It was Christmas Eve in Ergastulum. Worick pressed his face against a glass window of shop that sold women's undergarments and lingerie. "Oh my. Alex-chan would look spectacular with that on," he blushed, staring at a black laced lingerie that came with a pair of black metallic handcuffs, "she'd like that, don't you think so?" He turned to his left, looking at Nicolas. He puckered his lips at the other male and winked. "I know you'd like that on her."

Nicolas gave him a blank stare and signed, 'she's too classic for this.'

"Nicolas. It's Christmas Eve. You haven't gotten her anything. What are you planning?"

"Something that doesn't involve you." He smiled, raising a thumbs up at him.

Worick snickered. "You sly dog, you." The proceeded to walk back to the office by taking a shortcut through the back alleys. "It smells like it's going to rain. I wonder if Alex is done making the hot chocolate with marshmallows," he paused and looked at the other male, "Nicolas you idiot. You just have no idea."

Nicolas looked confused and signed 'talk slower'.

Worick turned away and continued walking around the alley like a maze. The handymen arrived to the stairs of their office but stopped. Something didn't seem right to them. The door was slightly cracked opened with an eerie sense of something horrible has gone wrong. Nicolas's gut churned in a knot as sweat tickled down his temple. He ran towards the door, lifting his left leg to kick it open. The door slammed against the wall, shuddering the walls as if it was an earthquake. The room was empty and smelled of burning hot chocolate. No one was in sight. Worick dashed into the kitchen to turn the stove off before the pot overheated too much. Nicolas scouted through the rooms looking for Alex. He looked at Worick with a disappointed face.

"Looks like she finally came to a conclusion." Worick said slowly. Nicolas was expressionless with the whole thought of her gone. But deep down, he really cared for her as a friend. He worried she might get hurt. He turned to look at the couch where she slept in. Nicolas started towards the door. "Nicolas," Worick called out, "NICOLAS!"

He turned to look at Worick with a more serious expression. "She was taken out of here by force." He pointed at the sign language book Nicolas had borrowed her. The book had a page torn out. The torn page laid on top of the couch that had an image of two hands signing 'help'. Worick gritted his teeth, growling in anger as he looked at the distress message.

"Go find her, dammit." Worick's voice was harsh and angry. Nicolas nodded and proceeded out the door.

Nicolas ran out into the valleys, stopping midway and figuring out a plan to seek her out. He ran through the cat alley, where habitants of cats clawed, meowed and ate tuna. A yellow cat with a black streak on its back laid on top of a black heel. Nicolas halted causing black streaks from his black shoes. He shooed the cat and picked the heel up. It was her heel. She must've taken it off to signal Nicolas that he was going the right way. He leaped onto a balcony, grabbing the edge of the roof and leaping onto it. He dashed through the roof, holding onto the heel like a precious item. 'I shouldn't have left her out of my sight. Damn it. Why do I even care? Something about her doesn't add up. Why do I feel this way? Why?' He thought to himself. He stopped. There was a sweet scent of lilac surrounding him. The smell of lilac became empowering to his nose, telling him she was in there needing his help. He saw a warehouse covered with boards as windows and graffiti written all over the walls. It looked abandoned through the outside, but he may never know what was inside. He reached into his suit, withdrawing a bottle of prescription medications. He twisted the lid to the right, tossing it away and shoving celebre in his mouth. He painfully swallowed the tablets and jumped off the roof and safely landed on his feet. He cautiously made his way into the abandoned warehouse.

Entering the premises, there was piles of boxes in one corner. It looked neat and clean, and Nicolas wondered if this property was even abandoned at all. Cobwebs and dust covered one side of the room. He crept closer to the boxes that had the labels poorly taped on. His hunches were right. This was the original distribution warehouse were Barry and his men were seen long ago. He wandered around looking for clues to see if she was here. Suddenly, a brute blow from the back off his head knocked him down to his knees. Two men dressed in all black with ski masks chuckled under their breaths. Nicolas felt the pain. He felt it. The celebre were starting to wear off. His unsheathed his katana but the force of the man's leg knocked him over onto his back. He quickly got up on his feet. One of the unrecognizable man held out his hand to stop Nicolas from doing anything else. He knew Nicolas was deaf but how? Could it be someone he knew? As the thoughts ran in his head, the other man returned to a small black vehicle, pulling out Alex by her hair from the back seat. He dragged her by force, ripping some of her black strands of hair from her scalp. Nicolas clenched his teeth in anger.

The man tossed her to his feet, laughing. "What a waste of time. Piece of crap didn't want my $20."

Without thinking, Nicolas slashed forward, swinging his katana at him. He pierced through the kidnapper's hand, twisting it to feel his bones scrape against the sharp blade. The agony on his face made Nicolas smile. He was pleased but wished he was able to hear it. The second kidnapper swung his fist but missed. Nicolas's smaller stature had an advantage this time. The injured kidnapper took out a pistol from his holster, firing three times at Nicolas. Nicolas dashed forward and swung the blade to evade the silver bullets. The kidnapper panicked, seeking out an exit from the warehouse.

'TOO LATE!' Nicolas screamed in his head. He gripped the hilt tightly, ramming the tip of the blade into the kidnapper's throat, exiting from the back. He pulled out. Blood gushed out from his esophagus like the Niagara Falls. He fell back, struggling to breathe. His body jerked from left to right then stopped.

A sudden blow to the head knocked him over to his knees again. A piece of a torn metal pipe pierced through his right knee. He felt pain. The celebre had already worn off. He couldn't keep his eyes open from the loss of blood. He grunted and grasped less air as the time passed him by. He fell to his side, grasping the metal object with both hands. He slowly tugged on it but the pain was overwhelming him. A gun pointed at him. The second kidnapper Nicolas forgot.

"Stupid fool." He lowered the gun and pointed it at his leg. He fired the bullet straight into Nicolas's leg. "I'm not going to kill you. Just die slowly for me." Nicolas's eyes rolled to the back of his head. The loss of blood had turned him sick.

'This is it for me. I couldn't save her. I'm sorry Alex. Forgive me.' He closed his eyes. A big thud shook his eyes open. The kidnapper had suddenly collapsed.

Alex, shaken of what she witnessed, shot the kidnapper with the gun of the other deceased kidnapper. Tears of frustration and sadness rolled down her cheeks. She dropped the weapon and kneeled down to Nicolas. She removed her white blouse, tearing it into two pieces with her teeth. She pressured on the bullet wound on Nic's leg. Nicolas let out a scream of pain. He panted heavily and sweated bullets.

"We have to take you to Dr. Theo, immediately. I hope it doesn't… get infected." Alex couldn't hold back the tears. She laid next to him, burying her face into his chest. The scent of men's cologne and sweat calmed her. "Why did you come to save me? I'm nothing but a disturbance."

Nicolas place his hand under her chin, lifting her face to meet his. "Merry Christmas. Sorry I didn't get you anything." He kissed the top of her head. "I'll make it up to you."

Tears rolled down her face, a smile brightening her face. "Idiot, shut up." She held onto him like a precious child. "I want to stay like this a little longer... Just a little longer." Nicolas hid his sweet smile.