Hellbound Heart

Elle only watched in shocked silence as Iryz knelt down beside her and cut the rope with the knife.

Thankfully, the knife was sharp and worked well. Elle was honestly a little scared that the rope would not budge until she saw that the knife obviously was not any ordinary knife either. It seemed to be something that only belonged to a witch, most probably Zeres.

"T-thank you..." Elle finally uttered, staring at the pale skinned lady. She could feel from the way she was struggling to cut the rope that she was physically really weak. In fact, right now, Elle felt like she was able to do this perhaps purely due to sheer desperation.

She shook her head. "Don't thank me, Izabelle..." The lady told her as she continued struggling to finish cutting through the thick rope. "Listen... you need to run away as far as you can. I believe that that vampire should be here soon, hopefully in a couple of hours. But he might be already coming here right now so don't be too lax. I think it'd be wiser if you ran straight to the woods behind this house. Avoid the road and just head on straight ahead until you reach the town."

Elle nodded. She just knew in her heart that she could trust Iryz. "Can you tell me why Zeres is doing this? You said that he is forced to do this. But why? What is it that Elijah is holding against him that he needs to do this? Or is he facing some problems that Elijah had promised some solution to? If you tell me, I'll convey it to Alexander and everyone else. I'm certain that if they know what's going on with Zeres and yourself, they would help Zeres instead. After all, he's their close friend."

The look that flashed across Iryz's face broke Elle's heart. Such sadness... What in the world was this woman going through right now to have such a heart-breaking look in her eyes?!

Shaking her head, a small sad smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "They can't help us, Izabelle. If they could... Zeres would never go as far as doing something like this to betray them."

"That can't be... if Alexander can't help, then I'm sure Alicia and Lilith... right, Zeres was looking for Lilith â€"" Elle suddenly piped up, remembering he had come a couple of times just to look for the witch queen.

"I'm sure that was just his excuse. Not even the witch queen can help us." Iryz spoke softly as a helpless smile crossed her lips.

"Are... are you... they're powerful. I think you should try anyway. You guys would never know until you â€"" Elle broke off when she smiled again.

"I'm dying, Izabelle. We've done everything." Iryz said in a soft voice. "But the only thing that can save me is... something I cannot accept. And at the same time, something... someone Alexander and everyone could never ever â€""

The bark of the dog echoed from a place that sounded nearer from previously and Iryz panicked. She gritted her teeth and gave her all to cut the rope until at last, Elle's hands were finally freed.

Iryz was already panting and breathless with just that seemingly simple action, so Elle took the knife from her and cut the rope around her feet on her own.

"Take this gun. You must run now before Zeres returns, Izabelle. I'll stop him from chasing you for as long as I can. So just run as fast as you can." Iryz frantically instructed as she shoved the gun in Elle's hand. "Now go! Go now!"

Elle turned to her one last time as she opened the door and when she nodded at her, Elle stormed out of the house and ran straight into the woods as Iryz had instructed. Iryz... she uttered her name in her mind... she wanted to save that gentle lady. She was such a good person and it was a shame for her to die so early...

Once she was in a safe place and reunited with everyone, she would then request help for Iryz. But for now, she must escape and outrun Elijah first.

Her eyes gleamed as she entered farther into the forest. She would never let anyone catch her this time. She would do anything and everything to ensure that it would not happen again.

...

Back in the house, Zeres rushed towards Iryz who was already slumped over on the floor.

He gently helped her up and seated her on the bed. Extreme worry filled his eyes. "Are you okay? Damn it, Iryz... didn't I tell you to..." he trailed off and finally realized what she must have done. He bit on his lower lip and did not say anything, save from the clenching of his jaws.

"Don't chase her." She told him. "I'm begging you, Zeres." Her voice broke.

And he squatted down on the floor before her, lifting his hand to his hair and grabbing a handful of his silvery locks.

He dropped his head down miserably and leaned his forehead against hers. But then he breathed out shakily and clenched his fists so tightly.

Just as he moved to stand up, Iryz grabbed onto him, straddling him as she wound her weak arms around his neck. "I won't let you go. Over my dead body, Zeres..." she told him in a broken voice.

"Please... don't do this to me..." he begged. Every breath he was taking seemed unbearably painful.

"I'm so sorry..." she hugged him. "I'm so sorry..."

Zeres shook his head. Something so deadly, so wildly dangerous that it might as well border a little on madness, flashed in his eyes now. "Everyone has been telling me to stop being selfless, Iryz. To stop sacrificing myself, hurting myself for someone else... to stop trying to be the hero..." his voice turned wintry and hard. "I've given up too many times in my long life... sacrificed myself over and over for someone... but never again, Iryz. Never again... I can never give you up... never... I'll save you even if it means sacrificing someone else's life... I'll willingly take on the mantle of the selfish and cruel villain if that's what it takes for me to keep you alive and in my arms."

He pinched her chin and stared deeply into her eyes, willing her to understand his point of view. She was silently crying and shaking her head at him slowly but desperately.

A heart-wrenching beautiful smile graced his angelic face as he wiped her tears that were pooling in her eyes. "You've loved me for so long... even when I was busy chasing after someone else and never spared you a glance. You were there and held me when I had nothing left... you became my home when I had nowhere else to go... loved me when I wasn't even sure if i still have the heart to even love even myself... Now tell me, Iryz... how can I give you up? How could you tell me to just let you die?" He cupped her face and kissed her pale lips, his eyes gazing into hers aggrievedly. "I'll sacrifice anything, anyone... I don't care if this is madness. I don't care if I'm a monster now. As long as you're with me... I don't care if the entire world falls apart."