Despite surviving the full moon, the amount of things Gary had on his mind hadn’t really reduced. For some reason he had put this one in particular to the back of his mind. Perhaps because it had been the first thing he had been confronted with after reverting back, or maybe it was because Blake being an Altered Hunter seemed as unbelievable as him being a Werewolf.
‘Man what is it with this school? Does it have some special attraction to strange people? I’m seriously starting to worry about running into vampires, dragons, demons or the like… Out of everyone, why did HE have to be an Altered Hunter?’
Planning to avoid the confrontation, Gary decided to do the easiest thing. He lifted his hand to wave at the other… and then, tried to promptly walk right past Blake. However, as he did, a shadow was cast in front of him. The high schooler quickly moved to the other side, yet the shadow copied him. It was clear that the young Altered Hunter was blocking his way.
‘Come on! You really want to do this, in school of all places? I can’t get into any more trouble! I just came back after being excluded for an entire week! Look, I’m pretending that I never saw you, that everything was just a bad dream yesterday, so why can’t you do the same?!’ Gary was screaming internally, as he decided to go for a spin, trying to get past his schoolmate.
Right now, Gary was imagining himself on the field with the rugby ball in his hands, and he was trying to get past one of the defenders. Unfortunately, Blake seemed to have predicted this and was already in the right position to catch him.
‘Shit. Couldn’t things have gone my way for once?!’
Blake, placed his hand on Gary’s shoulder quite confidently and leaned in so no one else would hear.
“Look, I’m not too eager to have ‘that’ conversation either, but we really need to talk about yesterday. Don’t worry, I’m not planning to do anything else to you. Let’s just head to the bench outside near the art block. I believe it’s in both our interests to decide what to do next.” Blake whispered, before he patted the other on the back and continued on his way.
‘Well, a talk doesn’t sound too bad, but I haven’t even had time to think about what to say! Damn it, Blake is a nice guy, right? I mean, he let me go yesterday in the woods. Surely, he wouldn’t lie to me to try and kill me now. We’re in school with far too many potential witnesses. If he really wanted to, he could have approached me outside of school.’
Being relatively sure that it was safe, he decided to follow behind the other. Nobody found it too strange that they walked together. Although they hadn’t won the match, everyone in school knew that Eton High had beat up nearly all the regulars. Gary had only recently become one, and their teamwork had secured them a draw, making the two of them the superstars of the Rugby club!
Alas, Gary was being reminded just how popular Blake actually was. Everyone went out of their way to greet him, a few girls even stopped by to bring him gifts. The high schooler wasn’t too sure, but he wouldn’t be surprised if some of those cookies had been baked early in the morning just for Blake…
On the other hand, only a few congratulated Gary here and there. It was obvious that he was treated mostly as an afterthought, when they noticed that he had been behind the real rugby star
‘Damn it, would they all be thinking the same if they knew he was an Altered Hunter? This lifestyle, everything he’s doing is fake…’ It was then that Gary realised the hypocrisy. Was what he was doing really any different?
Altered Hunters had a bad reputation. After all, becoming an Altered was something that everyone aspired to be or wished for. They were superstars and instant celebrities, yet one crazy group of people had chosen to kill them for no apparent reason.
Or at least not a reason the general public could understand. If anyone did find out Blake was an Altered Hunter, he would probably be chased after for the rest of his life.
Eventually, the two of them reached the bench, and he realised why Blake had picked this spot. There was no one else there, other than students far away in their classrooms practicing art instead of going outside to play.
The two of them sat together for a while, neither one really sure how to start such a serious conversation.
‘Should I go first? Is he waiting for me to say something? Or should I just wait?’
Just when Gary was about to speak, Blake started instead.
“My family… They have been Altered Hunters since seemingly forever. ‘Altered’ have actually existed for much longer than you’re led to believe. Just like us, they used to have a different name, but that’s beside the point. It was only recently that ‘Altered’ started to become more public about their existence.
“I don’t know how someone like you managed to become an Altered. I actually chose to go to a no-name school in a Tier-3 town because I believed that it would allow me to separate my two lives. I never wanted to run into somebody I knew, but then I met you.”
It made sense, although Blake hid the fact that he was an Altered Hunter, in the end he was still a teenager like Gary. Gary knew how hard it was to kill someone that you know, or someone you saw everyday, the connection made it harder.
Going to a no-name school, it should have been impossible for anyone to afford to become an Altered, or have the potential to be selected as one, apart from Blake himself of course.
“I’m guessing it started when you got better at rugby. I didn’t think much of it at the time, and I thought that it was actually fun to just forget about everything and try to compete for a change. You helped me forget about what I was…”
‘Damn it, the more I listen to him, the more I realise the two of us are alike. That’s why I started to enjoy rugby a lot as well.’
“And then you saved me, which is why I decided to do that favour for you the other day but at the same time Gary, this is a warning. There aren’t many Altered in this town, which means that you will become one of our targets.
“How much do you know about Altered Hunters?” Blake asked.
“Not much, just what is on the news. I had no idea that you used that strange armour of yours.” Gary replied honestly.
“We Altered Hunters have ranks.” Blake explained. “These ranks are tattooed on their shoulders in the form of stars and a lot of hunters are proud of this. The more stars, the stronger the Altered Hunter, and my father, who lives here with me in this town, is a three-star hunter.”
“A three-star hunter? So what are you, and how do hunters even get these stars?” Gary asked.
It was the first question that the other had asked, that made Blake pause for a while.
“I don’t have any stars on my shoulder yet. An Altered Hunter will only get a star if he manages to successfully kill five Altered. Right now, I’m still an apprentice to my father and you were actually meant to be my very first kill.”
Now Gary understood why Blake’s father was so dangerous. If he was a three-star Altered Hunter, it meant that the other had already killed Altered in the double digits, beings that were superhuman with all sorts of different forms. He was experienced beyond belief.
“I guess I was lucky I ran into you then and not him.” Gary chuckled nervously.
“That’s my point and it’s why I came to talk with you. Since I’m in my apprenticeship phase, my father will accompany me until I earn my first star. We never expected to find two of you in Slough, making us split up. However, if I was you, I wouldn’t go out anymore.
“The next time I’m with my father and we spot you again, I won’t be able to stop him. If anything I will have to help him.” Blake admitted, stood up and got ready to head back to class.
“Wait, Blake! The other Were- the other Altered, did your father manage to catch him? Do you know where he is?” Gary asked.
Blake turned around, his face didn’t look pleased, which was a rare sight. This whole time while they were walking through the hallway, Gary had only seen a smile on the other’s face, though he could tell that it was just for show.
“No, we didn’t. Some White Rose agent got in his way and according to him, he used the chance to escape one that other Altered fled. There’s nothing in the news, so I guess they were unable to find that one afterwards.” Blake shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m sorry, I thought that the two of us might become good friends, but because of what I am, and what you are, it might be best if we kept our distance outside of rugby.”
Although Gary didn’t know Blake too well, for some reason, the words of the other stung. Maybe it was because he learned that the two of them were close, or maybe it was something else, but if Gary did meet Blake again, he didn’t want to be his enemy. That was for sure.
“Shut up!” Gary shouted. “Don’t go deciding that crap on your own! I’ll kick your arse at rugby, and I’ll kick your arse in fighting as well, but that’s it! We can still talk in school, we can still laugh and have fun!
“You’re still you, and I’m still me, nothing has changed! Who cares about who or what we are outside of school?”
Turning back around, Blake gave the other high schooler a sad smile, yet didn’t say anything.
‘And that is why you’re dangerous, Gary, because of your beliefs. I hope I won’t ever have to pick between you or my father…’
*****
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