Hellbound Heart

"Don't mind him. The man is trustworthy." Alexander confidently said, smiling gently at the old bartender before he poured Sebastian a glass of wine and slid it over to him.

Seeing the forced patience in the younger man's expression, Alexander did not waste any more time and started talking. He could tell that Sebastian's blood was still boiling and hot. Right now, he was simply forcing himself to listen to him. Not that this guy had ever been willing, though. He knew that the only reason he was able to tamp down on that explosive anger and impatience was all due to the mention of that little wife of his.

"The witches couldn't find them in Viscarria so that means you can now relax a bit. The man Elle saw must have used a mask. However, it's obvious now that someone had hidden them and that's why they cannot be found here in Dalenn. Also, there should be no way for both Boone and Haze to suddenly disappear so flawlessly and without any trace like that. Their disappearance alone is exactly like what happened to Elle when she disappeared from our home. So, it is already hinting very clearly of an outside involvement, don't you think so?"

"Someone..." Sebastian echoed as his grip on the wine glass tightened a little. He was just withholding squeezing a little more to avoid snapping the stem of the glass. "Tell me, Alexander..." his voice became tightly controlled as his grey eyes turned extremely dangerous. "That someone is no one else but Elijah, isn't it?" Though he was asking Alexander as a question, in his mind, he already felt that the name mentioned was glaringly obvious in their involvement in this.

Alex sighed and then gulped a mouthful of wine from his glass. "While you were searching for Izabelle, we narrowed down the mastermind to a couple of men. But to be honest, I couldn't think of anyone else who could execute such a flawless plan but Elijah. I've told you this before, but that brother of yours has that creepy type of intelligence... almost the same as Zeke's. And that is what is all the more worrying."

Sebastian's face darkened at the mention of Zeke, his older brother. Only Alexander could freely spout Ezekiel's name right before Sebastian like this.

"Their difference is that..." Alex continued, completely ignoring how Sebastian's mood worsened at the mention of his older brother's name. "Elijah's using his brain to hurt people, most especially you."

Sebastian could no longer restrain the anger surging through him and the glass in his hand shattered, but the bartender and Alexander did not even bat an eyelid. The old man just casually offered Alexander another glass, as though this occurrence was a daily occurrence for him, which Alexander again just slid onto the table before Sebastian.

"And no, Sebastian. The solution I want to tell you is definitely not to kill Elijah. You know I would never allow you to just go after him. Just not yet and you know why." Alexander was quick to mention this as he knew from the dark look on Sebastian's face, that was his intent. It did not take a genius to decipher the meaning from his face at this moment. But he could not allow Sebastian to lose control and run wild in another killing spree.

Sebastian clenched his fist, not minding as the smaller shards of broken glass pierced and embedded themselves into his palms. "Just when can I go after him then? Huh?!! Alexander? He's targeting Izabelle now!!! Are you going to tell me to wait even more?! What if the damage to her gets worse the next time around?!"

"You're right. He's targeting Izabelle because he has finally found your weakness. You quickly lose your mind when it comes to her and now, he's using that to his advantage. He's making bolder moves now, using Izabelle, to make you dance right into his orchestrated plans and then eventually fall into his trap. If you go after him... I'm telling you, Sebastian... that's the moment Elijah wins. You will be reduced to being one of the chess pieces on his board, dancing to his tune! Because that's exactly what he wants. That's what he is aiming for! You already know that!" Alexander explained rather exasperatedly, knowing that Sebastian was highly intelligent and would have known all this as well. Though having to say out what the younger man already knew was a little annoying, he still said it because he knew Sebastian needed to hear it from him directly.

"So, you're going to tell me to just sit here and not to get provoked by Elijah again. Are you, Alexander? That's the grand plan you were talking about?" Sebastian gritted his teeth. An inferno began to blaze in his eyes.

"No. I'm not going to ask you to just sit there. What I want you to do is to stay with your wife, guard her well and don't goddamned neglect her even for a moment! I'm asking you to be her very own personal bodyguard!" Alexander's voice began to sound a little louder. "That's how you can keep her safe for now. I know you're raging in anger, but if you go around killing people like this... and leaving her all alone again..." pausing, Alex sighed and lowered his voice. "I don't need to spell it all to you anymore because I know you're already blaming yourself. But I have to tell you this, Sebastian... had you listened to me and stayed with Izabelle instead of thinking that she was alright and leaving her alone - even with the bodyguards I had assigned to her - Elijah would not have succeeded with that plan of his." Alexander said it even if it would strike Sebastian's already stinging conscience.

Sebastian's eyes dilated at Alexander's words. But Alex really did not hold back and continued. "What happened must serve a lesson to you, Sebastian. You need to pay more attention to your wife if you want to protect her. To be honest, you two are still oceans apart when it comes to understanding each other... you two aren't close enough and that's why the culprit succeeded in taking advantage of that and whisking Izabelle away from you."

A heavy silence reigned for a long while until Alex spoke again.

"So, I just want you to be patient and don't act rashly as we all figure out the best way to deal with Elijah. We're almost there. So, all you need is to hold on a little longer and don't dance to Elijah's rhythm. Go back to Izabelle. She is the one needing you the most right now. And one most important thing, Sebastian... start breaking down that damned wall between you two already. Since you already decided to have her no matter what, then be a man and bare yourself to her. You need to get over your past so you can embrace your future, that is your wife. To be specific, explain to her what your situation is like... why you don't kiss her. You don't need to go into the details. But just at least tell her something no matter how hard it is..." Another long pause. "That's the plan for now, Sebastian. So go and make sure to keep her so close to you that there is no chance for anyone to snatch her away from you and hurt her again. Go back to her now before she ends up disappearing again because you weren't there to..."

Alex trailed off because Sebastian suddenly sprung up from his seat and disappeared like the bar was on fire. Then he let out a long sigh and looked over at the old bartender, a wry smile hanging on his lips.

"Did I do a good job?" he asked and the old man smiled, giving him a wink and a thumbs up. "Well, the last line might be a little too much. But... Sebby must be dealt with using the extreme way or he'd never get it through his thick skull."

"I believe he needed that last forceful push, sir." The old man said as he poured Alex another drink, this time hard liquor. "He'd spent most of his life in a dark and beyond extreme condition so gentle ways might never work on him anymore."

"Right..." Alex's face became a little sullen as he began to remember the first time he saw Sebastian. The young man was in the deepest dungeon of the castle, chained and caged in the dark, all alone. "And that's why no matter what he does, I could never ever get mad at him..."