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

Chapter 6: Nasty Surprise

When they arrived at Anne's, Eddie parked his motorcycle almost in front of the front door. This was not easy due to the steep incline of the road, but he managed it in the end.

He went to the entrance and rang the bell. Eddie hoped that Dan was not there. Although he was a very nice guy and had helped him a lot when he had the attack in the restaurant, it was just weird. Eddie was her ex and Dan was replacing him in a way. He still loved Anne and seeing the two of them together hurt.

Normally, this would be a moment when Venom would poke around in his thoughts and make some kind of comment. The sudden silence in his head was strange. Venom kept saying what he was thinking. This was usually okay, for example when they were alone, but in public it was hard not to react. People tended to look at him with confused looks.

Eddie saw Anne coming down the stairs through the glass and opened the door.

»Hey Eddie. Glad you came.«

»For you always«, he replied and smiled.

He started for a hug. Anne paused briefly but finally hugged him. Then she waved him in and he went up the stairs. She still lived in the same apartment that they both lived in when they were together. But he noticed immediately that a lot had changed.

Nothing was where it was and apparently some of Dan's had moved in too.

»Please, sit down,« she said and waved him towards the window, in front of which there was a large dining table.

In the middle was a box of chocolates with small Lindt chocolate balls. Maybe he was glad that Venom wasn't with him right now. Anne didn't know that he was still alive and Eddie was pretty sure that he wouldn't have been able to control himself at the sight of this fine chocolate. Eddie always only bought the cheap ones, which Venom regularly reproached him for.

»So, what did you want to talk about?« he asked when he sat down.

»I don't know. I thought it would help us to talk about what happened... It was all pretty crazy.«

She recalled the images from last year but banished them immediately.

»You haven't been in touch for a long time«, Eddie replied. Anne nodded slightly.

»I know, but you know, I just needed time to... process it all.«

The sentence was met with incomprehension by Eddie. After all, it wasn't Anne but him whose body had been taken over by an alien and chased through half of San Francisco by the Life Foundation.

She saw his confused look and quickly changed the subject.

»And are you okay? I heard the news earlier. Cletus Kasady has escaped from prison.«

»Yes, yes. That's really bad...« Eddie said absentmindedly. Anne hesitated and finally put her left hand on the table. On her ring finger was a ring with a diamond on it. Eddie's eyes widened.

»Oh wow«, he exclaimed, staring at the ring.

»Yes. I didn't want to tell you that... on the phone. I thought I'd rather tell you in person.«

She looked at him hopefully. His gaze shifted from the ring to her. He seemed more shocked than happy.

»Yes, I, uh... I'm happy for you«, Eddie said sheepishly.

»Thank you.«

An awkward silence fell and neither of them dared to say anything. Eddie was still looking at the ring and Anne somewhat regretted not telling him on the phone.

»Can I ask you something?« she broke the silence.

»Mm-hmm«, Eddie answered, nodding, unable to say a word.

»Were that you in town?«

»What do you mean?« Eddie asked, confused. He had a bad feeling about what she was getting at, but hoped he was wrong.

»Don't kid me, Eddie. I know Venom is still alive. You acted so strangely after the rocket exploded. I noticed it right away.«

She looked at him challengingly. He had no chance.

»Fine. But it wasn't us!«, he said firmly.

»Was that Kasady? The battlefield reminded me a lot of the reception from MNBN back then.«

Eddie remembered. She meant the office building of his former employer. A S.W.A.T. team had ambushed them and Venom lost control and almost went crazy. That was also the first time Anne had seen Venom.

»No, he's not like that anymore«, Eddie said firmly.

»He's changed. He-we would never do something like that.«

Anne looked deep into his eyes and finally sighed.

»Okay, I'm glad to hear that.«

A weight was lifted from her heart. When she had seen the pictures on the news, she had feared the worst and was afraid for Eddie. Venom had given her a huge fright back then.

But he had already shown her that he wasn't a bloodthirsty monster, on the contrary. He had saved Eddie's life.

Her gaze fell on the chocolates she had bought. She could still remember Eddie telling her in the car that Venom loved chocolate. And yet he hadn't shown himself yet.

»Doesn't he want to come out and say hello?«

Eddie looked at her nervously.

"Oh, um... Well, he probably would... if he were here right now," Eddie said shortly.

»What? Where is he?« Anne asked, surprised.

»That's a really long story. And a bit complicated.«

»I have time, you know?«

»I just think that would go too far now,« he looked at his watch.

»I think I should go, I'd better be home when he gets back.«

He stood up and was about to say goodbye when something else occurred to him.

»You and Dan should probably leave town for a few days. Cletus is more dangerous than you think and he knows me. He might get stupid ideas and want to harm you.«

Venom had now arrived at the hotel. It was quite large, and finding Alex without a clue would be relatively difficult. He went through the entrance into the lobby and looked around. In order to get Alex's room number, he had to take over an employee, whether he wanted to or not. That suited him just fine, because this temporary host probably wouldn't be around for much longer.

After living in and with Eddie for a year, it was almost strange for him to look for suitable hosts. Eddie was the only one who could withstand him without dying. Apart from Anne, perhaps. He got on very well with her for that short time. But nothing compared to Eddie. With him, it was simply the perfect symbiosis.

When he finally spotted a very busy employee on the sidelines, he discreetly walked up to him and bumped into him slightly. The man was about to turn around, but Venom was faster and jumped over. The passerby from the street stopped and seemed to wake up from hypnosis and looked around in confusion while Venom went to the reception and typed Alex's name into the search field on the computer.

The system showed her room number 1117. He left the reception as inconspicuously as possible and sneaked to the elevator.

When he reached the 11th floor, he followed the signs down the corridor. When he turned the corner, he saw a policeman standing guard outside the door. He should have guessed that she had personal protection. He decided to make short work of him.