A Light in the Dark

Chapter 66

It was a blessing and a curse that the window of her hospital room allowed her a full view of the entrance. She had already seen countless of people in various emotional states arriving and leaving. It had worked perfectly as a distraction, especially after talking to the policemen about what happened. But then she had recognized two people, a man and a woman in their forties. Holding each other as if their life depended on it. Shaking with sobs.

Gabriel's parents.

Her gaze remained stoically on the entrance as her grip on the crayon tightened. Gabriel's body was here?  In the morgue of this hospital? Had his parents only just been notified about... about his death? And the circumstances?

'I feel sorry for his family though. It's always them who get the short end of the stick in situations like this...' Jacob's voice echoed in her head and Camila swallowed the lump in her throat.

They had not only lost their son, but their fond memory of him as well. Had they known anything about Gabriel's delusions? His actions? Had they encouraged him?

She tried to remember what her father had told her over the years about Mr Forster, but she knew that they hadn't been close. Gabriel's father was a respected defense attorney, very well-known for his heartfelt closing arguments in court which won him case after case. But other than that? Neither their fathers nor their mothers had been friends, despite attending the same church and obviously sharing some of the same views. She didn't know why, but some kind of barrier had always been between them.

Camila frowned and rested her head on her hand. What was she even doing? Looking for an answer? For a reason why everything had happened? Was she seriously trying to blame the Forsters that their only child had turned into a psychopath?

But... they could have prevented it, couldn't they? They were his parents... it was impossible not to see that something was wrong. Although, Gabriel's parents had probably been just as busy as her own and how well had her parents known her? But then where had Gabriel's views come from? His delusions?

"Yo, Camila! Snap out of it, your little sis is trying to stop my creativity!" she heard Jacob's whining and blinked a few times before she turned her gaze back to the other two on the opposite side of the table. She had almost forgotten that she had company.

Her mother had surprised her by bringing Sofi for a visit. It had been good to see her smiling and laughing and alive  after being forced to relive the last morning. Jacob and Sofi had immediately hit it off, which Camila had almost expected. He and Lauren were too alike for anything else to happen.

"I'm not! But you're stupid, Santa's suit is red  and not blue!" Sofi argued back and pointed to the picture Jacob had been coloring. "Everyone  knows that!"

"Well, his red one was dirty, so he got changed. Duh."

"He never wears anything other than red," Sofi said aggravated and rolled her eyes.

"That  is not  true," Jacob told her with a smug grin. "He changed the colors of his suit throughout history and that is a fact. In the past he has been spotted wearing purple, blue and even green suits. He only got the red one in the last century. Wouldn't you  like to have a little color variety when you've been wearing the same clothes for a hundred years?"

Sofi furrowed her brow in thought and tilted her head as Camila suppressed a grin. She didn't know whether Jacob had just come up with it or if he actually knew something as weird as that. Although it wouldn't surprise her if it turned out to be true.

"And how do you know that?"

Jacob shot her little sister an affronted look. "Why shouldn't I know every awesome fact about Santa? I'm a big fan. Fans know their stuff."