Morph [EDITING] || Wattys 2017 Winner

~TWENTY ONE~

~amelie~

The Lynx Hotel is tall, gilded, and - above all - huge. As we walk through the streets, aiming for the hotel - visible even from this distance - Lila disguises us as regular citizens. Hunter reads the file.

"So. Fletcher always has at least two guards with her, but since this is such a short stay she'll probably have extra security. This says... we need to be prepared for many more guards than usual. With guns."
"No problem," Lila says, raising an eyebrow confidently.
Amber frowns. "Real bullets, right? You can't just bluff your way through actual bullets. We need to be stealthy about this."
"Good point," Hunter agrees. "This says her room is number 334, so we're going to need a way to get inside."

They keep talking as my focus drifts away. I stare at the crowds of people pushing past each other, brightly lit shop windows advertising their contents behind them. I stare at the high apartment blocks rising up behind them, balconies with laundry hanging from the rails. I stare at all the normal people, and I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn't ever found my power. But as soon as I try to imagine it, I realise that my ability is a part of me, and without it, I wouldn't be... me.

"Amelie?"
"Huh?" My head snaps round to see my teammates staring at me.
"You didn't hear anything we just said, did you?" Lila says accusingly.
Amber adds, slightly more reasonable, "We were deciding who should go in, and who stays out. You're going to go in with them." She points at Hunter and Lila.
"Wait, what? Why me?"
"I need to disguise us to get in, and Hunter needs to bust the locks. That leaves you or Amber to stay with the getaway man, and you're too recognisable," Lila explains.
"I'm not... why am I recognisable?"

She just points at a small newspaper stand, just a few feet away from us. Commuters come and go, and occasionally one will stop at the stand. As I watch, he hands over a few coins and gets a thick paper back. A jolt of shock goes through me as I see my face, plastered over the front page. The writing below describes me as a missing person, possibly kidnapped.

"Come on," says Hunter quietly. He reaches out a hand, and places it on my shoulder, and gives me a small smile.

We don't talk much after that. The Lynx looms above us by the time we're on the same street, and once we're next to it it seems even larger. The building cuts an imposing shadow across the pavement, and it's dark as we slip into the revolving doors and enter the hotel. The interior is wide and spacious, with warm lighting dotted across the room at random intervals. Comfy chairs are scattered all over the floor, and the curving white reception bench in front of us has a leaping neon cat above the words "LYNX HOTEL". As we stand and take in the homely atmosphere, a girl with a thick blonde braid walks away from the bench and flounces past us to the door.

"So how are we meant to get in to the room?" points out Amber, looking confused.
I say suddenly, "Wait here."

As they watch, I check my surroundings for anyone who could notice me. A receptionist eyes me suspiciously, but then his colleague says something in his ear and his concentration vanishes. Lightning fast, I morph, pulling off my balaclava in the process. I give myself cute, childlike looks, and my hair changes to a flowing dark brown braid. I look a lot younger now. Lila stops disguising me as I quickly move towards the desk, and the receptionist looks at me again. For a minute I think he saw me change, but then his face stretches into a smile and he asks what I need.

"Hi," I say sweetly, trying to make myself seem extra innocent and cute. "I locked myself out of our room, and my mum gave me the only key... Can you help me? Please?"
"Sure," he answers, smile fixed in place. I get the feeling it's not that genuine. "Do you know your number?"
I pretend to think. "334, I think..."

He taps his keyboard for a few seconds, before he bends down and grabs something. There's a faint beep, and then he's up again, smiling, and presenting me with a slim white card, with the same pouncing lynx symbol.