Cletus actually meant someone in particular when he used the word "angel". If they had looked more closely, they would have noticed that he always wanted one thing in his doodles and statements: that his precious angel had been taken from him. And now he was able to bring her back. Which he finally did.

Detective Mulligan wasn't sent on a regular burglary because it just wasn't a regular building. It was the secret facility "Ravencroft" built for those with special talents. One long-time inmate was Frances Barrison, who carried mutated genes. Her ability lay in releasing high-pitched screams that would cause people to cry out in pain and even to the point of unconsciousness.

Cletus and Frances had met at St. Estes. Home for unwanted children.

They lived there for a long time until she was moved to Ravencroft because of her danger. Cletus had sworn back then that he would find her and kill anyone who stood in his way. He hadn't managed to do that until now, but now they were dancing together on a hill overlooking the whole city and pretending they had never been apart.

»I said I would find you«, he said.

»And that we're going to the cathedral on the hills«, she replied, smiling.

They lay in each other's arms and looked at the illuminated skyline.

»Are you serious?« Cletus was a little surprised. She had greeted Carnage with glee and together they had set Ravencroft on fire.

»You don't?« They looked deep into each other's eyes.

»Of course. But I didn't think you wanted to immediately«, he replied again.

»We've lived apart for so long a lifetime, I don't want to waste any more time now.«

»Then so be it.« They smiled at each other and finally kissed.

»But then I want guests too«, she said, looking at him defiantly.

»Who were you thinking of?« He smiled and took a piece of paper and a pen out of his pocket.

»The cop who took my eye.«

Her eyes literally gave off sparks.

He grinned at her and wrote it down.

»Then I'll take the girl.«

Carnage materialized his snake-like form in front of the two and glared at them vindictively.

»And me Venom.«

They shared the work. While Eddie and Venom went through all the notes and conversations, Alex went through all the drawings.

She frowned as she selected a picture of a church from the stack. She had already noticed that some of the drawings were often about marriage, but here two rings were clearly shown.

The TV was on to bring them the latest news, but it just kept showing warnings and reporters' conversations.

Alex finally gave up. She just couldn't find anything in the drawings, she just couldn't figure it out. No wonder, really, considering she was trying to understand a psychopath's mind.

She stared at the screen. At that moment a new report came in: a police station was attacked and a detective is missing. They showed a photograph of Mulligan.

»The detective was kidnapped!« she cried excitedly.

»Really?« Eddie got up from the desk and looked too.

»It just happened, if you hurry you might be able to catch him, or at least look for clues.«

Eddie looked skeptical, but Alex was confident.

»Okay. You stay here, you're not safe anywhere else«, he replied after a moment's hesitation.

She nodded and the two climbed through the window to get straight onto the roof.

She watched in amazement as Eddie was consumed and covered in black mass, and Venom appeared in front of her in his full form. He grinned at her and made powerful leaps up the wall. Old braggart he only heard Eddie say laughing inside him.

They had been gone less than 5 minutes when suddenly there was a knock on the door. Alex considered opening the door. Eddie certainly wasn't expecting visitors at this hour, so she decided to hide under the bed, which was the best idea, as she now realized, because the door swung open and a strangely dressed woman appeared, who entered naturally . She had a long facial scar extending over her left eye and was wearing a long yellow coat, though underneath she was wearing very white clothes that looked like she had just escaped from prison. Her eyes had different colors, which made her look even more eerie.

»Woo-hoo, Brock?« she called in a deep, rough voice.

Nobody replied. Realizing that nobody was there (apparently), she took a quick look around and went to the desk, only to rummage through it.

The position under the bed was very uncomfortable, as Alex now realized, but perfect for observing everything unnoticed. She just had to be careful not to inhale too deeply or she would have a fit of coughing from the dust bunnies.

In one of the sliders, the woman must have found something that made her heart beat faster because her eyes lit up. She picked up a blue box and that's when Alex realized it must be a wedding ring. The woman opened it and took out the ring, which she enthusiastically slipped onto her ring finger.

»Who were you meant for?« she said, eyeing him intently.

It was scary that she was talking to herself. She finally got up from squat and picked up a picture, which Alex had already noticed before. It showed a pretty, smiling woman with her name handwritten on it, with a heart in it: Anne. The ring must have been dedicated to her, but the apartment looked to Alex as if Eddie lived here alone, apart from Venom, of course. Lost in thought, she couldn't help but grin.

The woman looked at it carefully, took it with her and finally left the apartment. Alex watched her go, but decided it would be safer to stay under the bed for a few more minutes.

The police station was a complete flop. Cletus was long gone when they arrived. And since everything was already sealed off and analyzed, they didn't get close enough to anything either. However, the destruction clearly showed that Cletus had a symbiote.

They were standing on one of the rooftops as Venom made his way back to the apartment when Eddie's cell phone rang. Venom stopped, letting Eddie back in control withdrew to allow Eddie to answer. The display showed an unknown number, but he answered.

»FOR SURE I AM SAFE! Some crazy woman just broke in here tampering with your desk! She took the wedding ring you hid and the picture on your desk too. I hid under the bed and inhaled dust fluff. I almost choked!« Her voice sounded plaintive, but also a little fake, which made him chuckle, but he thought better of it.

»She took the picture with her?« was all he finally asked.

»Yeah, why?« Alex replied, slightly confused as he didn't seem concerned about the ring or the break-in.

»Crap. The address is on the back.«

»Why that?«

»Because she just wrote that on it as a reminder.«

»Then hurry up and get to her before anything worse happens.«

She hung up and Eddie ran to the edge of the house and disappeared back into Venom's body. They hadn't been as fast as now for a long time.