Chapter 54 - Phone Call

In a silent room, Gabriel lifted his eyes from his book, gazing out of the window. The sky and the clouds had taken pinkish and orangish hues, becoming a sight to behold. When his eyes traveled down, he saw the sunset reflecting off the sea surface, glimmering like a thousand lights.

Soon, it would be nighttime.

Slowly, his lips parted, and the teenage boy sighed, "It has already been three weeks."

Although days were long, time still went by.

For the past three weeks, Gabriel had gazed out of the window quite often as it was one of the only things he could do. Even if the scenery was beautiful, after seeing it so many times within a short period, it had lost its charm, becoming quite dull in his eyes. Now, the teenager only wished to go back home.

His stepmother had brought him to their villa, which was located outside town, beside the Saint-Laurent river. With a bright smile, she said that it was the perfect place to rest as it was calm, and no one would come to bother him. Moreover, they had often passed summer vacation here, so it could help him regain some of his memories.

When Gabriel had heard her lied through her teeth, he almost couldn't restrain a sneer. That villa, he had come only once, and it was a few years ago. She made sure to isolate him in a place the teenager had rarely visited, just to reduce the possibility of him awakening a souvenir because of something familiar in the vicinity, like the things in his bedroom. He also knew that his stepmother didn't want him to meet anyone, and although Masha had never come to their house, he could very well have told her his address.

It would be troublesome if the two teenagers were to meet. Even if Angela was planning to send her back home whenever Masha came knocking on their door, there was still a chance that they see each other if she came over. Windows were translucid, and Angela couldn't close all the curtains; it wouldn't be a natural behavior, after all.

As much as possible, his stepmother wanted to avoid the situation of him talking with Masha, and Gabriel was well aware of this.

However, he didn't complain, only thanking his stepmother with a shy smile when she brought him to their villa. Things were a bit awkward since the episode at the hospital, where he protected Misha like a mama bear. He had to fabricate a lie rapidly, and ultimately, he told her that no matter if it was the blond boy or his little brother Tristan, he couldn't stand the sight of a child being beaten up. He would have reacted the same way if it had been Tristan, and that was all.

There was no other meaning to his reaction.

While stepping on his pride and moral principles, he agreed with his stepmother, admitting that what Misha had said was revulsing. Still, it didn't mean that his elder brother had to use his fists to give him a lesson. Sure, the boy needed one, but not something so severe. He was only a child! In the worst-case scenario, a spanking was far enough!

After discussing for a long time, Gabriel was more or less able to fool her, even though he just wanted to spat out curses instead of coaxing her. Sadly, he couldn't do the same as Misha and could only suck it up. Now, the teenager had to be extremely careful with his words and actions, and thus he didn't dare do anything that would arouse suspicion. Therefore, he obediently stayed at the villa, reading books all day long.

Although Gabriel had supposedly lost his memories, it didn't mean he had become useless. He wasn't an expert and much less a doctor, but he knew that an amnesic patient could retain basic knowledge and a few skills. There were different kinds of memories stored differently in the brain, and depending on the injury, only some would be affected.

Well, his knowledge mostly came from fiction, like movies or novels, and Gabriel knew they weren't exactly the best sources. Luckily, his stepmother was the same and didn't think of deepening her knowledge on this matter, and although losing all of his memories from childhood to now was quite rare, it didn't mean it couldn't happen.

Truthfully, the teenage boy wasn't completely lying as he didn't quite remember what happened the day he fell down the slope. It was blurry, and only a few images came to his mind, but they were messy and unclear. The day he woke up, Masha had briefly told him the events, including the ratoon's bite, so he had more or less an idea of what truly happened.

There was a knock on his door, snapping him out of his thoughts. He glanced at it before inwardly sighing and getting up. He opened the door and came face to face with his stepmother.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry, I have to go out for a while, but I promise that I will be gone for an hour at most. In the meanwhile, can you take care of your little brother?"

"Sure," smiled the teenager as he lowered his head, looking at the small child that was holding his mother's hand. "Be careful on your way out."

"Thank you, I will," smiled Angela before crouching in front of her son, telling him, "Don't cause trouble for your brother, okay?"

Tristan obediently nodded, and she kissed him on his forehead before leaving. Gabriel watched her slender back as she walked away. His eyes were locked on her until she turned a corner, disappearing out of his sight.

Now was his chance.

Angela had rarely left the house since their arrival, and when she did, Jake was there to supervise him. However, summer vacations ended a week ago, and the teenager had to go back home to attain school. Although Gabriel referred to him as 'elder brother', Jake was only two months older than him, and they were in the same grade.

As for Tristan, he was only four years old, too young to go to school, and since Gabriel was there, he could babysit him from time to time. Angela decided not to send him to the kindergarten, wanting to strengthen the bonds between her youngest son and Gabriel. Moreover, Tristan happily told her everything, so it was an excellent way to monitor the teenager when she had to go out.

There was nothing wrong with asking her son what he did today, isn't it?

"So, what do you want to play today? How about hide and seek?"

When the little boy heard him, his eyes sparkled. Jake never wanted to play with him, saying that he was too old for this, but Gabriel was different. He didn't mind playing with him, no matter the game.

As an answer, Tristan nodded furiously, making the teenager laugh a little before rustling the child's hair.

"Then I will count and come to find you. However, you can't hide outside, only in the house."

"Okay!"

Before Gabriel could add anything, the child had already stormed off, and the smile on the teenager's face gradually disappeared. Still, he didn't forget to count aloud, and after screaming the last number, he said in a loud but gentle voice, "I'm coming!"

However, he didn't immediately rummage through the house. Instead, he walked up to the landline phone in the living room. Until now, he hadn't found the opportunity to contact Masha as he didn't have his cellphone with him; he didn't even know what had happened to it. Not once did his stepmother bring up the subject of his cellphone, and thus he couldn't ask about it. Otherwise, it would surely arouse her suspicion.

At the moment, Gabriel was alone while Tristan was hiding somewhere in the house. Knowing the child, he probably didn't hide in the living room, which was an open space without many hiding spots. Still, the teenager took the time to search about, just to make sure. Since he didn't find him in the area, it was then safe to assume the child wouldn't see him make a call and tell his mother afterward. It would be quite bothersome if he did.

Of course, Gabriel would also be whispering in order not to alert the child, and it was only a small call to put Masha at ease, telling her that he was alive and kicking. If he didn't do so soon, he was afraid he would never hear the end of it. He didn't want to be scolded by Masha as she was worse than a chatterbox, and her sharp tongue could be quite hurtful, even for him.

Without further delay, he dialed the phone number he knew by heart, and almost instantly, someone answered. A soft but sullen voice said, "Hello?"

Gabriel blanked for a second before asking in a low voice, "Hello, Misha. Could I talk to your sister?"

"…"

There was a second of silence, and then came a bunch of questions accompanied by colorful curses.