VirusHunters (A Trollhunters infection AU)

Day 2| The 5 Stages

Douxie's POV:

A few hours after Jim was quarantined, things started to get. . . strange, long story short, Claire was right. We observed 5 stages of this new infection that seemed to quickly spread over our beloved town.

Firstly, we realized that the virus took 24 hours to fully infect the victim. Poor Jim didn't even have enough time and we watched as the infection slowly and painfully took over his body.

The first stage we observed was feverish symptoms. About an hour or two after the incident, Jim explained how he felt sick and he thought he had a fever.

I thought it was odd, but Claire shook it off as a coincidence. Despite that, Claire and I did the best we could to help him heal up.

"Claire, Doux, I don't feel so great." Jim said sounding groggy.

"You don't look so hot, either." I said, as I was feeling concerned. "You're more green than a Gumgum."

Claire then walked up to Jim and placed her hand on his head. "Yep, you're warm alright. Go and try to get some rest." She said with a small smile. "Douxie and I will get you some warm soup and medicine in a bit."

"Okay, thank you guys." Jim said with a weak smile before heading back to his room.

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The second stage we observed was a nasty rash forms around the infected area. A few more hours passed and Claire went to go check on Jim, who was sleeping.

However, he didn't seem to be sleeping so soundly as he was tossing, turning, and scratching his arm.

That's when Claire ran out to tell me what was going on. "I think Jim has gotten worse." She said seriously. "He's tossing and turning and he has this huge rash around where the bite was."

"That's strange, a rash?" I asked in confusion. "It sounds like Jim's wound may be infected."

"How can you be so sure?" Claire asked. "Maybe it's just an allergic reaction to the medicine we gave him."

"Could be, but let's keep a closer eye on him." I said seriously. "Just to be sure, we need to keep him quarantined. It might be contagious."

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The third stage we observed is that the rash spreads to more parts of the body. The victim will be so itchy that it'll start to feel like burning and the wound will start to harden and scab up. Plus, the victim will start to become sensitive to the sun

For a moment, things seemed to be fine as Jim was peacefully sleeping and seemed to be feeling better. Until, we suddenly heard screaming coming from Jim's room.

"Jim!" Claire and I said in unison as we ran up to his room. But not before putting on a hazmat suit. (What? Safety first).

When we opened the door, the sight was horrific. The skinny legged boy's body was covered in a bright red rash. Claire quickly ran up to Jim to comfort him. "Jim! Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm not okay!" Jim snapped. "I look like a diseased shrimp and it feel like my skin is on fire, do you think I'm okay?!"

Claire was clearly shocked by Jim's reaction and I couldn't blame her. I haven't seen Jim have an outburst like that at all.

"Jim, calm down, were just trying to help you." I said as I slowly walked up to Jim. "You know that right?"

Jim then seemed to realize his attitude as he took a deep breath. "Sorry guys, I don't know what came over me. I just got so angry suddenly."

Side note: this seemed to be another effect of the third stage that we wouldn't have connected till later.

"It's okay, we understand." Claire smiled sadly as she gave Jim more medicine and rewrapped the wound. "I hope you'll feel better soon. I love you."

"Love you too, Claire." Jim said with a smile before we turned our backs to head back out.

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The fourth stage we observed was the victim literally turning into stone. The pain is unbearable and it feels like an extreme burning sensation.

There also is constant pressure as the infected area and other sections of the body are completely stone.

The victim will also be more aggressive than usual as they are starting to lose it. The victim will also start to have strange cravings for things that aren't food, such as undergarments for example.

"Doux, I don't think Jim's getting any better." Claire said with a worried look on her face. "His skin is literal stone, he's more and more aggressive, and he's not eating anything. . . Normal."

"Wait, what about that last part?" I ask making sure I herd her correctly. "What do you mean he's not eating normally?"

"I mean he's not eating normal foods." Claire explained. "He's eating like. . .a troll."

My eyes widen as I finally realized what she meant. "Wait, are you saying he's eating. . ."

"Socks and underwear? Yep." Claire said with a nod. "I mean I remember him being turned into a troll in the other timeline but this is ridiculous."

"No, I think you're onto something." I said honestly. "Maybe that's what this infection is doing. Turning Jim into a troll, or half troll."

That. . . actually makes a lot of sense." Claire said. I could tell that she seemed to be putting the pieces together in her head. "So, then must be what the 'troll' we faught was. An infected victim!"

"But where did this infection come from?" I asked as I tried to think and did more research about where this could've came from.

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Finally, stage 5 this is the final stage and the results were horrifying. Almost half the victims body is stone and they become completely mindless and hunger for human blood.

Of course this is the most dangerous stage as the victim is no longer human and in order to stop them. . . You have to kill them.

We found out the next morning when Jim attacked us. Luckily, we were able to sudue him before we got infected too.

"There, safe and sound." I said, out of breathy as I locked up a cage and put a magical barrier around it. I then look over at Claire who had tears forming in her eyes. "Claire, I promise we will find a cure and in the meantime I won't let anything happen to him."

"Thanks Doux." Claire sniffled as she gave me a hug. "You're a great friend."

"No problem. . .C-bomb." I said with a small smirk while returning the hug.

And that was the start of an outbreak that would forever change our world.

To be continued. . .

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