Anada (Book #3)

Stuck Like This

I woke to the smell of bacon. I forced my eyes open, and came out of the deep restful sleep.
Reina and the others surrounded a microwave. A few seconds later it dinged. Elias then pulls out a plate with strips of bacon on it.
"Who got the bacon?" I asked while yawning.
My many sharp teeth gleamed in the morning light. I stretch my back like a cat, and every vertebrae along my spine pops. I then open my right wing, and glanced at the sling that was still on my broken left wing.
"Alex went out to the store. He just got back. You must've been sleeping hard, because we were being very loud." Westen says with a smile.
I sniff the air and Elias hands me a plate with some of the bacon on it. I immediately lick it all up and swallowed it in one gulp. My tongue runs over my mouth after eating the bacon.
Elias laughs, "With an appetite like that you'll end up eating all the food here."
I grin and say, "I am a dragon. My stomach isn't as small as a human's."
Neil finishes his and tells us, "We'll get something else when we go out again."
"Where will we be going?" I ask curiously.
Western answers my question, "We're going to be leaving for South Carolina. On the way there we're going to meet with Mr.Escapade. I think we all have some questions for him."
I nod, but say, "It'll take us two weeks to drive back to the East coast though."
"You're right, but your wing will be healed by then. If your wing doesn't heal by then you can't see him. You can't just trot up to him in dragon form."
I nod once again and watch the rest of my teammates eat their breakfast. After that we decided it was time to leave, but we had one problem on our hands.
How would I get to one of the team's vehicles without being seen? It's broad daylight and there's a busy highway right outside the hotel.
We brainstorming for about ten minutes. Elias finally makes up a plan. He tells me to cover myself with a blanket. Elias then goes outside and pulls his Mustang right up next to the door of the hotel. He then opens the car door while still in the driver's seat.
I hope a walking blanket doesn't attract more attention than a human sized dragon.
I then walk from the room and into the back seat of the Mustang. The distance between my starting point and my destination was only four feet, but there was no stealth in my action.
Apparently, I should've been faster or less conspicuous, because the hotel manager walks over and starts talking to Reina and Alex.
I listen to the conversation while barely peaking out the rear window.
"You're not allowed to have pets here." The manager says sourly.
I could tell that Alex and Reina were trying to think of an excuse, but they decided to just pay the fee for having a pet in their hotel room.
An our later we're heading east on the interstate. As always, Elias I ride together while everybody else ride in Hummer.
A steady but fine rainfall is coming down. The windows have little streaks of raindrops across them. The tractor trailer ahead of us is blowing up a fine misty cloud of water. Other than that there are two cars about half a mile behind us. The traffic was basically dead.
"I'm glad I can still fit back here." I say to Elias while laying across the seats in the back of the car.
I had all three seat belts buckling me down. Elias had insisted me to use the seat belts so I would stay safe in an emergency.
I see Elias smile in the rear view mirror, "I'm glad you still can. I don't mean to be offensive when I say that you have grown since I first found out you were a dragon."
The memory comes back in a quick flash. I remember seeing the look on Elias's face when I told him about how I was a shapeshifter. He was surprised, shocked, confused and curious all at the same time. It was a memory that I often looked back on. Because that was the day that I truly began trusting Elias.
I glance out the window, and  immediately come eye to eye with a five year old girl in the car driving next to us. I duck down while deciding that it was best to not look out the window during the trip.
For three days we drive. I restlessly sit in the back seat while my legs yearn and beg to stretch and run. We only stop to eat, rest, or take a pit-stop.
We only saw the team once during those three days. It was when we decided to have lunch in the middle of the desert. It was the only place that no one could see a dragon and five humans have a normal meal together.
When Elias and I had to find someplace to rest we would either go to a hotel late at night when nobody could see me or we would just sleep in the car.
On the third night we decided to stay at this run down hotel, but I admit that it was better than sleeping in the car again.
I easily slid into the hotel room without being noticed. The room had wallpaper slowly peeling from the wall and there was a water stain on the roof from a leak. I couldn't figure that out, because we were in the driest place in the whole entire rainless desert.
I turn to Elias as he shuts the door, "We've literally been sitting in the car all day. I find it useless to go to sleep."
He nods and throws his car keys on the nightstand. I silently watch him walk over to radio and go through the radio channels.
He laughs, "We actually have a radio in our hotel room for once, and we have to be miles away from a good radio tower."
I smile and attempt to turn a lamp on. I nearly send it into the floor, but Elias catches it and turns it on for me.
"Hey, how does your wing feel?" Elias asks while looking at the sling on my left wing.
I sigh, "It's about the same. I just wish I hadn't broken it. Flying here in the desert would have been awesome."
Then about three days later after repeating the same boring process of hotel, driving, hotel, driving, hotel, and driving we finally reach the city where Mr.Escapade was at. Atlanta, Georgia.
My wing had healed more, but I needed at least six days before I could safely shift back to a human.
Alex made an appointment for us to meet with Mr.Escapade in six days. Hopefully, I will be completely healed by that time.
Finding a comfortable hotel was easy in Atlanta, but getting a dragon inside one was not a walk in the park.
My teammates couldn't figure out how to get me up to the fifth floor of the hotel building. Our every movement would be recorded on the hotel surveillance cameras.
I sigh as I sit in the back of the Mustang with my friends crowded around the passenger door, "This is like a mission of its own. I'm like a piece of contraband trying to be smuggled into another country."
They all remained quiet for a while until I finally said sadly, "I'll stay in the car until I can shift back-."
Elias interrupts me, "No, you can not sit around in this car for six full days."
I move from my current position and stick my head up in the front seat, "How else am I going to travel around without shifting into a human? There are people literally everywhere."
Right as I said that a young woman passed by the car while giving us a very suspicious look. I guess that a group of people in their twenties gathered around an open car door looks strange. Especially at night.
When she well out of hearing rang Elias said excitedly, "I've got it. Here's the plan..."
About twenty minutes later I'm curled up on a luggage cart with the team's suitcases neatly packed around me. I'm a small bit larger than a human being so you can imagine how peculiar it looks. My teammates are crowded around the cart to offer extra cover.
They each act casual as we go into the elevator. I can see them through the space between the suit cases.
Reina is taping on her IPhone screen. Elias is blankly staring at the elevator buttons. Neil and Westen are talking about automotive repair technics. Then I see Alex looking at the black digital clock on his right wrist.
Lastly, I see a cleaning lady with her cart filled with disinfecting sprays and liquids. She keeps her space even though the elevator is small and cramped.
When the elevator dings five times the metallic doors open slowly. Then we all hurriedly spill out of the tiny space.
Reina pushes the cart, and we move forward. We're going well until the tip of my tail happens to slip out from under a suitcase.
I hear the cleaning lady behind us gasp slightly, and I nervously wait for her scared response. My heart beats rapidly as I thought about how she would scream her head off and report us to the hotel manager.
A few seconds later she finally says calmly, "It's fine. My sister is a shapeshifter too. I understand the troubles you go through."
I then hear the wheels on her cart squeak by and then she says happily, "Have a nice night."