Hellbound Heart

It was Elle's former maid – the maid who had been secretly working with Brandon Haze to spy on her. What... What was she doing here?

Elle grabbed the fork that she had been hiding behind her, eyeing the maid with a narrowed and distrustful gaze.

"Hello, Princess." she greeted as Elle struggled to rise.

"I came here to help you get dressed. Because once you're presentable enough, they will finally let you out of this room." The maid continued, even smiling kindly at her.

If Elle could make a sound, she would have laughed sardonically right now. What? They wanted her to look presentable so they could let her out? What kind of sick mind games were they playing again? It seems they think she was so desperate that she would pathetically listen to everything they have instructed her just so she could get out. Was this woman really her maid from back home? Did this mean that the ones who kidnapped her were Brandon Haze and his men? But how? Just how could Brandon Haze accomplish all of this in a country of the supernatural? There was something that was just not adding up.

Elle moved slowly, acting as though she was following the maid's instructions to get up and cooperate, all the while trying to approach the maid. With all the strength that she had left, she launched herself at the maid, gripping the fork in her hand hard as she pointed it at her throat.

To her surprise, the woman did not even flinch. "You don't have much time left, Princess. There are reporters that have gathered here in front of the building. Will you be alright that the people of this country, no, the world will see you in this situation?" The maid had sneered at her as she threw that question at Elle.

The woman's words made Elle feel as though her already cold body froze.

"So, please hurry, Princess. They will be here to take you out in several minutes." The woman urged.

Elle shook her head. What the hell was going on? This should really be another game being orchestrated to play around with her, right? She was getting more confused at what was going on.

Pushing the woman away from the door, Elle grabbed the doorknob but it did not budge. It was locked from the outside again. Though Elle had somewhat expected this, she still could not help the slight disappointment that had shot through her heart. She had a small hope that perhaps she could escape if the door could be opened.

"Don't be stubborn, Princess. This is all for your sake. Please go get dressed now. Here are your new presentable clothes. Please get to the bathroom now and wash up. There is really no time left to lose." The woman insisted. And she added a sentence that made Elle think twice. "If you continue to be stubborn, you will be the one to suffer in the end."

Elle felt like she wanted to just tug at her hair and scream her frustrations out. Though her mind was messed up right now, she still knew how questionable everything was. What this woman wanted her to do was too shady and unbelievable that it was maddening. But she still grabbed all the clothes and went to the bathroom and did as she was told.

It was crazy and ridiculous but she had no other choice. She also could not risk being seen in this state in case there were truly reporters outside. Even if the reporters being there was a lie, random people could still take pictures of her. And that would be bad enough once it starts circulating through social media.

So, she rushed towards the bathroom and quickly got herself prepared. Her fingers were still slightly trembling so doing anything was a struggle for her. Eventually, she managed to get herself dressed. Seeing how her face looked like a corpse, Elle quickly grabbed the lipstick and put it on to give some color to her parched lips.

A sound startled her just as she lowered her hand.

Afraid that it was the door closing, and the maid had left without her, she rushed out of the bathroom. Only to find that the maid was no longer there.

Elle did not even have the chance to respond to the maid's disappearance because the door flew wide open, as if someone incredibly powerful had kicked it from the outside.

She was right. Someone had indeed kicked it open.

Something suffocating and a spine-chilling presence quickly filled the room. She knew this... this familiar dark and heavy presence. Though this one felt completely out of control compared to the tight and barely controlled one that she had gotten used to, Elle could never mistake this aura for anyone else's.

The lipstick in her hand tumbled to the floor from her limp fingers.

Her world stopped.

Sebastian... the man she had been desperately waiting for... the man her heart kept calling out without rest for... was now here. She felt her throat constrict and a burning sensation filled her eyes as she stared at him, a little afraid that it might be a powerful hallucination that she was seeing due to her intense want for him to come.

He looked... He looked extremely deadly. As if he had come straight from the very pits of hell.

She used to never feel any fear no matter how angry he was. But this time... something in him was forcing her instincts to fear him... to feel and recognize how terrifying he was.

His frigid and horrifying bloody red eyes stared at her then he moved towards her like a blur. The next thing she knew, he was holding her in a death grip. And she shuddered instinctively from the pain his hold was inficting.

"Did you... did you really escape and are now hiding from me?" he growled at her. His voice was scathing. So scathing it felt like a knife stabbing her.

Elle had never heard him speak to her with such a scathing tone before. Never, that now that she had heard it, her heart turned completely cold - frozen into ice.

"Answer me..." he was gnashing his teeth as he continued questioning her in a silky, menacing voice. His grip around her was too tight that it hurt so bad.

"Sebastian, calm down. You would end up hurting her." A man held Sebastian's shoulder. It was Alexander. "The most important thing right now is that we have confirmed she was indeed not harmed."

'Indeed not harmed?' Elle questioned in her mind. So they were already expecting that she would not be harmed? Because they thought... they thought that she had escaped and was now in hiding and just causing trouble for everyone?

A thought suddenly dawned on her. That maid. She had made her get dressed to look presentable... Ah... she understood now. So, this was what was going on. So, this was the culprit's goal all along. To make it look like she was not held imprisoned in this room but just hiding out. Now that realization dawned to her, she couldn't even blame Sebastian for his accusations. This entire room... the amount of stocked food and necessities... the fact that this building was near the airport... the fact that she was looking all presentable... who would believe that she was imprisoned in this room?

Wow... whoever it was that was behind this madness was a genius – a cruel and heartless genius.

Elle started to smile as she looked at Sebastian – a smile so broken that it soon turned completely hysterical.