Chapter 5
Gwen stumbled into the nearest alley, leaning against a graffiti-stained wall like it might hold her together.
Her hands were shaking so bad she almost dropped her phone trying to pull it out of her pocket.
No service.
Of course.
The city hummed around her — cars, sirens, laughter — normal sounds that felt a million miles away.
Like she wasn't part of it anymore.
"You feel it, don't you?" the voice said.
Clear this time. Louder.
Not a whisper like before — not a shadow in the back of her head.
It spoke like it was sitting right beside her.
Gwen squeezed her eyes shut, sliding down to sit against the wall. Her knees tucked tight to her chest.
"Stop it," she rasped.
"This isn't real. I'm just — I'm just sick or — or crazy or—"
"We are real."
The voice rumbled low in her bones.
A flicker of black oozed across the back of her hand, like smoke trapped under glass.
Gwen yelped, scrambling back, smearing the shadow against the wall — but it just slithered back into her skin.
She stared at her hands, horror crawling up her spine.
"What are you?" she whispered.
Silence.
Then, almost gently, "We are...Venom."
The word hissed out like a purr.
Heavy. Ancient.
It settled in her chest like a second heartbeat.
Gwen dragged in a ragged breath.
"Venom," she repeated, the word tasting wrong and sharp in her mouth.
"You — you did something to me. You’re... inside me."
"We saved you," Venom said, almost hurt.
"You were weak. Alone. Afraid. They would have hurt you. We protected you."
Images flashed behind her eyes — the drunk guy's hand grabbing her — his body hitting the wall — the fear turning into anger and power and hunger.
Gwen pressed her fists to her forehead, rocking slightly.
"No, no — I didn't want to hurt him. I was scared—"
"You survived."
The voice was softer now.
Patient.
Like it was explaining something obvious to a stubborn child.
"Fear makes you strong. We make you strong."
Gwen looked down at her hands again — at the faint black tendrils that curled and faded across her skin like smoke signals.
"You’re... part of me now," she said hollowly.
It wasn’t a question.
It was a fact.
A truth that tasted like rust and bile.
"We are together," Venom agreed.
"We are better this way."
Gwen leaned her head back against the wall and laughed — a broken, hiccuping sound.
Better.
Right.
She felt like she was falling apart at the seams.
But deep under all the fear and nausea and self-loathing...
There was a tiny spark of something else.
A terrible, tempting thrill.
She remembered the way the guy had looked at her when she slammed him into the wall — the terror in his eyes.
Nobody had ever looked at her like that before.
Nobody had ever made her feel that powerful.
Gwen closed her eyes, breathing shallowly.
"What do you want from me?" she whispered.
"Nothing," Venom said smoothly.
"We want what you want. Safety. Strength. Freedom. All you have to do is let us help."
Gwen opened her eyes.
The stars overhead looked sharp enough to cut her.
She didn't feel alone.
And that terrified her more than anything.
The rooftop shuddered under Gwen’s feet when she landed — a messy, too-hard jump that rattled up her legs.
She stumbled, half-slipping on the gravel before catching herself.
"Okay," she muttered, wiping sweat from her forehead with a shaky hand. "Okay. Not... terrible."
Venom purred somewhere deep inside her chest.
"You are learning."
Gwen snorted, breathless.
"Yeah, like a baby deer on ice."
The city stretched out around her — tall buildings like jagged teeth, streets gleaming with late-night traffic.
Up here, it almost felt normal.
Almost.
She bounced on her toes, testing the spring coiled inside her muscles.
Stronger.
Faster.
Like her body was humming at a frequency she’d never heard before.
"Let's try it," Gwen whispered.
Before she could talk herself out of it, she sprinted forward and jumped.
The wind screamed in her ears as she soared — way, way farther than she should’ve.
A wild, weightless second where she thought she might actually fly — then gravity yanked her down and she crashed onto the next rooftop, rolling hard to bleed off the momentum.
Pain bloomed in her shoulder, but it was distant.
Muted.
Already healing.
Gwen lay there, panting, laughing breathlessly.
"More," Venom whispered hungrily.
"Again."
She sat up, grinning despite herself.
This — this feeling — was addictive.
She wanted more.
But then the dizziness hit.
Like the ground swayed under her.
Her stomach twisted into tight, gnawing knots.
Gwen clutched her middle, staggering to her feet.
The hunger roared up out of nowhere — blinding, brutal.
"Feed," Venom urged.
"We are starving."
Gwen half-stumbled, half-ran back to the fire escape, barely managing not to throw herself straight off the edge.
Her hands were trembling so badly she almost missed the first rung.
She dropped to the street, her body moving on autopilot.
The world was a blur — too bright, too loud, too slow.
She barely remembered ducking into the nearest corner store.
Her fingers tore through bags of chips, cookies, anything she could grab.
She was already ripping open a protein bar with her teeth before she even got to the counter.
The cashier blinked at her like she was a wild animal that had wandered inside.
"You gonna pay for that, lady?"
Gwen fumbled in her pockets, throwing a crumpled paper note she thought was a bill on the counter.
"Yeah, yeah — sorry —"
She staggered outside, stuffing her mouth, chewing frantically.
It didn’t help.
It barely even scratched the surface.
"Meat," Venom growled.
"We need meat."
Gwen stumbled into a dark alley, tearing open a sandwich she hadn’t even realized she grabbed.
The moment her teeth sank into it — real meat, greasy and rich — the hunger eased.
Not gone.
Not even close.
But quieter.
She slumped against the wall, breathing hard.
The wrappers scattered around her like fallen leaves.
Her hands were shaking.
There was blood on her knuckles — when had that happened?
Gwen wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, leaving a smear of something dark and sticky.
She didn’t cry.
She just sat there, chewing mechanically, feeling like a hollow thing being filled with something that wasn’t hers.
"Good girl," Venom whispered, almost fondly.
"See? You are learning."
Gwen closed her eyes.
She didn’t know if she hated the voice in her head.
Or herself more.
Gwen woke to sunlight slicing through her curtains, stabbing her straight between the eyes.
She groaned, dragging the blanket over her face like it could block out the world.
Her body felt... wrong.
Her skin was too tight.
Her bones itched.
Her mouth tasted like rust and regret.
She shifted, and something shifted with her — a ripple under her skin.
Not just a muscle spasm.
Something alive.
Gwen bit down hard on a scream, curling into herself.
"You are strong," Venom whispered from the pit of her mind.
"You are perfect."
"No," she whispered back hoarsely. "No, I’m not—"
Her phone buzzed weakly on the floor beside the bed, where she must've dropped it last night.
She fumbled for it, blinking blearily at the screen.
5 missed calls - Miles
7 unread messages
Her heart twisted painfully.
Miles.
The last time she’d talked to him, she'd been barely coherent, telling him she might be too sick to come to school.
And then... nothing.
Radio silence.
Gwen squeezed her eyes shut, guilt slamming into her like a wave.
Her fingers hovered over the call button — then froze.
How could she face him like this?
How could she lie to him?
Because that’s what it would be.
A lie.
She couldn’t tell him she was hearing voices.
That her body was mutating.
That she was terrified to even move in case she lost control again.
The knock on her door nearly gave her a heart attack.
"Gwen?" her dad’s voice floated through.
"You up?"
She swallowed hard, fighting down the rising panic.
"Yeah! Just— getting dressed!"
Her voice cracked horribly halfway through, but Captain Stacy either didn’t notice or let it slide.
"Alright. Just checking. Miles is downstairs."
Her stomach dropped straight through the mattress.
She scrambled to the mirror, hands shaking.
She looked... awful.
Her skin was too pale.
Her eyes too wide.
Her hair was a tangled mess, and there were faint dark veins threading just under the surface of her throat.
She yanked a hoodie over her head, jammed sunglasses onto her face, and prayed to every god she could think of.
When she staggered downstairs, Miles was pacing the hallway like a caged animal.
The second he saw her, he froze.
"Gwen," he breathed, relief flooding his face.
"You scared me," he said, stepping forward.
"I thought — I dunno, I thought something bad happened."
Gwen forced a laugh, light and hollow.
"Yeah, no — just a bug or something. Y'know. Super gross."
Miles frowned.
"You don’t look okay."
"I’m fine," she lied too quickly.
Her stomach cramped sharply.
She doubled over slightly, clutching her middle.
Miles moved like he was going to catch her — then hesitated, hands hovering helplessly.
"Gwen — maybe you should go to the hospital," he said, voice low.
"You’re burning up."
"No!" she snapped, louder than she meant to.
Miles blinked, startled.
Gwen sucked in a breath, fighting to steady herself.
Fighting to hold the thing inside her down.
"I’m fine," she said again, softer.
"Really. Just— bad day, okay?"
Miles didn’t look convinced.
But he didn’t push.
"Alright," he said finally. "But if you need anything — anything — you call me."
Gwen nodded, her throat too tight to speak.
She watched him go, every step away like a fist squeezing her heart tighter.
When the door clicked shut, she slumped against the wall, sliding down to sit on the floor.
Her hands were trembling again.
"Lies," Venom whispered, almost amused.
"You lie to him so easily."
Gwen pressed her forehead against her knees.
"I didn’t have a choice," she whispered.
"There is always a choice," Venom purred.
Outside, the world went on.
And inside, Gwen was coming apart at the seams.