Unexpected Rendezvous

Visio Nocturna

*Gallert Alistair Hammond's POV*

The sound of roaring thunders and harsh raging storm woke me up in a middle of the night. The effect of cognac that I had drowned ealier, seemed to be losing its efficiency. Soon enough, I found myself fidgeting in my own bed. I felt exhausted, and yet I was restless.

The conversation I had earlier with Lucius was playing over in my head. No matter how hard I tried to drift back to sleep and pushed the thoughts aside, I found myself failing miserably.

I could see the lightning striking through one after another through the drapes. I was mesmerized by how timely the strike came down before the other one followed through, it almost seemed like the sky was playing a symphony that would resonate terrors to its spectators.

I sighed heavily as I forced my body to wake up from the bed. I dragged my feet and body to the corner of my bedroom - where my desk was placed. As I sat on the chair, I reached for the dim reading lamp that was placed on the right side of the desk; before turning it on.

Tracing the oakwood dark brown desk with my fingers, my movement soon stopped on a drawer. My eyes were watching the drawer carefully for a few moments, before I took a deep breath and decided to pull on the latch.

A wooden box was placed neatly inside the drawer. A laser engraved writing was etched on the top of the box. The first writing was "A F H", all written in capital, in a medium sized font. Underneath the initials, there were small prints that said: "LA MEMORIA INFINITA" - meaning: eternal memories.

I brushed my fingers against the wooden box and gently picked it up. I placed the wooden box on my desk gently like it was fragile. Truth was.. the box itself was sturdy and firm; but what was inside was the one I felt like it could break apart. A part of me I wished I still had left.

Opening the box, I took out several photographs of Alexander, back when he was still just a boy. Most of the pictures, I had taken from his school activities or even musical recitals. Alexander used to participate in all sort of events, most of them being piano recitals.

I didn't realize that I had left a picture in that box. It was upside down. When I picked it up, I couldn't help but to tremble. My hands were shaking badly and I didn't even realize that I had burst into tears. The picture was showing a blonde woman wearing a blue dress and a picnic hat, whom was kissing a dirty blonde haired man in a matching blue shirt. A blonde, brown eyed boy was pictured smiling, as the man's and woman's arms were wrapped tightly around the little boy's body.  It was a picture of the Hammond family. Our family... MY little happy family.

The memories started to flood back, hitting me like an uncontrollable surging wave. My chest felt tight, like every fibers inside me were aching badly. Like it was screaming for help. I remembered the feeling vaguely. I had felt it when Eleanor passed away. I felt it when Alexander decided to leave the mansion for the first time. The last time I felt it was in that greenhouse, where Alexander and I had our disagreements.

I wasn't a cold, ruthless man back then. On the contrary... I was a kind, gentle, loving man. Sure, I was a hard-working, ambitious man; but I was kind and happy. Eleanor brought the best in me, she always had. I remembered perfectly every little details from our proposal, wedding day, and when Alexander was born. Eleanor had stood by me for as long as I could remember. She didn't want to be with me for my money or status, she decided to be with me for who I was, regardless of my imperfections. She was my saviour, my anchor, my whole world, my life, my everything. Now that I thought about it, probably that was how Alexander felt with Rowena.

Alexander inherited the best of the both of us. He acceded my hard-working ethos, on the other hand, he got his mum's gentle and kind heart. He saw the world with positivity and he was kind to everyone.

We both changed when Eleanor was taken away from us. We both turned into someone we didn't even recognize. No... no... I changed... and I forced my son to change. To feel the bitterness, anger, and despair that I had felt when I couldn't do anything to prevent his mother's death.

I realized that it wasn't fair to push away my son when he had just lost his mother. It wasn't fair to treated him, the way I had treated him just because he looked and behaved exactly like his mother. But it was painful. It was painful to see my son's smile, to see his brown eyes; because he was the perfect copy of Eleanor. And I couldn't handle that. I couldn't handle the loss of the love of my life and how it had broken me apart, how it had impacted me in such a significant way. I lost my anchor, my guiding light, and soon enough I felt myself chained to despair, and the darkness, as well as the hollowness started to rooted deep within my soul.

It took me years to finally be able to control the depression that I was feeling, but by then... I guess it was too late. The relationship I had with my son was beyond repairable, and I was forced to live my darkest nightmare everyday of my life. I was alone. I had found peace in my own solitary confinement, my fortress - my home; that I had forgotten how to feel or to be emphatetic with the people surrounding me.

There were days where I contemplated of contacting my son, but I knew that he wouldn't forgive me and all of my efforts would be in vain. No... the truth was... I couldn't forgive myself for how I treated him. For how I had turned him into something he was not. When I heard about him lashing out on Rick Donatello, my heart clenched - thinking he had turned into violence, because of his unresolved anger. But when Michael Donatello contacted me, I managed to fish out some of the details from their prior fist fight, and realized that a woman was in the picture. I couldn't help my curiosity to meet this "woman", that was why I decided to show up to the gala. And God knows I was praying that he would meet the right woman, just like I had met Eleanor. Maybe... just maybe this woman could turned him back to be his old self. To be his saviour, just like how Eleanor saved me.

The reason why I had invited Alexander and Rowena to the mansion was because I had been trying to find a way to apologize to my son; and to make ammends of our broken relationship. Of course knowing Rowena more was important as well, but Alexander was my priority and I was determined to rectified my wrongdoings. I was grateful when the storm hits and Alexander had decided to stay in the mansion for a couple of days. I thought it was going to be the perfect moment for us to finally be able to talk properly. But apparently, things didn't always go to plan. Seeing him again in such demeanor - how he was very cold towards me and would oppose me everytime I said something; really made me feeling devastated. And how did I respond? I did what I knew best... I lashed out on him and pushed him away again.

And now... I need to relive the nightmare I had been having everyday for 45 years now. Only this time, waking up was not a choice of escape that I could take. It was not a nightmare, merely a reality.

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Greetings everyone!

I hope you enjoy reading this new chapter. It will give you an understanding of Alistair's background and how he becomes the person he is today.

Again... please do give feedbacks or comments, so I know how I can improve before writing the next chapters!