Hellbound Heart

Elle still could not quite believe that she actually managed to shoot Caelian. She was still shaking a little from that fact. The sight of him falling to the ground and his blood dripping from the gunshot wound had nearly caused her to hyperventilate in fear and panic. She knew that he would bleed if her shot was to land on him. Knowing was one thing but seeing it happen in front of her eyes was a totally different thing.

When she approached him to help him, instead of pain, she saw a big wide smile plastered on his face before showing her his quickly healing wound. After that, Elle eventually calmed down.

Caelian did not even give her a chance to pay attention to her emotions at that moment because he suddenly bombarded her with praises. It was something that really shocked and confused Elle.

She had actually thought Caelian was making it easy for her and that was why she had managed to take him down. But Caelian's reaction seemed to be genuine, and that was what confused Elle even more.

But before she could even say anything, Caelian had pushed her away to run again, telling her that Alexander would be the one coming for her next.

Elle could only nod and accept the arrangement that they had decided on. And now she was here again, hidden in a new spot that she had found.

Somehow, the experience with Caelian was almost no different from how she had dealt with the witches. He, too, did not seem to have noticed her presence at all. Which was still too good to be true for Elle. It was just a bit... unsettling and unbelievable for her. Why were these supernatural beings not able to detect her presence just because she hid and stopped moving? She was just a plain and unremarkable human if compared to them.

So, how could Caelian, a vampire, not even notice her? Her reasonable conclusion was that Caelian had held his capabilities back and that was the explanation she could think about, on why the hunt ended up being the opposite of what she had prepared for it to turn out. Not that she was complaining, but...

The temperature seemed to suddenly drop. Goosebumps rose over the exposed skin on her neck. What was the deal with the weather?

Elle unconsciously swallowed her saliva as she held her breath. Someone dangerous was coming. That was the only reason why she was having these chills, right?

Tightening her grip on her gun, Elle stayed very still. She was so still that one would even identify her as a carved statue. Somehow, she was starting to feel real fear and real danger as the surroundings became even cooler. She could not hear anything on it. There were no sounds of anyone approaching, but she could feel the coldness and heaviness in the air. Was this... Alexander's presence? How powerful does one have to be that even the surroundings are affected by it?

She had never imagined Alexander's presence to be this soul-freezing. He had always exuded the feeling of warmth and relaxation around him! Was this really him? What if this was really the real enemy? Otherwise, she could not be feeling real danger to this extent...

Fighting her hardest to stay calm in order for her mind to work and reason things out, Elle moved her eyeballs. No one was around. At least, she could not see anyone or any signs of someone.

The leaves began to rustle. Then they swayed in the gentle breeze. The wind was suddenly so strong it was as though a storm was suddenly approaching out of nowhere. Oh lord... this was... this was not good! Whoever was here... Elle could not imagine Alexander being it!

Her mind was now in chaos, fighting whether to stay or to run. Her two minute time limit was almost up and she still could not find anyone to shoot at. At this rate, they were going to spot her presence, right? She needed to move to a different location now! But what if she got caught while doing that?

When the wind became even stronger, she then made a decision to just go. She kept her head bowed low as she walked while bending over behind the bushes. She hid behind the tree trunks and peeped behind her, around her, checking out the situation. And when there was still no one but the strong wind, Elle continued.

Once she was a little farther from her previous hiding spot, Elle picked up her pace and ran as fast as she could. Why did she feel like... the wind was chasing after her? No way, right?

She hid again. This time, she could only hide behind the tree trunks. There were no bushes thick enough for her to hide.

Trying her best to control and reduce the sounds of her pants, Elle slowly peeped behind her.

The wind had stopped. She could hear her heartbeat drumming so loudly in her ear. And no matter how she tried, there was no way she could control it.

This real danger and fear she was feeling was making it hard for her to calm down. And Elle did not even notice that she had grazed herself on the face while she was running. A small line of blood appeared on her cheek and she could not even feel the sting of the cut.

A blurry shadow moved across her, causing her to gasp and scrambled to hide again.

Her eyes were stretched wide and her mouth was turning so dry. She suddenly did not know what to do. Fear and panic were starting to overwhelm her. Lord... they were going to catch her... no!

She licked and moistened her dry lips and gritted her teeth. She must not... they can not catch her if she shot at them first!

Even with trembling arms and knees, Elle peeked out from her hiding spot again, with her gun prepared to shoot and...

BANG!

She pulled the trigger at the large and dark blur that appeared in front of her out of nowhere.