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✰ Chapter 9 ✰

Saved

Y/n huffs, dragging her body to the shed to return the sickle to its place. She stretches and was about to get a glass of water until she notices that her niece is not under the tree. "Alondra?" She called.

She sprints to the inside of her house, checking Alondra's favorite hiding spots, or any hiding spots. Y/n's breathing starts to pace, her niece isn't in the house, where could she be? "Alondra!?"

Should she go outside and search for her? Of course, but she can't leave Liliana alone, all of her brothers and sister-in-law are busy with their jobs.

Y/n finally decided to bring Liliana with her then runs outside and tries not to let her anxious feeling take over her mind.

She went to the playground, it's quite big and many children are in it. "Aaawww, you're baby is so cute." A kind-looking stranger said. Y/n shakes her head instantly, "She's not mine, she's my brother's. Can I ask something? Have you seen a 4-year-old girl, short (hair type) hair, (e/c) eyes, (s/c) skin, and wearing a red dress?" The stranger rests their chin on their finger to think, "I'm sorry, but no."

Y/n gulps, "Oh." She said in a slightly low voice. "I can help you." They offered with a warm smile. The woman rejected it, scared that she might lose control and they'll find out, "You're kind, thank you, but I'm fine finding her myself." The stranger nods, "Ok, good luck finding her." They wave each other goodbye.

Y/n turns to scan the playground, there are only unfamiliar faces. "Alondra!?" She shouted her name, praying silently that she'll finally appear in front of her, laughing.

"Y/n?" Y/n's eyes widen when she heard a familiar voice. "Why are you shouting Alondra's name like you lost her?" Her sister-in-law, Liliosa, joked.

The younger woman was glued to the spot, stunned. Liliosa took notice, "Is something wrong?" She asked worriedly. "I-I..." Y/n stuttered, cringing at herself why words won't come out of her mouth. Liliosa waits patiently for her to answer. "I lost Alondra." When Y/n said that, she froze, "Alondra.." she pauses, "You lost Alondra!?" Y/n jumped by her yelling. Liliana starts to whimper by the loud noise. "Mi bebé." Liliosa takes her from Y/n while looking at her disappointedly.

"I'm so sorry, I'll find her I promise." She pinches the sides of her nails since she didn't bring her fan, she can't bite her lip without it. "Y/n, wait-" Liliosa tried to reach Y/n but she already left the playground.

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The Madrigals gather for lunch. Everything was fine but then Julieta took notice of Bruno's stiff posture and Dolores' quick glances at Camilo. She was going to say something about it when Alma, who's now 81 years old, taps her spoon against her glass three times to get everyone's attention.

She clears her throat, "Everyone, Gabriella's ceremony is in 3 days, I hope the decorations are ready to be placed." "Wait, where's Gabriella?" Mariano looks around him to search for his daughter. Dolores gasped, she was too busy worrying for her brother that she forgot she was the one who looked after Gabriella.

She tilts her head to try to hear her sweet daughter's voice. She sighs in relief when she heard her, playing with her friend, though she doesn't know where. "She's somewhere over there."

Dolores points to the direction where she heard Gabriella. Camilo stands up, "I'll get her." and left the house.

Back to Y/n, a thought came into her mind that Alondra may be playing with her friend near the river, they usually hang out there. She sprints towards there not caring that her legs are getting tired.

As she got nearer, she hears children laughing. Y/n halts when she finally found Alondra and Gabriella.

"Alondra!" She cups her hands over the sides of her mouth. The girl tilts her head. When she saw Y/n, she wears a sheepish smile, "H-Hi tia."

Y/n marches to her, "Don't do that again, you can't just go out on your own." "But kids my age do, why can't I?!" Alondra argued while Gabriella awkwardly steps back. "What will happen if you got hurt? We don't want that." Y/n extended her hand for her niece to take, "Come on, you girls can play later, it's time to eat lunch." She said with a blank face that Alondra often thinks she's mad.

"We still want to play! Right, Gabriella?" The girl asked. Her friend responds by nodding, "We're not done painting yet Y/n." The woman kneels on their level, "Alondra, your mother is very worried right now, she wants to see you."

The girls look at each other, then back at Y/n, both wearing mischievous grins. "Catch us first!" They scatter away from the woman. And they laugh as they run.

Alondra turns to see Y/n while still running. The woman is panic-stricken when her niece didn't know that she's heading toward the river, orange and red flames burst out of her body, "Alondra, STOP!!" But it was too late, she tripped and fell into the cold water.

Gabriella halts when she saw her friend drowning. She was about to try and help her but she was petrified when she saw flames all around Y/n. "Help.. me!" The drowning girl cried.

The woman gulps, she does not know how to swim. "Help!" Another cry from Alondra. Y/n furrows her brows, gritting her teeth then sprints towards the river. Not giving a damn that this might be the cause of her death, that's her niece. She takes a deep breath before she jumps in. As expected, instead of floating, she's going down. Y/n kicks the water strenuously, outstretching her arms to reach for Alondra.

She successfully got her and using all the energy she has left, she pushes her niece to dry land. Alondra coughs the water out of her mouth, "Tia!" She wailed. Gabriella runs to her with a panicked look.

Y/n is almost out of breath, but she's happy that her niece is at least safe. So this is it. She thought. Her vision starts to haze as her body goes deeper and deeper.

She wonders if she'll go to heaven and meet her parents, or not. What her brothers will react to her death? Y/n swears mentally,

Oh no..

An unfamiliar voice suddenly erupted in her mind.

***** *****?

**** ***..

Y/n's heart starts to beat fast. She hopes that the unnerving voice will go away and just let her die peacefully.

Are you scared? Don't be. **** *** ****, ******** ** ****.

The woman weakly nods at their statement. She can't see the voice's owner but she can feel them smirking with pride.

There's silence now, Y/n finally lets her body relax and closes her eyes.

"Gabriella!" Camilo called, "There you are! Come on, it's lunchtime." He stopped walking when he saw burned grass, the sight kind of brings back memories. "Tio Camilo!" Gabriella runs to him, tears falling from her eyes. "Woah hey, why are you crying?" He wipes her tears away. Alondra hiccups, "T-Tia Y/n, she's in the water!"

Camilo's jaw drops. He promised that he will avoid her but heck, she's drowning and has a family, he must save her. Without hesitation, he takes off his ruana and immediately plunges into the river.

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He squints his eyes open to find Y/n, almost panicking when he couldn't but he tries to calm down. He swims lower then a faint figure caught his eyes, it's her. Camilo exerts his energy to swim faster to avoid her getting to the bottom.

His nervousness grew when he finally got her. He securely wraps his arms around her figure. Her eyes are closed and her lips are apart.

Camilo hurriedly swims up and then gasps for air when he's back at the surface. He places her on the ground gently subsequently.

The two girls sprint toward Y/n, "Tia, wake up please." Alondra weakly shakes Y/n's body. "Excuse me Alondra." Camilo said. She obeyed and moved out of the way.

Camilo observes Y/n's chest to see if she's breathing or not. He tries to not panic when she isn't. Then he places his hands on the middle of her chest and starts doing compressions. At 15th, he grits through his teeth, "Come on Y/n." As the girls nearby whimper while closing their eyes.

20th..

21st..

22nd..

She's still not breathing.

29th..

30th..

Camilo gulps, there's one thing left. He tilts Y/n's head back, pinches her nose, and bends down to place his mouth over hers to make a seal. His heart starts beating so fast that he struggles to blow in her mouth to make her chest rise. This is bad, her lips are cold.

He blows again and finally, Y/n spits the water out and starts to breathe deeply. Camilo jolts back, retracting his hand from her nose instantly.

Y/n slowly but surely opens her eyes, adjusting her vision. She puts her hand on her chest and feel her breathing. She was surprised, she thought this was her last day alive. "Tia!" Alondra runs to hug her, "I'm so sorry!" She cried loudly, gripping her aunt's blouse. Y/n pats her shoulder, "Just promise me you won't do that again." The girl promptly nods.

Y/n tilts her head to the right and saw Camilo calming down Gabriella. He's soaking. She thought.

The woman was shocked when she finally realized it. Camilo turns to her, his eyes filled with worry and relief, "How are you feeling?" He's nervous, this is the first time in forever that he talks to her. "I'm fine." She replied, "Thank you for saving me."

Alondra smiles. She grabs Camilo's hand and leads him closer to Y/n and clasps his and Y/n's hands together, shaking them. Alondra has no clue about what happened between the two as she grins.

Their grip tighten for a few seconds before they pulled back, looking away awkwardly. Suddenly, a gust of wind occurred making Y/n shiver, she's not yet dry. Camilo caught this and offered his ruana to her, which she declined, "Thank you Camilo, but I'll be fine." She leisurely stands up, water dripping from her (h/l) hair and clothes.

They start to hear running footsteps. "Ahí tienes!" Alondra briskly turned around and saw her mother and little sister, "I thought I told you to stay by your tia's side." Liliosa scolded her eldest.

Camilo wears his ruana back on and clasps Gabriella's wrist. He takes one last look at Y/n who's trying to calm down the upset mother. "Come on Gabriella, it's time for lunch." Then they left after they said goodbyes to the Castillos.

☼︎End of Chapter 9☼︎