Hellbound Heart

When Elle opened her eyes, the first thing she realized was the strong arm that had wrapped around her front. It was Prince Kyle's arm, holding her steady and keeping her pressed down against her seat. Even though she had her seatbelt on, she knew that his hold was definitely the reason why she had not felt any extreme impact she thought was coming from the almost car crash.

"Who the freaking he..." Rion's loud voice trailed off and everyone looked at the car that had cut right in front of them and was currently blocking their way.

Prince Kyle retracted his arm off her and he sat back, sighing before muttering to himself. However, Elle who was near enough heard his words clearly and could not help but crack a little smile of amusement. "Alexander should really stop doing this unnecessarily flashy antics of his."

Lucas, with his vampiric hearing abilities, also caught onto his mutterings and responded blandly. "This is already not considered flashy actually. To him, this is already holding back a lot because he knows the princess is with us. You know very well how he was in the past, Your Highness." Though Lucas did not show any expressions on his face, Elle had the distinct feeling that he was also amused internally.

"I know..." Kyle could only sigh again. "He still ended up scaring the Princess, though."

"Oh... I'm good... I'm fine." Elle laughed awkwardly as she waved off Prince Kyle's worry for her.

The prince slightly craned his head and looked at her. "You were even shaking a little a while back."

"Ah... that was... it's because I thought... someone was coming to kidnap me." She took a deep breath of relief and smiled. "I'm relieved now and glad it is actually Alexander."

The car door opened just as Elle said those words and Alexander bent over to look into the car.

"You scared her." Kyle told him curtly before he could even speak.

Alexander's warm smile faded hearing what the young man accused him of, and he looked at Elle with worry and apology in his eyes.

"Oh no... please don't worry about it. I'm really alright." Elle immediately waved her hands and shook her head, smiling back at Alexander.

"Sorry about that, Princess Elle. I was trying to play my role out as properly as possible. That way, it would make my chase look serious. Guess I overdid it a little, huh?" He flashed her a lopsided smile that was full of apology.

"No, not at all. More importantly, I think we should move our cars that are sitting in the middle of the road first, before the police head over..." Elle trailed off, realizing belatedly that traffic rules might not be something that she should be worrying about in this country. In fact, she was even wondering if traffic rules were even applicable to these supernatural beings?

"Right! We're lucky this highway is empty." Alexander quickly smiled again, stretching his hand to Elle. He was quick to discard the earlier issue. "My wife can't accept just letting you go like this. Thus, the reason I am here to get you."

Elle looked at the other men inside the car before she placed her hand in Alex's.

As she climbed off the car, Elle noticed that look in Alexander's eyes as he glanced at the other men who were still in the car. And she knew that he was using their vampire eye-communication to pass some secret message. But she could only wonder what he was communicating to them.

...

Somehow, Elle fell asleep in Alexander's car on their trip back to the Black Forest. She thought she could never fall asleep due to the anxiety in her that something like the other night would happen again. But perhaps due to her lack of sleep last night, she eventually passed out.

When she opened her eyes again, she was leaning her head against someone's shoulder. Almost jumping up from surprise, Elle quickly pulled away and immediately apologized for her rudeness.

"I'm sorry â€""

"Please don't worry about it, Princess." Rion smiled at her.

"We're finally here." Alexander's voice echoed, pulling her attention to the front. When she saw that they were already at White Falls village, Elle's jaw dropped. My goodness... now she knew why Alexander insisted on driving when Rion was begging for himself to be the driver instead. How did she manage to sleep when this man had definitely driven as fast as a bullet?! It seems that she had been totally dead asleep!

Very quickly, their car stopped at the entrance of Black Forest.

Elle felt a rush of relief filling her up on the inside as she stood there, looking at that enchanting entrance again. She was just truly glad she had finally arrived here without any serious trouble.

"Well then, princess." Rion then bid her goodbye as he had just apparently tagged along until she was safely delivered to this forest.

"Thank you, Rion." Elle expressed her gratitude. Though she knew that Rion was expected to do this as it was his duty being a guard of Sebastian's household, she did not want to take his care for granted.

"I will send you word once I find Snow." Rion said, not forgetting about the princess' pet wolf.

"Yes. Thank you."

Once Rion had turned and left, Elle and Alexander entered the entrance.

It was already twilight and beyond the gate, it was already quite dark. But of course, with the dainty white, glowing blossoms everywhere, the place never felt scary to Elle. In fact, it always brought an otherworldly feeling to her whenever she entered this place.

Until Alexander suddenly halted and spoke to the darkness. "I don't know why you're trying to hide, but long time no see..."

A man so beautiful with features as breathtaking as Alicia's stepped out of the darkness. His long silvery hair shimmered with the few dim shafts of light that was waning. However, it not only did not detract from his beauty, but instead, seemed to accentuate it. The tall figure slowly walked out, his long legs and upright posture bearing a testament to the dignified yet solemn aura that surrounded him.

"... Zeres."