For Now, I am Winter

Chapter Two

Ansilax was designed by my father and his minions, as I call them. It is a fitting title by any standard.

They ran human trials for years, tweaking and "fixing" the drug to try and perfect it. Ansilax was originally designed to build up the human body's immune system to help fight off new and foreign diseases, mainly for the use of traveling doctors and missionaries. But when Father realized that the drug not only enhanced the immune system of humans, but also enhanced every other aspect, he went insane with power.

He would ramble on to Mother daily about what he could do, who he could become, what he could accomplish. Mother would tune him out most times, nodding and smiling in that motherly encouraging way.

Father knew she didn't care—and it ate at him.

I slowly walk down the corridor from the main entrance to the lab testing rooms. I pause at the room I lost myself in. This room is the last place that Sabine Griland ever existed. About an hour after I escaped, I was erased from every aspect of the world. My parents were done the same "favor". I assume my father had that arranged beforehand—in case of emergency and whatnot.

The lab has been abandoned for almost a decade. Yet, I can still smell the horrors it held. I can smell the fear that the test subjects emitted. The scent had long before embedded itself into the furniture, the walls, the floor...

The smell of chemicals was also still strong. Maybe to the human nose, this place smells like mildew and mold. But to me, an "enhanced being of science", everything was clear. I could smell the stench of fear, anger, pain...blood.

My body grows rigid. Instantly, I turn my head from side to side, nostrils flared like an hunting animal. I feel my muscles tighten under my skin, ready to lunge into action if needed. There has always been a smell of blood in the lab—always. From all of it that was wasted, drained from Experiments daily to be thrown out for harsh "tests", that scent was probably the most prominent. But it has always been obviously old, stale blood. Even once it was cleaned with the best of products, I could always smell it.

This is different. The blood I smell is new.

My body drops into a crouched position. I feel around my right boot for my knife. Keep in mind, I am a deadly weapon made to look human, but I prefer to do just that—look human. If someone is here, in this lab, bleeding...

Maybe it's a hiker that got hurt and stumbled upon this place. It's shelter-y enough...right?

My mind fumbles over the many thoughts that zip through my brain. If a human is here, and they are hurt, my best action would be to refrain from being, well, me. No one from the company would risk coming back here, so I can rule that out. If the person is bleeding, they are obviously hurt. If they are still in the building, they are obviously hurt enough to be hindered from leaving.

Also, if they are indeed human, I have no worries.

Act human, Winter. Don't blow this.

Slowly, I shuffle forward. Even crouching, I can move silently. I follow the scent until it gets too strong to bear. I nearly gag as I pull my scarf up and over my nose. Cautiously, I peek around the corner of an old desk in one of the testing rooms.

Instantly, I have to jump back to avoid a metal pipe being slammed into the desk. It hits right where I had been not too long ago. I'm on my feet in the next moment, knife held out against my outer arm, tip pointed to my elbow. My other hand comes out in front of me in a gesture to express caution.

"Hey!" I shout firmly, eyes narrowed. As the dust clears some, I can make out a figure slumped against the wall next to the desk. The metal pipe is clutched in their hands, their knuckles white. I can smell the fear that is rolling off of them in waves.