Chapter 8– In Our Town
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A young girl was with her mother in her family-owned bookshop, a popular destination for the new and latest stories. The shop was small and homey, one of the stores near the town square. The shelves lined the walls with books, with a few containing pictures of the town's history, the old times as the locals put it. Piano music played over the speaker, a couple of sofa chairs by the window, and a rug used often for story-time on weekends.
It was a quiet evening in the local bookshop. Cecilia sat on the rug playing with her stuffed jaguar, a gift from her babysitter. Cecilia's mother, Señora Imelda Posadas, sat behind the counter with a book in her hands.
Two children Juancho and Alejandra slammed the door open, causing the two to jump in surprise. Cecilia gave them a hug, careful not to spill the boy's coffee.
"Want to come play!?" Juancho yelled. His eyes twitched and hands shook, splashing some of his coffee. Cecilia's mamá took his coffee cup and placed it on the table.
"That's why coffee is for grown ups," She explained.
"Can she come play?" He repeated, his eyes continuing to twitch.
Imelda smiled and nodded. The children raced out the door, making the mother chuckle.
When the trio arrived at the town square, they ran past a teenage boy playing a game of chess with his friend. The children didn't think much of it, since the two usually have a match each week. The game was close, but Oscar managed to corner Mariano's king.
"Checkmate!" Oscar declared in triumph. Mariano groaned in slight annoyance, but smiled.
"One more game," The 15-year-old said, setting up the pieces again. Mariano looked at his watch, then shook his head.
"Sorry," He apologized. "There's a town meeting in a few minutes,"
Oscar frowned, then took a look at the scenery around them. It was nearing sunset, but the place was still full of life. The children started a game of tag. Music played in the gazebo with a few dancers moving to the melody. Chatter also filled the air, the people on the move from one stand to another.
The plaza had many familiar faces. Osvaldo was organizing his truck for his last few deliveries. Bernardo was in his police uniform, but was more laid back than his fellow officers.
"You need some friends," Mariano thought aloud. Oscar looked up, shaking his head.
"You are my friend," The boy pointed out. Mariano chuckled.
"I'm your only friend, who's a grown adult. You need friends you're own age,"
Oscar groaned, fidgeting with the queen chess piece. While most in his grade were outside playing sports, he would spend hours reading and researching online. The only time he leaves his room is to go to school, go to the library, and for his weekly chess game with Mariano. He shook his head.
"You can't just sit around all day." The man gestured his arm to the outside society. "There a whole world out there,"
"There's a whole big world in here too," Oscar responded, motioning to his rucksack filled with books.. He pointed to his head. "Here too,"
Mariano chuckled, ruffling Oscar's curly hair. The boy laughed, playfully pushed him away. "Why don't you come with me?"
Oscar thought for a moment. He started packing the chess set in his navy blue rucksack. He had nothing better to do. He'll just read one of his books if he gets bored.
He had a few books in his bag, which was covered in patches of favorite bands, movies and shows. He never went anywhere without it. He always kept a book in it, with his journal and collection of pens, and his headphones to turn out unwanted distractions.
As they began their walk to the town hall, Mariano was greeted by many of the townsfolk. He was quite a popular man in their fair town. He spent time volunteering with the local events, especially with the town founding celebration held every year. Whenever he wasn't volunteering, he spent his time working at the local bookstore.
Mariano was left in the care of his grandmother, Señora Daniela Guzmán, who was also the unofficial leader of the town council. She shared her guidance with the town, always knowing what to do to make the Encanto a perfect paradise.
The two walked into the town hall, already filled with the locals. The two sat close to the back as everyone found their seats. Daniela made her way to the podium.
Oscar didn't pay much attention to the news. Most of it was about adding new additions to the town, announced by each of the council members. He pulled out his headphones and listened to his music, having one of the headphones behind his ear to avoid being caught off guard.
There was a bit of news of the new flower garden that will be planted in the square and the painting of the mural on a clay wall. They needed more volunteers, making Mariano nudge at Oscar. The boy rolled his eyes. He didn't understand why Mariano wanted him to make friends so badly. Oscar felt that he was perfectly fine in his bubble.
"I do believe that is everything." Daniella nodded, looking over her notes. The audience began to get up from their seats, when a loud bang from the doors startled everyone.
"We saw them!" a voice cried out. Everyone turned to see four young adults covered in dirt and mud. Broken pieces of vines were tangled around Violet and Cole's legs, bits of twigs sticking out of their clothes and hair. Xander held a tight grip on his machete, which was now a crumpled piece of metal.
"We saw them!" Xander repeated, his voice out of breath. A few members of the audience helped them up to an open seat in the middle area. Mariano's grandmother made her way to them, confused as everyone else. The children at the window were shoving each other to look inside, while Oscar took off his headphones and perked up with curiosity.
The 15-year-old then noticed a small movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to the window, seeing Cecilia and her friends trying to peek through the open window.
"What happened to you?" She asked across the room.
"It- it was the Madrigals!" He yelled.
Everyone gasped. The kids at the window ran to the open door, wanting to hear more of the news. Outside the hall, their return and seeing of the family spread throughout the square. The music stopped and the chatter slowly died down. Cars slowed to a halt, the drivers stepping out of their vehicles to join the mob around the hall.
Violet was shivering, odd since the air felt warm. Cole put arm around her, trying to bring comfort. Amelia and Xander talked over each other, babbling about what they saw.
"They heard us coming! He had an army of rats!"
"There was a giant rat monster that tried to eat us!"
"Cole and Violet were tied up! I rescued them before that monster plant got close!"
Oscar looked out the window, seeing the woods. After his encounter with the Madrigals, he grew curious about the abilities on their grounds. Though seeing them scared him, reading about paranormal creatures and magic made him a little less frightened. He never set foot in them since then, but he has always remained curious about them. It's been years, and more have gone in there. They came out of the woods with the same stories.
Cecilia became more curious than frightened. She heard small stories of the family in the woods, how they will terrify anyone who crosses them. Mariano slightly shook his head, annoyed at the silly stories the people keep spreading.
"I have proof!" Amelia searched through her pockets, holding up a very broken phone. The screen was cracked and the screen wasn't turning on. She groaned in frustration, but tried to convince them. "I can get it fixed-"
"Quiet!" Señora Guzmán ordered while banging the gavel, her voice booming through the hall. She pointed her finger at them, her voice stern and had a hint of annoyance. The crowd grew silent, all eyes on her.
"Why on earth would you go in there after dark? There is a reason we don't go in the forest. It's to keep the people safe. That law has been around since the first founders came."
Violet and Cole looked down in shame, Amelia and Xander stayed silent. Señora Guzmán sighed, turning around and walked back to the stage. The rest of the council followed her, as well as Bernardo, now the local sheriff. They held a private discussion, whispers passed along to each other.
They all nodded in agreement after a few minutes, and Señora Guzmán made her way to the podium.
"Don't worry everyone," Sheriff Nuñez announced. "We will hold a private council meeting to further discuss this."
"In our town, we have many things. Perfect home, perfect schools." Daniella spoke. "The perfect way of life. We are safe, as long as we follow the rigid rule I assumed was made clear since the town's establishment." Señora Guzmán's voice grew strong and firm. "No one is to go into the dark part of the woods. Everyone is to stay near the safe path made for hiking or hunting. No one is to confront them. No one is to say a word about them."
The crowd stayed quiet, and with a clank of her gavel, Señora Guzmán adjourned the town meeting. Everyone slowly began to leave the hall, most to their homes. The sheriff walked up to the teens, gesturing to Amelia's phone and Xander's machete.
"I'm gonna need to take these." He told them.
"We know what we saw!"" Xander hissed.
"You all will need to come to the station," He told them under his breath. "Until then, no one is to say anything else about what you saw,"
They all slowly nodded, a few of the audience members helped a still shaking Violet up to her feet, motioning her and her friends out the door.
Outside the window, the children were playing spies, one of their favorite games. They would pretend to be part of a secret organization and gather information to get rid of the bad guys.
They weren't expecting to overhear the recent sighting of the kin in the woods. They looked at each other, slightly worried about the latest sighting. The stories about them were always interesting to hear, but this one sent a chill up their spines.
"You all shouldn't be here," They all turned to see Mariano and Oscar. The children sheepishly smiled.
The man smiled, motioning them to follow him. "I'll take you home,"
Oscar and Mariano walked behind them as they made their way down the street. They first dropped Juancho off, whose father immediately took away his favorite coffee cup. Then they left Alejandra with her parents, who were thankful that Mariano kept an eye on her.
As the trio made their way to Cecilia's home above the bookshop. They saw Imelda sweeping up the shop through the display windows. Cecilia ran inside and gave her mamá a hug. The two men waved goodbye, leaving the mother and daughter.
"How was your little play date?" Imelda asked.
"Great! We all played tag. Then we pretended to be spies," Cecilia replied. She grabbed her plush jaguar and sat on the piano bench. Imelda chuckled as she finished up cleaning the store.
"Some big kids went into the forest," Cecilia bluntly said. Imelda froze and turned to her daughter.
"What?" The mother asked, slightly concerned.
"We were spying on the town hall meeting,"
Imelda sat next to her daughter, closing the piano cover. She looked at her daughter straight in her eye. Cecilia saw the worry on her mom's face, sensing something was wrong.
"What did they say?"
Cecilia thought for a moment, then recalled what she saw and heard. "They said the Madrigals hurt them. Then Señora Guzmán said that no one would talk about them, and that we are all safe in our town. Then everyone left and went back home. Mariano found us and took us home. Now we're here,"
Imelda sighed. She's thankful that the town has kept them safe, but she didn't want her daughter to know too much about them. They were only in the Encanto for a year, and have thrived in it. She didn't know about the mysteries of the woods until after they'd settled, and the mother wanted to shelter her daughter as much as possible from it.
"Who are the Madrigals?" Cecilia asked.
Imelda bit her lips, unsure of what to say. Her daughter was always a curious, imaginative girl. Being 6 years old, naturally she's always asking odd questions. And Imelda would do her best to answer them. This question was one she wasn't prepared to explain.
"They- they, um" She stuttered, trying to formulate a satisfying answer. Then she looked at her watch and exclaimed, "Oh look at the time! You should be in bed!"
She picked up her daughter in one swift move and raced up the stairs, making her giggle and clutch onto her plush toy.
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A man stepped out of his office building, a leather satchel over his shoulder and an unsettling smile on his face. Which was odd, since he helped run the funeral home.
Wearing his signature light brown pinstripe suit, he made his way back to his home on the edge of town. Felix walked down the square to see it empty. Odd, he thought. Then he noticed a large crowd at the doors of town.
"Ah, yes. They came in today," He remembered, hitting his forehead.
He let out a small laugh, quietly making his way to his home. At the edge of town was a small one story house, and it was the only one that wasn't as colorful and bright as the rest. It was a simple tan color on the outside with dark brown roofing. There wasn't a splash of bright color in sight.
Inside Felix's town home were all the necessities. A kitchen with a table where he did his work, a bedroom where slept whenever on business trips and a bathroom. After making sure he put away all his important documents in his office, he grabbed his pager and suitcase he packed earlier that morning. There wasn't any business to attend to for the next week, so he was finally going back to his true home.
He made his way to the back of the house, doing one last check of everything. He rarely had people come to his home, mainly because they felt something off about him. The man went out the backdoor, led straight to the dark part of the woods.
He followed his usual path through the woods. After a few minutes, he finally made it to the back gate, seeing the beautiful view of the grand house in the fog. He took a deep breath in through his nose, smelling the intoxicating smell of the graveyard. He breathed out through his mouth, the grin on is face grew wider.
"It's good to be home,"
Authors Note
Here's a town-centered chapter! Next one will be about the Madrigals! I just started my summer classes, so sorry in advance if it takes too long for the next chapter. Hope you all are liking this little story!
Thanks for reading!