Courage On Fear

Family Home, Sumida City, Tokyo
February 15th
2:00 A.M.

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Momo POV
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The noise of the TV downstairs woke me up, looking at the clock I could see that it was dawn, it seemed that Cesar was having trouble sleeping again, poor man, I thought that now that he was back here his condition would improve. Tamamo was sleeping next to me, she seemed to be deeply sleeping, it seemed that the noise didn't bother her at all, it's funny because I thought that she would sneak into the room to sleep next to Cesar on the sofa, but it seems that this wasn't the case. But I could take advantage of this situation, I can talk to him alone right now and apologize for showing up here without notifying him first. In order not to make more noise with my glass feet, because I did not know what the ceramic would be like, I bought a pair of slippers before coming here to walk around the house, they would help me go into the living room without waking the others.

I stand up, left the room, closed the door so that Tamamo wouldn't get up from the annoying noise, and went to the living room. Despite the distance from here, I could hear the TV, it was a TV sales program, it was about a new kind of broom. It seemed strange to me that Cesar was watching something like that, because I always imagined him as someone who would rather watch a movie or an animated comedy series, but it could also be that there is nothing like that at the moment and he was watching the only thing available. I walked down the stairs, careful not to slip, and turned into the living room, which was illuminated by the light from the television. Although he was behind the sofa, I could see the fox's ears sticking out on one side and his tail on the other side of the sofa, he was lying down. I thought that the last thing he would want to do at this time would be to scare him, so I tried walking around and making a little noise so that he would notice me, but it didn't work, so I resorted to talking a little.

"Sorry to bother you," I said gently.
"But could you please turn down the volume on the TV?"
"You're going to wake everyone up."

But there was no answer, he didn't even turn his fox ears in my direction, he must have been really deeply asleep. Surely he was so sleepy that he fell asleep even with the TV on and the volume turned up. I thought I should at least turn it off so he could sleep better now that he had finally made it. So I went over to him to take the remote out of his hands, but then I noticed something strange. His breathing was very agitated and he was sweating like he had been running, was he having another panic attack while he was sleeping? I quickly removed the blanket to let him cool down a bit, but when I touched it to remove it, I could see a big red spot that was getting bigger and bigger. I pulled it away to see what was really happening and when I saw it I was so surprised that I screamed and fell back.

Cesar seemed to have a bullet hole in the side of his abdomen and was losing blood. I had no idea what caused such a wound, but now was not the time to doubt. I immediately ran to the bedroom where I had a first aid kit from the CSS combat kit in my luggage. I had thought that sooner or later Cesar would get into trouble again, I just never imagined it would be so soon. I opened the door with force and went through my things, throwing out everything that was useless. Once I had the first aid kit in my hands, I shook Tamamo to help me. I'm sure she knows more about medicine than I do and could treat him better with healing magic. But no matter how hard I shook her, she was sleeping with no sign of waking up, which was very strange. But tending to Cesar's wound was the top priority now, so I ran back to the living room as fast as I could.

I got close to him and used scissors to quickly undress him and put some cloth to clean the wound of blood, then I quickly checked his back and noticed that he had an exit hole. Whatever was shot was high caliber because it went through so easily, but that was good news because it meant there were no fragments to make the wound more serious. I quickly applied alcohol gel to the area, hemostatic powder to both wounds, and then bandaged both sides. I don't know how long I had to keep pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding. But when I finally realized that I had stopped enough to start treating the wounds now with the medical gel to speed up the healing process, I applied enough of it, much more than recommended, so that by the time it is finished he will not have a scar. But although the process is much faster, it can take a while to take effect, so I have to make sure he does not lose more blood and reduce the effectiveness of the medical gel.

As the minutes passed, I could see the face of fatigue turn to a more relaxed one, it seemed that the pain was diminishing, and the wound had stopped bleeding completely, but although that meant that he was no longer in danger, the medicine that I had put on him was not capable of healing that quickly or reducing the pain. When I removed the bandages a little to confirm that everything was okay, I could see a faint green light coming from the wound, it was healing magic! But I was not the one who did it, and the way it was administered was too precise to be even a combat medical angel, was it Tamamo? But she was asleep, maybe she realized that, but I must also remember that she is a goddess, it might not be difficult to do something like that even while sleeping. But why would she fall asleep while healing him with magic, and why wouldn't she come to help me instead? No, wait, what if she can't because she is also affected by the same thing that hurt Cesar?

What exactly attacked Cesar in the first place, where did that gunshot wound come from? I did not hear any gunshots and the whole room is clean and the windows are in good condition, indicating that there was no struggle or that the shots came from outside. It is as if a hole just popped out while he was sleeping. I was afraid that something had happened to the Adelis or Cesar's sister when I saw that he no longer needed so much attention and I ran to his rooms to check that everything was okay.

This time I took my tools and opened the door to Adelis' room without breaking the lock. She was asleep in her bed, it was a double bed and she slept on the right side, first I tried to shake it to wake her up, but like Tamamo, it didn't work. Then I looked at her, but there was nothing out of the ordinary, she was sleeping with a smile on her face and nothing I said seemed to wake her up. Seeing that she was in no danger, I went to Maria's room. After unlocking the door I did the same, with the same result, she was asleep and did not wake up no matter what I tried, but unlike her mother she was sleeping in a really messy way in her bed, she still had headphones playing loud music and next to the book she was reading to me before going to sleep. It seemed that everyone but me was under the same effect. But what could have caused something so strange to produce a gunshot wound?

I returned to the living room to continue tending to Cesar and his wound, he was still fine, it seemed that the worst was over. But now I have to think about what to do next, because I have no idea what is going on in this house tonight. Come on Momo, think about what Cesar would do in such a situation?. Well, whenever a situation is too complicated for him, he is not afraid to seek or ask for help, so he could try to call 911 and let the authorities take care of it. But if I do that, I cannot let them see me, they will realize that I am not human just by looking at me, and neither are Cesar or Tamamo now that I think about it. No, I have to do it, what if the next time it is a more serious injury, I cannot treat it. I should call them, that's the best I can do for now.

It took me a few moments to gather my courage and pick up the phone in the living room to call for help. But just as I picked up the phone, I heard that there was no line, which put me on alert, because almost at the same time the television went off without signal, and later the power went out in the house, and looking out the window I could see the lights of the public lighting and the neighboring houses. I felt fear rising from my back to my head. What was happening now? Was it the same thing that had attacked others? Could it be a thief trying to break into the house? Or could it be someone else who saw the group that tried to kidnap my mother-in-law again?

I was very afraid because I did not know what would happen now, I just want to get away from here. But Cesar is injured now, and the others can't move on their own. What if they attack the house now? can I do something against someone who tries to hurt me? Can I escape in time? What if my body fails me? What if this is just a temporary energy problem? Maybe I'm imagining things, maybe it's just a cable that's too old and broken. But then I heard footsteps towards the door, there were several, at least a group of people. I was overcome with terror. It felt as if my body suddenly weighed a lot more, where even breathing or blinking took a lot of effort.

What should I do?

Then I remembered what I had seen a moment before. Maria has a smartphone in her room where she listens to music, if I can get to her room I can call the police. I just have to run up there, hide under the bed and call. But if I do that, those people might notice me and hurt me. I can't risk getting hurt, I don't know what would happen to me if I broke down. I promised my parents that I would never let them hurt me, but if I don't, the person I love might get hurt too. But I can't move him off the couch or I risk opening the wound he has.

This is so hard, how is it possible that he can do this all the time?

Now I could hear those unknown people trying to open the lock to get in quietly. Time is running out, I have to think of something now. There was no other choice, I would have to leave him here and run to Maria's room. I had already decided, so I tried not to think about it too much and started to move. But my body did not want to react, my feet felt heavy enough to move, please not now. Please, my body, help me save my love, please.

With tremendous effort, I managed to move one foot, then the other, and then the next. For some reason, when I managed to start moving, my body became easier to move again, after walking for a bit, I jogged, and by the time I got to the stairs, I was able to run again. When I got to Maria's room, I pushed her out of bed so she wouldn't be seen, took the phone and hid under the bed next to her. I immediately called the police and gave them the address of the house. The operator told me not to hang up and to wait for the police. Suddenly the Book of Mary, which I could see from the floor, spontaneously caught fire and burned at an alarming rate until nothing was left but ashes. I was frightened by what I had just seen. But then it happened, from the living room I could hear several shots coming from the room, there were several, then a little more and then only silence, only to give way a few moments later to the police sirens in the distance. I was scared, I couldn't move from where I was, I couldn't do anything but hope for the best from whatever had happened.