Gary had to stop himself from hyperventilating due to excitement. His inner fanboy needed to be contained, yet he couldn’t waste any more Energy than he already had. Still, there was one silver lining to meeting Jayden.
If Gary was to suddenly turn, he was convinced that the Altered superstar could suppress him in a fight. Unfortunately, he didn’t know what would happen after that point, so the high schooler made up his mind to never find out.
The receptionist was baffled at the disheveled sight of Gary, but didn’t say anything as the teenager followed the VVIP to the elevator. Jayden hadn’t lied about his room being more than one person realistically needed, however he had failed to mention one very important detail.
He was staying in the PENTHOUSE AT THE TOP FLOOR!
The room alone was around five times the size of the apartment where Gary lived with his mother and sister. Through the glass windows one would be able to see the entire town of Slough. This is exactly the type of life Gary had dreamt about when wishing to become an Altered one day.
Alas, he couldn’t really enjoy it right now.
Leaving behind a still baffled teenager, Jayden had gone to one of the connecting rooms and returned with a new shirt on. The Altered superstar then threw over a pair of briefs, socks, trousers, as well as a jacket.
“This should let you go around town tomorrow without alarming the police. If you go down the hall, the showers are to the right. There’s a toothbrush and everything in each room.
‘It’s late and I have an early start tomorrow. Just keep the clothes, there’s no need to return them. Leave whenever you wish, though don’t be surprised if I’m already gone by the time you wake up.” Jayden told him. “Feel free to take a bite out of whatever’s in the fridge.”
Turning around, the Altered superstar was ready to close the door to his room, but stopped a few seconds later and opened it again.
“Look, I know times are tough in the world at the moment, but if you don’t do something about it, then you might be stuck in this situation forever. The biggest influence on your life is you. Don’t wait for something to happen, change and make it happen.” Jayden made a fist and swung it out.
Gary understood the message that the other wanted him to stand up to his ‘bullies’. The high schooler smiled and nodded, thinking to himself that right now his problem wasn’t fighting off bullies, it was trying to stop himself from killing and eating them.
With the door closed, this was Gary’s best chance to leave. Quickly putting on the provided clothes, he turned around and was about to head out, yet he suddenly stopped, considering his current situation.
Right now, he was at a place where there was nobody else around. The only person that actually WAS around, should be strong enough to contain him. And in case Billy actually tried to attack him again, that person could actually protect him from the other Werewolf.
His family still believed that he was at Tom’s. The only thing worrying him was that he was unable to contact his best friend. After having saved the other’s contact info on his phone, he had never bothered memorising it. Unfortunately, his phone had been left at the storage warehouse.
Not to mention, right now he was still a threat to him.
There was an ornate clock above the TV that told Gary that it was 3 AM. The sun would surely rise in about a couple more hours, so he decided to just wait it out. Sitting on the large sofa, the high schooler waited around, and eventually his system notified him.
[4/120 Energy]
‘What happens when my energy hits 0, will I even be able to move?’ Before Gary knew it, he found himself walking towards the fridge. Opening it, he was surprised to find it filled with all types of protein.
Steaks, chicken, lamb among other animal meat and from the looks of it, all high-quality products. Saliva immediately started to dribble out from his mouth. He was sure that just half a pound of any of that stuff would cost more than the rent for their small apartment.
‘This is what you would expect from a top class Altered.’ Gary reached out ready to grab the food, yet stopped inches away.
‘What if I can’t control myself? No! I have to control myself.’ Gary picked up one of the raw steaks, and slowly and carefully started to take a small bite out of it. It was taking all of his willpower to stop himself from just swallowing the whole thing in an instant. He had to grit his teeth and was using his other hands to hold himself back.
[+2 Energy]
‘I can do this! If I just eat a little at a time, stopping my Energy from going too high it should be okay. When it gets low I’ll just take another bite. Yeah, I just need to hold myself back.’ Gary thought.
This way he continued battling with himself. More than once he had caught his body moving subconsciously. This was a mental type of torture that Gary had never experinced before, but after what felt like an eternity, Gary could finally see it. There, through the large glass window, he could see the sun was starting to rise, while the moon was starting to disappear.
Some time after that he received new notifications.
[You have successfully survived a full moon!]
[The blessing of the moon has passed]
[30 days until the next full moon]
‘I did it! I did it!’ Gary jumped up, and the first thing he did was head straight for the fridge.
He had held back to prevent his Energy from recovering to the point he would be able to transform against, worried that this transformation might last until the moon came up again, or worse, a few days, but judging by the system it seemed like that wasn’t going to be the case.
——
Early in the morning, Jayden’s alarm woke him up at 6:30 AM. As he went out, he was surprised to see that the kid he had picked up earlier was nowhere to be seen. He had expected to find him in one of the rooms, still sleeping soundly, but it seemed as if he might have disappeared after he had gone off to sleep.
However, Jayden’s conscience was appeased. He had done a good deed and could only wish the boy the best from now on. He headed to the fridge to look for a snack, though when he opened it his jaw nearly dropped.
‘What the hell?! I just had it filled yesterday! Did that frigging kid eat all of it? … no, that should be impossible. There was enough in there to last me a week. Did he steal some of it, to try and make cash or something? Argh, that doesn’t matter, what am I supposed to eat now?!’
———
A little earlier, both White Rose agents had returned to the police station. They had done so to make a report on the case, and they wanted to confirm something. One of the feathers they had picked up still had the blood of the black Werewolf that had managed to flee.
Sadie wanted to make sure that the blood matched up with Billie. This was her hunch and the others as well. After making a report, the two of them left the room, still furious about failing to arrest that dangerous Altered. They had tried their best to find him from the air, but it was as if he had disappeared somewhere.
They were still in the police station, when another officer came up to them, delivering some good news.
“We found someone who claims to know Billy.” The young officer Roo Game reported. “Since Billy is a dropout it was hard to find anyone who knew the guy, but unexpectedly one of the suspects we brought in claimed he had seen him elsewhere!
“Apparently, the last time he saw him was at one of these underground fights. According to the guy, they happen quite often in this town.”
A smile appeared on Sadie’s face hearing this news.
“An underground fighter, huh? There should be a few people that would have seen him and know him then. Frank, looks like we’ll be going undercover!”
Walking away, Frank noticed that Sadie was limping, she had been injured in her Altered form, and thought that a wound like that would have been healed by now.
‘I hope that bite isn’t infectious.’ Frank was worried.