WARNING: BLOOD AND RAPE/NON-CON READ WITH CAUTION!
Walking Nightmare Part Two
Alma wouldn't say that she had been unable to go back to sleep after leaving Julieta and Agustin to calm Mirabel down enough to coax her back to sleep. However, she wished that that was the case. Her sleep was plagued with dreams of the night Encanto was formed, but as soon as the machete made the deadly cut downward, towards Pedro, he turned into Mirabel, bloody and terrified, calling out for help.
She woke up around six, her normal wake-up time, covered in sweat. She took a quick shower and dressed for the day. Hopefully, Mirabel would be up to answering a few questions this morning. Last night they were more concerned about taking care of Mirabel than getting answers. They had a few, they knew what had happened and how, and they also had a good idea of when. They even knew that Mirabel tried to fight him. What they didn't have was who and why something like this would happen. Why someone they knew would purposely target Mirabel?
Finally, Alma steeled herself for the trying day ahead, pulled her shawl over her shoulder, and stepped out onto the balcony.
"Do you know what's wrong with the nursery?" Luisa asked, still clad in her nightgown and her hair done up in the night braid that they always kept her hair in, otherwise, it would tangle, "there's a sign on the door that says that it's a crime scene and that no one can enter. Is Mirabel alright?"
Alma sighed, she knew that the rest of her family would have to be told sooner rather than later, but she had hoped it wasn't this soon.
"Abuela?"
"Last night during the party someone attacked Mirabel," Alma announced, "She's with your parents right now."
"Who would attack Mirabel?"
"I don't know, Mirabel was too distraught last night to tell us," Alma confessed.
"What are we going to do?"
"I'm declaring a family emergency, nobody is going to do chores around the village at least until we catch the man responsible."
"So I better get ready for the day in case Mirabel tells us who did it before breakfast?"
Alma shook her head, "Either we return to work after the trial or when Mirabel recovers enough that we can all return to chores. Whatever happens last. I'm sure that it will at least be a week."
…
Agustin had not slept since Mirabel woke them up the night before despite the sleeping tea Julieta had them all drink. It had been a rough night for Mirabel. She, thankfully, hadn't started sleepwalking again, but she had multiple nightmares that kept them up and developed a fever.
The fever had Julieta concerned, as her gift didn't work on fevers, and a fever could mean that an infection had set in during the time between the attack and her getting help. It was low grade though, just enough to make Mirabel more miserable than she already was.
Agustin glanced over at his wife, whose dark eyes under her eyes betrayed the fact that her night had been just as long. Julieta gave him a weary smile as she took the cold compress off Mirabel's forehead, wetting it again. Mirabel had, thankfully, dozed off into what so far had been a dreamless sleep. It had taken three doses of sleeping tea to get her to this point and hopefully meant that she'll sleep late into the morning or early afternoon.
"We're going to have to tell the others," he announced, "They aren't going to like this. They'll be flooding."
"Hopefully no one is hurt," Julieta murmured, "especially children, we know for a fact that they are innocent, but I'm so busy with Mirabel, I don't have time to do other cooking."
There was a sudden knock on the door, which caused Mirabel to stir with a whimper. It was a testament to the tea that she did not fully wake, she usually was as light of a sleeper as Julieta. Mirabel sighed, nuzzled deeper into her pillow, and continued to sleep.
Agustin sighed, lifting up his glasses to run his hands over his eyes, it was way too early to have to deal with other people's problems. He glanced at Julieta, who was coaxing Mirabel back into a deeper sleep. He will have to deal with this himself. He hoped Alma remembered her promise of them having the day off because he wasn't up to helping around the village, and Julieta needed some proper rest before she could safely work in the kitchen.
He opened the door to find his middle daughter standing there nervously, still dressed in her nightgown with her hair tied back in the braid that she always wore to bed, and with a look on her face that told him that she was on the verge of tears.
"How's Mirabel?" She demanded, "Is she okay? Abuela just told me what happened. Who would do something like this?"
Agustin sighed, holding a hand up to slow the questions, "At the moment, Mirabel's asleep, she's running a fever, but we believe that it's just caused by the stress. We still don't know who did it."
"Mirabel hasn't told you yet?"
"Told them what?" A sharp voice demanded, as Isabela appeared, already ready for the day sans makeup, "That she made up the whole crack thing. Everyone knows that. Honestly, Mama lets her get away with way too much."
Luisa glared down at her older sister, "Just shut up Isabela," she growled, surprising their father, Luisa got along with everyone, yet she was a split second away from starting a fight with Isabela.
"Mirabel was attacked last night during the party," Agustin explained.
Isabela snorted, "Really?" she demanded, "What, did her 'Crack story' not get enough attention, so she had to come up with something as ridiculous as someone raping her?"
Agustin gave his oldest a dark look, "She isn't making this up, Isa. For one thing, she wasn't the one to tell us. Your mother figured out what happened after your sister sleepwalked into our room last night. No one could have faked that for attention."
"Come on Pa, Mirabel had her boyfriend in the nursery with her. They obviously had fun and got a little carried away," Isabela insisted.
Agustin's heart leaped into his throat, Isabela had either seen someone leave or enter the nursery, she knew something, "Isabela if you know something about what happened last night, you should tell us."
"Nothing happened last night except for Mirabel getting busy in bed with her boyfriend."
"Isabela Maria Roja Madrigal, I am done with this attitude, if Mirabel was a willing participant then Casita wouldn't have tried to barricade the nursery to protect her and she wouldn't have been beaten black and blue, with five blows to her head. If you don't straighten up right now, you'll regret it Senorita. Do I make myself clear!"
Isabela glanced at Luisa in bewilderment, she's never seen their father this upset before, however, she didn't say anything, she knew when she was treading on thin ice.
"Lo siento Papa, I just… the Velez boy said that he was Mirabel's boyfriend and he was just checking on her. So I assumed…"
"Which Velez boy?" Agustin interrupted, "Where did you see him?"
"The youngest one, the one around Mirabel's age, he was leaving the nursery when Mariano and I went for a walk to escape the noise. Mariano questioned him, and he said that Mirabel was his girlfriend and he was just checking on her to make sure that she was okay, because of how hard the night was for her, and the whole crack thing," Isabela explained, her eyes welling up with tears, "I didn't think anything of it. I believed him, and…. he hurt Mirabel."
"None of us would have thought him capable of doing this," Agustin insisted, "Now if you excuse me, I need to talk to your Abuela about this. Breakfast should be ready soon."
…
"Velez?" Alma repeated, staring at her son-in-law in surprise, "Are you sure?"
"Isabela saw the youngest one leaving the nursery," Agustin said, "He claimed to be Mirabel's boyfriend."
"Do you think that he could have done this?" Alma asked, "Maybe he wanted to…" she blushed at the thought, before continuing, "You know what," she muttered, "But Mirabel didn't want to, so he got violent."
"I don't know," Agustin admitted, "I want to learn more about him and his family, I don't think that he would have been able to break down the door by himself. If he was involved he would have had help."
"If he's Mirabel's age, then perhaps Camilo would know something about him?" Alma suggested, "and Dolores can listen for him, to see if he talks about the attack."
Just then they heard a loud knock down the hall, "Hey, Tia, when's Breakfast, I'm starving," Camilo's voice called out.
Alma sighed, "I better get breakfast done before Camilo wakes Mirabel. How is she, by the way?"
"She has a Stress-induced fever, and we really just got her to sleep a little while ago."
…
Camilo had woken up starving, not that that was unusual, he was always starving, what was unusual was the fact that his tia wasn't making breakfast when he woke up.
He quickly walked over to her door, and knocked on it loudly, calling out to her, asking about breakfast, but there was no response. He knocked again, and this time got a response, not from the room, but behind him.
"Abuela's getting breakfast ready," Tio Agustin insisted, "Julieta was up most of the night with Mirabel, please let them sleep."
Camilo frowned tilting his head to the side, "What's going on?" he asked, "What's wrong with Mirabel?"
Agustin sighed, running his hand down his face, he already had to tell Isabela about what happened, and he was sure that the others would have questions as well, and he really didn't want to spend the next few hours answering the same questions over and over again, "We'll explain what's going on at breakfast," he promised, "I don't want to have to answer the same questions over and over again."
Camilo shrugged and walked away.
….
Dolores knew that something was up the moment she wasn't woken up by a soft knock on her door, Mirabel always woke her up in the morning. When she stepped out of her room she could hear her tia and youngest prima fast asleep in Julieta's room, odd, Mirabel wasn't one that climbed into bed with her parents anymore, and Tia Julieta wasn't one to sleep in, she was usually almost done with breakfast by now. She shifted slightly sending her hearing down the stairs to the kitchen, Abuela was puttering around, heating up food from the night before. Strange Abuela never made breakfast. Tio Agustin was talking to Camilo about Julieta being up with Mirabel most of the night, and when Camilo asked what was wrong with Mirabel, Tio deflected, promising to tell him, and everyone else what was going on at breakfast.
Dolores squeaked to herself, wondering what breakfast would bring.
…
Pepa drained her coffee before glancing around the table with a frown, "Where's Juli?" she asked.
"She's with Mirabel," Camilo announced, piling food on his plate as he spoke, "But Tio wouldn't tell me what's wrong with her and why Tia has to take care of her."
"I told you that I would tell you at breakfast with the rest of the family," Agustin pointed out, "Now that the family is all here…"
"No Pico, you need to stay off the table," a young voice interrupted him.
Agustin eyes grew round as he glanced at Antonio, before scanning the table, landing on Dolores, she would be able to hear everything that was discussed in the dining room even if she was upstairs in Antonio's room, "Dolores, can you take Antonio upstairs?"
Dolores nodded, grabbing her plate before helping Antonio with his, and leaving the room.
"What's going on Agustin?" Pepa asked as a cloud formed over her head.
"Last night, during the party, someone broke into the nursery and attacked Mirabel," Agustin announced.
Thunder crashed overhead, the cloud rising upward, spreading through the town, "What!"
"It was the Velez boy," Isabela announced, "The one that's Mirabel's age, I saw him leaving the nursery, and he told me that he was Mirabel's boyfriend, and like a complete moron, I believed him…" she clenched her fists tightly, "When I get my hands on him," she muttered, cacti popping up around her.
"Hugo?" Camilo asked, confused, "That can't be right, he wouldn't touch Mirabel."
"I felt the same way when I learned of this," Alma confessed, "But unfortunately, the evidence is there. No matter how upstanding a citizen he appears, he attacked Mirabel."
"Upstanding?" Camilo said with a snort, "He's dropped out of school and spends all his time harassing anybody in a skirt. No, I know that he won't touch Mirabel because the one time he did he got his a…" there was a crash of thunder at the same time Alma glared at him, he swallowed hard before saying, "You know what handed to him. That boy is nothing but talk, the moment the girl fights back he can't do anything."
"Maybe this was revenge for that beat down?" Isabela suggested, "I mean it must have been embarrassing getting pummeled by a girl."
"He tried that," Camilo chuckled, "Mirabel knocked him out with a single punch while he was still ranting about how he was going to make her pay. As far as I know, he hasn't gone near her since," he shook his head, "No, if he had something to do with this, he had help, and I bet their names are Matteo, Juan, and Diego Velez."
"Diego!" Luisa growled, slamming her fist into the table, causing it to vibrate and cracks to form over it, "It's bad enough that I have to put up with his crude behavior, not Mirabel too."
"Crude Behavior?" Alma asked nervously.
Luisa nodded, "Diego purposely lets the donkeys out of their pens so that he can laugh at me and call me vulgar names while I gather them up," she admitted, "Sometimes I just want to wallop him… Maybe I should next time the donkeys get out…"
"Why wasn't I informed of this!" Alma demanded, "I need to know these kinds of things, I could have put an end to it."
"You told me to ignore him," Luisa insisted, "and just do my chores like I was asked," she shrugged, scooping up a large pile of eggs and stuffing it into her mouth.
"Is there any behaviors I should know about the other two, Matteo and Juan?" Alma asked, nervously.
"Juan has at least three different children from three different girls," Isabela admitted, "He openly brags about how he leered them into his bed and then left them high and dry when he found out that they were pregnant. The children were quickly fostered out to siblings or parents to avoid a scandal, but still…" she shook her head, "The only good thing about being with Mariano is the fact that the one time Juan got too friendly with me, he ended up walking funny for a week."
"Oh help," Alma muttered under her breath, this was not happening, this had not been going on under her watch for so long had it? "And the oldest, Matteo?"
"Mariano saved her from him once," Camilo said through a mouth full of food, "He was trying to get her into a compromised position so that you'll force her to marry him," he swallowed, "That's why she's been so moody lately, she has a crush on Mariano, but Mariano is so blindly in love with Isabela that he can't see that Isa can't stand him."
"What?" Alma asked, certain that she heard wrong.
"Matteo tried to force Dolores into marrying him," Camilo insisted, taking another bite, "I don't see how confusing that is."
"What was it about Mariano and Isabela?" Alma clarified.
"You mean the fact that Isabela doesn't like Mariano? I thought everybody knew that, except for Mariano, and he's blind as heck. I don't get what Dolores sees in him."
The door flew open and Dolores came storming into the room, "I hate you," she hissed to Camilo as she headed into the kitchen with the stack of plates in her hand.
Felix glanced at his two oldest, before shrugging, they were old enough to figure it out themselves, "What are we going to do?" he asked Alma.
"Well, it sounds like we need to have a little talk with the Velez brothers," Alma confessed, "And I'm calling an emergency council meeting, but other than that, everyone has the week off at least, we'll see how everyone is doing after the trial and decide from there."
Dolores appeared in the room again, having finished washing the dishes she had brought down with her, "The Guzmans are coming for cena tonight," she informed them, "For the proposal, he wants five babies."
More cacti popped up around Isabela as Camilo giggled, "Geesh Isabela, what are you going to do?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.
"I will talk to the Guzmans," Alma insisted, "and explain to them that due to a family emergency, we can't have them over for dinner tonight, I'll also suggest that Mariano might consider seeing other women for the time being."
"You'll do that?" Isabela asked, surprised.
"Of course," Alma insisted, "The whole Familia is shook up about what happened to Mirabel, it will take several months, if not years to fully recover, Mariano wouldn't want to wait that long for you, now would he."
"Mama?" Antonio called out, arriving in the doorway with his jaguar, "Can Parce eat the bad men that hurt Mirabel? He can track their scent from the nursery!"
