Hellbound Heart

Elle's mouth hung open as she looked at Elijah's face. Her heart seemed to stop at the utter shock that had surged through her body, just rocking her entire being. How... what... was what she was seeing even real? For a moment, Elle felt as though she had been transported into the twilight zone.

His face was... Elijah's face looked... exactly like Sebastian's!

The eyes, nose and even lips were almost exactly identical, that one would definitely mistake him as Sebastian if not for those... those scattered tiny moles on his face. Their resemblance to each other was just too similar that it was uncanny!

To say that she was shocked was an understatement to explain what Elle was going through at the moment. She just could not believe her eyes. And the emotions within her were in total chaos.

"Sorry for the surprise, Sunshine." He told her. There was a touch of apologetic yet amused tone in his voice. "And no. Sebastian and I aren't identical twins no matter what you think." He waved his hand elegantly and continued. "The humans say that the likelihood of two people sharing the exact same facial features is less than one in a trillion. But here we are. Not funny at all, isn't it?"

Elle could not even muster up any thoughts, much less form any words. She could only stare at him, still unable to completely snap out of the shock.

She was looking at a face which was so familiar and dear to her. The face with all the beautiful and perfect features she had memorized. The face of the man she... lord... just what kind of... please... this must be just pure sorcery, right?

"If it bothers you that much, just think of this as some kind of nasty sorcery, Sunshine." He added, literally speaking her mind and then he turned. "I think of that too, every time I see my own face in the mirror."

What he said only made Elle's heart sink. Because that only confirmed what she saw was not any kind of sorcery or prank at all. She even heard an obvious hatred in his tone when he said that last sentence. It seemed as though he really and truly despised his own face more than anyone else.

When he felt her not moving from her spot, he turned and looked at her over his shoulder. "I believe you won't like it if I hold your hand and drag you along with me to the dining area, right? Sunshine?" His voice was light, but Elle perceived the threat in it.

That was enough to make Elle move again and started following him towards the kitchen. She tried her hardest to not think about this new shocking twist. Not only because she was desperate for any plans on how to escape or call for help but also because she was certain her already reeling mind would probably combust if she continued dwelling about this any longer.

But it was always easier said than done, that she had wished she had not seen his face at all today or tonight. In fact, she did not even have any idea on when it was the right time at all!

Once they were in the kitchen, Elijah had ordered her to sit as he rummaged inside the fridge.

Elle could only obey as she discreetly looked around. Trying to find anything at all that could give any ideas on what to even do to help them in this situation.

Her eyes fell on the kitchenware when Elijah opened a cabinet. She caught a quick glimpse of the many different knives that were inside it.

"I hope you're not planning on grabbing any of these to use as weapon against me, Princess Elle." His voice nearly made her jolt out of her skin. She thought that she was discreet enough. "I don't want to hurt you... so don't even think about it."

She hesitantly lifted her gaze to his face and she instantly regretted it. Because her words of retort only got stuck in her throat the very moment she saw his face. Again! The visual impact was so powerful that she could feel her mind reeling again.

They truly looked so identical. So uncannily alike. Why... why had no one told her about this at all? Should this not be something that was a big deal? Especially for her, who was Sebastian's wife!

The longer she stared at him, the more Elle felt like his face was truly real. Those tiny and slightly larger moles beautifully scattered all over his face until they trailed down his neck... looked just so real! Something like that could not be made by surgeries or even masks. At the back of her head, she reasoned to herself that it was not impossible nowadays. But his words beforehand and the despise in his voice a while ago... that was something she could not even explain anymore.

"Good thing I'm a decent cook. But right now, I don't have the time to cook a full-on meal for you. So, I'll just prepare something easy." He said and he began to fold his sleeves up till his forearm.

While he was busy, Elle could not help but keep her gaze on him. Her body wanted her to study him, to find what was the difference between her husband Sebastian and Elijah.

She had noticed since the very first time she met Elijah, that his stance and physique was almost the same as Sebastian's too. Only that Sebastian was probably just an inch taller than him and now she realized, Sebastian's shoulders and back were a little broader too. Sebastian's jaws were more chiseled as well compared to Elijah's. But other than those characteristics, to Elle's dismay, she could not find any other differences in appearance.

"You... you purposely hid your face from me because... because of... this..." she muttered. Not really asking him, more like making a statement.

Elijah glanced at her and a moment of silence passed before he replied. "I always hide my real face from everyone, Sunshine. Every time... all the time. Today was the exception."