EdrickI couldn’t sleep at all that night after everything that happened. What was supposed to be a typical family banquet, an opportunity for us all to relax and enjoy a party, wound up turning into a night of hell.But at the same time, the taste of Moana’s lips on mine stood out above everything else. If I did what my father wanted me to do and sent Moana away, I would never be able to taste those lips again… But no. I couldn’t taste her lips again, anyway. It wasn’t right; we couldn’t be together. Maybe, if I couldn’t stop having these thoughts, it would have been better to just follow my father’s orders and be done with it.Besides, I had already made a vow to myself that I would never get married or put myself in that vulnerable position with another person. It would only cause Moana pain when she finally realized that I would never be
MoanaI couldn’t help myself. When I overheard Edrick saying Kelly’s name in his study, and saying that he would “talk to her”, I got too curious and didn’t pay attention to my surroundings as I slowly creeped toward the study door. Were they talking about me? I felt my heart sink; what if they were talking about kicking me out so they could be together?Suddenly, the door swung open and out stepped Edrick.“Was that Kelly?” I blurted out, without even thinking.Edrick’s eyes were wide, but he nodded. “Yes,” he replied. “Actually… Can I talk to you?”I swallowed. Here it was: Edrick was going to tell me that I had to leave, that my presence was causing too many problems and that I couldn’t be around his family anymore. As I followed him into his office, I could onl
MoanaThe next morning, I reluctantly woke up and got ready in preparation for my appointment visit with Kelly. As I got dressed, there was a pit that slowly grew inside of my stomach, filling me with dread.“I don’t like her,” Mina said. She had been surly with me since I made the decision to meet with Kelly. “I’m getting bad energy from this. I really don’t think you should go.”“It’ll be fine,” I replied out loud with a sigh as I put on my makeup, not realizing once again that someone might overhear me and think that I was talking to myself. “It’s just a doctor’s visit.”“It could be more than that,” Mina insisted. “It could be a trap.”I fixed my hair then, pulling it back into a half bun, and
MoanaAs we took the elevator down to the lobby, Kelly’s demeanor almost instantly shifted from warm and apologetic to stiff and uncomfortable. I thought that maybe she was just acting like this because she and Ella didn’t always get along very well, so I tried not to think too hard about it. Besides, with Ella here, I was certain now that Kelly wouldn’t try to pull anything. She wouldn’t start any fights or play any tricks with a child around. It almost felt as though Ella knew that somehow, and that was why she wanted to come so badly. But I knew that was silly; Ella was only eight years old, and too young to understand these sorts of things. In my mind, Ella probably just wanted to come because she overheard that we would be having fun and didn’t want to be left out, and after the way that she reacted the last time Edrick and I went out without her, I didn’t want to disappoint her again.
EdrickEverything seemed to be working out, at least for now. Kelly realized the wrong in her ways, and Moana was willing to give her another chance. Maybe now, with Kelly on our side, my father would eventually lose any footing he had before when it came to trying to drive Moana away.I was at work while Moana went to her appointment. By now, she was probably already at her appointment. In fact, she was probably already done, and was enjoying a nice lunch with Kelly. I felt relieved to know that those two were making up. Despite Kelly’s transgressions and bad attitude over the past couple of years, I always knew that she was still my sweet childhood friend. Maybe she realized that she needed to get her act together, and was now working harder to be a better person again.But when my phone rang and I saw Selina’s name pop up on my screen, my heart instantly sank. Did something
EdrickOnce again, the elevator took far too long to carry me down to the lobby. As soon as the doors opened, I shot out across the lobby and bolted toward my car, ignoring the strange looks from the concierge and maintenance staff. I climbed into my car and sped off in the direction of the Rogue district with only one goal in mind: finding Moana.Traffic began to slow me down, but I didn’t care. I broke a lot of traffic rules and would likely be pulled over later, but only cared about getting to the Rogue district in time. I could pay off the police and use my status to get out of any tickets, but I couldn’t use my status and my money to save Moana if she was already dead.I was so furious with Kelly. How could she do this? I trusted her to do the right thing and try to be a better person, and once again, she had failed me. I felt like such an utter fool for letting her trick
EdrickI ran with wild abandon through the winding, dark streets of the Rogue district as the rain began to fall even harder, not caring how soaked I got or whether I hurt myself running like this. As Moana’s scent became stronger, I knew that she was close, and she was alive.Finally, I managed to find Moana thanks to the powerful scent she was emanating, and I felt a weight lift off of my chest. But I couldn’t be entirely certain that everything was okay just yet, because she was laying on the ground in the middle of the street, unconscious and curled into a ball. And she wasn’t alone, either.There were Rogues surrounding her. I prepared to fight them as I ran up to Moana, but to my surprise, they didn’t seem to be going after her. Instead, they were backing away from her in fear, clinging to the walls of the buildings around them and hissing and snarling angrily
Moana When the three hooded men came and ripped me out of the car, the only thing on my mind was Ella’s safety. Even as they zip-tied my wrists, put a sack over my head and shoved me into a van then sped off with me as their hostage, I only thought about Ella. If anything happened to her, I would never forgive myself. The men were speaking to each other in hushed tones, which I could hardly hear over the sound of the car speeding and my own heavy heartbeat. “Where are you taking me?!” I shouted, struggling against the zip ties around my wrists. “Shut up.” One of the men smacked the side of my head through the sack, causing me to see a flash of light and leaving my head reeling. It wasn’t hard enough to leave any lasting damage, but it still hurt. It scared me and made me whimper out of fear, but even then, I kept prodding for answers. “You’d better not hurt that little girl,” I snarled. “Her father will kill you.” One of the men groaned. I couldn’t see his face through the fabri