To His Hell and Back-Chapter 24: Things Not As Seen

Feeling an intense gaze, Bella shuddered. She snapped her head backward, staring at the balcony and seeing the group of people's shadows from it. She couldn't see it well but she could guess that Cassius was somewhere in the spot, chuckling and grinning while watching her suffer. Just thinking about it annoyed her and she decided she would win this punishment no matter what.

She had only two tasks: escape from the maze and bring the object he mentioned.

She had turned her path from the dead end, deciding to go to the middle this time. The moment she moved to the middle, however, she could hear the sound of something shuffling, as if something was moving.

For a moment, her entire body froze but judging by the sound, she could guess it wasn't a wild animal or that it came from a human, instead it had come from a plant, as if it was moving.

A moving plant? Impossible. 

But then again, vampires are a creatures that she had thought to be nothing but tales until they announced their mark throughout the kingdom of Versailles.

Suddenly a light flickered in her head. Cassius, the mad crown prince— fair play was never his style, was it? Arabella had been so ensnared by the allure of his promises that she had almost forgotten his true nature. He thrived on manipulation, weaving traps with his words, and tricking others into serving his will. And yet, here she was again, tangled in his web, falling for the same clever deceptions he spun time and time again.

Oh no!

Realizing what kind of games she had entered, she lifted her head and looked at the balcony of the second floor, her eyes turning into a hateful glare that she hoped she could direct straight to that crown prince's red eyes.

This was his trick!

That vampire! That blood sucking monster who should remain asleep in his coffin! He tricked her again- Again!

She didn't know what trick he had played but the fact that he had offered her such a delicious promise about her escape, it meant that he was confident enough that she would be capable of leaving the maze.

Either because she's too weak or... because this maze wasn't meant for someone to escape fairly.

She raised her hand to the wall of vines, her hands tightly holding to one of the vines only to feel a prick that instantly stung her palms, "Ouch!" She retracted her hands at once, her eyes staring at the vine that was now bloodied by her hand.

Then she saw how the vine moved, wiggling as if it was alive which made her horrified by the sight. She shuddered, the view of moving plants wasn't at all natural which made it all the more uncanny and creepy.

The walls in front of her then suddenly shook and she was about to flee from the place, thinking it was going to feed on her when she noticed that the wall of vines began to move backward, opening a path for her to walk on.

She gasped upon seeing the newly opened path, understanding that this entire wall was akin to the vampires where it needed human blood for it to maneuver.

"Great, another one that needs human blood to sustain itself," she muttered in sarcasm. What if the doors in this mansion also need human blood to sustain?

She didn't want to use her blood but if it means to escape the maze, she didn't care about it. She looked at her hands where there was a wound and sucked her breaths before having the courage to press on her open wound, stretching it so it would bleed more.

She cried, her voice cracking when she pressed a large wound on her inner palms which began to sting as a tear from her eyes had reached on the fresh wound. But it was too late to go back now. It was do or die.

She endured the pain, blood trickling down her skin but she continued on her path, using her blood on her hand while touching the walls surrounding her. Some moved while others didn't. The ones that moved meant that it would show her the proper exit therefore she followed each door that opened, wishing that she was on the right track.

From above the maze was Cassius who had seen her using her blood to traverse through the enchanted maze. He chuckled while others gasped, especially Princess Marissa who did not expect this, as if she wasn't aware of the secret the enchanted maze possessed.

"This.." She turned to Cassius who was relaxed and more amused. "You know about this?"

"What is there that I don't know about, sister?" Cassius said but his words weren't a mere statement of overconfidence. Instead, it was the truth. He was perhaps even more knowledgeable than their father, the reigning Emperor as of now.

"She's about to win," she remarked, reminding him that he was going to lose the game and Cassius never lost since his childhood.

Yet despite hating to lose, Cassius was still serene. No- rather than serene or unbothered he seemed happy, like a child who was looking for the birthday present underneath his blanket.

"Just watch and be quiet," he instructed as his eyes glazed over his smart bird that had made her way through half of the maze with her new tricks.

But soon, Arabella realized that her tricks weren't enough.

About half an hour after finding the secret of the enchanted maze, she realized that she was hitting a dead end. No matter how much blood she fed to the hungry vines, the three walls didn't budge an inch.

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A sense of worry crept to her heart but she didn't want to stop herself here. She slowly pressed her hand on the wall, trying to feel for the wind current that would perhaps point her to the exit only to feel nothing.

She stood up, sighing, What should I do now?

Her thoughts spiraled, searching desperately for answers but finding none.

"Bella," came a soft, familiar voice, its sweetness laced with sorrow.

Arabella froze in place. The unexpected sound hit her like a bucket of icy water, shocking her to the core. Slowly, she turned, her heart pounding in disbelief.

Standing before her was Ariel. Dressed in the same drab attire as Arabella, her younger sister's face was a picture of despair. Bruises marred her delicate features, her red-rimmed eyes were evidence of the tears that had carved trails down her cheeks.

"Lala?" Arabella whispered, her voice trembling with both hope and dread. It couldn't be. Ariel wasn't supposed to be here. She had been sent away, taken to safety in a separate carriage, far from this wretched place.

So why was she here now, standing in the very hell Arabella had fought to endure alone?

"Bella!" Ariel exclaimed, a smile appeared wide on her lips as she rushed toward her, reaching out her hands to pull Bella on a warm and tight embrace.

Meanwhile, Bella was stunned, words that she wanted to say seemed to have left her mind. She could only look at her sister again and again. She reached out to hold her sister's face, lifting it slightly with her lips trembling in both happiness and a sudden worry as her sister shouldn't be here.

"H- How are you here... didn't Courtez bring you away?" Arabella whispered to which Lala answered with a pursed lips.

She doubted her eyes, her entire self could recognize almost instantly that this was her sister, but she couldn't understand how Ariel could be here. She wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the castle, left far away from the touches of the vampires. She had even begged Courtez, the woman who seemed to know the very best way to survive as them- a woman who had lost their families and value.

Perhaps it was the crushing loneliness, the endless fight for survival in the castle of vampires, that dulled her judgment. Despite the glaring inconsistencies- the bruises, the impossibility of Ariel's presence- Arabella's heart clung desperately to the fragile hope before her.

Her mind whispered warnings, pointing out the flaws in this reunion, but the ache of solitude was stronger. It silenced reason, urging her to believe. To accept, if only for a fleeting moment, that the figure before her truly was her sister.

"I... was taken by this man," Ariel seemed disoriented and although she would usually tell everything that had happened to her at once whenever she asked, it seemed her older sister was in such a state where she didn't want to rethink of the things that had happened to her.

Bella accepted the silence. Her mind demanded for answers, after all, she wasn't born a fool. But it was her sister who stood right in front of her, the same sister who would starve for her for weeks just to make sure she was well fed.

The reason why Ariel was shorter than her peers while she could grow tall was because ever since they were young, Ariel who knew that her sister wasn't receiving enough nutrients gave up almost all her entire food for Bella.

Her mind begged her to ask more, to pressure her sister but seeing her sister's expression so broken and at a loss, with what heart could she use to stress on the whatnots rather than her precious older sister?

Deciding that answers could wait—especially in this cursed maze that reeked of power and thirst for blood— Arabella pushed her questions aside. Survival was the only priority now.

She tightened her grip around Ariel's trembling hands, her voice steady despite the fear simmering beneath. "First, we must find a way out of this place," she said, her tone resolute. "If escape is even possible... we'll make it so."

"Escape?" Ariel echoed, her voice tinged with uncertainty. She hesitated before raising a trembling hand to point toward the path she had come from. "I... I think I saw a way out that way, sister," she added softly, her words laced with doubt.

"Are you certain?" Bella asked, her voice cautious but laced with a glimmer of hope.

When Ariel nodded, Bella didn't press further. Trusting her sister felt far easier than unraveling the threads of doubt gnawing at her mind.

Grasping Lala's hands tightly, Bella tugged her forward, guiding her down the path. She was so consumed by the urgency of their escape that she failed to notice the fleeting, icy glint in Ariel's eyes— a coldness that her true sister would never possess.