To His Hell and Back-Chapter 269: Betrayal of Oneself

Donna didn’t ask questions, she trusted Arabella enough to obey without hesitation. From behind the bark, they could hear it: soft footsteps, slow, deliberate. The crunch of leaves, the faint jingle of metal. Not a vampire. A vampire wouldn’t make this much sound.

Then came the voice.

"Two heartbeats. Close."

It was the voices of vampires, clear enough to Arabella as the vampires had talked about hearing heartbeats which meant they must be purebloods. Cassius had warned her that pureblood could hear heartbeat though not as powerful as him as they could only hear it if the heartbeat was beating far too quickly.

She whispered to Donna, "They can hear our heartbeat, we have to calm down."

Donna pursed her lips before nodding her head firmly.

Arabella scanned the placed and pressed her hand on her chest, confirming that her heartbeat wasn’t beating far too quickly anymore. It took them a long five minute but while they calmed down, Arabella could see the vampires who were still looking around at a loss, perhaps because their sense of hearing had gone dull upon hearing so many heartbeats at once.

"Can you still hear it?" The vampires asked and the other one shrugged.

"Don’t you think they have gone? I told you not to yell so loudly didn’t I?"

"Ah whatever! But I can- wait," the vampire rushed toward their oak tree, walking quietly. His face that was frustrated earlier finally turned into a smile then a grin. His expression cleared as if he had just seen the prey that had been running away from him finally arriving to his hands now.

He rushed forward, ready to capture the said prey while Arabella’s breath caught in her lungs. Her expression turned pale when she saw the vampire’s hands were bloodied, still fresh from ripping apart someone else’s neck.

She halted her breath entirely while pushing Donna behind her body as if using herself as a shield. Then when the hand, that had been groping around the back of the tree and between the bushes, moved closer, she closed her eyes. Her hands were ready to crawl her way out of the vampire’s grasp, ready to do anything that would guarantee the vampire’s regret for daring to touch them.

But by the time she had opened her eyes again, she was surprised to see that the vampire had taken someone else in a hold instead and it was none other than the face they were most familiar with, Iliza.

Arabella sighed upon seeing the face but Iliza had fortunately hadn’t noticed them.

Donna whispered, "Let’s make a run for it."

But she felt Arabella holding her back and frowned.

"You’re not crazy by thinking to save her are you?"

"No," Arabella said in a hushed voice, "They have horse," she pointed, "And bow with so many arrows covered in blood. I think one of them is adept in using the bow and arrows. If we just run without a plan, we could fall into a trap or caught up by the horse, worse, we could be shot to death."

"Right," Donna slowly loosened her frown. She could see Arabella’s eyes lingering on Iliza and could tell that deep down Arabella wanted to help Iliza, not because she was a friend but rather just because she’s a human in distress.

Donna knew that no matter how this castle would corrode the people living in it, Arabella would remain pristine as she was, away from the dark thoughts or betrayal that most people in the castle would eventually far trap to.

But at the same time, Arabella had learned ways to hardened her heart, especially to Iliza and all the things that Iliza had done to them.

They kept a hidden behind the tree while they heard the words thrown by Iliza and the two vampires.

"Don’t kill me- no. Don’t kill me!" She screeched for help, struggling to get away with tears over her face.

"She’s familiar," hummed one of the vampire.

"She is? I don’t remember. Well who would even try to remember a human’s face, especially their preys?" chuckled the other vampire.

"No. She’s.." the other vampire muttered while rubbing his chin, "Ah! The human that Minister Rueben brought! Remember when we had the party to see Minister Rueben?"

"Oh when he requested for a few carriage to be let into the city without being inspected," hummed the vampire. "I do remember now. While he tried to bribe us into allowing those carriages inside the castle, he served us this human’s blood."

"I remember that it tasted good. What a great prey we have here."

Iliza’s face turned horrified, "Don’t- no... I- I am Minister Rueben’s pet! He wouldn’t be happy to know wha- aAAAAH!"

The vampire whose name was Garn was annoyed upon hearing that a human dared to threaten him. Without any hesitation, he had threw Iliza over the ground, causing for her back to be pierced by the wooden bark. Blood seeped out and she cried upon seeing it

Arabella flinched. She wasn’t sure whether it was the sound itself or the way the vampires laughed at it that unsettled her more. The cruelty in their voices wasn’t loud—it was casual. Lazy. As though the pain they caused was no more than a trivial amusement. As though Iliza’s suffering wasn’t worth more than a passing chuckle.

"She cries so much," Garn sneered, wiping her blood from his fingers with a handkerchief he plucked from her own sleeve. "Didn’t know Minister Rueben trained his pets to be so loud."

"Maybe he enjoys the noise," said the other vampire, snickering. "I’d say we take her blood and return her in pieces. I’d love to see Rueben’s face."

"No," Garn crouched next to her. "We drain her slow. Then, maybe, we send her hand back. As a warning."

Iliza’s lips trembled as she sobbed, "Please... please, don’t. I’ll do anything, anything! Don’t kill me, please—! ANYONE PLEASE!"

Arabella turned her eyes away. She couldn’t bear to watch anymore.

Donna glanced sideways at her, "Don’t feel guilty for pretending not to hear her," she warned. "She had done the same or even worse."

"I know, I know," Arabella whispered softly, "But it still feels..."

Suddenly Arabella heard a couple more of footsteps and when she looked backward, she was surprised to see more slaves who had ran into the scene. One of them alerted Garn by yelling from fright and Garn grinned.

"Go get that one!" He ordered his friend who with a grin jumped to ride the horse and gave the humans a chased, laughing as he used the bloodied arrow to capture the other humans scattering around like deers in the forest.

"Now you," Garn’s hands reached out while Arabella’s face grew paler, her heart squeezing in fear. Her breath caught in her throat, her heart clenching painfully in her chest. She didn’t want to move— didn’t want to see this. But turning away felt worse. Her body screamed at her to not run, to let everything fall into a deaf ears as it would be foolish to help the same person who had never hesitated to hurt her, but something deeper inside refused to abandon what was unfolding in front of her.

She clenched her fists, guilt twisting in her stomach. Why did helping feel like a betrayal to herself?

Next to her, Donna exhaled quietly. She glanced at Arabella’s face, clearly tormented. With a small sigh, she crouched, rubbing the dirt beside her until her fingers curled around a smooth, heavy stone.

Without hesitation, Donna stood up and hurled the stone with all her strength.

The rock hit Garn directly in the head with a dull thud.

He staggered and dropped to the ground with a grunt, blood seeping from the side of his skull.

Donna tilted her head. "Stone-throwing champion, three years straight," she said casually. "Even cracked a fence once I even broke the-."

Arabella didn’t laugh. She didn’t even pause.

"Let’s run!" she hissed, grabbing Donna’s wrist and pulling her into a sprint.

Donna blinked but followed instantly, letting Arabella drag her into the woods.

Behind them, Iliza sat frozen, too shocked to move. Her hand trembled over the dirt, her eyes wide as they flicked to Garn’s crumpled body.

She hadn’t expected it. Not from them. Not from her.

But Garn groaned.

And suddenly, the fear snapped her out of it.

With her side aching and blood still seeping from her back, Iliza pushed herself up and ran after them. Her legs stumbled, but she didn’t stop. Her mind was a blur, but her gut told her one thing:

If she wanted to live, she had to follow them.