Xavier was a dead weight over his shoulder, but it didn’t bother him. He ate only for pleasure now. His body didn’t need the calories. The concerns over allergies and food poisoning that had plagued him for years were allayed. He couldn’t get sick. Nature had no more nasty surprises for him. Every morsel of food that passed his tongue was a new experience. He’d forgotten what it was to be carefree. He consumed what he wanted, threw it away after just a bite if it didn’t please him. His body clock might be ticking down towards a level of decomposition that would render it useless, but he had discovered an extraordinary truth beyond the inevitability of his rotting corpse. Death came with zero consequences.

He staggered into the sitting room, dumping the latest addition to his new family on the couch.

‘Get in here and meet Xavier,’ Fergus called to Elspeth and Meggy.

No response.

‘I said come here!’ he yelled. ‘You’re being rude. I did this for all of us.’

He stormed into the corridor. Elspeth and Meggy were stood, arms clutched around each other, red-eyed and whimpering. The woman had a strip of material wrapped around her hand. He stared at it a moment then shook his head. Her injury wasn’t his problem right now.

‘Move!’ he commanded.

Meggy turned her face into Elspeth’s shoulder and began to sob.

‘Boring.’

Reaching forward, he grabbed Elspeth’s wrist and began dragging her. Scrabbling with her feet, she protested, with Meggy pulling her other hand and screeching.

‘Please, no …’ Elspeth cried.

Something had changed. They hadn’t been like that before. Quiet, yes, but compliant. Perhaps they were hungry. He tried to remember when he’d last fed them, but time had become an eel in his brain, and he couldn’t get it in a straight line.

‘Do …’ he dragged her along, ‘what …’ another heave, ‘you’re …’ by then she was through the hallway into the lounge, ‘… told.’

Elspeth scrambled into the corner, quaking. Meggy stood in the hallway watching, shifting from one foot to the other, ready to bolt even if her options for where to go were limited. Fergus raised a slow arm and pointed to the male on the sofa.

‘That’s Xavier,’ Fergus said. ‘You have to look after him.’

Xavier pushed himself over to face them, his right eye a swollen mass.

‘Where is this?’ He rubbed the back of his head. ‘Who’s she?’

‘That’s my wife,’ Fergus said. ‘Pretty, isn’t she?’

‘What did you do to him?’ Meggy asked, appearing from the hallway and standing open-mouthed. She stepped closer to Xavier. ‘Why isn’t he getting up?’

‘Meggy, honey, calm down and come to me,’ Elspeth said.

The girl walked towards the sofa, one shaking hand outstretched.

‘Don’t make a fuss. You two should look after him. He’s my brother now.’