Thanks to KnightOwl247, superlc529, ohmygiddyaunt, Alysia Of The Pen, TomatoSoupful, Angelwings2002, Cara Beatrice Green, and 157yrs for reviewing last chapter! I really appreciate it, and we've reached 90 reviews! Whoa o.0 Thank you all so much! ^^
This chapter was so fun and awkward to write at the same time...xD
xxxx
"Frida did say alebrijes can take many forms," Miguel says uncertainly as he watches the strange boy that hasn't yet let up acting just like a certain someone they know.
Dante, his best friend's name runs through his mind. It can't be...
"They are mysterious as they are powerful," he can remember Frida saying when Dante had broken into the rehearsal area. The dog seemed to be more on the mysterious side, but she had been so nice to them even after he'd caused a mess, suggesting that he might be an alebrije. Of course Miguel hadn't believed it at first, but then after he and Héctor had realized they were family, Dante had transformed from a normal Xolo dog into a real alebrije.
Héctor only continues to stare in shock at the child before them, though they had managed to move to a more secluded alleyway so no one else would see the strange-behaving human. He has to lean back against the sturdy wall to support himself, bringing a hand to his forehead as if to try and slow his racing thoughts. He and Dante haven't seen each other since that fateful day, not since the dog had faded before his very eyes. He'd faded...didn't that mean he should be invisible at least, and not stuck in the body of a human just as he was currently stuck in his living body?
"Dante...is it really you?" He has to ask. He has to be sure that this isn't some cruel dream or figment of his imagination—that Dante had made it on that morning when everything had fallen apart.
The child's tongue hangs out further it seems, and he tilts his head to the side as if trying to understand Héctor's words. He grunts instead, turning his attention onto his invisible tail. He snaps, trying in vain to chase something that wasn't there anymore. Plopping back onto the dirt, 'Dante' lifts his head up and continues to wag his invisible tail.
Relief overtakes Héctor's uncertainty, and he bends down so their eyes can meet.
"But...you faded. I thought you were gone. I'm so glad you're okay," he laughs, taking note of his child form once again. Dante 'barks' in his human voice much to Miguel's surprise, causing him to jump and Héctor reaches out a hand, but stops himself.
Well, this is awkward...he thinks. Dante is no longer a dog, so he can't exactly pet him. But Dante doesn't seem to mind the familiar gesture, leaning his head forward until Héctor's hand is resting on top. The dog-turned-human closes his eyes and whimpers, his little body trembling.
Héctor suddenly realizes what Dante is trying to say. They hadn't seen each other all this time, and he had thought the worst. That Dante was gone with no way to come back. He might not be himself, but the former dog is alive and well and that's what truly matters.
"I...I missed you too, amigo," Héctor says fondly, bending down further so Dante can crawl into his lap and sit down. "I was so worried about you."
Dante nods his head up and down as if in agreement that he'd missed Héctor all this time, too. They had both been worried for each other, and for good reason after they had been separated upon sunrise.
The dog-boy sniffs Héctor's hand, inspecting the new skin covering his bones. He glances up at the former skeleton in confusion, tilting his head to the side.
"Si, amigo. I'm alive again," he confirms, reluctantly reaching forward to ruffle the child's gray-streaked hair, the only sign that he had once been a dog.
Even if Dante wasn't exactly himself, he was still Dante. And maybe this is who he had truly been all along, hiding underneath the form of a hairless Xolo dog that had more of a past than they thought.
"He can't be a human! How did this happen?" Miguel asks, gathering enough courage to step closer to the child that was now apparently Dante. This was all wrong, just like Héctor coming back to life. He was supposed to be a dog, not a human kid!
"He was stuck here with me, so sunrise must have affected him as well...just in a different way," Héctor thinks aloud, more to himself than Miguel.
"And definitely unpredictable. Were you a human before a dog, Dante?" Miguel asks the child, not expecting a response; it doesn't seem like he can talk yet. The human-dog stares up at Miguel from Héctor's lap, his tongue hanging out again and eyes shining. He lets out another bark in his young and innocent child voice as if in response.
"I'll take that as a yes," Miguel says in ever-more confusion, though it's beginning to make a little more sense. If Dante had once been a human, then that must mean he had been alive at one point. When he had gotten stuck in the Land of the Living as a child after sunrise just like Héctor, he had been brought back to life...but as a spirit guide. Miguel makes a mental note to himself that when his time comes, he'll be extra careful not to get stuck in the living world. The possibilities of what could happen were endless!
"Maybe he just has to wait until next year like I do to change back," Héctor says thoughtfully, but it doesn't seem...right to suggest such a thing now that they know Dante is just an innocent, human child. There has to be more to his story...
The new and unavoidable question burns at the back of Miguel's mind, until he has no choice but to let it out in the open no matter how bittersweet it is.
"He's so young and little..." Miguel says slowly, taking in the sight of the small boy. He seemed to be around the age of Benny and Manny; it was a wonder how he even managed to knock Héctor to the ground. But in his excitement at seeing Héctor himself after being gone for so long, Miguel wouldn't put it past the boy to suddenly have strength he didn't know he had. "Do you think he has...or had a family?"
Héctor stares down at Dante, eyes widening slightly at the idea. It makes sense; if he was once truly a human, then he must have had a family at some point.
"Well...if he was able to cross the bridge to get stuck and be turned into an alebrije, he must have had a photo on an ofrenda at some point. It's hard to say if he still has a living family depending on how long he might have been a spirit guide, but there's a possibility."
"What if he has a dead family that's been missing him all this time?"
Héctor can only imagine the heartbreak they must have gone through when their child first went missing in the living world at some point during Día de los Muertos of all nights—a time to celebrate. Had he gotten lost sometime during the beginning and they had spent most of the holiday trying to find him, or had it been too late and they were forced to cross the bridge without him?
Were they still looking for him in the Land of the Dead? Héctor isn't sure what to think, and the thought of a lost and scared child that came to be Dante causes his heart to flutter. Or maybe Dante had been an orphan with no family to speak of at all, which was even worse to think about.
"It's hard to say, but they might have even passed on through the Final Death depending on how long it's been," he concludes. "I'm not sure if the Final Death itself affects alebrijes the same as skeletons. He could be immune..." It made sense, especially since their job was to help guide lost, wandering spirits. The Final Death wouldn't affect them the same way it would a skeleton...
"So they wouldn't be looking for him if they are living because he passed on, right?" Miguel asks, still unsure. The thought what if someone is looking for him just won't leave him alone. Dante may have once had a family and now that they know, it was a fact they couldn't ignore.
He hopes not. Maybe it was selfish, but if Dante does have a family, a part of him doesn't want to find or somehow run into them. Dante had been a good friend from the very start, even before his abuelita had warned him about naming street dogs. He couldn't have told anyone anyway, but Miguel had shared his secret passion for music with him. Dante would follow him to the ends of the earth and back, especially now that he was an official spirit guide.
"It always made me sad to see children in the Land of the Dead. I never would have thought that Dante..." Héctor shakes his head, his mind overwhelmed with what they had just discovered, and what may have happened to Dante that led him to become a spirit guide.
"Do you think he remembers them? His family?" If he did have a family, Miguel wonders why he hadn't stayed with them to be their alebrije. On second thought, Dante seems to remember that he was turned into a spirit guide. Maybe it was just difficult for him to remember certain things as time had gone on...Miguel couldn't imagine ever forgetting his own family like Mamá Coco almost had, and especially not Héctor after trying so hard to save him from the Final Death.
"I'm not sure, chamaco...maybe. But he passed on and was transformed into a spirit guide by getting stuck somehow here in the Land of the Living. We might be the only family he has in his eyes, and his job as an alebrije is second nature now," Héctor says softly. Maybe Dante doesn't even want to find his family again if he has one.
"But it looks like someone's been taking care of him all this time we were separated. He must have escaped recently, and we're lucky we decided to go for a walk today," Miguel points out. Héctor agrees, glad that he'd finally gotten up to do something instead of continuing to be stuck in bed all day.
Looking closer, he can see that Miguel is right. Dante wears a blue shirt with a yellow ball design that has a blue stripe around it and a red star in the middle, as well as black shorts. His hair is neatly combed—or used to be with it sticking out in places since knocking Héctor down. At second glance, Héctor also realizes that the dog-boy is wearing a pair of shoes as well that he tries his best to rip off with his teeth.
"I feel sorry for whoever found him. They must have been so confused," Héctor chuckles.
He wonders if Dante was found in the cemetery like he had been, or if the dog had wandered around a little first before being discovered. It was probably a good thing they hadn't been found together, as questions would have come up that he doesn't have the answers to. Maybe Miguel's parents would have even assumed that Dante was his son, only to find out he was lying later. It would have never worked! Their separation, no matter how worrisome and heartbreaking it had been, was a good thing. Now that they were together again, none of it mattered.
"Well, they did a good job...except making sure he didn't get out. Who's a good escape artist? You are. Yes, you're a good escape artist!"
Dante barks eagerly at Miguel's high-pitched praise, leaping up from Héctor's lap like he's ready to go home.
Home...even if the Rivera household had never really been his home, what with Abuelita always warning him about strays. But maybe, just maybe if they explain what happened to Dante, Abuelita would allow him to stay and he would be just as lucky as Héctor. Then when the year was up and Día de los Muertos came again, both Dante and Héctor would be able to go to their real home once they were changed back to normal.
Dante may have once had a family that it would be nice to reunite him with, but as Héctor had said, his job as an alebrije was second nature now; it would be wrong as well to take something so important away from a spirit guide. But maybe if they do somehow find Dante's family, hopefully they would be understanding and allow him to remain an alebrije if he wants.
"We better get out of here and hide him at home before whoever found him starts looking," Miguel says, peeking around the corner of the alleyway to make sure the coast is clear.
Héctor gets up from the ground to dust himself off. "How are we going to explain this to your Mamá and Papá? We can't exactly hide him from them."
Miguel immediately comes to a decision. This isn't like hiding Héctor's identity; Dante would be impossible to keep a secret without lying again, and since Héctor had revealed that he was a part of their family and not anyone made up, they can't exactly lie and say that Dante was his son or something else ridiculous along those lines.
Miguel lets out an almost frustrated sigh, but manages to keep himself composed. They'd found Dante! He should be happy and he is, even if Dante is no longer the dog he knew.
"I promised no more secrets and lying," he tells Héctor firmly as if to convince himself. He'd promised. "We have to tell them, even if they don't believe us."
Héctor nods in reluctant agreement. There was no avoiding this, so they might as well get it over with the best they can.
Miguel's next question causes Héctor to freeze in place, even if they haven't started moving yet. Dante sticks close by his side as though he's afraid of being separated again, and Héctor doesn't blame him.
"How are we going to move him?"
Since Dante used to be a dog, he's still acting like one. He would walk like a dog, and people would surely start asking questions. He pants, reaching up a hind leg in an attempt to scratch himself behind the ears, only to nearly fall face-first onto the dirt before Héctor catches him and places him back comfortably on all fours. Something unseen to Héctor and Miguel catches his eye outside the alleyway, and he starts to move forward in the same all-fours position.
Miguel gasps, reaching towards the dog-boy to drag him back into the alleyway where no one will see him.
"You're not exactly a dog anymore...boy," Miguel says sheepishly, and Dante whines. "Papa Héctor is going to carry you...okay?"
Dante turns his attention to Héctor as he reaches his arms out. A few steps later, he finds himself sitting comfortably in his human's arms, wrapping his own gently around Héctor's neck and causing the former skeleton to smile warmly in Miguel's direction.
Know that I'm with you the only way that I can be...
He can't help but think of Coco when he used to hold her like this, and she would reach her arms out towards him as if to try and stop her Papá from leaving.
Miguel smiles back at the heartwarming action, but his expression soon turns serious as it can be with what they had just found about Dante. They can't allow anymore people like the restaurant worker seeing him should he somehow be recognized, risking questions that may likely lead to the Land of the Dead, and Héctor understands this if Dante indeed used to have a family.
They have to get back home and fast, and then think of a way to tell Miguel's Mamá and Papá without them thinking they were even more loco than before.
Easier said than done...
But imagining the looks on Luisa and Enrique's faces makes the impending truth they were about to reveal worth it.
xxxx
For the most part, Dante doesn't try to escape Héctor's arms on the way back to the Rivera household. That is, until their home comes into view. He squirms in Héctor's arms, desperately trying to break free until Héctor is worried enough that he may drop him by accident. Reluctantly, he bends down so Dante can leap out of his arms and make a safe landing on all fours, his bare hands getting dirty once more.
Miguel gives him a glare but Héctor only shrugs, smiling awkwardly.
"Dante! Dante, come back!" Miguel hisses in a loud whisper to no avail as Dante lurches forward in his excitement to be here again at his humans' home he was only allowed to visit once a year now.
Luisa jumps and nearly screams in surprise, dropping the jar of baby food that she had been feeding Socorro to the kitchen floor. Her daughter babbles and laughs from her high chair, reaching an arm forward to point at the strange boy that has just entered their home.
Dante makes an attempt to rush forward and eat the spilled baby food, only to have hands wrap around his sides and drag him backwards. He barks, letting out a disappointed whine and turning around to see his boy keeping a firm hold on him so he can't break loose again.
"Miguel? Who's this?" Luisa questions once she regains her bearings and turns around to see her son, blinking in obvious confusion at the way the child next to him is acting and just as baffled as they had been when they'd first run into Dante.
If Miguel has a new friend, that was fine. In fact, she would be happy if he was making new friends. But why did he just bark? And why was he standing on all fours?
Miguel gives his mother an awkward smile, unprepared on how to explain. If only Dante had given him a little more time to think of an explanation, maybe this would be easier...Héctor waits outside, unwilling to risk coming into the kitchen uninvited.
Just when it seems things can't get any worse, Enrique decides to make an entrance at the worst possible time to see the spilled baby food still on the floor and his son with the strange boy, little Socorro laughing.
"Miguel..." is all Enrique can say at first. What is his son up to now?
"He's...a friend," Miguel starts. Dante's nonexistent tail wags, his attention focusing back onto the tempting baby food. Luisa and Enrique only stare, their eyes growing wider by the minute.
"He used to be a stray," Miguel continues, unable to shake the awkward feeling away. "Abuelita said not to name any street dogs, but I didn't listen and called him Dante...he was able to travel back and forth between here and the Land of the Dead, but then he led me to Papa Héctor and became a real spirit guide—an alebrije. There aren't just skeletons in the Land of the Dead." He smiles faintly at the memory of when he'd first seen the colorful and vibrant beings as his deceased family led him across the bridge.
His parents remain silent, and Miguel takes a deep breath. He can only hope that when this is over, there would be no more surprises he'd have to explain.
"He's not a stray anymore," Miguel continues, "just like skeletons, he was also affected when he got stuck here with Papa Héctor. He turned into a human...but he's still Dante."
He can still feel the tension. His parents, having just accepted that Héctor came back from the dead, are more willing to listen than before. But the idea of an alebrije-dog transforming into a human was just as difficult—if not more difficult—to believe than the dead coming back to life.
If explaining won't work, the idea comes to Miguel that maybe a demonstration will be better, their old routine coming to mind. He releases his hold on Dante, and the former dog instantly makes a break for the baby food on the floor that won't stop taunting him.
"Sit!" Miguel cries before he can go any further. Dante stops in his tracks, head whipping around.
He sits obediently much to Miguel's relief, ignoring the baby food.
"Lie down!" Miguel commands.
Dante lays on the floor. Luisa and Enrique remain in an uncomfortable, awkward silence. Yet somehow, Miguel determines that they're also nothing other than confused and amazed that this child is responding to their son in such a way—just like a dog.
"Roll over!"
Dante rolls until his arms and legs are flopping in the air.
"Fist bump!"
Dante tilts his head to the side, but Miguel only grins. He'd never known how to do a fist bump as a dog, so why would he know how to do one as a human? It was only further confirmation that the child is indeed their long-lost alebrije.
"Good...boy, Dante," Miguel praises. Dante springs up from his roll-over position, and Miguel realizes that he doesn't have a treat he can give him. But once again, Dante sets his sights on the spilled baby food. He jumps towards the green goo, happily lapping it up with his tongue before Luisa can even consider cleaning the mess.
"Ugh..." Miguel whispers in disgust. He glances at his Mamá and Papá, smiling awkwardly once again. "So...can he stay, too? I promise he won't be any trouble."
Burp. Dante looks towards them, green smear covering the smile on his mouth. Baby Socorro laughs, her tiny arms flailing as if she knows that Dante is not entirely human, wanting to reach forward to pet him.
Enrique lets out a quiet sigh. There were a lot of unexplained things in the universe, including coming back to life as they just learned. If what happened to Héctor was possible, then maybe a dog turning into a human was possible, too.
Luisa would not take kindly to sending the child back out onto the streets, especially if he really is the gray Xolo dog that followed Miguel.
Miguel had kept his promise and told the truth, no matter how impossible it may seem. He had said he would listen, and he will.
He turns to his wife, and she nods with a slight smile. Enrique looks back towards Miguel, his son's own smile widening ever bigger at the thought that 'Dante' would be allowed to stay with them. Telling the truth had paid off!
"Talk to your abuelita," Enrique states.
Miguel's smile drops just as soon as it had formed.
xxxx
It appears that Dante still has a bit of his alebrije instincts intact, finding Abuelita in the ofrenda room. She cups her hands over her chest, smiling widely at the newly returned photo placed on top. Héctor follows Miguel and the dog-boy reluctantly, dreading what she would say about the two of them. Miguel's parents may have said he could stay, but they still needed her approval, as well. She was the head of this family, afrer all—the reason a music ban had been so sternly implemented.
"Papa Héctor found it, Abuelita," Miguel says nervously, his heart pounding almost out of control. His Mamá and Papá were one thing, but his abuelita was another entirely.
She turns around at the sound of her grandson's voice.
"What was that, mijo?" She asks nicely, stopping when Héctor comes into her view and not even noticing the child sitting down like a dog.
"He's Papa Héctor...the same person in the photo," Miguel says carefully. Her glare burns straight through Héctor's soul, making him want to run like he had felt like doing with Miguel's parents.
"I knew there was something strange about you! You're the one who took the photo off the ofrenda, and put it back so we'd think you actually found it!" She screeches, reaching down quickly to pull off a shoe—exactly what Héctor had been afraid of.
"No, Abuelita!" Miguel shouts, instantly coming to his grandfather's defense before the shoe can come down.
"I was the one who took the photo down—so no one would find out who he really is...Mamá Coco's Papá. It's true!" He says in a rush before she can attempt to try and strike again.
Elena doesn't respond at first, her attention focusing on Héctor. But then her gaze hardens, and she lets loose an unexpected shout that causes both Miguel and his great-great grandfather to jump.
"You are the músico who left this family?!" It was so much worse than when she'd thought he had just taken the photo!
Miguel can understand her sudden anger. She may have forgiven Héctor's spirit that he had left, but it was a different story now that he was here in person.
"...Si," Héctor croaks uneasily, unable to tear his gaze away from Elena's shoe that's mere inches from his face. "But I didn't leave them. I mean I did at first, but then I was—"
"He was murdered by de la Cruz!" Miguel cuts in. Still sitting on his legs next to him, Dante growls at the mention of the one who had killed Héctor.
"I tried to go home," Héctor says quietly, unsure of what else he can say. He had already explained his story to Luisa and Enrique, and he doesn't exactly feel up to repeating the whole thing again, though he has Miguel's help this time.
"If you are really Papa Héctor," Elena says, more than suspicious and unwilling to lower her shoe, "then how are you here? He's gone."
"He came back to life this year on Día de los Muertos," Miguel explains cautiously. "The Land of the Dead is real and all of the made up stories about the dead coming back to visit are real, too," he finishes.
Elena blinks, and lets out a sound between a laugh and a snort. "Coming back to life...it's impossible!"
"But it happened, Abuelita," Miguel assures her. "He has to wait a year before he can go back to the Land of the Dead, and he has to stay with us! Dante needs to stay, too. He's our spirit guide but he was changed into a human! Please!"
Luisa and Enrique finally decide to step in the ofrenda room and come to the rescue, much to Héctor's relief.
"Mijo, are you listening to this child?" Elena whips around to face her son, unintentionally forcing him to take a nervous step back when he finds her shoe just inches from his wide eyes.
"It's true, Mamá. They both told the whole story—Miguel promised not to lie again. My son is not loco, and neither is his great-great grandfather."
Héctor has to smile a bit at his words, warmess enveloping him that Enrique has really and truly accepted him for who he is.
"You're just as loco! What ideas have you all been feeding my poor little Miguelito?!" Elena pleads for an answer, but one isn't given. She sets her shoe onto Héctor again, nearly causing him to trip backwards over himself.
"Abuelita, please...it's only for a year and then he can go back. Dante, too," Miguel adds, glancing down at the dog-boy who hasn't left his place next to him.
Elena isn't amused at how similar the child's actions remind her of the street dog that always followed Miguel. She just couldn't comprehend that he was saying they are indeed one and the same.
"Mamá and Papá already said yes," Miguel says with a grin.
"What?!" She is the one who runs this household! She had made sure that the music ban stayed in place all those years. Her son had just decided to let the man stay?!
"It's only for a year and then they'll be able to go back. Right, mijo?" Enrique asks Miguel.
He nods in confirmation, though he's not sure if he should mention how they'll be getting back home—by stealing. He could keep that certain part a secret, for now.
Elena doesn't put down her shoe, instead reaching her other hand up to rub her forehead wearily as realization and acceptance slowly begin to dawn on her. If even her son believes Miguel and the man's story...
She has just discovered that the Land of the Dead is real. That her Mamá's Papá is here with them right now. She's always believed in the stories of the dead returning on their special night, but to have living, breathing proof...
Has Héctor actually...talked to her mother since her death?
Elena's mind can't handle this new revelation. The shoe drops from her weakened grasp, falling with a thud to the floor. Her poor heart begins to race, and she has to place a hand over her chest to help calm it down. She gasps to try and regain her quickening breath, swaying on two feet but managing to keep herself balanced.
"Abuelita! Are you okay?" Miguel asks quickly, reaching both arms out as if to catch her should she fall.
"I'm fine, mijo. Just feeling a little dizzy," Elena reassures her grandson though Miguel isn't too sure she's telling the truth, especially if it had caught Dante's attention. The spirit guide whines, inching closer with all fours bent closer to the floor. If he had a tail, Miguel was sure it wouldn't be wagging, but tucked between his legs.
"Are you sure? You don't need a doctor?" Enrique asks. Héctor shudders slightly at the word 'doctor.' He definitely doesn't want to see another one anytime soon.
"I'm alright," Elena says more confidently. She turns to face the man who had somehow come back to life. "Now...are you really our Papa Héctor?"
Héctor can only nod in a panic, hoping she won't bend down to pick up her shoe again.
"And where is the little one going to sleep?" Abuelita asks, eyebrows raised. She suddenly notices that the child is no longer in the room, and Miguel gasps. They can't allow Dante to go wandering around Santa Cecilia while he's stuck as a human!
Héctor is glad to have an excuse to leave the ofrenda room away from Miguel's abuelita and parents; he can only imagine what meeting the rest of the family will be like.
"You can't keep wandering off like that," Miguel scolds when they manage to find him in the guest room, as if he knows it's where Héctor is currently staying. Dante ignores his human friend, making himself comfortable at the end of the bed. He yawns, circling a few times before laying down with blinking, tired eyes until they begin to close.
"He may stay here until we figure out what to do about another bed," Enrique's quiet voice interrupts the calm and relaxing moment.
"It's fine with me," Héctor agrees. He certainly doesn't mind the idea of sharing his bed with Dante, especially after so long apart; he's not eager to let the human-dog out of his sight anytime soon, especially not after he had watched him fade in such a terrible way.
"Then it's settled," Luisa says, a soft smile forming.
Miguel can't believe it, but he's glad he had decided to tell his parents and abuelita the truth; everything had gone smoother than they'd thought it would, and the best part was...
Dante can stay!
xxxx
He misses his Mamá and Papá, and doesn't understand why he's been separated from them for an entire year, as he had once heard his abuelita say.
"In a year, we'll get to visit and you'll see them again when they put your photo on the ofrenda," she had told him. "You don't have to worry. Your Mamá and Papá miss you, but they will always remember you. Next year will come in the blink of an eye."
One minute he was about to fall asleep, and then he had woken up here without them by his side. Why couldn't they have come with him to the strange, colorful place they have to go back to? He's sure they would love it like he does, if only they could have come along. He loves his abuelita just as much, but he misses them. He wants them back; he doesn't want to have to wait another year to see them again. They can't even see him!
"Stay close, mijo," his abuelita says, gripping his glowing and orange hand just enough so he won't slip loose as they travel from home back to the pretty bridge. "Sunrise is dangerous. We don't know what could happen if we stay after tonight."
All he knows is that he wants his Mamá and Papá, and has to find his way home again.
Mamá had been crying while Papá comforted her.
He has to be with them!
Abuelita won't like it, but he manages to slip free without her noticing. Now he's alone, glancing every which way for her—but she's gone. He can't remember the way back home but even if he did, he clearly remembers her words about sunrise being dangerous. He has no choice but to try and find his way back to the bridge by himself, but he doesn't remember the way!
He's alone, and feels tears begin to stream down his cheeks. The sun is rising, and his phantom heart pounds faster as he remembers his abuelita's words. He's not supposed to be outside now! It's dangerous!
But he just can't remember the way back to the bridge...
His thoughts grow unclear and less precise as the sun continues to rise.
A tingly feeling begins to overtake his body until nothing but an overwhelming sense of new purpose comforts his fear and sadness—a feeling that he'll help lost, wandering spirits find their way back where they belong so the same thing will never happen to them.
New instincts lead him towards a shining, orange bridge. A glowing skeleton passes by, the bones on his body too tempting to ignore. Something familiar about the skeleton crosses his mind. He was looking for something, but what...? Hadn't he once been...?
But the strange thoughts never finish as he barks eagerly, chasing the frightened body of bones into this new and interesting world.
Dante wakes sharply, the images disappearing far into the back of his mind forgotten and discovering that he's back safe and sound in Héctor's bed. A new sensation crawls unwelcome into the center of his soul—the feeling that he and his human Héctor are not the only two in the room:
An uninvited guest has made its way inside.
Almost overwhelmed by the negative sensations, Dante shakes his head in a desperate attempt to ward off the energy. His eyes meet the unwelcome spirit's, and he stands on all fours in his place at the end of the bed.
His alebrije instincts may be dampened in his young human form, but the spirit's energy is strong and full of hate, seeking revenge for what had happened to it.
Though he is no longer a hairless Xolo dog in the Land of the Living, Dante looks back at Héctor and then forward again, baring his teeth protectively and growling a warning into the night.
