Hellbound Heart

"Alright, Sunshine." Elijah was against the wall again, leaning his back against it in a seemingly relaxed yet a little unsettling stance. "Since you are the first to ask me that question, I think I am obliged to at least answer you."

His grey eyes that were the only ones fully visible to Elle in the dim light were glinting with an intense light. So intense that Elle could not help but feel the pressure of it under her skin.

"But first... I guess I'll have to question you one last time, Princess Elle. Do you really want to know?"

Elle could not help swallowing. For some reason, she felt the unease growing within her. A weak warning bell echoed at the back of her head, telling her there must be some kind of consequence if Elijah ends up revealing the answer to her question. And the way he asked that question was just so suspicious.

But she wanted to know. She wanted to know everything! She wanted to understand what was going on! She was sick of always being left in the dark and not knowing what was even happening.

Braving herself, she tipped her chin up. "Are you telling me that there will be a consequence that might befall me once I hear your answer?" she asked.

"Well... isn't that always a given? That's why sometimes, not knowing something at all is the better choice. Ignorance is a bliss they say..." he shrugged elegantly.

Elle bit the insides of her lower lip hard. But after a few breaths, she replied with a small forced smile across her face. "It's not like I'm in a blissful state right now for not knowing anyway." She mumbled, knowing he would be able to hear her.

She understood where he was coming from but right now, all she wanted was to have answers to her questions. Because perhaps, once she learned more of his reasons, she could find something that will help her to get Sebastian out of this place. Maybe, this was her opportunity to not just learn more and understand what was going on, but also to find a possible way out of this. She did not have any idea how, but she would rather take this risk than just sitting on her hands doing nothing, or worse - begging him, which she knew would not help at all.

"You really never cease to surprise me, Sunshine." Elle heard a hint of amusement mixed with sarcasm lacing his voice. "Fine then." He sighed and rested his head back against the wall.

A short silence passed before he began speaking again. "Let me tell you a story, Princess Elle... long ago, there was a boy who was living all by himself in the forest. Well, not exactly by himself since he was with the wolves and other animals. The animals had taken care of him, treated him as though he belonged to their pack. Do you know why he'd ended up there?"

Elijah tilted his head and threw a very quick glance towards the still unconscious Sebastian who was behind bars. The neutral air around Elijah seemed to change and a ripple with a dark wave of emotions being stirred around them. Elle could feel herself finding it a little harder to breathe from the sheer pressure. However, she could not bring herself to make any noise as Elijah was finally talking and telling her something.

"It's because his mother had been driven insane by his very own two demonic half-brothers. The insane woman who was once... a loving, beautiful mother who cherished her son the most in the world, had left her own son in the forest. Abandoning him there. Hoping that he'd die. But sadly, the boy somehow managed to survive. Of course, it was all thanks to the animals who took care of him instead of eating him alive and leaving nothing but his little bones..." Elijah's voice was still light and seemingly unaffected by what he was telling her. However, Elle could feel the pressure that had increased from the moment he started speaking about this matter. She was clenching her fists beside her, keeping herself up and not allowing the heavy pressure to get to her and send her collapsing to the ground.

Then he shut his eyes and drew in a couple of breaths as though to relax himself. And immediately, the heavy and unsettling atmosphere slowly turned back to normal. That caused Elle to finally release that last breath she was unconsciously holding in.

"For years he had continued living with the animals... living as though he was one of the animals himself. That went on until vampire hunters arrived in the forest. They... killed his animal family one after another until... there were none left. They made him watch them die. The boy had thought he was going to be killed next. In fact, he had hoped they would kill him next. But they didn't. They left him alone... and alive. That was the moment when the boy had realized he was being played cruelly. That they must have purposely hunted his animal family just to torture him. To drive him... mad." The dangerous ripple in the air was suddenly back with a vengeance. However, this time it was stronger, darker, heavier. Making it a little harder for Elle to even breathe naturally.

"The boy had managed to snag one of the hunters who were leaving the forest and after torturing him to reveal their objectives... he'd found out that everything that had happened was an order from... the Crown Prince – his eldest brother. Apparently, the Crown Prince had found out about the boy's existence and now... he was doing what he had previously done to the boy's mother."

"But why?!" Elle spoke at last. Her voice was weak and filled with hesitation. "Why would the Crown Prince do something like that? What would he even get from doing all that to his younger brother?"