Standing in the middle of the sidewalk stood a young woman. She had long brown hair that cascaded in waves to about her mid-back and bright but tired looking blue-green eyes that were fixed on the large factory standing behind wrote iron gates. Her pale face had been whipped red from the harsh wind and her thin form shook violently from the cold, but all of this was lost to the young woman known as Virus.

She was lost in her own world of fantasy, to busy imagining the amazing things that might go on inside the factory to notice the harsh winds that churned around her. Virus was not quite delusional enough to ever imagine that she would get to see the amazing works of candy engineering that were sure to lie inside; she wasn't one of the five lucky ticket winners. In fact, during the contest, she hadn't bought even one chocolate bar, and the only reason she was even in the city was because Miss Veruca Salt, her employer, had acquired one.

Virus sighed and turned away, shaking her head and walking away down the road, her long jacket flapping wildly behind her. She was Veruca's personal servant. Veruca would be entering the factory the next day and she wanted to look like the little miss perfect that she thought herself to be. So Virus had to be sent to get her newest outfit cleaned. Unfortunately most places were closed by this time, in anticipation for the opening of the chocolate factory.

The only open laundry house turned out to be an old dirty looking shack run by a women named Mrs. Bucket. The place was empty except for several large sacks of laundry, a huge tub of hot water and, of course, Mrs. Bucket.

"Hello dear," she said kindly when Virus entered. "What can I do for you?" Virus handed her the coat without looking up and Mrs. Bucket took it, saying in a slightly less warm tone, "It will be done soon enough; you can pick up your coat later if you want."

Shaking her head, Virus moved towards the corner.

"I was told to not let it leave my sight," she said quietly, "if that's alright with you?"

For the fist time Virus looked up, eyes weary and tired looking.

Not having the heart to send the worn looking child back out into the cold, Mrs. Bucket nodded and set to work.

"That'll be fine"

Virus sank into the corner, resting her head on her knees.She was tired, but then again she was nearly always tired. Her chest felt like a large dog was resting on it, and she was feeling a little dizzy. But she could breathe, and she wasn't coughing, so she ignored it like she always did and just enjoyed the time she had to relax.

Several more exhausting hours of errands passed before Virus made it back to the hotel Veruca's father had rented rooms from; it was, at Veruca's insistence, the closest hotel to the factory, which meant, unfortunately, that everyone and their brother was staying there, so Veruca had to share with Virus.

"What took you so long?" Veruca screamed. "You're not even trying to help me! You want me to look bad tomorrow, don't you?" Virus just rolled her eyes and slipped past the girl, laying out her coat on the bed. "And I want you to polish my shoes," Veruca continued. "So get to it you ungrateful little slug!"

Virus just sighed resignedly; she was used to this by now. But it was sometimes worth to 'accidentally' take a long time with something, just to make Veruca angry, that had been another reason she'd allowed herself to spend so much time staring at the factory, just to make Veruca mad.

Before Virus had so much as moved someone else was shouting at her. Veruca's father had stepped in and he looked at Virus with mild disgust.

"Get washed up, you're coming to the factory tomorrow, and I will not have your filthiness ruining our reputation."

This of course caused more screaming.

"I don't want her to come!" Veruca whined.

To his credit the man didn't even flinch. He just put on a charming smile and said, "You said you wanted someone to carry your things in the factory, not to mention the prize at the end. I'm not going to do it, so you'll take her." Veruca huffed and threw herself onto the bed, screaming into the pillow.

"Fine!" she huffed, after she'd finished screaming.

Virus, on the other hand, was ecstatic. She was going to see the inside of Wonka's famous chocolate factory! And all she had to do was carry Veruca's coat around for a few hours. She just hoped nothing bad happened the next day.

So this is the first chapter rewrite… hope it's better 'cause I really didn't like this story and kind of lost interest in it for a few months…. Or a year… sorry! I don't own Willy Wonka!