The night was a disaster. All because of her. Mirabel sat on the bed in her room, the nursery. Tears blurred her eyes as she furiously rubbed them, setting her green-rimmed glasses aside.

"I have an amazing family.. and that amazing, miracle of a family.. is stuck with useless ol' me", she mirthlessly chuckled, it sounded far from her usual bubbly laugh.

"Everyone came into the picture... la familia Madrigal." she said what she had heard them say. "Why wasn't I included?...Am I not a part of it? Am... I really.. not a part of the familia Madrigal?"

"I can't take another night on the sidelines, where do I even belong? I guess I am too late for a miracle.", she smiled bitterly as she stood up.

"Today was very hard for you..."

"God Mami, you said I'd feel better tomorrow... Why did you lie to me?", she hiccupped as sobs wracked her form.

"Stay away from Luisa..."

"Stay away from Luisa...huh? Do you, do you really think that-that I'll take her gift, Abuela? why, why do you hate me?", Mirabel said to herself.

"We can't have anymore problems"

"Am I a problem...?"

"I hate you!"

"I guess… I really am. Even my own sister hates me."

"What did you do!?"

"I was, I was trying to save the miracle but.. maybe my gift is to make everything worse" she said, tears streaming down her face.

"Everything was perfect!"

"I know Isa, and I'm so sorry"

"You ruined my life!"

"I know Isa…I ruin everything."

"You always mess things up"

"I really do, don't I? from not getting a gift….. to all the way to causing Casita to crack."

"Bruno left because of you!"

"I caused Tío Bruno to leave…" she breathed in realization.

"Luisa's losing her powers, Isabela's feelings were hurt, because of you!"

"It all was my fault...Luisa..Isa… I'm so sorry."

"...Hurting this family…"

Those words felt like a slap to her face. Hurting.. her family? God she could never even think of that. But Abuela was right…She was always right. Besides…that is what she had been doing right? hurting the Madrigal family, by being born without a gift, by ruining everything by trying to help. By being the only abnormality in their family, in their miracle.

"What if the reason the miracle is dying... is me." she barely whispered,"What if.. that's what Tío Bruno's vision meant. What if…I'm breaking this family, could I be…the reason Casita is breaking? The reason Luisa is losing her strength? The reason why our miracle- no- my family's miracle is dying?"

Her breath hitched as it sunk in. Could she even fix this? Could she still make this family proud…

"Make this family proud.", she giggled hysterically in tears,"How? By-by causing the miracle to die? By creating cracks in Casita?"

Then suddenly a thought hit her. "If- If I'm the reason the miracle is dying… then maybe I shouldn't be here."

If she's what was causing the miracle to fail, maybe everything will go back to normal if she wasn't there any more. The more she thought about it, the more she became sure of her decision.

Mirabel pulled out a box containing her sewing supplies from under her bed. She opened the box and rummaged through it until she found her note book and a pencil. She tore a page from her notebook and began writing on it. Her tears dropped on the paper, staining it. Once she was done writing, she put the paper away.

Mirabel then searched through her sewing supplies again until she found what she was looking for. A thin razor blade she used to cut the excess strings of her embroideries. Mirabel picked it up and held it in front of her as she examined the blade. It was as sharp as she could remember.

Mirabel stepped back, almost staggering with each step. Her back was pressed against the wall and tears flooded her eyes again. Mirabel collapsed on the floor, sobbing. Tears rolled down her face as she brought the blade on her wrist.

She could hear the tiles in her room and the window flapping. Casita did whatever it could out of desperation to stop Mirabel. "Lo, lo siento Casita. But it's for the best." Mirabel said softly. And with that she dragged the blade across her wrist. A thin red line appeared on her skin and then blood began flowing out of the freshly made cut.

Mirabel sobbed as the pain from the cut burnt through her arm. But it wasn't a pain she was unfamiliar with. Mirabel made another cut and then another and then another. She kept cutting until she couldn't anymore.

Mirabel laid on the floor, sobbing as she bled. "Mami, Papa, Tonito, everyone, lo siento…. Lo siento mucho." She thought. Mirabel closed her eyes as she felt light-headed as more and more time passed. She wondered if her family would mourn for her. Her parents would surely be sad but they have two other daughters who are much better than her. Antonio will be heartbroken, but he will grow up soon and will forget about her with time.

That night Casita tried its hardest to gain the attention of its residents. Everything from flipping tiles to flapping the windows to gain the attention of anyone. Casita has always protected its residents from any possible harm, but that night it failed. Failed to protect one of its own. Failed to protect Mirabel.

….

Dolores was a bit surprised when she woke up without hearing a knock on her door. She was an early riser, though she was always second to Mirabel, who basically rose with the sun to set the table and wake everyone one else up. She also usually had a routine with Casita, which also assisted in waking Dolores up. So, it was needless to say, she was surprised to have woken up and it was silent. Dolores checked the time and found out that she'd woken up later than usual too.

She then silently slipped out of her room. As soon as she stepped out of her room, she noticed the odd quietness. As much as Dolores prefered quietness, it felt so wrong at that moment. There wasn't a single sound in the entire household, save for the light snoring coming from some of the still sleeping family members.

Dolores headed down to the dining room, expecting to see it set out and ready as usual, but it wasn't. The table lay bare and empty. Dolores was confused and then recalled that Mirable had a rough night last night. Which was somewhat her fault. She was probably still asleep after the long night.

So, she did the most sensible thing she could at the moment. She simply set up the table and woke up the rest of the familia, who were also surprised to see Dolores waking them up. But everyone shrugged it off, giving no further thought to the matter.

They all went on their daily morning routine. Julieta was cooking while many members were getting a cup of coffee. But no one really noticed the absent member of the family. Only when they all sat down together at the table, they noticed the absence of Mirabel.

"Is Mirabel not up yet?" Julieta asked herself as she brought the food out to set on the table.

But as everyone got their food and sat down, they all were very aware of the empty seat at the table. In the beginning, they diligently waited, it wasn't right to eat without their entire family there, even if they knew it'd be a bit heated after last night. Abuela in particular was prepared for the moment Mirabel walked down the stairs and sit down so that she could lecture the girl and discuss about the vision.

But as time passed by, they realized she wasn't coming down, causing buzzes of concern to infect every member. There was an eerie feeling forming in the back of their mind, and now they couldn't ignore that feeling anymore.

"Dolores, could you listen into Mirabel's room por favor? And tell us if she's still asleep?" Julieta requested.

Dolores nodded and immediately focused on her prima's room to listen to, only to get confused and try to listen harder. Everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting to hear that Mirabel was, in fact, simply sleeping in. But they never got that.

Antonio felt slightly panicked now. He'd gone to bed assuming that he'd see Mirabel today, and yet here there was no Mirabel in sight and the look on his hermana's face wasn't easing any of his concerns. Camilio was tense too, his worry for his prima increasing as the moments passed by.

"Dolores?" She heard her mamá call out to her, but she was zoned out. There wasn't a sound coming from the nursery. Dolores could feel her heart skip a beat and begin to quicken. Okay, so she wasn't there. Maybe Mirabel had woken up early and got caught up helping in town.

"Dolores!" her mamá called out again.

"Mirabel isn't there." she accidentally blurted out slightly startled by her mother's loud voice.

"Maybe she's out in town again." Agustín said before letting out a nervous chuckle.

Dolores shifted her focus from the nursery to the bustling town, trying to listen for one of the sounds she usually associated with her prima, her singing voice or the sound of her beating heart. But everywhere she focused her mind, she heard nothing of her prima and now the panic was really settling in. Her distress was obvious as the rest of the family stared at her waiting for anything to confirm Mirabel was okay, but seeing her reaction everyone felt a sense of dread. Even Abuela's anger had simmered down to a quiet concern.

Dolores felt her breath quicken as a million questions swarmed her mind at once and as the ambiance of the entire town became louder and louder as time went on, she put her hands on her ears as her vision began to go in and out of focus. Pepa quickly headed to her daughter's side and gently pulled her daughter's hands off her ears.

"What is it mija? What's wrong?" she asked, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. But it ultimately failed as a dark cloud formed over her head.

Dolores could only stare into her mother's eyes with a panicked and confused look.

"Dolores?" Camilo tried, worried about his hermana, but also worried about what she had to say.

"Mamá... I- I can't" Dolores said as tears rolled down her face, she was trying to keep herself from sobbing.

Everyone waited with bated breath as Pepa tried to calm her daughter down.

"You can't what mija? What can't you do?"

"I- I can't hear her mamá. I can't hear her steps, her breathing, her voice, I can't hear her heart mamá... I can't hear her!" Dolores explained hurriedly and full of panic. The poor girl didn't even seem like she was breathing. Though upon hearing that, no one dared to breathe either.

"I can't hear Mirabel at all! Why? Why can't I hear her mamá? What does this mean? Why am I able to hear her heart mamá?" Dolores wailed as she broke down and time seemed to freeze for the entire family.

Pepa could only blink as her jaw fell open as her cloud thundered. Felix was just as shocked as his wife, his eyebrows scrunched up. Camilo was so confused and worried, he started to fiddle with his sleeves trying to rack his mind on what he had learned. Antonio was shocked but didn't understand the full extent of what was going on.

Julieta had a horrified look on her face as she felt her strength leave her. She leaned back in her chair for support and Agustín could only put a hand on his wife's shoulder to comfort her. Isabela felt her heart drop as she froze in shock and Luisa looked like she would pass out at any moment.

Abula could only lean back and slump into her chair. The air of the room was buzzing with anxiety, confusion and dread. It was the moment when the chaos actually kicked in. Julieta got up and immediately rushed to the nursery, fearful for what she may find, with Agustín following after her. Camilo and Dolores were first to follow their lead, and then the rest of the family.

By the time they had reached upstairs, they found Julieta banging against the nursery door, yelling and begging for her daughter to open the door if she was inside there. August was behind her, also calling out for their youngest daughter.

"Luisa! Break this door open!" Augustin ordered his second eldest daughter. Panic and worry evident in his voice.

Luisa at once complied with her father's order. She stepped in front of the green door. "Lo siento Casita." Luisa mumbled before gripping the door and pulling on it with her whole might. The door gave away under her miraculous strength and broke away from the door frame.

Luisa dropped the door beside her and was about to rush inside the nursery when she stopped in her tracks. She let out a loud shriek and staggered back, barely managing to catch herself from falling down on the floor. Julieta watched her daughter's reaction and was horrified by it.

She herself rushed inside the room, her husband quickly following after her. But when they entered the room, they both also came to a halt. Julieta let out a horrified gasp as she covered her moth with her hand and Augustin stood there motionless before they both collapsed on the floor. Julieta was crying and wailing while Augustin held her against him in an attempt to comfort her while he himself cried.

Hearing her cries, Pepa, Felix, Abuela and Camilo also entered the room while Dolores stood by Antonio, holding him back from going in there. But as soon as they entered the room they were all devastated by the discovery they made.

There one the floor laid Mirabel, motionless and in a pool of blood.