This is their favorite part.
Every officer had their nightmare situation. Losing a case, and seeing the children taken back by the last people who should be allowed near them. The poor children taking the stand, the prosecutor turning on them. The photos sent from the examining doctor.
But this, this is pretty bad too. Certainly on some people’s worst nightmares. The first time they walk into the house for a welfare check and they just know. There’s something so utterly wrong, and the longer the child stays, the worse it’ll be.
It’s nothing quite clear at first, at least to a normal person. Someone without Venom’s nose for blood and Eddie’s sixth sense of suffering. The house is soaked in both, clinging to the little lace doilies over the backs of the chairs, the perfectly dusted framed photographs. A man and a woman. Always just two. No sign of a child.
According to the adoption records, little Jed Walker was adopted by the couple two years ago. There are no school admissions records though, no listing with the doctor.
And the neighbours have heard screams. Screams for months, maybe years, until a daughter came home from college and called CPS.
And CPS sent Eddie.
The front door was locked, but these idiots clearly believed no one would ever find the spare key under the flowerpot. They leave the key on the table, and checks upstairs. There’s a child’s bedroom, but it’s clearly never been used, and posters are decades out a date. A grown child’s bedroom, kept for paternal nostalgia. It smells of dust and lint up here, and Eddie closes their eyes, and follows their nose.
They go back down, run fingers over the ancient, faded wallpaper until they find the bump of a covered door. Venom wells from his shoulder and presses through the crack and- oh. He knows that smell. He’s tasted it on countless worlds, the dying days before they were devoured by his species.
The blood, the weeping desperation and despair.
Eddie, Venom coils back inside him, shivers. A child, Eddie.
“Yeah.” He fits his fingers into the shallow crack between the door and the frame. It takes Venom a moment to gather himself before claws emerge from their hands, tearing into the door and wrenching it it free. The damp wood cracks and pops, the lock hanging loose like a lost tooth.
“Hey.” Eddie calls. “You in there?”
There’s no sound, but it’s a particularly kind of not-sound, like a small child, holding their breath.
Eddie finds their torch. “It’s okay.” He keeps his voice low, but Venom coils around his vocal cords, turning into a heavy purr. “I’m here to get you out, Jed. I can call you Jed, right?”
The concrete stairs are damp and slippery, the torch picks out the water stains, the mold, the rats scurrying in the corners. His nose is reeling from the stench of unwashed body and the ammonia of piss and fear. “I’m Eddie,” He continues, “But you can call us Venom, okay?”
“‘k.” It’s so small, Eddie barely catches it. He follows the sound with the torch and the boy cringes, covering his eyes.
“Okay, a bit too bright, yeah?” Eddie lowers the light. The boy is pale and shivering, clothes far too small and worn through at the knees and elbows. His eyes seem too big, his hair long and lank, crawling with lice. “Do you want to hold it?”
The boy stares at him for a moment, then jerks his head in a brief nod. Eddie hands him the torch and takes out his back up. “This is where you live?”
Another pause, another nod. “Well, I’m not crazy about animals, so how about you help me out? Want to go upstairs and get a glass of milk?”
The look of terror on the boy’s face says it all. “It’s okay.” Eddie puts a hand on his shoulder, gently steering him towards the stairs. “I don’t like it down here, I’m scared of rats. Are you scared of rats?”
The boy shrugs. “The spiders are okay.”
“I’m scared of spiders too. You have to be really brave-” he keeps the boy talking until they make their slow, stumbling way out of the basement.
He looks even worse in the late afternoon light. The boy cringes, covering his face, his eyes watering. He flinches as a car rattles into the driveway.
And this- this is Eddie’s favourite part. He grins, and keeps on grinning. The boy’s eyes grow wide as Venom’s smile unzips his, drawing out endless razor sharp teeth. His mouth drops open, but he’s no longer shivering.
“Showtime.” They purr.
The guardians must have seen them inside, because they charge into the house, slamming the door behind them. Eddie catches sight of the man’s bloated face, red-white like badly mixed ice-cream, the woman’s face, just as pale and tight with rage. “What are you-”
Then they see them, and stop. Their mouths drop open, they start back to the door-
But Venom moves first.
When Eddie looks up, sucking down a length of intestine, the boy is standing very still, his hands over his eyes. Good. “Smart kid.” Venom agrees, and they go back to their meal.
After cleaning themselves off, and mopping the floor. Eddie helps the boy to a glass of milk and a sandwich, and leads him out to the car.
He doesn’t say anything, staring at them with bright eyes. Eddie’s just started the engine when a small hand wraps around his arm. “You stop bad people, Mr Venom?”
Venom pushes free of Eddie’s shoulder and grin. “We eat bad people,” He agrees. “Tell us if you find more.”
The boy meets Venom’s eyes, and Eddie’s. He nods solemnly.
Aaaa this is awesome, thank you! XD Love how you write Eddie and Venom finding Jed, and the ‘tell us if you find more’ line is perfect. ❤
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