“They won’t attack us,” I say.

Max watches the creatures shuffle from side to side, moving their heads back and forth, noses in the air, scenting.

“Not us no,” he says, in such a deep voice it rumbles around the room. He then looks at Dee.

We all look at her.

“What?” she asks, her tone scared, but her eyes suggesting she has an upper hand.

“We could let them have her,” Colin says.

For a moment I think about it. I really do. And that scares me more than anything. The shot has changed more than my physical appearance; I’m starting to think of Dee as a separate species. I try for sympathy but I come up short. I do know that just handing her over to the monsters would be wrong. “We can’t,” I say.

“Why?” Colin asks and I can see that…

“The lights are out.”

I turn to look at Colin in disgust. “Really?” I say with as much sarcasm as I can muster.

In the darkness I hear Max chuckle.

“Do you see her?” Colin asks and I’m struck with how inane his comments are. For a moment I am so angry that I want to hurt someone, specifically him. Then the feeling passes. I wonder if it has anything to do with what I am now. I must remember to watch my emotions. If I let myself lose control the result could be bad, at least for the person I was attacking.

“Do you think she’s in another cupboard?” Colin says.

Actually that isn’t a bad suggestion and I peer into the darkness. The odd thing is that the pitch black isn’t pitch black anymore. I can see, although my sight is only in black and white. I guess…

“What if she doesn’t come back?” I ask, around a mouthful of biscuit.

Colin looks shocked, as if the idea of Dee not reappearing hadn’t crossed his mind. Max looks more resigned.

“Do we have a plan?” I ask.

Colin just looks between us.

Max nods. “The shelving uses metal supports, so I thought we could use them to punch a hole in the wall.”

“Why wait?” Colin asks.

“What?” Max says.

“Well, Dee is a piece of work. Why don’t we just punch through now?” Colin suggests.

“Not a bad idea,” I say.

“She will hear,” Max says, but I can hear he is thinking about something. “But it means we aren’t under her control.”

“Always a good thing,” Colin says and I smile.

Max walks over to the unused shelving across the back of the room. It’s held together with bolts and he is right, the struts are…

I stare at him. Did he just make a joke? Max gives a slight smile but his eyes don’t leave mine.

I have so many questions, and I want to ask them but I can’t, not sounding like this. I close my eyes and try to calm down. When I look back at my hands they are the right colour. A check on my teeth reveals my normal human pegs.

“What have you done to me?” I whisper.

Max sighs and looks away. “I had to.”

“Had to?” I repeat.

Even Colin looks away. “I’m hungry,” he says.

I step back, there is no way that I’m going to be anyone’s dinner.

“No, Bitsy,” Max says. “We don’t need blood. We still eat and drink normally.”

“But I had teeth,” I say, gesturing to my mouth.

“Yes, but only when you’re worried or angry. The rest of the time you’ll…

Around me there is light everywhere and it hurts. I think I’m screaming, but I can’t hear anything. I can feel hands holding me down and the roughness of concrete on my back. I can also hear laughter and a soft thumping noise. Everything seems too loud and the light is hurting my eyes.

“I think she is coming round,” a voice says and I can tell it is Colin, although he sounds as if he is yelling in my ear instead of talking normally.

The light is gone and I can see his concerned face looking at me.

“What?” I ask and then I remember what they did. “How could you” I cry and crawl backwards away from them.

Max had been holding my legs but now he puts his hands up, palms out, as if letting me know he was harmless. Except I know the truth.

“You turned…