10.1 Confusion

"Nils, can I call you back, I have something to deal with..."

He was about to continue when Jin's hurried voice cut him off.

"A package was sent to Nils' house. It contains a cat's head and a note from Inja.

A shiver of horror ran down his spine as he heard his friend's description. He swallowed, rolling his eyes in his sockets to try to chase away the macabre vision in his mind.

"Did Nils see it?" he finally asked with difficulty.

"I intercepted it before he could see it. But I told him what was in it."

Yomo pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and squinted. He was already anticipating what his friend would say.

"I had to lock him in his room to force him to stay inside!" he explained a little distraught. "Anyway, the cops are coming in about fifteen minutes."

Yomo sighed.

"I have to take care of something...I won't be at Nils' right away, I have to go back to my place."

"Did something happen?" worried Jin.

"Mmmh...I'll tell you when I get there. In the meantime, the situation is a bit... urgent."

"Okay keep me posted on when you leave home," replied Jin.

Yomo hung up after nodding. Putting his phone away in his pocket, he turned to Rau who was still crouched and shaking on the floor. He sighed again. How could things have turned out this way?

He shook the first year to try to get a reaction from him, but he seemed cut off from the rest of the world by the panic that had gripped him. Abandoning the idea of getting him to come to his senses, Yomo turned and put his arms around the traumatised boy's neck so that he was resting against his back. The latter let himself go without saying anything. With a flick of his shoulder, Yomo lifted him onto his back and stood confidently. The boy's condition worried him, but he had no time to dawdle.

He opened the door carefully, checking that the mobsters had left and had not simply hidden away waiting for them to come out. Seeing that the surroundings were quiet, he quickly exited and headed toward civilization.

Exiting the park, he headed for the taxi stand. He quickly found a free one and gave him the address to go home. As he did not know where Rau lived, he decided to take him to his aunt's house to avoid wasting time. Once in the taxi, he ran his hand through his hair. Why did everything always have to happen at once? They say that bad things never happen alone...

The taxi parked in front of his building and Yomo pulled Rau, who had fallen asleep, out of the iron frame in the same way he had put him there. After a difficult walk to the lift, he finally arrived at his floor. Opening the door with one hand and supporting his human burden with the other, Yomo made his way into the flat, which was still empty at this hour. His aunt must still be at work.

He made his way to his room where he dropped the drowsy body of the first year on the bed as gently as possible. Once he was sure he was lying in a roughly comfortable position, he stood up and stretched his back with a grunt of satisfaction at having finally freed him. Then he looked at Rau who was fast asleep. With a gentle gesture, he pushed back the hair that had stuck to his forehead. The student's panic attack had surprised and questioned him. It was true that the chase had been most stressful, but his reaction was still out of proportion.

After a few seconds of disordered thinking, he got up and took off his shoes, then pulled the blanket over his fully clothed body. Still asleep, Rau allowed himself to be taken care of. Then Yomo grabbed a notepad and left a note telling her to wait for him here and that he would probably return at dawn.

Turning off the light behind him, he returned to the entrance where he had left his shoes in a mess on the landing. Quickly putting them back on, he went out, closing the door behind him. Rau would not risk anything in his house. Even the mafia wouldn't touch a cop's place. It would be war if they did.

Running to the underground, he sent a message to Jin that he was leaving home and would be at Nils' in thirty minutes.