Scarlet Spider: Sin

P2A - Chapter #6: The Darkness Within

(Two and a half hours later...)

Outside his apartment suite, Kaine reached for a set of keys inside one of his pockets. His sweaty, shaking fingers brushing against the metal surface of the keys. As he pulled it out and about to unlock the door in front of him, it slipped away and hit the floor hard. He gritted his teeth in frustration and looked at the bite mark on his hand. Everything was so heavy for him, like the world was spinning around with no control.

Earlier during the bus ride back to school, he and Peter could only rest. At first something felt off for them, so they decided to rest. But it got worse when they went home. They felt heavy, as drops of sweat trickled down from their head, accompanied with the sensation of something pulsating and hot inside their head. They didn't know what to do exactly. And this made both Anna and Peter's parents to worry about them.

He bent down and retrieved the keys, before standing up and unlocking the door in a hurry.

"Mom..? Mom...? Mom, where are you...?" the brunet called out for his mother, writhing in pain as he got inside and locked the door.

There was no answer, causing the teen to look around and rush to dining room. Still none, except a small note from May on the dining table that said she would be home late. He let out a frustrated sound and walked toward his room. As each second passed, his steps got heavier and slower and the sensation inside his head felt like his skull was getting crushed.

When he entered his room, Kaine quickly put down his school backpack. The feelings were getting much worse and he felt like he could collapse any second. So he decided to reach for his bed. Collapse, he did but luckily on its matress. His body was weak and couldn't move much. Slowly... Kaine drifted to nothingness.

---

...

It was...quiet and silent. The cold air brushing against his skin, tingling him. His eyes snapped open, revealing the dark void around him. In front of him, was a large, empty white screen like the one in theaters. He looked around, seeing empty red seats on the left, middle, and right rows, except his. He got the front seat on the middle. When he looked down, his hands and legs were chained to the seat. The teen tried to break free, but to no avail. All he could do...was just watch the empty screen.

"It really is a sad, pathetic life that we have, isn't it?" a familiar, but distorted voice asked Kaine as a film projector started displaying a grainy montage on the screen. It was his own, however it acted like a separate, yet same individual. And the montage that played was Kaine's memories.

"It used to be happy..." the voice narrated while clips of his childhood played. It was all his happy moments between him and his parents, including his birthday during kindergarten, when he got kissed on both cheeks by them. Then the moments between him and Peter: playing games on a Sony home console, watching superhero movies, and consoling each other.

"Until it wasn't."

The projector started displaying the change in his life... One of them was his younger self watching helplessly as his father abused his mother, the very moment that caused Kaine to begin despising him. Afterwards, him being silent when his cousin asked what was wrong. And the moment when he was surrounded and bullied violently by fellow students during his elementary school years. All that while the teen screamed, begging the voice to stop displaying those memories, and trying to break free again.

"PLEASE! ENOUGH, PLEASE! Stop... please..."

The screen turned to black...before fading in to reveal a sight that caused Kaine to freeze and be wordless. Horror was reflected on his eyes. It was the sight of bodies hung up with ropes. Mutilated, beaten, broken. Their blood dripping to the ground, as one male watched everything. They were Ben Parker, Flash Thompson, and dead bullies. With Peter being the only one alive, but dying, as he struggled to breathe with the noose around his neck tightening.

"Stop? No, this will not stop. Until you get rid of them from your life permanently. After all, it's better that way, isn't it?" the male figure stated.

He turned around, revealing himself to be... Kaine. Yet, he looked different. His eyes were as red as blood and his skin was grey. This figure looked human, but otherworldly too. As if he was a demon.

He walked closer to the camera, "For years, you have been helpless. For years, all of those deep-seated anger, envy, hatred, and revenge are imprisoned..."

His hand extended towards it, breaking the walls of the screen into the void, reaching for Kaine's seat. It seemed like a giant hand now, making screams of terror escape Kaine's mouth. The hand ripped said seat and held it in its grip, bringing the teen forward to the demon.

"Now, they...I shall be unleashed. And those who hurt us will feel what we feel."

"No. No! NO!" Kaine screamed as he was enveloped by a dark field forming on the demon's hand.

"Shhh. It's what they deserve. And I will help you...hurt them, whether you like it or not," he laughed, with Kaine being swallowed into the darkness while his hand closed to a fist.

---

The brunet jolted awake. He turned over, got up, and looked around. The first thing he noticed was his clock, showing that nearly two hours had passed. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth, now that he was back in his room. But to make sure everything was real, he pinched his cheek hard enough. Kaine cringed in pain, that was a good sign. Another thing he realized was that gone were the painful and shivering sensations and the sweaty feeling.

He had worn his glasses while asleep. Luckily, it wasn't broken. But what was strange was... everything was blurry. The teen took it off and much to his surprise, his vision was clear!

Something felt weird when his fingers touched against his cheek though. So he brought his hand to the front of his eyes, and he couldn't believe it... There were "holes" on his fingertips. Kaine shook his head in disbelief and proceeded to check the other hand. It was the same. He couldn't come up with a conclusion of what these were exactly. None of them didn't matter, at least his nightmare was no more.

"He's not real. He's not real..." he chuckled to himself.

But two words would make him frozen in fear and shock...

"Am I?" said the voice inside his mind.

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A/N: Things are about to get real ugly ;) But we can't have that without some web slinging action, right? Don't worry, you'll get to see Kaine and Peter kind of explore their abilites :) I know the chapter is short but it's because I want to show you how "Dark Kaine" (the unofficial name for Kaine's dark side) came to be. I hope you enjoy it though! ^-^ Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter! Have a good day :D