The Alchemists

Alaric had never felt so sad in his life. He had lived in violence for too long so he had almost become numb to emotions. For the past decades he had learnt to conceal his emotions and never show his true feelings to the outside world.

But since Aleksis came into his life, his frozen heart was slowly melting and he began to feel the emotions that burst forth from the bottom of his heart. Various emotions and feelings that had been buried for so long; feelings that had long been hidden behind his neutral expressions. Now, slowly, they began to show their forms.

Now he could not hold back his tears. The loss of his mother when he was born was his greatest pain so far, and he always carried with him a sense of guilt; that his birth was the cause of his mother's death.

He had never expected that he was capable of feeling a greater loss. The thought that Aleksis had died while he was far away and unable to do anything was far more painful than losing his mother. He felt that fate was always so cruel to him and never took his side.

He had just found his happiness ... but fate so cruelly snatched Aleksis from his side.

"Aleksis !!!!"

"Aleksiiiiss ... wake up !!"

"Oh my God ... Aleksiss ..."

From the other end of the telephone, which fell on the floor, he could hear people screaming, calling Aleksis' name. It tore his heart to pieces. He hit the wall again and again with all his strength, leaving various holes covered in blood.

***

Aleksis suddenly fainted after seeing that Lauriel had managed to knock Rosemary out. The tension she felt during the last few minutes caused her to go into shock. Before Nicolae could catch her body, Aleksis had fallen to the ground and her head hit a large metal pot behind her.

The shocked screams from Terry, Nicolae, and Lauriel did nothing to prevent Aleksis' fall. They were all half a second late. Lauriel hurriedly patted Rosemary's neck and the girl fell limply to the ground.

He then immediately ran after Aleksis' body who was lying unconscious on the ground. Nicolae knelt with Aleksis' head on his lap. He felt like he was losing his mind, while Terry stood rooted to the ground unable to move ... His eyes flushed and his handsome face looked devastated.

"Quickly check her vital signs," ordered Lauriel who was still able to think clearly. Hearing his father's words, Nicolae immediately remembered that he was a doctor himself, and so he hurriedly checked Aleksis' pulse and opened her eyes to see her level of consciousness.

Nicolae sighed in relief. He signaled his father to take care of Terry who was still in shock while he carried Aleksis out of the cafetaria. Lauriel patted Terry on the shoulders. The young man returned to earth and looked at him with very worried eyes.

"Let's go home. Soon the police will to come take care of that girl. I don't want them to bother us."

The atmosphere in the cafeteria had become very chaotic and everyone was busy uploading videos of the event that happened to various internet media. St. Mary University was the talk of the day.

Five minutes later, the four of them were in the car heading for the Continental Hotel. Nicolae drove the car like crazy and Terry sat next to him with a pale face.

In the back seat, Lauriel sat with Aleksis on his lap. She was barely breathing and she hadn't regained consciousness. Lauriel took the time to call Caspar and tell him about what had happened.

***

Caspar who was in Germany initially sounded sleepy, because it was still dawn when Lauriel called him, but his voice immediately sounded alert and firm when he heard what had happened to his daughter.

"I'll send a medical helicopter to the penthouse. You just wait there." They could hear the hysterical sound of Finland who was sleeping next to Caspar when she heard that Aleksis was injured. Caspar hastily hung up after saying shortly, "We're going there now."

No one expected that Aleksis would be injured because of her fall, and not because of Rosemary's shot. Nicolae, who stood closest to her, constantly blamed himself.

He should have been able to immediately reach Aleksis before her head hit the large flower pot. But alas, everyone had been tense and everything had happened so fast ...

Carl and Sascha finally heard about the shooting and arrived at the cafeteria after their employer had gone. They only saw the police arrest Rosemary who was lying unconscious on the ground.

Both of them were devastated because, again, they failed to protect their young miss. With great concern they immediately went to the Continental Hotel.

As soon as the car stopped in the parking lot, Nicolae hurriedly opened the car door and helped Lauriel carry Aleksis into the elevator. Terry and Lauriel followed with long strides.

Once they arrived at the penthouse, the medical helicopter sent by Caspar landed on the roof of the building and Aleksis was immediately taken to Stamford Hospital. Nicolae who was a doctor accompanied her in the helicopter while Terry and Lauriel followed them by car.

***

Alaric listened one report after another from his men, and his emotions mountained. The news and video footage of the shooting at the University of St. Mary had disappeared from the internet and so he couldn't know for sure what had happened to his wife and what her current condition was.

The reports from his men, obtained from various witnesses they interrogated, stated that Aleksis had fallen after the many shots were fired, and that a few seconds later she was rushed to Nicolae's car not to be seen again.

They managed to find Aleksis' bag containing Takeshi's cellphone but they could not trace her whereabouts. It was as if the girl was swallowed by the earth. For hours, Alaric's head was haunted by the sound of gunshots, Nicolae's scream, and Terry and Lauriel calling Aleksis' name. He felt like he was going crazy.

"That girl ... I want her dead. RIGHT NOW." he hissed in a hoarse voice, before he slammed his cellphone. "I don't want her to die easily."

Pavel, who received Alaric's call, took a deep breath before putting down his phone. He immediately contacted his men to kill Rosemary who was in police custody.

He had never seen Alaric show his anger like this before. So far, Rhionen Assassins had always acted professionally - without emotion, without feeling - but this past week they had repeatedly killed people for personal reasons.

He realized that his boss had really changed. She had changed him ...

***