Hellbound Heart

"Aw, thank you. It's such a pleasure to meet you too, Azriel." Elle's eyes gleamed gently at the boy as she smiled cheerfully. It was hard to explain, but she already felt like she adored this boy.

"He would like it if you called him Azy too, right, Azy?"

The boy nodded again, impressing Elle.

"And he thinks that you are so very beautiful, Princess Izabelle..." Alexis grinned, "right, Azy?"

Azriel seemed to be caught off guard by Alexis' words, but he eventually gave a shy nod, before lightly elbowing his cousin, causing Elle to giggle.

"You two are so adorable." Elle told them. She was so touched at how Alexis seemed to really know what Azy wanted to say. "I am so happy to meet you too Azy. And I'm happy to see you again too, Alexis. Oh..." Elle wrapped her hands around Sebastian's arms, "your uncle is also very happy to see you both as well."

Alexis looked at Azy but even after a few moments, Alexis seemed to choose not to speak for Azy. Or perhaps, he could not read what Azy wanted to say at that moment. He instead faced Elle again and smiled, changing the topic of conversation. "Mom and dad had already gone on ahead. So Azy and I will be the ones to escort you both."

Elle quickly shot her gaze towards where Abi and Alexander were standing earlier. They were already gone and she did not even notice when they had slipped away!

The four of them then started walking further into the magical, beautiful forest. And as Elle watched the two young boys' back, it then dawned on her that they too, were actually... not humans. It was amazing how she had completely forgotten about that fact while she was speaking to them despite seeing how Azy had jumped down from that height. Right now, she realized that she was with three... vampires and she was not even feeling anything remotely negative. As though to her, they were nothing but normal, harmless people.

Glancing over at Sebastian, Elle noticed that he was still expressionless. She wished that she could have seen the Sebastian from last night again – the Sebastian who did not bother to wear a calm and expressionless mask before her. But more than that, the further they went inside this forest, the more curious she became.

What was the reason behind all his reactions? And why was he treating his nephew so indifferently? And what was with Azriel's attitude towards him too? Why were this pair of uncle and nephew so weird?

No matter how she tried, she could not fathom the relationship between this uncle and nephew. She had never thought that was how they would treat each other the moment they met!

"Princess Izabelle," Alexis called out, turning back at them as he walked backwards. "I hope you find this place beautiful."

"Beautiful is even an understatement." Elle replied, loving how Alexis was such a cheerful boy.

"Right! Alice and I loved it here so much because it's such a pretty and peaceful place where we could roam around freely and play with Azy without any worries."

Elle was about to ask why they would feel worried but she held her tongue, realizing that they were vampires and that it was definitely a secret. Now that she thought about it, how could they have hidden this secret all this time? And why were the kids already... vampires? Were vampires not turned when they were at least older or else they would not grow up?

Her mind started to whirl from all the thoughts so she forced herself to stop thinking about it once again.

"Aunt and Alice would definitely be surprised to see you both, Princess Izabelle. We are only expecting mom and dad to arrive today." Alexis added, filling in the silence.

"Just call me aunt too, Alexis." Elle told the boy, not wanting him to address her so formally anymore.

Alexis scratched the back of his neck. "But..."

"Call her 'aunt', Alexis." Sebastian's voice echoed, causing Azy to turn around as well. And whatever he saw in his uncle's expression had his lips tugging up ever so slightly.

The two boys looked at each other and then turned their backs from them. "But we really don't think 'aunt' suits her, uncle. 'Princess Izabelle' gives a much nicer ring to it, right Azy?"

Azy nodded not once but twice and Elle could do nothing but giggle at the realization that the two boys were teasing their stone-faced uncle.

"We're finally here!" Alexis's cheerful voice echoed out as the two boys stopped and looked behind them. "This is Azy's house and where we've been staying at the past few days."

Elle looked ahead and saw a Victorian house in the middle of the woods. It was a three storey house that had beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows all over. There was a large chimney and a smaller one to the side, letting Elle guess that there might be two fireplaces in this house - one main one and another one perhaps in the master bedroom. The whole house was painted in grey and even the roof slates were of the same color. However, with charming warm lights lighting up the house, it gave off a very homely and welcoming feel to anyone who was looking in from the outside, despite being such a large and stately house.

She could imagine living a secluded but peaceful life here. The white flowers in the front yard as well as the vast beautiful forest was definitely something that could be called a safe haven for the young vampires.

"Azy is welcoming you both into their home, Princess Izabelle." Alexis said the moment they stood by the door.

"Thank you for having us, Azy." Elle replied with a smile when the door swung open.

Lifting her gaze, Elle stilled at the sight of the woman who had opened the door.

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A/N: check the pic of the house in the comment box.