Hellbound Heart

Elle had put the telephone lying on top of the table, leaving it there to continue ringing.

Standing by the door, Elle clutched a porcelain vase tightly in her hands, ready to strike anyone who managed to enter. The moment she heard the sounds of the doorknob being twisted a while ago, she had immediately grabbed the only vase in the room, about the size of a one-liter wine bottle, threw out the fake flowers in it and rushed towards the door.

It seemed that her survival instincts had prompted her to move instead of just standing there frozen to the spot and behave as a helpless damsel that was paralyzed by her fear.

She stared hard at the doorknob. She had initially thought that she was not going to make it, but for some reason, the door did not fling open as she was expecting. It was almost as though the person behind the door had hesitated. Which was suspicious. Did someone interrupt them?

She gave her own head a shake, reminding herself to not let her guard down and to expect the worst and always be prepared. Her heartbeat was pounding so loud in her ears that she could hardly hear anything else that was happening behind the door.

A few breaths later, the doorknob moved again. Elle held her breath as her pupils constricted due to nervousness. Her grip on the porcelain vase tightened as she lifted it up, ready to slam it down hard onto that someone's head who dared burst in unwelcomed into her room.

She needed to give her all so she could at least wound or even better, perhaps make the person fall and keel over. If she could achieve that, she would then grab the person's gun. She knew Brandon Haze's goons have guns on them wherever they go. If she managed to swipe a weapon from them, she would at least have a fighting chance in escaping. So, she must not mess this up. This was most probably her very last chance!

Someone pushed the door open.

A crash of glass against something solid broke through the few seconds of tense silence that followed the door swinging open. The shattered glass fell to the floor, breaking into more pieces.

Elle's eyes stretched wide as she looked at the man she had just attacked. Blood started flowing down his forehead to the right side of his gorgeous face.

"S-seb…" her voice was barely a whisper. The absurdity of seeing him here had her unable to even complete his name.

Sebastian looked at her. His one hand holding onto the doorknob and the other was at his ear, holding a phone.

He lowered his hand slowly, ended the call before slipping the phone smoothly into his pocket. Though his expression was unreadable, Elle was terrified. Not because she was scared that he would retaliate by hurting her back, but because she knew she had accidentally done another terrible and unforgiveable thing to this man. Oh goodness… what had she done?!

"I'm… oh god… I'm so sorry…" she moved closer to him, her hands trembling as she hesitantly reached out to him. There should not be this much blood flowing from his head! "Hospital! You need to get to hospital right now –" her panicky voice issued from trembling lips.

He caught her wrist before she could touch him. "There is no need." His voice flat and curt, but Elle frantically shook her head. No matter what he would say, she knew his wound was dangerous. He could even suffer a brain hemorrhage from this! She had given all the strength she could muster when she hit him! Not to mention the amount of blood flowing from him!

"You're in danger! Please let's –"

"Go take off your clothes and jewelries. Everything. Now." He cut her off and shot out that command.

Elle blinked. "W-what?!!" Oh, no! Had she hit him too hard in the head? Why was he asking her to undress in such a situation?

"You are being tracked. There must be a bug somewhere on you."

"Okay but… you really need to be treated first, Prince Sebastian!" Elle insisted. She knew it was in her best interest to listen to him, but his situation was still more important right now. His life could be in danger! "There's too much blood flowing from you… I can't let you bleed to death!" guilt was wrecking a havoc in her heart.

He was silent for a moment but thankfully, he sighed and finally relented. "I'll get it treated. Go and change your clothes now."

Before Elle could even react, the door was shut closed before her. She could only grit her teeth and started stripping hastily as she rushed towards the closet. Sebastian was right, there must have been a tracker on her. That was the only reasonable explanation on why they were able to track her to this hotel so fast. Once she got rid of her clothes, she took off her luxurious jewelries and threw them to the floor.

Grabbing a white bathrobe from the closet, Elle wore it, and tied it securely around her before hastily headed for the door. It was not the most proper of clothes, but she knew that right now, it was better for her to have a wardrobe malfunction than to be tracked due to a bug in her clothes!

She was worried about Sebastian. She was afraid that the man might have fainted outside or perhaps blacked-out by now since it was a miracle he did not even stumble when she hit him.

But the moment she stepped out of the door, her lips parted from the sight that greeted her. Men in black were scattered on the floor, some seemed to be unconscious while others were unable to stand, making agonized sounds. Blood was even dotted the beige-colored marble floor. And Sebastian…

He was standing there. The red-haired man she had seen a couple of times in the palace with him was already almost done taping down a bandage on Sebastian's forehead.

She could not help but swallow as she counted the number of those men in black that littered the ground. How could they have beaten these men up on their own? There were only the two of them against ten men who were no doubt professionals, but it still seemed that they had done this in no time all. Is this prince and his sidekick some kind of top-notch fighter?

"I'll leave this mess to you, Lucas." Sebastian's voice pulled her attention away from the men on the floor.

"Yes, sir." The man named Lucas gave a short nod.

"Let's go." Sebastian gestured at her and Elle immediately moved towards him. He eyed her outfit and then glanced at the red-haired guy again.

To Elle's surprise, Lucas gave her his coat. "Please put this on, Miss Eves." Lucas said respectfully.