Chapter 1

William Herondale was lonely.

It was not the first time he had experience the emotion, Loneliness. He had been lonely for a year now, A long dreadful year of isolation, A year of pushing everyone away from him, A year of silent, mournful tears that he had shed night after night, A year since he last saw his family, A year after he had lost his sister, A Year he has had this curse.

A damn bloody year.

Oh, how he wished he could be able to talk to anyone, To allow someone to care for him, to find someone who was immune to his curse, For someone, Anyone, To break him free of this isolation. But he knew that it was impossible. For this curse that he carried would kill anyone who cared for him, And he did not want to experience any of the horrors that this curse had cast upon him again. His sister was enough, and He did not want to bare anymore of it again. Not ever.

Will started at the bare walls of his room. He needed to get out of here. He could not stand being in here any longer, He would go mad if he did. With a huff, He quickly sat up from his position on the cold, hard, wooden floor and slipped on his boots. He quickly made his way towards the library, Ignoring Charlotte's calls for him as he walked past the drawing room.

He brushed a stray of rebelling inky black hair away from his face, Before turning a right corner leading him to the huge doors to the London institute library. Will peaked inside, making sure that no one was there. When He had reassured himself that he was alone he stepped inside, Savoring the smell of books that hit him. He made his way toward one of the older looking shelves and picked out a book at random. He scanned the title and skimmed through the pages before placing it back. He picked out another book without looking at the title and opened it to the first chapter.

Demon Pox.

Demon Pox, also known as Astriola, Is rare debilitating disease that affects shadowhunters and is caused by sexual contact with demons.

Will lit up with sudden interest, Demon Pox, He smiled mischievously and continued reading.

The first signs of demon pox are a shield-shaped rash on the back of the sufferer, which then spreads over the body, creating fissures in the skin. From this point, the afflicted Shadowhunter will deteriorate physically, experiencing fever, chills, nausea, oozing sores, non-oozing sores, buboes, a film of black over the eyes, hair ejection, skin discoloration, swelling, and other similar signs of distress. The demon pox would then aggravate and may lead to insanity. In time, the sores and fissures cover the skin of the victim entirely, and they form a dark chrysalis within which the victim transforms, painfully and over the course of several weeks, into a demon himself. Once the demon emerges from the chrysalis, the previously existing person is in effect deceased, and the only end to the torment is to kill the demon.

In earlier times, astriola was invariably lethal, and not much could be done for the sufferer but to make him comfortable and to remove him from innocents who might be harmed when his full demonic alteration took place. The progress of the disease could be slowed but not stopped, and in many cases the victim would choose not to be treated, since by and large treatment would only prolong his agony. Today, there exist reliable cures that can clear up demon pox in its early stages, and the illness now causes few fatalities. It can, however, still be incurable if the sufferer reaches a certain stage of demonification before being treated. In addition, a fairly serious stigma is still associated with the disease, and its presence is considered sufficient evidence for the violation of the Law against consorting with demons. Thus those who are treated for demon pox today often receive this treatment while in the prisons of the Silent City.

Mundanes are immune to the disease, as demon pox is assumed to be caused by the interaction of demon poisons with the angelic nature of Shadowhunters.(1)

Will closed the book and tucked it securely under his arm.

"Will, William are you here?" A feminine voice asked. William sighed.

"Yes Charlotte what do you want?" He replied trying to sound as annoyed as he could, When in reality He wanted more then anything for Charlotte to worry about him.

No, He scolded himself You know very well of the consequences if that were to, by some miracle, were to occur.

"Dinner is ready if you wish to dine with us, Jessamine will be there" Will scowled, No way was he going to eat with that brat.

"No, I do not feel very hungry at the moment, I actually feel very tired" He said harshly and walked pass Charlotte to his room.

Once he turned the corner Guilt washed over him. He stiffly walked over to room, trying so hard to suppress the tears that were forming. He barely reached the door of his room before the boiling hot tears fell. He slammed the door close and collapsed, Letting the choked sobs spill out his mouth. He curled into a ball letting the emotions spill out of him in waves, his hands pulling his hair in a painful manner.

He felt a small hand touch his head and slowly untangle his own hands from his hair. He suddenly felt very tired his eyes slowly closing. He felt the hands lift up his head and gently place lay it on a...Lap? The strangers hands suddenly disappeared.

Please do not go, He wanted to say, Stay.

The hands came back smoothing his hair and a voice softly murmuring comforting words. Will felt himself whisper a soft thank you before the darkness overtook him.

~OoO~

Will woke up to the sound of crash and a loud curse. He slowly got up rubbing his back, It was sore form the hard ground. The memories from last night came crashing into him and with horror he scrambled off the ground and looked around. His sky blue eyes made contact with molten Gold. He sucked in a breath.

"You are not dead" he said to the girl. She looked around his age, twelve or thirteen. Her Golden brown hair came down to her waist, She was pretty, he wouldn't deny that.

"Well I'm still breathing so I guess that's a yes" She said with a roll of her eyes. His eyes fell to what she was wearing and adverted his eyes. That was probably the tightest thing he has ever seen a person wear, It fitted her like a second skin.

"By the angel what are you Wearing" he told her.

"I think the correct answer for that would be clothes" She pointed out. Will looked at her once more, studying her, When the thought hit him.

She's not dead.

The words repeated themselves in his head making him dizzy. He stumbled towards her and gripped her arms searching her face for any illnesses or signs of pain, When she did not show any he let out a relived sigh.

"You are not dead" He said a smile lighting up his face but another thought occurred to him. Ellie did not die right away either. His smile dropped replaced by the expression of fear.

"Hey, are you Okay, you look like you've seen a ghost" Her brows furrowed in confusion.

"You have to get away from me, Now. "His Voice frantic "Perhaps there is still time" He whispered to himself his hands clutching his hair once again.

"Hey, hey, I'm not going to leave you here like this. Here let me help-" she reached toward him.

"NO" He screamed stumbling away from her "DO NOT TOUCH ME"

He heard the sounds of running foots steps heading towards his room. He barley had time to stop Charlotte before the door slammed open revealing a frantic Charlotte in front of him.

"Will are you okay? Are you hurt-"

"I'm fine just get this girl-" He turned around expecting to see the girl but she was not there, As of she had vanished into thin air.

Explainations:

This chapter takes place a month before Jem arrives so that's why Will is so depressed. If your wondering why Will is acting so unlike the Will you know it's because He is still new to the curse, Which is why you see him crying.

The Girl you see is Lucy, but since the chapter is through wills POV he doesn't know that.

The first, About five, chapters circle around Will, Jem, and Lucy's relationship and how they get to know her. Mostly told from Will's POV, the story will reach the events of Clockwork Angel after that.

The Infomation I found about demon pox Was on Shadowhunter wiki, if you wish to visit that.

~Bookworm