Fandom: Originals
Rating: G
Summary: It approaches through dark and cold and invades. But will it succeed in its quest?
Warnings: just general weirdness, I think
Disclaimer: This is my own original idea with my own characters. Don't steal! ^-^
Tani’s note: What’s up? I wrote this story for English and got an A+ on it (not that I trust my English teacher’s opinion, witchy as she is) and thought I might as well post it. I hope you liked it. The technicalities may not be exactly right, but I wasn’t planning on majoring in anything where I’ll have to worry about stuff like viruses and the body’s defense against them, so it’s not a problem. Anway, R&R! I love feedback!
It awoke to cold and darkness. Or perhaps awoke isn’t quite the right word, for it wasn’t living in the sense that we are alive when we breathe and move. If that is your definition of being awake and alive, then this being definitely wasn’t awake. But it was aware.
Awareness came upon it slowly, creeping up by centimeters and inches, until it couldn’t have named an exact moment when it started to notice things. It just happened, slowly but surely.
In fact, this awareness wasn’t that much different from the state it had been in before. Before it just was. But now, with this awareness, it knew things. Little things, to be sure, but things. It could sense the warmth drawing near, just the right amount of warmth to live and breed in.
It noted little changes in itself to prepare for the invasion of this warmth. It felt, as much as any such as it could feel, a sense of anticipation. It had failed last time but it wouldn’t now. It was ready.
The room was loud and full of happy chatter. Cassie looked up wearily and wished that there were some giant remote somewhere that she could use to get rid of all the awful noise. She all ready had a headache from trying to understand quadratic equations in Course II, so she really didn’t need all this noise just because they had a substitute for Bio Lab. She glared at the whole world in general for a moment, then sighed and let her head drop back to her desk.
"Are you all right?" asked the concerned voice of her friend, Jo. Cassie lifted her head again.
"No," she replied unhappily. "I really don’t feel good." Her other friends, Jessie and Sora, looked at her in concern.
"You don’t look too good," commented Sora.
Cassie smiled half-heartedly. "Do I ever? I think I’m going to go to the nurse." The others nodded.
After getting permission from the teacher, Cassie headed down to the nurse. There were a few people ahead of her, so she settled down on the bench to wait.
The nurse finished giving a kindergartener some ice, then asked her, "What seems to be the problem?"
"I don’t feel well. My head aches and I feel woozy."
"Let’s check for a temperature."
The nurse took out a thermometer, put it in her ear and waited for the beep. Cassie jumped when it did beep. The nurse looked at it, then said, "You have a temperature of one hundred. I think I’d better call your mom. You can go get your stuff."
Cassie nodded, got up laboriously, and went to her locker. She returned to class long enough to tell the teacher she was going home and receive her friend‘s sympathy and well wishing, then went to the nurse’s office to wait for her mother.
Cassie sat down, leaned back, and let herself drift into a fever-induced haze. Time floated by, and soon her mother was there. On the car ride home, Cassie let weariness overcome her and drifted off to sleep.
Just seconds after it entered the warm body it began to reproduce, sending perfect replicas of itself out to join with the cells of its victim. This was one virus that meant business. It was in dangerous territory, but it knew it was invincible.
These primitive antibodies have nothing on me, it thought with arrogant contempt. I am invincible.
It certainly seemed that way as antibody after antibody tried to destroy it and failed. Defeat is not in my vocabulary! it exulted as yet another antibody crashed into its defenses only to be pushed back. Victory shall be mine!
The doctor looked up from her clipboard and looked at Cassie. "Well, I’m happy to say it’s nothing serious, just a particularly nasty virus that’s been going around this year. Just make sure to drink lots of fluids and get plenty of sleep. It should last about three to seven days. If you’re still sick by this time next week, come see me and we’ll see what I can do. Until then, let’s just let nature take its course."
Cassie nodded wearily and let her mother escort her outside. She let herself drift off into sleep once again in the car, so the ride home was over before she knew it.
At home she climbed into bed and flipped on the radio, listening to it with her eyes closed until she once more left reality behind for the peace of sleep.
The virus watched with growing concern as the white blood cells and antibodies advanced upon it. The antibodies formed orderly ranks with the white blood cells slinking along between. Some of the bolder antibodies even clambered aboard the white blood cells to form a type of cavalry.
This was getting serious. The attacks had been getting increasingly stronger for days now, and the virus could feel that it was drastically weakened. Most of its copies had already been destroyed or were in the process of being destroyed, so it was on its own.
It continued to cling stubbornly on, but it was slipping. Defeat was near at hand. The enemy charged. The virus braced itself but it was no use. It was hopeless. It lost its grip and went reeling. It struggled desperately but to no avail.
Awareness began to fade as the darkness got nearer and nearer. Before it lost itself to the blackness once again though, it swore an oath. Someday I shall succeed and the world will be mine to possess!
Cassie woke up feeling much better. She had been running a fever for several days but now it seemed that all the fluids and bed rest had paid off. She sat up and grabbed the remote control from the table beside her bed and flipped idly through the channels.
She heard footsteps and looked up. It was her mother.
"Feeling better I see. Guess you'll be able to go to school again tomorrow!" Cassie groaned and flopped back down on the bed.
"Maybe I don’t feel so good after all!"
Fin