Chapter 185: The Cab Driver
Moana
Ella took my outstretched hand. As I helped her get up, she rubbed her eyes sleepily and looked up at me with more confusion written across her face.
“You’re taking me to meet my real mommy?” she murmured. “What do you mean? My mommy is dead.”
“Ella…” I crouched down to her level and held her by both shoulders, looking at her intensely. “I’ll explain later, okay? For now, I just need you to trust me. Do you trust me?”
Ella stared at me for a few moments, looking skeptical, before she finally nodded and didn’t ask any more questions. I helped her get dressed quickly, then put her shoes on and grabbed both of our bags. Opening the door just a crack, I checked once more to make sure that the apartment was still quiet. It seemed as though everyone was asleep. Of course, there was still a chance that Edrick was awake, so we would have to move quickly. I took Ella’s hand and quickly led her across the living room and over to the foyer.
Since the elevator would ding and make noise, I decided to take us downstairs through the fire exit stairs. I quietly opened the fire exit door next to the elevator and brought Ella into the dimly lit concrete stairwell with me.
“Moana,” she said, pausing at the top of the stairs, “why are we going down this way? I never go down this way, and it’s scary in here.”
“I know, love,” I said gently, still holding her hand. “But I’m right here with you. See?” I walked down the first couple of steps and then turned to look back up at her. She stared at me, still with that skeptical look on her face, before she shakily took the first step.
It took us longer than I would have liked, but eventually we made it down to the bottom floor. I couldn’t walk us through the lobby where people would see us — although I was certain that someone would eventually see us on the cameras later, and I hoped that we would be long gone by then — so I took us instead through the back door that led to the alleyway.
Once again, Ella paused reluctantly and looked up at me with confusion. But she didn’t ask anything this time, and bit her lip and followed me instead.
Someday, I knew that I would have to explain everything to her. I hoped that she would understand and not resent me for everything that was happening that night, but I wasn’t sure. All I knew for sure was that this was for the best; even if she hated me when she got older and never wanted to see me again, I could at least rest easy knowing that I had gotten her away from a dangerous living situation.
I led Ella down the dark alleyway, checking over my shoulder the entire time, before we eventually came out onto the street behind the penthouse.
And, just as Olivia said there would be, there was a cab waiting for us a little ways down the street.
“Come on, Ella,” I said quietly. She seemed to hesitate again, but freedom was so close, and so I picked her up and rushed down the street with her in one arm, my bag in my other hand, and Ella’s new school backpack slung over my shoulder.
“Moana, I’m scared,” Ella whimpered as we ran closer to the waiting cab.
As she spoke, I felt tears poking at the backs of my eyes. Involuntarily, I froze for a moment and took one last look up at the penthouse.
Inside, Edrick was likely laying in bed and trying to sleep, completely oblivious to the fact that I was running away and stealing his daughter. The longer I looked up at the penthouse, imagining the lonely Alpha billionaire tossing and turning, the more I remembered how it felt to sleep in his arms. How it felt to wake up with him and feel the warm sun shining in through his open window. How it felt to see his smiling face when I finished the school day with Ella.
But none of that mattered now, because he was going to hurt me and my baby. And no matter how much I had grown to love him over the last few months, I had to cut myself loose.
My eyes began to well up with tears, but I managed to tear my gaze away from the penthouse and make my way over to the waiting cab. I opened the door and ushered the sleepy and scared Ella into the cab, then climbed in behind her and shut the door.
“Um… Here,” I said, handing the silent cab driver the address for the hotel that I had written down. But the cab driver didn’t take it, and as she pulled away from the curb, it seemed as though she knew where we were going. It did make sense, after all; Olivia probably knew this cab driver personally. I doubted that she would have allowed any regular cab driver to take us to the hotel, as an untrusted person could have easily given mine and Ella’s whereabouts to the police.
The cab driver appeared to be a woman. She was thin, wearing a beanie that covered most of her hair and a blue surgical mask. As she drove, the radio played staticky music in the background that filled the silence.
Behind me, Ella sniffled. She leaned into me and I wrapped my arm around her, rubbing her gently. Soon, this would be all over and she wouldn’t need to be afraid anymore. At least, that was what I hoped. I could only hope that I was making the right decision.
But as the cab driver took us through the glowing city, I began to get a bad feeling in my stomach. A pit of dread slowly opened as my sixth sense kicked in.
Something was wrong. I didn’t know what it was, but something was definitely not right.
“I-I think we’re supposed to be going north,” I said quietly, pointing out the window. But the cab driver wasn’t taking us north; she was taking us south, in the opposite direction.
The cab driver didn’t answer, though.
“H-Hello?” I said, feeling my heart beginning to quicken its pace. “I think you’re going in the wrong direction.”
Once again, the cab driver didn’t speak. We came to a stop at a red light; we were still only a few blocks away from the penthouse, and I began to wonder if I should get out here with Ella and run back home. Every fiber in my body was screaming at me to do just that.
Swallowing, I reached for the door handle…
But the car doors were locked.
“P-Please let us out,” I said, my voice shaking as I tried the handle over and over again. Beside me, Ella was beginning to catch on as well, and I could feel her get tense. “I want to get out now,” I pleaded.
Suddenly, the cab driver began to chuckle… And she pulled down her mask.
It wasn’t just any cab driver; it was Kelly.
“Don’t worry, you two,” she said, turning in her seat to look at us with a twisted grin on her gaunt face. “I’m going to take you far, far away. And I’ll make sure that Edrick never finds you.”
