The Altered (5 page)

Ash and Matt
left for work soon after that but not before bringing Daniel
breakfast in bed since he couldn’t get up. Ash had suggested they
take him to a hospital just to be sure, but both Daniel and Matt
squashed that idea quickly.

Hospitals were
where they took blood, and that was just asking for trouble. Daniel
didn’t think his ribs were broken—Matt said he couldn’t hear any
bones grinding together, which was a gross thought all on its
own—so he was probably just badly bruised. He’d heal soon
enough.

Ash had
frowned from Daniel’s bedroom doorway, biting his lip as though he
wanted to push the hospital issue, but settled for leaving Daniel a
glass of water and an impressive array of painkillers.

He managed to
nap most of the day away, only waking up when Matt popped back at
lunchtime armed with sandwiches and coffee. The three of them spent
the evening holed up in Daniel’s room, eating takeaway and watching
TV so that he wouldn’t be on his own.

Outsiders
might find it odd, how close they were. Daniel and Matt had been
friends since before the change, and the seer-shifter thing had
definitely brought them closer. But Ash had slotted in seamlessly,
and if anybody kept them grounded, it was him—their link with the
unaltered population and a reminder that not everyone thought of
them as freaks. Daniel loved them both.

The next week
or so went much the same way—Daniel stayed in bed most of the time,
and after the weekend, Matt and Ash took turns to either bring him
lunch or make him sandwiches in the morning. At times like this,
Daniel wished the pathogen had changed him into a shifter instead
of what he was.

He normally
wished he hadn’t been altered at all, but he could use some of
Matt’s enhanced healing ability right about now. Daniel healed
quicker than he did before the change, but it still took a good
week before he felt like a sneeze wouldn’t kill him.

Work had been
okay about him being off, although he’d taken the last two days as
holiday so that he wouldn’t have to provide a doctor’s note. By
Sunday afternoon he was almost fully recovered—recovered enough to
feel bored—and going a little stir-crazy from being stuck in the
house for so long.

Ash and Matt
were both out, though, and Daniel couldn’t be arsed to get dressed
and go out somewhere on his own. The sun was out, so he grabbed his
fleece, coat, and gloves, and opened up the back door leading into
their small garden and parked himself on their one and only
sunlounger—left out from the summer.

It was still
bloody cold, but warmer than the last few days thank God, and
Daniel closed his eyes, enjoying the fresh air and the meagre
warmth of the sun’s rays. He must have dozed off for a while
because the next thing he noticed was someone gently shaking his
arm.

“Hey, wake up
you crazy fucker,” Matt said. “What are you doing out here? It’s
bloody January, not July.”

“Wanted fresh
air.” Daniel groaned and swatted at Matt’s hand to get him to stop.
“Go ’way.”

“Nope. I have
news, and you’ve slept the whole week away, so get up and stop
being such a slob.”

“I was
injured.”

“You’re all
better now, so come inside and I’ll tell you.”

Daniel took
his time sitting up and walking to the patio doors—he still ached,
for fuck’s sake—and Matt rolled his eyes at him when he made it
into the kitchen and sat down at the table. “What?”

“Guess who I
ran into today?” Matt was smiling in what Daniel liked to call his
“I’ve done something for your own good even if you won’t like it”
way.

Daniel covered
his face with his hands. “Who? I have absolutely no idea.”

“Jordan.”

It took Daniel
a good few seconds to recall someone they both knew called Jordan.
And then he remembered. He dropped his hands and met Matt’s gaze,
knowing he wasn’t going to like this. “From the bar?”

Matt
nodded.

“And?”

“You know that
gym we pass sometimes when you make us shop at the big Sainsbury’s?
It’s by the river. A couple of the guys from my work go there.”

“The one you
keep banging on about joining?”

“Yes, because
it’s supposed to be good and is run by altereds, so, you know, no
awkward questions about strength. Well, anyway, I went there today
to take a look.”

“And what? You
met him there?”

“Sort of.”
Matt pulled up a chair and sat down, leaning his elbows on his
knees. “He’s the owner.” He looked far too excited for this kind of
news, considering his last interaction with Jordan. Daniel felt he
was missing the point.

“That’s…
good?”

“Yes, I
suppose, but that’s not what I wanted to tell you.”

Daniel made a
“come on, then” gesture with his hand. At this rate it’d be dark
before Matt got to the end of his story, and Daniel was getting
hungry.

“Obviously he
recognized me.”

“Obviously.”
Another thing the pathogen had changed—and it was the same for
every shifter, regardless of how much they’d been altered
physically. They all had enhanced senses, and they never forgot a
person’s scent.

Daniel didn’t
have that ability, and he hated the thought of someone being able
to pick him out of a crowd like that, but there was nothing he
could do about it. “Did he threaten you or something?” he asked,
though Matt didn’t look remotely pissed off.

“No, but he
did ask me about you.”

“Me?”

“Yep.” Matt
had an air of smugness about him now, and Daniel narrowed his
eyes.

“What exactly
did he want to know?” Daniel didn’t have many friends for a reason.
He trusted a total of three people—his mum, Matt, and now Ash. His
need for privacy was born out of necessity and was something he’d
learned at great cost to both him and his mum.

Matt’s
expression instantly changed, and he reached out to grip Daniel’s
shoulder. “Calm down. It was nothing bad. He didn’t mention
anything about you being a seer. He just asked me if you were okay
and if you’d had any more trouble.”

“And you
said?”

“I told him
you were milking it, making me and Ash wait on you hand and
foot.”

“What? I
bloody well haven’t—you both offered!”

“Whatever. It
got a laugh out of him.”

Daniel wasn’t
sure why that bothered him so much, but he punched Matt in the arm,
anyway.

“And I might
also have let slip where you work.”

“Why would you
do that? I thought you didn’t like the guy. I distinctly remember
you growling at him in the alleyway.”

“That was
different, and you know it. You were hurt, and I didn’t want to let
anyone near you.”

Ugh,
fucking protective instincts
. Daniel couldn’t stay mad after
that.

“Besides, I
think it’s safe to assume they knew what you were and still helped.
That’s got to count for something.”

“So you’re
best friends now?” he asked, but all the fight had gone out of him,
and Matt knew it.

“No, I just
made some remark about Ash saying the library was peaceful without
you in it, and he kinda guessed that was where you worked. I didn’t
tell him which one, I’m not that fucking stupid.”

Daniel’s
stomach chose the lull in conversation to rumble loudly. He stood
and stretched out his arms, relieved when he no longer felt it pull
painfully at his side. “Whatever, I doubt he’s going to remember.
Let’s go make dinner. I’m starved.”

“Hey, will you
be okay going in today?” Matt stopped him with a hand on his arm as
Daniel reached for the door.

“Yeah, why? I
feel fine now.” Daniel checked his watch, he still had a few
minutes, but he didn’t want to be late on his first day back.

Matt rubbed at
the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. “That’s not what I
meant. Those two shifters at the bar, they might have told others,
or they could—”

“If they
wanted to find me again it wouldn’t matter if I was at work or at
home, Matt.”

“I know that,
but it just seems safer at home.”

Jordan and his
friends probably stood a better chance of finding him at work after
Matt told them about the library, but Daniel didn’t mention that.
“You know I can’t live that way—forever looking over my shoulder
and wondering if anyone’s watching.”

“Dan—”

“Look, I
promise to be careful and be extra vigilant. But I’m not hiding
away now or ever, because that’s not how I want to live. I’m sure
they’ve got better things to be doing than coming after me.”

Matt huffed,
clearly frustrated but let it go. “If you see anything
suspicious…”

“You’ll be the
first person I call.”

“Fine.
Just...be careful, okay?” Matt pulled him in for a fierce hug,
which Daniel returned just as tightly. “We can always leave if we
have to.”

“God, I don’t
think we’re quite there yet. It was two guys outside a bar, not a
secret government agency.”

“Two
shifters.”

“Okay, fine,
two shifters. But it’s been over a week and nothing’s happened.” He
pulled back, relieved to see Matt looking less serious than
before.

They always
said if the worst happened, they’d pack up and leave—they rented
the house, so it would be relatively easy. But Daniel loved living
here, and he hoped his fuck-up wouldn’t mean they had to go.

It would be
fine. It had to be.

As Daniel
predicted, his journey to work was uneventful. He might have
discreetly eyed up the other passengers on the Tube more thoroughly
than normal, but nobody piqued his interest. He did breathe a sigh
of relief when he reached the familiar stone steps of the library,
and walked up to push open the heavy wooden doors.

The building
was old and welcoming and Daniel loved the way it retained its
history while keeping up with today’s technology. He waved at
Audrey, on the ground floor desk, and assured her that he was
feeling much better despite being pale.

She looked
like your stereotypical librarian—early fifties, with grey hair and
wearing her glasses on a chain. She tried to mother Ash whenever
she saw him, convinced he wasn’t eating enough, which Daniel and
Matt found hilarious. Normally he’d stop for a chat with her, but
his talk with Matt had made him late, so he promised to pop down
later and climbed the stairs to the second floor.

The quiet took
him by surprise after being off for the week, and for a second his
nerves got the better of him. He needed to get a grip. Nothing was
going to happen to him in the bloody library. He draped his coat
over his chair and locked his phone, keys and wallet in his desk
drawer, and forced himself to take a walk around.

The tops of
the stacks were taller than Daniel, and they loomed around him as
he walked between them. It had never struck him as eerie before,
but now he could see exactly how many places there were to hide.
His heart rate sped up until he stopped near the back and rested
his head on the thick glass overlooking the back stairwell, and
breathed.

“Bloody hell,”
he whispered, and closed his eyes. Nobody was here. No one waiting
to jump out at him. Just him and the books.

“What are you
doing all the way back here?”

Daniel
startled and banged his head on the glass. “Ow.” He turned to see
Ash grinning at him. “I thought you had the day off?”

“Simon called
in sick, so I said I’d cover for him.” Ash had a small Tupperware
box in his hands, and Daniel pointed at it.

“What’s
that?”

“Chocolate
chip cookies.” Ash gave a put upon sigh, and gestured back toward
the stairs. “From Audrey. Apparently, I look like I’ve lost
weight.”

Daniel kept a
straight face. “You do look a little on the thin side.”

“Shut up or I
won’t let you have any.” He clutched the box to his chest and
Daniel held his hands up in surrender. Audrey’s cookies were
delicious.

He walked up
to Ash and nudged him with his elbow. “She means well. I don’t
think she ever got over the fact that you were homeless for all
those months.”

Ash looked
down at his shoes, his shyness returning as it tended to when
someone mentioned his past. “Yeah, I know.”

“Hey, come on,
let’s go get a cuppa and crack those open. We’ve got time.”

“Yeah, okay.”
Ash followed him over to the staff room. “So what were you doing
back there?”

Daniel flicked
the kettle on, and grabbed two mugs from the cupboard. “Reminding
myself that the library is a safe place.”

Ash raised an
eyebrow. “Because of what happened outside the bar?”

“Yeah. Matt’s
worried.”

“Are you?”

“No. Yes? God,
I don’t know, Ash.” Daniel finished making their drinks and handed
a mug to Ash. “I know I like to bury my head in the sand a bit, but
it’s the only way I know to cope with it. If I let myself believe
that there are people out there looking for me—people who want me
dead or to use me—then I’d never leave the bloody house.”

Ash sipped his
tea, a thoughtful look on his face. “Yeah. I can see how that would
suck.”

“Exactly. Now
pass me one of those cookies.”

The rest of
Monday came and went without any more drama, and Daniel got used to
being in the library again and feeling as safe as before. There was
no sign of Jordan either, which Daniel should have expected, but
he’d be lying if he said a tiny part of him hadn’t wondered if he’d
show up.

Ash stopped
midstep when he came into Daniel’s area of the library and was met
with his look of disappointment. “Who were you expecting?”

Daniel
shrugged. “No one.”

Ash had
obviously talked to Matt because he just laughed. “Sure.”

It happened
every time someone came in, and Daniel knew it was ridiculous, but
he couldn’t help himself.