Venom:

Her Special Secret

By Scarlett Michealson

We had been married 5 years. In that time, things had died down. They had learned a lot together and we were able to slip into hiding from the government and from the Life Foundation. It had taken months to get away, but at last we did, and they gave up.

We had escaped to a small island off the coast of Alaska. It was colder and darker here, and they could better adapt to one another. We were also far away from the rest of the country.

We lived in a small house in a small town where the people mostly kept to themselves. We were all friendly, but that was it. We worked quiet jobs where no one asked questions and we made enough money to stay there.

I stood in the kitchen, making dinner. Eddie's 9-to-5 job had ended half an hour ago. I casually looked out the window. It was already dark outside. I smiled. The chances they would be home soon were slim. They liked the dark.

Suddenly I heard something upstairs. I looked up at the ceiling. It sounded pretty big. I giggled.

"Venom! What do you think you're doing in this house?!" I called out. The noise got quiet and then feet could be heard pounding down the steps. I sighed and stepped out of the kitchen. In front of me stood what most people would have described as a horrible, big, black, monster-like-creature. The ceiling was so short, that they couldn't even stand upright.

"Venom." I said, staring up into his white eyes. "May I please have my husband back now." I asked, hands on my hips. They leaned down until they were eye-level. Half of Venom's face peeled away, and inside I could see half of Eddie's face.

"But we're Venom!" He made a pouty face. I raised an eyebrow.

"You're both late for dinner." I said. He leaned in closer.

"You smell good." He joked. I pushed his chest.

"Come on you two!" I smiled and I turned and walked back into the kitchen. Eddie followed me in only a few seconds later.

"Love you." He whispered and he kissed the back of my head and put his arms around me. I smiled and turned the stove off before I turned around in his arms.

"I love you too." I replied and we kissed.

As we set the table I looked at him and smiled. He gave me a questioning look.

"What's that face?" He asked. I laughed.

"Did you eat anyone at work today?" I asked. He rolled his eyes.

"We felt like it." They said with a creepy smile on their face, and using Venom's deeper voice. I laughed even harder.

"You are both so bad!" I whispered as I walked up to Eddie.

"Could be worse." He smiled. I nodded.

"Seriously though, how was your day?" I asked. He sighed.

"Don't ask." He replied and kissed my forehead.

When we had had dinner, we sat together and watched Tv. Every other night he would stay out late and practice. Sometimes I would come and watch. Every so often he practiced with me. I was his 'damsel in distress' girl. More often than not, it just ended in laughter. Even Venom had a sense of humor these days.

The one thing we both missed was city life. There was always something going on, always excitement. We had lied to all our family and friends. Told them that I had a promotion and was being moved. No one but me knew who Eddie truly was, and we had to keep it that way.

As we sat on the couch, flipping through channels and Netflix, Eddie sat up.

"Did you see that?" He asked, and he flicked the channel back. A news broadcast came on. It was showing a video in which another symbiote could be seen throwing a car across a city block and then eating someone. My hands were over my mouth in a second. Not again...

"Who is it?" I asked. Eddie looked at the floor. He always did that when he was talking with Venom.

"Carnage." He whispered. I could see the look on his face, and it wasn't good.

"And...?" I asked.

"We're enemies." His voice was already much deeper. He was getting angry. He jumped up and ran out of the house. I took a deep breath and then ran after him. He hated when bad things happened.

"Eddie!" I yelled, but he was already gone. I sighed. In his anger, Eddie would let Venom out and they would disappear. It happened once in a while, but they would always come back. They just needed to go destroy some trees or something. It was their way of venting.

Morning came, and he was next to me in bed. But as we got ready for work, the Tv came on and there was only more coverage about Carnage. It had gone on a rampage through San Francisco and killed a lot of people. While Eddie and Venom had trained to only kill bad people (and that was only once in a blue moon anymore) Carnage was off killing anyone and everyone. It didn't make it easy, especially knowing that they could be off doing something about it, and not just hiding.

"Sorry about last night." He sighed as he stared at the Tv. I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"No worries. I'd rather you go and fight it out yourself than...well...you know." I said. He chuckled.

"Yeah, we do." He whispered. He was staring at the ground.

"Hey." I said, trying to get his attention. Clearly he was having a conversation.

"Venom!" I said somewhat loudly. Eddie looked at me, but his eyes were already dark. I looked at them.

"We can't just do nothing." His incredibly deep voice growled. I frowned.

"Go to work. Make it through your day. It's Friday anyway. If we need to, we can hop a plane tonight. Just go." I breathed. They nodded and Venom's eyes cleared up to reveal Eddie's again.

"Thank you." He whispered and I nodded. He grabbed his things, gave me a kiss, and ran out the door. I wondered if he would really go to work or not.

Carnage remained on Tv again all day. No matter who chased it, it always escaped or disappeared. The problem with it, was that it wasn't human. It could jump from person to person, and no one could keep up. It could walk among anyone, and no one would ever know. The thought made me shiver.

Throughout the day I monitored the news from my desk at work. The media was reporting that no one had seen Carnage in a number of hours. I frowned. Would it be worth jumping on a plane tonight? Or would it be useless?

Evening came, but he didn't come home. I stayed up until he finally walked in the door. They had talked themselves down. It was dangerous and he had seen the news too.

Saturday came around, and we kept the Tv off. We didn't want to know what was going on. In the evening we decided to head into town. The local movie theatre was showing several new movies.

As we drove into town, a car literally flew through the air as it was thrown from one end of the intersection, to the other. Our heads turned at just about the same time, to see a massive crowd of people barreling towards us. I grabbed Eddie's arm.

"What do you think?" I asked. For a moment he was silent.

"Carnage." They said in unison angrily. I looked over at Eddie. His eyes were already black and he was starting to change. He looked at me.

"Go." I said. He jumped out of the car and ran down a side street. Parking the car, I jumped out and looked back.

Venom was already jumping from one roof to the next. People running by were screaming and yelling at me to turn and run with them, but I was running with Venom. I watched as he leapt from roof to roof, and eventually down onto the street, a block in front of me. I stopped and hid behind the entrance to a shop, watching.

From around the corner came a horrible shriek-like scream that pierced the night air. I gasped. The sound was anything but human. It was...alien. My heart stopped. Carnage. I jumped out from behind the doorway and ran across the street. In the distance, I saw Venom come to a halt. He was looking intently at something, and then suddenly he crouched down and then jumped high into the air. In the same moment, I saw Carnage jump into the air. Their bodies collided and when they hit the ground, the street cracked.

I took a step back and gulped. I kneeled down behind a trashcan and watched as they stretched each other and beat each other and fought each other. Suddenly Carnage punched Venom, who went flying into the building behind them. I gasped, and covered my mouth. But Venom got up, and got a running start at Carnage.

The fight was long. They took turns smashing each other of the heads with cars. I stayed out of the way. All around people were running and screaming, terrified. I could tell this was the most excitement they had ever experienced. I felt sorry for them. They didn't understand city life the way we did. Though, this was a little extreme.

Suddenly, as I was watching, I saw them. The police, with their cars. And then behind them, the FBI and their...helicopters. My eyes grew wide. Oh no. The spot lights on, news crews rolling in. This wasn't good. I looked around, any minute someone would realize who I was and I would be on camera. I darted behind some cars and then around a street corner where I knew they couldn't see me.

But as I did, Carnage had beat Venom up pretty good. He was continuing to beat up over the head with a street sign and Venom now lay in piles off goo on the street. I gulped and looked for signs of Eddie, but they weren't moving. Sirens were blaring everywhere, and the people using bullhorns from the helicopter where telling them to stop or they would be shot at. I gulped, and stayed back in the shadows, but Venom still wasn't moving. As I watched, Carnage just continued to beat him up.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I stepped out from the shadows. I wasn't sure if they saw me or not, but I wasn't worried about that anymore.

"Venom!" I called out, but they remained lifeless on the ground. I sighed and stepped back. Carnage brought the sign down again. I gulped.

"VENOM!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Suddenly all the piles of goo on the ground started to form back together and the alien looked back at me.

"GET UP!" I shouted. Just as I did, Carnage brought the sign down again, but Venom turned, and caught it with his hand. He held it there for a moment and then stood up. They both gripped the sign now, trying to out-strengthen the other.

Suddenly I had a crazy idea. I ran across the street, and got closer to them. When I knew Venom had seen me, I stopped.

"CARNAGE!" I screamed. The alien-monster looked back at me, and Venom seized the opportunity to grab the sign from him, and hit him over the head with it. He continued to beat him until Carnage was on the ground. Then he threw the sign aside and jumped on top of them. He clawed at Carnage's chest until suddenly it began to open, inside I could see a person. Out of nowhere, Venom leaned down and literally bit Carnage's head off. My eyes were wide.

Venom had been known to eat people, I didn't know he would eat his own kind. He ripped it off and spat it out. As he did, the rest of Carnage's body shriveled up and dissolved into dust, leaving behind a man we both recognized. Carlton Drake.

Though the man would not have known me, I had once worked (indirectly) for him. Now I stared down at him with absolutely no respect. I walked up to his body and kicked him in the side. He coughed and blinked. Then he sat up.

"What the?!" He cried, looking around.

"Carnage is dead. Venom did you a favor and spared your life. Be thankful and get up." I growled at the man. He looked and me and got to his feet.

"And who do you think you are?" He asked rudely. I smiled.

"I'm the girl with the secret." I replied and walked past him. We were being closed in on by the police and FBI now. They pulled me and Carlton back and had us in cuffs within seconds. No Miranda rights or anything. I sighed. My life was effectively over.

I watched as they closed in on Venom who was kneeling on the ground, still trying to get over what had just happened. Suddenly he jumped up, scaring all the men. But as they shot at him, nothing happened. It only took a few seconds for them to realize and they stopped shooting again. When they tried to tranquilize him, it didn't work either. I sighed.

"Let me." I said, looking at the FBI agent who was holding me back. He shook his head.

"No way missy." He laughed. I shook my wrists free of his grip.

"I said let me!" I barked at him. He just looked at me. "If you want him, you have to get him first. Let me get him you Moron!" I yelled at the idiot. His in-charge looked at him and nodded.

"Let her." The man said. They unlocked my cuffs and I ran out before everyone. The men stood in a circle around Venom, guns trained on him. The helicopter above had its spotlight on us and the wind blew all around. People were watching both in life and on Tv. I was terrified.

"No matter how big one monster is, there will always be a bigger monster. We're the bigger monster. Whenever you are afraid, you come to us. We'll take care of it. We'll take care of you." They smiled at me, Eddie's hands on my cheeks. I nodded.

He was telling me his secret wedding vows, the ones he couldn't say in front of our crowd of friends and family. We were lying on the bed in the hotel room the night of our wedding. I smiled at him.

"Thank you." I whispered. He nodded.

"Don't you ever forget that." He breathed. I nodded again. Then he leaned in, and a very deep (almost menacing) voice whispered "We love you." In my ear. I giggled.

"Thank you...Venom." I replied.

Suddenly I wasn't afraid anymore and I carefully walked up to Venom who was hunched over. I put my hand on their shoulder.

"Venom." I breathed. They instantly turned and stood up, hovering over me. They hadn't realized it was me.

"It's just me." I said, stepping back, putting my hands up. They instantly grew calm again. They put their hand out, and against my cheek.

"Redetta." They whispered. I nodded. They kneeled down to my height and looked at me.

"What do we do?" I whispered. They looked around at all the police, FBI, and civilians. I could hear people whispering and gasping as they saw how close I was with 'the monster.' I didn't let it bother me.

Venom looked back at me and I came in really close.

"What is it?" I asked. Suddenly half his face peeled away, and I saw half of Eddie's face.

"We're really sorry." They whispered. I shook my head.

"Don't worry about it." I replied. I could still hear people talking.

"How can she talk to it? Why would she go up to that monster? Does she know something? Who is she?" People were asking. I looked over my shoulder.

"I'm the girl with the special secret." I replied. A group of women looked at me.

"And what might that be?" One of them asked. They all seemed so afraid.

"His heart." I replied. "The heart of a monster." They exchanged looks of awe.

"He's not a monster though." I continued. Many people were listening now. "At least...not to me." I smiled and I looked back at him

"Do you trust us?" Venom asked. I nodded. "Then give us a hug, and do not let go. Close your eyes." They said.

I took a deep breath and walked up to them and wrapped my arms around their neck. An audible gasp could be heard from everyone around us. As I did, I put my head on their shoulder and closed my eyes. We had done it in practice to see if it would really work. It did. Closing my eyes, I felt something cold come over me and wrap itself completely over me, covering my body. Suddenly, I was inside of something, and hugging Eddie. Venom had quite literally grown over me and engulfed me in him.

I held tight to Eddie. I could feel us moving all around, but I couldn't hear much. We remained like that for what seemed like several hours until suddenly we became very still.

"Redetta." Came Venom's deep voice.

"Yes?" I whispered.

"Let go." He told me. Carefully I unfurled my fingers, and then unwrapped my arms from around Eddie, I carefully started to take steps back, and as I did, I seemed to walk through a black web of goo that came over me and then slowly ripped apart as I came out. When I had, it grew all back together.

Looking around, I realized that we were standing in a forest. It was night and everything was dark. The moon was out, and in the distance an owl hooted. The night air was cool. When I looked back at them, only Eddie remained. He sat on the forest floor, leaning against the base of a tree.

I walked up to him and sat down beside him, putting my head on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and sighed.

"Hey beautiful." He whispered. I smiled.

"Hey." I replied. In the distance something snapped a twig and I jumped a little.

"Don't be afraid." He whispered. I looked back into his eyes.

"You're already in the arms of the biggest monster in this forest." He chuckled. I giggled.

"Oh yeah?" I asked. He nodded.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. I frowned.

"Why? What's wrong?" I asked. He laughed.

"Everything. We'll always have to run now. I'm so sorry." He sighed. I put my hand on his cheek.

"Eddie. Don't be. You both saved my life tonight. And besides, I've always wanted an exciting life." I smiled. He nodded.

"Oh really?" He asked. I nodded.

"It's who we are." I whispered.

"We...are Venom." A deep voice growled in my ear, and we fell asleep together.