To His Hell and Back-Chapter 22: Escape Route!

Arabella dreaded the place they were going to visit but unexpectedly it wasn't some place high above the ground or a place filled with swords and arrows. Instead, Cassius had brought all of them to a garden. The rusty gate first greeted them and inside was a tall bush made to look like a wall. There was a path but from where Bella could see, there seems to be two.. no three path. It was like a fork, there was one path to the right, one path to the left, and last on the middle.

From the look of it, each path was guarded tight with the tall blackened walls covered with vines and wilted Lilies.

"Do you know where this is?" Cassius sang to her, gaining her attention back at him.

She gulped, her eyes darting again at the place in front of her and she could seem to guess what this was but needed to get inside to make sure of it.

"A maze?" she asked him, hearing him chuckle.

He lowered his face to match her eyesight while she flinch as he came closer to her neck. His lips sweetly whispered, "My guess is that you want to leave don't you?"

!!

Bella's eyes spread wide. She didn't dare to turn around, feeling Cassius's long fingers that were wrapped around her shoulders. She could already see the look on his face that was dark and tempting.

"I applaud you for thinking you can still leave, Birdie. Not many would even have the energy to think about leaving but then again you're different and that's why you have caught my eyes. But it displease me," his tone dropped at the same time her heart fell into her stomach. The coldness from the man behind her radiated malice and she could tell he was angry. "I dislike that you think you can run away from me so I will give you a chance."

Her neck stiffly turned at him, her breathings labored while she watched that the ladies behind her were grinning from ears to ears, appearing like the monsters one would see only when nightmares haunt them.

"What?" she asked him, skepticism laced with her words. She narrowed her eyes, "A chance for me to leave?"

"Indeed," he said to her and she didn't immediately fall into his words.

They say the devil's whispers sounds as heavenly as an angel's voice after all.

"Liar," she accused him, "You would just willingly let me leave the castle?"

"I don't lie my dear," he sang but his tone only felt more stinging to her chest. His fair long fingers pointed toward the maze, leading her gaze there. "There is something that was hidden by the previous Queen inside this maze but no one had ever really taken it out safely. You're brave and you're smart so let me give you this chance."

"I have to bring the object that the late Queen had?"

He nodded, snapping his fingers and then released her shoulders as he walked toward the gate, "Indeed. It's a game, a fair one at that. After all, higher stakes demand greater rewards. A lesson I've always lived by."

He paused, turning just enough to ensure his words hit their mark. "Here's how it works. If you manage to leave this maze, I'll forgive the little... misstep you made last time, the one that left you tangled in my web. A clean slate, just like that." He snapped his fingers again, the sound echoing against the stone walls, sending a shiver through the air.

Arabella held her ground, her pulse quickening as he continued, his tone dark and enticing. "But," he drawled, his eyes narrowing, "if you manage to retrieve the object hidden within these walls and bring it to me then I'll give you something far more valuable. You'll earn your ticket to leave this castle for good."

The finality in his voice left no room for doubt. She could feel the weight of his words settle around her, knowing that every move she made from here on out would either pull her deeper into his grasp or deliver her to a path from which there was no return. As fear caught her, hope also burn ablaze inside her like a wildflower.

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Why wouldn't she take this offer? Sure, she doesn't know what is inside and why no one could ever bring the object out of the maze, but it was only right for her to go inside and have another try to free herself, especially when this vampire seemed to be so delightful to offer it.

She couldn't help but ask him, "But why? This- it sounds too good to be true."

Cassius eyed her and she felt how his gaze studying her entire face which made her more conscious and guarded up. She heard him say playfully, "Wonder why? You'll find out when you leave, perhaps."

The other ladies behind them giggled and Bella could translate those laughter into their anticipation to her demise. She grabbed the gate's handle, looking down to find her hands that were shaking. But she clenched her hands further on the cold metal, telling herself to calm down and how a calmer mind would bring her to success rather than her fright.

Truthfully, Bella knew she had never been a brave person. She always fought her fear of hiding when troubles come, she hated violence, and she hated the smell of blood.

Yet the person who seemed to enjoy it had now showered her with interest.

She looked again to the maze, biting down her lips. This was her final chance. Cassius was no fool. He might be addicted to feeling excitement from the entertainments she could bring him but he wouldn't offer this chance twice.

She could die in this maze, she could even meet a fate worse than it.

But she still need to try this- and win.

Win against this vampire whose smile seemed to widen at her determination.

Armed with nothing, Bella had gotten into the maze. There was no shoes that could help her walk, no cloak or cape that could warm her up from the freezing weather, and most of it knowledge about this maze.

Lady Liliah and Lady Clarissa laughed as they gathered near Cassius, standing with pride for being able to stand beside him, "My, Your Highness, you are indeed a mischievous one. You didn't even tell your pet that this maze is enchanted."

"Hahaha," Lady Lilah clapped her hands with her folded fan, her dress swinging as she jumped in joy, "Don't you wonder how she would even survive? I reckon to have heard that someone had walked here unknowingly and the enchanted maze had showed him the most frightening experience of his life, enough to cause him to fall ill and eventually to death."

Cassius crossed his arms as the gate closed behind Bella. His crimson gaze followed her even until her figure disappear into the thin air and her heartbeat further than this ears could reach.

"A pet dreaming for a release?" Cassius muttered underneath his pale red lips, his chiseled jaw clicked and his eyes gave out the glint of displeasure. "No pet should ever think of their escape more than their own owner. Let's see if you'll ever win this, birdie."

He was no fool after all and he was not someone who is compassionate either. He knew the moment that he offer Bella the idea to leave the castle, she would jump head on to his offer.

But she was playing right into his games as he had given her a task impossible to achieve.Not only was the maze enchanted with magic and could move- or even worse, scare you to death, the object that he had mentioned was never there to begin with....