Knock on Wood

"Hey, where are we going?" You asked Mirabel as she dragged you up the stairs.

"Wherever they are." She muttered and continued to chase after the rats down the breezeway.

Suddenly, coming to a stop, you and Mirabel looked around and saw no sign of the rats. That's when you heard squeaking coming from the wall to your left. You both stood there watching as a rat struggled to climb up behind a portrait on the wall.

Curiously walking over to the portrait, Mirabel bent down and inspected it. Hesitantly poking it, she noticed as one side of the painting hinged out from the wall. Standing back up, she pulled back the painting to reveal a hidden passageway.

"Come on." Mirabel gestured for you to follow her inside the wall.

Reluctantly, you walked over to the painting and stepped into the hole in the wall. The painting closed behind you as you both entered. A gigantic crack forming in the wall caught both of your attentions.

"Poor Casita..." You whispered.

You two then jumped in fright as a rat squeaked and ran past your feet. It scurried along the floorboards and into the darkness with a glowing shard in its teeth.

You tilted your head in confusion when you saw the shard float. Then, the thunder rumbled and lightning struck, illuminating the surrounding area.

You jumped at the sight of a mysterious hooded figure carrying the shard. Mirabel also jumped back, accidentally bumping into you.

The figure was gone as soon as another strike of lightning appeared. Panting, Mirabel chased after the figure, you following right behind her.

"Hey!" She yelled, the dust from the floor picking up with every step.

"Mirabel, wait up!" You coughed a bit, still close behind Mirabel, who was picking up on the figure's trail.

"Is this—is this really necessary?" You panted, wiping your forehead.

"I need to get that shard back. I also need to find out who this person is." Mirabel heaved.

The figure swung on a pipe, which broke loose, forcing you two to chase him from below. The hooded figure dashed over wooden planks. And up ahead, the same wooden planks seemed to lower into stairs, blocking your path.

Mirabel quickly lowered down, breaking off the bottom step of the stairs. And swiftly getting back up, she continued her chase after the figure.

~Inside the house~

"It's okay, Mami." Camilo told his mother as she sat down in a cushioned chair.

Tía Pepa panted, the cloud above her head thundering.

"Deep breath in, deep breath out." He advised, holding out a cup of tea for her to take.

A sudden bang against the wall frightened her, and lightning from the cloud struck Camilo in the face. He ended up spilling the tea on himself, causing him to shape shift.

~Back inside the walls of the house~

"Stop!" Mirabel shouted, continuing to pursue the figure. "Stop!"

She reached out to grab the figure's poncho, but he was still out of reach. He leaped, parkouring from side to side, making it across the gaping hole in the floor.

Mirabel stopped just in time before she fell forward into the hole. You widened your eyes, stopping yourself from running before you ran into Mirabel.

"What's the holdup?" You asked, out of breath.

Mirabel breathed laboriously, watching as the figure escaped. "Floor. Hole. Death." She said, catching her breath. "Okay, watch out."

You backed up and so did she, preparing to make a jump for it. She ran, leaping onto the wooden planks from side to side, landing on the other side of the gaping hole.

Well, until the planks beneath her broke, causing her to fall. She yelped, quickly grabbing hold of a wooden pole with one hand, but it broke as well.

"No! No!" She gasped, her hands slipping. "Help! (Y/N)! Help..."

You stood there, not really knowing what to do.

"Casita! Casita!" Mirabel panted. "Help me!" She begged, slipping.

"Help me!" She pleaded, her hand losing grip on the pole.

You looked up and saw the figure returning, catching Mirabel by the hand before she fell.

She looked up at her savior.

"You're very sweaty." He commented, grunting as the floorboards beneath him broke.

Mirabel quickly grabbed onto a protruding branch with her free hand. Now, the both of them were in danger, only holding each other by a hand.

A rat appeared from his sleeve and Mirabel instantly gasped, letting go of him. He screamed as he fell, a second of silence following.

Standing up, he looked down at the fog, and with his poncho, fanned the mist away.

"Hmm." He hummed.

Mirabel looked around and saw wooden planks on the wall just near her legs. She used it to place her footing there, climbing up the edge of the hole.

Then she helped up her savior, staring at him as he stared back. She seemed to... recognize him. But just as she was about to say something, he got his word in before she did.

"Bye." He said, walking away.

"What? No. Hold on!" Mirabel noticed you still standing on the other side of the hole and motioned for you to come over.

As she walked after the person, you took a second to think about how you were going to get over.

Doing the unthinkable, you took a step back and exhaled. Running, you jumped onto the wooden planks, jumping from side to side.

Putting all your strength into the last jump, you leaped across and landed safely on the other side.

Huffing, you looked behind you. "I just did that." You laughed, a wide smile forming on your face.

You heard Mirabel's voice telling the person to wait, and you sprinted, catching up to her.

Mirabel ran into something, creating a loud thud. "Ow. Why did you take the vision?" She asked, rubbing her elbow.

"Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. Knock on wood." The person said, knocking on the walls and then inhaling sharply as he crossed his fingers.

"What does it mean?" Mirabel questioned. "Is it why you came back or..."

He exhaled deeply, still not answering her questions.

"Tío Bruno?" Mirabel called.

Your eyes widened. "That's Tío Bruno?" You whispered to yourself.

He looked way different from how he did before. Well, it has been more than several years since you've last seen him. Of course, he aged, but he just looked completely unrecognizable.

His curly black hair with gray streaks, his mustache and beard, and his noticeable eye bags. Sheesh, he needed a complete makeover.

"Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. Knock on wood. You were never supposed to see that vision. No one was." He said, walking away.

"But..." Mirabel spat as she had salt thrown into her face.

You walked past her, watching as she spat out the salt when you had sugar thrown into your face. Spitting out the sugar, you wiped your face and dusted your clothes.

"Sana, sana, colita de rana." He mumbled, jumping over and avoiding the patched up cracks in the floor.

You and Mirabel looked over at the patched cracked on the floor to the ones patched up on the wall.

"That's a lot of cracks." You mumbled.

"Wait. Have you been in here patching the cracks?" She asked.

He turned around to look at her and then at the wall. "Oh, that? No, no, no. I'm too scared to go near those things. All the patching's done by Hernando."

"Hernando?" You asked.

"Who is Hernan-" She questioned, looking back at Tío Bruno to find him with his hood over his head.

"I'm Hernando and I'm scared of nothing!" He said in a deep voice. You and Mirabel only stared at him.

"It's actually me." He chuckled, taking off his hood. "I used to say my real gift was 'acting'."

You and Mirabel looked at each other with concern, and then when you looked back, Tío Bruno had a bucket over his head.

"I'm Jorge. I make the spackle." He said in an altered voice, holding up a spackle knife.

"How long have you been back here?" Mirabel asked.

You formed your lips into a straight line. This day could not get any weirder.