Since you guys liked the last fic so much, I decided to write the full story out. Hope you guys like it (and the crossovers that are bound to come), now let the show begin! :D
The book should've been a little longer. Still, Victoria smiled as she closed the novel, having finished it all in one day. She liked going out with her family and all, but sometimes she just needed some time to herself, especially when it came to reading. Her family – especially her abuelo Héctor, Tíos Oscar and Felipe and Tía Rosita – always stressed that keeping to herself instead of enjoying time with others wasn't good for her, that there were times where she had to drop her stoic act and start having some fun. Sometimes, they had to toss the book aside and drag her out to get their point across, even if it was unnecessary. She knew how and when to have fun. She wasn't always so serious, and they knew that. She couldn't be annoyed by them for long though, since she knew they meant well. They cared about her, which was why they did it.
The bond Victoria had with her family was the most important thing in the world to her. She didn't know what she'd do without them.
Thinking of how much her family meant to her, Victoria found herself recalling the events where one of her family members had nearly been lost forever, how her abuelo was almost forgotten… back when Ernesto had taken almost every single thing away from them.
The thought of de la Cruz made her twitch with nervousness as she looked back on him. Even though he was foolish enough to expose himself, he did manage to have almost everyone fooled for ninety-six years – but when he wasn't using his fair façade, he could be really nasty and cruel, even towards children as young as twelve.
Pero…
Victoria put away the finished book before looking around a different section of the library she was visiting, scanning titles until she finally found the book she was looking for.
Should we destroy our de la Cruz collections?
The book had been published in January 2018, not too long after de la Cruz's true nature had been revealed. It was one of the most popular reads now, right next to Carlos Fuente's Aura. It surprised Victoria how she hadn't picked it up a year ago as opposed to now. Maybe then, it would have prepared her for that conversation with de la Cruz.
But that had been a while ago. Ernesto was still under the bell, while she was back with her family, who was ever so grateful for her bravery in turning the camera against him. Everyone was happy that he was gone, but while she was happy that her family was finally together at last and that her abuelo's legacy would live on… her phantom heart twinged as she remembered visiting Ernesto.
She still didn't know why she went there, to the bell that held the man who tore her family apart. She didn't know why she began talking with him. Thank the gods that no one else was watching, or else she would've felt so stupid…
But the more they talked, the more she realized why she came there… because she pitied him.
Sure, he had murdered her abuelo, stole his songs and guitar and almost made him experience the final death, but… he wasn't so bad, compared to many other criminals who had done much worse, like outright torturing their victims while keeping them alive.
Deep down, there was still some humanity that he held onto, humanity that he had shown the day they spoke to each other.
Victoria didn't care to read the entire book, since it seemed to eventually delve into the common opinion that "de la Cruz was one of the worst criminals in Mexican history and deserved more than just the bell." She simply turned the pages, looking over the summaries and pictures of Ernesto. There was the typical introductory information, which was listed on every single article about him.
He was born in 1896 and rose to fame in 1922, starring in films and having a couple affairs before getting crushed by a giant bell in 1942. He charmed everyone with his charismatic nature and wooed dozens of women, having the world wrapped around his finger until the truth came out on November 2nd of 2017, during his Sunrise Spectacular. A young living boy named Miguel Rivera – who had gotten himself cursed – spoke out against him, saying that he was a coward who had to steal from his great-great grandfather to get to where he was. De la Cruz tried throwing the boy off a building, but the boy was rescued by his great-great grandmother's alebrije.
It was thanks to 50 year-old Victoria Muñoz Rivera and her aunt, 60 year-old Rosita Muñoz, that his evil deeds were recorded and shown to the audience. Not too long after, the family's alebrije had snatched him up with her backlegs and had her fun with him, before finally throwing him to the giant bell in the distance.
A giant bell… was there really no other punishment available for him? Victoria had studied law back in her high school days and knew that although the former star definitely had to pay for his actions, having him crushed by a bell again was definitely not a reasonable penalty. For god's sake, there were criminals who encased their victims in concrete after weeks of endless torture, yet their punishments were less extreme compared to his.
"It isn't fair," Victoria muttered, closing the book.
She left the library, not bothering to check out any books. She sulked all the way back home, where she gave a small knock on the door. Papá Héctor was the one who answered it, eagerly greeting his granddaughter, "Hola, Vicita! How was your visit at the library?"
"Fine," she answered glumly, walking past him into the house.
Héctor's cheeriness faded as he noticed how sad his nieta was. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked. "You look kind of… sad."
He was right. She was sad, sad because she felt guilty about Ernesto's fate.
But her abuelo couldn't know that, so she simply said "I'm fine, abuelo" before heading up the stairs to her room. She knew he most likely thought that the bell was a fair punishment for de la Cruz, but not her. She felt like there were other solutions, better ways of delivering justice instead of such an extreme measure.
Victoria remembered the toast they had made prior to the concert: the toast to family and friendship. She had all her family and friends, and what did Ernesto have? Nothing and nobody, not even his little alebrijes that followed him around everywhere he went.
He was all alone.
She remembered all the words she had said to him, how she expressed her feelings about it all. She could still hear his voice getting all choked up as she gave him the coke bottle.
She sniffled, remembering how he had said I was going to be alone again. She had cried for him over how unfair and unjust his punishment was.
To try and stop herself from crying again, Victoria picked up a pen and a diary that she called 'Kitty', which she used whenever she needed to write down all her own personal thoughts. She hadn't used it in a long time, having been focused on other books as well as spending a lot of time with her family.
Today, she would use Kitty again, writing all of her thoughts about all the events from the past – about Ernesto.
Dear Kitty, she wrote. How long has it been since I've written? I believe I stopped writing back after Abuelo and Mamá reunited. My apologies, but with the whole family back together and music being allowed, I've been so caught up with it all that I forgot to check up with you.
Enough about that though, for now I will tell you of my inner, secretive thoughts about everything. Do you remember Ernesto de la Cruz?
I'm sure you remember that man from the night Miguel got cursed, two years ago. My little sobrino wanted to be a musician so badly that he refused Mamá Imelda's blessing and ran off for hours, only for Mamá Imelda to find him in a sinkhole along with Papá Héctor.
When we all met up, Miguel told her how Papá Héctor tried to come home, only to die of poison on the way back thanks to de la Cruz. Miguel decided to accept her blessing, but only if they got Papá Héctor's photo back.
With the help of Frida, we snuck into the Sunrise Spectacular and fought with de la Cruz and his goons, retrieving Papá Héctor's photo.
Unfortunately though, before Miguel could go home with the photo, de la Cruz grabbed him by the hoodie and held him hostage, before he tried to kill him again.
Before Pepita came back up with Miguel, I saw how distraught Papá Héctor was as I helped him get back up. I saw the pain and horror in his eyes, and just how it had crushed his very last hope…
It hurt to write about that night and what Ernesto had done to her grandfather and nephew. Though he never got away with it in the end, what he had done still left an ugly mark on them all.
Thankfully, Miguel was safe, but Papá Héctor almost faded away, she continued to write, frowning as she remembered how her grandfather's body had flickered violently. His body was convulsing, shining with gold… we all thought it would be the end for him.
But Miguel promised he wouldn't let Coco forget him, and he kept that promise.
At last, our family was whole again.
Victoria bit the tips of her fingers, unsure about describing Ernesto's fate.
"You have to write it down, Victoria," she said to herself, firmly and determinedly. "It might be useful for... what's ever to come in the future."
Months later, we were given the footage of Pepita playing around with Ernesto like he was a chew toy. Everyone laughed at the sight of him being thrown to the bell… all except me.
I couldn't bring myself to laugh at it, not when it didn't feel right. Even though I should've considered him an enemy, I can't… I can't bring myself to actually hate him. I can pretend to agree with everyone else when they say he got what he deserved, but really, I don't believe it.
Victoria quickly wiped away a tear, then continued with writing. If there was one thing that would help her cope with her sorrow, it was expressing her real feelings to Kitty. She never spoke to any members of her family about her visit to the bell tower, about her guilt towards his current state. They would never understand how she felt the way she came to understand Ernesto.
I think they're all wrong.
Victoria stopped again, tears pricking her eyes as she felt the aching in her heart come back, memories flashing so vividly in her head.
She sniffed, breathed in and continued.
I know this sounds crazy, but I visited him not too long ago at the bell tower because I felt so bad for him. He had to relive his death again, only now he's trapped under the bell for the rest of his days with no chance of being let out. He's confined to such a small space, that I don't doubt for a second that it's slowly but surely squeezing him and cracking his bones.
No matter what anyone else might say, two wrongs don't always make a right.
A tear rolled down her cheek, falling onto the paper. Victoria shook her head, wiping her tears away with her arms as she tried to remain focused. She was almost finished.
She went on about how everyone had celebrated and about how everyone was so proud of her.
It seems like the guilt will never cease.
After all of those events, life seemed to get better. Dante always comes every now and then to deliver letters from Papá Héctor to Miguel. Miguel writes songs now and plays the guitar. In the land of the dead, we've formed a family band. Papá Héctor plays his guitar, Mamá Imelda sings, my mamá and papá dance, Tía Rosita plays her own guitar, Tío Oscar and Tío Felipe play trumpets and I play the violin. We recently had a concert and played "The World es mi Familia," which everyone - especially the Villavicencio family - seemed to like. Earlier this morning, I even helped Mamá Imelda with some boots.
But just because I spend time with my family, doesn't mean that I don't visit Ernesto anymore...
You see, I've made up my own little schedule, using my free time to take "long walks" when really, it's to visit Ernesto. Sometimes, we talk. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? More crazy than the new inventions that the twins keep coming up with... but unlike those inventions, talking actually works. Turns out, you can learn so much more about someone through a simple conversation.
Even though this sounds foolish, I'm willing to be his friend now. He doesn't seem to mind the idea either, since he liked my gift so much.
Victoria stopped and bit her lip. She had just poured all of her feelings into her diary. This needed to be kept between her and Kitty. She couldn't dare to express her true feelings to her family, not even her aunt whom she was always so close to or her grandfather, who started spoiling her the moment he found out she was the daughter of his darling bebita.
They wouldn't understand now, but maybe when the time came and Ernesto...
"I won't be able to see him again," Victoria said quietly, sadly. She sighed, shutting her eyes. Everything had changed now, and Ernesto was to thank for that. She opened her eyes slowly, finishing her entry.
This seems impossible, but I have hope. When I was growing up, I was told how true friends never give up.
Well, I think that message rings true right now, because I'm not going to give on Ernesto.
Finally, she put the pen down, finished with writing her most private thoughts and feelings. She smiled sadly as she closed her diary, putting the pen away afterwards.
She looked at the clock and realized how long it had taken to write that. She needed to go downstairs and join her family, allowing herself to take her mind off her sadness and enjoy the happiness that came from familia.
Victoria opened her bedroom door and left, though she stopped in her tracks to turn back to the diary on her desk. She went back over to the desk and pulled open the top drawer nearby, bring out a lock for the diary so she could seal it tightly.
She smiled wistfully, going out and closing the door behind her. Though she loved her twin uncles, they sometimes stuck their noses where they didn't belong, so to speak.
