Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The forest was haunted. Everyone knew that. It was ancient and vast and groaned with unseen movement. No one could stand to live near it. They said it would whisper to you in the dark and entice you enter, only to never be seen again. The forest had a body count, and only those wanting to lose their life would venture inside.

Eddie Brock was such a man.

His life was in tatters. His recklessness had cost him his job, his fiancée and his home. No one wanted him and, by his reasoning, no one would miss him. No family, no real friends, not even a pet to care for. He might as well just walk into the forest and discover for himself why it had claimed so many lives.

He lingered on the edge where the trail through the surrounding fields ended. This was mostly as far as people got. If they were foolhardy, or drunk enough wanting to impress their friends, then maybe they would get a little closer. Maybe they would go and touch the nearest tree. Maybe even steal a branch from the ground. But that was as far as anyone would get.

Eddie's eyes traced over the tree line. It didn't take long for the interior to turn dark, the canopy becoming impenetrable to sunlight. There had been attempts at logging in the past, before the conservation order was slapped upon the area. Some said you could still see the rusting tractors all covered in vines, mangled by the sheer strength of them. That had come after though. First all the workers had vanished one sunny afternoon. They were never found.

Even the trees themselves were haunting. They weren't like other forests full of tall pines and elegant cypress. These were ancient oaks and redwoods, twisted into unnatural shapes. Half of them already looked dead. It added to the air of foreboding.

Eddie fiddled with the coil of rope in his hand. If he was going to do this, he'd better do it before his nerve failed him.

It was hard to make a path through the undergrowth. Fallen trees and branches were strewn about, almost like a barricade. Ferns and leaf litter concealed the slope of the ground and many times Eddie stumbled over some hidden root or hole. But he had to get deeper. He didn't want to risk being found. He glanced back and could still see daylight. It wasn't deep enough.

He pulled out a stick that would make do as a walking pole to help steady his balance. The wind moaned mournfully through the trees. It was then he became aware of how deathly still it was. No birds, no insects, no rustle from a squirrel or chipmunk. Just the wind and the groaning of time.

He persevered forward, even though it was getting harder to see in the dimming light. The trees were growing closer. Their untamed branches caught on his clothes and snagged at his hands. He cursed them, but wouldn't stop moving, wouldn't give up till he found the place he needed.

A spark of pain flared across his cheek as a wicked thorn dashed his face, but still he was undeterred.

Ivy tangled round his legs impeding his progress, but still he was undeterred.

His ankle twisted as he stumbled into a ditch, but still he was undeterred.

For someone wanting the forest to claim him, Eddie was making surprising progress.

Finally, he looked around and could see nothing but trees in all directions. All he needed now was a sturdy branch. Almost as though sensing his want, the canopy parted slightly allowing sunlight to highlight an easily accessible oak tree. At some point it had been struck by lightning, the whole thing was split right down the middle. But it would make do.

His heart rate increased. Now he would actually have to go through with it. He licked his lips trying to figure out the logistics.

A crack echoed from his right and his head whipped round.

He was alone. Surely he was alone?

Wait, was that a ribcage at the base of that tree?

He poked it with his stick. There were other white objects half-buried in the pine needles and dried leaves. He had assumed they were stones, but upon scraping away the detritus, they were definitely bones. Lots of bones. With teeth marks.

Eddie stumbled back.

Another noise, this time from behind him, and much closer.

He hadn't seen any traces of wildlife, though he wasn't exactly looking for signs. The forest seemed dead. He had assumed it was.

Ahead of him now, from behind the oak. He was surrounded he was sure of it.

A pair of eyes gleamed unnaturally in the gloom. Eddie's mind reeled at the form before him. It wasn't natural whatever it was. Maybe once it was a wolf, but it had long mutated into something that chilled his very soul. Whatever it was, it had him. And he wasn't going to resist.

He dropped his stick and his rope. He knew he wouldn't have been able to tie a proper knot anyway, no matter how many times he practiced at home. He was sure he'd mess it up and leave himself dangling there for hours. This seemed like a much quicker way to go. With all those teeth it had to be.

The creature got nearer. It sniffed the air, smelled his fear, but Eddie didn't move an inch. There was movement to his left and right, at least he thought there was, but he didn't take his eyes off the one in front of him. If anything, he was staring it down. Was it... hesitating?

Time dragged on. The suspense was getting unbearable.

"Come on!" Eddie yelled unable to take it anymore."You wanna eat me, just EAT ME!"

It accepted his command and finally lunged. Eddie had only moments to appreciate its unnaturally long tongue in its unnaturally large mouth before he closed his eyes and accepted his fate.

There was pain. All over and unending. It pierced and ripped at him, but he didn't fight it, didn't try to stop it. He was almost calm about the whole thing. And then there was darkness.

What Eddie did not expect next was to wake up.

Cool air rushed into his lungs. He felt sore but not in pain. Was he dead? Did he die? Is this what death is like?

His fingers twitched finding gentle moss that ticked underneath his palms. His head was cushioned on a pillow of something that smelled sweet. There were pinpricks over his arms and legs and some in his chest. Hazily he opened his eyes.

It took a moment for his vision to clear but he could see lights. Moving lights. They were fireflies. The canopy was full of them and it was beautiful. Their soft glow undulating in shifting patterns.

A shudder suddenly ran through him and the pinpricks burned with the movement. He looked down in horror to see green tubes inserted all over his skin. Except they weren't tubes, they were vines.

He yelped and scrambled to rip them out of his body then hurried backwards till his back hit a tree. He watched as the vines retreated back into the moss. On his skin they had left nothing but red marks. He ran a thumb over one of them and it quickly faded.

But what about the pain? That creature had gone for him, he remembered it.

He quickly patted himself down but found nothing wrong except for the ripped and bloody remains of his clothes. At some point he had lost his right shoe.

It had happened though, right?

He took a moment to examine his surroundings. This part of the forest was completely different. Whereas everything before was dead and dry, this was lush and vibrant. Moss and lichen covered the ground and ran up the trees. Luminous mushrooms glowed in the hollows. Bioluminescent insects flittered about and creatures scurried in the branches.

The air hummed with crickets and animal calls, some distant, some near but none of them threatening. Strange flowers bloomed everywhere gently wafting sweet perfume and attracting hummingbirds - except that hummingbirds aren't usually their own light source. It was like evolution had gotten scrambled and everything was adapted for the dark, but only in ways that were beautiful.

Suddenly there was a shift in the air. It was imperceptible to Eddie, but everything around him had sensed it. All of the creatures moved away in the same direction, the fireflies followed lazily behind them, but a few lingered. It took him a moment to realise that they were for him. They were lighting a path.

So Eddie followed, not at all noticing the tiny blossoms that spouted where his bare foot had touched the ground.

The path led up and around a corner lined with large rocks until it expanded into an enormous clearing lined with tall curved banks. Well, it would have been enormous if it wasn't for the immense tree in the centre of it. He had never seen the like of it.

It was completely black and utterly smooth with veins of silver. Its leaves were like large opals that caught the luminescent light and reflected it in every direction. Looking up all he could see was its canopy, like a great glass dome. It was impossible to tell what time of day it was. Could have been the afternoon, could have been the middle of the night. There wasn't a single speck of sky to tell the difference.

The fireflies and other creatures had flocked towards the tree. It had called them, and maybe it was calling Eddie too.

He approached it gingerly and lightly touched the surface. Another shudder ran through him, but it didn't feel like it belonged to him. His head felt wobbly and he found himself sliding down the frictionless trunk to rest at its base. His eyes had started to close, lulled by the gentle hum in the air, the softness, and just generally otherworldliness of the situation he found himself in.

 Something small was approaching him. Eddie cracked an eye open to see an animal almost like a bushbaby looking at him expectantly.

"Hey. Can you tell me, did I die?" he wondered aloud. The animal cocked it's head in a puzzled matter. "Is okay. Doesn't matter."

A scuffling caught his attention brought him to his feet as the wolf creature entered the clearing. But now it didn't look so deformed. It looked more like a wolf with a coat covered in dark splotches. It eyed Eddie.

"Hey, whoah now," his hands were raised in a placating gesture. "Please don't eat me again."

After a beat, the wolf let out a long yawn, all normal amounts of teeth present and correct, then lay down with a huff.

"I guess we're good then?"

It sniffed and turned its attention to a metallic butterfly that was fluttering about.

Eddie let out a long breath and went back to resting at the base of the tree. It was just so comfortable down there. It was as though it was molding to the shape of his back.

Eddie snorted at the thought of a memory foam tree. But then again, why not? Everything else around here was messed up.

He rested his head and closed his eyes. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. As soon as he did, tiny tendrils of black began weaving themselves across his body. They kept him upright but also they wanted to explore this new being.

There was something about him that was different, though they didn't know what yet. As soon as they had attacked him, they knew they had made a mistake. So they fixed him, made him better, but it had been so long since they had tried to communicate. Would he listen? Would he understand? And would he stay when so many others have fled?

Chapter Text

Eddie was dreaming, but it wasn't his dream.

It began with noise and confusion. Too many layers for his mind to handle and understand. They were going too fast. The narrative suddenly shifted to something clearer and Eddie found he was looking at Earth from a rapidly approaching orbit.

First there was heat and destruction and the pain of survival, but then came the trees. So many trees, as far as the eye could see. And they were all theirs to take. They went below the trees down to the roots and knotted them all together, creating a vast nervous system to sustain themselves.

They infused the growing things with extra life and hunted the creatures that lived in the woods. They gorged on their insides and sucked them dry from nose to tail. Nothing was wasted. All of it went back into the earth to feed them.

But then the humans came with gnawing axes that tore into their beautiful trees. They cut them down, chopped them up. Burnt them. They had to be punished. The animals they hunted starting hunting humans instead. They became extra quick, extra fierce and more intelligent than was common. The humans didn't stand a chance.

They made the forest inhospitable to people. Barricaded it with fallen trees, populated it with poisonous plants, made themselves look dead and dark. They made humans want to stay away. Whispered to them in the dark that anyone who entered would not leave.

But then the axes came back with noisier teeth and machines that churned up the ground. They couldn't be stopped by voices or by predators snapping at their heels. They tore up the barricade, sprayed corrupted liquids, brought fire and artificial light. The humans angered them with their pollution so they created beauty to lure them deep into the woods. The feast was vicious and quick and so satisfying. No one came to take the trees after that.

And then there was Eddie. He ignored the warnings, ignored the traps and the obstacles placed in his path. Ignored the way the forest made him feel and the subtle cues to turn back. So instead they would claim him and add his bones to the pile. He can see himself now, standing there with his rope and his stick. The perspective is low and desaturated, the optics slightly distorted. The world lunges towards him and everything slows down.

He sees himself close his eyes and accept his fate. He can feel his jaw widening, his tongue unfurling over too many teeth. But just as they're getting close, just after it was too late to change their mind, Eddie bursts into vibrant technicolour.

They knew they had made a mistake, but there was no time to stop their enormous maw from clamping down upon his throat.

Eddie woke with a start and jerked in palace.

He couldn't move. A tangled web of black was covering his torso and right arm. He instantly panicked and tore at the bindings with his free hand but his nails were ineffective. He felt an itch behind his ear and clawed at whatever was behind there.

His fingers laced round a tentacle and he ripped it from under his skin. He yelled with fear and pain and the web receded. Eddie scrambled away to the edge of the clearing.

"No. No! No, no no no no no no no."

He curled up on his side on the sloping wall of dirt, his words becoming nothing more than heaving sobs that wracked his chest.

It was wrong. It was all wrong. He felt violated. That thing, that alien, had been inside his brain. He made himself small, somehow thinking that would stop the monster from noticing him, like it would somehow make it leave him alone. He knew it was stupid but what else could he do?

A wet nose nudged at his exposed elbow. Eddie was startled to see the wolf standing there looking at him.

"What? Oh god, just leave me alone!" His voice was broken. He couldn't handle any more right now.

But the wolf persisted. It nudged him again under his elbow. It was lifting his arm. Eddie stopped crying enough just to be confused.

"What do you want?"

The wolf leaned down on their front paws and shuffled closer.

"What!?"

It grumbled and heaved its body into the crook of space left by Eddie's torso, letting its head fall with a flump near his chin. It looked up at him with mournful eyes.

Eddie licked his lips.

"Do ya- do you want....?"

It sighed and let him figure it out.

Gingerly, Eddie placed a hand on its large head. The fur was so soft and comforting. He did an exploratory stroke and the wolf didn't seem to mind. He tried scratching it behind its ear. They closed their eyes and gave another sigh. There was a gentle thump of a tail wag.

"Oh."

He suddenly felt much calmer.

They were like that for some time. Eddie didn't stop moving his fingers and the wolf relaxed against his body. He should have been uncomfortable by now. He was leaning at an odd angle on a curved surface, but if anything, he was even cosier than before. He finally figured out why when he noticed a carpet of moss spreading out from under him. He watched amazed as it grew in rapid time, like a speeded up film. It formed around him perfectly.

The air continued to thrum with the sounds of insects and creatures, and Eddie's face had long since dried, but his mind hadn't stopped. Not really. Here he was petting the largest animal he'd ever encountered, but he was still alone. Still lost in a forest with no phone, no food, and not even a right shoe. The tears threatened to come back, to consume him again. He wasn't going to let them.

The moment was broken by the wolf's ear pricking up. They looked towards the tree.

Eddie followed their gaze. "What is it?"

It nodded its head and stood up, giving itself a shake. It padded around the edge of clearing towards an opening high up on the bank.

"Hey, where are you going?"

It aimed its trajectory and deftly leaped three times across the bank to make it through the hole.

Eddie suddenly felt very lonely without its company. He stood and rubbed his arms.

Maybe it was time he explored his prison a little more? Because really, that's what it was. It was a beautiful, magical prison, but a prison all the same. So far Eddie had only seen a single exit and it was one he couldn't reach.

He took a walk around the edge of the clearing, staying well clear of the tree in the centre, and came to realise that the curved banks weren't banks at all. They were the trunks of enormous redwoods that had fused together creating an impenetrable wall.

He went up the path to the glade that he had first woken up in and discovered it was the same situation. What he had assumed to be a canopy had merely been a dense tangle of vines and creepers. It was still filled with fireflies and looked achingly lovely.

But god he was thirsty.

He hadn't had any food or water since he left the house, and who knew how long ago that was?

He grudgingly returned to the tree just in time to see a small animal glide past through the air. His head said 'flying squirrel' his eyes declared otherwise. But it was small and furry and had landed on the edge of a small pool of water formed by the roots of the tree. That wasn't there before, was it?

The pool was filled with crystal clear liquid and the 'squirrel' was eagerly lapping it up, so maybe it wasn't dangerous. But really, Eddie reasoned, who cared right now if it was? Sure, dying from poisoning wasn't nice, but it would probably be quicker than dying from dehydration.

He approached it and the squirrel scurried off, no doubt done with its job of convincing Eddie that everything was safe. He kneeled and cupped his hand, bringing the water to his mouth. It was cool and refreshing like the purest chilled spring water. Eagerly he drank more, leaning his free hand on the tree for support.

They so desperately wanted to touch him again, to cover him in their tendrils and make him understand. But he wasn't ready for that yet. His mind was so small and theirs was so vast. They needed to communicate better, to learn to speak again. So for now, they would provide instead.

They had explored his internal systems while he slept to better anticipate his needs. They had never really tried to learn what humans required to survive, but all living things need food, water and shelter. Shelter they could give a plenty, and water was not hard to arrange, but food would be an issue. His digestive system was so delicate, easily upset, but could be simple to maintain. They just needed to create the right thing, then they could keep him.

With his thirst finally sated, Eddie slumped backwards onto his elbows, looking up at the tree.

"I suppose I should say thank you, so, um, thank you." He mumbled the last part. Showing gratitude to your captor is a good thing, right?

His eyes travelled up the rest of the tree to its iridescent leaves that captured the shifting light.

No, the light wasn't shifting, the leaves were moving. The whole trunk shuddered and one of them came loose. It twirled down through the air and landed not far from where Eddie was sitting.

Had it done that just for him?

Carefully he picked up the leaf to examine it. It was large, about as long as his forearm from stalk to tip and was vaguely teardrop shaped. The edges were all crinkled and curled, but the centre was completely smooth - save for the veining of black. The underside was just as beautiful and shimmered with blues and greens and pinks.

"Wow." Eddie breathed. Was it his imagination or did the tree just stand a little taller?

The scrambling of claws caught his attention as the wolf returned through the gap in the wall. They were carrying something. It was his shoe.

"Oh my god," Eddie said with a gasp.

He had no fear now as the wolf approached him. He didn't even feel the need to stand. His fight or flight response had been totally demolished, at least where this animal was concerned. 

"Is that- did you-?!"

It mumbled around its prize, its body language lit up like a domesticated dog being told it had done good.

Eddie ruffled the fur down the side of its face and neck.

"Thank you so much boy!"

The wolf froze.

"Uh, girl?"

She sneezed. Eddie laughed.

"Thank you girl."

His fuss quickly turned into a tickle session, the wolf rolling around on her back, shoe still in her mouth and enjoying all the contact she had never felt before. For a moment, Eddie forgot all of his worries.

He laughed. He was smiling. This was good. This was better than good. It was wonderful. They wanted to try, they had to try.

"....Edddddiiiiiieeeeee...."

 The wolf stopped her wriggling. Everything in the clearing and glade went quiet and still. Eddie stood up suddenly aware of the change in the air.

"....Edddiiiee...."

The wind was calling his name.

But it wasn't the wind. There was no wind.

The leaves and branches of the tree were shaking, vibrating in order to simulate a voice. And it was saying his name.

Eddie gulped. "Um, yea-, yes? Hello?"

"....Edddiiiee...."

It was stronger now, more than a whisper. The voice was deep and rumbled with a gentle purr. He could feel it reverberating inside his chest.

"What, er- what..."

His legs were nudged by the wolf. She wanted him closer to the tree.

"Hey! Stop!"

But she was so much stronger than he was. She gave him another shove, this time with her body and he stumbled forward. His hand connected with the truck and was absorbed by inky liquid up to his wrist. Eddie had only moments to panic before he heard it.

Eddddiee.

His eyes went wide. It was in his head. There was no escape.

Chapter Text

Eddie struggled fruitlessly to release his left hand. It was caught in a mixture of quicksand and slime. The more he pulled the more it would stretch, then the harder it would drag him back. His panic rose further as black webbing slowly crept up his arm. He couldn't even risk using his legs as leverage in case they got stuck as well.

Edddddiiieeee....

"Please! Let me go!" He begged.

Why do you resist?

"Because I don't want this." The ground had gone smooth and slippery underfoot leaving Eddie without any grip.

But we want you.

"You can't have me."

We can make you whole.

"I already am whole."

You are not. You came here to end your life.

"Yeah, and you wouldn't let me!"

The anger in his voice seemed to still the relentless creep of the webbing up his arm. Eddie took a deep breath and stopped his struggling. It had him. No amount of brute force was going to change that.

You can be more. We can make you more.

"I don't even know what you are!" He whined.

We showed you.

His mind went back to the dream and all the terrible things they'd done to humans. The realisation hit him hard and he gulped.

"You eat people."

Yes.

"You were going to eat me."

Yes.

"Why would I want any part of that?"

Because it is satisfying.

Horror bubbled in the pit of his stomach. It enjoyed eating people, it desired to do it again and again. It gave them pleasure.

 He was assaulted by sensations that were not his own. The excitement of ripping into soft flesh with sharp claws, the hot metallic tang of fresh blood across his tongue, swallowing the still warm organs to fill up his empty belly. Feasting until their hunger was sated.

It made Eddie gag and he had to fight hard not to vomit. This alien could make him feel things as well as see them. He didn't want to know what else it could do.

"Please," he whispered. "Just let me go. Let me leave. I won't come back."

NO! Eddie will stay with us. Eddie will stay forever!

The whole clearing seemed to echo with its angry words even though Eddie knew they were inside his head. His brain hurt from the volume.

This was worse than dying. Any smidgen of hope he had about his situation was unilaterally extinguished. He slumped to his knees. This was a prison. There was no hope for escape, and no one was going to rescue him.

He closed his eyes and curled up on himself as much as he could with his hand still caught in the tree. He was suddenly so tired of it all. Maybe he could dehydrate himself enough to die?

A deafening roar filled his mind and made his skull ache.

NO! WE WILL NOT LET YOU PERISH!

Eddie was suddenly aware of several thin green vines topped with vicious thorns sprouting from the moss around him.

"What? Hey, wait! No!"

He whirled around trying to swat them away, to escape them, but his trapped hand restricted his movements. The vines quickly overcame him and plunged their needles deep into the skin all over his body. Eddie yelped with pain.

He tried to pull them out, tried to break them, but they were everywhere and his head was starting to feel cloudy. His struggles became languid, his grip loose, and he found himself collapsing forwards. Any moment now his shoulder would be pulled from its socket. He was waiting for the pop.

It never came.

Instead black tendrils emerged from the tree and eased his body down. His hand flowed with him but was still firmly held by the webbing. He could feel that too was slowly seeping into his skin.

The moss was warm and soft. It tickled his chin and absorbed his quiet tears.

"Please... stop. I don't want this."

His voice was weak and slurred from the fluids being pumped into his body. Blearily he looked towards the wolf, but she simply observed his ordeal.

Your body requires nutrients. We are giving them to you.

His vision wobbled. The world was losing its definition. Held captive and subdued. Was this how the rest of his existence was going to be? He blinked more wetness from his eyes.

A black tendril entered his field of view and delicately wiped the water from his face. The contact sent shivers along his spine. It had been a while since anyone touched him and he cursed his body for betraying him in such a way. He didn't want to offer any kind of encouragement, but it was too late. They had sensed his reaction.

Again the tendril came to touch his face, another ran through his hair. Eddie willed himself not to react. Not to show any signs of how they were affecting him.

Give in to us Eddie. Let us show how much we want you.

No.

With great effort he tried to move, tried to crawl away. He didn't get any father than just rocking his hips and pulling his free arm above his head. The drugs were powerful and the needles tugged painfully at his skin.

He fought down another sob.

Maybe he should give in, just let the creature have what it wanted? It would be easier. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? It's not like the alternative was so great. Say he did escape, say he found his way back to the city, what exactly was waiting for him there? Unemployment and homelessness. Say he got a job and found a place to live, he'd still be drowning in his crushing loneliness, using alcohol and one night stands to distract him from the hole in his chest.

He needed to know more.

Yes, yes! The voice was eager. We will show you more.

His arm was released and the needles retracted from his skin. Eddie rolled away from the tree but it was an exhausting thing to the do so he didn't get far. Whatever had been put in his system was still making him groggy. He was left staring up at the canopy.

A coolness started pooling on his back like he was lying in a puddle, but instead of water an inky black liquid was bubbling up all around him. He only had moments before it swallowed him completely.

He felt like he was floating underwater. Should he breathe? Could he breathe? His body's instinctive reaction took away the choice and he felt himself take in a deep, gratifying lungful of air.

Open your eyes Eddie.

He did as he was told, but at first his mind couldn't quite comprehend what he was seeing. The light refracted differently, objects were rapidly moving, their forms made from dazzling colours. Was this what it was like to see in ultraviolet and infra red?

They were running through the forest, but running wasn't the right word. They were gliding though the forest, each step placed without hesitation, power and strength thrumming through their form. They bounded over fallen trees, leaped effortlessly across ravines, and left destruction in their wake.

It was an exhilarating, intoxicating feeling. They were invulnerable, the apex predator, nothing could stop them. Everything was theirs to take. Dominion was inevitable.

And Eddie choked on that feeling.

Suddenly it was all too much. He couldn't breathe. This cocoon was suffocating him. He needed air, needed to get out.

Their movement slowed and Eddie was released back into the open. He instantly stumbled from the momentum and fell hard into the undergrowth. He lay there for a while gulping in deep breaths trying to control his panic.

Wherever they were, it wasn't as beautiful as the clearing, but it wasn't as dead as the forest he had first entered either. It just looked like a regular woodland with trees in every direction.

Why did you ask us to stop?

Eddie whipped his head around. He couldn't see trances of black anywhere.

"W-where are you?" He asked nervously.

We are....inside.

Inside? Oh god, it was inside him. His panic started rising again.

Why do you fear our presence? We know you enjoyed experiencing our power.

"Just because I liked it doesn't mean I wasn't scared as hell about it."

Your mind is confusing. You do not know what you want.

"I know what I don't want."

Which is what?

"To be controlled. To be manipulated into doing something I don't want to do. To being poked and prodded and my head filled with feelings that aren't mine! I don't want to eat people, or to hurt them. I don't- I don't want..."

He trailed off.

Alone. You do not want to be alone.

"Yes," he admittedly bitterly.

We do not want to be alone either.

The brutally honest confession surprised Eddie. He wondered how a being so intimately connected with something as vast as the forest could ever feel lonely, but then abruptly he understood. Their isolation flooded into him and opened up like a yawning chasm. So many years alone, so many years running on instinct and fear. No other beings to communicate with expect for the animals, and they only responded to shows of force and dominance. No one to know. No one to understand. No one would stay. No one wanted to stay when offered the chance. Complete and total rejection.

It drove the air from his lungs.

Stop that, please, was all he could think having no breath to say it out loud.

Instantly the feeling was gone again and Eddie was left with just his own muddled emotions. He recognised that desperate longing to be wanted, and the sharp pain that came with rejection. He knew the way it would mutate into anger and drive away everyone close to you. Knew the crippling fear of thinking that no one would ever love you again, and wondering if you were even worthy of love to begin with. He knew it all and maybe, just maybe, the creature's actions no longer seemed so extreme.

A painful throb from his elbow brought him back to the present. He had landed on it awkwardly and his uncovered foot was stinging from the rough terrain. His body felt sore and overworked, the adrenaline high long since gone.

He hung his head with a sigh.

Let us help.

"Help what?"

The heat started slowly. It began in his neck then simultaneously spread up to his temples and down his shoulders. It worked deep into his muscles, gradually winding its way to his fingertips and along his ribs. It released the tension in his lower back and travelled down his thighs, curling round his calves and settling in his toes.

All of his aches were gone, nothing hurt at all anymore. Eddie stared at his body in disbelief.

"That was....nice?"

You were hurting. It was a simple thing to fix.

"But still, um, thank you."

You are welcome.

The wind blew and Eddie shivered. Without the heat his ragged clothes left him mostly exposed. But at least he could see the sky now. Of course he had no clue what the time was but he was starting to wonder if it even mattered.

Will you stay? The voice asked meekly.

"What?"

If we offered you the choice, would you stay?

"I-..."

Just minutes ago he was renouncing everything that they had done to him, everything they had made him do. But now? Jesus. Now he was actually considering it. They were an alien, they didn't know what was right or wrong. They did what they had to survive, to protect themselves, to protect their forest. And they had saved him, even if they'd probably killed him first. They had given him shelter, given him food and water, and something furry to touch.

They did care. Care more than anyone else had recently.

Shit. He was crying again.

Don't be sad Eddie. We will help you leave if you desire it.

There were tendrils touching his face again. They were coming out of his own shoulders. He should have been freaked out about that, but instead it was weirdly comforting.

He gasped as he was suddenly enveloped in a blanket of warmth. He could see through the holes in his clothes that his skin was covered in a sheet of black. It rippled and undulated and squeezed tightly across his chest. Was it a hug? Was it hugging him?

"Do you even have a name?"

We did, once. It does not matter now.

"Yes it does," he said softly, gingerly touching the swirling darkness on his arms.

Venom. We were called Venom.

Eddie smiled. It seemed like an appropriate name.

But he hesitated before asking his next question, crazily wondering why he was even considering this.

"What would happen if... if I stayed?"

You would be mine, Eddie Brock, and I would be yours.

"Until when?"

Until the stars turned cold.

The alien was giving him poetry.

"Would you still eat people?"

Only if it was needed. We must protect what is ours.

Strangely, that seemed like a totally fair answer. Already his mind was being changed.

Eddie's voice went quiet, afraid to ask the next question. Afraid that the answer might be something that was beyond his capabilities. He looked to the ground and nervously picked at his fingers.

"What would I need to do if... if I wanted to stay?"

Nothing Eddie. You are perfect.... You will never feel alone again.

The voice was smooth and alluring. It spoke of excitements yet to be discovered, of desires yet to be fulfilled, of yearnings that would never be denied. It spoke of comfort, of love, of being safe and warm. Of running wild and free through the night, of shouting at the moon, of thriving in the rain and reveling in the storm. It wanted nothing but him. Needed nothing but him.

 Eddie closed his eyes letting the heady mixture wash over him. It was powerful and seductive.

You will never know pain, never know fear. We will keep you and protect you. You will be ours, and we will adore you.

He felt himself sinking into that blackness, his worries and doubts drifting away like they never existed in the first place.

Yes Eddie, open your mind. Let us in. Become more....

In Eddie's head there was a vast expanse of darkness. It beckoned him, called him, enticed him closer. All he had to do was let himself fall.

He willingly sank forward, and the abyss consumed him....

The forest has a new legend now. It speaks of a man seen only in glimpses, his features tall and elongated, his skin like tar with claws instead of fingers. They say he protects the trees, whispers warnings to stay away, and snatches anyone who strays in too far.

Yes, the forest had a body count. And everybody knew that only people wanting to lose their life would venture inside...