Technically this is the First Chapter if you think about it
At the time Eddie was filtering back into consciousness, the first thing that he heard was his own heartbeat. The pounding made his head hurt as he opened his eyes to darkness. Everything was fuzzy and weighted, his limbs felt like mud. Everything was out of focus, but the more he came back, the more everything hurt.
He felt hungry, too, more than anything else. It feels like he can barely breathe, and he rolls over, finding himself already on the floor. It’s cold against his skin and he tries to orient himself. Eddie’s hands come into view and he gets them underneath him, it takes all of his strength to get himself up onto all fours.
“Eddie.”
The voice rings in his ears, and it almost send him back onto the ground with ho it reverberates through his skull. It’s a feeling he hasn’t had in a while, that readjusting sense. Venom had been taken from him at some point, giving some amount of reasoning for why Eddie feels so much like shit.
That definitely also implies that if whoever had them here didn't know that they were attached to each other in some way, that those bastards definitely did now if they let Venom rejoin him.
What was more concerning was the thought of why they’d bother reuniting them.
“Eddie. Stop moving.”
But Eddie doesn’t, he at least doesn’t want to be on the damn floor anymore. He ignores Venom’s words and pushes himself up on to shaky legs and hobbles to the metal rectangle that seems to be their bed. The bed padding is quite literally embedded into it, but that's fine. Eddie collapses on top of it, taking a deep breath before he tries talking out loud. His throat feels hoarse, and it doesn't come out very loudly.
“Right— no more moving, promise.”
And he doesn’t, he stays right where he is. He lays on his front, shielding his eyes from the blinding light. It’s got to be some kind of hospital, or freaky lab. Only evil laboratories use such intense fluorescent lighting. No lighting choices are more villainous than that.
They stay like that for an indiscernible amount of time. Until there’s a crackling radio static that fills the room from some hidden speakers and Eddie has to cover his ears. It only lasts a few seconds before it settles into a smooth, accented voice. He can’t place it as particularly feminine or masculine either, but it feels distinct.
“Good. You are awake then. Now, Mr. Brock, I only have a few questions for you, and I shall return you to your rest.”
Eddie grunts, his limbs move more accordingly now. Still feels like he’s hungover, but not as bad as before. He’s not sure how good his brain is processing words yet though.
“Yeah… yeah sure, go ahead.” He makes a dismissive wave with his hand, and his shoulder flares up in pain and he puts it back down with a hiss.
There’s a distinct pause, before the voice comes through again.
“What foods does this entity require to sustain itself?”
Right, that wasn’t the sort of question that Eddie was expecting. It makes him pause, usually people open up with ‘who sent you’ or something along those lines. He squints at the floor, and glances around. Venom provides an answer to Eddie, spoken only to him through their connection.
“Don’t tell them.”
“Oh, and then what? You fix this up with nothing? You like chocolate don’t you? I’ll tell them that.” Eddie responds in kind, thinking the words quickly.
“We won’t stay here long enough for it to come to that.”
“We can’t get out of here with nothing, we gotta have something in us. I can barely move, and I know you can’t even mask. We have to have something—”
Their internal monologue is cut off by a near ear shattering screech that comes over the speakers. It’s like the scan they did with Dan, back when Venom first found Eddie. Last time they hadn’t been so deeply connected, there were more barriers in place. Not this time. This time it feels like every cell in his body is screaming. Everything goes blank with hot white pain that cuts off any train of thought they’d been having.
Eddie doesn’t know if he’s the one screaming or Venom is, or if it’s both of them. Nor does he know if it’s audible or just in his head. Venom almost jumps out from under his skin and when the ringing finally stops, Eddie finds himself back on the floor. His chest is heaving and he still can’t hear, can’t tell if he’s actually breathing or if his chest is just moving. .
Things stay that way for at least a minute or two, and the voice filters in around the same time that Eddie has to push himself back upright.
“I think you should answer quicker, I’m sure you know it wasn’t hard to find out more about how you acquired this entity. You’ve had it for nearly two full years now, you should know what it eats. I would advise against making any plans of escape while I am watching you.”
That was a lot of words, and Eddie was hardly in a headspace available to understand them all. He understands the basics of it, and raises a hand in complacent resignation.
“Chocolate. Chocolate is what it needs. Something about it makes it happy. That’s what it needs, but I need to eat too, it can’t just be chocolate.”
He hopes his answer suffices enough to not encourage another bout of torture. Venom has gone quiet again and Eddie briefly wonders about how much they’ve already found out about them, if these people have pieced together Venom’s connection to the Life Foundation incident.
Eddie likes to believe he’s not as stupid as he might come across, he’s a journalist and a damn good one at that. He can connect dots, but right now, all the smart journalist thoughts are just completely out of his head right now. So any sort of intelligent, ‘let’s not tell them the whole story’ plan is off the table. He just doesn’t want to be in that sort of pain again.
It seems like that was enough for the disembodied voice, as it moves on to the next question.
“Is there anything else it requires? Temperature wise, or other weaknesses that could cause it to die if it is in such an environment for an extended period of time?”
If there is one thing that Eddie doesn’t like, it’s that these questions are setting things up for a long stay. These are the kinds of questions you ask someone when you’re watching their dog. Whoever these people are, they want Eddie and Venom to stick around for a while. Eddie tries to choose his words carefully, but quickly.
“Nothing that a normal human wouldn’t die from I guess? It just needs food, more than anything.”
Can’t give away too much, can’t let them know everything. Have to be careful.
“Good. Then I suppose I shall leave you to your rest. But I will be watching. Choose your actions carefully. I can assure you that prior exposure was on a low setting.”
Then the audio clicks off, that back of the brain buzzing associated with radio static is gone. Eddie is alone, and he has to drag himself, yet again, onto their uncomfortable bed. He sits with his head down, back against the wall. If he lays down too long he’s sure he’d throw up. Eddie doesn’t like where this is going.
Venom stays quiet, and it takes a fearful amount of time for the sensation of connectedness to return to them. His voice comes in smooth, not loud, like a whisper almost.
“I am sorry, Eddie.”
“It’s not your fault. We’ll figure this out, we can get out of here.”
Eddie finds himself slipping under the blackness of sleep once again, unable to find the strength to converse or comfort himself with Venom’s presence. He falls under, his last thought like he was imagining being held in someone’s arms.