Hellbound Heart

The day passed slowly for Elle.

Everything still felt too surreal to her. And she could not help the lingering fear that coiled within her. She told herself that it was most probably the fear of the unknown, because none of them knew what her other half was.

Thankfully, that fair and beautiful man named Zeres arrived in the Black Forest again this afternoon. His presence had somehow distracted her from drowning herself with overthinking as the man had offered to be the one to play the hunting game with her while he waited for Lilith's return.

Alexander had said that she needed to try her abilities against a powerful witch this time because they believed that there was a powerful witch who was playing the supporting role behind their enemy. So since Lilith was away, Alexander had asked Zeres to come over to be her partner for this round.

Elle immediately agreed. Though there was that heavy feeling gripping her now, she decided to force herself. She wanted to know and test herself to see if she indeed had the powers Alicia and Abi had told her she possessed. She truly wanted to see it for herself.

So as soon as twilight came, Elle ran off to the forest without hesitation.

The hunt then began.

Elle felt that there was something different with herself. She had been bothered by this feeling ever since she woke up, but she could not quite tell what had changed in her until now that she was in the forest. Her body felt so light that she actually felt she could run on forever and she would still not get tired.

Zeres did not move as violently as Alexander. He was the complete opposite - sleek and stealthy. She knew he was around somewhere... but she could not see him no matter how she looked. Somehow, she felt more wary of him because she could sense that he was the type to appear out of nowhere and catch her before she could even realize he was already coming close.

However, Alexander had already instructed her of what she should do this time. That no matter what happens, she must not move from her spot. Not even to lift the gun to aim. She must not shoot at him unless they found her.

Elle knew what Alexander was aiming to test out in this round of practice session was on how long she could remain in her invisible state and undetected if she did not move at all.

Time ticked by and nothing happened. Zeres did not show himself at all.

It was already thirty minutes since she felt someone's presence nearby. And now she could not tell if he was still around. Or did he leave to look somewhere else? Or could this be a test? Was he waiting for her to make a move too and expose her whereabouts?

Steeling herself, Elle decided to stick to the plan. She would not want to disappoint Alexander if she disobeyed his instructions and ended up getting caught due to her own carelessness.

After another long stretch of waiting, Elle finally saw him. He materialized several steps away from her. It was a shocking sight for Elle even though she had already known that powerful witches had the ability to teleport. This was the first time she was seeing this happen right before her eyes!

The beautiful man did not move from his spot. He was just standing there like a perfectly carved piece of heavenly statue. The man simply looked so unreal to belong in this world!

But that was not the issue here! Was she truly invisible? She could not believe it. She was not hiding at all. She was right across from him! And yet... was this really happening?!

Suddenly, he turned and looked in her direction.

Elle fought to keep herself still. He was not meeting her eyes, so this could mean he only sensed her presence but could not see her yet?

'No matter what, don't ever move. Only move if he reaches out to touch you.' Alexander's strict instruction echoed in her head.

Regulating her breath to the point where she was only breathing in shallowly, Elle kept her gaze on him. Until, he moved again. His long silver hair was like floating silk, trailing behind him.

He walked towards her but his direction was a bit off. She thought that he would definitely miss her by a few inches if he did not change directions.

She felt the nerve-wracking pressure as he approached closer to where she was. Her instinct to run away was kicking in again. But she fought her body's knee-jerk reaction and rooted herself to the ground, reminding herself of her task. And he was not going to catch her. He was off the mark!

Zeres did walk past her. Barely for like two inches and stopped after maybe three more steps behind her.

Elle sucked in air as she had been holding her breath. And then she slowly turned her head over her shoulder.

A hand was reaching out.

She lifted her gun but... it was too late. She was caught before she could even pull the trigger.

...

"Don't you think they're taking a bit too long?" Abi asked Alexander a little anxiously. A slightly worried look flashing in her eyes.

Alex crossed his arms around his chest. "This is Zeres, Abi. An immortal like us. I think he must have been playing the waiting game with Elle."

"Well... you're right but... I can't help but feel worried. Because you know... Zeres just returned and would not even say anything to us..." Abi had a frown creasing her brows.

Alex faced her, looking a little surprised at what Abi had said. He was really surprised that his wife actually doubted Zeres. Because he just could not. To him, Zeres was just someone he could not imagine betraying him... betraying them.

"Dad!" Alexis's frantic voice echoed out and he landed before Abi and Alex. "Azy said he couldn't feel Princess Elle's presence anymore! Uncle Zeres' is gone too!"

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A/N: Thank you so much for waiting guys! I will be releasing 3 chapters tomorrow as compensation for the days i failed to update. <3

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