"Arrgh, what is that? Mamá, give me the broom!" A high-pitched voice screamed from the kitchen, followed by the dull sound of a broom hitting on something. "Schoo! Go away, you disgusting…" 15-year-old Julieta could hear the disgusted screams of her mother and sister from the kitchen. She sighed. It wasn't even time for breakfast yet, but her sister already had a mental meltdown.

"What's going on?" She asked but immediately realized that her question was unnecessary. Two rats panicked under the chair her sister was standing on with the kitchen broom in her hand while their mother tried to drive away the more and more darkening cloud hovering over their heads.

"Pepa, calm down," Alma pled. "You are flooding the kitchen if you don't get your emotions under control. Again!"

Julieta winced as she remembered the last emotional outburst of her sister in her kitchen. She and Bruno had to spend HOURS throwing away all the wet flour and cleaning the mess up. Well, Bruno had to clean the kitchen while she just wanted to make sure that everything went back to its place. It was his fault, after all.

"Julieta, have you seen your brother? I haven't seen him all…Shu, you annoying little rodents!" Julieta shook her head as she noticed a dark curlyhead hiding outside the window. Unsurprisingly, her brother sneaked out of the house before dawn. She tried to hide her observation but to no use.

"Bruno!" Their mother yelled. "I know you are hiding. Come here! "The dark figure behind the window hesitated at first but finally decided to turn around. A slender teenager with lowered shoulders appeared in the doorway, knowing too well that trouble awaits him.

"Where have you been all morning? And what's that in your fa…." A high pain-distorted squeaking interrupted Alma, followed by Pepa's cry of triumph. Julieta flinched as she could see the small rat lying on the floor, her companion running away through the tiny crack in the tapestry. No matter the species, she couldn't stand it when anyone or anything got hurt right in front of her eyes. Bruno seemed to feel the same as he rushed to the broken and maybe dead little rodent.

"Why would you do something so cruel, Pepa?" He bawled, holding the small animal in his hand. "It's only a tiny rat! Why would you hurt something that hasn't done you any harm?"

"Bruno, I am... " Pepa tried to find the right words to comfort her brother, still in shock of his sudden and unfamiliar outburst. Her mother, on the other hand, showed more concern over the small thunderstorm that formed over their heads.

"Brunito, I know you are upset, but it is just a rat! Now, bring it out and help your sisters set up the table. And what is that in your face?" As soon as her hand tried to reach his right cheek, he stormed out of the kitchen, one hand holding the rat, the other one grabbing an arepa as he passed Julieta.

It wasn't the first time Bruno missed breakfast with the family, and Julieta was sure it wouldn't be the last one either. She still tried to get the sound of the hurt rat out of her head as well as the tears on her brother's face. Bruno wasn't the kind of person who would shout at his family. Whatever happened before the incident in the kitchen must have upset him. She could see the guilt in Pepas face, as well as the sadness in her mother's. Still, none even mentioned the missing triplet and tried to act as if nothing had happened. Julieta couldn't wait for the depressing breakfast to end, and as soon as everyone finished, she rushed out to look for her brother.

"Casita," Julieta hesitated. She spent the last hour searching for her brother but had no luck. She even went up to his whole tower, but there was no sign of him. "I know that you would never betray Bruno, but I need to know where he is hiding. Please." She almost cried when suddenly, the floor tiles raised and led her to the painted picture of a jug in the house's upper story.

"Why?" She wondered, but then she noticed the subtle breeze of stifling air coming from the painting. As she moved it away, a narrow but long passage extended in front of her. For a moment, Julieta stood in front of the hole in awe. Then, she slipped through the break in the wall, making that nobody would follow her.

"I know Pepa can be scary sometimes, but she doesn't mean it."A soft squeaking noise followed Bruno's apology like it wanted to protest. "She will not hurt you again, I promise."

Julieta stood there in silence as she observed her brother feeding a rat an arepa.

"So, that's where you are hiding when we get on your nerves?" She finally said, resulting in her brother almost falling over when he quickly turned around.

"How could you find me?" He questioned. Another rat ran up his shoulder, glancing at Julieta.

"Casita."

He sighed. He knew that the house would betray his secret hideout one day or another; at least it wasn't Pepa or his mother finding him here. "Will you tell it Pepa and mamá now?"

Julieta shook her head and sat next to him. "Don't worry; I won't tell anyone." Bruno relaxed a little bit, but he didn't dare look at his sister. Then she noticed the big blue bruise on his right cheek.

"Bruno, what happened?" she asked, softly turning his face towards her.

He hesitated. "I…I was clumsy and ran against a tree."

Julieta frowned, fully aware that he was lying. "I have seen many bruises like this, Hermanito. It NEVER was a tree."

He rubbed his arm, as it was embarrassing for him to talk about it.

"I was in the town this morning; I just wanted to get some things done before everyone else wakes up." He sighed. "I saw Senior Martinez hitting his donkey again, and suddenly I got a vision of him falling down the stairs. I tried to warn him, but he called me misery for the town, and then he…."

"He hit you." Julieta frowned. Martinez usually seemed to be a nice person to be around, but she had healed his wife and daughter way too often to not know that he also had another side.

"Bruno, you have to tell it mamá!" She insisted. "It's not ok to EVER hurt a person, let alone someone half your age."

Bruno shook his head, still concentrating on feeding his rats. "I can't. He will let it out on his daughter if I do, way worse than usual."

"How do you know…?"

Bruno only had to point on his eyes to make her understand.

"It's still unfair!" She growled in anger. "He can't run around in town blaming and hurting people who try to help him! He has to stop."

"Oh, he will stop eventually," Bruno said with a sad laugh. "He will either be more cautious with stairs and stop drinking, or he won't be able to hurt his family for a long time." A third rat came, demanding some food, and Bruno willingly gave the last bit of arepa to the little rodent.

"Here," Julieta handed him another piece of bread she was able to sneak out of the kitchen. "If you don't want mamá to see your bruise, you should eat something."

He thanked her as he took a bit of the hand-baked good. Julieta smiled warmly as he still fed his rat some crumbs that occasionally fell out of his hands. One of the rats crawled up his lap, curled up, and took a nap. Julieta would swear it was the rat that almost died two hours ago.

"Why are you feeding them?" She questioned, hesitantly trying to pat one of the rodents. "They are not the first choice of a pet, are they?"

Bruno took a few seconds to think about an answer. "That's it, isn't it? Rats are not the first choice of pets, and I am not the first choice of a Madrigal. In some way, we are just the same."

He paused. His sister gently took one of the rats and placed it on her lap; this time, she stroked it with more confidence. She giggled as it rolled on his back so that she could tickle its belly.

"Yeah, you are really just the same." She said warmly. "People don't understand you, but if they have the chance to see behind the dark facade, they can see how caring you are, gentle and intelligent. And goofy."

He gazed at his sister, silently thanking her for her words. The siblings sat there in silence, both having at least one rat in their lap. Finally, Julieta raised from her seat.

"I understand that you don't want to run up your tower each time Pepa drives you insane, but this place needs a makeover." She flinched just thinking of the many stairs she went up this morning looking for her brother. No wonder he rarely spent time there when he was five.

Bruno also raised. "I know, Hermana, "he agreed as he tried to get rid of the spider webs caught in his hair. "Any suggestions?"

"What's about that: We are cleaning this place up, and I try to get some old furniture from the town. No word to Pepa; she can't keep a secret if her life depends on it. Oh, and you keep your rats out of the kitchen, they are nice, but that's not the right place for pets. Do we have a deal?"

Bruno grinned, then shook her hand. "Deal."

Over the following months, the siblings spent every free minute level up Bruno's hideout. Any furniture the townspeople threw away, the two of them carefully repaired and brought down the secret chamber next to the kitchen. After a while, Bruno had an almost complete living room, where he spent hours when his family or the town stressed him out. Alma Madrigal wondered why her daughter started to cook more food recently but dismissed it as the growing appetite of teenagers. Bruno even started to be more confident with his rats: Pepa flipped out and almost started a hurricane when he first brought them out, but even she got used to the sight of a rat constantly sitting on her brother's shoulder. She even started to pet them when nobody was watching and giggled at the silly games he played with them. Seeing Bruno Madrigal without any of his rats became a more and more rare occasion over the following years; his mother could swear that she even saw them at her daughters' wedding days. Still, they were never allowed to be in the kitchen or at the table during mealtime; Alma always stood her ground in this matter. But even she had to admit that she was somehow thankful for her son's unlikely companions.