The Infection - Volume 1 (The Wanted Fanfic)

Chapter 1 - History

I walked down the alley way, enjoying the peaceful darkness of it. I still wondered why humans didn’t like these kinds of places; they were somewhere I could clear my head without being reminded of the busy lives of humankind. A species I once belonged to.

Carrying on down the alley I noticed a figure curled up against one of the dark brick walls, knees pulled up against their chest and quiet sobs coming from them. I sniffed lightly at the air and instantly recognised the scent; I quickened my pace and crouched next to her.

‘Lyric, what are you doing here?’

‘It’s a long story.’ She sighed while wiping away tears.

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My humanity was taken away from me in the year 1860. This is where my story begins, the story of a boy turning into a man all in the space of 12 hours.

I was infected by a woman that worked at my local tavern. She was one of those women that didn’t have self-respect to put it lightly; she would entertain men in the upstairs rooms above the tavern. I was scared of those women, I didn’t want them to infect me with their sins.

I wasn’t particularly religious compared to many people of my time, I really only believed in sins and of course heaven and hell. I went to church out of habit every Sunday which my parents had made me do throughout my life. Even though when I was younger I hated it and longed to go outside to mess around with my friends, but as I got older I found it almost cleansing just sitting there and washing away the busy week.

I remember sitting there alone in the corner enjoying my drink silently. I sipped at it and as I set it down one of the women caught my eye, she stared walking over swaying her hips as she did so. A smile stretched on her pink lips, she wore a barely there outfit that had many of the men drooling over it. Long blond curls framed her young face and bright green eyes framed by long, thick lashes.

‘What is somebody with your handsome looks doing sitting on your own?’ she purred with a slight hint of an accent t her voice.

I shivered for some unknown reason and left her question unanswered as a lump formed in my throat, she cocked her head slightly to the side and raised an eyebrow.

‘I-I prefer to drink alone.’ I managed to stutter out.

‘Why would that be?’ she said as she drew up a chair and perched lightly on it.

‘I’m around people a lot at the moment so I just appreciate a quiet drink at the end of the day.’ A shaky hand reached out to my drink and I drained the remains of it before hastily standing up. ‘Please excuse me, I must be heading back….it was nice talking to you Miss-‘

‘Call me Harper.’ She quickly added.

It was nice to meet you Harper.’ I said not wanting to be rude to a lady, not matter what she did. I started to head for the door when I felt cool, delicate fingers wrap lightly round my wrist.

‘May I know your name before you go?’ She said softly fluttering her eyelashes. I tried to rid the lump in my throat by swallowing heavily only for it to get worse.

‘My name is N-Nathan, Nathan Sykes.’ Her eyes widened for a split second before she composed herself. I hint of mischief lingered in her eyes.

‘I will see you soon Mr Sykes.’ She purred before turning away and swishing her hips off to her next ‘customer’.

I went home with an uneasy feeling the whole walk back, I lay in bed wide awake until the early hours of the morning when the birds started to sing. Even when I did settle enough to sleep it was restless, riddled with nightmares of the dark woods that bordered the town. Voices floating the whole time and I would turn round to find nothing there, the voices always being behind my back.

I woke a while before my maid Adelaide knocked on my door, like she usually did to wake me each morning at six o’clock on the dot. I got changed into my usual working uniform of old slacks and a jacket, I looked in the small mirror above my chest of draws and tried to smooth down my brown hair that had ended up a mess from the nights dreams and restlessness. Dark bags had appeared under my eyes and I know that Adelaide would scold me for not getting a good enough night sleep before going to work.

I wondered downstairs to the kitchen and sat at the table in front of the fire, Adelaide set my usual bowl of porridge in front of me. I managed a couple of mouthfuls before I decided I couldn’t stomach anymore. As Adelaide left the room I placed it on the floor next to Jasper, my Irish wolf hound who lapped it up like he didn’t just have his own breakfast.

I picked the bowl up and placed it back on the table. I opened the door for Jasper to go outside and shrugged my coat on not really looking forward to doing my usual gamekeeper duties. Unlike other men in the area that owned land I preferred to work on it and pull my weight rather than lounging around all day.

No matter how hard I tried my meeting with Harper kept popping up in my mind. Why is this happening?