Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 80. Footprints

A carton box in his arms, Gabriel closed the door with his foot and walked inside the garage. Although the carton box looked heavy because of its size, it actually wasn't. It only contained a few blankets and sheets that Misha had deemed too ugly or too old to be used, insisting on storing them for the time being. Those things wasted space inside the laundry room, which was already quite cramped and narrow.

Today, after stumbling on a pile of blankets for the nth time, the boy had enough and decided to tidy up the room. He wanted to put in the garage what they seldom used to make more space, and Gabriel was thus tasked with transporting the boxes and piling them up in a corner.

The carton box the young man was holding was the last one, and after putting it away, he stretched his body, knowing that he could finally take a breather. As he leaned against the cold wall, he took out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Stephan's number, his eyes locked on the closed door.

Lately, Misha had been glued to him like a leech, and it became hard to find some private alone time—meaning that Gabriel had no other choice but to postpone calling his friend until now. He knew that his soon-to-be conversation with Stephan wouldn't be anything pleasing to hear, and he didn't want Misha to listen to it. Considering the boy's explosive temper and wicked tongue....

Better not think about it.

Now that Gabriel had a bit of free time and a certain someone wasn't eavesdropping on him, he took the opportunity to call Stephan. He dialed his friend's number and waited for him to answer.

Soon enough, his childhood friend's voice echoed in his ear. "What took you so long? It has already been four days since you dropped me off at my house! How about sending me a text to let me know you're still alive, huh? Even your fake girlfriend knows how to contact me! You're so cold that my glass heart is about to break, you know?"

What they had to say couldn't be conveyed by text messages, yet Stephan still went ahead and complained, just for the sake of it. It made Gabriel's mouth twitch a little. Couldn't that guy act his age once in a while? Or would it be more realistic to ask for the moon?

"Don't spout nonsense. I don't have much time, so get to the point," Gabriel scolded coldly. "Why did you ask me to pick you up? I'm sure your "hunch" didn't just pop out of nowhere."

"How come you can even spare a bit of your time to chat with me? Why must we get into the heart of the matter right away?"

"I'll hang up if you stray from the subject."

"Oh, well, forget it. We'll chitchat another day then." Stephan let out a snort before adopting a more serious demeanor. "When you came to pick me up, did you notice the footprints around the car?"

"What of it?"

"Some were neither mine nor my father's."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup. They did try to conceal their footprints by walking in the ones my father and I left when we walked from the car to your house, but it seems like they had to go around the hood to do whatever they had to do, and that left traces that weren't there before. Car engines and such aren't my forte, so I couldn't verify if they fiddled with something, but.... Anyway, my gut feeling did tell me that I wouldn't make it home if I got into that car."

A silence fell between them as the words sank in. Because the snow had stopped heavily falling only a few minutes before Stephan reached the Laflamme's property, the driveway was covered in white, even if it had been plowed two hours ago or so. Snow still had the time to pile up again. Anyone who wanted to walk from one point to another would inevitably leave traces in their wake.