Hellbound Heart

Elle felt like her heart was on the brink of shattering into pieces. She desperately refused to believe everything that Zeres had said.

But as much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, a doubt so strong lingered in the back of her mind.

With desperation evident in her eyes, Elle faced Sebastian. But as soon as she looked at him, a sudden fear surged like tidal waves within her. A sinking feeling pooled in her stomach.

Her feet unconsciously took a step back. A strong denial hit her like a tonne of bricks. Part of her was screaming internally to ask, to demand for the truth. But that fear she felt, had her chickening out. Would she be able to bear the consequences if all that she had heard was indeed the truth?

"I... Iza?" Sebastian's voice suddenly echoed out. He sounded distraught. The rage that was emanating from him was now replaced with panic as he looked around.

The look in his eyes told her that he could already sense her presence around. However, he still could not see her.

"Iza..." he called out once again, his feet taking a step forwards, moving towards where she was. Even though his eyes were still wandering about, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of her, his sense of instinct on where she was frighteningly keen.

Elle wanted to just throw herself in his arms and no longer think too much about what was happening. She wanted to be blissfully ignorant of how things were panning out. It was merely days since they got separated, but Elle felt as though it had been weeks and she missed him so bad. She wanted him to hold her again, kiss her, and tell her that everything would be alright. That what she heard was at least not the whole truth. That there was a reason why things were the way it was right now and it was nothing as bad as it seemed to be.

"I know you're here, Iza." Sebastian continued taking small but sure steps forward, somehow still able to move even closer to her. "Let me see you, please â€"" there was a trace of desperation that Elle could pick up in his tone.

"Please tell me that Zeres is lying." Came Elle's strained voice after a long moment of silence.

Sebastian's eyes stretched wide as he froze at his spot for a moment. He looked like he had already known about her ability, but was having a bit of a hard time believing it was real for a moment there.

"Answer me, Sebastian." She pleaded. All she wanted was for him to deny it.

But Sebastian seemed unable to respond in the manner that she had hoped he could. "Iza... please show yourself to â€""

"Answer me first." She cut him off, stepping back as Sebastian swung his long arms out in a sweeping gesture, trying in vain to reach out for her. If she had not taken that step back, the tips of his fingers would have grazed the edge of her clothes. "Please tell me Zeres is lying, Sebastian. Please..." That last word was spoken in a broken whisper.

Zeres' sardonic laughter echoed from his corner when Sebastian struggled to respond to her pleas. "Of course he can't answer you, Izabelle. Because what you just heard is the whole truth â€""

Before Elle realized it, she found herself already turned around and running swiftly away. Back to the woods where she came from. Everything in her felt like glass that had been shattered by a heavy blow. And the cracks were still spreading, threatening to crumble into a million tiny shards.

She could not help but think back to all those times when she had felt how mysterious it was for the Reigns to suddenly arrive in the Eves palace that night. She had thought then that they must have a hidden agenda, but she could not figure anything out. And then came Alexander and Abigail into the picture.

Abigail's attachment to her was a little too good to be true to her before. She only forced herself to stop thinking about it and just shrugged it off. But now... could the reason why Abi was attached to her was because of the heart that had been residing inside of her?

As emotions consumed her, a memory suddenly flashed across her mind. It was a memory so new and mysterious to her. She saw an image of a man's hand holding hers first and then the back of him. He was large, dressed in a black long coat and had dark hair. She was obviously a child looking up to an adult in that memory. Who was... he?

The next thing she saw was a door that was opened. She seemed to be peeking through it when she heard a woman's voice speaking from the side that she could not make out. There were only two words that had clearly reached her: 'heart' and 'transplant'.

Elle stumbled and fell to the ground. Kneeling on the dirt, Elle could only stare down, wide-eyed at that new memory that suddenly appeared in her mind. The memory had abruptly stopped there. She did not even manage to see the face of that mysterious man.

But what crushed her was the realization that what Zeres claimed must really be true. That this heart she had now, originally belonged to someone else.

"Iza!!!" Sebastian's voice echoed out, loud and desperate.

Slowly, she looked over her shoulder and saw him, looking around in distress, trying to search for her.

He paused and looked in her direction. But since he was not meeting her gaze, Elle figured he still could not see her.

"Iza..." his voice lowered, frantic yet trying to keep himself as calm as he could. "Let me see you... hold you... please. I'll explain everything. I promise!"

No words proceeded out of Elle's lips. She simply stared up at him as he approached her with measured steps.

"Let's talk properly, Iza..." he lowered himself before her and at last, he had managed to touch her, causing her to become visible.

Surprise and disbelief flashed across his eyes for a moment but Elle could not care less about his reactions to her abilities anymore.

"Answer me, Sebastian," she said, pain filling her eyes. "Why were you... touching over my heart like something in it was intriguing you back then during the night we first met?"