A Changed Man (Altered Book 1) Read online

  Dillon cocked her head to the side and stared at him. "I'll say it once more, try and keep up. We are prisoners being held by, who I believe, are some secret branch of the government. They are experimenting on us, dozens of us. I don't usually see the new recruits coming in, only being led to their rooms’ unconscious after their alterations. I also see a lot of body bags going out, so it's safe to say not everyone is so lucky to survive their operation."

  Rick was listening to her but what she was saying sounded crazy. He entered the small bathroom and checked it too. He didn't find anything.

  "What are you doing?" Dillon asked following him around the room."

  "So, what happened to you? They operated on you? What for?"

  "I'm not exactly sure, but I have a theory. I think they are trying to create some kind of super army. They are making people stronger and faster. They are giving us powers that are impossible."

  Rick was thinking what a shame it was that such a beautiful girl could be so nuts. "Powers? So, you have some kind of power? You've been altered?” He chuckled.

  Dillon had been waiting for a chance to tell someone from the outside about this, someone who may be able to help her get the hell out of here. She knew it wasn't going to be easy convincing him without showing him. She walked over to the table next to her bed and picked up a heavy plastic cup and walked over to Rick handing it to him.

  "What’s this for?" He asked. "It's empty."

  "Good catch!" She said mocking him. She walked back to the other side of the room. "Throw it at me." She told him. "As hard as you can. Really Nolan Ryan that sucker!"

  "What?" This crazy chick wanted him to hurl a heavy plastic cup at her head? She was defiantly not playing with a full deck. "You want me to throw this at you? Why?"

  Dillon could see this wasn't going to be simple. Getting this man to do something that may hurt her on purpose was going to be a challenge. "Look, I know you are probably some great guy who loves his mother and is over protective of his sister and would never hurt a woman blah blah blah! But if you really want to grasp what’s going on here, you'll throw the damn cup!"

  Well isn't she a snippy brat? That should make it a little easier. "Okay." He said. "But remember, you asked for it." Rick wasn't about to throw it hard, but he would throw it just hard enough that when it did hit her, it was going to sting. He reared back his arm and then followed through releasing the cup in the air. It flew straight toward Dillon’s head and just when he thought what a huge mistake he had made, the cup was stopped about a foot short of hitting her in the face by some invisible wall then dropped to the floor.

  "Nice trick." He said not knowing what the hell it was he just saw.

  "It's not a trick." She sounded offended. "It's who I am now, a part of me." Her face immediately saddened. "It's my alteration."

  Dillon walked over to the bed and sat down. Rick came over and stood next to her. "May I?" He asked pointing at the bed.

  "Sure." Dillon scooted over so he could sit down.

  "So what was that?" He asked.

  "They call me an Aegis."

  "What’s that?" Rick asked.

  "It's from Greek mythology, Aegis was a shield used by Zeus. Whatever they did to me in the operating room almost killed me, but when I woke up I was like this. I didn't know that anything had changed in me for the first few weeks. Then one of the guards came into my room one night and tried to kiss me so I hit him. He punched me in the mouth then grabbed me and tried bending me over the bed so I bit him. When he tried to hit me again his fist just stopped in mid air, like he hit a wall. My nose started pouring blood and I thought I was going to pass out. It scared the guard I guess cause he left after that."

  Rick couldn't believe what he was hearing. This poor girl couldn't be more than twenty. He wanted to find that guard and kick his ass himself. "Why would they do this to you? How did they do this to you?"

  "I don't know, I joined the army a couple of years ago, I was just starting to move up when a group of men came in an administered a test to my unit. There were thirty of us. I scored a one fifty five on my IQ test, the highest in the class and the next thing I knew I was waking up in here. I don't remember how I got here. I woke up in this room with the back of my head shaved and sick as a dog. A man came in a few hours later, and told me that the operation was successful, and that I was going to make a valuable addition to his collection. I had no idea what he meant at the time. Then he called me his Aegis. I figured he was just a nutty old guy. Now I get what he was saying, he's playing god and I'm to be his shield."

  "How long have you been here?" Rick asked.

  "I'm not exactly sure." Dillon pointed to the wall by the door. There were scratch marks dug into it, a lot of them. "When I was able to get my bearings I started keeping track of the days, every time they would bring me dinner I would put another mark on the wall, so as you can see at least a couple of months."

  "So what do you think is going on here?" He asked.

  "I don't know for sure. I hear the guards whispering to each other sometimes. I've heard the word alien more than once. A doctor lady comes in a couple times a week. Dr. Morgan, she takes blood samples. She won't talk to me though. I've tried asking her questions and pleading with her, she just ignores me, takes the sample, and leaves."

  "Alien?" Rick asked surprised. "You're sure that’s what you heard?"

  "I'm not stupid. Hello. My IQ is one fifty-five. I freaking know what I heard." She said rolling her green eyes at him.

  That threw Rick for a loop. He had always heard that the government was in contact with aliens, but he figured they were just the rantings of crazy conspiracy theorists. It made perfect sense though. How else would they have the technology to turn humans into super humans? It was a wild idea, but Rick had been in the military long enough to see some crazy shit, unexplainable shit.

  "Surely your family is looking for you." He said sympathetically.

  "I don't know. All I have left back home is a sister. We don't talk that much; she's pretty busy with her own family. It's not uncommon for us to not speak for months at a time. She probably has no idea I'm even missing." Rick watched a tear roll down Dillon’s cheek. She wiped it away quickly as if not wanting him to see.

  "It's late, I'm tired." She said getting up, and just like that, the young scared girl was gone and the tough as nails chick he met a few minutes ago was back. She grabbed a pillow and the blanket from her bed and tossed them on the floor. "Here."

  Rick spread out the blanket and laid down on the floor. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm going to get you out of here somehow, I promise. I'm going to get us both out."

  Remington woke up when he heard soft footsteps going by his bedroom door. He was a very light sleeper. He knew it was Jackie trying not to wake him, but even the softest sounds had him alert. He didn't want to let her know she had woken him, so he decided to just lay there awhile. He needed time to think anyway. He needed to figure out what to do about the place he escaped from. Knowing there were other people being kept there was weighing heavy on him; he had to figure out a way to expose the place and get the others like him out. But where do you go when the most powerful entity in the world is pulling all the strings? Who can you trust? Remington felt like all he could do was wait for his meeting next week with Rick. He would tell him everything and maybe Rick would have some connections; people he could trust to help them plan some sort of rescue. That place looked big, god knows how many people were running it. They would need a small army.

  Just then, he heard soft footsteps again. They were coming back down the hall and stopping in front of his door. Remington closed his eyes and pretended to still be asleep. He heard his door softly creek open.

  "Remington?" Jackie whispered. "You up?"

  Remington cracked his eyes open and feigned a yawn. Stretching, he slowly sat up. "Yeah, what’s up?" he asked rubbing his eyes.

  "Sorry I woke you. I wanted to let you know that I'm getting ready to head to town. I'm
going by the hardware store and then I'll stop by the diner and have breakfast; keep my ear out for any more talk about the people that were searching for you. I'll bring you something back. What would you like?"

  "Whatever you have will be fine." He answered still pretending to be groggy.

  "Okay, I'll be back as soon as I can." Jackie pulled the door to.

  Remington stayed in bed until he heard Jackie’s car pull out of the driveway. He got dressed and went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. Wondering how to keep himself busy while she was gone, he went outside to take a better look at the house. The gutters were over flowing with debris, when the rains came they were going to be useless. He went to the shed where Jackie had found him half dead just a few days ago and found a ladder. He brought it over to the side of the house he was going to work on first, leaned it up against the wall, and climbed up. Wanting to do something nice for her and remembering what she said about getting the house cleaned up, he figured this was a start. Remington worked his way around the entire house cleaning the pine needles and muck out of all the gutters before heading back in to get a cup of coffee. He took the steaming cup out on the porch and sat in one of the rocking chairs enjoying the quiet and peacefulness of the mountains. He could get used to this.

  Walking into Miller's Hardware store Jackie saw the owner, Henry Miller, sitting behind the counter reading a newspaper. The bell over the door rang and he looked over at her.

  "Well hello there!" He said rather excited. "Didn't think I'd see you back in here so soon. Did you get all of your painting done?"

  Jackie walked toward him returning his smile. "As a matter of fact, I did. I'm looking for a couple doorknobs now."

  "On to the next project huh?" Henry motioned her to follow him.

  "Yeah, there’s a lot I'd like to get done before the snow comes." She answered following him down the aisles.

  "Why you changing your doorknobs? Lose a key or something?"

  "No, they’re just old and rusty is all." She lied.

  Henry stopped in front of the selection of both interior and exterior knobs. "Here we are. You need help picking something out?"

  "No, I think I got it, thanks."

  "Ok darlin’, you let me know if you need anything else."

  "I will, thanks." Jackie watched Henry walk back toward the front of the store.

  Jackie picked out two packaged doorknobs complete with dead bolts and was heading to check out when she noticed an aisle stocked with nails and screws of all brands and sizes. She stopped in front of various boxes of nails, and picked out three ranging from short to long. She had an idea to test Remington’s powers and was hopeful that he would go along with it when she got home. She made her way to the counter and set her items in front of Henry who was devouring a pack of peanut butter crackers. The smell of peanuts mixed with paint, wood, and fertilizer made Jackie want to gag.

  "That be all for ya darlin’?" Henry asked muffled with cracker crumbs lining his lips.

  "Yep, I believe so." She said trying not to breathe through her nose.

  "Nails huh? You know these are all different sizes?" He asked.

  "Yep." She said trying to keep this exchange short so she could get out of there.

  "Okay then, just checking." Henry winked at her.

  Jackie paid for her things and headed for the door.

  "You have a good day darlin’!" Henry yelled out.

  "Thanks, you too!" A few minutes later and she was in front of Rosie's Diner. She walked into the restaurant and immediately heard Olive’s laughter. Olive spotted Jackie in the doorway from where she was sitting in front of the diner’s picture window and waved Jackie over.

  "Jackie! How are you dear? Please, join me." She said waving to the seat across from her.

  "Good morning!" Jackie said sitting down.

  "You want some breakfast?" Olive was sitting behind a hot cup of coffee. The steam was rolling out of the mug in waves mixing in to her silver hair, and clouding her usually bright blue eyes.

  "Yes, I'm starving." Jackie answered opening one of the menus that was stacked at the end of the table. "How are you Olive? You look a little tired."

  "Oh, I'm fine dear. I think I may be coming down with a cold or something. My throat is a little sore and it's making me a bit tired. Other than that I don't feel bad at all."

  "Well you have my number if you need anything." Jackie looked up to see the diner owner, Rosie, approaching the table.

  "Well hello Jackie, good to see you again!" Rosie pulled her ticket pad from the front of her apron.

  "Hi, Good to see you too!" Jackie set her menu back in the stack. "It seems to have calmed down around here a lot since the last time I was in." She figured since she came here fishing for information she may as well set the line early.

  "Oh yeah, that man hunt went on for a couple days then just stopped. They took the flyers down and stopped questioning people. I'm guessing they may have found the guy, but not before scaring some of my regulars away for a few days." Rosie had her pen at the ready. "What can I get you sweetie?"

  "I'll have coffee and the blueberry pancakes." She answered. "Oh! I need to put in a to-go order also, a club sandwich and chips."

  "Wow, you are hungry!" Olive laughed.

  "It's for lunch. I'm going to do some work on the house and don't want to have to stop when I get hungry to make food." Jackie said, looking back and fourth between the two women.

  "You got it." Rosie wrote the order down. "I'll be right back with your coffee."

  Rosie left for the kitchen and Jackie turned her attention back to Olive. "So, you're sure you're okay?" She asked.

  "Oh, I'm fine dear, really. So what have you been up to lately? How are you and that house getting along?"

  "Great! I've been working on it here and there, trying to get the bigger stuff done before winter. I heard on the news it could be a bad one."

  "I heard that too. Glad I live in town when winter comes. I can walk to the store if I have too. You should probably stock up on food soon, in case you get stranded out at the house. The snow can get pretty deep on top of that mountain you’re on and if you can't get your car out you'll need to have plenty of food and gas if you have a generator."

  "I do." Jackie said. "I haven’t cranked it up yet to see if it works but I will do that when I get home, thanks for reminding me."

  "I heard this morning they are expecting the first snow in just a couple days." Olive took a slow sip from her cup. "They are unsure of just how much though, I heard two to four inches on one station and three to six on another. I swear that’s the best job in the world, you can be wrong sixty percent of the time and still get paid!"

  Jackie laughed with Olive. When their food came they ate and just talked about day-to-day things. Jackie told Olive about all the repairs she had already made on the house, minus the part about her not actually doing the repairs herself. Or that she would wake up, or come home and things would just be done. She wasn't about to tell her too much of what was going on out there. Olive told her about how well the store was doing. They talked a bit about the day they met and noticed those men that were all over town looking for someone. Olive said the same thing as Rosie; one minute they were swarming everywhere like giant black clad bees and the next they were gone, taking every flyer and picture with them, not leaving a trace. Jackie found that worrisome.

  Rosie brought Jackie’s to-go order out, setting it down on the table in front of her. "Here you go hon, hope you enjoy it."

  "I'm sure I will, Thanks!" Jackie smiled.

  "Come back soon! " Rosie patted Jackie on the shoulder then looked over to Olive. "You too Olive!" She said then headed back toward the kitchen.

  "If I come in here anymore I may as well move in." Olive whispered to Jackie. "Well I better get going, I left Bev in charge again so I can't stay away too long."

  Jackie stood up and threw money on the table. "I got it."

  "Oh you don't have to do that dear."


  "I want to. Please." Jackie walked Olive out to the parking lot and gave her a hug. "I hope you feel better, I'll see you soon. Take care."

  "You too, and don't forget, get stocked up!"

  "I will, thanks." Jackie got into her car and headed home. She started thinking about getting stuck up the mountain in a snowstorm with Remington. His flirting was getting more intense and she wasn't sure how long she could hold out, especially if they were stuck in the house together for days. It's been awhile for her and he was by far the most attractive man she had ever seen and it wasn't just his looks. He was sweet and had protective way about him. He was also funny, which was very sexy. She could give in right away; the mutual attraction was definitely there, but she worried it would make her seem desperate or worse, slutty. Although they hadn't known each other more than a few days, she felt something for him; some kind of deep connection like she had known him for much longer. At first she thought that maybe it was just because they had spent every minute together for the last few days; you can get to know someone pretty quickly when you've been through the range of emotions they had together. She knew that wasn't it though, this felt soul deep. Jackie chastised herself for being so corny. There was one plus to having him in her home and that was having someone to come home to.

  Chapter 12

  Slade Thompson was a happy man this morning; well, as happy as a kidnapping, narcissistic, egomaniac could be. He received a wake up call from one of his lackeys, Clay, telling him that they had picked up Rick Davis, Remington’s closest friend. He was walking home from a local bar that was just around the corner from his home when the team finally had a chance to grab him. He had too many neighbors and people coming and going to just break in to his home and take him. So they watched him, followed him, and as luck would have it, Rick became easily accessible. There was no one to see the thugs grab him in the alley behind the bar or hear the struggle. No one to hear the men yell out after Rick kicked one of them in the balls and stuck his thumb in another ones eye. He put up a good fight until someone came up from behind and covered his mouth with a rag; it was lights out after that.