chapter ten

The next morning, the Madrigals sat down for breakfast at the table except for a fair few members. The atmosphere was incredibly tense with Abuela Alma looking extremely displeased, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Because of yesterday's... events,"

Most of the family winced at that while Isabela huffed in irritation at just the mention of last night. Unlike last time, the cracks around Casita didn't disappear, forcing the family to reminisce the events that happened the night before the moment they stepped out of their rooms that morning.

"The townspeople people have become worried and restless, hence why I will be going around the village to try and calm them all down."

Camilo was currently staring at the empty seat beside him, looking extremely worried. He hadn't even touched his food yet. Granted, most of the family didn't actually have the appetite to eat at the moment, not entirely over with all that happened last night.

Camilo thought.

After dinner last night, the whole family left the dinner table in a terrible state. His mother was one of the worst, so he immediately went to help her calm down. That didn't mean he missed seeing his twin walking out of the dining room with a panicked look her face, which made him worry even more now that she hadn't shown up for breakfast.

"But unless we find out what's happening and how to fix it, nobody will truly feel relieved. Have you found Mirabel yet? Was she not in her room?" Abuela asked.

"Mama, I'm sure that none of this is Mirabel's fault. There has to be another explanation." Julieta tried to reason with her mother.

"Mirabel was in that vision for a reason, hija. If there is another explanation, then it is likely that it involves her too." Abuela stated firmly.

She then looked around the table before asking, "Where are Luisa and Carla? I need to speak with Luisa as well."

Pepa and Felix who had already noticed their daughter's absence long before Abuela did, turned to look at Dolores with worried looks on their faces, hoping that maybe she had the answer as they did not have it themselves.

Dolores saw the look on her parents' faces and forced the food down her throat. Having the power to hear everything going on in Encanto, she knew where Mirabel was, she knew what Luisa had been doing since last night, and she definitely knew what has happened to her little sister.

She was actually planning on checking up on Carla before breakfast but didn't have the opportunity to as Abuela demanded that they have a meeting immediately. So reluctantly, she turned and headed for the breakfast table instead, promising to herself that she'll do it immediately after breakfast.

She didn't seem to have to wait that long though as an opportunity just presented itself before her. Before that though, she had to reassure her parents and everyone else so she put on a small smile on her face before answering.

"They're in their rooms. You can talk to Luisa now if you want to. I personally think she needs someone right now as she's still extremely upset about her missing powers." She told her abuela and then addressed her tio and tia. She then turned to her parents before continuing, "Don't worry about Carla mama, papa, she's fine. I'll go and call her down right now."

Now, Dolores didn't really want to lie to her parents, but with yesterday's events already worrying everyone, she didn't really want to worry her mama even more. The poor woman was barely keeping it together. She's fairly certain that the only one that's keeping her mama together at the moment was her father.

Satisfied with the sighs of relief that came out of her parents, Dolores stood up and went to leave the table but was startled a bit by the abrupt screeching of chair as Camilo hastily stood up to follow his sister.

"Wait, Dolores, I'll come with you!" Her younger brother exclaimed as he ran around the table to reach her.

Dolores glanced at everyone else at the table to see that they didn't seem to be paying attention, so she hastily grabbed Camilo's hand and dragged him away.

"Come on. Carla needs our help."

-

"Carla? We're coming in!" Dolores informed before opening the door.

Just like always, the room was a white void, except for the lone bed that was currently occupied by a lump under the covers, only a mess of curly brown hair could be seen.

But that was also to be expected as the other half of the Madrigal twins always seemed to end up in that position whilst sleeping. No, what alarmed them was the soft sobs that rang throughout the room.

"Carla?" Camilo was immediately sent into a state of panic. It had been a long time since he last saw his twin like this. "What's wrong?"

He blindly rushed forward, completely forgetting room he was crossing, before he tripped over something and landed face first onto the floor with a great thud.

"Pft..— sniff — aha..."

Camilo's face absolutely said it all as he blinked up at his sister from where he laid on the floor. "Well I'm glad to know my suffering managed to cheer you up." He deadpanned.

This earned another snort from Carla, making Dolores slightly smile as she slowly made her way towards the bed — where her sister was now sitting up — while Camilo stood back up, patting away the non-existent dust from his clothes.

"What's wrong, amor?" Camilo asked gently as he sat on the edge of the bed. "What's got you this upset?" He added as he wiped the tear stains on her cheeks.

At this, the small smile quickly fell from Carla's lips and her eyes watered once more.

The next thing Camilo knew, her sister had launched herself at him and started crying again on his shoulder with her grip on his ruana impossibly tight.

"I can't turn invisible anymore!"