(POV - Victor Hale)
This wasn't the first time Victor had witnessed the [Angel of Death] releasing that thick, dark mist from its body. However, familiarity with the scene didn't make it any less terrifying.
His senses, far sharper than those of an average human, picked up every nuance of that macabre manifestation—the biting cold that filled the air, the way the mist moved almost consciously, coiling around him like invisible fingers.
Still, despite his heightened perception, he was still human. And that meant his body still reacted to danger: his muscles tensed, his breath faltered for a moment, and his survival instincts screamed at him to move away.
But that was exactly why Victor could feel it. Every time that mist spread from the anomaly's body, an irrational fear would grip him, as if something primal in his mind instinctively recognized the danger. Of course, feeling fear in the environment he worked in wasn't uncommon—it was practically part of the routine.
Many anomalies had anomalous powers designed specifically to provoke terror and panic, making fear a constant companion for those dealing with them. Still, there was something different about this mist. Something that made him feel this fear wasn't just a natural reaction, but a warning.
However, feeling fear didn't mean a lack of courage. In Victor's line of work, courage wasn't optional; it was a necessity—without it, no one would survive for long. He knew that better than anyone, having faced countless situations that tested his limits.
Still, as he stood before the thick, dark mist spreading around the anomaly, something inside him twisted. It was a different kind of fear, deep and instinctive, something that didn't come from logic but from a more primitive place inside him. And the worst part was, he couldn't explain why.
It was something different from simple fear. Normally, we fear what we don't understand, what's beyond our reach. Yet, the anomaly known as the [Angel of Death] was well-known; its powers, its actions, everything was documented and thoroughly recorded.
But still, Victor couldn't shake the fear when the anomaly took certain actions. This fear didn't come from ignorance, but from something deeper, something inexplicable. With this thought, Victor glanced sideways at Arthur, who was standing nearby.
Arthur's eyes were scanning the area with an almost palpable intensity, moving quickly from one point to another, as if trying to absorb every detail. Victor noticed small drops of sweat running down Arthur's face, a clear sign of his nervousness. Of course, Victor couldn't blame him—the tension in the air was undeniable.
As he reflected on the situation, Victor suddenly had the strange sensation of being lifted off the ground. His field of vision changed, suddenly higher, as though he were floating. With a confused glance, he looked down at the floor, trying to make sense of what was happening.
Strangely, something dark seemed to form beneath his feet, a vague shadow slowly taking shape. In the next instant, he looked up, and to his surprise, a grotesque figure began to emerge from the black mist spreading across the floor.
First, the long, twisted legs of the creature began to materialize, rising from the dark, dense mist that covered the ground. The thin, muscular ends of the legs embedded themselves into the building's floor as if seeking some form of support or stability.
Then, its head slowly emerged, like an incomplete presence, taking shape almost organically, as if it were a fluid extension of the darkness itself, adapting to the surroundings with a frightening naturalness.
Its eyes, giant and red, glowed with a vibrant intensity, scanning the environment around it with a menacing gleam. When the creature's eyes finally locked onto Victor, he couldn't help but shudder, instinctively taking a step back.
Victor turned his gaze to the [Angel of Death], which was observing everything around it with a look of surprise on its face.
He honestly couldn't understand this anomaly. Sometimes, it behaved like a completely enigmatic being, with devastating power that could reduce humanity to mere corpses in the blink of an eye, if it wished.
But at other times, its behavior was as simple and innocent as that of a ten-year-old child, completely enthralled by something as mundane as the taste of an ice cream cone.
Victor sighed deeply before sitting on the enormous black spider, his eyes fixed on the distant horizon. One thought kept hammering in his mind, over and over: (I seriously need a vacation from this crazy job before I go insane too)
***
(POV – Protagonist)
Honestly, if someone had told me one day that I'd see a spider bigger than a car, I would've definitely laughed in their face and called them crazy.
However, when a spider, even bigger than an elephant, suddenly appeared right beneath me, I was completely frozen.
The surprise mixed with disgust, but what bothered me most was the feeling that, no matter how surreal it was, I just didn't feel anything.
Though I'm absolutely certain that, before I became an anomaly, I had arachnophobia, something unusual happened as soon as I woke up in this new body.
The fear simply vanished, as if it had been erased from my mind. Since then, I haven't been able to feel fear anymore, as though that ability had been ripped from me.
It's a strange sensation, no doubt, and even unsettling, but somehow, it's also been useful. Given the world I'm in now, where danger lurks at every corner, maybe this change, as peculiar as it is, has turned into an unexpected advantage.
As I reflected on this, my eyes fixed on the giant spider in front of me, its red eyes glowing menacingly. Its fangs moved in an oddly sinuous manner, a grotesque and repulsive sight, but, at that moment, I didn't care about it.
In the next instant, the giant spider moved, and personally, I had never asked for a giant spider or anything like it. All I wanted was for us to reach the top of the building as quickly as possible.
The dragon-like form was probably too big to fit in that cramped space, but somehow, the spider managed to squeeze into the limit, just enough for us to climb on it without our heads hitting the ceiling.
The spider's legs, with almost hypnotic precision, slowly began to anchor themselves to the building's outer wall. Although we were positioned vertically, our bodies showed no signs of us falling.
The secret to this was in our waists: a thick, dark mist surrounded us, like an invisible chain, keeping us firmly attached to the spider.
The spider began to climb slowly, but its agility was undeniable, moving with a frightening precision. My eyes fixed on the horizon, and a wave of colors began emanating from my gaze, creating a vibrant rainbow in every hue that appeared.
Anyway, the scene before me was one of an imminent end. The world seemed to be crumbling under that perspective. Snowflakes danced against the laws of gravity, rising from the ground as if drawn by an invisible force, all heading toward the top of the building.
The higher we climbed, the clearer and more evident the scene became. It was as if, at the top of the building, something invisible was pulling all those flakes, making them even more visible and intense.
Looking at the flakes floating around us, rising toward the building, a sudden doubt appeared in my mind: What exactly were those flakes? And more importantly, why were they coming from humans? A series of questions overtook me, but at the same time, I realized that I probably wouldn't find answers to them, at least not here and not now.
In the end, the spider climbed to the top of the building. Up there, the strong wind made my hair sway gently at its touch, creating a sense of freedom in the air. My eyes automatically fixed on something in the center of the platform, a colossal flower.
Its petals, almost ethereal, were gathering on it, as if drawn by an invisible force. With each passing second, the flower seemed closer to blooming, as though it were about to reveal some hidden secret.
However, one question consumed me: What would happen when it finally bloomed? I had no idea. As my thoughts wandered in that growing doubt, Arthur and Victor's voices, right behind me, caught my attention, interrupting my thoughts.
"What the hell is that?" Victor remarked, his face twisting into a slight frown: "For some reason, I feel an eerie energy coming from that thing"
Arthur, beside Victor, nodded as well, his gaze fixed on what surrounded them. When he heard Victor's words, a chill ran down his spine. He replied, his voice tense: "I don't think I can disagree with you. I feel a shiver every time I look at it"
However, something in Victor and Arthur's words unsettled me. They claimed to feel a sinister energy emanating from the flower, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't perceive any of that. In fact, the opposite seemed true.
No matter how I looked at it, even knowing that its existence could mean the end of life on Earth, I couldn't shake the idea that, somehow, that flower was, paradoxically, incredibly beautiful.
Its color predominated in a gleaming gold, a shade that seemed to emanate a soft, warm, and welcoming light. It wasn't a blinding light, nor irritating, but a pleasant glow, almost like a hug of light.
I kept wondering if Victor really saw the same thing I was seeing. Of course, even though I wasn't using my eyes, the flower on the verge of blooming should still have been visible, its beauty unmistakably radiating.
Although it wasn't as radiant as when my eyes were active, the golden color of the flower still exuded undeniable beauty. Anyone who saw it would certainly find it stunning. After all, a golden flower, at least to me, seemed something worthy of enchantment. But what surprised me the most was that I couldn't feel the slightest energy coming from it. And, let's face it, technically, I should be the one with the abnormal senses.
In the end, we all jumped off the spider, which moments later disintegrated into a dark mist, dispersing through the air before slowly disappearing, while the mist returned to me. In the next instant, our gazes locked on the only thing that caught our attention at the top of the building.
Arthur and Victor seemed undecided, unsure how to proceed, and I could feel their anxiety hanging in the air. However, something in me felt different. With each glance I cast at the flower, a strange sensation took hold of me.
For some reason, a strange feeling began to spread inside me, growing slowly, as if it were taking over every corner of my being. It wasn't disgust, nor fear, anxiety, or any other familiar emotion.
I knew exactly what I was feeling, but at the same time, I couldn't understand the reason behind this feeling. It was pure happiness, yet at the same time enigmatic, as if it appeared without any apparent reason.
I couldn't find a plausible reason for feeling this. The scene with the flower, although strange, awakened in me an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if it were something already experienced — a type of déjà vu. Something deep in my mind seemed to connect me to it.
And the more I thought, the more I realized that this feeling, this unease, had been with me since I awoke in this body, becoming a constant and silent presence, like a shadow that never leaves.
Honestly, there were times when I found myself reflecting on certain things. Of course, I still remember the times when I was just an ordinary human. I remember the things I ate, the simple moments when I smiled, details that even today seem vivid in my mind.
However, at one point, while lying in bed, my gaze fixed on the pristine white ceiling of my room in the facilities, a question arose in my mind. It was like a distant whisper, but, somehow, unmistakably present.
(Before I became an anomaly... I was just an ordinary human, wasn't I?)