Hellbound Heart

Back in the prison altar, Lilith remained standing right before Kyle as he knelt there, unconscious and chained.

"Why...? Why did you let the likes of anyone to possess you like this?" she asked. "Putting yourself in such great danger like this?"

She looked up, clenching her fist tight.

"I have imagined every scenario of what would it be if we cross each other's path again after many years but this…" She then smiled bitterly, in disbelief. "This wasn't something I ever would have come up with…"

"So you've been imagining our reunion the past ten years, huh… Lilith…" Kyle's voice echoed, jolting her. Her widened eyes snapped towards him.

When their eyes met, Lilith almost fell catatonic. That look in those gleaming grey eyes as he looked at her in that moment looked so much like… Kyle's. The real Kyle's!

But Lilith quickly squared her shoulders and told herself this must be the witch trying to fool her again. But why was it that this felt so… no, that couldn't be!

She glared at him, not daring to drop her guard down. "It seems I need to be specific and command you to sleep for hours." She muttered when Kyle smiled.

His gentle eyes gazed at her in silence as he knelt there. Those grey eyes looked almost dreamy. They held a softness, a faraway look, as if he were beholding a long-lost dream come to life. As if he was gazing at a cherished memory, something he had yearned for and thought he'd never see again.

It made Lilith's heart race. She couldn't help it. But… those look in his eyes were just a little too… overwhelming and real.

Kyle, seemingly lost in the moment, murmured, "You've become even more beautiful, Lilith. Have you been well?"

Words eluded her.

Without thinking, she began to raise her hand, as though intent on making him sleep to escape further emotional turmoil.

"This is truly me, right now, Lilith." He said when he realized what she was about to do.

But she held firm. She watched him closely, searching for any sign of deceit. "Then prove it. Tell me something only the real Kyle knows."

Kyle slowly caught his lower lip between his teeth. His eyes locked onto hers with an intensity that was hard to place. For a moment, he looked as though he was battling with the weight of the words he wished to say, but then a small smile tugged at his lips. He looked away, threw his head back, and casted his gaze to the heavens above. The wind played with his raven-black hair, accentuating the shimmer in his eyes.

The sight of him kneeling, all the chains, the way his dark hair swayed by the soft breeze… those eyes of his that were gleaming tugged something deep within Lilith's heart.

"Lilith…" he uttered her name, while he was still looking up at the sky. "May I ask you just one question and, can I have a truthful answer?"

A brief hush enveloped them. In that stillness, Lilith's certainty grew: this truly was Kyle. Every beat of her heart seemed to echo that realization, louder and faster than she'd ever anticipated.

It was almost overwhelming. All these emotions suddenly crushing on her right now. She knew she hadn't forgotten about him all these times. She knew she still missed him despite her convictions. But she hadn't anticipated the overwhelming rush of feelings upon seeing him again.

"Yes," she whispered. Her voice wavered, struggling to form even that singular response.

His gaze found hers. And just like that, their past flashed in their minds like slideshow. Memories of their past flitted through their minds, clear and vivid as if projected on a screen. They recalled their first meeting at the Reigns castle, the frenzied escape from the vampire royal guard where he held onto her, that moment they first parted and thought it was goodbye… until they saw each other again during that battle. Every kiss, every embrace, that first and last dance, and that final goodbye resurfaced so vividly.

The strangest part was that, despite a decade having gone by, those memories felt as fresh as if they'd happened just yesterday. Lilith had thought that their relationship was a youthful impulsiveness. She'd thought that as time matured them, they'd gain insight and see past their former misconceptions and realize that it was youthful infatuation, a phase they'd simply outgrow. She had believed that with time, those intense feelings would fade, and maturity would reveal the naive blindness of their young love.

But here she was now. Feeling like nothing had changed. That ten years had not passed at all. 

The silence grew and pressed upon them. It was only punctuated by the insistent sighs of the breeze, which seemed to have a particular interest in playfully tousling Lilith's moonlit silver locks and making her ethereal white dress billow and dance like the ghostly wisps.

"Are you happy?" The timbre of Kyle's voice, feather-light yet layered with depths of emotion, echoed. "I've been wondering… even though I heard you've been doing well. I just want to hear it from you myself, that you're happy."

A gust surged forth, a little stronger, almost as if the wind itself held a vested interest in her response, urging her to reveal her truth.

But Lilith couldn't respond. She opened her lips but no word came out. Her fingers curled into fists, nails biting into her palm.

As she wrestled with her emotions, and was about to force the words out of her lips, a shadow of pain passed over Kyle's features. His grey eyes, normally pools of tranquility, frosted over. "Lilith," he rasped, pain lacing every syllable, "Put me to sleep. Now!" Recognizing what was about to happen, Lilith swiftly chanted the incantation that immediately blanketed him in the serenity of slumber once again.

After a few breaths, Lilith approached closely and asked. Her eyes gleaming with so many emotions. "How about you, Kyle? Have you been happy?" she asked.