Shifting To You | Camilo x (Y/N)

Rescuing The Enemy

We carefully slipped out of the crowed lobby and opened the door.

The too familiar grey sky and thickened air with the crumbled remains of broken houses bombarded us.

The usually joyful walk to my house was now depressing, stressful, and sad. Houses full of life only represented death.

"At least that one isn't your house." Camilo tried to lighten the mood and motioned towards a small house that only had one wall remaining. I instinctively squeezed his hand, the stress getting to me. "Sorry." He quickly added. Biting his lip.

One of the few houses left on my neighborhood strip was mine. The familiar pink door, worn yellow brick, and reddish shingles of my home were still here. Unaffected by the curse that the Encanto was facing.

I exchanged a quick look with Camilo who nodded me on. I twisted the cold door handle slowly, scared that any sudden movements would cause me to lose my home too.

I was surprised to see my mom in the living room. Quietly grabbing small essentials with my brother. "Mama!" I ran up to her. She quickly covered my mouth, pointing towards the basement.

"Help me pack, we need to leave. They refuse to stay at the Casita. But if we stay here we'll die."

"Well make them leave! No one will die here." I whisper-shouted.

"I've tried. Abuela doesn't want help from the Madrigals and we won't force her. It's time we put ourselves first." She shoved the last shirt from the coffee table into her bag.

"Let's go (B/N)." She slid past us. "I'm sorry, (Y/N). We'll hopefully see you back at the Casita, where it's safe."

"What happened to you?" My eyes began to burn as tears wanted to fall. I didn't notice how hard I was squeezing Camilo's hand until he flinched.

"Sorry." I quickly replied, letting him go. "(Y/N), I have to do what's best for my family. The Encanto is falling apart and I'd rather have mine torn in the process to keep at least some of us safe." She walked out the door. My brother gave me one last sympathetic glance before he joined her under the grey sky.

I burst down the basement stairs, Camilo a couple steps behind.

"Honey, this is the last time I'm going to say it. We don't want Madrigal help. They did this, and they better fix it." My dad spat from a chair.

His eyes widened when he noticed me. "(Y/N)? (Y/N)! You've finally gotten some sense and joined us." He looked over at my sleeping grandma. She sat in a corner next to a large bookshelf.

"No, we came to get you." Camilo added, standing behind me.

"Get out of my house. We don't want your help. Leave. We'd rather die in here than go along with you." He sat back in his chair.

"Please, come with us. The Madrigals will forgive you for trying to steal the candle, they'll..."

"Of course they'd forgive me. They'd regret not letting me have it. Under my possession, the Encanto would still be alive."

"If you would have taken it, who knows what you would do. You used your gifts for evil." Camilo retorted.

"Don't come in my house and disrespect me, Madrigal."

"He's right, you did use it for evil. You tried to steal it twice!" I added.

My grandma began to awake. "What's going on, hijo." She looked at my father with squinted eyes. "Sit mama and rest. You know it's too early for you to stand. You could get injured again." He ordered.

I looked down at her leg. A large gash that looked like it came from rock stretched across her leg.

"She'll die down here." I noted. A few dead's managed to fall from my eyes.

"We're not going!" He hit the wall with a fist. Anger boiling through him.

"Now."

Bang.

"Get."

Another bang.

"Out!" A final bang against the wall left the bookcase next to my grandmother tumbling. The nails holding it in place popped and landed on the floor. Even if she dodged it, she wouldn't be able to make it to safety without cutting her feet. Her bare feet say inches from the floor.

The too familiar power surge burst through me. Leaving the bookshelf falling slower, but by the second it began to fall quicker.

Camilo hurried over and sun how shifted. Luisa caught the slowing bookshelf. He looked at me with disbelief. His eyes asked 'how are we doing this?'

My father grabbed my grandmother. Wincing with pain as he stepped on occasional nails. Red blood leaked from beneath his feet, but he didn't care.

Camilo suddenly shifted back quicker than he expected. Leaving him rapidly running from under the falling shelf.

As the shelf hit the floor, it caused rumbling and shaking. The basement was collapsing.

My dad had managed to drag my Abuela with him upstairs and out of the house. But the maze of nails and fallen boards down here slowed us down.

As we ran, aiming for the stairs before they collapsed I tripped. But before so could land on a pile of needles and wood below Camilo grabbed the back of my shirt, lifting me up.

"Don't fall now, princesa." He joked and steadied me on my feet.

The stairs still creaked, but it was harder to navigate up as the earthquake like shakes made the stairs into a wobbling mess. Our only option was to crawl.

The door was now within reach. The "dead" look of the Encanto was the only thing I wanted to see. 

I ran out the house, immediately greeted with a swarm of dust falling onto my face. I didn't care.

"We survived our second almost-death." I smiled with relief. But Camilo didn't respond. I turned to see him standing in the middle of the house, frozen.

My father's voice emerged. "I'm going to make you die in here."

Those were his last words, before he passed out, hitting the rough floor below.