10. The House Begins to Fall

SO JUST A QUICK TRIGGER WARNING. THERE IS SENSORY OVERLOADS AND PANIC ATTACKS IN THIS CHAPTER. I HAVE MARKED THEM FOR YOU GUYS SO... IF IT UPSETS YOU YOU CAN SKIP OVER IT.

I WILL ALSO SAY AS A DISCLAIMER, I KNOW THAT NOT EVERYONE EXPERIENCES PANIC ATTACKS AND OVERLOADS THIS WAY BUT I WROTE IT BASED ON MY OWN EXPERIENCE WITH BOTH.

HAPPY READING :)

FEEL FREE TO REVIEW AND LEAVE FEEDBACK.

ABUELA- "Luisa's losing her powers. Isabela's out of control. Because of you. I don't know why you weren't given a gift but it is not an excuse for you to hurt this family!"

"Ouch… that hurt me." Camilo said.

"Join the club." Mirabel said as Bruno nodded along.

MIRABEL- "I will never be good enough for you. Will I?"

"Of course you are good enough for me. It just took me some time to correct my perspective." Abuela said as she smiled at Mirabel.

MIRABEL- "No matter how hard I try. No matter how hard any of us tries. Luisa will never be strong enough. Isabela won't be perfect enough. Bruno left our family because you only saw the worst in him."

"I did see good in my son." Abuela said, trying to defend herself.

"Just not as much as the bad." Bruno said quietly.

"I am so sorry Bruno. I have been a terrible mother. A terrible Abuela. I swear to you all I will do better. I promise."

"I'll hold you to that Mamá." Bruno said.

"As you should."

ABUELA- "Bruno didn't care about this family!"

"He literally left to protect me. If you still say that he doesn't care then… you're crazy."

MIRABEL- "He loves this family!"

"Notice how she said 'loves' and not 'loved'? No? Just me? Okay." Dolores raised her hand as she spoke.

MIRABEL- "I love this family! We all love this family! You're the one who doesn't care! You're the one breaking our home!"

ABUELA- "Don't you ever!"

MIRABEL- "The miracle is dying, because of you!"

Large cracks formed underneath Mirabel and Abulea, causing the two to look down.

PEPA- "Oh, no, no, no!"

They looked up to see the cracks climbing up the walls towards the candle.

FÉLIX- "The candle!"

MIRABEL- "Casita! Get me up there!"

Casita pulled the railing out of the beams to create a ladder to help Mirabel get up to the candle.

As Mirabel began her climb, Camilo began to run towards the candle himself. He shapeshifted into one of the town's children then into José to avoid falling rubble.

Isabela created a vine to try and swing towards the candle but as she got close her door stopped glowing and she lost her power. She began to fall as Casita did its best to ensure she was unscathed.

ISABELA- "No."

Then it was Camilo's turn. Just as he was about to reach the edge of the roof his powers disappeared and returned him to his natural self. Just like with Isabela, Casita did what it could to help Camilo down as gently as possible.

CAMILO- "No!"

Mirabel reached the rooftop as the mountains around the encanto split in two.

Antonio's door faded and swung open, causing all of the animals to burst out as a tree from inside fell. Shocked, Antonio stood in the middle of the courtyard staring at the chaos around him, unaware of the dangers.

FÉLIX- "Careful, Antonio!"

Félix swooped in and grabbed his youngest before running out of the house with him still in his arms.

FÉLIX- "We gotta get outta here!"

JULIETA- "Mirabel! Mirabel!"

Julieta fought against the waves of Casita's tiles desperately trying to push the family out of the house and to safety. Unfortunately, she lost that battle.

AGUSTĺN- "Mirabel, we have to get out!"

The family was thrown out of the house, small amounts of debris with it.

The screen cut to the inside of the walls where Bruno was running from the collapsing hallways. He stopped momentarily to pick up one of his rat friends, shoving his safely into his poncho before picking up Jorge's bucket, placing it on his head and charging out of the walls. He landed outside of Casita before lifting the bucket to see where he was.

BRUNO- "Woah!"

Once again the screen cut back to Mirabel's family, stuck outside of Casita, watching helplessly as Mirabel risked her life to save the candle. Abuela's eyes widened as she saw the lengths her youngest granddaughter was going through to remove the candle from danger.

AGUSTĺN- "Mirabel!"

JULIETA- "Mirabel! Mirabel, leave it!

Her Mamá yelled desperately as Mirabel strained to reach the candle, slipping before Casita boosted her up. The film pulled away from Mirabel and focused on the crack slowly scaling Bruno's tower.

AGUSTĺN- "Mirabel! the house is going to fall!"

JULIETA- "Mirabel get out!"

AGUSTĺN- "Mirabel!"

Mirabel finally managed to grab the candle, she dropped down from the window ledge she was just holding herself up on to find Bruno's tower collapsing. Before she could react Casita quickly slid her off of the roof, away from danger. She fell down three stories and Casita formed the staircase, doing its best to ensure she remained as unscathed as possible.

Mirabel looked up to see all of the house falling, falling right above where she was.

She took a deep breath in, using her body to cover the small candle.

A few bits of furniture from Casita rushed over towards Mirabel, creating a small little shelter, protecting her from all of the falling debris.

The family all watched in horror, her Mamá and Papá yelling at the screen.

"No!"

"Mirabel!"

She could see her sisters jerk forward, as though they were wanting to jump into the screen to save her.

As the scene continued, all of the house fell. After a moment, it stopped. It left Mirabel, hidden under what Casita had formed to keep her safe, slightly hyperventilating. She looked down at what was left of the candle in her hands, watching it fight to be able to burn. She watched as the flame slowly flickered out. Her hands began to shake as she stared at it hopelessly.

It was gone.

MIRABEL- "No."

The door of Casita, defending Mirabel, began to rock back and forth, waving Mirabel goodbye. Mirabel watched as her small shelter fell.

Mirabel watched as her family looked up and all muttered thanks to Casita for protecting her, even as it was dying.

JULIETA- "Mirabel! Mirabel, are you hurt?"

Mirabel shook her head slightly. She didn't know what to do. What to say.

TW

Mirabel could feel her chest tighten as tears filled her eyes. Suddenly, she couldn't breathe. She felt her hands, which were sitting on the armrest, begin to shake uncontrollably. She took a few sharp, deep breaths in. Those sharp breaths soon turned into quick jagged ones.

She could hear her Tío next to her. She could hear his voice, but she couldn't hear what he was saying to her.

Tears began to pour out of her eyes without permission and her whole body began to shake. Mirabel could hear the muffled voices of her family and could make out the sight of her family all crowded around her, trying to figure out what to do.

Mirabel could hear them all talking to her. She knew who was speaking. She knew that they wanted an answer. But she couldn't understand them. She couldn't speak.

Mirabel squeezed her eyes shut as she clasped her hands over her ears. She pulled her legs up to her chest and began to slowly rock back and forth, doing her best to try and soothe herself.

She could still feel her family's eyes on her. She could still hear their muffled voices demanding and expecting an answer. She could feel people's hands on her knee and her shoulders, one gently rubbing her back and another running their fingers through her hair.

She knew they were trying to help. She knew that they were just doing what they could.

It was too much.

It was all too much.

She wanted to tell them to stop touching her. But she couldn't speak.

She wanted to tell them to stop talking. But she couldn't.

She wanted to tell them to give her some space. But she couldn't.

She was defenceless.

She was stuck.

She was trapped.

Mirabel pulled herself closer, wishing that she could just disappear.

oOoOoOoOo

It didn't take long for the family to realise that what they were doing wasn't helping.

It didn't take long for the family's worry to begin spiralling.

Everyone was doing their best to help Mirabel.

Nothing was working.

Most of the family had assumed that Julieta would be the one to calm Mirabel down. They assumed that she would be the person to pull Mirabel, her youngest, out of this episode.

No one would have guessed that Dolores would have been the person to help her out of it.

oOoOoOoOo

Dolores gently shooed everyone away from Mirabel, insisting on giving her her space. Despite several concerned protests, everyone eventually caved. But, that did not stop everyone from slowly shuffling closer and closer, hoping that Dolores wouldn't notice.

She did.

She gave the family an ultimatum. Either they keep their distance, where they had been shooed. Or, she sends them all to the front of the theatre and has Casita keep them there. They all quickly opted for the first choice.

After Dolores was satisfied with the distance she let out a small hum before turning to where the entrance was.

"Casita," Dolores said as the door returned to let her out. She could hear the protests and questions that her family voiced as she left the room. "Make sure they stay where they are." She said as she walked up to her room.

The family was left completely confused. They had all been shooed away from Mirabel, only for Dolores to promptly leave the room.

Julieta, without giving it a second thought began to walk towards her daughter. After a few steps, she was pushed back to the rest of the family by Casita. She tried again, and again, and again. Everyone else even gave it a go. After a few minutes, Casita formed a wall around the family, blocking them in.

When Dolores returned the wall containing the family dropped. The family watched as Dolores walked towards Mirabel, She gently placed a plush grey blanket around her shoulders and placed a few pillows around her.

Mirabel's breathing slowly began to even out as she wrapped the comforter around her tighter.

Dolores kneeled down, still far enough that Mirabel wouldn't get overwhelmed.

"Mirabel," She said quietly. "You don't have to use the blanket if you don't want to." She could see Mirabel processing what she was saying and gripped it tighter.

"That's okay." She reassured, seeing her cousin tense at the idea of not having it there. "I also have a weighted one if that would help." She offered. Mirabel looked at her cousin quickly, before her eyes met the floor again. She nodded ever so gently that you could have mistaken it for any other movement.

"Okay. I'll go get it." She said. "These pillows are also for you if you want them." Dolores gestured to the pillows scattered along the ground. "You can use them for whatever you'd like." She smiled. "Sometimes, when it all becomes too much for me, I hug them really tight. Like this." She picked one up and demonstrated. Mirabel nodded as she watched her show her. "You don't have to do that if you don't want, but it always helps me."

She stood up and walked to the door again, this time looking up, waiting for the entrance to appear. She left once again to get the promised weighted blanket.

The family watched in awe as Mirabel slowly began to recover. They saw as Mirabel reached out for the pillow Dolores had used and pulled in towards her, squeezing it tight. The door opened again and the family turned, expecting Dolores. But instead it opened to reveal a box of tissues and a small office bin. The family watched as the items slowly made its way towards Mirabel.

Before long, Dolores had returned with the weighted blanket. She tugged it towards her cousin before crouching down. "Do you want me to place it on you or just leave it here?" She asked.

"Can you…" Mirabel sniffled. She sounded so broken, so afraid. "Can I use it now?" She asked.

"Of course." Dolores smiled, gently lowering it on top of Mirabel. She then sat down with a chair between her and Mirabel. "It can be a lot sometimes." She said.

"I don't like it." Mirabel muttered in response.

"I don't think anyone does." Dolores shrugged, leaning towards her Prima and placing a hand on her shoulder. "You'll get through it though."

TW END