Anada (Book #3)

Hated

"Why have you done this? Why would you kill him?" I growl in the face of Jagannatha Abhay. A man who had posed as Leon Escapade for weeks.
"So that I might can show the human race who the real monsters are amongst us. You are not human. You're a freak of nature. A mutation meant to be cut off." Jagannatha answers ruthlessly.
I stepped back away from him. I needed to contact my team members. My body shifted back to a human, and then I asked Duke if he had a phone anywhere on him. I had left mine laying in the floorboard of Elias's Mustang. Duke immediately hands me his cellphone, and the first number I dial in is Alex's.
I'm supposed to be at the hospital right now, because I had previously been shot with a poisoned bullet. I don't know how I'm going to explain to Alex how I healed myself though.
As soon as my team captain answers, I ask him, "Where are the other shifters at? I think they're still in danger."
He hesitates as if he's thinking and then tells me, "They're spread out across the city. Why?"
All the shifters are spread out across the city. Jagannatha was still going to expose them no matter what. How he spoke told me that he was steadfast in his planes. He would fulfill them no matter what. According to his earlier ways of thinking, he probably had a back-up plan. If there was another staff that could control the shifters it would have to be larger and much stronger in order to cover the whole city.
When I don't immediately answer Alex, he says to me irritatedly, "Anada, you're at the hospital, right? You better be."
"Yeah, I'm totally at the hospital."
"You're lying."
"That's not important. Have there been any new radio towers built in the area lately?" I ask Alex as I glare at Jagannatha Abhay.
"Yes, right outside the city. Anada-"
I interrupt, "I'm sorry, Alex. I have to go. Duke is waiting in the alley with Mr.Liam and this crazy guy."
I pull the phone away from my ear, andI  barely hear him asking about Duke and why Mr.Liam was there. I give the phone back to Duke. Without any further words, I shift back to a green dragon.
My large wings sprout from back as a tail grows from the base of my back. Scales replace my clothes and skin. Deadly sharp teeth replace my dull human teeth. Black iron-strong talons protrude from my scaly hands and feet. The determination of a full-blooded dragon fills me like a wildfire. I stretch open my wings to ready myself for what I'm about to do next.
I turn to Duke with a dark sideways glance at Jagannatha, "Watch him. He's smarter than you think."
I then shoot up into the sky. Snow has now started to fall, and my wings pump harder as I go higher. The cold snowflakes blow into my eyes and around my wings. A fierce icy wind blows against me as if it wants to stop me. The city below me becomes hazy with the swirling snow blocking my view.
I let my dragon senses take over completely. The radio tower that could control the shifters in D.C. was somewhere outside the city. I wasn't sure where it was exactly, and that's why I had to push myself harder.
My wings beat continuously as I reached what I assumed was the outskirts of the city. The whole world was grey and white. All I could hear was the screaming of the wind. My wings felt like they were fighting an underwater current. The temperature inside the clouds was far colder than the ground's. The relentless chilling winds penetrated through my scales and thin wing membrane.
Getting to the tower before the radio waves began signaling the shifters seemed hopeless. My sight was totally obscured by ice and snow. Even with enhanced dragon hearing, smell, sight, and strength, I knew that with each passing second I came closer to the fate of all shifters.
The world can't handle the truth of shapshifters. I must stop this before it happens. If shifters are reveled, it will changed the world and its future beyond our comprehension.
Fighting against the wind, I searched for the tower. The winds were now strong enough to effortlessly blow me from side to side. In the distance I saw a faint red light blink. It sparked hope inside me, and the remaining adrenaline flowed through my blood veins causing me to flap my wings harder.
It wasn't just a physical fight. A mental one too.
My body was inside a snowstorm, but my mind was elsewhere. I was thinking about all those I had fought along side. Alex, Westen, Neil, Reina, and Elias. Especially, Elias. He stayed by my side every step... until he could no more. In a way, it was my fault that Elias had been thrown against a car's hood and had his arm burned severely.
In one day, I experienced both physical and mental pain. Those things are what fueled the inferno that kept me going.
Exhaustion was irrelevant. Time was being lost. The future was laying in my scaly hands.
The little blinking red dot grew larger and larger. Sometimes the snow blocked the faint light, but I forced myself into the same direction. Every so often a gust of wind would blow me off course. I kept my focus though, and flew into the blinding snow.
The tower itself eventually came into my sight. It's steel skeleton rose into the sky. The ground it stood on couldn't be seen, but it obviously was still there.
Suddenly, a high-pitched noise emanated from the structure. Its piercing screech was earsplitting. Instantly, a more uncontrollable primal instinct took over. It urged me to attack something, but my slowly fading mind told me to fight it. The noise continued nonetheless.
...wait. What am I doing here? Why is it snowing? Is that a red blinking light?
I shook my head. Everything felt like a dream. A piercing sound kept giving me a headache, and I wanted to give in to its control so it would cease the sharp pain in my head. Something deep inside me forced me to fight against it.
I'm so confused. Where am I and what is this noise? Is there a reason why I'm supposed to not let this sound control me? Was there really a reason why I came out here in the cold?
I pumped my wings as I hovered in the blowing snow. The frequency from the radio tower became stronger by the very second. Each moment took away more snatches of my conscience. Little by little, losing myself.
What's my name? When did it start snowing?
Finally, I just flew toward the blinking red light ahead of me. It was the only beacon around. The noise continued to emanate and prod at me. It tried taking away my very self, but the last bit of my self-awareness told me not to let it do so.
A sudden strong gust of wind blew me forward. My body rammed into the top of the radio tower. The frequency became staticky for a mere second. In that small amount of time, my mind cleared completely. The reason I fought, why I was there, and how I got there came back to me immediately.
The noise continued, but my goal purpose had become clear once again.
I would have given in to its control, if I hadn't body slammed into it.
I wrapped my legs and tail around one of the cold metal rods that supported the tower. The wind pulled on my large wings. It threatened to rip me from my hold.
My hand grabbed onto the rod above me, and I began to ascend the tower. The fire that urged me to keep going could not be stomped out this time.
With much physical effort and mental motivation, I reached the top of the tower. The round drum looking device that could control the shifters was tightly bolted down to the steel frame. This was the thing that had attempted to take over my conscience only moments ago.
I mercilessly let loose my flame upon it. Bright red and orange fire erupted from my toothy maw. The fire bathed the hated devise. Pieces of the drum-like thing began to melt under the extreme heat.
My talons and spines had involuntarily rose in temperature. They glowed a hot bright fiery orange. The steel frame that I held onto began bubbling underneath my super-heated talons.
I stretched my right hand outward and raked my glowing talons across the last remaining wires that held the devise in place. The despised thing fell past me and heavily landed somewhere on the ground.
The wind was louder than ever now, I barely could see my own body through the white snow. The adrenaline had quickly faded from my blood, and the real exhaustion began to involuntarily set in.
I strongly clung onto the tower. When I opened my eyes once again, I realized something. I had done it... I destroyed the devise! No longer could it take control of innocent shifters. The machine was fallible, because it couldn't fully take control of me. I had fought through it even when it looked like I couldn't.
I slid down the cold steel frame of the tower. The ground eventually came into view, and then I plopped down on the thick snow covered ground. The still smoldering devise was laying a few yards away. All the snow around it had melted.
My body begged for rest. Every one of my limbs was shaking from the intense physical exertion from flying moments earlier.
The soft fluffy snow looked so comfortable to rest on. I could just lay down for a while-
I shook my head. There were many other things that had to be done first. Selfish desires were for later.
I turned myself around and launched myself back into the snow-filled sky.