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There was something off about Carlton Drake. Eddie suspected the man wasn’t the philanthropic visionary he appeared to be, that the Life Foundation was up to no good. Something was wrong with that picture. It was just a gut feeling, but the one thing life had taught Eddie was to trust his gut.
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“I know what you’re gonna say. But this guy, he is all the way bad, Jack. If you just give me – ”
“Who’s your source?”
“Excuse me?”
“Who’s your source, Eddie?”
“I don’t have a source per se, but I have a hunch.”
“This isn’t the wild, Wild West. We don’t go all half cop based on a hunch. We do the work. We substantiate our accusations. We provide evidence.”
Jack sighed and stood before continuing. “You know, for a smart guy, you really are a dumbass.” He turned his back on Eddie to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office. “You’re fired, Eddie. I can’t trust you. Have a nice life.”
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Six months later, Eddie still didn’t have a new job. He was struggling. That didn’t stop him from giving Maria $20 on his way home from the bar. She smiled at him. She was friendly to everyone, but few people were willing to make conversation with a homeless woman sitting in a pile of ratty old blankets. Eddie was.
He also talked to Mrs. Chen whenever he dropped by her convenience store. She wasn’t exactly friendly, but she was caring in her own no nonsense way.
“Hey Mrs. Chen!”
“How are you doing, Eddie?”
“Ah, aches and pains, you know, aches and pains.”
She glanced up from the register, and her expression fell. “You look like shit.”
“Excuse me?”
“You look like shit,” she reiterated, speaking slower this time.
“And you look as lovely as ever,” Eddie said, shaking his head in disbelief. The woman had a way with words. She got on his case about the importance of meditation but slipped into Mandarin when he waved her off.
He headed to the back of the store to grab a premade sandwich and a bottle of pepto bismol. He stayed back there while Mrs. Chen was held at gunpoint.
The thug was part of the local gang, which ran a protection racket. This wasn’t his first time in the store. He left with a bottle of whisky and all the money in the register.
Eddie gave Mrs. Chen a sympathetic look as he came up to pay for his items. She looked more dejected than rattled.
“Life hurts, Eddie. It just does.”
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At least Anne was doing well. Her absence in Eddie's life still pained him like a missing limb, but she had moved on. She introduced Eddie to her new boyfriend, Dan.
As much as he wanted to hate Dan, Eddie couldn’t. Dan was a nice guy, the sort of guy that Anne deserved. He was a surgeon and spent all day helping to save lives. He’d even been a fan of The Brock Report .
“I think it’s awesome what you did. You took down some big players. You helped a lot of people.”
Eddie went for a walk after parting ways with Anne and Dan. The reminder of his former self, the dogged reporter who never backed down, had him pulling out Dr. Skirth’s card. He was ready to get back into the fight.
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Eddie was shocked to see Maria on the other side of the glass in Drake’s lab. He was even more shocked when the woman tackled him and wrapped her hands around his neck. Suddenly, her grip loosened. Her unconscious body slumped to one side. Eddie tried to shake her awake, but she was unresponsive, and he didn’t have much time. The alarm was blaring.
Eddie made a break for it. The next ten minutes were a blur. He dodged, ran, jumped, and ultimately escaped by climbing a really, really, really tall tree. He had no clue how he’d managed to do any of those things.
He clung on for dear life while the Life Foundation’s security detail searched the area for him. Two hours later, they seemed to have given up. Eddie finally deemed it safe to climb down. Easier said than done.
His descent was painfully slow. His desperate need to be on solid ground again was fighting his fear of letting go. He glanced down a few times to find where he could step, but the sight gave him vertigo.
He had to climb down blindly, feeling for branches with his feet while keeping a death grip on the tree with his hands. Anytime he found a new branch, he’d shift his weight onto it slowly and pray it wouldn't snap. Several did.
Eddie’s terror overshadowed the feelings of exasperation and, to a lesser degree, amusement that were distinctly not his. He didn’t notice them.
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The first time the voice spoke to him, Eddie had just eaten rotten meat off of a chicken carcass from the trash and then rushed to the bathroom and thrown up.
“Eddie.”
Eddie shrieked, stumbling back and falling into the bathtub before passing out.
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Take two went better.
“Food.”
Eddie flinched but didn’t fall over this time. He looked around wildly. “Who said that?”
No one replied. The other pedestrians ignored him and moved on with their days, giving him a wide berth.
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Eddie credited the raging fever for the crazy things he did that afternoon. He rampaged through the restaurant where Anne and Dan were getting lunch, ultimately ending up in the lobster tank, where he proceeded to take a huge bite out of an unfortunate crustacean.
He could barely remember the ride in the ambulance or the barrage of medical tests at the hospital. Apparently, they’d given him a sedative. It was wearing off when he went in for his MRI.
When the machine whirred to life, the sound was overwhelming. Every nerve in his body screamed out in pain. He writhed and spasmed until they shut it down. Dan sent him home without doing the scan.
“Listen, you’re not the first person to freak out in there,” Dan reassured him. “I get claustrophobic too.”
Eddie nodded along mutely.
“We’re gonna get to the bottom of this. All right? That I can promise you. But for now, go home. Get some rest. I’ll call you when your tests are in.”
“Thank you. Thank you, Dan,” Eddie mumbled.
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Take three started like all the others, with a single word.
“Hungry.”
Eddie jumped out of his seat. The other passengers on the cable car gave him odd looks. Apparently, no one else had heard it. He was definitely hearing things.
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Eddie had calmed down somewhat by the time he made it back to his apartment. He’d just shut the door when his phone rang. Anne was calling him to check in.
“I’m feeling… I’m sick.”
“Well, Eddie, you have a parasite,” she informed him. “They’re not exactly sure how you got it, but it would explain the fever.”
“That would make sense. Also, I’m hearing, uh, a voice.”
“Auditory hallucinations are actually very common,” Dan cut in.
“Oh, hey Dan. I didn’t realize that you were on the call too.”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Hey Dan, would this parasite, would it, like, be able to make me, I don’t know, like climb a really, really, really tall tree, but super, super fast?”
“Yes. We just did,” the voice crooned smugly.
Eddie jerked and looked around his empty apartment. He was definitely alone.
“Well, Eddie, it sounds like it might be causing some metabolic abnormalities that are making it hard for your body to maintain homeostasis,” Dan prattled on.
“You said ‘causing’ and ‘body,’ and then I lost you,” Eddie took a deep breath and massaged his temple. He was starving and exhausted.
“Listen, Eddie, we’re gonna get you on some meds, and we’re going to clear that out.”
“Yes,” Eddie replied at the same time as the voice did.
“Never gonna happen.”
“Will you stop doing that now?” Eddie snapped. “Not now.”
“Eddie, we’re just trying to help you,” Anne replied.
“I know. I know. I’m not actually talking to you, Annie.”
“Who’re you talking to?”
“I’m just gonna call you back, all right? Thank you. Thank you, Dan. Thank you. Thank you, both.”
Eddie hung up and took a few deep breaths. His head was quiet. His apartment was quiet.
It was almost 10pm. Eddie wanted to eat junk food and crawl into bed. He heated up a bag of frozen tater tots. As he was pulling them out of the toaster oven, the voice issued a command.
“ Do not open that door.”
“Huh?”
Right on cue, someone knocked at the door. Eddie glanced through the peephole but didn’t see anyone. He opened the door.
An armed man grabbed him and forced him back into the apartment. “Stay put,” he commanded before releasing Eddie and taking a few steps back.
Four more armed men, followed by Treece, swarmed his apartment. All eyes were trained on Eddie.
“Hey, Eddie,” Treece greeted coolly.
“ Who the hell is this guy?” the voice asked.
“I’m gonna need Mr. Drake’s property back.”
The men all aimed their weapons at Eddie. He raised his hands in a panicked surrender.
“ What are you doing?”
“I’m, uh, I’m putting my hands up,” Eddie said out loud. From what he could tell, he was the only one hearing the other half of this conversation.
“ You are making us look bad.” As the voice spoke, some invisible force dragged Eddie’s hands back down to his sides.
“No, I am not.” Eddie fought and, with great effort, managed to raise his arms again only to have them dragged down once more.
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I am not.” Arms go up.
“Yes, you are.” Arms go down.
“No, I am not.” Arms go up.
Treece looked at Eddie like he was crazy. Maybe he was.
“Why would you do that?” the voice berated.
“Cause it is a very sensible thing to do,” he whispered back.
“I will take care of this myself,” the voice replied in annoyance.
“Eddie,” Treece said authoritatively. “Where is the bug?”
When Eddie didn’t answer, Treece gave the order, and two of the men tased Eddie. That’s when things went sideways. Eddie completely lost control of his body.
Black tendrils shot out of Eddie’s arms, taking out the men holding the stun guns. The tendrils receded, but the same material covered Eddie’s limbs one at a time, manipulating his body as he fought and quickly took down the remaining assailants.
“What is that?” Eddie gasped, as a thick, gooey webbing formed between his hands.
“Not what. Who.”
One of the men stood up and charged Eddie, only to be caught in the webbing and flung across the room. Eddie looked around at the aftermath of the attack. All six attackers were down for the count.
“Outstanding!” the voice celebrated. “ Now, let’s bite all their heads off and pile them in the corner.”
“Why would we do that?”
“Pile of bodies. Pile of heads.” The tone was one of someone explaining something very logical. Eddie was aghast.
He didn’t have long to ponder the situation he was in before reinforcements stormed the building. Eddie screamed as whatever - or, he supposed, whoever - had control of his body sent them crashing through a window.
In the safety of an alley, Eddie looked at his reflection in the window of a parked car. Except, it wasn’t his reflection. It was the face of a nightmare. Its skin was the same inky black material that had seeped out of him during the fight with Treece and his men.
Its eyes were huge and terrifying. They were pure white and pupil-less but shone with iridescence and mischief. They formed a V-shape, curving upwards like the raised wings of a hawk. The creature’s massive mouth was open slightly in a maniacal grin that showed off row after row of razor sharp fangs.
“You’re not even here, are you? I’m just seeing things,” Eddie reassured himself. “It’s not real. You’re in my head. Cause you’re just a parasite.”
“Parasite?” the creature yelled in indignation.
Eddie flew backwards and was pinned to the wall of the alley. He was suspended a few feet above the ground.
“You have a brain tumor, Eddie,” he muttered to himself. That was the only possible explanation for what was happening to him right now. But pointing that out wasn’t helping with his current predicament.
“I’m sorry that I called you a parasite,” he appealed. “We can discuss this like two men…” In the corner of his eye, Eddie saw something flying towards them. “What is that? What is that?” he panicked.
The creature released Eddie, who fell to the ground a second before the drone exploded. With that, the chase was back on. Eddie took off on his motorcycle. Treece and the rest of Drake’s men were right behind him.
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The black ooze took control, covering his arms and holding down the throttle all the way.
More drones pursued them, and one came perilously close to blowing Eddie’s head off.
“Duck,” the voice commanded.
Eddie reacted just in time. He squeaked out a “thank you” and received an incredibly smug “you are welcome” in return.
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Eddie felt his heart creeping up into his throat as they flew down Kearny Street at an alarming speed. If they didn’t turn off soon, they’d run into the railing that blocked off the Peter Macchiarini Steps.
“That is a dead end,” Eddie shrieked.
“Not for us.”
Black limbs emerged from Eddie’s sides and launched them over the railing.
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“I am going to die!”
“You are not going to die!”
Two SUVs tried to sandwich Eddie, but black tendrils extending from Eddie’s torso held them at bay. As the drivers forced their vehicles closer together in an attempt to crush Eddie, the black coils split. Smaller limbs smashed through the windows and yanked the steering wheels of both cars, sending them flying.
“Woah! That was pretty cool, actually. I’m not gonna lie – ”
He didn’t have time to finish that sentence. Treece’s SUV slammed into them from the side, sending Eddie flying.
He landed hard, sliding for a few yards and then rolling to a stop. His left leg was definitely broken in multiple places based on the sickening crunch it had made when he landed. Probably his left arms and hand too based on the level of pain he was feeling. It was hard to diagnose each agonizing injury when everything hurt as badly as it did. Eddie couldn’t move his head to see his body, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to.
“You have been a serious pain in the ass for me, Eddie,” Treece said from somewhere above him.
“Well, you know. I aim to please,” he wheezed.
As Treece loomed over him, Eddie felt his bones set themselves and his skin knit itself back together. It all happened in an instant. He was healed, but he still couldn’t move.
The blackness had taken control again, but far more of it was oozing out than ever had before. It covered Eddie’s body completely and forced him to stand. He was suddenly much, much taller than Treece and was holding the man by the neck, running a long, acuate tongue across his face.
“Eyes. Lungs. Pancreas. So many snacks, so little time.”
The creature ultimately didn’t eat Treece. It ate the foolish lackey who opened fire on them. Sated, it set off for the bay, launching them into the water and making for a buoy under the Bay Bridge. Only there did it surrender control back to Eddie.
“Oh my god. My legs. My legs were broken. Now, they’re not broken,” Eddie paced around the hull with his not-broken legs. The buoy rocked in the waves, and he stumbled. He sat in a heap with his back pressed up against the wooden frame.
“What is happening? What the hell are you?” he asked shakily.
A face made up of the black substance emerged from his shoulder. It smiled.
“I am Venom. And you are mine.”
“You bit somebody’s head off.”
“Fuel in the tank,” Venom purred. “Listen carefully, Eddie. You did not find us. We found you. Think of yourself as my ride.”
“Where are we going?”
“We need Carlton Drake’s rocket. You remember him.”
“How do you even know about that?”
“I know everything, Eddie.”
“You do?”
“Everything about you.”
“How?”
“I am inside your head. You are a loser, Eddie.”
“Are you going to eat anybody else?”
“Most likely.”
“Oh, God.”
“That is why we are here. Cooperate, and you just might survive. That is the deal.”
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Eddie’s phone rang, but he declined the call.
“Who is Anne? Your pulse has quickened.”
“That is none of your goddamn business.”
“Everything of yours is my business, Eddie. We have no secrets.”
“Yeah, well then, you know exactly why I’m going here before we get to your rocket, huh?”
“Sure. I’m not unreasonable.”
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Anne called again as Eddie was pleading with Richard to let him into the building. He needed to get the photos of Drake’s labs to Jack, but he also needed to let Anne know to stay away. Both of those tasks became low priority when Venom next spoke.
“Let’s eat his brains.”
“No, you do not touch him. He is my friend,” Eddie yelled, backing away from the doorman. He hung up on Anne and turned to leave the building. “He works three jobs just so that he can support his family. We are leaving.”
“We?” Venom sounded pleasantly surprised.
“Yeah,” Eddie said and walked out. From the sidewalk, he looked up at the skyscraper. Jack’s office was on the 57th floor.
“You want up? Why didn’t you just say?” Venom hummed.
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Venom didn’t take them directly to Jack’s office. He took them to the top of the skyscraper and perched there, looking down on the city. The Bay Bridge was lit up. Everything seemed to sparkle.
“It is peaceful up here.”
“I’m not very good with heights,” Eddie mumbled uneasily.
“Your world is not so ugly after all,” Venom contemplated. “I’m almost sorry to see it end.”
“What does that mean?”
Venom didn’t get a chance to answer. One near-death experience later, they smashed through the window of Jack’s office.
Venom ceded control back to Eddie, who shuddered. “You’re gonna get me killed,” he said with a grimace as he headed over to Jack’s desk.
“You die, I die.”
“Yeah, well you can always just shed my carcass and exchange it for a new one whenever you need.” He grabbed a notepad and wrote a message for Jack.
“Why would I do that? You are far too good of a match to throw away so soon. Plus, I am starting to like you. You and I are not so different.”
“Thanks,” Eddie muttered, putting his phone next to the note. He looked towards the smashed window.
“Jump.”
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Eddie didn’t jump.
“Pussy.”
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Eddie should have been worried when they emerged from the elevator and were met by the entire SFPD swat team. He wasn’t. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure if any of this was real. Brain tumor was still on the table.
May as well have fun with it , he thought to himself. He gave the officers a calm warning, but they brought out gas canisters.
“MASK!” the point man yelled.
“COPY!” the chorus of officers replied.
“All right. Have it your way,” Eddie smiled. “Mask!”
“Copy.”
Venom took over again and took down the entire team with ease. It was amusing until Venom tried to eat one of the officers. That was, of course, when Anne showed up.
Venom gave Eddie his body back, and he chased after her.
“You’re sick. Eddie, you’re really sick.”
“No, I am scared… and I need help.”
Anne took a few deep breaths to steady herself. “Hospital. Right now,” she stammered, pointing towards her car.
“I can’t go with you. It’s not safe.”
“Get in the car, Eddie,” she demanded, voice no longer shaky.
“I like her,” Venom purred. “Get in.”
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Anne was the first to break the silence on the drive to the hospital. “He’s talking to you?”
“Always.”
“Are you in pain?”
“No. No, I don’t feel anything, actually, apart from I’m hungry all the time.”
“And you feel sad, do you not, Eddie, when you are with her?”
“Get out of my head, man,” Eddie mumbled too quietly for Anne to hear.
“If you do not tell her how now, you might not live to get another chance.”
Eddie pursed his lips in annoyance, but Venom was right. This could be the last time he spoke to her. He sighed.
“Annie,” he started and then paused. What do you say to someone you’re in love with but who’s better off without you? “Thanks for always looking out for me. You’re a good person, a really good person. Whatever happens, remember that, okay?”
“Oh, Eddie,” Anne glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “Now’s really not the time. Let’s just keep you alive, okay?”
“Aw. That’s nice.”
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Just like she had with Eddie, Anne instantly got along with Venom. They had a natural chemistry. When Treece came for Eddie, she hosted Venom long enough to stage a rescue.
Eddie felt bad leaving her alone in the middle of the woods, but Venom insisted. “It is not safe for her. If we do not stop Riot, he will come back with millions more of my kind.”
“Millions? What, you were gonna take the rocket, and you were gonna come back here with an invasion force? Then what were you gonna do? You were going to go feed on a whole planet?”
“Yes. But it is different now, Eddie. I have decided to stay.”
“Wow.”
“On my planet, I am kind of a loser, like you. But here, we could be more. And I am getting to like it here.”
“Oh, you like us now, do you, huh?”
“However, there will be nothing left to like if we do not stop that rocket.”
“Oh, I see. Right. When it comes to being completely annihilated, then it’s back to ‘we.’”
“It is ‘we.’ Like it or not, it is going to take both of us.”
“Cut the bullshit. What really made you change your mind?”
“You. You did, Eddie.”
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Neither of them had much time to dwell on that sentiment before they were facing off against Riot and Drake. Riot was stronger than Venom, but he couldn’t rip his fellow symbiote away from Eddie. He tried again and again, but, whenever he got close, Eddie would pull Venom back.
Aggravated and low on time, Riot tried to absorb the pair of them. He was close to succeeding when a horrible screeching sound blasted from the loudspeakers. It was just the right frequency to debilitate both aliens.
The symbiotes were flung from their hosts’ bodies. Without them, Eddie and Drake grappled. Eddie got the upper hand. Before Drake could start monologuing, he kicked the other man off of the platform.
He turned to leave but only made it a few feet before he was impaled. Riot had come back to Drake, and the two watched smugly as Eddie fell to his knees and keeled over.
“You are nothing,” Riot sneered, not bothering to remove the massive blade from Eddie’s chest.
If he said anything else, Eddie didn’t hear it. The roaring of his own desperate pulse drowned out all other sounds. The pain in his chest radiated outwards. His body spasmed as it was racked by wave after wave of pain.
Every breath in caused a sharp pang of agony as if he were being stabbed anew. Eddie tried to keep his breaths shallow, but he felt like he was suffocating. He gasped for air, and every cell in his body screamed in protest. His vision went black.
The pain was an incessant throbbing, but it came slower now. He stopped shaking. He lay still. In between waves, he felt the wetness of his clothes… the growing pool of blood below him… the coolness of the metal platform… the chilly sea breeze. Eddie was cold, cold and tired.
Sleep was tempting Eddie when a familiar warmth reappeared. It started at his fingers tips and crept up his arm before enveloping his entire body.
“Eddie. I am sorry, Eddie. I am here now.” Venom spoke gently. His voice was soothing. The pain began to ebb away.
Gradually, Eddie regained his senses. His foggy thoughts became clearer. He remembered where he was and what was happening. Venom had already engulfed him.
“Did I die?” Eddie murmured sluggishly.
“No. I will not let you die.”
Venom took control then, standing up and letting out a furious roar. He ripped the blade out of Eddie’s chest and made for the rocket, weapon in hand.
Eddie abruptly snapped out of his stupor when Venom leapt and grabbed onto the side of the rocket as it took off.
Riot looked at them through the flight deck window. “No! Traitor!” he screeched.
“Have a nice life.” Venom drove the blade into the external tank and tore it open. Fuel spilled out and ignited. The rocket exploded.
Venom stayed wrapped around Eddie’s frame, protecting him from the heat and flames even as the symbiote burned away.
“Goodbye, Eddie,” Venom apologized, using the last of his body mass to form a parachute and slow Eddie’s descent.
“Venom, no!”
Eddie hit the water. Venom didn’t reply.
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Eddie trod water for a long time, straining his neck to see through the burning debris. There was no sign of Venom. Eddie stayed put so that the symbiote could find him, but Venom never came back.
When emergency responders pulled him out of the water, Eddie resisted, but he was freezing and exhausted and couldn’t put up much of a fight. They brought him to shore, where the EMTs bundled him in dry blankets and stuffed him in an ambulance.
At the hospital, Dan looked him over. They talked, but Eddie wasn’t sure what he said. Venom’s absence was all he could focus on. Without him, Eddie felt hollow. He fell asleep immediately when he reached his assigned bed.
Anne was there when Eddie woke up. Dan had pulled some strings to get Eddie a private room, so they could talk freely, but he didn’t have much to say.
“He’s gone,” Eddie told her.
They ran a few more tests on Eddie, but physically, he was fine. Venom had healed and protected his body until the very end. The only issues were mental.
“You’re in shock, Eddie,” Dan explained sympathetically. “Not surprising considering everything you’ve been through.”
Eddie nodded along. He wasn’t really listening.
Not long after that, the FBI agents came asking questions. Anne stayed by his side through the entire thing. She told the officers about Drake’s men kidnapping Eddie, which they verified with footage from the hospital’s security cameras. Eddie didn’t say much, only replying to confirm Anne’s story when she or the agents directly asked him to.
Over the next few weeks, Eddie had many more talks with the FBI. He told them about how Drake interrogated him, but he claimed to not remember anything after that. His listlessness made for compelling evidence.
After seeing the photos he gave Jack and listening to witness accounts from various Life Foundation employees, the agency pieced together a plausible story. Drake had been conducting illegal human experiments. Eddie had broken in looking for proof, so Drake had gone after him. That was the extent of Eddie’s involvement.
Any talk of aliens was quickly buried. The official reports all said that Drake had been researching a cure for lung cancer. That’s what he’d needed all those human guinea pigs for. That’s the story the government gave to the press.
A lot of people would go to jail for their involvement in the human trials, but Eddie was cleared. He was vindicated in the public eye when Jack published the story on Drake verifying all of Eddie’s accusations. The network offered Eddie his job back but didn’t demand an immediate reply.
It was obvious to them and everyone else who saw Eddie that he wasn’t well. He walked around like a zombie. Anne and Dan were the only ones who truly understood what was happening. Eddie was mourning. Losing Venom felt like losing a part of his soul.
The couple supported Eddie however they could. They helped clean up his apartment and pay his overdue bills. Anne hired someone to repair the window and stocked his pantry with groceries. Dan gave Eddie countless pamphlets with information on mental health gobbledygook.
Eddie promised to read them over. He promised to eat and stay on top of his mail. He promised whatever he had to to get Anne and Dan off his back. He wanted space.
A month after the explosion, he got his wish. Everyone left Eddie alone. He was completely alone.
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Eddie stopped by the convenience store late one night to buy a soda and some ibuprofen.
Mrs. Chen put both things in a bag along with a premade sandwich and a chocolate bar. Eddie gave her a confused look.
“You need to eat, Eddie,” she insisted, handing him the bag. “You’re getting skinny and pale.”
Eddie couldn’t be bothered to fight her. He hadn’t noticed himself losing weight, but he barely ate nowadays, never more than a power bar or a handful of potato chips. He muttered thanks and headed back to his apartment.
He knocked back the ibuprofen with a swig of soda. He was putting the food away when he heard it.
“ Chocolate. ”
Eddie jumped and looked around. “Venom?”
He didn’t get a reply. Still, Eddie grabbed the chocolate bar and ate the whole thing, followed shortly by the sandwich.
He waited for a reaction, but, when none came, he let out a sad sigh and headed to bed.
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The next morning, Eddie was famished. He started going through the cupboards, eating whatever he came across until he was full to bursting.
Drowsy after the massive meal, Eddie lay on the couch to watch the morning news. He promptly fell back asleep.
When he awoke from his food coma, Eddie was once again starving. This time though, he was craving chocolate. He found a bag of cookies that Anne had bought and devoured all of them. Still hungry, Eddie gorged himself on tater tots.
He figured the month and a half of not eating had suddenly caught up to him. There wasn’t really another reason. He hadn’t done much. Mostly, he’d slept and loafed around the apartment. That’s what he spent the rest of the day doing.
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Eddie felt better. He wasn’t bone tired, and his thoughts weren’t as cloudy. He was still irrationally hungry, but he was relieved to feel anything at this point.
He surveyed the apartment. The place was a dump. He hadn’t noticed the ever-increasing mess, but he did now, so he cleaned. Then, he showered and changed into clean clothes. He felt healthier after, more alive.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he was engulfed in a tidal wave of guilt. Eddie was doing better, but Venom was dead. It was all wrong.
Before the sadness could overwhelm him, a familiar voice spoke up.
“Eddie.”
Eddie froze. It sounded exactly like Venom. That didn’t make sense. Was his grief-stricken mind playing tricks on him? More importantly, did he actually care if this was real or not? Nope.
“Venom?” he asked tentatively.
“Tired.” The voice was quieter this time.
“Okay, okay,” Eddie said reassuringly. “What do you need?”
“Chocolate.”
“On it.”
Eddie had already eaten all the chocolate in the apartment during his binge the other day, so he grabbed his keys and booked it to the store. He came back with armfuls of chocolate.
The symbiote was silent. Eddie ate until he felt sick, but, if he was there, Venom didn’t make a peep.
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Over the next week, Eddie consumed more chocolate than he had in the past 10 years. He went to Ghirardelli Square and spent far too much money buying every kind of chocolate that they had. He wasn’t sure if the alien had a preference.
He ate so much chocolate that he gave himself a mouth ulcer. By then, he was about ready to give up. He crawled into bed that night feeling defeated. He’d be so sure that the voice he’d heard was real.
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“Eddie. Wake up, Eddie”
Eddie cracked open an eye. Floating there, right in front of his face, was Venom. Eddie sat up and blinked. Venom was still there.
It was dark out, so Eddie turned on his bedside lamp. In the light, the slick, black skin was unmistakably Venom’s. If this was a dream, it was damn realistic.
“Is this some sugar-fueled delirium, or are you actually here?”
Venom cackled. He floated closer and ran his tongue all over Eddie’s face. It was wet and warm and most definitely real.
“Oh, ew, oh my God. What is wrong with you?” Eddie pushed Venom away.
“Helping.”
“That was disgusting. Please never do that again.”
“It was to convince you I am here.”
“Most people just pinch your arm or something.”
Eddie regretted his words immediately. Venom sank his teeth into Eddie’s forearm.
“Let go! Let go, now. That is not a pinch. That is way too much.”
Venom let go. “Convinced yet?”
“I was already convinced when you tried to lick my face off.”
“Good.”
Eddie sat and stared at his companion for a minute. He was happy and relieved and felt so much affection toward Venom that he thought his heart might explode.
“I missed you, Vee.”
“Missed you too, Eddie.”
/-/
Eddie sat on the steps of his and Anne’s old apartment building holding a warm drink. She put a hand on his arm to comfort him.
“Hey, I’m sorry about Venom.”
Eddie shrugged.
“Look at her. She has no idea we are going to get her back.”
“No,” Eddie chided.
“I’m sorry. What was that?”
“Nothing. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. Just… thinking.”
“Eddie, is there something you want to tell me?”
“Nope!”
“You belong with us, Annie.”
“Eddie, are you sure?”
“Good lord, look at the time. I have to go. Hey, it was nice seeing you. You take care of yourself, all right?”
“Yeah,” Anne smiled knowingly, “and you two take care of each other.”
“Bye, Anne,” Eddie rushed, already striding up the block.
/-/
“Look, I have absolutely no problem with this, uh, arrangement, but we’re gonna have to have some ground rules, all right? You cannot just go around eating anybody that you want to.”
“I cannot?”
“No, you cannot. All right, we need to… We need to reiterate this,” Eddie ignored the strange looks he was getting from passersby. They were in San Francisco, for Christ’s sake. They should be used to people talking to themselves.
“There are good people in this world, a lot of them. And then there are bad people. You have to tell the difference. The deal is, you will only ever be allowed to touch, harm, hurt, possibly, very possibly, eat very, very bad people, but never, ever, ever good people. All right?”
“Fine.”
“Good.”
“But how does one tell the difference?”
“Well. It’s super simple. I mean, you just have to…” Eddie paused, trying not to let Venom pick up on his uncertainty. “You can intuit it, you can sense it. Sometimes you can even feel it.”
“Whatever you say, but can we get something to eat now? Otherwise, your liver, it’s starting to look really, really good and juicy.”
“Yeah, definitely. I know a place down here.”
/-/
“Hey Mrs. C.”
“How’re you doing, Eddie?”
“Ain’t nothing changed but the weather. You know.”
“No.”
Eddie rolled his eyes and made his way to the candy aisle.
“So what culinary delights will tickle the pickle today?”
“ Tater tots. And chocolate. ”
“Right. Okay. No problem.”
As he grabbed a king-sized chocolate bar, Eddie heard a familiar voice.
“Payment’s due, Chen,” the thug growled.
“Please. I can’t keep doing this,” she appealed
“Now.” He cocked his gun.
Mrs. Chen rapidly began emptying the drawers of the cash register.
“Bad guy, right?”
“Yep.”
Venom swallowed the criminal whole in front of a horrified Mrs. Chen.
“Eddie, what was that?” she stammered.
“Huh? Oh, I have a parasite. Yeah. Goodnight, Mrs. Chen.”
/-/
“Parasite?”
“Yeah, It’s a term of endearment! That’s all.”
“Apologize.”
“No.”
“Apologize!”
“All right, fine. I’m sorry. So what do you wanna do now?”
“The way I see it, ‘we’ can do whatever we want.”