chapter eight

Before Mirabel could say something to comfort her, Carla stood up and gave Mirabel an awkward smile.

She couldn't believe she just poured her heart out to her prima. She hadn't even said anything to her , who she was closest to.

"I'm sorry for dumping this all onto you so suddenly. I was just stressed and so I'm gonna go now before I blurt anything else out. I have to patrol now, anyway. Also, be careful on your way out, I'm pretty sure I left my giant stuffed chameleon just lying around here somewhere — oh! There it is..." Carla was rambling as she started backing up towards the door, trying to get out of the room as fast she can, but nearly tripped halfway on the stuffed chameleon she was just talking about.

"Carla, wait—!" Mirabel was saying but was too late as Carla had already ran through the door and out of sight, leaving Mirabel in the lonely, white void of a room.

"Ugh! I just keep on getting stupider today, aren't I? Gah! Even my dictionary's getting dysfunctional!" Carla muttered to herself as she headed for the stairs. "I can't believe I just said all that in front of Mirabel. She probably thinks of me as nothing but a weak and pathetic loser right now."

"Carla? You're still here? I thought you'd be at the forest by now." Pepa said as she caught sight of her daughter at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh, hey mami. I'm actually on my way there right now." Carla informed, pointing towards Casita's doors.

"Oh, well then please be careful. You know, I never did approve of you going out there all alone — or even at all. I mean having a child wonder and patrol the forest... sometimes, I just wonder what goes on inside mama's head." Pepa rambled on, a rain cloud slowly forming on top of her head, showing that she was starting to get upset.

Carla smiled to herself before gently shooing away the cloud before they could wet her mother, "I'll be fine mami. I've been doing this since I was 8, and I'll be invisible anyway. I doubt anything or anyone's gonna be able to harm me if they can't see me."

Pepa looked at her daughter's face before sighing and gently brushing away Carla's bangs, "You're right. It's just.. a mother can never stop worrying, you know?"

"I know, mami. I'll be back before dinner as always." Carla said, indicating that she was leaving now.

"Oh right, hija. I forgot to tell you, come back a little earlier for today. The whole family's gonna be preparing for Isabela's engagement tonight."

"Okay, mami! See you later!" Carla waved, already by the door.

-

Patrol today was uneventful as always — although it did help with clearing Carla's mind about earlier. On contrary to Pepa's worrying, the forest was anything dangerous. I mean, Encanto was literally surrounded by tall mountains. The closest thing to an eventful patrol she had was a year ago when she stumbled upon an friendly family of four who somehow got past the high mountains. Deeming them not dangerous, Carla secretly led them all the way to the village where they were welcomed by her Abuela. The family was now happily a part of the Encanto community.

After a few hours, Carla looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was already close to setting. She decided that it was time to go back.

"Carla, come on! They're talking about Tio Bruno!" Camilo exclaimed, pulling her with him the moment she stepped through Casita's doors.

"What!? But I thought we weren't supposed to talk about him?" Carla questioned, baffled.

"I know. That's why this is the perfect — and probably the — opportunity for us to sing that song we created about him." Camilo said, a gleam in his eyes that Carla knew too well appearing.

At this, an identical gleam flashed in her own before a mischievous smirk appeared on her lips.

"And that right there, is our target." Camila said as he stopped, holding his arms out to gesture towards Mirabel who Dolores was whispering to.

Carla decided to ignore the discomfort she felt upon seeing Mirabel again after how she embarrassed herself in front of her earlier, and exchanged a mischievous look with her twin.

Just as Mirabel was about to escape her family from telling her more unsettling stuff about her mysterious Tio Bruno —she really shouldn't have asked — Camilo popped up in front of her under the guise of a haggard looking, tall man with unruly, curly, black hair, green eyes, and worn-out, dirty clothes.

He then turned back into himself, rats suddenly appearing on his shoulder and along his back, with more rats right behind him, copying his dance.

Carla cut in, suddenly appearing behind Mirabel, startling the poor girl who just wanted a little information about her uncle, not a whole song.

The twins then guided her towards the rest of their family.

Pepa's side of the family — excluding Antonio — sang together in perfect harmony as if they've been practicing for years. Although, now that she thought about it, Mirabel honestly wouldn't put it past them.

"Well, what do you think? Did we scare her enough?" Carla asked, clapping the non-existent dust from her hands, feeling quite accomplished.

"Of course, we did! Did you see her face!?" Camilo exclaimed, laughing.

Carla couldn't help but join in on the laughter, her conversation with Mirabel earlier completely forgotten. Spending time with her twin definitely helped.

"I mean, I don't blame her. We did make Tio Bruno sound like a scary boogeyman." Carla said, once she regained her composure, somewhat.

"Well, that's because he a boogeyman. Haven't you heard of what the townspeople say about him?" Camilo asked.

"No, I only heard about Tio Bruno from you, Mami, and Papi. But I guess that still counts as 'hearing from the townspeople' since everything you know about him come from them." Carla shrugged. "But I wonder if he's really like that. All I remember about him was that he was tall."

Camilo shrugged, not having an answer himself. They five when they last saw him after all.

Camilo suddenly saw something in the distance, making his eyes gleam with mischief.

"Isabela! Your boyfriend's here!" Camilo called, turning into Mariano and posing arrogantly, causing Carla to face-palm.

"You're a dork." Carla muttered.

"Carla! Camilo! Come help set the table!" Felix yelled from the dining area, making Camilo shift back into himself.

"Yes, papi! We're coming!" They yelled in unison.