295 Failed

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In the dark place under the palace, Abi stood by a well-like hole. She hadn't seen this part of it before, but inside that hole was a place she would never forget. She had been down there before, after all.

Abi looked at Zeke. She felt unusually calm but she never thought that she would have to experience going through this again; that she would once again fall into this abyss. Her last experience down there had been terrifying. She shivered just thinking about it. It was something one would never want to go through once, let alone twice! Fortunately, or unfortunately, she was one of the lucky ones who did manage to survive the first time when everyone else didn't.

Abi knew that Zeke chose this place for a reason and that was to rile Alex to bring his memories back. She knew that but… did she really need to go through this hell again for him?

"I know this seems over the top, Abigail," Zeke's voice echoed once he sent the guards away. "But don't worry, you won't go through all those terrifying experiences again. Just stay still inside and don't move. I chose this place not just because of Alex. I want you to train your hearing. This is the place where I found out about your ability after all. Try to understand everything about your ability so you know how to activate it when you need it," Zeke explained and Abi's fear somewhat deteriorated. As expected with this puppeteer, he was always thinking one step ahead.

She didn't think that he would use the harshest method to train her but she was fine with it. What was that famous saying? Only under extreme pressure will a lump of coal turn into a diamond. A harsh but quick method was better than an easy but slow method. Because Abi was done waiting. She was afraid that she might not last if this kept dragging out. She would rather go through this hell once more than wait and get hurt again by watching Alex float away from her, knowing she could have done more. This was better than torturing herself from not being able to hold him and kiss him and call him by his name.

"Are we clear?" Zeke pulled her from her train of thoughts and she nodded without question. Zeke surveyed her expression and he was glad to see her not faltering at all. 'As expected with this hellbent girl,' was all he could say in his mind.

"I'm ready," she said when BANG! A loud blast echoed through the room! The metal bars that blocked the entrance behind them felt like it had been blown up by a grenade!

When the dust somewhat settled down, they saw Alex was standing there, his eyes blazing with hellfire as he glared at Zeke.

"Do I need to explain everything to you? You can clearly see with your own two eyes exactly what I'm doing." Zeke's tone was even, sure and unyielding, not giving Alex any hint of him backing down.

"You said you would not –"

"She only has to be down there for an hour, Alex. It's not like I am leaving her there forever. Once the time is up, I will go down and get her." Zeke explained nonchalantly.

Alex gritted his teeth, not appeased. Even an hour inside that dungeon would be more than enough time for her to get injured or die!

"And why the hell are you even acting like this towards that maid anyway? I think there's something wrong with you. She is just some measly human. Her life is insignificant. Her life doesn't matter. So why are you acting like a maniac over her? Huh? Alex?" Zeke pushed as hard as he could to make him remember, to make him think about all of these things, about why he was acting this way.

Alex's grip on Zeke tightened as he cursed within him. Those were the exact damn questions he was asking himself! Why Alex? Why the hell are you acting like this over that woman? Did her life really matter to him? Was there some kind of connection there? Who was she to him? Who?!

The anger inside him was like a blazing inferno. He couldn't contain it. His thoughts were full of murderous images, of him fighting and killing Zeke and whoever else that stood in his way. That again, was another surprise. Zeke was his most loyal comrade and never in his life did he think that he would ever feel like this towards him. Why, goddamnit? Why?!!

"Do you have feelings for that human girl?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Feelings?" he echoed. "Stop spouting nonsense! Just stop this or else…"

"Or else what? Are you going to go against me?" Zeke's eyes turned red. His nails grew and he easily pulled Alex's hands off his collar. "Don't forget, Alex, no matter how much you might want to hurt me, your body can't defy my orders," Zeke said, reminding him about that time in the woods a month ago.

They had fought once when Alex left the palace. Zeke followed him and tried to force him to go back. Alex had started the fight mainly because he was looking for something exciting and fun to occupy his time. He wanted a fight with Zeke because Zeke was the only vampire that could give him satisfaction from fighting. But to his surprise, for the first time in his thousands of years of existence, he had lost against him. He really wanted to fight with Zeke, but everytime he was about to land a blow, he felt himself being drained of power, as if something was controlling him, holding him back. When he had fought the remaining rogue vampires, his powers didn't weaken like this. It was then that he and Zeke discovered that he was only like that against Zeke and neither of them knew why.

"Jump," Zeke then ordered Abi coldly, causing Alex's eyes to widen.

His gaze flew towards Abi and when he saw that she too was following his order without any thought, he suddenly moved and stopped her.

"What the f*ck are you doing? Jumping in there just because he said so?!" he roared at her. His heart accelerated within his chest as he thought about her being down there. Damn! He was confused. He was sick of all these confusing things he was doing that didn't seem like him at all!

Abi faced him. "Please let go. This is my punishment. I have to pay for my failure," she told him. Her voice was weak. She so wanted to hug him before she jumped down there, to borrow some energy from him so that she wouldn't be too scared. But she couldn't. All she could do was pull away from him.

Now that she thought about it, Alex risked his life, his soul to save her. Now it was her turn to risk it all to get him back. It was so sad that they had to hurt themselves so that they could save each other. It seemed, in that way, they were both hellbound with each other.

"No, you don't need to –"

"I said let go!" she screamed at him. "I failed to keep you beside me and let you leave. I deserve this!" she pushed him and then she jumped down.

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