Demons [Eddie Brock] Venom

25. Chaos

Rory held back the urge to swear under her breath, she bit down the bubbling fear that crawled up her throat like a spider. In a flash, she darted across the room, trying to remain silent. She had no shoes, so it was easy. But Eddie had no bedroom window; his prime window was the living room one, whereas Rory on her side of the apartment had a window in her bedroom. There was no way out from here, and so she tucked herself in the closet and was ready to strike if anyone came for her.

She heard shuffling, a few more words, and then a door slammed shut; their main pursuit was Eddie, but she knew it would not be that easy. She held her breath, listening for any noise, but heard nothing. Eddie had what they wanted, and they would expend all their efforts in taking him, and whatever the hell was inside of him. Taking a moment to reflect, she recalled something coming out of him, something black and flexible, something that clearly had a mind of its own. Her heart began to pound harder again, threatening another panic attack, and she forced herself to calm down; if she didn't remain calm, she would be making it just that much easier for Drake to find her.

It was just a game to him, getting her back.

She knew he didn't care, but now that he knew where she was, that she was within his grasp, he was going to close his fingers in on her, clutching until she couldn't breathe...

"Breathe, Ror, breathe," she told herself in a whispered mantra.

Nothing was making any sense, not what was going on with Eddie, not that things were finally starting to go well in her life and suddenly it all came crashing down. With a restorative deep breath, Rory pushed some of the jackets and shirts on the rack away, they obscured her from anyone who might glance in the closet, but she couldn't keep hiding from this.

Declaring it safe enough, Rory peered out of the bedroom and glanced around the rest of the apartment. Everything was broken, out of place, shattered; it reminded her of her art room at Drake's condo all those years ago, when she lost the part of her that was Aurora. Tentatively, she walked through the chaos, avoiding glass and wood splinters that stuck up threateningly. She grabbed her shoes from the front door and stepped into them, lacing them tight in case she needed to run for it.

Though she didn't know where to go, she had to get out of this apartment. There were only two people she could think of to call, who might help her. Alana from work, and her lawyer Anne Weying. Women helped women, and even though she didn't know either of them all that well, her list of people who might support her was small. She had been too scared to make friends before, but now she wished she had some.

She decided that Anne was the one who might have more power to help her, and so she dug out her phone from her back pocket. The screen was cracked, from when she was thrown to the ground and Eddie -and whatever was in him- protected her. As she opened up the phone icon, little shards of glass twinkled around her, like vicious dust that could slice open fingers and draw blood.

"Hello?"

"Anne, it's Rory, I need your help," Rory whispered, hand cupped around the mouth of the phone.

"Rory, I'm not sure I can... Someone I know is in trouble, and I can't find him."

Gears began turning in Rory's head, but she didn't go that way. "I'm in trouble."

"Is it Mike?"

"No, no it's... I shouldn't bring you into this... I shouldn't have called you," Rory realized that by bringing Anne into this she might get hurt too.

"Rory, don't hang up, just tell me where you are-"

But Rory hung up anyways. She stepped out of Eddie's apartment, and walked over to her own. That was when she sensed someone watching her. Snapping her head around to look, she was met with full force of a man attacking her. She fell to the ground and was winded, air leaving her lungs in a quick depart, she felt lifeless for a few seconds before she could breathe again. The man was wearing all black, just like the ones who attacked Eddie did.

Rory kicked and clawed, caring not for fighting clean, she shouted and swore as she wriggled underneath this man. Her nails dug into the flesh of his face, slicing deep and drawing blood. He shouted in pain, but didn't release her; he was trained to take on people much stronger than Rory, and even though she knew she had no hope, she wasn't going to stop fighting, she wouldn't make it easier for them.

As she clawed and bit and tried to use anything Eddie taught her with elbows and knees, she was subdued, and she couldn't help but think about Drake. He was probably watching the video footage, he was probably smirking to himself knowing that things always worked out for him in the end because he had resources. Rory was just going to be the cherry on top when he succeeded in all this; and she just had to hope Eddie didn't end up in the same situation as her.

Within a few minutes, or perhaps it was less and felt like more as time seemed to be warped, Rory was pushed faced down against the ground, her hands zip-tied behind her back. She jerked against the man, trying to even just wriggle away; but she knew no one on this floor would help her. If Mike opened her door and tried to stop the man, she would be in equally as evil hands. She knew Ziggy was useless and would turn a blind eye.

"Please, don't do this," Rory said, blood in her mouth from when she hit the ground and her tooth dug into her lower lip. She spat it on the ground. "You don't have to do this."

Her assailant said nothing in return but pulled her to her feet. He held her bicep, large hands digging hard into her and she knew she would have a bruise to show for it; but she doubted she would be alive much longer anyways. As they descended the stairs and made it to the ground level, Rory tried to break free. She jerked out of his hold and made a run for the front door; with all the chaos that ensued, surely there would be police out there, at least bystanders who might, just maybe, help her.

She was inches away from the door, she could see lights flashing outside and she knew emergency personnel was there. But she was tackled to the ground and she hit her head against the door frame. The man pulled her back, and though she was woozy and her head ached now, every part of her ached, she still fought. She kneed and spat and bucked her hips to get him off of her. His fist came down hard against her jaw and the back of her head slammed into the tile floors, the dizziness spinning, making the world dance around her.

She tried, but she failed.

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Happy Halloween! The only holiday I celebrate! May you burn black candles, dance around roaring fires, praise Satan and scare children!

A reminder not to just ask me to update, it's super rude! I clearly update ever day, so saying "update!" is completely redundant.