The Alchemists

Nicolae could immediately find the origin of the sound with his sharp hearing. He walked silently to one of the black-painted boats parked by the river. He couldn't see anyone on the deck. He heard the voice of a woman grumbling in Polish, and a man responded, coming from inside the cabin.

Nicolae understood only a little, and he tried to guess what really happened and who they were. Did these two people hit their child because they considered her naughty?

No matter what, he couldn't let a child be beaten by an a.d.u.l.t like that. He sneaked into the boat and paid attention to the situation inside.

As soon as his eyes caught the sight in the cabin, Nicolae's c.h.e.s.t was filled with anger. He saw a woman in her 30-s with a cruel face was tying a girl about five years old with a rope. The little girl was struggling, but she couldn't scream. Her mouth was plastered with duct tape.

A hairy man was sitting in the corner of the cabin smoking pipe. He grunted about the payment that didn't come.

At that moment, Nicolae realized that the child was a kidnapping victim. The two criminals on this boat were waiting for further instructions from the person who ordered them to kidnap the little girl before they got paid.

He felt there was no need to keep hiding and immediately entered through the door with long strides. "Hey ... let the child go!"

His voice was blaring with anger, shocking everyone in the cabin. The man smoking pipe immediately took the pistol on the table beside his chair, but Nicolae was faster.

With one kick, the criminal had fallen down on the floor, and his gun had flown out the window. A groan of pain was immediately heard from the man's mouth. His friend was startled and had not been able to do anything when Nicolae grabbed her neck, and with a pair of fiery eyes, he asked harshly.

"Who are you, and why did you kidnap this child?!!"

The woman was shocked to the core. She reached out to get the knife she had used to cut the duct tape to cover the girl's mouth from the chair, but Nicolae was so much faster and already twisted her arms behind her back. Her scream of pain was immediately heard from the boat.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah .... it hurts!!!" The woman screamed in Polish. she tried to struggle, but Nicolae was very strong, and he gripped her arms mercilessly.

"Answer my question!"

The woman tried to claw at Nicolae's other hand, which grabbed her neck and screamed her lungs out. Nicolae, who was about to tie the woman up and forced her friend to give him information, immediately stopped his actions when he saw the little girl suddenly tumbled from the chair.

"Hey ..." He hurriedly threw the woman into a corner and quickly caught the little girl's body before she hit the floor.

Nicolae immediately checked the girl's condition and took a deep breath. There was a hand mark on her cheek, and her clothes looked dirty. Her hands were tied, and her mouth was plastered by duct tape to prevent her from making a sound.

From any angle, it was obvious that this child was treated very badly by her captors. Instantly Nicolae felt sick seeing the little girl's condition. He couldn't help but remember his unborn child. It never had the chance to see the world because it died with Marie six years ago.

"You poor thing..." murmured Nicolae. He immediately took the knife that the criminal wanted to use to fight him, untied the little girl, and carefully removed the duct tape from her mouth.

When the duct tape stuck to the skin, it would be hard to remove the powerful glue without hurting the skin, especially if it was a small child. That was why he had to do it very carefully. 

After the little girl was free from the rope and tape, Nicolae immediately carried her. He took the time to take out his cellphone and photographed the faces of the two criminals.

"I will look for you. Wait for your punishment," he said in broken Polish. His expression looked very frightening when the two people raised their faces to look at him.

Nicolae grabbed a blanket from the bed and covered it to the little girl's body. He then rushed out of the ship, carrying the child and walking with quick steps up the road above the river. He quickly got a taxi and asked to be taken to the Nobel Hotel.

The girl in his arms still fainted, and for some reason, Nicolae's heart was pounding so hard. He checked the child's pulse and realized that she was in a very weak state.

As a doctor, he felt he would be able to examine this child better after arriving at the penthouse. He repeatedly told the taxi driver to speed up.

"I am driving fast, Sir..." said the taxi driver patiently. "Is your daughter sick? I am already driving past the speed limit, you know."

"Thank you," Nicolae said curtly.

Five minutes later, they arrived at the Nobel Hotel courtyard, and Nicolae immediately left after thanking the taxi driver. He gave him a huge tip that the taxi driver was left stunned and could not say anything for a moment.

The on-duty manager greeted Nicolae kindly, but the young man did not have time for small talk. He only nodded slightly and immediately headed to the elevator to go up to the highest floor.

Upon arrival at the penthouse, he immediately laid the child in one of the rooms there and hurried to find first aid kits to check her condition.

"This child has a high fever," Nicolae thought. He immediately took warm water in the basin. He washed the little girl's face and body so he could see if there were external wounds on her body when she was in the kidnappers' hands.

Fortunately, apart from the marks on her cheek and some blisters on her hands and feet, there were no significant injuries to the little girl's body. Nicolae remembered the twins stayed in this penthouse several times when they were little. Maybe he could still find Vega's old clothes from when she was this kid's age.

He opened several cabinets and found the clothes he was looking for. Ah ... luckily Vega's clothes, when she was smaller, were still here. Although the size was still too big for the child, she could at least wear clean clothes.

Nicolae then covered the little girl's body with a thick blanket up to her neck and smoothed his hair. Now he could only wait for her fever to go down and observe. Chances were this child had become weak because she hasn't eaten and experienced stress.

The man then sat by the bed and watched the child. Who on earth was this child, and why was she in the hands of bad people? Where were her parents?

Nicolae took a photo of the little girl with his cellphone. He would try to search the database in France. He might be able to find the identity of this child and who her family was. Later after the child woke up, he would also be able to ask her directly what her name was and her parents.

When Nicolae stood up to take his tablet to find out who the child was. His eyes were immediately fixed on the face of the girl on his cellphone screen. For some reason, he felt this child's face was quite familiar. Where might he have seen it?

He frowned, trying to remember, but for five minutes, he did not succeed. The girl was indeed very young, Nicolae guessed that she might be around five years old because it was at that age that Altair and Vega first met him.

This little girl reminded him of little Vega. Her beautiful face was adorable with freckled cheeks, and her light brown hair flowed smoothly down to her shoulders. Her full lips appeared to have a distinctive shape like a heart.

This child would be stunning when she grew up, Nicolae thought. Ah ... of course, her father and mother must be worried to death ...

He c.a.r.e.s.sed the little girl's hair again and then rushed to get his tablet from his room. He then sat back on the edge of the bed and began working.

He would find out who this child was while watching over her. When the child woke up, Nicolae wanted to be next to her.