VENOM

NonHumans and Trails

Leo stood in front of a chalkboard. On the board, were pictures of each individual scientist he was looking for, along with allies, rivals, and locations they would frequently visit. The pictures were arranged in a pyrimid shape, with Schema at the top. Leo scowled at the picture. Flashes of the wild look in that scientist's eyes filled his mind, and the desire for his head became almost palpable. Each scientist had a hand in taking his life from him, and he would make them pay. He couldn't be killed, or at least there wasn't a way that had been discovered yet. He had been torn from his symbiote, but that was the closest they had gotten.

The gentle touch of Sam on his arm shook him from his visions of blood, and he turned to her looking up at him.
"We'll make them pay, Leo. All of them." She reassured, rubbing his arm. He simply nodded, and folded his arms. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just thinking." She grabbed the v in his hoodie, jerking his head in her direction.
"I know you blame yourself for what happened to me, but I don't. You couldn't have stopped him, there was nothing you could have done. Besides, Shriek is tamer now thanks to you and Venom. She's actually quite the social."
"Heh..well, I'm glad that part worked out. But..if I had just killed him, taken his mind, something..if I had done anything like that, we'd be somewhere. It's been a month, and we're no closer than the day we joined Madan and her agents." Sam looked down, down at the scar on his hand, and gently ran her fingers along it.
"All I know, is that the moment we hear something, I know you will take them down." Leo smiled, and gently raised her chin.
"Together?" She returned the smile.
"Together." And they kissed.

The facility they lived in was in the middle of Jacksonville, the main city just outside Middleburg. They lived within the tallest tower, on the top floor. From there, Venom could monitor any audio. Whereas normal humans required machines, Leo and Venom could tune their audio receptors in their ears to whatever they needed to find. They sat on the edge of a bar that swung several yards out, and would listen. The moon was high, and the Friday night life of the city was booming. Parties were held, late night gamers flourished, and families congregated around the TVs for a movie night. All this, they could hear. They knew that they could never have a normal life, a normal existence, but it was something Leo couldn't let go.
You miss this.
"Yeah..yeah I do."
One day, you and Samantha will have a normal life.
"How? For one, there's you and I, and two, there Sam and Shriek. How could we possibly exist in a normal society?"
You used to read those comic books. Some of them had normal lives.
"Yes, but they didn't commit mass murder, or eat people." Venom chuckled at the last part.
No, but I am sure if you ask, Madan can do something.
"That..that is true."

Suddenly, they heard a gunshot, and police chatter.
"...911, what's your emergency?"
"Someone's been shot! Send hel-"
"Sir? Sir?"
Leo took in a deep breath, and charged off the beam, and down to the city.

Venom covered Leo in black, forming a skintight suit around him, with his signature hood covering his eyes. He approached the victims: two teenagers. The shot one was a young blonde woman, probably fifteen or sixteen, and the second was a boy, maybe a bit younger, with dark brown hair and pale skin.
"Who did this?" They asked, their voices once again blending to disguise their identity.
"We..we don't know. Some lady just came up and shot her, then jumped in a van and took off. That way." He pointed westward.
"Did this lady say anything?"
"She said..she said she was looking for something..the NonHuman, I think. I told her we couldn't help, she said 'oh, I think you will.' and she just..shot her." Venom examined the girl, and then looked at the boy.
"She will be okay. The bullet didn't puncture any organs."
"How..how did you know? Are..you him? The NonHuman?" Venom's mouth opened, revealing the sharp teeth and long tongue.
"Yes, I guess you could say that we are."
"We?"

In the distance, sirens blared. The boy looked in it's direction, then turned back to the figure, but he was gone.
"Who..who was that..Peter?"
"I dunno MJ..but I think the ambulance is here."

Rayes was here. She's baiting us.
"If we find her, we find the others." Leo chuckled wickedly. He had returned to his perch above the city, and began tracing her steps.
"We finally have something."
Rayes will be ours.
"Absolutely.. should we tell Madan?"
That would be wise, but they may get in the way.
"So we do this solo?"
"Do what solo?" They snapped around, and saw Sam standing there, half her face was Shriek, half normal. Leo and Venom did the same, and they stood a yard apart.
"We've picked up the trail of nurse Rayes. She's searching for something called the NonHuman, we deemed it wise to go alone, so no one else is risked."
"And leave us out of the fun?"
"When we go after Schema, you will join us. Until then, you will stay with Madan and her agents." Both symbiote faces retracted, and they got closer. Sam looked up into Leo's eyes, and rested her forehead on his chest.
"I'm just afraid..one day, you're gonna leave, and not come back." Leo lifted her face, and rested his forehead against hers.
"I will always come back for you. Always."
"Promise?"
"Promise." She sighed, and nodded.
"Get out of here then, you don't want Madan's agents to catch on to what you're doing." Leo nodded, and held her tight. He then lifted her face, and they kissed. He then let her go, stepped back, and leaped off the ledge of the building, into the cityscape. Samantha simply watched, a small smile on her face.