Outcasts

Chapter Ten

We stumbled into our hotel room. I collapsed onto the bed-what I realized was the only bed.

Cassie grunted. "No wonder this hotel was so cheap."

I looked around, seeing peeling wallpaper and hardly any furniture.

"I'll sleep as a cat," I offered, but I was still pressed against the bed, so it sounded more like, "Ow slep-booshihat."

"Okay, that's fine. I'll sleep as a dog, so I'll be on the floor."

Ryan shrugged. "I guess I get the bed. So I'll stay human."

"Who's the animal now, Ryan?" Cassie asked.

"Whatever."

But I didn't move from where I was. My muscles didn't want to. I felt so tired.

Tomorrow you're going to get Kile, My brain reminded me. That filled me with more energy. So I got up and morphed into a cat, then Lazily jumped onto the bed, surprised how my cat legs made the bound so effortlessly. I flopped onto my side, and started purring.

Ryan laughed, and sat down in the room's only chair, a plush that was not in very good condition. 

Cassie ran over to a monitor. A computer? In a hotel room? But I guess they needed something to make this room worth actual money.

She typed something on the digital hologram keyboard-Old but still useful-and the screen turned dark. A floor plan to what I assumed was the palace popped up.

I jumped up. "How did you do that?" I asked. But I was a cat. So it just sounded like "Mrow?" I quickly morphed into a human and rushed over. "Where did you get that?"

"Shh," She hissed. "It's an illegal website!"

Oh. That explains it.

I sat back down. "How long before we can go?"

"Just a day, maybe two."

That had to be good enough, I told myself. But war wasn't going to wait forever.

"You two should get some sleep," Cassie told me and Ryan.

"I was planning on it," I said. I shifted into a cat and bounded off the bed.

I took the chair and Ryan took the bed.

I took a liking of the fluff coming out of the chair. Now I knew why cats were so obsessed with yarn balls. I played with it for a while, until I felt too tired to move.

Then my cat-self yawned and fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up, I was being carried in some sort of bag.

Panic surged over me. What was happening? I meowed and jumped out of the bag and bolted away, down what I realized was the hall of the hotel.

I looked back to find Cassie walking with Ryan and a bag.

Oh.

I morphed into a human. "Sorry guys," I said. "I didn't know what was going on."

Cassie looked like she was trying not to laugh. "That was funny. I always forget how funny cats look when they're scared."

"Hey," I defended. "How would you feel if you woke up to randomly being carried in a bag? Also why were you carrying me in a bag?"

"We're going," Cassie said.

"Going, going?" I asked. "Already?"

She nodded. "Going going. And yes, already. We got all the info we need."

"Where is he?" I asked.

"He's staying in the guest quarters," Ryan said.

"Luckily," Cassie said, "That part's easy to break into."

"So what are we going to do?" I asked.

"You and Ryan are going to go in through the main doors, and ask to see him. They should give you about five minutes."

"Okay?"

"When you get into his room, explain everything. Then, I'll open up the air vent above you. We'll climb out that way."

That didn't seem too hard.

"Okay, but how will you get in?"

She opened her mouth, but didn't speak. It took her a moment to finally say, "It doesn't matter."

I was too tired to question her. Why did it seem like when you wake up you were even more tired than when you went to bed?

Cassie swiped her wrist when we got into the elevator. "You guys got it?"

We nodded.

"Also," Cassie added, "I printed out a paper copy of the floor plans. Not digital, but you know, none of us have phones, so..."

Of course we didn't. You can track phones, after all. That's why I left mine in my old apartment.

She handed me a folded paper.

Ryan patted his pocket.

My heart raced. We were actually doing this. Kile wasn't going to get hurt. Happiness flared inside me. Who knew I was going to get to see Kile again?!

"Okay," Cassie said as we exited the elevator. "We're doing this."