Chapter Text
Silence was something Dolores cherished; her entire life had been nothing but excessive noise. Such was the breaks of having the gift of super hearing. As a rule, both personal and not, Dolores made a conscious effort to not actively listen in on the daily going-ons of her family members. That absolutely didn’t mean that she didn’t hear everything. It was just a matter of whether she focused or not.
Today, however, something is off.
Everything had started as normal. Mirabel had kept up with her wake-up tradition after they had rebuilt the house and breakfast had gone fairly normal as well. In fact, everything had been going like normal until about an hour ago. Dolores had been visiting with Mariano and his family to iron out some more details about their upcoming wedding when she heard the strangest sound come from Mirabel. Something between a groan and a cough; nothing so unusual that it immediately rang as cause for concern. She hadn’t thought about it at all for the rest of the afternoon until she was preparing to walk home and ran into Camilo.
“Did you see Mirabel this afternoon at all?” Camilo asked his sister as they fell into step together heading back to Casita.
“Of course not. I was with Mariano all afternoon.” Dolores replied as she looked at her brother.
“She was supposed to meet me at the Plaza this afternoon and she never showed up.” Camilo stated as he stretched his arms behind his head.
That comment made Dolores pause long enough to consider that she hadn’t heard a peep from her cousin aside from that weird noise earlier. Dolores tilted her head slightly left and then slightly right, Camilo, who had also paused, knew she was trying to focus on whatever it was she was listening for. There was a slight moment of silence before Dolores's eyes flew open and she took off in a dead sprint in the opposite direction from where they were standing. Blinking in surprise and disbelief, Camilo began chasing after his sister; only his height giving him an advantage.
“Where are we going?” Camilo called as he caught up to his sister.
“I… I don’t know. I just know the direction right now.” Dolores hissed as she gathered her skirt up and began running a bit faster.
“Something is wrong.” She added as she stopped at a three-way stop and cocked her head to focus on whatever it was that she was tracking.
Camilo couldn’t get a word in before they were both racing off down the road towards whatever Dolores had heard. After several moments, they began to approach a tattered and run-down-looking barn. Dolores had slowed and was beginning to move forward with a stalking sort of motion.
“Lores! What is going on!” hissed Camilo, already upset that he’d been dragged halfway across the Encanto.
“I don’t know.” His sister whispered as she halted just shy of the barn and stared at it with an intense look on her face.
Both siblings turned to face the barn as they both heard the sound of a whimpering animal. Or at least that’s what it sounds like until Dolores focused in on the noise. In a sudden instant, Camilo was lunging forward to grab his sister as she lunged towards the barn door in unbridled fury. He’d never seen her so angry before and ultimately, he wasn’t fast enough to grab her. Dolores threw the barn door open with such force that Camilo was sure the entire Encanto could hear the resulting noise. Neither of them were prepared for what was inside the barn.
Laying on the ground in the middle of the barn was their missing cousin. Mirabel’s hands were tied behind her back and her clothes were missing. Dark purple and yellow bruises were littering her skin and there was blood up by her head. She hadn’t responded to the noise and by the sounds, she was making, Dolores realized she was unconscious. She wasn’t alone. Neither of them immediately recognized the person who was on top of her but that didn’t stop Camilo from pulling off his ruana and surging forward to grab the guy off of her.
“Don’t kill him!” called Dolores as Camilo proceeded to punch the guy as hard as he could.
The moment Camilo had the guy outside, Dolores snatched the ruana up and darted towards Mirabel. Trying to be as gentle as possible, she untied the binding and proceeded to try and wake the younger girl. She was trying to focus on Mirabel, but she couldn’t tune out the things Camilo was saying. Gently, Dolores stroked Mirabel’s cheek in an effort to wake her up, but she got no response. She tried again and nothing. There was still no response and now Dolores was starting to become more concerned. She didn’t have any of her Tia Julieta’s cooking on her to help heal Mirabel. Heaving a sigh, she gently laid the ruana over her cousin and sank to the floor to think of something else.
Outside, Camilo was holding the guy up by his collar. He vaguely recognized the offender as Armando Ruiz; he was the son of one of the market owners in town. Camilo knew that he was about the same age as Dolores and Isabela but that didn’t stop him. Rage was coursing through him, and he was hell-bent on giving this guy what he deserved.
“Why?” Camilo demanded and Armando laugh as the younger Madrigal scowled.
“Why that little whore? She’s an easy target. Always so eager to please.” Armando started but was cut off as Camilo punched him in the face.
After the miracle had been restored and the cracks had begun being fixed, Camilo had been inspired by Isabela to try broadening his horizons with the use of his gift. He’d learned recently that he didn’t need to transform into entire people, but rather he could just transform parts of himself. It certainly helped at this moment. He remembered Dolores had said to not kill the guy but as he threw punch after punch and growled death threat after death threat, Camilo realized that was going to be a lot harder than he thought. It’s not until Dolores approaches them that he stops punching.
“He’s not dead yet, but you should leave him. We need to get Mirabel home. She isn’t waking up.” She whispers as Camilo glares at Armando.
Camilo says nothing as he stands and turns back to the barn, leaving the rapist lying in a beat-up pulp on the ground. Between the two of them, they’re able to get his ruana over Mirabel’s head and while it's not really enough to totally cover her, it does the job to be able to get her home. Gentle as possible, Camilo scoops his favorite prima off of the ground and Dolores helps make sure she’s covered enough. As they turn to leave, Dolores spots something colorful tossed on some hay bales and that’s when she realizes that it's Mirabel’s skirt, top, and bag. Grabbing the things up, she hurries after Camilo who is already making great strides back towards Casita.
It doesn’t take them very long to get home and Camilo doesn’t stop at Mirabel’s room, rather he heads straight for his and his sister does nothing to stop him. Instead, Dolores tosses Mirabel’s clothes into her room and then begins looking around for something that the poor, unconscious girl can wear. After a few moments, she finds a nightgown and extra underclothes. Dolores hurries back to Camilo’s room. Opening the door, she’s only just slightly surprised at the scene before her.
Mirabel is still unconscious but now she’s laying on Camilo’s bed and he’s laying next to her whispering in her ear how sorry he is that he couldn’t protect her, that she’s safe now, that he’ll never let anything like that ever happen again, that he loves her, that he needs her to come back. As much as Dolores doesn’t want to interrupt, she does so, so that she can get Mirabel cleaned up and changed.
“Go check the kitchen for some arepas or something while I get her dressed.” She whispers and for a moment it looks like he might argue but he doesn’t.
For Mirabel being as short as she is, she’s not all that light but Dolores somehow manages to get her out of the ruana and what little of her undergarments are left. There’s blood on her underwear and Dolores wants to vomit. Instead, she swallows hard and tries not to focus on the blood or the sticky residue on her cousin’s skin. She avoids the bruising as much as possible and after what feels like forever, she manages to get the nightgown over Mirabel’s head and pulled down so that she’s covered before she manages to get another pair of underwear on her. Once she’s done, she pulls the blanket on the bed up over her. Standing up, she quietly retreats from the room and finds Camilo standing in the hall. He’s changed shirts, she notes.
“I couldn’t find anything.” He whispers and she nods.
“I’ll head into town and find Tia Julieta. She needs to know.” She replies and Camilo just heaves a sigh before heading into his room.
“Casita. Can you make sure no one gets in here?” he asked the sentient house and behind him, he heard the door click, a sign that the door was now locked.
There was a part of him that had always dreamed of having Mirabel, his Mira, in his bed but this was not at all what he wanted. He never wanted to see her hurt. Gingerly, he sank onto the edge of the bed and ran his fingers over Mirabel’s forehead. She really was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. There was no denying anymore that he loved her more than anything.
“I’m so sorry, mi vida.” He whispers, gently carding his fingers through her tangled curls.
For the first time since they’d found her, Mirabel relaxed a little; turning towards Camilo’s touch. That was the only sign he needed to gently lay down on the blankets beside her, fingers still brushing against her hair. He’d do whatever he could from now on to keep her safe.