Only after she had finished the second bowl of meat, the words of the mobster woman came to her mind. A more beastly voice? She certainly didn't want a more beastly voice.

  But then she felt so sleepy. She had never eaten so much meat at once before. She just drank a little of the water and lay down to sleep on the ragged blanket. Someone turned off the light in her cell and she soon had fallen fast asleep.

  "Beast, it's time for the vet!" A voice woke her up.

  Still half asleep she rose her head and blinked. There was a man in a black suit with a gun aimed at her. Before she could do anything though, she saw a pale flash from the guns reflector and ...

  A headache. A real bad headache. And her throat hurt so much. What had happened? Right, a man with a gun. A stun gun probably, she wouldn't be alive if it had been a standard ray gun. But waking from a stun felt different. At least while one laid all still and kept the eyes closed there used to be no headache. And particularly not such a pain in the throat.

  Guessing by the smell and noises she was still, or again, in her cell. In addition to the usual smells of the place there seemed to be something in the air which reminded her of dentist visits. There was something in the air, something what dentists used.

  She tried to swallow. The pain in her throat flared up for a moment, but she could swallow. She ran her tongue over her teeth. All there as she remembered them. If she had been brought to the dentist, she could not feel any change. No tooth hurt, either. Just her throat and her head, and both hurt a lot.

  She tried to blink. A flash of an impression. The ragged blanket that they had given her to sleep upon. Dirty floor.

  She opened her eyes again. Yes this was the room where they kept her since the day she had killed Tom. How long ago was that? She tried to get on all fours.

  "Stay down, beast. Don't speak. It's for your best. Stay silent."

  She looked over to where the voice had been coming from. It was the woman who had brought her food the evening before ... whatever had happened. Before the man had shot her with the stun gun.

  "Trust me beast. If you ever want to speak again, stay silent now and for the next day. Your pipes need time to heal", the woman told her.

  Her throat sure hurt enough. She just wanted to confirm but the moment she opened her mouth and tensed her chest to speak she already was in pain. She clutched her throat with a hand, shut her snout and squinched her eyes shut as well.

  "Told ya beast. Don't try", the woman reminded her.

  She just nodded.

  "Good beast. Bad news, no food today, you've had enough for two days. Maybe some water later."

  She got into a sitting position anyways and was punished by an increase in headache.

  "Doc says you'll have a nice beastly voice once the pipes have healed. Scary. Just show your fangs and say hello, and people will shit their pants."

  She pulled her legs up and leaned her head against her knees. They had done something to her voice. Her nice melodic voice. And now she could not even protest, cause everything hurt so badly. Why? Why where they doing this?

  She received some head pats, "Don't look so downtrodden beast. The boss is investing in you. Voice change isn't cheap. Hey, I've got something for you."

  She looked at the woman who was squatting at her side and who held something in her hand. A wrapped tablet?

  The woman waved the thing a little, "For the pain. You get this if you promise not to try and speak, even if the pain is gone. The boss will be very angry if you ruin the result of the op. Put this under your tongue and let it melt. In four hours you can have another one if the pain is still bad, doc says."

  She took a breath, nodded and reached for the tablet, just for the woman to pull it away.

  "Promise not to try and speak. I'll have other things to do the next while and I don't want the boss to be angry on me cause I didn't keep your snout shut all the time", the woman warned her.

  She nodded and was offered the tablet once more. This time the woman let her take it. She unwrapped it, sniffed it briefly to find its smell disgusting, but she put the tablet under her tongue as instructed. It didn't taste any better than it smelled.

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  "Can take ten minutes, maybe twenty to work. Should be good for four hours. And I've got more good news for new. Boss thinks about getting you leg bone extensions. Doc says you can stand five centimeters taller at least, maybe ten, without losing much speed."

  She shook her head.

  "Boss will talk to you once you can speak again. Leg extensions are a bit shitty cause you can't work for a few weeks till the muscles and tendons have adjusted. So for the moment, just try to sleep. Bang the door hard if you need something. Someone will hear it. Got it?"

  She nodded. The tablet seemed to help already, the pain in her throat wasn't quite as bad anymore and the headache seemed better too.

  "Good. I'll be back in some hours to check on you. Just rest. No work for you today."

  She had to escape this horror show. She didn't want her legs to be messed with just now that she had learned to enjoy running so much. And who knew what else 'the boss' had in mind for her.

  Rest sounded good. She curled up on the ragged blanket.

  "Good beast. I'll see you later", she heard the woman's voice and then the sound of the door sliding open and soon close again.

  The pain in her throat faded, but the memories returned. She had killed Tom. Her fur soaked with Tom's blood. And once more she was reminded that feline eyes didn't shed tears. Her throat began to hurt again from the tension when she was about to whimper and she tried to relax. The woman had said she would be able to speak again if she remained silent now.

  The hiss of the door woke her from a light slumber. It was the woman again, with a glass and a jug of water. She still didn't know her name and couldn't even ask.

  "How do you feel, beast?" The woman closed the door behind her.

  She sat up and shrugged. How to tell without words?

  "Guess that means good enough. Let's see if you can drink some water. Water is important for you."

  The woman filled some water into the glass. Not much, just a few sips.

  "Alright beast, very careful. Take a sip. Don't try to speak", she was instructed.

  She nodded, reached for the glass and took a careful sip. Shit, the water was cold. It hurt her throat, but in a different way than an attempt to speak did.

  "Too painful?"

  She wiggled a hand.

  "Need more time?"

  She nodded.

  "Yeah, figures. I'll leave this here, so you can drink, well, once you can drink. Got something else for you, too. Boss has mercy."

  The woman offered her another tablet, "Sedative and pain killer in one. You'll be asleep half a day, maybe a bit more. If you need to go to the toilet, tell me now. If you are lucky, you can speak once you wake up again. Believe me, it's better to sleep than to be in pain for half a day if you can't do anything but sit here anyways."

  She nodded.

  "Toilet time?"

  She nodded again.

  After a few minutes they were back.

  "Try to drink a little more before you take the sedative, beast. Same procedure as with the painkiller. Put the tablet under your tongue, let it melt. Don't try to swallow. Do no even think of it."

  She nodded and was given the wrapped tablet.

  "Camera is on. Unless the guys are distracted, someone will check on you every now and then. Should be safe enough to sleep. Sleep on your side if you can, that's safest if the sedative does shit to you."

  She nodded once more.

  "Anything else?" The woman asked her.

  She shook her head and sat down on the blanket.

  "Sweet dreams then, beast. Boss will want to hear you speak soon."

  She nodded again and took another sip from the water. Not that cold anymore, easier to drink.

  Then she was left alone.

  ----

  She had lost track of time in between being stunned, narcotized, painkillers and sedatives. Two days, three? Maybe four? Hunger was no good indicator with the little activity that she had. Could easily have been four days, her memory favored two.

  The pain in her throat was much better now. Definitely still sore, but not outright painful. She could eat and drink, but had been warned again and again not to speak.

  The door slid open and a man stepped into her room. It was the gruff one who had spoken to her at first, the one who had ordered the brutes. A higher rank among the mobsters, she assumed. And this time he wore a proper black suit with a white shirt like the other mobsters used to.

  She kept sitting in her meanwhile favorite corner.

  He closed the door and squatted in front of her. All of them seemed to be determined to invade her personal space and try to trap her in the corner.

  "Alright beast, doc says it's safe for you to speak. Won't be pretty, but I want to know anyways. Say 'hello'", he prompted her.

  She shook her head.

  "I can beat you till you scream, then I'll hear your voice if you want to or not. Say 'hello'", he demanded.

  "chhrrlo"

  She pressed her chin to her chest and crossed her arms over her snout. She sounded like someone forcing crumbled paper over a kitchen grater.

  "Not too bad. I almost could understand that."

  "Hu chlld hy hsss!" It hurt to say that and to hear that.

  "Put a bit more effort in that, beast. Your lips and tongue work just fine", he challenged her.

  "Hu chlld meh vysss!" It hurt to speak like that.

  "Chlld?" The man looked at her.

  "k .. k'lld", she managed with some effort.

  She could not say the high vowels, how hard she tried. But the k had worked at the second attempt.

  He nodded with a pleased expression, "Sounds quite beastly. I think I even understood that, but you better wish I didn't. That wasn't a nice thing for you to say after all the effort the doc put into your new voice. Try to get more big cat vibes in that. More hiss and roar."

  'Please' turned out to be another lost word. Just a hiss with a 'p' at front. Probably not really a useful word anymore either. After the first attempt she didn't even want to try anymore.

  "Another thing, beast. Out of this cell, you have to stand tall and intimidating. Not a sad cat, a real beast. And if you can't do that on your own, I'll personally train you do that. Understood?"

  "Hsss." A yes also mutated to just a hiss.

  "Yes?"

  She nodded, "Hess."

  "Good. Also don't forget, the police wants you for murder. With us you're safe. Rest now, I'll fetch you once there is work to do," the man let her know and left her alone again.