Chapter 13

They followed the man down the stairs that led into a large storage room.

He reached a door and turned the knob, entering with Olivia and Isaiah in tow. Her eyes immediately scanned the large room that looked like some sort of laboratory.

What the fuck is this place?

She quickly walked around the room, scanning every corner. There was a large couch against one wall with a flat screen perched high in the far corner of the wall. In the middle sat one very large operating table and off against the left wall was another table full of various instruments.

Her eyes examined everything from beakers to counter scales to every type of cylinder you could imagine. At one end of the table, was a stand holding a triangular glass flask with a large flame heating it. The room looked like a mad scientist's lab.

In one corner of the room, she also noticed several cages in various sizes. She walked over inspecting. One had raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, and rats.

Olivia turned and tilted her head towards the old man. She studied him with narrow eyes. She could sense his fear, it ran through him from head to toe, knowing that what was happening here, could not be good for him. She took a step closer, cracking her neck to one side, hissing in a low voice, “What the fuck is this place?”

She watched him back away, his heels hitting the bottom of the couch, falling back into it. He sat stiffly, looking up at her, knowing that the wrong answer would only endanger him further. “It’s my personal lab. I’m a retired chemist.”

He used his hands to push himself up, walking over to a small fridge on the other side of the room. He opened it and grabbed a small green vial of liquid and held it out to her. “This is what you want right? Here, take it. I can give it all to you.”

Olivia took a step towards him and grabbed the vile inspecting it. She watched Isaiah kneel down, inspecting the contents of the fridge and then her eyes glared at the man once again. “What is this?”

“It’s what I gave the other wolves. It makes you stronger, heal quicker, and live longer.” His voice cracked as he said the last few words. “A super wolf. It even masks your scent” He finally squeaked out.

Olivia could feel her rage race through her when the dots finally seemed to connect. She opened her hand allowing the vile to slide free and smash into the concrete floor below.

Her eyes never left the old man’s, slamming him into the wall as hard as she could, “You gave this to other wolves?”

“I didn’t have a choice.” The old man shouted, his bottom lip starting to quiver, shutting his eyes in the hope that this would all come to an end. “Everyone has a choice old man,” Isaiah growled. Olivia turned her head and looked at Isaiah. “Destroy it. All of it!”

The old man held out a hand in an effort to stop him and screamed, “No! Not the red vials.”

Olivia watched Isaiah stop dead in his tracks and then her eyes were once again trained on the man. “Why?”

“It’s the antidote to C34.”

Olivia took in a deep breath and dragged the man to the couch and forced him to sit. “Explain everything. Now!”

The old man slumped into the couch and ran a hand through his thick gray hair and then looked up at them both. “Two years ago, I stumbled onto a formula that I had been playing with that healed our golden retriever that was injured. Not only did it heal him incredibly quick, but it also increased his strength, speed and everything else. I tested it on every animal I could catch to see if it had the same effect and it did.” He looked down at his shaking hands in his lap pausing and then he whispered, “It was truly incredible, but within a week, our dog started to exhibit some side effects.”

“What kind of side effects?” Olivia asked.

“His eyes took on a green glow to them, but he also became quite agitated easily. Very aggressive. He became more impulsive and scared us. One night he attacked my wife, losing all control and I knew I had to put him down.”

“So it makes them angry and aggressive?”

“Yes, but while also increasing their strength and endurance.” He said with wide eyes. “I kept tampering with the formula to figure out the problem.” Then he pointed to the animals in the cages. “That’s why I have them. Experimentation can take months to figure out what the problem is and how to correct it.” He said palming the back of his neck.

“Did you?”

“Not until a few months ago. A year and a half ago, we had a home intruder. This intruder was a shifter, a wolf and I watched him kill my wife and then turn to me. I begged for my life. Told him I could help him. Make him stronger and help him live longer, heal quicker.” He paused taking in a breath. “The shifter was intrigued and I showed him my lab and what I had discovered, but at the moment I didn’t have a choice. I knew once he took the formula, it was just a matter of time before he turned into a killing machine. I had no choice.” He cried.

“Who else has this?” Olivia’s claws sprang free as her rage took control of her. The gentle sting from the claws escaping the skin and the blood that trickled down her delicate fingers went unnoticed, as she brought the claws across his face, screaming, “Answer me! That wolf killed my father! You killed my father!”

She tried striking the old man again, but Isaiah’s hand came up, grabbing her arm to prevent another connection.

“Olivia. Control your temper.” Isaiah whispered calmly into her ear. Not that he had all the intentions of truly caring. He was just as enraged as her, but with the anger that presented itself, she would no doubt kill the old man before he had a chance to give them the answers they wanted.

Olivia took a step back and inhaled a deep breath, trying to regain control. She watched Isaiah sit down beside the old man. “How does it work? And why was he here again?”

He held his cheek to stop the blood that was now seeping through his fingers. Olivia stared at him waiting for a response. “One vial will last in your system about a month if you're not injured. An injury will make your blood cells eat up the liquid at a rapid rate, allowing your body to heal fifty times faster but you will need another dose in order to function the same and replenish the strength. Depending on the injury, if you don’t ingest more right away, you will die.”

“And the red vials?’ Olivia asked.

“C-36 reverses the effects of the virus in your system. It will essentially wipe out any C-34 in your system making you once again normal, but will take a few hours to take effect.” The old man replied, wanting desperately to be able to take a step away from this ordeal and cover the wounds on his face.

“So he came back for more? How many vials did you give him?”

“All of it. I told him I didn’t have any left. But he’ll be back. He’s expecting me to make more.” He looked at them panicked.

Olivia looked at Isaiah, her thoughts firing into overdrive. “How much is all of it? Who is this for?”

The man’s hands came up and covered his face. He let out a cry. “Oh my God. What have I done?”

Isaiah knelt in front of the man and gently grabbed the man’s hands. “Did a woman visit you? Is that who the serum is for?”

They both watched the man nod. “They have five cases. Each case contains twenty four vials.”

Isaiah rose to his feet and started pacing back and forth across the floor. “Jesus Christ...”

“What? What who is this woman?”

Isaiah turned to Olivia, his face like stone. “Sylvie Warren. She’s recruiting an army. I’ll explain later.”

Olivia nodded. She had never heard the woman’s name before. She turned and looked at the old man again. “You will not make another ounce of this serum. Do you understand?” A low growl emitted from the back of her throat.

“But he’ll kill me!”

“When will he be back?” Isaiah asked.

“I told him it would be ready in 3 days.”

Isaiah turned to Olivia smiling and then back to the old man. “Make another batch. But you will leave out the main ingredients that make the serum work. He’ll never know the difference.”

The man looked wide-eyed at both of them. “Ok. I can do that.”

Olivia looked at Isaiah and then the old man. “We’ll take him out before he even has the chance to come back.” She headed over to the mini fridge and grabbed every vial of the antidote.

She walked over to a small desk that contained packaged syringes and grabbed a handful and then turned to the man, her eyes trained on his and whispered, “Do they know about the antidote?”

The man shook his no.

“Good. How much of the antidote do they need to counteract the C-34?”

He looked up at her and then at the animals in the cages. “Less than an ounce for the test animals but I would do at least a full half ounce for anything over hundred pounds in weight.”

Isiah held out his hand and helped the man up off the couch and then locked eyes with him. “We need you to work with us. We’re going to need more of the antidote. How long will it take to make more?” He asked.

“I’d have to source the ingredients. I can have more for you in a week.”

Isiah looked at Olivia questionably. “I have twenty vials here. We should be good until then.” She assured him and then looked at the man. “We weren’t here. If the rogue finds out, you're dead!”

She turned and headed upstairs with Isaiah in tow. This would work, she thought. They just needed a game plan on how to lure the rogue to them, giving one of them the opportunity to inject him with the antidote. She could smell her father’s revenge in the air. It was so close.