A few days later, after Luz was less scared of Boscha, Camila went to get dinner and Gabe was in charge of watching the children, which was pretty easy as the day of running around the house playing had just tired them out and they were on the couch, fast asleep. There was a knock on the door and Gabe went to answer it. He opened the door and was knocked out by a baseball bat to the face. The wielder of the bat swept back his hair and adjusted his glasses after that brutal swing. He made his way through the kitchen to the living room, where he spotted the girls napping. Quietly, he crept up to the couch. He looked at Boscha with interest and poked her temple with his index finger, causing her eyes to flinch.
All three of them.
"So it IS true."
In his haste, he pushed Luz away from Boscha in his effort to take her. This woke the human child, who looked at the stranger holding her sister in his clutches. As soon as she realized it wasn't her mother or uncle, she took a deep breath and let out the loudest shriek she could muster. Boscha woke up instantly, hearing the cries of her sister and thinking she was in danger. When she found herself in the stranger's arms, it dawned on her that she was the one in trouble. Immediately, she thrashed and clawed any part of him within reach, knocking off his name tag in the process. Luz joined in, kicking the man in the shin. Wincing in pain, he kicked back, knocking her to the floor.
"LUZ!"
Boscha was furious at seeing her sister harmed, and swung at the man with closed fists this time, causing him to drop her. Immediately upon landing, she made another magic circle. But before she could incinerate the intruder, she saw Luz behind him, her face frozen in fear. She hated seeing her with that expression, hated that her own sister was afraid of her. She couldn't use her fire. She gave up. That's when the intruder swung the bat and Boscha, knocking her out.
"Boscha!" Luz screamed.
The intruder kicked Luz back, knocking her into the wall and making a picture frame fall and break over her head. Her small still developing head could not take the impact and was knocked out and bleeding from the glass. He managed to pick Boscha back up and hurried out of the house. He stumbled over Gabriel and slipped on the lawn, but he managed to escape.
About half an hour later, Camila drove up to the house with dinner. Before she could even pull into the driveway, she noticed the front door was wide open. Immediately, she realized that something was wrong, so she armed herself with a tire iron and ran into the house. She made it into the living room where she saw a battered Gabriel tending to Luz, who herself was injured.
"Mija!" Camila said, "Oh no, what happened!?"
Luz was still in a daze, and couldn't offer a reply beyond a pained moan.
"I'm sorry, Milly." Gabe looked to Camila, revealing the bruising and hematoma on his face.
"¡Ay, carajo! Gabe, are you okay?!"
Her brother-in-law flinched when she shouted. "Not in the least. Whoever did this blindsided me, and when I came to, Luz was hurting and Boscha..." He took a moment to collect himself. "...they took her."
"Who?!" Camila roared. "Who the hell took my girl?!"
Gabe tried his best to think of who it was, but he only saw the culprit for a split second before being knocked out, so he had little to go on. Luz, on the other hand, pointed to a spot on the floor where the scuffle occurred. Camila looked and found the name tag the culprit dropped. A tag bearing the name of one Jacob Hopkins. Camila grabbed it and went to her room. She went to her closet and went to the safe behind the clothes. She typed in the code and opened it, pulling out a revolver. Heading back downstairs, she checked on Luz one more time.
"Gabe, take care of Luz while I'm out."
"Out? Where are you going at a time like-WHOA!" Gabriel noticed her gun.
"I'm getting Boscha back!"
Gabriel stood up shielding Luz from the sight of her mom holding a weapon.
"Are you crazy?! We should leave this to... to the police...?"
"Dammit, Gabe, you know we can't! They'd take her away... she's been through too much as it is!"
Camila couldn't fight back the tears. Gabriel spoke softly enough so Luz couldn't hear.
"And if you kill whoever did this? What then?"
"I… I don't know." Camila said, "All I know is that Boscha needs us now! We're all she has in this world, and I'd do anything to keep her safe."
"Camila." Gabe said, "Don't do anything you'll regret."
Camila just glanced back with a morose expression, then made a beeline for her car. Gabe and Luz just watched her leave, both of them worried about her, about Boscha, and about what the fallout of this evening will bring. Camila sped her way to the Historical Society. She got out of her car and stomped up the steps. She kicked the door open and pointed the gun out. She didn't see anyone but she did hear crying... and that made the mama bird mad. In the main office of the building, Boscha was wailing and rattling the bars of the cage in the hopes somebody would hear and rescue her. Suddenly, a bat hit the cage, effectively quieting her down. Her abductor, Jacob Hopkins approached her.
"Would you keep it down?" He was holding an icepack to his face. "My head's killing me enough as it is!"
Boscha's face contorted with rage. "You hit my little sister! You're lucky that's all I did!"
"Sister?!" Jacob laughed at the notion. "You seriously think a demon like you could be part of a human family?"
"I'm adopted, dumbnuts!" She retorted. "And whaddaya mean 'demon'?"
"Don't play dumb! I know why you were sent here, but your Martian overlords won't be getting a single tooth from me or anyone else!"
"Why would I want your stupid teeth?"
"That's what I intend to-"
Just then, Camila kicked the door in, brandishing her gun.
"¡OYE, PENDEJO! You will return my daughter this instant, or I will perforate that useless head of yours!"
"MAMI!" Boscha rejoiced. "This puta broke into our house and hurt Luz and Tio Gabe!"
"Hey!" Jacob became defensive. "I did what I had to protect humanity! It's my duty and right as a sovereign citizen!"
Camila wearily sighed.
"Of course you'd say some shit like that." Camila said, "Give me my daughter back."
Camila pointed the gun at him. She wanted to pull the trigger so damn bad, but there were two reason she didn't. One, Jacob was next to Boscha and she didn't want to risk hitting Boscha. Two, Boscha gave her the same look Luz gave Boscha when Boscha performed her fire spell. Sensing her hesitation, Jacob inched closer to his bat, still resting against the cage. But before he could pick it up, Boscha reached through the bars of her cage and held on to the bat for dear life. No one was going to hurt her mom.
"Give me that!" Jacob said.
This made Camila snap out of her thoughts and rush at Jacob. She may not be able to shoot him, but there was something else she could use a gun for. She raised it up and slammed it down on Jacob's head. It took a couple hits from the butt of the gun to bring him down. A couple more strikes to ensure that he was unconscious. A few more for her family. As soon as that business was taken care of, she busted the cage open and set Boscha free. The two hugged each other tightly as they cried.
"Mija, I'm so sorry this happened to you." Camila sobbed. "Are you okay?"
Boscha wiped her eyes.
"Mmm-hmm. Wha'bout Tio n' Luz? They okay?"
"They're going to be fine." Camila said, before spotting Duct Tape, "I have an idea."
Later, the two walked out, with Boscha looking at pictures on her phone of Jacob, duct taped hands and feet, in the cage, with his mouth taped shut.
"Is it alright to leave him like that, Mami?" Boscha asked.
Camila smiled nervously.
"Maybe not, but we'll call the police and they can let him out. Then they can put him in a bigger cage when they see all his illegal surveillance equipment."
"Mami, I'm... sorry."
"Hmm? For what, cariño?"
Boscha had a guilty look on her face.
"I... I couldn't stop that guy... I wanted to use fire, but I scared Luz... and he... he kicked her...and...and Luz is always gonna be 'fraid of me..." She eventually broke down and cried.
Camila knelt down to hug her daughter.
"Mija, Luz may be a little shook up now, but it won't last. And she'll always love you, too. You know, it was because of Luz that I was even able to find you."
"I-It was?" Boscha's voice was high pitched and shaky.
"Yup." Camila was tearing up as well. "She noticed the name tag of that jerk and showed it to me. That's how I knew where you were. Now tell me, does that sound like something that someone who's afraid of you would do?"
Boscha looked at the ground.
"Come on, Mija, let's go home." Camila said.
The drive home had been an awkward one. It was a unique circumstance for both Boscha and Camila, and neither one knew what to say to the other. Boscha could only reflect on the cruel man's words to her, telling her she couldn't be part of the Noceda family, that she was a demon and that she didn't belong with them. She looked at herself in the rear view mirror, at all three of her eyes. Her upper eye seemed to be the cause of so much turmoil in her family's life. Maybe she could get rid of it for good somehow and make their lives better.
"We're home, mija."
Boscha practically flopped out of the car, slumping her way up the driveway to the front door, when suddenly...
"BOSCHAAAAA!"
A bandaged-up, teary-eyed Luz launched herself at her sister, almost knocking her down with a hug. "I was so scared..." The younger sister lamented. "...tha-that I'd never see you again!"
Boscha wrapped Luz into a hug as well.
"I'm here." Boscha said, "I'm not leaving you."
"I... I don't want to lose my big sister."
That right there made Boscha forget everything that Jacob said. Luz was her sister, nothing would change that, nothing would take Boscha from the Noceda family, her family.
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