Chapter 28:
(Isabella POV)
I concentrated on growing a vine underneath my feet and it began to help me unshackle myself from the ground. I shook off the shackles and stood up as the General turned his sword towards me, "How did you do that?" I grew a vine that knocked the sword out of his hand, "You are not the one in control anymore." I looked over at Caleb and Tío Felix, "So who is going to fill me in on everything?" The General was coming towards me, "How are you... What are you..." He started questioning as he came towards me. I quickly grew a vine from the ground that went up to his throat, "Stay back."
The General stopped moving and looked towards Caleb, "Lieutenant what is going on?" Caleb cam next to me and smiled, "I think it is time that you started answering some questions General." Tío Felix stood next to me as well. We could hear everyone outside the tent focusing on trying to get in but, no one could break through. I focused on the man in front of me, "I believe that you owe my friends here an explanation." I said. Caleb stepped forward, "What happened to my parents?" The General rolled his eyes, "Lieutenant we have been over this..." I let out a breath as I grew more vines that wrapped around him and held him in place, "You know we all know the story you told him was a lie. You owe him the truth." I looked over at my Tío, "You owe both of them the truth."
(Caleb POV)
I stood next to Isabella and stared at the General. "What happened to my family?" I don't know why I needed to hear him say it. I pretty much already knew but I needed to know. The General let out a breath, "This all started long before you. Long before both of you. I was assigned to prepare this place for my king in order to be able to best take advantage of the land, money and people. We quickly found though that people were not willing to work with us so I began taking the communities. The village in the capital city were the ones who were being the most difficult to cooperate with and they were inspiring rebellion in the other villages so it came time for the attack. I moved here with my wife your Mama," He gestured towards Felix, "I kept her safe and locked away in our camp especially after I found out that she was pregnant with you. I couldn't wait to have an heir, my son." Felix's eyes narrowed and muttered, "I'm not your son."
The General continued, "The best way to take control was quite simple. Tear down everything that already existed. We planned an attack. I never thought that your Mama would be there. She was trapped in one of the buildings as they were being torn down. We had set an example for all the other villages here except for one thing, we lost all the villagers. We had to get them back, but we could never find them. They were responsible for the death of my wife and I thought you, I had to avenge her. Even after we gained control of the land I still had to find them so I began to build up my army." I swallowed harshly in my throat as I thought back to my years of training, "So everything you had us do wasn't even for some boss of yours, it was because you wanted revenge?" He rolled his eyes at me but, Isabella glared at him, "Tell Caleb what happened to his family."
The General let out a long breath, "I had to start making an army and the younger they were the more they listened so I began going to other villages and gathering their sons however, they always wanted their parents and some their parents weren't willing to let them go so I took some drastic measures." I was seething, "What happened to my family?" He let out a low breath, "Your parents hid you from me for a long time. We honestly wouldn't have found you had it not been for a minor slip up with you and a garden." I felt a chill run down my spine as I remembered that day.
(Caleb POV)
- 25 years ago -
"Mama please I want to go outside. You never let me go outside anymore." I whined as I looked at her. She let out a long breath, "Caleb, it's not safe right now but, don't worry as soon as your Papa arranges the trip to his parents you can enjoy being outside as much as you want. Your Papa used to love telling me about their garden." I pouted as I looked up at her, "But Mama." "No mi corazon," she said leaving the room. I sighed and looked towards the window.
They were always covered by curtains and they were tacked to the walls so I could move it. The curtain was torn a little though. I pulled on it and soon it was tearing even more until the window was completely exposed. I looked out the window and saw the garden and water outside and below. I looked back towards the door and saw that Mama was still not there so I began to push the window open. I climbed out the window and ran towards the garden as I laid down in a flower bed and stared up at the sky.
I don't know how much time passed until I heard a panic yell, "CALEB!" I sat up and saw my Mama. She ran over to me and wrapped me in a hug, "I told you not to go outside." She whispered into my hair. She quickly looked around and then stood up. "We need to go back inside now." She said as she ushered me back inside constantly looking around. She closed the door and I saw that she had tears in her eyes, "Mama why are you crying?" I asked. She let out a shaky breath, "You can't do that. You can't go away. I can't lose you." She began crying as she held onto me. I wrapped my arms around her, "I'm sorry Mama. I won't do it again. I'll never leave you. I love you." "I love you so much Caleb," she said into my hair.
(Caleb POV)
I looked at the General, "No one was there that day." I quietly said. The General just shook his head, "We were always on the look out for young boys. One of my men saw you and reported it to me. Your parents were a few days away from securing passage to England. Apparently your Padre was from there." I let out a breath, "What did you do to them? I could never remember that day, what happened?"
The General looked around the room trying to find any way to get out of this but, Isabella wasn't going to let him. I walked closer to him, "Just tell me." "I had my men surround your house and board everything up, we had someone get to your room and as soon as the match was lit he got you outside and we boarded up the rest of the house leaving your parents inside to..." he stopped as he saw me clenching my fist, "To die. You left them to die." I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see Isabella. "That is what you did to all of your army's parents didn't you?" She asked.
He just shrugged, "Some, others I just took the boys and they couldn't stop me. Your parents though they needed to learn a lesson after trying to hide you from me. I needed an army big enough to destroy the village and I had no idea how much they had grown throughout the years." I saw Isabella smirk, "Have fun explaining that to them." He rolled his eyes, "Why would I ever tell my soldiers this? Even if you destroy me they will complete the mission and you will only solidify in their minds why they need to find and destroy your village." He spat at her. She just smiled innocently and that's when we all realized it was eerily quiet outside and there was no one trying to break through the vines. I went to open the flap of the tent and saw all the soldiers standing outside and the vines are gone. I looked over at Isabella and she released the General, "I think that you have more explaining to do."
(Isabella POV)
As soon as he began his story I slowly began to unwrap the tent. I knew that the soldiers could hear the General as he spoke to Caleb. I knew what he did to his parents he did to the others. I could hear the shouts die down as they all heard more. When Caleb looked outside I knew that we did the right thing. I stepped out of the tent along with Tío Felix as I let the vines around the General go. I made sure to keep his sword secure though. He stepped outside and was faced with all the soldiers he brought with him. No one knew what to say. I looked over at Caleb and many of the soldiers did as well, "Bring him to the cell." Caleb said as two soldiers grabbed onto him. "You can't do this I'm your General." He started to yell but no one was really listening to him. The rest of the soldiers were still looking to Caleb, "What do we do now Lieutenant?"
Caleb looked over at me, "I think we need to go back to the base." He said clearly, his features schooled and his gaze blank, "We need to get the rest of the soldiers free and we need to look through his files, hopefully we can reunite everyone to where they belong." He then yelled, "CLEAR OUT THE CAMP." Everyone began moving away until it was just the 3 of us. I turned toward Tío Felix and then towards Caleb, "Are you guys ok?" Tío Felix just shrugged, "I always knew my Padre was a bad guy this didn't change much for me." I nodded my head and looked at Caleb, "Caleb?" He let out a breath, "You guys should head back to Encanto I can handle this from here."
"Caleb," I started but he just held a hand up and walked away. I turned to Tío Felix but he just nodded his head, "I'm going to head home. I have a feeling I will have a lot of explaining to do. Go talk to him." I nodded my head and walked after him. Slowly stopping the vines that were growing around the campsite. I followed him to the edge and saw him leaning up against a tree, "Caleb," I said tentatively. He turned to face me and let out a breath, "Isabella." I just went forward and wrapped him in a hug. His grip on me tightened and I whispered, "I'm coming with you."