Bruno found that he actually didn't mind being at the party so much with his niece keeping him company. The two of them were seated at a table, each with a plate of food and both engaged in a conversation. His own plate was piled high with food, thanks to Julieta. She saw her brother getting food, said, "You're much too skinny hermanito," and proceeded to place as much food on his plate as possible. They'd barely talked since he'd officially returned home, so he appreciated the small gesture. He still hadn't worked up the courage to actually talk with her or Pepa yet, but…Well this was a start, wasn't it? At least he knew-well at least it seemed-like Julieta still cared about him.
But Bruno only just started eating his food when he felt a sudden but dull pain behind his eyes. He winced and put his hand against his head, his fork falling to his plate and making a clank! 'No, no, no…' He thought to himself desperately. 'Not here, not now!' He felt it again. The slight ache in his head that meant a vision was coming. But it couldn't happen now, it just couldn't! Not in the middle of this celebration!
"Tio, are you okay?" Mirabel asked at the same time Camilo came to join the two of them.
"What's going on?" Camilo asked, glancing from Mirabel to Bruno.
"Nothing, nothing, everything's fine-" Bruno said, but only winced again as the pain flashed through his eyes. No no no… Any second now. Any second now his eyes would start glowing green and he would lose control. No, no, no, he couldn't let that happen. He'd suppressed it before, and he could do it again. He moved his hand to shield his eyes from view.
"Are you sure?" Mirabel questioned.
Camillo reached over to wave a hand in front of Bruno's face. "You're acting kind of-Ow!" The shapeshifter was interrupted as Mirabel elbowed him. He glared at her.
"Yeah, yeah-I'm fine, fine. Perfectly fine…" the seer muttered. He squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as he could. It was fine, it was fine. He could hold it back. He could. He just had to focus. And so he did; he focused harder than he ever had before because there was no way, absolutely no way he was going to mess this night up for everyone. Out of habit, he found himself crossing his fingers and threw a pinch of salt over his shoulder to ward any bad luck away.
He could hear Camilo and Mirabel whispering to each other, though he was too distracted to make out their words. Great. Just great, they could tell he was hiding something. He had to act normal; he had to pretend that everything was fine. Perfectly fine.
Bruno picked his fork up and, still shielding his eyes with his other hand, slowly started eating his food. Sadly, he lost what little appetite he had, but he forced the food down anyway. He had to act normal, normal, normal. He couldn't cause a scene, he just couldn't! If everyone saw him have a vision at this table, in the middle of this party that most of the town was attending, then so many people would ask what the vision was. 'What did you see, Bruno?' 'Tell us Bruno!' He'd try to keep it secret, but eventually they'd find out. Most likely it would be about something bad and then all these people who've hated him for years would just blame him for their misfortune again. They'd say he was cursed. They'd say that they wished he'd go back to hiding away in his walls, never to be seen again.
The pain kept building up in his head and in his eyes. He hated these random visions, he hated them!
All the noise of the party started to blur together. He thought he heard someone faintly calling his name in the background, but he paid it no mind. Very briefly, the sound of someone pushing back their chair.
'Focus, focus, focus…'
He had a major headache now. His fork scattered to the ground as he grimaced and accidentally dropped it again. Now both hands were clutching his face, trying to make the pain go away. 'Please, please, please, please, please…'
He very suddenly stood up from his chair as he decided he couldn't suppress the vision any longer, which meant he had to get away from everyone else, far, far away… He paid no mind as his chair fell backwards onto the ground, making a small crash! A hand gripped his shoulder, someone was trying to talk to him, they sounded worried, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He brushed away their hand and made a mad dash for the stairs. The stairs were previously slanted to keep any children from going up, but the casita seemed to understand that Bruno needed to get away. Bruno rushed up the stairs, as fast as he could, and then dashed into his room, not caring about the loud noise he made from slamming the door.
Finally, he was alone. Finally, he could let the vision come.
He wished he could hide the vision away for ever. He wished he never had to see it or feel the pain from suppressing it.
But he let it come anyway. Or, more accurately, the vision overtook him. Next thing Bruno knew, his eyes flashed green and his vision came, sand swirling around him.