The Witch's interference

"Aaaaaa!" Elliana screamed as loudly as she could as the shadow neared her.

She struggled hard against the door, grabbing the knob and twisting it to open the door. However, the door didn't even budge.

"Please, let me go," Elliana crawled further into the door, a sob of fear leaving her mouth.

She desperately fumbled the knob, trying her best to open it. However, when the door didn't budge after trying several times as if it was locked from the outside, she jerked the door with so much force that it unhinged from its bolts and flew towards the other side of the room.

It was unbelievable, but Elliana was too scared to care about it.

"Mr. Marino! Mr. Marino! Please save me," she ran across the corridor.

The otherwise crowded palace with guards seemed empty today. It was like no one was present in the entire Palace. It scared her even more.

She rushed to the stairs and was about to step down when her leg slipped, and she tumbled down the stairs, screaming in agony and pain.

"Mr. Marino!" She screamed so loudly that it felt like her throat would tear open before her head hit the last stair, and darkness started engulfing her vision.

She could feel the blood pouring out her forehead as it collected in front of her, staining the white marble of the Palace. The stench of metallic red liquid wafted through her nostrils. Was this finally her end? If yes, how mysterious it was. She didn't even get to know what this weird voice was or why the hell -

The rest of her thoughts blurred out as her vision turned dark, taking her into an abyss of nothingness.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Himalayan mountains, a witch looked at the scene that played in the vampire Kingdom in her crystal ball and sighed before closing her eyes.

It was harder than she had thought about. Elliana wasn't accepting what she had, and it was about to become a problem for everyone. To get her in control, it's important that she gets used to this process and accepts it.

If she didn't agree, they would have to resort to forcing her into this. There is no other way they would be able to accomplish this mission.

They didn't want to resort to this means, but it was now more crucial than ever. The witch pinched the bridge of her nose before lifting her crystal wand and tapping the crystal ball twice.

"Is it true? Is she married? Is Elliana married? That to be with that Vampire Prince? Why the hell no one ever told me about this? Have you guys lost your mind? What are you doing with her?! Remove that wand this instant!" Another witch rushed in and shouted angrily.

The aura around the new witch was beyond deadly. Black and violet flames engulfed her entire body as she stood there, raging like an angry demoness.

"I am sorry, lady boss. Please forgive -"

"To hell with your apology! Your sorry is not going to make any difference! Why the hell did you not tell me?! What were you doing when all this was happening?" The so-called lady boss raised her hand in the air.

Thunderclap! Thunderclap!

The environment over the entire mountain started changing, resonating with the anger of the boss witch. Dark dirty clouds appeared in the sky, paired with thunder and lightning.

"Just one thing. I told you to do just one damn thing, and you guys couldn't do it properly?! You are afraid of me? What will I answer to my leader!" The boss witch grabbed her hair in anguish.

"Do you have any idea what kind of havoc she'll rain on the entire witch clan because of a stupid mistake you committed? Is she accepting or not?" The boss witch asked, and the witch, who was trying to perform the process, shook her head.

"Shoot! Everything has become messy now. Force her into this. Go meet her, trap, lure, or whatever you want to do. I don't care. I want the results by the end of this month. Just pray that Arizona doesn't hear of it. If she even gets the slightest hint of this disaster, not only will she kill you, she will destroy everything," the boss witch said.

~~~~~

Everything was dark. It was as if there was no light in the world anymore.

Everywhere she looked, it led to long routes of darkness. She felt lost.

She was lost in the real world too, but she was finally seeing a glimmer of hope. That hope, however, was taken away from her today. Everything was coming to an end. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and she sat in that endless abyss with her legs close to her chest.

"Please- please save me," she whispered and was about to look around again, a practice she had been doing for the past time when she suddenly saw a white glow at some distance.

Her eyes widened, and she stood hurriedly, running towards that glow. It was probably her only way out of this horror, and she wasn't going to let it go. Not this time, at least.

"Elliana," She heard a familiar voice and a sob broke out from her mouth.

"I am coming," Elliana wiped her cheeks furiously and ran even faster.

As soon as she dashed into that white light, she suddenly felt as if she was thrown back into the real world.

Elliana opened her eyes slowly, blinking a few times to get used to the light.

"She is gaining consciousness, sir,"

It was Miss Zoya's voice.

Elliana closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again.

The first thing that came into her vision was the ceiling of their room. She felt someone grab her hand, and warmth immediately spread in her body, working its way to her heart.

She tilted her head to her right side and saw Sebastian sitting on the chair with a cold and neutral look in his eyes, but for Elliana, it was more than enough to survive.

She looked into his eyes for a few seconds before her eyes scrunched, and a few tears rolled down the corner of her eyes.

Sebastian looked at the girl, who looked so emotional, broken, and lost as she cried.

He didn't like any bit of it. It was as if someone pulled a string in his heart. The sight of her crying was making him feel strange.

He wanted to console her and let her know everything was alright. That he was here for her despite all the differences between them. That even though she was nothing more than a tool for him to enter the hunters' bloodline's deepest secrets, he didn't want her to cry and be unhappy.

"Elliana, you -" Sebastian started, but he couldn't finish his sentence when Elliana launched herself on him, jumping on him as she hugged him tightly.

His breath hitched in his chest, and his heart skipped a beat at the sudden attack. The fragrance of her hair and recent shower wafted through his nostrils, and he gulped.

She was hugging him so tightly that Sebastian could feel her soft body pressing into his body, and though the situation wasn't appropriate, for the first time in his life, he felt a little reaction down there.

She was like an aphrodisiac even when she was crying like this. He took a deep breath and was about to place his hand around her when he remembered the rest of the people in the room.

He looked at Elliana's attire, and his gaze turned dark. She was wearing a satin nightdress that reached her knees. However, because of her hugging him like this, that dress was raised to her thighs now, and Sebastian immediately scowled.

His cold gaze moved to Blue, Miss Zoya, Lucas, and Garry, and they immediately widened their eyes before turning their backs on the couple.

Sebastian placed his hand on the back of Elliana's thighs before he pulled her closer so she was sitting almost on top of him.

After covering her, he placed his arms around her protectively, feeling emotions that he had never thought he would one day, that to be for a human, the foreign emotions of protectiveness and care.

"Out," Sebastian's voice was low, but his guards and maids, who were used to his cold demeanor, heard him right even amidst Elliana's sniffing, and they didn't waste a single second and rushed out of the room before closing the door behind them.

Sebastian stood from his place as soon as they left and went to the balcony, rubbing her back soothingly. Many questions were circling in his mind, the majority ones circling his own emotions and thoughts. The other ones circled what Elliana was dreaming about.

It wasn't the first time she was having a nightmare, but most of her nightmares included her talking about her mom or something like that. He always had to hold her hand or tell her it was a nightmare to get her out of it.

She never woke out of it looking this distressed either.

This was the first time she had a nightmare like this in her days here. It must've been horrifying to her.

After meeting with Lucas and Garry about their plans regarding the spy security near the borders, he was descending the stairs and walking to their room when he heard her screams.

Her screams were so loud that they echoed in the entire corridor. He knew she was having a nightmare straightaway and walked to the room in long strides when she screamed his name.

"Mr. Marino, save me," her words were crystal clear, and the way she sobbed in her sleep, her entire body shaking and moving, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of traumatic life she has lived so far to have such severe dreams.

After what felt like an eternity, Elliana finally quietened, and Sebastian sighed when he realized she had fallen asleep again.

He placed her in the middle of the bed and closed the lights before hugging her close.

"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you," Sebastian murmured before he placed his lips on her hair from above his mask.

Though this gesture meant nothing since his lips didn't touch her exactly, if Elliana had been awake, she would've understood how deep his care was growing for her.

'Take off your mask when you trust me,' Elliana's innocent words echoed in Sebastian's mind, and he sighed before closing his eyes.