Bruno's nieces and nephew rode fast and hard as if the devil himself were chasing them. They couldn't take any chances that they weren't being followed. The most unfortunate thing was, whether they were followed or not; Andre was from the encanto and he could likely find his way back. But this time, they would not fail to protect their tio.
Bruno struggled against Luisa the entire trip. It took nearly a full day of non-stop travel to get home. He didn't want to hit or hurt his niece so he did the next best thing. He tried squeezing out of her grip. Then pleaded with her to let him go. And when that did not work, he tried to convince her that he was fine and that she didn't have to hold him anymore.
Nothing worked. Luisa, of course, felt incredibly guilty for not doing what he asked. But from the way he was acting she could tell he wasn't in his right mind. She worried that the bad guys had done something terrible to him to make him feel like he didn't want to be with his family.
When they arrived at the encanto, Bruno struggled harder and yelled at them uncharacteristically. "Let me go! let me go! Stop please! Please let me go!" He screamed over and over again.
Mirabel was the most shocked by this. When she had found him in the walls for the first time in ten years he was easy going and kind. He only raised his voice once to get her attention and apologized for it several times after. It wasn't like him at all to yell and she held back tears hoping that with time he would be okay.
When they reached Casita, Bruno became increasingly alarmed. He could not go in there. Casita would try to keep him safe and it would be his entire family's undoing. The moment he stepped inside the house it would be nearly impossible to get out of and then he would not be able to protect them. He needed to get to Andre and stop him from leading the gang into the encanto.
"Luisa please," He begged squirming under her strength. "Please, you need to let me go. You need to let me go back. I have to." She didn't know what to say and looked at the other's worried glances as if they had the answer. No one knew what to do or say. Bruno was so distressed from his vision that he couldn't think straight. All he wanted was to stop it from coming to pass, so all he could do was beg to be let go.
Hearing the sound of the horses and Bruno's desperate pleas, the rest of the family came running out of the house. The moment he saw his sisters he knew they would not let him go. His chance to leave was higher with the youngest generation but his sisters never listened to him. He shook his head fitfully and cried. Their mother would die because of him and his sisters would never forgive him for that.
Luisa dismounted the horse with Bruno going limp in her arms from the dread of his and his family's fate. All he could do was keep his head down to hide his face as he wept. "Brunito?" Someone in front of him said. He lifted his gaze to see his mother in front of him.
"Mama," He said sadly, tears still dripping from his eyes. Alma looked at Luisa to signal her to let go and opened her arms out to her son. Bruno immediately went for the hug and cried into her shoulder.
Luisa moved to join the rest of her family as they checked on their children. Her father hugged her close, glad she was okay. Pepa couldn't even try to scold her children for running off into danger, she just hugged them tight.
"Please forgive me Mama," Bruno said breaking from the hug. "I can't stay here."
"Why?" She asked distraught over his well being. He didn't look healthy. He looked worn out and pale. He was a little thinner than when she last saw him. She noticed the splint and ring on his finger and a few bruises on his skin. He seemed to be shaking a little too.
Bruno didn't know what to say in order to convince them to let him go. He could not tell them the truth. The one thing he never wanted to look into the future for was the death of any of his family members. No one should know when and how they would die, and he lived by that rule.
If his mother knew about her own death, the little time she had left would be filled with fear and impending doom. He could not live with himself if he made the rest of her life miserable. He couldn't tell anyone about this, or the information would get back to his mother.
He decided to try lying. He was not a good liar, but it was the only thing he could think of. "I want to be with Andre," He said trying to sound convincing. She caressed his cheek with care wiping tears away. Her eyes moved back and forth looking in to his trying to figure out why he would say that. All she saw was despair.
"Brunito, what did they do to you?" She hugged him again, her own despair on the rise.
Trying to be more convincing, he pulled away from her. He looked at casita and his family, wiped his tears away, and as forcefully as he could, he said, "I want to to go back and be with Andre." He involuntary shuddered but moved passed it. "Don't try to stop me! I'm going back!" He yelled trying to be angry instead of scared.
No one believed his words, nor did they understand why he would say such a thing. Everyone was feeling dismayed. "Come inside and we can talk about this," Alma said putting her hand on his arm. He stepped back away from her grasp.
"No, I need to go now." He said emphatically. But he couldn't help adding, "I'm sorry." It was that sad regretful apology that assured Alma that her son did not actually want to leave. She had heard that tone before, it was what made him such a bad liar. So before he could mount a horse and get away she grabbed his hand.
"We're going to go inside and talk about this properly Bruno," She said feeling scared for him.
"Andre is waiting," He countered. "I have to go."
"Let him wait," She said not letting go. "Your family deserves a reason for you leaving. You won't leave us again without a proper explanation and a proper goodbye."
He tried to pull his hand away but her grip was iron. "There's no time. Please let go." He responded feeling the weight of his decision to leave them again. It hurt more than his physical injuries. He wept and could barely speak. "If I don't leave, I can't protect you."
"If you don't stay, we can't protect you," She said back.
"You don't understand," he uttered trying to fight through his sorrow.
"Then explain it to me." Alma wanted badly to understand. He shook his head unable to tell her. She pulled him toward casita and he resisted weakly. He wanted to be with them but he couldn't. He snatched his hand away quickly and tried to mount the horse.
"Felix!" Pepa yelled distraught. He was on it right away. Felix quickly grabbed Bruno pulling him away from the horse.
"Bruno," He said holding his brother-in-law's upper arm. "It won't hurt to just come inside. I know you feel like your need to go. But maybe if you just try to tell us what's on your mind, we can help." Felix tried to persuade.
"Let go," Was all he got in response. Bruno couldn't even look the other man in the face. Felix felt a great amount of pity for him.
"Bruno," Abuela finally decided to put he foot down. There was something wrong and she wouldn't rest until she got to the bottom of it. "We are going to talk about this. You're not leaving." She turned and walked into casita expecting the others to follow.
Agustin joined Felix grabbing Bruno's other arm. As gently as they could they pushed him to walk toward casita and entered. The doors shut behind them and Bruno hung his head in defeat. He should have tried harder to get away from them. But deep down he hoped to be with them. He would never forgive himself for what would happen to his mother, his family, and the encanto.
.=.
Abuela insisted that the kids go to their rooms. They were all grounded, to be confined to their rooms, and not allowed to leave the house until further notice. The parents agreed with this ruling and felt a little safer knowing their children would be safe close by. Antonio was sent to his room to keep him from hearing the adults speak.
Bruno sat at the table in the dining room. Alma sat at the head of the table with Bruno to her right and Julieta next to him. Agustin sat next to Julieta in case she needed anything. Pepa and Felix sat across from her siblings, next to her mother. Felix rubbed Pepa's back to help keep her calm.
Julieta put a Cheese Arepa in front of her brother, knowing it was his favorite. She could see he was injured; the broken finger worried her the most. But he didn't touch the food. He looked down into his lap unable to meet anyone's gaze.
"Please eat," Julieta said pleadingly. He refused. The pain he was in was what he deserved. He was the cause of all his family's current problems. He was the reason his mother would die. Perhaps if he had not seen the future it would have remained undecided. Perhaps if he had not made such a fuss about being with Andre it would have been fine and no one would have gotten hurt.
"I know there is something going on Bruno," His mother said taking his uninjured hand in hers. "Please, there is nothing you can tell us that we can't handle as a family together." He stayed silent. What could he say that wouldn't end in tears. He couldn't tell her her fate.
"Bruno!" Pepa finally yelled standing in frustration and hitting the table with her palms. He flinched but didn't move to look at her. He kept his head down trying to hide his face, trying to hide from his family. "I don't know what is going on, but you are being stubborn!" Felix tried to clam her but she ignored him. "Can't you see we are trying to help you! If you would just cooperate we could do something to help."
Pepa continued her rant. "But all you do is act secretive and talk vaguely! How can we do anything if you are this way? Maybe if you were just straight forward with us there would be less problems! The kids went out of their way risking their lives to bring you home and you won't even talk to us!" A storm cloud thundered over her head.
She was right, Bruno knew she was right. He made things more difficult than they needed to be. Even Andre found him difficult. His captor had tried to help him be less so. Bruno began to think maybe everything he did was just wrong. With his hands under the table he scraped his nails across his arm leaving angry red marks, punishing himself.
"Tell us what is going on! Why do you want to go back to the rapist so badly?!" Pepa yelled in frustration. Bruno scratched at his skin more and blood began to bead out of the cuts of his skin. He was just causing more trouble for everyone.
"Enough," Abuela interjected.
"What are you doing?" Julieta ask noticing her brother's movements under the table. He let her grab his arm to see bloody scratches littering it. Pepa covered her mouth in surprise.
"I think it's time for a break," Abuela said shifting her gaze from the cuts and focusing on her son's face. "The ride was long and you must be tired. Try to get some rest and when you're ready I'm here to listen." She moved his hair out of his face and touched his chin coaxing him to look at her. "I promise there is nothing you can say that will upset me."
.=.
Julieta led Bruno to the nursery and had him sit on the bed. She placed some food and water on desk beside it for him to eat when he was ready. He sat there with his head down showing no interest in anything. She bent down and hugged him. "Let me know if you need anything."
Pepa came in as her sister was leaving. Julieta gave her a warning look in passing. When the door closed, Pepa stood in the middle of the room thinking to herself 'clear skies, clear skies'. When she felt calm enough she knelt down in front of her brother taking his uninjured hand in hers. "Bruno, I'm sorry." She said feeling a lot of regret for causing him so much distress.
He didn't respond, just kept look at the floor with sad eyes. She took something from her pocket and placed it in his hand. Then she kissed his head and got up to walk away. He looked at the salt shaker she gave him for a moment. Before she left he finally spoke up.
"Pepa," his voice cracked. She stopped at the door to look at him. "I had a vision. Andre is coming for me. He's bringing a small army. They will attack the town, and-" He tried to breath in and out. His sister stumbled toward him a few steps waiting for what else he had to say. "They are going to try to kill mama. I think she's going to die."
The horror on Pepa's face was unimaginable and Bruno refused to look at it. She ran from the room yelling for Felix. Bruno laid on the bed in tears, one of his rats scurried to his head and licked him trying to comfort him.