Little Miss Hellhound (NaNoWriMo 2022)

Chapter 6

I've been to Vegas before. It's nice. Sort of. The neon lights everywhere is a thing really only on the strip. But everywhere else reminds me of SF. Regardless, we were in the car driving to a hotel I assumed. Mr and Mrs Bradley were in the back seats while someone else drove. We were in the very spacious trunk, and I was glad to be out of that cramped, dirty airport cage... and back into another pet carrier. At least it was roomier. Begal's was much smaller than mine and stacked to the side a little, latched down so it wouldn't rattle when mine moved around. I did have a view out of the spacious back window. The bright lights gave way to an awning of some kind. We were staying at one of the nicer hotels, I could see. Colored roads for the cars, since they reflected from the light and onto the shiny ceiling of the awning. There were picture flashes all around. I didn't think there were any celebrities. Probably just people taking photos outside the hotel. I do it all the time wherever I go. There wasn't a lot of talking. The walls and doors probably had some fancy carpet on them, some glowing trim, or something to make it upscale enough to justify being dropped at the front entrance. Or they were just old and couldn't go through the hassle of having to walk to the hotel from a parking garage. The trunk opened, giving me a full view of the car following us the whole time. They needed a whole separate car for their luggage, so I guess we're staying a while. Not my favorite city to be stuck in. The noise people here make is only worse when I'm a dog. I can hear everything. Especially when people are close. I was being walked back to the Bradleys from the airport and I could hear the stomach gurgling in some drunk girl being escorted with me from security. She tried petting me, but threw up in a nearby trashcan before she got anywhere near me. Here, I can hear lots of happy screams, drunk cheering, and big flashing machines. This one had slots on the first floor. Not anywhere near the door, but they were around. I could hear them. And everything smelled like perfume, alcohol, and car fumes. Yep. Never had this experience when I went here as a woman. Mostly.

"Do you know where we are?" Begal said.

"I've got a good idea."

"No, I mean do you really know where we are? We can't mess up here."

"What do you mean? I'm always posh."

"Whatever that means, you aren't it."

"How rude," I snapped. I thought we were warming up.

"No, you don't get it. This is it. This is what we... Well, I work my way up to. The secret dog show."

"Dog show? Westminster starts in New York, I think. In winter, not summer."

"I don't know what that is, but this one is where Mr and Mrs Bradley take us every year. I was hoping you'd be done by now and go." She motioned towards the latch. She knew I could break it.

"No way. Mr and Mrs Bradley need my help. I hope. Then I can get out of going to hell. That's more important than some stupid dog show."

One of the hotel staff unlatched Begal's cage and put her on a dolly. I was next. It took two of them to gently set me next to her. Her cage was facing away from mine, and she stayed quiet. So I took in the sights. The hotel, looking up through the overhead door in my cage, was massive. I couldn't see the sign or know which one it was from the outside, but I knew it was one of the more important ones. The windows were blacked out against the nearly set sun. There were people all over in cocktail dresses and suits, probably heading to dinner. There were also a lot of arrivals and a busy hotel staff taking luggage from all the nice cars. Most of them were helping us, but it felt closer to the crowds I was with when alive. But if I wanted to gamble my money with no other reward than to double it, Kim always said put it on the stock market. At least the payout would be better, she said, and that I 'might learn a thing or two about investing'. It wasn't a problem. I never liked gambling anyway. Why spend money on the chance to have more money when you can just spend it on something nice for yourself? Then you get something right away. But I was clearly in the minority given how many people funnel in and out of this city every year. Oh well. Have fun wasting your money.