me that the life of my dreams would be promised and someday be mine. He told me that my power would grow like the grape that thrive on the vine, I'm fine."

"Óye, Mariano's on his way."

"Bruno says, 'it looks like rain' (why did he tell us?). In doing so he floods my brain (Abuela get the umbrellas), married in a hurricane (what a joyous day but anyway)."

"Seven foot frame, rats along his back, when he calls your name it all fades to black. Yeah he sees your dreams and feasts on your screams."

"He told me that the man of my dreams would be just out of reach, betrothed to another, another and I'm fine and I'm fine and I'm fine. I'm fine."

"He told me that the life of my dreams would be promised and someday be mine. And I'm fine, and I'm fine and I'm fine, I'm fine."

"He's here!"

Mirabel hurried into her room and struggled to finish assembling the vision which glowed brighter and brighter, "(Don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no.) Why did I talk about Bruno? Not a word about Bruno!) I never should've brought up Bruno!"

The 15-year-old stared at the completed vision image which showed Mirabel in front of her cracked house.
Mirabel was horrified that the vision showed her face surrounded by cracks, but she stared at it, panicking.