"Mom…"
At first, the voice was small, timid like a whisper, but it soon grew louder. Shortly afterward, rushed footsteps and heavy breathing accompanied the yells, and someone flung open the door, slamming it against the wall.
"Mom!"
"Sweetheart? What's wrong–"
The words Gulnas was about to say never came out, forever stuck in her throat. Unconsciously, she took a step back in fright and covered her mouth with trembling fingers, forgetting she was holding a glass of water.
It crashed onto the ground, shattering to pieces.
The boys, who were in their bedroom preparing their backpacks, were startled by the noise. After glancing at each other, they peeked into the living room, sneaking half of their heads through the door. The moment their eyes landed on Masha, the whole world seemed to break apart.
Gabriel dropped the backpack he had been packing and bolted to her side while Misha froze, unable to take a step forward. His mind blanked out.
Masha was standing in the doorway, holding her bloody wrist against her chest, staining her white T-shirt with red. The blood dripped onto the floor, slowly forming a tiny puddle at her feet. Her face was deadly pale, and her eyes darted everywhere; she was at a loss as to what to do.
Snatching a towel on the table as he ran to the teenager's side, Gabriel wrapped it around her wounds and lifted her arm above her head to decrease the blood flow and slow the bleeding. Meanwhile, he applied some pressure on the most severe injuries with his fingers.
"What happened?" he asked, his voice calm but firm.
"A raccoon bit me," Masha wryly smiled. "I reached out to help it, I didn't think it'd actually bite me."
The animal didn't react to her approaching arms, only staring at her with its round eyes, so she hadn't realized it was wary of her. But then, the raccoon snarled and attacked as soon as her fingertips brushed against its fur, its teeth sinking into her flesh as it violently shook its head. She had never thought that a raccoon's bite could hurt so much; the pain was such that she thought it had crushed her bones.
Gabriel furrowed his brows, carefully examining the injury. The most striking thing was the two identical holes oozing blood. The raccoon's sharp fangs had almost pierced through Masha's thin wrist, probably severing an artery and injuring her bones in passing. There were also scratches scattered here and there on her forearm. Some were relatively deep, while others were shallow, but the skin around every cut had already begun to swell.
Although the wounds looked a little gruesome, it wasn't life-threatening. From what Gabriel knew, Masha didn't have a blood clotting disorder, and she wasn't immersed in water, which would keep the blood flowing. Therefore, once handled correctly, the bleeding would soon stop. The wound only looked frightening.
However, she still needed stitches, and most importantly, what had bitten her was a raccoon. Those scavengers carried many diseases, their mouths full of bacteria, and it wouldn't be surprising if the bite and scratches got infected in the next few days. Moreover, raccoons were a well-known primary carrier of rabies, a deadly infection; thus, the wounds had to be treated with the utmost care as they could quickly develop into something much more severe.
He also didn't know whether her bones had been touched or not, and only an x-Ray could clarify the extent of the damage done by the raccoon's teeth.
"Mrs. Brown," Gabriel called without taking his eyes off of Masha. But he didn't receive any answer despite waiting for a few seconds. His voice grew louder as he repeated, "Mrs. Brown! Mrs. Brown! Gulnas!"
"Y-yes?" Gabriel's loud voice finally managed to snap her out of her stupor, and Gulnas ran to her daughter's side, panic and worry showing on her face.
"Call 911 and ask for an ambulance."
They had no car and couldn't go to the hospital on foot, but a road connected the chalet to the entrance of the park. Although it was bumpy and narrow, it was still practicable. It was faster to use the hiking trails when walking as they were a direct path, but it was quicker to use the road with a vehicle.
A taxi would cost an arm and a leg, and even though the ambulance wasn't free, it'd still be less expensive. Furthermore, the paramedics could treat Masha's wound better than Gabriel and prevent complications.
After being reminded by Gabriel, Gulnas made the call and explained the situation to the operator. Her voice was trembling, and Gabriel had to help her find her words from time to time until she managed to convey all the important information. Thankfully, the operator spoke English, and they didn't have to use garbled French to make themselves understood.
Scared silly by Masha's wounds, they forgot about Misha, still standing in the bedroom doorway. He hadn't moved an inch, frozen in place.
Upon seeing his sister's bloody wrist, Misha was thrown into a waking nightmare. The time suddenly slowed, making everything seem more vivid before his eyes. His mother and Gabriel bustled around, yet all he could see was the blood that covered his sister's wrist, dripping and splashing onto the floor. It was as if he could hear the sound of the drops hitting the wooden planks, one by one.
The bloody corpse of his sister gradually overlapped with the teenage girl before him, and he couldn't differentiate the reality from the nightmare.
The memories flashed before his eyes; a bath of watery blood and a thin arm hanging in the air, a few centimeters above a tiled floor, appeared before him. The puddle of blood was almost dried, and his sister's face was livid. Her eyes were closed, but there were still traces of tears on her cheeks. The necklace Gabriel had given her shone under the light as if to mock him, and her red-stained blue dress gently floated on the water.
His sister was a decisive person. She had cut both wrists, not straight across, but longways from the hands to the crook of her elbows. The cuts were deep, and she did more than one on each arm. Back then, she wanted to die and made sure she had no way out. She even broke her cell phone in half, making it impossible to call the ambulance if she had a change of heart at the last moment.
Misha didn't know why his sister had chosen such a death, but it had always haunted him. However, he had come to believe that he had overcome his trauma lately. And yet, it only took a bit of blood to shake him to the core. Even when the ambulance arrived, he still didn't react, prisoner of his gruesome memories.
Masha was soon settled in the ambulance, and Gulnas left with her after asking Gabriel to take care of her son while they were at the hospital. She promised to keep them updated on Masha's situation and quickly left.
Only after the ambulance drove away did Gabriel heave a sigh of relief; Masha was now in good hands. He turned back and entered the chalet, closing the door behind him. Then, his attention fell on the boy whose face was as white as a sheet. That was when he realized that something was off and walked up to the child, crouching before him. He gently asked, "Misha? Are you alright?"
There was no reaction. The boy's eyes seemed dead, unnaturally dull. His breathing was heavy, maybe even more than Masha's when she came in. It sent alarm bells ringing in the teenager's head.
Gabriel raised his hand to shake the boy's shoulder and incite some reaction. But before he could even touch him, Misha violently slapped his wrist.
"Don't touch me!"
The child's scream rang loud and clear. He then pushed Gabriel, who lost balance and fell on his behind. The look of confusion on the teenager's face made his insides burn with anger, and Misha's facial features twisted, distorted in disgust and hatred. Wrath raged in his eyes, darkening his irises into a deep blue.
"Stay away from me! Don't come close!"
Before Gabriel could react, Misha stormed out. Gabriel cursed under his breath and leaped to his feet to give chase, running after the child as he called his name. He jumped down the front staircase, following the kid into the forest. After a few meters, the teenager finally caught up with the boy. He stretched a hand, trying to grab his arm to stop him.
"Misha! What are you doing?! It's dangerous!"
Misha, whose breath was ragged, veered to face him, slapping his wrist for the second time. "Are you deaf? I told you not to touch me!"
As the words fell from his mouth, Misha took a step back without looking behind him, wanting to put some distance between them. He then tripped over a root and lost his footing, falling backward.
"Huh?" was all he could say, stupidly staring at Gabriel, whose eyes suddenly widened. They appeared about to fall off their sockets, bulging like a fish's. It was comical, and Misha couldn't help but wonder, 'What are you making that face for?'
The fleeting thought soon left, and he finally remembered that behind him wasn't flat ground. No, it was a very steep slope that resembled a cliff, the kind with large, sharp-edged rocks and boulders littering its surface.
'Oh crap, that's going to hurt like a bitch.'
______________
Chapter revised on 2022-05-09
Edited by Clozed! ♥
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