What if: Venom - Let There Be Carnage (english)

Chapter 2: Preparation

She was already on a plane to San Francisco. There were still three long hours of flight ahead of her. Lost in thought, she stared out the window at the clouds below her. Never in her life would she have expected an invitation when the time came, and she certainly wouldn't have thought of being present at this endeavor. But other circumstances prompted her to comply with the request. The FBI had contacted them and asked for it because it was their last chance to maybe get some information out of him. For a long time she had tried to suppress it. During the day it worked well, but at night she was still haunted by the nightmares.

When she picked up her suitcase from the conveyor belt at the airport and walked towards the exit, she was already clearly feeling the effects of the time difference. She hadn't slept a wink on the plane and it had been several hours since she last had a proper sleep in a bed. No wonder she felt tired - it was already late in the evening at home, but only midday here.

The FBI had taken care of the flights and hotel. She caught the next taxi and drove to the hotel.

It was located in the middle of the city and promised an astonishing view.

She checked in and took the elevator up. When she opened the door with the card, she was left breathless.

The view was amazing. That made her forget everything for a moment, but her ringing cell phone brought her back to the here and now.

She put it on silent, took her suitcase and started unpacking. She didn't have much with her, so it didn't take her long to put everything away. The room itself was quite small. It consisted of a room with the double bed and a kind of hallway with the door to the bathroom.

When she had finished unpacking, she put her hair up. The visit wasn't until tomorrow, but she had been asked to meet the detective at the police station today.

When she arrived at the station, a nice lady led her into an interrogation room. It was very grey and empty apart from a metal table in the middle with two chairs facing each other. She sat down and the woman assured her that she wouldn't have to wait long and closed the door. The room definitely had an intimidating effect on her and only now did she notice the double mirror on the wall. It was an eerie thought that someone could be standing on the other side and watching her.

After a while the door opened and a Detective Mulligan came in. She remembered the name from the phone call a few days ago. He was a little shorter than expected, but looked like he did in any classic Hollywood movie: tucked-in blue shirt, suspenders and a gun in a holster, ready to hand at any time.

»Are you Alex Moore?« She nodded.

»Please excuse the inconvenience. I had to clarify something«, he apologized as he sat down across from her.

»No problem.«

»I handle everything related to Cletus Kasady here. Everything is set up for tomorrow morning. At exactly eight o'clock someone will pick you up from the hotel and drive you straight to San Quentin. You'll have half an hour to talk to him. And I ask you to try everything you can. Try to get something out of him, no matter what. Some of the victims' relatives will be present at the execution and the press is not exactly lenient with us. So it would be very nice to get a few clues so that we might still find something that can help us find the remaining hidden bodies.«

He looked at her intently. There was severity in his eyes, but also pity.

»I'll do my best.« She tried to sound convincing.

»I'm glad to hear that. If you don't have any more questions, I'll accompany you outside now. Someone will drive you back to the hotel.«

He smiled, but she could see in his eyes that he wasn't sincere.