Hellbound Heart

Disappointment washed over Elle when whoever it was that was standing behind the door did not push the door open and only a knock came first instead. That alone told her it wasn't him. r

Her fingers clenched slightly before taking a deep breath and saying steadily, "Come in." r

It was Lorna. She gave Elle a nod as she entered, professionally balancing a tray of fruits on one hand and another filled with desserts on the other hand. After stepping in fully into the room, Lorna then used the ball of her feet to push the door closed behind her before putting the trays down before her. Smiling at Elle, Lorna indicated with her eyes that all the food was for her to eat. The lady had been giving her lots of fruits since she last got sick. But right now, Elle did not have the appetite to eat anything. More like… she had lost it after seeing that the person she was expecting turned out to be someone else. After serving the fruits and dessert, Lorna excused herself and left the room.r

It was exactly two days since he had left her room. So, she had thought that he would have arrived at this same hour since he had promised her two days. But it seemed that she was wrong again. Apparently, she had been too optimistic in trusting him to follow the exact two-day timing that they had agreed upon.r

After another hour, Elle who had not moved from her seat the entire time, now stood up to stretch her legs. They were getting numb, and she had enough of sitting and waiting. She walked over to her dressing room and took her clothes off before grabbing her gym outfit consisting of a pair of black jogging pants and a tight sando bra. She put on her shoes and tied her hair up high before finally stepping out of the room.r

She was not going to waste her precious time, sitting there and just dumbly waiting for him. She had come to accept after the hours of waiting, that he might arrive late again. As per his usual habit. Perhaps late afternoon or even later tonight. She should have thought of that possibility from the start, instead of waiting for him so early in the day like that. She hated how she was still stubbornly expecting for Sebastian to arrive on time after the many times she had experienced waiting for nothing. She scoffed at herself before shaking her head a little to get herself out of that slump.r

"Rion?" Elle called out for Rion the moment she shut the door closed behind her. "Time to continue our lesson." r

Rion, who was still on guard outside her door, straightened up and blinked. He looked confused for a moment. "But didn't you say –"r

"I changed my mind. Sebastian might come home late again so I better go train. No point wasting daylight." Her clipped tones stopped Rion from asking further.r

Without waiting for Rion's response, Elle walked on ahead, giving Rion no choice at all but to follow after her. r

After arriving at their usual sparring spot, Elle did not even give Rion any chance to say anything before launching an attack. She used all the advice and lessons from the other sessions she had had with Rion and incorporated them into her attacks. Attack from Elle followed by a defend from Rion. High swing kick, followed by a quick snap kick, both aimed for his vital points – side of neck, jaws, eyes, nose and temple. Rion sweat-dropped as he dodged her every oncoming hit, wondering what had pissed the princess off to the point of her being so ferocious in their session today. At the end of the session, Rion sincerely complimented the princess for being a quick study and improving so much even from just a few sessions. r

…r

Elle was shocked to see that it was already dark when she woke up. She had trained with Rion until she was too exhausted and ended up napping for hours.r

She looked at the clock and saw it was already dinner time. Lorna then came to serve her meal and after her dinner, Elle made herself busy, going about preparing for her beauty sleep and trying not to stress out waiting for the man she knew would never arrive whenever she waits. r

Soon, it was ten minutes before midnight. r

Standing by the window, Elle's fingers tightened against the window pane. r

A cold and slightly strong wind blew at her, causing her long, red hair to dance wildly behind her. The curtains sashayed as well. Was a storm coming? Elle thought it looked as though a thunderstorm was coming. r

Letting out a long and deep breath, she shut the window closed and then slowly moved towards the bed. r

She halted. A folded paper on the floor caught her attention. r

Brows creased, Elle bent and picked it up. She could not remember seeing this paper anywhere inside the room earlier on. Did the wind blow it in from somewhere what was not visible to her?r

Elle curiously checked the paper. It did not look like it was anything special. It was a very normal paper, so Elle thought it must not be something important. r

Looking around if there were more of the same, Elle found nothing. She then returned her attention to the paper and slowly, she began unfolding it. r

There was… something written on it. r

Her frown deepened and when she read the note, her eyes narrowing. r

[Twist the left candelabra down on the wall.]r

Lifting her eyes, Elle looked at the ancient candelabras that were on the bedroom wall. There were two on each side of the hearth. r

What was this? Sebastian?r

Elle lifted her gaze to the clock, and it indicated that it was already exactly midnight. And yet Sebastian was still not here. She wanted to scoff, but this piece of paper intrigued her. And then she suddenly thought that this might be Sebastian's message? How else would this paper get in here? No others had come over to leave this paper here. r

Reading the note again, Elle approached the hanging candelabra and slowly reached out, twisting it down as instructed in the paper.r