The heavy glass doors of the library complex rattled as Alexander strode back out into the bright morning courtyard, his breathing perfectly shallow, his knuckles still flushed with the residual heat of the brief confrontation. His jaw remained set in a hard, rigid line, the dark, territorial aura around him so dense that nearby students instinctively veered off the concrete walkway to avoid crossing his path.

Marcus was waiting at the bottom of the stone steps, having watched the entire sequence through the transparent glass facade. The casual, smug grin that usually defined his face had vanished, replaced by a tight, calculating frown.

"You’re losing your fucking grip, kid" said Marcus, his voice low, matching the dangerous stillness of the courtyard as he stepped into Alexander’s line of sight.

"They were just annoying pests" said Alexander, his dark eyes not even flickering as he looked straight through Marcus. "They needed to be cleared out of the way."

Marcus didn’t laugh. He adjusted his leather jacket, his eyes scanning the intense, unnatural vascularity stretching across Alexander’s neck and jawline—a clear byproduct of the hyper-metabolic state Stephen’s experimental formulas had induced. For the past few weeks Alexander had been a talented rookie, a young guy with sharp reflexes and a decent amount of potential. But this? This sudden, cold, 180-degree shift in his demeanor wasn’t the behavior of an college student anymore.

The raw, unhinged hostility radiating from Alexander’s frame was a terrifyingly familiar sight. It was the exact same clinical, detached malice that defined the true veterans of TMC—the high-level operatives who had spent so many years submerged in chemical enhancements and blood-soaked operations that they had discarded their humanity.

Shit... thought Marcus, a sudden, cold knot forming in the pit of his stomach as he watched the younger man’s chest heave with suppressed adrenaline. Stephen is pushing him way too hard, way too fast. If that crazy old bastard keeps pumping him full of those experimental serums, there won’t be a kid left to save. He’s turning into a fucking monster before he even finishes his baseline evaluation.

Marcus reached out to grab his shoulder, but Alexander moved like a ghost, smoothly slipping past his grip with a chilling, fluid motion. He didn’t say a single word. His ears were ringing with the heavy, rhythmic thumping of his own pulse, and his vision had narrowed down to a single, hyper-focused point.

Lilly’s scent—a faint, sweet trail of vanilla and floral perfume—was still hanging in the air, cutting right through the heavy smell of old paper and rain inside the corridor.

"Alex, goddamn it, don’t do this!" Marcus shouted behind him, his boots clicking sharply against the stone floor as he tried to follow, but the young agent was already moving at a terrifying pace.

Alexander ignored him his heavy boots eating up the distance as he rounded the corner toward the administrative wing. His mind was operating in a violent, fragmented loop, a direct byproduct of the hyper-metabolic cocktail roaring through his nervous system. The civilized world around him felt flimsy, fake, and slow. The only thing that mattered was establishing control over what belonged to him.

He saw the heavy oak door of the ladies’ restroom just as it was swinging shut.

Without a shred of hesitation, Alexander slammed his palm against the wood, forcing the door open with a loud, violent bang that echoed off the interior.

Inside, three female students who were adjusting their makeup near the large vanity mirrors instantly froze, their conversations cutting off mid-sentence as they gasped in sheer shock. Standing near the back row of stalls, her chest heaving underneath that tight, revealing dress, was Lilly. Her face went pale the second her wide, terrified eyes locked onto his dark, unreadable expression.

"What the hell? You can’t be in here!" one of the girls by the mirror shouted, her voice laced with sharp indignation as she stepped forward to confront him.

Alexander turned his head slowly, his pupils constricted to terrifying pinpricks as his gaze locked onto her. The sheer, suffocating weight of his lethal aura filled the cramped room, making the air feel suddenly freezing.

"Get the fuck out" said Alexander, his deep voice dropping into a low, gravelly rasp that vibrated with an undeniable promise of violence. "All of you. Right now."

The girl’s mouth snapped shut, the anger instantly draining from her face as a primal, instinctual terror took over. The three students didn’t say another word; they grabbed their bags in a frantic scramble, keeping their eyes glued to the floorboards as they practically sprinted past his massive frame, fleeing into the safety of the corridor.

The heavy door swung closed behind them, clicking shut with a soft snap.

Alexander stood perfectly still in the center of the tiled room, his chest rising and falling in slow, heavy expansions as his dark eyes locked onto Lilly, trapping her against the cold brick wall.

"Are you out of your mind?!" screamed Lilly, her voice cracking with a mixture of hysterical rage and terror as she pressed her back hard against the tiled wall. "Who the hell do you think you are?! You can’t just storm in here and assault people! You’re a psycho, Alexander! A disgusting, unhinged psycho!"

Alexander didn’t utter a single syllable. He closed the distance in two predatory strides, his towering frame blotting out the overhead fluorescent light.

"Stay away from me!" shrieked Lilly, tears finally spilling over her flushed cheeks as she raised her trembling hands to push him away.

BOOM!

Alexander’s fist smashed violently into the brick wall right next to her ear, the sheer force of the impact cracking the ceramic tile and sending a small spray of white dust over her bare shoulders. Lilly let out a sharp, breathless gasp, her entire body flinching violently as she slid down the wall, burying her face in her hands as she began to sob uncontrollably.

The restroom door burst open with a loud crash.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, you dumbass?!" roared Marcus, slamming his weight into Alexander’s side and aggressively shoving him backward, breaking his suffocating stance over the girl. "You’re out of your fucking mind! Get the hell out of here right now!"

Alexander’s dark eyes flashed with an erratic, chemical fury as he locked eyes with Marcus, his fists clenching so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Don’t touch me" said Alexander, his voice a low, mechanical growl.

"I said get out, goddamn it!" yelled Marcus, his expression dead serious as he kept his body firmly positioned between Alexander and the weeping girl on the floorboards, his hand subtly drifting toward his own waistband. "Go back to the car before you ruin everything!"

Alexander stared at him for one more agonizingly tense second, the unnatural fire in his veins slowly receding just enough to let cold logic bleed back into his mind. Without another word, he turned on his heel and strode out of the restroom, the heavy door slamming shut behind him. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Marcus instantly dropped his gaze to the floor, his tough demeanor softening as he looked down at the trembling librarian.

"I am so incredibly sorry, Lilly" said Marcus, his voice hushed and genuinely strained as he knelt on the cold tile beside her. "He’s... he’s dealing with some severe medical issues right now. He isn’t himself. I’m going to take him away from here, I swear."