Julieta, Pepa, and Alma could not believe it. They never thought they would see his face again. But here he was standing right in front of them. Bruno kept bumping into things and tripping. The whole family just stared at him. He finally made it to where everyone but Alma was standing. Speaking of Alma, she did not look happy. She looked at Bruno the same way she looked at Mirabel.

" Ugh, I can tell I'm old," Bruno grumbled.

" Uh, so, we gonna talk about Bruno?" Camilo inquired.

" Is that really Bruno?" Antonio asked.

" That's Bruno," Camilo confirmed.

" Yeah, there's lots to say about Bruno," Bruno said. " But later, right now we have more important things to attend to."

Bruno got down on his knees. He observed Mirabel, who groaned. Bruno gently poked her, but she still jumped. Bruno jumped along with her. He cleared his throat.

" Tio Bruno?" Mirabel guessed.

" Hey, Mirabel," Bruno greeted with a wave.

" I thought you left," Isabella stated.

" Nope, I've been here for ten years, hiding behind the walls," Bruno announced.

" I knew he was here, I heard him everyday," Dolores proclaimed proudly.

Mirabel groaned. She struggled to get up. Luisa and Bruno helped her up, holding her on each side to keep her steady.

" What- what happened?" she inquired.

" Darkness," Bruno answered.

" That's a good answer, Tio," Isabella said sarcastically.

" No, no. It's a creature. A powerful force. It clouds your judgment and takes over your personality. It wants to destroy the miracle and all the magic inside, that way, it'll be the only creature who has magic," Bruno explained.

Everybody turned their attention to Mirabel. Alma looked even more furious. Mirabel looked away. She couldn't possibly look at them. Not now. Not anymore. They surely hated her now. She's gonna be the end of the miracle. She didn't want to be, but what choice did she have?

" YOU SEE? THIS IS WHY WE SHOULDN'T OF LET HER BACK INTO THE FAMILY! SHE'S THE END OF US!" Alma screamed.

Mirabel fell to the ground. She broke down in tears. Why was this happening to her? What did she do to deserve this? It wasn't there! Why did she have to ruin everything!? She took advantage of everyone's shock. She ran out of the castle, no intent on returning or anyone looking for her. She ran and ran and ran. She never knew she could run this far. She had to find a place to hide. A place where they couldn't find her.

Bruno paced around the room. " I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen."

" It's okay, Bruno, it's okay," Julieta promised.

" I'm listening in on her," Dolores remarked.

" I don't get why you guys still love her. She's dangerous," Alma scolded.

" IT'S NOT HER FAULT!" Bruno screamed.

" Woah, hey, hey, it's okay, bro," Julieta said.

" Oh, okay," Bruno replied.

" MIRABEL DIDN'T ASK TO BE BURDENED WITH THIS DARKNESS! IT CHOSE HER BECAUSE SHE WAS THE PERFECT TARGET! THE TARGET WE MADE HER! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR THINKING OTHERWISE!" Julieta screamed.

" You tell her, sis," Pepa cheered.

" I'm going after Mirabel," Isabella declared.

" Isa-" Abuela started.

" Mirabel blessed me with a second chance! I'm not letting some stupid darkness take her away from me! Away from us! Screw our gifts! Our magic! Mirabel is more important," Isabella snapped.

" Well said," Camilo said.

" Who's with me?" Isabella inquired.

Everybody except Alma raised their hands. Alma crossed her arms and scowled. Isabella's expression turned more serious.

" I can't hear you. Who's with me?"

" We are!" everyone except Alma yelled.

" Then let's go!" Isabella commanded.

With that said, the search for Mirabel began. Speaking of Mirabel, she had found another abandoned house to hide in. This one was way further from Casita than the one she hid in last time. Mirabel could not understand. She tried her whole life to receive affection from her family. But now, she never would get it. At least she got a few months in. It was swell while it lasted. Mirabel made herself as comfortable as possible.

" Mirabel!"

Mirabel gasped. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She must've dozed off. She got up, but fell back down. Why was she so dizzy?

" Mirabel? Mirabel? MIRABEL!"

Wait a minute. Was that… her family? No, it couldn't be. They could've possibly wanted her to come back home. She gasped. They were going to lock her up. She forced herself to get up. She slowly left the abandoned house. She couldn't get away. Not in the condition she was in. She was so dizzy and weak. What was going on with her?

" Oh, there you are."

Mirabel found herself in the arms of her mom. She looked to see a blurry vision of the rest of the family. It could've been due to her vision, but they actually looked concerned.

" We've been searching for you all night," Julieta exclaimed.

" You sure ran away far this time," Isabella added.

" It was good exercise," Luisa stated.

" Please don't lock me up, it's not my fault!" Mirabel pleaded.

" Lock you up? Why would we do that? We love you."

" No, you can't love me. You can't! I'm the death of this family! I shall destroy you all!" Mirabel yelled.

Her family backed away. Mirabel's eyes turned ice cold. She growled viciously at them. Bruno didn't seem scared. Her family backed away. Mirabel howled like a wolf. Her teeth turned to fangs. She hissed at them. Mirabel looked back and forth at them. Her eyes and teeth turned back to normal. Her expression was replaced with guilt.

" See what I mean? This is exactly what I'm talking about. I can't keep fighting this darkness inside of me. It's too strong. Way stronger than I am. I want to be free of this darkness. I want things to go back to normal. I want you to love me."

" Mira, we do love you," Isabella stated.

" We'll help you get through this, sis," Luisa added.

" We won't let this darkness swallow you up," Camilo remarked.

" Love is stronger than anything," Julieta said.

" You can do this, Mira. Especially knowing your family is with you all the way," Bruno expressed.

" I need you, prima," Antonio whined.

Rain poured all over everybody. Pepa was in tears. Felix tried to block the rain out a little with an umbrella. Of course, the umbrella was too small for a family this big.

" Come on, dear, let's go back home. I bet Casita will be happy to see you," Julieta said.

Mirabel nodded. She groaned as she fell to the ground. Luisa caught her before she hit the ground.

" Relax, sis, I got you."

Mirabel's vision disappeared. She somehow knew she could rest peacefully in her sister's arms. She let everything fade to black.

To be continued.