{+}+{+}+{+}+{+}+{+}+{+} CH 11
April 1995
"Ugh," Fang groaned loudly, putting his large furred hands over his ears. "Make her stop, already."
Claw glared at the cougar looking man. Fred Sykes had been a con man on the streets of Manhattan when he'd been tricked into joining what he thought was going to be a high stakes poker game. Instead, he'd been brought here and injected with the modified mutagen.
Unlike Gary, Fang was more than happy with his changed circumstances.
Not to mention that he had a voice, and used it. All the time.
The woman, Maggie Reed, hadn't stopped crying since she'd been injected with the serum. She had come to New York with aspirations of becoming a star, but now…
He walked to her huddled form, her appearance now resembling that of the female lions he'd seen in nature documentaries, and knelt down beside her.
He put a hand gently on her shoulder, only to have her jerk away, her sobs renewed.
"Make her stop," Fang growled out. "Make her stop, or I will."
'Over my dead body,' Gary thought. 'You're not going to touch her.'
"Why is this happening?" Maggie asked desperately. "What did I do?"
'Nothing,' Gary thought sadly. 'You were in need of help, and Sevarius took advantage of that.' He sent a snarl Fang's way. 'We all were.'
Fang threw his hands up and snarled. "Fine. You take care of her, then."
Maggie took Claw's hand in hers. "I need to get out of here," Maggie said tearfully. "I don't belong here."
'Of course you don't,' Gary thought.
"Why don't you say anything?" Maggie demanded to know.
"He can't," Fang sighed. "Something the doc there did made him mute as a Tibetan Monk."
"Oh," Maggie said, her voice softened a little. She straightened up, looking at him sadly with those bright eyes. "What's your name?"
Gary shrugged, not knowing how to tell her the name that the doctor had given him.
"Claw," Fang said, flopping down onto his bed, his arms crossed behind his head. "The doc named him Claw."