Abuela had two conditions for Bruno to go back to his room. The first was that he would have to make the effort to eat with the family during meal times. The second condition was known to everyone but Bruno, he was to be under constant supervision. After all, he was having harmful emotional breakdowns and someone had to be there to help him if he got violent and tried to hurt himself.
Bruno agreed to what he thought was only one condition, and came up with one of his own. Abuela and the rest of the family could not tell him what to do, they could only ask. He didn't want any pressure to do anything he wasn't comfortable with, like leaving the house or his room. Abuela felt that this was fair.
Abuela's plan to keep her son safe was to have each family member take shifts on watching him. Dolores was in charge of keeping an ear on him at all times except when she slept. Isabela and Luisa were to be on stand by if they needed to get to him quickly in case of an emergency. For everyone else, they're shifts would consist of hiding outside the bedroom part of his room listening for any trouble.
The bedroom part of his room was located through a door within his vision cave. It was a small room with a bed, a desk next to it and a large storage trunk at the end of the bed. He liked how small and cozy it was, a stark contrast to the rest of his room.
It had been a while since he used the space though. Within the first hour of being back he managed to stub his toe and yell from the sudden pain. Isabela came bursting through the door not one minute later scaring the absolute rats off of him.
"Tio Bruno!" she shouted running in. He fell back on his bed yelling out in surprise, his rats scampering away in all stared at each other for about 5 seconds, utter disbelieve on her tio's face, before Isabela came to the conclusion that he was fine. "Sorry," she smiled awkwardly and then left.
Bruno's suspicions were confirmed. There was no way Isabela could have made it to his room and up the stairs so quickly. It was apparent that his family was not only listening, but also invading his space. He knew his mother couldn't help herself. Bruno supposed this was the best he was going to get. At least he could shut the door and keep them from staring.
He spent the day in bed much like he had in the nursery. Only it was a little more relaxing knowing there was no one constantly checking on him. He thought about what he told his mother. He had not meant to tell her anything, it just came out. To his relief, she was not angry with him and didn't blame him. She comforted him and he felt more safe than he had in a long time.
Bruno still blamed himself though. He kept thinking, that had he been more cautious none of this would have ever happened. If he had just fought a little harder he could have done something to change it all. Maybe he made it too easy for Andre. He shook his thoughts away and focused on how his mother made him feel, safe and secure.
Throughout the day, Bruno had dozed to sleep off and on, just enough to get a little rest but not have dreams, which was his goal. When night came, he was feeling pretty confident that his family was sleeping. No one was going to watch over him or be around, he was finally alone. It was the first time he had truly been alone since he had been kidnapped.
It felt like things were returning to normal. Maybe in the morning he would wake up, go down stairs, and have breakfast. He would feed his rats and Pepa would argue that he shouldn't have rats at the table again. Julieta would laugh and the rest of the family would fall into amused chatter. It would be like nothing bad had happened at all.
He was feeling relieved emotionally. His mother was so understanding that he knew if he needed to talk more she would listen and be there for him. It was a little strange to go to her about his problems, because she when he was young she was more concerned about the miracle. He smiled thinking about how Mirabel had really done well getting her Abuela to turn over a new leaf.
"You're beautiful when you smile," Andre said sitting at the desk. Bruno jumped scrambling to his feet and backing himself into the door.
"How are you here?" He asked trembling.
Andre laughed, "You fell asleep." Not giving the mad man a chance to grab him or say another word, Bruno yanked open the door and ran out.
Suddenly he was running in a field of flowers, petals rained down from the sky making it impossible to see anything ahead. He felt calmer and a little happier expecting to see his family soon. Andre slipped from his mind and he lay down letting the petals cover him. They were soft and warm.
Suddenly he couldn't breath. A large hand wrapped around his throat choking him and lifting him into the air. The petals tuned to blood soaking them in red. Andre looked at him with crazed eyes and yelled in his face, "You forget your place little mouse!"
Bruno swung his fists trying to fight him away. He woke abruptly to his fist colliding with someone's face hard and heard a loud yelp of pain. The prophet quickly lit a candle on his desk illuminating the room. Agustin stood by the bed holding a bloody nose.
"I'm so sorry," Bruno said guiltily standing up, grabbing a handkerchief, and placing it over Agustin's nose. His brother-in-law accepted it gratefully using it to stop the bleeding. "Are you okay? I'm sorry."
Agustin gave a thumbs up and a smile. "It's fine," the taller man said. "It's nothing Julieta can't fix. Are you okay? It sounded like you were having a nightmare."
"Yeah," Bruno responded then knocked on wood for good measure.
"Julieta sent me to get you for breakfast," Agustin joyfully said. He always managed to make Bruno smile with his positive, easy going attitude. "Come on, I'll walk you down. We have a journey ahead of us with all those stairs!" It would certainly keep Bruno from sleeping, so the stairs were a welcome journey.
.=.
At breakfast, they were all eating outside. Agustin waved for Bruno to go out while he went to the kitchen to get his nose fixed. The shorter man apologized several more times for the punch in the face, but his brother-in-law really didn't seem to mind at all.
Outside, Pepa's side of the family sat on one side of the table, while Julieta's sat on the other. Bruno felt a little out of place but Mirabel grabbed his hand and pulled him to sit at the end of the table opposite Abuela. Everyone was gabbing a plate with Camilo ahead of all of them.
Before anyone finished getting their food, Camilo had managed to grab two plates full and ran to sit next to his tio. Bruno watched his nephew smile triumphantly placing a plate down for each of them. "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I got a little of everything." Camilo leaned in close and whispered, "I tried to get extra for the rats."
The teen was admittedly a little wary of the rats, but Bruno trusted and loved them. That was good enough for Camilo, even if he had seen them eat a person. He tried not to think about it and focused on his food instead.
"Thanks," Bruno said quietly, feeling a little nervous being in a large group. Camilo had done him a major favor, getting his food for him. He wasn't sure he had the energy to fight his family for anything on the table. Camilo smiled happily with a face full of food making his tio laugh a little.
Mirabel sat on Bruno's other side. When everyone else sat down it was time for Abuela's announcements of the morning. It all felt normal and yet surreal. His mother talked about the schedule for the day and he tried to pay attention, but it felt strange. He felt like he shouldn't be here enjoying food with them.
They were all smiling and seemed happy but they had all been through so much. Pepa and Isabela had both killed. Camilo, Dorlores, and Mirabel had witness him being assaulted. Luisa had been stabbed and almost killed. They had all been involved in the encanto invasion, that had been all because of him. If he had stayed with Andre and cooperated, maybe it would have never have happened. They could have been safe.
Bruno's breathing picked up, and it felt like he couldn't get enough air. His vision blurred. He should not be here with them. He was what was wrong, they'd be happier without him. He should have never come back from the walls. The prophet looked beyond his mother to see Andre standing right behind her, waving. Andre walked around the table, past his family, slowly making his way over. Bruno grabbed at his hair with one of his hands pulling hard trying to wake up, but he wasn't sleeping.
Camilo and Mirabel were the first to notice something was wrong. Bruno was shaking and pulling at his air, and his breathing sounded labored. His eyes were glassy and unseeing. "Tio Bruno?" Mirabel asked trying to get his attention. Camilo grabbed his shoulder making him flinch away violently. Everyone's attention turned toward the scene.
Suddenly Bruno's eyes turned bright green as his emotions triggered a vision. The prophet did not want another vision. All he has seen is death, he was not ready for that again. As the first images flashed in his mind he swiped his arm across the table in front of him flinging his plate to the ground. He grabbed the table, lifted his head, and slammed it hard into the wood.
"Stop him!" Abuela yelled as everyone stood in shock. The green in Bruno's eyes flickered for a moment but kept going. He quickly lifted his head not hearing what was going on around him and only focused on making it stop. His head slammed in to the table a second time before anyone could get to him. Felix pushed Bruno by his shoulders down in to the chair.
Luckily for Bruno, it was already too late. The vision stopped and he could see his family again. To his dismay, they all looked scared and disturbed. His head hurt and he lifted his hand to his forehead to see blood. "Oh," he said and then promptly passed out.
.=.
Andre laughed hysterically as Bruno ran through the town of the encanto toward casita. He made it there only to see his home engulfed in flames. Andre stood in front of the house admiring his work. "No!" Bruno yelled hearing his family screaming and dying inside.
Andre grabbed him, keeping him from going inside the house. Bruno tried to push him away, but the larger man wrapped him in a hug keeping him from lashing out. The smaller man struggled kicking his legs out. The house burned and became remains of it's former self.
Bruno was let go after the fire went out. The smaller man pushed the other man away in anger. "What is wrong with you?! Why are you doing this?!" Bruno let out a guttural scream of frustration and landed on his knees. He felt helpless and tired. No matter what he did, Andre always got what he wanted. The mad man only smiled watching Bruno slowly give up.
Bruno sat on his knees for a long time, with Andre looming over him. "I hate you," The smaller man said looking up at the other with tears in his eyes.
"I'd ask if you've figured it out, but clearly you haven't. Otherwise I wouldn't be here," Andre said sounding bored.
"You're blaming me for this?" Bruno rasped.
"You do," Andre countered. "If you blame you, than I do to." Bruno glared at him angrily and stood up.
"I am not the one who got obsessed with someone twice my age after meeting him once!" Bruno yelled shoving at Andre's chest weakly. "I don't even know you!" He shoved at the larger man again. "All that time with you did nothing! You're still just a stranger!" He shoved harder making Andre have to take a step back.
"Get it all out mi vida," Andre smiled encouraging his lover. This made Bruno even more angry.
"You're insane!" Bruno yelled. "You don't know what love is! You don't even love me! You love the idea you created in your head!" He shoved the mad man with every sentence. "I was getting somewhere with my family after ten years of not being able to talk to them! And you ruined it!"
Bruno began to cry, tears streaming down his face. He stopped shoving, but continued speaking, "You took me from my home; humiliated and tortured me. You tried to kill my family. I did everything I could to keep them safe, but I couldn't stop you."
"If only you would have tried harder," Andre said sarcastically
"How?" Bruno asked. "How do you stop a delusional psycho? Even if I had the gift of strength, hearing, or shape-shifting; you would have found a way to make it work for you. You knew everything about my family and me. You would have found a way to get me." Bruno glared at him with more hatred than he knew he was capable of.
"What are you trying to tell me my love?" Andre asked with a smirk.
The prophet had been blaming himself this whole time, thinking he could have done something to stop Andre. But realization hit him. There was nothing he could have done to stop what happened. If Andre was telling the truth, that he was in love with Bruno for the last 10 years, then he likely had been planning to kidnap him all along. Even Andre's house had been built with the Madrigal's in mind. Nobody could have done anything.
"I hate you," Bruno said sadly. "This isn't my fault. It's your fault." Andre didn't respond. Bruno looked around and the man was simply gone. He felt a little relief, but mostly he didn't know what to feel.