Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 44. Not a Phone Prank Call

"MISHA!"

The heart-wrenching scream reverberated throughout the forest, louder than anything Misha had ever heard before. He felt like something shattered inside him, but he couldn't tell what. All he knew was that there was now a vicious, searing pain twisting his stomach.

Although his mind was a mess, his body still reacted. Misha instinctively stretched a hand toward the teenager, but it was already too late. He had put too much distance between them with that one step back, and his fingers only lightly touched Gabriel's fingertips. The two of them couldn't grab each other's hands, and Misha kept on falling backward.

Realizing that he couldn't reach him, Gabriel gritted his teeth and decisively jumped toward the child, wrapping his arms around Misha's thin body. He pressed his head against his chest, trying to limit the damage the boy would receive by curling his body around his.

When Gabriel caught the boy, he twisted his upper body mid-air so that Misha would be on top of him. This way, he'd be the one to hit the ground first and take the brunt of the impact, and the child would then land on his body. That should cushion his fall, if only by a little.

Everything happened in the span of a few seconds, and Misha couldn't keep up with the sudden turn of events. With Gabriel protecting his frail body, they rolled down the slope for what seemed to be an eternity, colliding with several rocks along the way. Their momentum only stopped when they crashed into a large boulder.

Then, everything came to a sudden halt.

All Misha could hear was his furious heartbeat drumming at his temples. His limbs felt heavy, but he could tell that his bones were still in one piece. He had broken them too often in his past life, and he was aware of what kind of pain accompanied such an injury. Although his whole body hurt, it was bearable; he probably only had a few bruises and scratches. Maybe a sprain, but nothing serious.

After heaving a sigh of relief, the boy tried to lift his head, only to realize that Gabriel held onto him too tightly. It made it hard to move. Annoyance sprouted in his heart, and Misha grunted, "I told you not to touch me!"

However, he didn't receive any answer. Dread started to creep up on him when the silence stretched, and he hesitantly called, "Gabriel?"

But there was still no answer, and the feeling of dread grew sharper.

His breathing accelerated, and Misha extirpated himself from the teenager's arms. He straightened his back to have a good look at the teenager, and his heart skipped a beat.

"No, no way...."

Gabriel had his eyes closed in what seemed to be a serene expression. But that serene expression was ruined by the large quantity of blood smearing his face, making his hair stick to his face. There was a deep cut around one of his eyelids, and his glasses were nowhere in sight. His upper lip was busted, and it looked like his nose was broken, swollen and misplaced. In their fall, he must have knocked his head against several rocks.

If Misha's head wasn't wounded, it was only because the teenager had dutifully protected it with his hands, which were now bruised all over and swollen. A few fingers were obviously broken, and some appeared dislocated.

No matter how much Misha wanted to delude himself, Gabriel wasn't only resting his eyes.

'I have to wake him up,' he thought before stretching his hands to shake the teenager's shoulders. He called his name over and over again. Yet, Gabriel still had no response—his eyelids didn't even twitch.

"Gaby, stop that, it's not fun. Come on, open your eyes."

Misha's heart started to beat faster. He was at a loss as to what to do; he could only hit the teenager's chest with his tiny hands, roaring, "I'm telling you to open your eyes! Open your eyes! Please, open them!"