Heya Readers, we ended on a cliffhanger in the last chapter, hope this was worth the wait!
Chapter Fifteen
"You think they're gonna be okay?"
"I hope so, it was touch and go, especially with the boy."
"Yet the water mutated them, it should have worked!"
"Like the Dragon's sister those years back!"
"That was very close!"
Alexandra wasn't sure how long she had been unconsciousness, but the sound of voices above her filled her ears and she felt cool linen under her body.
She slowly opened her eyes, squinting at the light above her and she started to wonder whether she was in a hospital, yet above her she saw a rocky ceiling like she was in a cave.
"Hey Doc! She's awake!" a voice called out and Alexandra lifted her hands to her eyes to rub them.
"Let's see!"
Alexandra touched her eyes yet as she did, she felt something was off as her hands felt different and her senses, especially her sense of smell was stronger than usual.
"How are you feeling my dear?" a kind male voice was heard next to her.
"Who said that?" Alexandra asked bringing her hands away from her eyes and she saw they were white, and she had claws instead of nails.
"What the...?" she gasped.
"Try to stay calm miss." The same kind voice said yet Alexandra's heart began to pound in fear and her stomach twisted up and she looked around to find herself surrounded by humanoid animals!
There was a male Rhino, a male warthog, a male Chimpanzee in a suit and white coat with a stethoscope around his shoulders and a female Panda with blonde hair in a ponytail.
Alexandra opened her mouth and a scared scream erupted from her throat as she backed up against the head of the bed she lay on.
"Who are you? Where am I? What's going on!?" she cried, then looked at her hands and her bare arms seeing the white fur, she then touched her face only to feel that instead of a flesh nose, she had a furry snout, and her nose was wet.
Also licking her teeth, she could feel she had sharper fangs.
"What? What have I turned into?" she looked around and saw a mirror on the bedside table which she snatched up before anyone could stop her and she looked at her reflection.
Staring back at her in the looking glass, she saw it was white humanoid wolf!
Alexandra was speechless as she looked at her reflection and she lifted a hand to touch her new black nose and run her hands over her snout which had some light grey detail and up to her now pointed ears that twitched slightly as they poked through her thick black hair.
"No..." she gave a sobbing gasp.
The Panda stood up and reached out with her hands to try and calm Alexandra.
"We know this may be a bit of a shock ma'am..." she soothed but Alexandra moved away from her, dropping the mirror as she did so but James caught it before it could smash.
"What have you done?" Alexandra demanded in a shrill voice "What have you done!?"
The Panda shook her head.
"Look, we'll explain everything ma'am." She said in a comforting but stern voice.
"That we will!" the Chimpanzee joined in "But you must calm down!"
"Is Gramps on his way?" the Chimpanzee asked looking at the Warthog and Rhino.
"We asked Vincent to look for him, so he should be here soon." The warthog said.
"What about Tyroth and Sephie?" the panda asked.
"We messaged them but they're not back from patrol with the Knights." The rhino reported.
As the four animals were speaking, Alexandra remembered Samuel and she looked around for him only to see in the bed next to her and unconscious behind the Chimpanzee was a male tiger with long black hair and wearing bloodstained clothes.
"SAM!?" she shrieked causing the Chimpanzee to look over at the tiger.
"Sam?" he asked, "Is that your friend there?"
"Is he okay?" Alexandra asked desperately.
"He is yes," the warthog assured her "We gave him the same source."
"He's very lucky." The Chimpanzee "Both of you are in fact, your friend was critically injured. He nearly died."
It was then Alexandra remembered how she and Samuel had been shot by the mafia and her blood ran cold!
"Both of you are indeed lucky." The Chimpanzee continued "Cam and Barry over there found you and saved you before bringing you here."
Alexandra blinked and looked at the Rhino and Warthog who looked pleased with themselves.
"We couldn't just leave them." Barry said.
"Yeah!" Cam agreed "Not after what happened."
Alexandra chewed her lip as she looked at the four animals then taking a few deep breaths decided to calm down, as she knew panicking wasn't going to help her or Samuel's predicament.
"You alright miss?" the panda asked, "What's your name? I'm Tania."
"And I'm James." The Chimpanzee offered "And those two over there are Cam and Barry."
"Hi!" the Warthog and Rhino said together.
"Alexandra." Alexandra informed "But you can call me Alex."
"Nice to meet you, Alexandra." Tania said pleasantly then bit her lip "Though I do wish it were under better circumstances".
James nodded in agreement.
"Do you remember what happened before you woke up?" he asked to which Alexandra looked up again.
"Samuel and I were leaving to return to our hotel after a tournament he won." She said, "When one of the fighters came to us injured and saying that some people were after us."
Alexandra's eyes widened as she remembered Jason!
"Jason!" she cried "Those people killed Jason! Then attempted to kill us!"
"Was that the man in the car?" Barry asked to which Alexandra nodded.
"Barry and I found him inside the car next to where we found you both..." Cam explained "But he'd already passed by the time we found him."
Alexandra felt tears in her eyes.
"They killed him! And my skills couldn't save him!" she lamented "I tried! I tried to save him!"
"Skills?" Tania asked.
James also looked intrigued.
"May I ask what you do, my dear?" he asked.
"I'm a nurse." Alexandra blurted out "Or at least, I was a nurse..." she started to sob realising that because of her and Samuel's predicament they couldn't return to their old lives.
James placed a hand on Alexandra's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry Alex." He said sympathetically.
Cam and Barry looked at each other sadly then back at the sobbing Alexandra.
"It's never easy for the new ones." Cam said, "At least those who don't want to leave their old lives."
Barry nodded.
"Just like others before them, they've got families, friends, loved ones, all left behind because of what's happened."
"Guys?" James's voice caught their attention, and they looked over at the chimpanzee.
"Can you see if Gramps is on his way?"
"Yes Doc." Cam said, Barry was about to follow him when he remembered something, and he took out a small black box from his pocket before walking over and handing it to Tania.
"What's this Barry?" Tania asked.
"I found it on the ground near the couple, it seems like something was going to take place before those bastards appeared." He reported.
"I see." Tania said opening the box and revealing it to be a silver ring.
"Oh my gosh." She said then looked at the tiger then at Alexandra putting the two and two together.
"He was gonna propose..." she mouthed.
James looked saddened then looked at Alexandra who lifted her head out of her hands and looked over to Samuel.
"Is he okay?" she asked "Please? Is he alright?"
"He will be." James reported "He's a tough one for sure! He had lost so much blood according to Cam and Barry that they thought it was too late, but someone was looking over him that night, and over you too." He added.
Alexandra pulled the cover off herself and swung her feet out to go over to Samuel's bed.
Tania almost stopped her, but James shook his head at the panda.
Alexandra walked over to Samuel's bed and sat down on it placing a hand on his paw.
"Oh Sam..." she wept softly.
"Sam is his name?" Tania asked, her face softening "And I take it he's more than just a friend to you?"
Alexandra nodded.
"He's my partner." She spoke.
Tania looked at the ring then walked over to Alexandra.
"Barry gave me this to give to you." She said handing the wolf the box "Apparently We believe one of the ones who attacked you took it from Sam but dropped it when they escaped."
"Thanks." Alexandra said then opened the box seeing the ring and she gasped.
"Oh Sam!" she cried looking at the sleeping tiger "You...you weren't...you were gonna..."
James sighed sadly then he saw the tiger's fingers twitch and he winced.
"He's waking." He hissed to Tania then looked over to a medical table where he kept a couple of syringes.
Alexandra meanwhile noticed and leaned forward.
"Sam?" she asked anxiously.
Samuel groaned and slowly opened his eyes as he heard his girlfriend's voice, and he lifted his hand to rub his forehead.
"Ugghhh, where in... what happened?" he asked.
"Sam? Can you hear me?" Alexandra spoke again and she saw her boyfriend's new feline ears twitch.
"Alex? Is that you?" Samuel asked groggily as he blinked to clear his vision then looked at Alexandra.
"Alex!" he cried "Thank God you're..." he paused as he looked at the humanoid wolf sitting on the bed then also at the male Chimpanzee and female Panda behind her then cried out in shock.
Alexandra, James, and Tania also jumped out of their skins at Samuel's reaction.
"Calm down son!" James said.
"What the hell's going on!?" Samuel cried then looked at his hands finding them to be orange with black stripes and instead of nails he had claws!
"What's happened to me?" he yelled then looked at the humanoid wolf and heard his girlfriend's voice from her.
"Sam! Something's..." Alexandra tried to explain.
"ALEX!?" Samuel exclaimed "What happened to you? What happened to us!?"
"Calm down Son." James said, "Everything will be explained."
"Who are you!?" Samuel demanded looking over at James.
"I'm James, I'm the doctor here."
"Doctor?" Samuel asked, "Well then Doctor James," he said "Why are we like this? What happened to us?"
"That's what I'd like to know too." Alexandra agreed looking at James.
Samuel sat up as he took in his new form then looked at Alexandra as he started to remember what happened hours earlier.
"The Mafia!" he cried "We were shot by the Mafia!"
Alexandra nodded.
"They killed Jason then attacked us!" she said.
"Jason's dead?" Samuel gasped in shock and sadness "Oh no..."
"And they took the check!" Alexandra said then buried her head in her hands in grief. "Damn it!" she cursed "I should have let that woman have the check! If I hadn't shocked her with my stun gun this never would have happened!"
Samuel's eyes widened and he instantly reached out to comfort her by wrapping his arm around her as well as holding one of her wrists with the other.
"I tried to save Jason, but he bled out!" Alexandra wept "I attacked that woman and tried to get you away! I should have just given her the check then maybe this never would have happened!"
"Oh no Alex!" Samuel comforted, nuzzling Alexandra's hair.
"No! Don't blame yourself for this! This wasn't your fault at all!"
Watching the couple, James and Tania exchanged worried looks, when they heard the word Mafia, they realised it wasn't just a robbery gone wrong or street gang violence, but it was the most dangerous of criminals that had attacked Samuel and Alexandra.
"Shit...that's really serious!" James muttered to which Tania nodded.
"We better inform Tyroth about it and ask Cam and Barry what they saw when they brought them in." the Panda agreed.
So Cam and Barry brought Samuel and Alexandra to Mutopia and they've been mutated.
Alexandra is a white wolf, and Samuel is a Tiger.
How are they going to take learning about their new forms and their new home?