Chapter 25 Daily grind

I yawned.

I had been sitting up on top of the Sears tower for hours. It was lunch time, and I was starting to feel hungry. No, that was an understatement. People a hundred stories down could probably hear my stomach growling.

I shifted my position, trying to find a more comfortable spot, but it just groaned louder.

Suddenly, my earpeice crackled. Dane was trying to contact me.

"Fio....Don't know if you can...trouble on 22nd street... bank robbery... right outside... can't see... closer look...'

As he was talking, I stood and raised my wings, but halted when he said 'closer look'. That idiot! He's going to get himself killed!

I tried to push the button to talk into the earpiece, but I just ended up poking myself in the head. I probably would have broken it anyway.

I leapt off the building, but instead of falling, turned it into a steep glide, and shot off across the city.

22nd street. let's see... I flapped hard, trying to fly as fast as possible. It's a good thing Raven isn't here, or she would be toast. Raven had decided to stay at the barn and see what she could find from exploring the surrounding area.

Finally, I spotted a street sign that said 22nd, and at the same time, spotted several police cars converging on a large Star bank. I dove, rocketing along between the buildings, just skimming vehicles, barely missing telephone wires, and kicking up a lot of debris in my wake.

I reached the bank moments before the first cop. However, I wondered if I might have to bust a hole in the wall. They didn't exactly make the front doors with dragons in mind. My new found size was beginning to become a problem. Luckily, there was a large loading bay door in the back, obviously built for armored vehicles, though it was built like a vault door, complete with a submarine-like-hatch wheel for unlocking it.

No problem for a fire-breathing dragon.

White-hot flames shot out of my mouth, spraying the side of the building with sparks. The metal melted like butter in a microwave. I finally stopped, to reveal a glowing yellow hole, which was quickly turning orange. I squeezed through, not bothered at all by the intense heat from the melted walls.

I stalked down a short, carpeted hallway, and poked one eye around the corner, into the main lobby. The first thing I noticed was that there were people lying all over the ground, face down, with their hands behind their heads. The second thing was that there were about ten crooks, one stationed at each entrance, the rest helping carry duffle bags stuffed full of money through what looked like a second loading bay, this one around the side of the building.

I decided it was time to announce my presence.

I took one step out from the hallway... And roared.

Shock waves blasted anyone that wasn't already on the floor. All the windows on the front of the building shattered, and a couple on the building next to it. The moneybags went flying, cash fluttering through the air like confetti. Some of the people on the floor screamed.

I stopped.

For a moment, everything was silent. Then, one by one, people began to pick themselves up from the floor. Before anyone moved, however, I whipped my tail through the air and snatched the robbers one by one, and threw them in a pile next to the counter.

Just then, I heard sirens and saw flashing lights outside the bank. A moment later, what was left of the door burst open, and officers poured in, guns at the ready, only to stop in surprise. We sat and stared at each other for for a few minutes, me waiting for them to make a move, them still unsure whether I was a threat or not.

Finally, I rolled my eyes and said, "Really, are we just going to stand around staring all day or are you actually going to arrest these guys?"

Several officers jumped when they heard me speak. Apparently they hadn't believed the rumors either. Most of the men put away their weapons and walked over to the pile of crooks, who by this time were beginning to moan and mumble about lawyers. A couple stayed put, their hands on their guns, apparently not convinced that I wasn't a threat. I sighed. I had to hand it to them. The police in this city were persistent, and took some real convincing.

I stood, and walked calmly toward the other loading dock, the one that the robbers had been using, making sure all parts of my body were in full view at all times. I didn't want to scare them into thinking I meant to attack them or take some of the cash that littered the floor. Nobody stopped me.

I had just stepped outside the door, and was about to take off, when suddenly, I remembered Dane.

I whipped my head toward the front of the building, then the back. when I didn't see him, I decided to try the earpiece again. I gently poked my claw at the base of my ear, and was rewarded by a faint crackling noise. "Dane! Where are you? I'm standing right next to where the criminals broke into the bank. I will meet you at the corner just down the street, by the CVS."

I let go, and listened.

A moment passed, then: "Okay, be there in a sec."

I launched myself upwards, flapping hard to get out of the alley's dead air and tight space. A moment later, i was gliding down behind the CVS, just in time to see Dane run around the corner from the drive-up.

As soon as he scrambled on, I flapped upward again, rising above the skyline, and then turned and winged my way toward home.

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The daily grind continued, some days completely uneventful, others seemed to go by quickly, a guy getting mugged here, a drunk driver there, a thief breaking into someone's house. A fire at some rich guy's mansion.

Each day, the police seemed to trust me a little more. Each day, I attracted more and more news vans, trying to catch a sight of the elusive white dragon.

Each day, no matter how hard I tried not to, I woke up as a human, shivering and most often naked. I always managed to change before Dane saw me. It wasn't much of a challenge, really. That boy slept like a pile of rocks.

A week passed, then two. I finally stopped growing so fast, lucky me. Another week and I wouldn't have been able to fit on a street, let alone in the barn.

I still hadn't discovered why I even changed in the first place. I hadn't seen so much as a scrap of black cloth from those 'shifter' creatures, either.

But I was sure they would be back.

I could sense it.