Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They made me this.

They made me a killer.

A cannibal.

A monster.

Number Five, formerly known as Kelian who was picked up off the lonely streets and experimented on because no one would look for a nameless kid with nothing to him but his name and the clothes on his back. They told him that he should be grateful that he wasn’t living out on the streets, that he was out of the cold and the rain and the possibility that he could be murdered, but honestly? He would take that over being in this hellhole they called his home, sure he had nothing, but he rather have nothing than to be tortured all because these scientists needed a test subject for their stupid experiment. He was told that he wasn’t the first one they tried this experiment on, and he honestly wished that he wasn’t the last, as selfish as that was. He wished whatever they did to him killed him like the rest, but instead that got the results they wanted and he was perfectly bonded with this… thing.

They called it a symbiote.

He called it a parasite. 

It now lived within him.

He honestly wished it killed him.

It living inside him was torture, it had an insatiable hunger for just about anything; blood and flesh seemed to be one of the biggest factors that could quell it, and so the scientists had something else to obsess over. They had him eat things from something small to something unreasonable, nothing cooked or prepared, straight up raw or grotesque. The worst had to be when one of their soldiers died to one of the monsters from that alternate world, he still remembered the way the dead soldier’s bones crushed against the incredible bite force of his jaw, or how his blood and shredded clothes was all that was left within his trembling hands. He was sick, he was going to throw up everything he had just scarfed down and they were going to punish him for something he couldn’t exactly control. 

“If we’re able to duplicate this experiment, sir, we could have an entire army of super soldiers.” one of the many scientists informed, looking down at his clipboard while the man he was speaking to watched through the two way window to observe Subject No. Five. It was fascinating to see the way the symbiote they connected with the child was able to manifest itself a liquid like body and hover around the boy as if it were a shadow, they shared a psychic link with each other and were able to hear each other’s voices to communicate.  This was unlike anything they’ve ever managed to do, the children that were able to move things with their minds was one thing, but connecting a monster with a human was just something else entirely.

“I am more surprised the boy managed to survive the connection, I would have thought he’d die in the process.” he murmured softly, watching as the thing moved from shoulder to shoulder to watch what the boy did to keep himself somewhat entertained.

“Well, that’s the thing, sir. Though I am not entirely sure what made them compatible, it seems like the symbiote has somewhat of a preference to what host it wants. When we tried on an adult man, both the parasite and host went feral until the body couldn’t handle it anymore and it killed the host from the inside out.” the scientist looked back towards No. Five and saw the way the same liquid made from the monster formed over his arm and created a claw of sorts, they back up a little when it extended and shot over to where they were standing and nearly shattered the glass “When it bonded with that child, it seemed like they had a similar hatred towards us humans.”

“Human in general?” he shook his head, watching as the pressure against the glass grew and formed a crack.

“No, just us. Since they share a mind, they seem to know which amongst us are friends and foe. Like with the other children, he doesn’t seem to lash out, but with the helpers and fellow scientists, well…” he didn’t need to finish that sentence, already knowing how that boy was able to rip some of the other scientists apart with his barehands alone. 

“Do you believe he’ll ever come to obey us?” he shakes his head.

“Highly unlikely, sir. We grabbed him when he was older than the other children, where they were nurtured from birth. He already has a personality developed along with a mind of his own. Getting him to cooperate with us willingly is going to be more of a challenge.” he explained, the other hummed softly as the liquified arm gave up its attempts at smashing through the glass and returned to the boy, who stared at his hand then went back to what he was doing previously. 

“Well, how hard is it to break a child?” he asked, the scientist opened his mouth the answer but paused when he noticed that it was a rhetorical question. He couldn’t help but swallow thickly at the gaze the man had in his eyes the longer he stared at the child, that boy was very resilient and he couldn’t help but marvel at how long that boy could forego the experiments without passing out. Well, maybe that was because he had help from the symbiote, healing any and all injuries inflicted onto him; his body could heal faster than a blade piercing through his skin “I want him prepped and ready for the next tests.”

“A-And that would be what, sir?” a cruel smirk graced his lips.

“What sort of weakness they have.”

The bond between the boy and the parasite gifted them with great endurance and strength, but like every hero and villain, they were bound to stumble upon a weakness. Fire seemed to be one, from a little flame to something bigger, the symbiote didn’t hesitate to retreat back into Kelian’s body to hide from the smouldering flames that could melt him away. But what could be worse than the common flame? Well, sounds with high enough frequency’s is able to make the host lose control and the symbiote struggle to retain its physical form. The first time they trapped the boy within a room and blasted a pitch that gradually grew louder until neither one could handle it, the symbiote actually managed to separate himself from the host. However, the separation didn’t last long because neither could survive without the other. Kelian’s body had unfortunately grown accustomed to the parasite that even his body weakened.

Of course the scientists found this discovery fascinating, so they found new ways of torture to gather more research for their stupid experiments. Kelian couldn’t help but be impressed with himself with how long he’s been holding out, from being cut open from having his bones broken and feeling everything while being awake. They weren’t even kind enough to do it while he was unconscious or with anesthesia, not like it would work, drugs and alcohol seemed ineffective against him because of this son of a bitch. His body found comfort in his cold prison, the monster inside of him quelling from the cool air within their dark and confined room. Moments like these after endless hours of torture was where the two of them could really bond properly.

“I want to die.”

“I do not.”

“It doesn’t matter what you want.”

“It does when it is I keeping us alive.”

“I’d rather you didn’t.”

…

…

“I am hungry.”

“I’m hungry for actual food.”

“Like what?”

“A cheeseburger.”

“What is a cheeseburger?”

…

…

“What are we, parasite?”

“What do you mean, human?”

“Are we friends, or simply partners?”

“Well, you are merely my ride.”

“Oh.”

…

…

“Would you like to be “friends” human?”

“Well, it’s not like I have any.”

“You did not.”

“Thanks for rubbing it in.”

“You are welcome.”

The longer the two spent together, whether it be in the confinements of their room or in the lab being tortured and experimented on, their bond grew stronger and so did their power. Kelian was growing a better control over the parasite and even trust to the point he would let him out of his body willingly, however, the more the two of them spent doing just about anything, the larger their hunger grew. This was Kelian’s least favourite part of being bonded with this thing, that no matter how much he was fed his craving for more could not be satisfied. The lingering taste of human flesh and blood on his tongue often left him feeling sick, and though the parasite apologised for his need for human consumption, there wasn’t much he could do if he didn’t want his kidney’s to be next on the menu.

“No. Five’s progress has been developing smoothly, sir. He isn’t quite cooperative with us just yet, but at least he isn’t biting people’s heads off whenever they get too close.”

“That is good. Do you think he’ll be able to stand a chance against someone like those monsters?”

“I am confident he can take on no more than three at the time, sir. Within that body of his when they’re synchronised, he is able to withstand rounds from a shotgun. There isn’t much that can take them down, that body of theirs is durable despite its liquified state; also capable of shaping any piece of their body into whatever they want and extending in length.”

“Perfect, we’re getting closer and closer to the results we want.”

“And if we don’t reach them, sir?” the man let out a hum, eyes narrowing down on the boy that was seemingly talking to thin air but was actually sharing a conversation with the voice in his head.

“Then it’d be a shame to have to find another host to bond with the parasite.” the scientist couldn’t help but shake his head.

“That would be near impossible, sir! Those two have formed a perfect bond that finding a new host to match the compatibility of that child would take forever; the symbiote would die by the time we did find a host close enough for it to inhabit.”

“Well then we best hope things turn out the way we want, right?” the scientist couldn’t help but swallow thickly, not liking the way his words didn’t match the way his eyes were glaring at him, so he just hung his head and nodded.

Both Kelian and the parasite noticed that the experiments were a lot more harsher, they looked like they were really aiming to kill him at this point. One time he remembered he was on the operating table and then next thing he knows he’s back in his room, the parasite told him how they stopped his heart and he was proclaimed dead for a couple seconds, it would have stayed like that if it weren’t for him interfering. They did shit like that before, but they never outright played with the concept of life and death like that before when they were undergoing experiments on him. He knew he was valuable, he knew they couldn’t afford to lose him, so what the fuck do they think they’re doing? Are they so desperate to get him to bend over to their every whim? How long could he push their patience before they did outright kill him and replace him with someone new.

“They are going to kill you, Kelian.” the parasite’s words couldn’t help but send a shiver down his spine, his fingers taping against his knee, his eyes staring at the wall from across him intensely.

“T-They— they wouldn’t. You’ll die without me.”

“They know that, but their patience runs thin.” Kelian’s eyes tore away from the wall when he made himself manifest and float around him, that sharp toothed grin making him more nervous “It is only a matter of time before they run out of that patience.” he shakes his head once more. 

“True, but even if they did manage to find you a new host, how will they know you’ll be a perfect match for them? All those tests and experiments will be for naught if we both die.” he brings his thumb to his lips, his teeth gnawing at his thumbnail “I didn’t hold out for this long just to be tossed out because I won’t listen to them.” he let out a soft grunt when he felt a soft knock against his head, looking over at the parasite, he saw that he bumped his own forehead against his to gain his attention. 

“Then why are we still here?” those words caused a different sort of shiver to run down his spine.

“W-What do you mean?” that grin grew wider as he hovered a few inches from his face.

“We can leave.” Kelian furrowed his brows before shaking his head, looking away from the parasite, pulling his knees to his chest and hugging them tightly.

“But where will we go? We have nowhere to go, and they’ll find us easily. We’re not exactly the most inconspicuous lot out there.” he sat in silence for a couple minutes until he felt the soft knocking on his head again, he didn’t turn his head but let out a soft hum to let him know that he was listening.

“Then, would you rather stay here and await your end like an animal in a slaughterhouse?” the parasite felt Kelian’s anxiety rise so he draped himself along his back to comfort him, it almost felt like he was hugging him “We might not have somewhere to call home, but we will be free.” 

“I’ll be all alone again…”

“But you are not alone, for you have me.” that alone caused Kelian’s lip to tremble as he shed a couple tears, the parasite was kind enough to wipe away his tears as he wept. Later that night, the alarms were blaring and sounding off because Kelian did, in fact, manage to escape. Kelian and the parasite were having a hard time keeping together because of all the noise going on around them but they managed to make do, hell, Kelian was even letting the parasite eat the soldiers that were trying to take them down as they made their escape. He let out a gasp when he busted down the door from inside the facility to the outside world, he nearly collapsed when he could finally smell the fresh air while the moonlight sky shun down on him. He almost basked underneath the rays of the moon but turned his head around when he saw the soldiers honing in, he didn’t hesitate to turn on his heels and speed off.

“Stop him!”

“Don’t let him get away!” Kelian couldn’t afford to stop, because he knew the moment he was within their clutches again he wasn’t going to get another chance to escape. He knew that the moment he fell back into their hands, they were actually going to kill him this time.

“Pa— Parasite!” he called out, eyes widening he saw that the only thing standing in the way of his freedom was a barbed fence.

“Don’t call me that!” the voice shouted and took control of their body, crouching down and launching them in the air and over the fence. Kelian let out a grunt as he landed before running off down the path of uncertainty, but he knew now that he was free, but he wasn’t off the hook just yet. The soldiers that were sent after him were brought to a panic when they lost sight of him within the forest he fled through, shouting out where he could have gone and how they could have lost him. The boy himself was hiding up at the very top of a tree, hugging it close to his chest as he panted out breaths of exhaustion. He didn’t dare look down nor move in fear that they could hear him and spot him, so he stayed as still as he could until he could no longer hear their voices. When it was absolutely silent he finally let his body relax, his head looked up at the starry night sky and he couldn’t help but laugh weakly as the twinkling stars greeted him.

“I never thought… I’d see this again.” he spoke softly, his face gleaming with hope.

“What are those lights in the sky, human?”

“Those are stars, parasite.”

“I told you not to call me that, human.” this caused him to roll his eyes.

“Well, you haven’t exactly given me a name to call you, now have you? I’ve been calling you parasite because that’s what you’ve been to me ever since we’ve been stuck together.” he shook his head when the parasite appeared before him “Well, what do you want to be called? We’re free now, so maybe a new name for you can be a fresh start.”

“Yes, I would very much like a name.” Kelian raised a brow when he saw him look up in thought, thinking of any possible name “I have chosen a name most suited for me. I am Venom, and you are mine.” the para— no, Venom said with absolute pride. Kelian stared at him before bursting out into laughter he didn’t know he was capable of producing.

“Venom? Is the best you can think of?”

“What is wrong with Venom? I believe it suits us very well. I called us Venom because of our shared bitter hatred towards the men in white, who have tortured us for a number of years for their twisted version of science.” this reason behind the name caused Kelian to hum softly.

“Hmm, then it is a very cool name. I like it very much, Venom.” this caused Venom’s already permanent smile to grow bigger.

“I am pleased, Kelian.”

Now their next problem was the fact that since they have nowhere to go, had nowhere to retreat to and they couldn’t afford to stop moving, they had to make do on what to eat. Kelian was forced to eat anything they set their eyes on, Venom was an even pickier eater now that their only source of food was no longer available. The unfortunate times he did have to eat an unsuspecting hiker, Venom would apologize when Kelian would throw up the contents because he couldn’t never get used to the taste of flesh and blood on his tongue each time Venom feasted because he too had to eat. But this was something he would prefer then being stuck in that white room to be torn apart over and over and over again, he would rather develop a sort of eating disorder then to be stuck in that cycle of torture any day. He didn’t know how long he was on the run for, how far he had walked to put some distance between himself and that lab, but he knew he had crossed over several states to get where he was.

He let out an exhausted sigh when he found a clearing through the thick forest he traveled through, a road separating him from the forest on the other side. The darkness would be the only thing to cover him from any prying eyes that could possibly be lingering this late in the night, but would we be out this late anyways. He let out a huff and left his hiding spot between the trees and crossed the road to get to the other side, he must have been too exhausted to hear the noise coming from the right side of him because it didn’t dawn on him that he got hit until he was on the ground. Perhaps it was Venom that shielded him from the full impact from the vehicle that hit him but it still knocked the wind out of him and sent him flying a few meters away from the truck and landing on the ground with a thud, maybe it was the hunger and craving of food that caused his lack of reaction and why he didn’t bother to move, he just let his worn out body lay there.

Said owner of the truck didn’t even see the young boy until it was too late, he slammed his foot on the breaks the moment he laid eyes on the figure the darkness hid until his lights revealed him. He sat inside his running truck for a couple seconds before slowing it started settling in that he had actually hit someone, he quickly threw open his car door and rushed over to the person that laid motionless on the road. He felt guilt wash over him when he saw that it was a child, dirty and malnourished, looking as if he went through hell before he was hit by his truck. The state of this child made him think of his own kid so he didn’t think twice about picking him up as gently as he could, trying not to add any more pain to this already broken child, and hightailed it to the hospital. He did his best to keep his eyes on the road while occasionally sneaking quick glances at the unconscious boy in his passenger seat, grimacing every now and then whenever the boy would wince and whimper from just the smallest amount of movement.

“I’m sorry, boy. I’ll get you help, I promise. You’ll get the help you need.” to say the hospital workers were startled was an understatement, this was a town where everybody knew everyone so when they saw Wayne Munson burst through they doors with a bloodied child cradled in his arms “Please, you’ve got to help him.” a couple nurses took Kelian from his arms and brought him to a room so they could see what exactly was wrong with him while a doctor spoke with Wayne.

“Where did you find him?” he gave the doctor a guilty look.

“I-I— I was on my way to work and he— he came out of nowhere. I didn’t see him out in the middle of the road and I accidentally hit him. Oh, god. He looked so bad, it was horrible. I don’t know if all that damage was from me or from whatever he went through for him to be out there this late at night.” the doctor let out a soft sigh, understanding what he went from the quick glance he got on the young boy “He looked so… small.”

“It was a good thing you brought him here, Wayne. I think if he was out there for a couple more days he might have died from starvation. He looked thin.” Wayne nodded his head.

“Yeah, I could feel his ribs.” a couple hours past, the doctor advising Wayne to get going since he still had a job to get too, he reluctantly left but promised to be back right after his shift to see if the boy will be alright. The few doctors and nurses who were getting Kelian’s diagnosis were astonished to see that where they thought were open wounds and cuts were already healed over, as if they weren’t there to begin with, even places where scars should have formed weren’t visible. 

“I’ve got to say, this has got to be the luckiest kid in the world.” the doctor, who was previously speaking with Wayne, raised a brow as he entered the room.

“What do you mean by that?” she let out a scoff, going back over to the unconscious child and pointing at his legs.

“If what Mister Munson told us is true, from how fast he was driving and with what little time he had to break, the force the kid should have had to face would have been enough to break his legs. But his legs are perfectly fine, as if there was nothing wrong with them. He’s maybe got a few scarps and bruises, and also the fact he’s malnourished and suffering a possible concussion, he’s perfectly fine.” he hummed at the brief analysis.

“Did you get anything else from Mister Munson? Maybe a name and origin? Maybe even his parent’s names?” a different nurse asked, the doctor shook his head.

“Nothing. We’re just going to have to wait until this young man wakes up.” and thanks to Venom it didn’t take all too long for Kelian to wake up, it was when Wayne returned in the morning hours later did he come to find Kelian awake. He noticed the few staff in the hospital rushing in and out of the room, panicked looks on their faces as they shared brief and rushed conversations with each other before leaving.

“W-What’s going on?” he asked a passing nurse.

“Y-You’re back, Mister Munson! Great.” she grabs him and starts leading him to the room where Kelian was being held, he goes to question her but was caught off guard at the screaming. He peeks into the room and his eyes widened when he saw the young boy on the floor, curled up into a ball as he backed himself into a corner while screaming at the nurses that tried approaching him to get away from him “He’s been like this ever since he woke up, sir. We don’t know what’s causing this erratic behaviour.” Kelian was having a panic attack, the moment he woke up and saw the white ceiling above him his mind immediately kicked into survival mode. His mind thought he was back in the lab, he thought they caught him last night and they dragged him right back to continuing testing on him. He couldn’t register that the people approaching him were only meant to help him, he couldn’t stop his body from falling off the bed and getting as far away from these strangers. 

“P-Please, don’t hurt me! I don’t want you to hurt me, please!” he cried out, his head curling in on himself when he saw someone reach for his head. Watching this scene play out broke Wayne’s heart, watching this trembling child cry that he didn’t want to be hurt anymore, it really reminded him of the child he had back home. He’s seen this type of play may times so he knew how to help, he knew how to bring this child back down to reality. Kelian was covering his head with his arms as he let his fear overwhelm him, he hadn’t realised the nurses backed off to make some space for someone else “P-Please, just leave me alone…!”

“It’s alright, young man.” the new voice started him, causing him to lower his arms briefly to get a look at the man who spoke those soft words. After years of torment, manipulation and pain, Kelian learned how to get a good read on people and could tell the difference between nasty and vile people from the genuine and good people. This man, despite his rather gruff and slightly brusque expressions, get could tell he was a sincere kind of man and he relaxed a little “Do you… perhaps remember me?” Wayne felt foolish for asking that kind of question.

“Oh, he is the man who hit you with his truck. Should we eat him? He is the cause of your pain, he is the one that brought you here.” Kelian lowered his arms a little more so they were now hugging his legs, his knees pressed against his chest. Wayne waited patiently for a response and when Kelian shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know who he was, he gave him a soft expression.

“I am the one who, well, um— ahem, hit you last night.”

“Told you.” Wayne noticed Kelian’s eyes glare off to the side, muttering something under his breath, before hesitantly looking back up at Wayne but his eyes evidently looked past him as he avoided eye contact.

“What were you doing out there so late into the night?” as if all the memories of last came crashing back down onto Kelian, the look of fear struck his face.

“I-I— I was— I was just…” he bottom lip started to tremble, tears beginning to form in his eyes “I was just—“ he shook his head, burying his face into his legs. He didn’t know what to say, he couldn’t put his thoughts into rational words, and even if he could, why’s it any of his business? Why didn’t he just leave him out in the middle of the road right where he found him? He wouldn’t be in this predicament if this old man just minded his damn business.

“It’s okay, take your time. There’s no need to rush.” he couldn’t help but tense up at that, he wasn’t allowed to take his time. He was constantly rushed to get tasks done, they never gave him time to go at his pace and he’d be punished when he didn’t finish things at the allotted time that was given.

“Do you have a name?” Kelian’s head perked up at the question, his hand instinctively moving to his wrist where the number 005 was inked into his skin “My name is Wayne, and you are…?” he greets, placing his hand on his chest then gesturing to him.

“I-I’m…” he’s risking a lot by saying his name, well, it’s not like those scientist ever took the time to learn his name and he didn’t know if he had any records on who he was so… “Kelian.” his body started to become less tense when Wayne’s face softened, it almost felt welcoming.

Almost.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Kelian.” the other occupants in the room take their leave when they see that Wayne had everything under control, seeing as how the child wasn’t screaming anymore and though he was giving short answers to Wayne’s questions, at least he was talking “I’ve got to ask again, but why were you out there?” Kelian swallowed thickly.

“Do not tell him. He will not believe us. He will think we are crazy.” Kelian knew that, he wasn’t that gullible to tell this stranger everything.

“They… hurt me. I couldn’t take it anymore…” that was more than enough, maybe then he’ll stop asking that question. 

“Who hurt you?” Kelian grits his teeth, why won’t he just drop it already?

“… the men in white.” that sentence caused Wayne to look back at the doctors, he spared Kelian a look and noticed the way fear spiraled in his eyes as he kept them trained in on the doctor. Was that the reason why he was freaking out at the sight of all the doctors in the room? Because men dressed in white hurt him? “P-Please stop asking questions.” Wayne gave him an understanding look.

”Okay, alright. But I’ve just got one more.” Kelian couldn’t help but groan “I know, but this one is important. Do you have a home to return too?” the questioned momentarily caused him to freeze up, his expression now saddened.

“… no.” with that he stopped talking completely, his face blank but he could just see the sadness lingering in the air surrounding him. Kelian allowed Wayne to pick him up, despite how long it took him to allow him to touch him, and place him back in the hospital bed where he spent the rest of the day laying in silence.

Well…

“That old man needs to know how to stop asking unnecessary questions. Did he not notice how he was making us uncomfortable?” Kelian swallowed thickly, raising his hand to caress his wrist once more “We can’t stay here for too long, Kelian. We don’t know how much distance we put between us and that lab. They could be here since the moment you were unconscious. I can get us out of here.” this caused Kelian to look over at the open window, he didn’t know what floor they were on but he knew they were up pretty high.

“It’s broad daylight, Venom. You can’t be out when the sun is up. We’ll get caught.”

“It’s not like we have a lot of options, Kelian. Do you want to waste your time here and risk getting caught or trust me and get us out of here?” Venom growled softly when he felt Kelian hesitate, his mind thinking back to the kind man.

“I-I…” Venom let out a sigh when Kelian chose to stay and see where this option would take them, if things started to go south then Venom had full control of the situation, and if things looked better… lets not get their hopes up just yet. Venom and Kelian shared the same questioning expressions whenever Wayne stopped by and visited Kelian, they didn’t question it when he came by to drop off food and share a few words with Kelian. The young child would eat as much as he could but he’d eventually throw everything back up, Kelian grimaced when he realised that his body had gotten used to the consistent diet of human flesh and blood that he couldn’t handle actual food. Now he couldn’t even enjoy the simplest things in life, like eating. And it’s not like he could tell them what he ate previously that got him to get this sort of a reaction, that would really get him in trouble. 

“You know, I have a nephew.” Kelian hummed at the news, Wayne and him playing a card game, one that he couldn’t seem to remember the name of but he could remember how to play. He thinks he’s winning, telling how Wayne was getting frustrated a little.

“Oh? Where is he now?” he asked, placing another card down on the deck then rearranging his hand. He was also talking a bit more since Wayne keeps visiting him, Kelian becoming more relaxed but he still had his guard up in case something bad happened “With how often you come to see me, and with the only time you ever leave is to go to work, I’d think you have no one waiting for you at home.”

“Well, he’s usually at school about this time and he’s been busy as of lately. He’s got this band, um, Corroded Coffin, if I remember correctly. He’s really into heavy metal and stuff, all that loud and energetic music.” Kelian nods at that.

“Loud? I would not like that at all, it would hurt us.” 

“And, if I’m being honest, he reminds me an awful lot like you.” this comment made Kelian pause, he slowly looked up at the older man and held back a soft laugh, seeing how he was sticking his tongue out in concentration as he thought out how to play his next card.

“You don’t know anything about me.” he nod his head.

“True, but I do know you need help.”

“And what makes you think you can help me?” Wayne shrugs and plays his card, it was only then did Kelian realise Wayne’s hand was empty, meaning that he had won this card game. 

“I don’t know, but with time I’m sure you’ll get better.” Kelian furrows his brows.

“I still don’t get how your nephew and I are similar.” Wayne hums.

“When I first met him, he was quiet and standoffish. Kept to himself and never really spoke, only speaking when spoken too.” this caused Kelian to flinch, wrapping his arms around his body “I can’t share much about that boy, but it took him a long time to fully open up and trust me, but I was patient with him. It was definitely worth the wait because the day I got to see who that boy truly was, it was a magical moment.”

“… you wouldn’t want to know who I truly was.”

“I beg to differ.”

“We can’t trust that he’ll accept us, Kelian.” he knows that, it sounds too good to be true. Hours later Kelian’s room was blanketed in darkness with the light of the hallway being the only illumination that peeked through the cracks of the door, he was trying to sleep but struggling to do so, his body curled up on the bed with his arms wrapped around the pillow he was laying on. The silence was peaceful, the only noise being his breathing and a heart monitor of another patient residing in the room, other than that it was absolutely quiet. He let out a huff and turned himself over so that he was laying on his back, his eyes now staring up at the bleak white ceiling, quickly closing his eyes when his mind went back to that damned room “You struggle to sleep, why?” Kelian’s lip quivered.

“I’m scared.” he whispered softly “I don’t know what to do.”

“We can always run away.”

“I don’t want to run, I want to live. Running is not living.”

“We don’t have much of a choice, Kelian.” his eyes opened, glaring up at the ceiling in disdain.

“We don’t.” his tensed up when he heard voices in the hallway, briefly making out a few of them as the doctors that treated him and Wayne. He had come to like Wayne’s company, even Venom was relaxing under the presence of the old man and spoke less about wanting to eat him, it was a start at least.

“Mister Munson, since Kelian is now physically well enough, I think it would be best to try and find out where he came from.” this statement had Kelian wide awake, his body shooting up from where he was laying and his head whipping around and staring at the door with wide eyes “His parents don’t seem to be in the picture, and we don’t even know which state he is from. He doesn’t seem to be from Hawkins because he didn’t recognise which state he was in when asked.” Wayne nods his head.

“I understand that, but what are you going to do now that he won’t be under your care?”

“The best option would to leave him in the care of a social worker, perhaps even ask the police to investigate the child’s origin.” this made him panic, police? He didn’t need the police digging into anything involving his past, he didn’t need them spreading out news that he was there in “Hawkins” and bring those men right to him. He was quick to throw the covers off and head towards the window, being ever so quiet as to not draw attention that he was awake.

“If we aren’t able to find any sort of living relative or guardian, I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to hand him over to the authorities. We can’t continue to shelter him, we’re a hospital, not homeless shelter.” this was more then enough to break his resolve, already climbing out the window and getting ready to jump out but paused when Wayne spoke up.

“Well, what if I took him in?” what? Kelian sat on the windowsill as he looked back towards the door, what did he just say? “I’ll take him in.” the doctor sigh.

“You’ll take in this child that you barely know? Mister Munson, as much as I respect that thought, do you think it’s wise to bring a child to a trailer that can barely house yourself and your nephew. You’ll be bringing a lot onto your plate by including another child under your roof. Why burden yourself with that?”

“That boy already looked like he’s been through a lot, why make things worse for him? Besides, it took him so long to open up just a little bit to me, how long do you think it’ll take for him to talk to whoever else is supposed to look after him.” he sighed himself, wiping a hand down his face “I understand the concern, but I can’t stand to watch that child shut down. The foster care system is flawed, I’ve seen it and it ain’t pretty, I wouldn’t want to see that boy suffer more than he already has. The look in his eyes is like that of a war veteran diagnosed with PTSD.” the doctor gave Wayne a look.

“But you understand the troubles you’ll face with taking this child in.?” he nods.

“I do.” Venom made himself appear to look at Kelian, he noted the way his lip was trembling as the tears he held back for so long started falling down his face as he let out a choked by quiet sob. After a couple minutes talking with the doctor, Wayne peeked into the room and there he saw Kelian sleeping in his bed with his back facing the door. He was quiet as he approached his sleeping figure and taking a seat at the edge of his bed, raising his hand so it could rest on his side “I’m not sure what you went through, Kelian, but I’ll make sure you won’t have to suffer anymore.” he pats him softly before standing up and taking his leave, not noticing the way Kelian’s body trembled as he cried silently.

[later]

To say Eddie Munson, the so called nephew of Wayne Munson, was surprised would be an understatement. He was completely floored at the sight of the young boy clinging to his uncle, clutching onto his jacket as he hid behind him and peeked out to look up at him. There wasn’t that big of a height difference between the two of them but he was still having to look up at him, not that it mattered, what mattered was the fact that his uncle brought some kid home that he had no idea about. Wait, no, he did know about him. Maybe it was a dick move of him to not remember, but a couple weeks ago he remembered his uncle distraught about something. Upon asking, he was shocked to hear how his uncle accidentally hit some kid and took him to the hospital, he did remember his uncle mention how he would visit him with any chance he got but— did he mention about bringing him home?

“Hey, Eddie. Do you remember about that kid I hit awhile ago?”

“Yeah, why?” he replied, not paying to much attention to his uncles words in favor of tuning his guitar.

“Well, he doesn’t really have a home to return too. If it isn’t too big of a deal, I was thinking of bringing him home to live with us. I understand that it’s a big— a huge deal for us, and I’ll also understand that you’ll be against it. I just— I won’t rest easy if he’s not somewhere safe.” 

“Y-Yeah, yeah, nah. It’s all good, it’s fine.” he answered, sticking his tongue out in concentration as he twisted a knob and gently strummed the string, grinning to himself when he got the correct tune from it. 

“Really, Eddie? You don’t mind at all?” he waved his hand to dismiss his uncle.

“Yeah, it’s fine, it’s fine! Don’t worry about it.” he grimaced to himself. Damn, he really did bring it up with him, he was just too much of a dumbass to listen to him properly.

“Eddie, this is the young boy I always talked about, his name is Kelian and he’ll be living with us. Kelian, this is my nephew that I’ve been taking care of since he was a child, his name is Eddie.” his hand reaches back to gently pat his back, Kelian and Eddie stared at each other before Kelian turned his head so that he was hiding his face in Wayne’s back.

“H-Hello…” he spoke out weakly, Eddie awkwardly raised his hand and waved.

“Hi.” that was good enough for Wayne, at least Kelian was speaking. Since that night Wayne had noticed the way Kelian now brightened, even if it was small, whenever he entered the room. He was more open and didn’t speak in a monotone voice, going so far as to initiating their conversations and carrying most of them. It made Wayne happy that he opened up more to him, he was so happy.

“I know that this is sudden for the both of you, but I really do hope that you two can get along.” Kelian swallowed thickly as he looked back up at Eddie, yeah, this was going to take awhile to get used to. Kelian now found himself sat in their living room(?) as they two spoke outside, he took this as his chance to get a look around the room, he snorted softly at the shelf that held a large collection of different mugs.

“How cozy.” Kelian nodded his head.

“It’s nice. I like it better than the open space of the lab and hospital; I like the mess and clutter of everything.” he turned his head and saw Venom appear at his side.

“The plan to flee is still on the table, Kelian. If anything bad happens, we’re out of here. As much as I have come to like this human, we can’t trust that things will go our way for long.” he nods his head, a sad look now appearing on his face at the thought of this being ripped away from him “I understand the sadness, but we can’t take any chances.”

“I know, I know.” he pats his shoulder where he feels the sludge of Venom’s body “I trust your intuition, Venom. But we should trust Wayne as well.” Venom lets out a sigh.

“I suppose you’re right, but that doesn’t solve our food problem.” this caused a bead of sweat to trickle down the side of his face, that’s right. Venom still needed to eat humans, or, something that had a lot of meat or else he’d resort to eating Kelian’s organs and shit, that definitely won’t be fun. He could already tell that Wayne didn’t seem to have a lot of money on hand and it’ll be even tighter with another mouth to feed, he couldn’t burden Wayne with Venom’s appetite. He’ll figure something out. 

“Eddie— Dammit.” his head shoots up at the shout, Venom was quick to retreat back into Kelian’s body when the door was thrown open and in stormed Eddie who looked mad. Kelian flinched when Eddie’s wild eyes glared at him before storming off into down the hall and supposedly into his room, slamming it shut and blasting loud music. He winced softly at how loud it was despite it being muffled, Wayne then walked back into the room and sighed softly “Well that didn’t go as well as I hoped.

“Is he angry at me?” Kelian spoke, Wayne dragged his hand down his face.

“Yes and no. He doesn’t like the thought of sharing a room with a stranger.” 

“Well, it’s understandable. We are strangers, and having to share a room so suddenly with someone you don’t even know…” he trailed off, rubbing his arm “M-Maybe this was a bad idea, Wayne. Maybe I should—“

“Shush now, don’t talk like that.” Wayne was suddenly in front of him, kneeling down from where Kelian was sitting on the sofa and placed his hands on top of his shoulders “I decided to take responsibility of you—“

“To which I still don’t understand.” he quickly looked away when Wayne gave him a stern look, he let out a sigh when the older man waited for Kelian to look at him again and when he did he gave him a soft but stern expression.

“This is going to take a lot of time to get used to, for the three of us. Eddie had just recently gotten used to having his own space and living with me, with the sudden change of adding someone else to our bubble, I can see where his anger is coming from. It was wrong of me to suggest the two of you sharing, not taking into consideration of the both of you. I apologize for that, I will be saying the same thing to Eddie as well when he calm down. You’ve suffered enough, young man, allow me to help relieve that suffering.” tears started gathering in his eyes, his lips trembling as he started averting his eyes.

“I-I— I don’t understand why though. Why me? You could have just left me there.”

“I already told you. You remind me an awful lot like my nephew.” he sniffles at that, wiping under his nose and a few tears that managed to leak from out of his eyes “I couldn’t stand to leave you there when you needed help, and you trusted me more than the people that helped you.”

“I don’t trust doctors.” he murmurs, he really didn’t like doctors. 

“But you trust me? You very well could have declined my offer to house you as well, Kelian, but you didn’t.” he could see where he was coming from, he could have said no but despite being twelve years old, he already knew how flawed the foster system was. I mean, he was homeless at the age of nine because he couldn’t stand being in a house where he was nothing more than the outcast. He was afraid that it was going to happen again, he was so scared he was going to have to relive another nightmare, but the gentleness from Wayne’s voice calmed him “Eddie will come around, I swear.”

“A-And if he doesn’t?”

“He… well, it’s his loss.” Kelian frowned softly.

“He’s your nephew, Wayne. I’ll understand if you choose him over me.”

“I’d rather not be given that choice. I haven’t known you long enough, but with the time we had, I can already tell you’ll do great in life. You are both destined for great things.” this managed to crack a smile, though smile but definitely a smile, on his face that caused Wayne to chuckle “Now there’s that smile.” he wipes away a few more tears that managed to stray from his eyes with his thumb. Eddie peeked his head from out of his room and in his eyes a memory of when he was in the same position as Kelian flashed in his head, he could see the same hurt and pain in Kelian’s eyes that once belonged to him. He could see himself in that boy and he could understand why Wayne took him in, maybe it was to feel better about himself for hitting him with his truck or because he felt bad that he hit him with his truck… Kelian’s eyes looked over when he heard a soft creek and saw Eddie’s door open for a brief second before it was closed. 

The following days went by quickly, Kelian politely refused to share a room with Eddie but adamantly refused to take the pull out bed that Wayne used to sleep on. He was stubborn about it too and said that he didn’t mind sleeping on the couch, though uncomfortable, he would feel less bad if he took Wayne’s bed. Though the two of them avoided each other, they were cordial and civil when they did have to interact but they were mostly quiet. Eddie found it easy to avoid the young boy since he had school and other extracurricular activities to attend to so he made sure to come home later so he didn’t have to interact with him as often, Kelian didn’t take that to heart because at least he was left in the silence of the trailer where Eddie blasts hard rock 24/7. Him shredding his guitar was the worst for both himself and Venom, the high pitch shrieking of his fingers gliding along the strings of his guitar were sharp enough to cause Venom to react badly and nearly take control on their body but Kelian was quick enough to grab a walkman and tape to shut out all the unnecessary noises. The first time Wayne noticed how sensitive Kelian was to sounds he dismissed the worry and concern with saying he just couldn’t handle loud noises and this was Eddie’s home, he couldn’t possibly tell him to knock it off when it was what gave Eddie comfort. The next day Kelian woke up with a walkman on the coffee table and a couple tapes with calming and soft sounding music, that brought another rare smile to his face.

Another problem Kelian struggling with was Venom’s hunger, that problem was easy to solve, though. He was lucky that Wayne worked the night shifts for his job at the plant and Eddie was a heavy sleeper, wouldn’t wake up even if a tornado was going off in his room. Venom was strictly told not to eat any humans and instead to feast on the farm animals that resided in Hawkins, the occasional raccoons and possums but to never eat any pets or even strays. Venom didn’t see the difference between a pet with a cow, they were both animals in his eyes, but Kelian couldn’t possibly live with the guilt of eating an animal like a dog or cat. Animals like cows, though despite how cruel, were already up for slaughter since being bred into this cruel reality, so he didn’t have that much guilt over eating them.  But no matter what he ate, it still made him sick to his stomach to eat animals, there was nothing else in that town that could satisfy Venom’s stomach and he couldn’t stomach the thought of eating another human being again. 

It was a school night and Eddie found himself struggling to complete his chemistry homework, frustrated with the complicated wording of the work he stormed out of the trailer to take a short smoke break to clear his mind. He didn’t know how long he was sitting out there when he heard soft weak whimpering, he blows out the smoke he inhaled from his cigarette before evidently snuffing it out and investigating where the noise was coming from. He’s peeking over fences for a sign of life but found nothing, he’s walking towards the woods and the noise was louder, he’s not too far from the trailer park when he enters the woods when he found the source of the whimpers. He recoils back in disgust at the sight of a half eaten deer that was still alive, it looked like a bear had mauled it but the bite marks on its neck didn’t look right, even more so one of its legs was torn off while its stomach was ripped open and eaten. 

“Jesus…” he muttered under his breath, turning away and pressing the palm of his hand to his mouth to stop himself from throwing up at the grotesque sight. How the hell was this thing still alive? He felt so guilty that he had no way of putting it out of its misery so he fled the scene back to the trailer, he doesn’t realise that there was someone inside until he opened the door and there he saw Kelian sitting up on the pull out sofa, that Wayne had bought to replace the sofa because he felt bad for allowing Kelian to sleep on a sofa. He saw the young boy trembling as he hugged his knees close to his chest, tears running down his face as he bit rather violently on his thumbnail. He didn’t know how deep Kelian was in but he still had to register that Eddie was there, he slowly approached him as to not alarm him so suddenly of his presence before kneeling down so that he wasn’t standing over him “Hey…” he spoke softly, it still wasn’t enough because Kelian’s head shot up with a gasp, head whipping around to look up at Eddie in fear. The older boy raised his hands and held them out in front of him, whispering softly words to calm him down but whatever had Kelian freaked out overcame his senses.

“W-Wha— Eddie? What a-are you—“ Eddie brings his finger to his lips to shush him softly, his lips trembled as a few noises manage to escape his mouth but no words so he just closed his mouth. Eddie frowned softly at the image in front of him, Kelian looked like a sad puppy as he looked up at Eddie with those beady little eyes.

“Did you also see…” he didn’t need to finish his sentence for Kelian to know what he was talking about because fear struck his eyes, what he didn’t expect was for how harsh Kelian’s reaction to it. He slapped a hand over his mouth as his stomach gurgled, whatever he had eaten previously travelling up his throat and threatening to puke it back out. Eddie probably would have picked Kelian up to move him to the bathroom but he was advised not to touch him when he was having an episode so he quickly looked for a bucket and held it out for him. Kelian all but snatched it out of his hands and puked his guts out, Eddie grimaced at how violently he was emptying his stomach, he stood to his feet and let Kelian do his busy while he got a glass of water for him. He sat the glass on the coffee table and waited for Kelian to finish and when he did the bucket was nearly full, he felt a little sick to his stomach but he shouldn’t let it show “Are you… okay?” he raised his eyes to look at the older boy before bursting out into tears, wiping away the saliva and puke on his chin while his other hands wiped at his tears.

“I-I’m sorry…! I’m sorry—“ he started getting choked up, trying to take deep breaths to calm himself but he was struggling to do so. He was so caught up in his tears that he didn’t notice Eddie get up until he felt something over his ears, he looked up and saw that Eddie had put headphones over his ears and hooked it up to his walkman, the song “Moon River” by Audrey Hepburn playing. He sniffled softly and looked up at Eddie to see him mouthing something that his overwhelmed brain couldn’t understand, he just sat in silence as the song played, watching Eddie closely as he cleaned up his mess before returning and gesturing to the glass of water that was still sitting on the table. 

“Are you okay?” Eddie asks once more, though a different song was playing this time Kelian understood what he said and meekly nodded his head. Wayne had already informed Eddie that Kelian had a weak stomach, telling him how the doctors said that whatever he ate in the past, his body had gotten used to whatever diet it was and he wasn’t able to properly stomach food and would end up throwing up whatever he ate. He’s heard the few instances Kelian did have to empty his guts out into the toilet late at night, but this was the first and most violent one he’s witnessed.

“Thank you…” he muttered under his breath but Eddie managed to catch it, Eddie cracked a small smile but looked away, raising a hand to rub at the back of his neck. Kelian’s eyes adverted to the side as he thought back to why he reacted like that, Venom was hungry and took over Kelian’s body while he was asleep, he woke up while Venom was in the middle of his meal and quickly changed back and leave that poor deer in its half eaten state. He could remember feeling its slimy intestines in his mouth as he chewed, it was similar to gum, and the crunch of its flesh being torn right off the bone— god, he quickly brought his closed fist to his mouth to hold back another wave of nausea.

“H-Hey, are you gonna—“ he shook his head, raising his hand to stop Eddie. He threw his head back and swallowed the chunks of left over flesh, his lips trembled and a new wave of tears started flowing down his cheeks. He gasped softly when Eddie stood up from where he was and sat down on the pullout sofa beside him, he hesitantly raised his hand before placing it on Kelian’s, comforting him gently “It’s alright, you’ll be okay. Whatever is out there, it won’t hurt you like it did with that deer.” the longer the two of them sat there Eddie hadn’t noticed the way Kelian started to smile, rolling his eyes when he heard Venom gag. Wayne returned in the morning at a time that Eddie would usually have left for school but when he entered the trailer, though he should be mad, he was treated with the cutest sight of Eddie and Kelian leaning against each other on the pullout and fast asleep. Eddie had his arm wrapped around Kelian’s shoulder while the he in return let his body rest against his chest, maybe he’ll let Eddie sleeping in go just this once. 

From then on the two of them have been getting along for the better, Kelian acted like Eddie’s shadow but Wayne thought it looked more like a baby duckling following its mama. Eddie was constantly looking over his shoulder to see if Kelian was still following him or Kelian would be holding the end of his shirt, jacket or even his chains wherever they went. Wayne was happy that he didn’t have to worry about the two anymore, watching from the corner of his eye where Eddie and Kelian were sitting on the couch and the older boy was teaching him all about his D&D game. He noticed that the young boy wasn’t by all means stupid, he was quite smart by the times he’s caught him easily answering Eddie’s homework questions on various subjects, but he was having quite a hard time understanding the concept of D&D. He didn’t seem to take that much of an interest of the make belief world of knights and monsters but he did enjoy observing and Eddie’s narrating, much to Eddie’s dismay that he couldn’t enjoy playing his favourite game with Kelian, he’ll take what he can get. 

“Kelian,” said boy raised his head at the sound of his name, Eddie doing the same from beside him as they both ate a sandwich that was served for lunch “how would you like to attend school like Eddie?” both boys, who were mid bite, pause and sit in silence as Wayne’s words slowly processed in their minds.

“School?” Kelian mumbled, crumbs from the sandwich falling from his lips “Why?” 

“I’ve noticed how smart you are, and you must be bored being home all day with nothing to do.” he shook his head.

“Not really. I have the few nice neighbours to talk to, and some of the older ladies teach me their cooking recipes.” both Wayne and Eddie made a face, so that’s how he’s been able to make dinner the past few nights “Is going to school only because I’m a little smart your only reason?”

“Well, how about making friends your own age? Don’t you think it’s a little odd the only social activity you get is with old bums like myself?” he shrugs his shoulders, now setting his sandwich on his plate.

“You’re easier to talk to.” Eddie then raised a hand.

“Also, kids our age are savages.” he quickly looked away when Wayne gave him a sharp glare, Kelian lowered his head and pouted softly.

“Will me going to school make you happy?” the older man let out a soft huff, a bead of sweat on his cheek as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“As much as I’d like to deny it, it would. I think a better education would be good for you, and you clearly have an advantage if you’re able to answer questions with ease from Eddie’s level, who’s in high school.” Eddie made a face.

“Way to tell me I’m dumber than a middle schooler.” Kelian shook his head.

“Chemistry just isn’t your forte. You’re amazing at creative writing, very imaginative.” they both ignore the way Eddie turned a little bashful, Kelian frowned softly and messed with his hair.

“I think going to school will be great. More options on the menu for us.” Wayne noticed once again the way Kelian’s eyes lingered to the side, a small glare on his face as he muttered something before adverting his eyes back to his lap.

“Do I really have to school?”

“I really think it’ll be good for you.”

And that’s where Kelian found himself being registered into Hawkins Middle School under the name of Kelian Munson, this didn’t fail to bring a smile to his face. The woman at the desk gave off a bad reaction at the news of another Munson attending the school, he already knew from both Eddie and Wayne that the older boy was a bit of a problem child, but like Eddie said, kids were savages and thought less of Eddie because of his origin. Eddie gave him a thumbs up before retreating to the high school that was across from the middle school while Wayne tended to Kelian, who looked more and more nervous at the thought of having to be surrounded by children; yuck.

“I-I’m having second thoughts, Wayne.” the older man let out a laugh, patting him on the shoulder and giving him a confident smile.

“You’ll do great, Kelian. You’ll do just fine, I mean, how bad could it be?” Kelian grimaced badly “Oh, don’t be overdramatic. You don’t have to make friends on the first day, but try not to keep in your own bubble for too long.” he stood there for a couple seconds before nodding his head.

“I’ll try.” this time Wayne pats his head.

“There you go.” he messes with his hair then backs away “I’ll see you later in the afternoon, have a good day.” Kelian watches Wayne leave, waving his hand to bid the older man goodbye until he disappeared into his truck.

“… this is going to end horribly.”

“Shut up.” and he wasn’t wrong, the moment he stepped into the classroom, the teacher announcing that he was a new student enrolling in the middle of the school year, people already saw him as an outcast. Not only was he new to a town where everybody knew everyone, along with the fact that these kids have already known each other for half the year, there was nobody there that wanted to be associated with him. The stares he got only worsened when they learnt that he was a Munson, nothing more than trailer trash or the new Eddie “the freak” Munson to replace him because he left. By the end of the day Kelian was worn out from the lack of interaction and the constant teasing the other middle schoolers gave him, Eddie came over with a giant grin on his face and before he could make any words out Kelian was already on him.

“K-Kelian?” he stuttered out, looking down at the younger boy, who had wrapped his arms around his torso and was hiding his face into his chest.

“I-I wanna go home.” he mumbled softly, lip quivering as his body trembled. Eddie’s hands were hovering over his body before they slowly wrapped around his body, soothing the crying boy.

“It’s alright. Thing’s will get better, I promise.”

“Really?” Eddie gave a scoff.

“Yeah, you don’t think people treated me badly either? You just gotta stand your ground. They’re relentless, sure, but you gotta prove you’re someone not to be messed with.” Venom let out an impressed noise.

“That’s something I can agree on. We are someone not to be messed with.”

It took a bad incident for it to get better for Kelian. The bullies were people that strived off the reactions they got out of people, the anger, the sadness, anything, that’s why it pissed them that Kelian gave them none of that. From tearing up his stuff, to dumping their food on him to even getting him in trouble, though the teachers never really gave him shit because he didn’t seem like the type of person to do that kind of bad behaviour, it paid off being the quiet kid that kept to himself. Kelian suffered three years of torture being torn apart by adults that viewed him as nothing more than a guinea pig, he found it nearly adorable that this was these kids version of torture. Perhaps he should show them what true torment is, goodness, now he’s starting to sound like Venom. 

But now, it wasn’t sounding so bad.

“I heard he’s sensitive to food.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“He throws up anything he eats.”

“Ew, that’s gross.”

“I wanna see it though. I wanna see if it’s true.” and that’s where he found himself being held down as the ringleader of this group of assholes was forcing food into his mouth, he could easily throw these punks off but his mind was in a different place. His mind was thinking back to the time he was trapped in that goddamn white room, his mind was thinking back to the time when those scientists were forcing him to eat raw meat when he refused to eat to feed Venom. He was started to get his disorder in check, he no longer scarfed down food like a starved man or threw up the food he consumed, but all that progress went down the drain right that instance.  The kid on top of him was thrown off him and he turned onto his stomach, pushing himself onto his knees to throw up the food that was forced into his stomach and anything else he consumed that day.

“Wow, it was true!”

“That’s gross, hahaha!”

“Do it again!” he was heaving as he stared down at the puddle of his vomit, sweat forming all over his body as his mind continued to believe that he was still in the laboratory. He saw blood mix with his vomit, he saw chunks of human remains and torn clothes swim in his vomit, he felt disgusting. He could hear Venom speaking to him but he couldn’t process the words properly, he could feel the boy from before approaching him once more and the moment he felt a hand on his shoulder was when he snapped. 

Eddie let out a sigh, placing his hands on his hips as he looked side to side in search for Kelian. School had ended a couple minutes ago and he still saw no sign of the young boy, he was never late, either arriving on time or he was the one waiting for Eddie to appear. He was going to give Kelian a couple minutes but when it turned into a half an hour was when he decided to give up waiting for him and went searching for him on his own, and since he attended the middle school as the little delinquent he still is, he knew all the little hidey holes Kelian could possibly be in. He didn’t think he’d find him at the back of the school but before he did he saw the massacre that was left of the rally of bullies, he grimaced at the sight crying and groveling middle schoolers covered in blood and bruises, he saw a puddle of vomit on the floor and he couldn’t tell if it was from the children crying bloody murder or… oh, god. He quickly looked for Kelian in the pile of bruises children but saw no sign of the young boy so he turned a corner and there he found him, curled up in a ball trembling as he rocked back and toward with his knuckles dyed in blood with some splattered over his face.

“K-Kelian…” he spoke out softly, his hand reaching out before it was violently smacked away. 

“D-Don’t touch me!” Eddie flinched at the amount of animosity coming from him, holding his hand by the wrist that was slightly stinging from how hard Kelian slapped his hand away. God, Kelian looked worse than he did on that night he had his panic attack. Weak sounds of whimpers escaped his lips while his bloodshot eyes looked around in alarm, it was as if he was searching for someone to pop out of nowhere. Eddie’s shoulders drooped when he saw that Kelian wasn’t going to calm down any time soon so he pressed his back against the wall he was leaning against and dropped to the floor but kept his distance in case he lashed out again, he eyes would occasionally looked down at him before closing.

“So… wanna talk about it?” Eddie swallowed thickly when he didn’t earn a response, a weak sob just left his lips “No, no, that’s cool. We don’t gotta talk about it, it’s just the fact that I left a bunch of middle schoolers crying back there and I’m afraid if someone sees me they’re gonna pin the blame on me, so…” he takes a sharp inhale as he shrugs his shoulders, he peeks back down at Kelian and saw his bottom lip was trembling as he pouted.

“I-I didn’t mean too…” he spoke so softly that he almost didn’t catch it, his eyes looked down at his hands and he gasped softly at the sight of blood so he quickly hid his hands “T-They were just— I-I was just—“ he gave up and just buried his face into his knees, Eddie could guess what happened… kind of, but he didn’t expect Kelian to be capable of such a feat. Whatever this kid went through before his uncle picked him up off the side of the road, he must have went through something horrible.

“Can I touch you?”  he waits for Kelian to respond and when he gets that short nod his hand all but rests gently on top of his head, it’s almost a ghost like touch since he isn’t putting to much weight into it but Kelian can just feel warmth from his hand as they sat side by side each other “Do you wanna talk about it later?”

“… I’d rather not talk about it, honestly.” Eddie nods.

“That’s fine too, but like Wayne says, you shouldn’t keep everything all locked up. You’ll feel much better when you let it all out.”

“He is correct. Didn’t you feel better when you let us out? It was refreshing, yes?” Eddie’s chuckling softly so he misses the way Kelian grits his teeth, because he did feel better. He felt great because it was fucking exhilarating beating the shit out of those fucking bastards like the punching bags they were, he felt immense joy shudder throughout his body when he felt the crunch of their bones under the pressure of his fists, he knew he had a giant grin spread across his lips when their blood splattered onto his face.

He felt disgusting. 

It was like nothing changed.

He was still a monster.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing.

It was hours after that incident and Wayne was given the night off because the plant was needing repairs, the people in charge didn’t want to have to pay a hefty check to anyone that got hurt so they just let them take the night off to save a couple thousand dollars. Eddie was off with his hand so he let Kelian crash in his room after what happened earlier that day, of course he told Wayne what happened, he wasn’t going to keep that to himself when he knows his uncle can help the young boy better than he could. They both knew Kelian found more comfort in Wayne and trusted him more, Eddie took no offence to that and was happy his uncle could be trusted, so he left the trailer without a worry in mind. 

“Kelian?” he called out softly, standing right outside of Eddie’s room and knocking softly on the door “Hey buddy, it’s me. Eddie told me what happened at school and, well, though I don’t really condone the attacks you took, I can understand why you did what you did.” he waited for a response but sighed softly when he was met with silence, goodness, it was reminding him of the days when Eddie was still in middle school “I won’t force you to talk it out with me, but I want you to know there isn’t a need to hide. You can tell me anything, and I promise I won’t reaction negatively.” he calls out his name one more time as he pushed gently on the door, leaning back when the door opened and he had failed to realise that door wasn’t completely closed. He entered the room and felt a shudder go down his spine as the cool autumn air enveloped the room, he looked around and noticed that Kelian was nowhere to be seen, not even on the bed, but instead Eddie’s window was wide open, letting in a draft. He cursed under his breath when he realised that this whole time Kelian wasn’t even in the room so he quickly rushed out of the trailer, grabbing his coat on the way out, and went searching for the young boy. 

It wasn’t too late into the night but the sun was already down and it was dark out so he couldn’t really shout out for his name and risk an angry neighbour coming up to his doorstep all because of his shouting so he just resorted into whisper shouting out his name, his already bad vision wasn’t helping him in this predicament either. He was especially worried because he’s heard from the neighbours and Eddie alike that there was some wild animal out there eating raccoons and possums alike, even the occasional deer or the common house pet. Whatever was eating them never finished its meal and left its unfortunate carcass barely alive somewhere in the woods, wishing someone could put it out of its misery. He was so worried because even though there have been no reports about it hurting a person, doesn’t mean it’s entirely impossible. His heart dropped into his stomach when he heard soft whimpering, it didn’t sound like Kelian’s but instead a dog’s whining, no wonder the night was a little too quiet. He quickly but quietly rushed over to the woods and tried to be mindful of his steps as to not alert whatever could be lurking in the dark, when the sounds got louder he was greeted with the sight of a fellow trailer owner their pet labrador nearly in pieces and was still alive. 

He recoiled back at the sight of the dog, his foot stepping right on top of a twig and it snapping under his weight. The sound was enough to alert the other thing that Wayne failed to notice while his gaze was on the whimpering animal, the figure that was tearing into the dogs hind leg froze when they realised they weren’t alone. Despite the dark hindering his vision and despite the initial fear that was starting to overwhelm his sense, his eyes were already adjusting to the darkness of the woods and the small amount of moon light that was shining down through the leaves and branches he was able to see what exactly has been leaving half eaten animals all over the woods. There, in his disbelief, was Kelian with blood dripping from his hands and mouth as his teeth were still digging into the flesh on the doors leg.

“K-Kelian…”  he looked like a wild animal as he stared up at the older man but when he realised just who exactly was in front of him he saw the realisation settle in his eyes as he dropped the leg to the ground, slowly standing up and backing away.

“Wayne…” he breathed out, fear was struck in Kelian’s eyes the longer he stared at the man who refused to move. He didn’t know if he was afraid of moving that the small boy would jump at him or flee, he didn’t know which option was worse. Tears soon started to glisten in his eyes before finally running down his face and mixing with the blood still dripping down his chin and onto his neck, Kelian let out a gasp and took another step back when Wayne raised his hands slowly.

“Kelian, I need you to calm down.” he spoke softly in that same tone that could calm Kelian, it nearly worked but he was so overwhelmed with fear that he couldn’t comprehend what was being said to him.

“Way— Wayne, I-I—“ 

“We’ve been caught, Kelian. We have got to go.” Kelian nods his head.

“Yes, yes… we must go.” he mutters under his breath and takes another step back to get away, he turns around and goes to break out into a sprint when Wayne spoke again.

“Was it the men in white?” his words caused Kelian to pause, he slowly turned back around to look back at Wayne “Is it because of them that you’ve… you’re sensitive to food?” he nervously peeked down at the groveling dog, sweating a little when Kelian just stared at him.

“… yes.” he spoke softly, he takes another step back when Wayne took a step forward. 

“What does he know, Kelian? He knows nothing. Let us leave before it is too late. We have nothing here now.” he was beginning to cry at the thought of losing everything all because he was careless, all because he couldn’t control his anger and Venom’s hunger. He backed up into a tree but instead of running away he instead slowly fell to the ground and started to cry, his hands were trying to wipe them away but some of the blood was mixing in with the tears and so he was smearing it all over his face. He only started crying harder as he thought back to the lab all over again, every time they forced him to eat something and when it was over they wouldn’t even let him clean himself up and so he’d continue with the experiments and training with blood all over him. He just continued to cry and cry and Wayne just sat across from him, not taking his eyes off the weeping child that just couldn’t get himself to calm down for the longest time. He didn’t know how much time had past but it was long enough for Kelian to soften his cries into soft sobbing, hiccupping every few seconds while sniffling “You are acting like a child. You are a loser.”

“I am a child…” he didn’t seem to care that he was talking out loud, Wayne would properly think he’s ever crazier to be talking to himself but what the hell, he already saw him eating a dog that was still alive and just twitching at this point “I just wanted a normal life…!” he wailed out.

“I…” he flinched when Wayne spoke, his eyes darting over to where the older man sat “I really don’t know anything about you.” 

“You don’t.” he then opened his arms and gestured to himself “This… is me. A cannibal. A monster.”

“A lost child.” Kelian flinched, looking down at the ground as his arms dropped to his side, the tears freely falling from his eyes and onto his legs and feet “You’ve been hiding so much.” 

“You think? I-It’s not the first thing I’d bring up in a conversation.” he said rather bitterly “Well, you know now. What are you gonna do? Hand me over to the police?” Wayne shook his head.

“No.”

“No? Why? You just saw what I’m capable of doing. Eddie must have told you what I did to those middle school kids! I’m a freak! A monster! I can hurt you; I can kill you and your nephew! You should just throw me away before I get out of hand!” he gasped when he felt Wayne put his hand on his head, he curled in on himself and trembled violently, waiting for what has to come and yet… there was nothing.

“What you need is not me throwing you away, I believe it would make you worse. As bad as it sounds, I think you need someone by your side than isolating and hiding yourself away. You were getting better with time, Kelian, and I still think that that is possible.” he warily looked down at the dog then back up at him “We can work around this eating condition of yours, I promise.”

“… w-why would you do that, Wayne? I just don’t understand you.”

“You, young man, are a child and need to be treated like so. Whoever robbed you of your childhood; whoever made you the way that you are now, they are the monster, not you. You deserve to act the age that you are now and not that of a recovering war veteran suffering from PTSD.” his hand ruffles through Kelian’s hair and he offers and nervous but sincere smile “This may not be in the job description on raising a child, but I’ll help you every step of the way. I told you that I’ll take responsibly of you, didn’t I? I plan on sticking to it.” the tears that he managed to stop burst out of his eyes once more and he was crying again, but this time he threw himself at Wayne and hugged him as he cried.

“Thank you!” he sobbed out, burying himself into his neck as he wrapped his arms around his, a pang of guilt in his gut open realising that he was smearing the blood and his tears onto Wayne’s flannel shirt as he hugged “T-This means a lo— lot to us…!” Wayne nodded softly as he brought his arms up to embrace the young boy, a moment of silence was shared between them but a thought came to his head.

“Us…?”

“He means me.” Wayne jumped at the new voice, a gasp escaping his lips at the sight of Venom appearing from out of Kelian’s back and grinning at the sight of the startled man “We are a packaged deal, human man. If you accept him, you accept me.” he nods his head slowly.

“Oh… okay?”

“Which also means he is eating for two. Why else do you think he eats a lot? I have a huge appetite, so if you’ll excuse me.” Venom lingered away while Kelian kept himself attached to Wayne like a koala to a tree, his fingers digging into Wayne’s back as he heard Venom devouring the dog. He felt a sense of comfort when Wayne held him closer, going so far as to covering his ears as best as he could as Venom ate. The adrenaline finally died down and replaced itself with nausea, Wayne was patting his back as he emptied his stomach for the nth time that day while Venom licked his lips “That was delicious.”

“I… hate you.”

“You do not.” Wayne was kind enough to wipe Kelian’s face that was covered in blood, tears and now vomit. He felt disgusting as he let him clean his face, ultimately taking his flannel off before picking Kelian up when Venom retreated back into his body and carried the young boy back to the trailer so he could rest after such an exhausting day. Wayne let Kelian take a bath to clean himself of the blood and dirt on his body as he waited in the living room, or rather the room where they both sleep, he was nice enough to pull out their beds and set them out so when Kelian came out he could either tell him what he wanted to share or just crash for the night and they leave that conversation for another day. But Kelian him a few things, only bits and pieces, not everything. He told him that he was homeless from the age of nine before he was picked up by the scientists and was experimented on for the past three years, how Venom was forced into his body and now the two of them were inseparable now and forever. He said how thankful; how grateful he was to Wayne because he basically saved his life by hitting him by his truck because he practically picked him up and gave him a place to call home despite how damaged and beyond repair he was. He was forever indebted to that man that showed him nothing but kindness from the very beginning.

[time skip: a couple months later]

Wayne’s new adjustment to Kelian’s parasite, Venom as he called himself, took a bit of time because the thing would pop out whenever it wanted. Wayne thought it would be best not to tell Eddie about the newest head living under their roof, he believes that his nephew would take the news well but Eddie is Eddie, the last thing Kelian needs is Eddie freaking out or blowing things out of proportion so they would tell him sometime later… hopefully. Anyways, Venom was an interesting case because he could quite literally eat anything and everything but his favorite thing to eat was brains. Whether it may be human brains, animals brains or whatever, brains seems to be very delectable to him and he managed to find a substitute so Kelian could have a break from eating to much. Chocolate! He remembered reading something in the newspaper about how chocolate contained something called phenethylamine, a compound that positively affected Kelian’s mood and something sweet for them both to munch on. Eddie noticed Kelian’s positive mood the day after the shit show happened, it made him happy to see that whatever Wayne did made a good improvement on the young boy, they looked even closer than they did before and Kelian looked brighter than before. He wasn’t flinching away when either of them touched him and he even started leaning into their gestures of affections, sometimes even initiating it, even if they were short and brief, at least he was trying now.

Now back to the matter at hand, Kelian’s return to school the following week was quite uneventful, mainly because those bullies had quit being, well, bullies. The moment that group of morons set eyes on him they quickly averted their eyes and avoided him like the plague, it took him awhile the notice but the usual hooligans that harassed him were nowhere to be seen and he only learnt what happened was when the teacher informed them that the group had gotten into an accident and were being treated at the hospital to care for their injuries. Learning this, Eddie gave him a high five and a pat on the back. Now that he was free from the relentless bullying and his new found confidence, he was able to make a couple friends, and though they weren’t many, they were people that he could actually have a conversation with. So for the next couple of months, he was actually have the time of his life attending school because he was getting to learn new stuff while having fun with his friends. Though he excelled in many subjects, his favorite and the class he did the best in thanks to Venom, was P.E.

“You’ve got quite the arm there, Munson.” Kelian perked up at the compliment, arm raised as he was getting ready to throw a dodgeball at the opposing team.

“O-Oh, thank you coach.” the coach whistles softly as he watched Kelian reel his arm back, letting out a grunt as he threw the ball at great speed across the gym and hitting a student so hard that he actually winded the poor kid.

“Have you ever thought of trying out for the baseball team?” the coach was impressed once again when he noticed Kelian look up at him, completely unaware of the fact that a ball was hurdling its way over to him until he raised his arm and caught the ball before it could hit him in the chest “With reflexes like yours, I think you’d make the team.” a soft flush spreads across his cheeks as he rolls the ball in between his hands and torso.

“Y-You think so? I don’t know if I’ll be good in a team.”

“I don’t know about that. From what I’ve heard from the other students, you’ve become quite popular and very likeable.” his already pink face turned red, a dopey grin appearing on his face.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I heard you’re a bit of a heart throb amongst the female population.” the coach missed a look of confusion flashing on Kelian’s face, who turned away and cupped his cheek.

“Heart throb? You? Please, you’re a headache.” 

“Quiet you.”

“You should think it over, I think you’ll like it very much. And unlike your cousin, you seem to enjoy sports and is actually talented in the subject.” Kelian made a face, forgetting that under the Munson name he was Wayne’s son and technically Eddie’s cousin. He also made a face because it was a little true about Eddie’s giant disdain over anything physical, remembering the last time he and Eddie went for a run or something and the older boy was panting heavily from exhaustion, maybe he had the scientists and Venom to thank for his increased stamina and endurance, but come on now. So now he found himself on the track field watching the Hawkins Middle School Baseball Team, another student that was recommended for the team let out a breath and spared a glance at Kelian who was standing next to him, he flinched when he noticed the panicked look on his face.

“You good there?”

“Y-Yeah, it’s just my first time joining a sport.” 

“I see, there’s a first for everything, you know? But once you get used to it, there’s nothing to be nervous about it at all!” Kelian nodded his head softly.

“I-I guess so.” the student beside him let out a laugh and slapped a hand against his back, however, he let out a grunt at how hard and broad Kelian’s back was that his hand was stinging a little. 

“Well, since the team has already been established it is sort of scary and we’re joining halfway into the season, they need to sort us into where we specialise. What made you decide to join baseball? I heard that you were good a physical activities, never thought you’d actually join a team with how shy you are.” he chuckled nervously, raising an arm to rub the back of his neck.

“Well, my P.E teacher said that I’ve got a good arm and thought I’d make a good addition to the baseball team despite how late I am from joining.”  the student laughed, hands on his hips while nodding his head.

“I get it, I get it. The more the merrier.”

Exactly what Kelian said, with how late he was in joining the team the coaches were reluctant in allowing him to join since tryouts were technically over but since he was recommended by a fellow coach of the basketball team, they accepted to see how well he’d so on the team. Much to their surprise, he surpassed many of their expectations and they greatly underestimated him because his performance was superb. Like the coach said, his arm was like a godsend because when he was asked to pitch against the opposing team he threw the ball at great speed that even the catcher was struggling to catch the ball and sometimes it’d swerve right past the catcher and sent flying behind him. The student that Kelian was chatting to earlier whistled as he watched Kelian, sitting on the bench since he was on the opposing team and waiting his turn to pitch.

“Son of a bitch, we’ve got ourselves a new pitcher!” one of the coaches cheered “I’ve never seen a middle school pitch as fast as he can before! He’s almost as good as the professionals!”

“You’re being overdramatic.”

“Well, can you pitch as fast as him?” they all look at Kelian once again, tipping his hat as he eyed the next batter. He took a deep breathing before turning his body and lifting his leg, he slams his foot on the ground as he sucked in a breath and threw the ball towards the batter. He swung his bat and he was one of the lucky few that managed to get his bat to connect with the ball, however, they were all brought to shock when the moment the ball came into contact with the bat it shattered and broke the bat completely.

…

…

“Holy shit.”

[later]

“So you joined the baseball team?”

“Yes.”

“Because you pitched a ball so fast and hard that the ball shattered a bat?”

“Yes.”

“… that’s pretty metal.”

Sure, Eddie was impressed by the feat Kelian achieved, proud even, but he’s a little nervous that his little dude was turning into a jock. Unlike the jocks in high school that is constantly harassing him and his group of outcasts, he doesn’t see Kelian as the type of person to become like them and bully people like him because he used to get bullied by people like them, but he was nervous that he might start to hang out with jocks like them and they could possibly twist his personality and he’ll turn into somebody they’ll despise and—

“You’re thinking about something unnecessary, aren’t you?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“Totally, yeah.”

“Mm. So then you won’t mind that I’ll be staying at school a little later than usual because of practice? I can find a way back home if it inconveniences you.” he waves his hand to dismiss his thoughts, a big grin emerging on his face.

“Don’t even worry about it, dude! I might be busy a couple times, maybe late because I’ve got my own shit, but I’ll try to make it on time to pick you up. Love to hear the stories how you’ll become the next star player.” Eddie smiles when he sees the way Kelian’s face lights up. 

“Then I can’t wait to see you become a rockstar.” Eddie chuckles.

“I appreciate it, little dude.” he laughs and ruffles his head then throws it back. As the sports fan he is, Wayne was more than happy to learn that Kelian took up baseball and was happy to play a few rounds of catch, Eddie even joining in a few times but when they saw how good Kelian’s arm was they couldn’t help but be thoroughly impressed. The distance he was able to throw the ball was almost freaky, they were sure if he put enough pressure into the ball he’d crush it completely. Kelian taking up baseball was perfect for Eddie because now he could stay later with his club Hellfire, a Dungeons and Dragons club for him and his friends to play the various campaigns he orchestrated. Usually the two of them finished up their clubs around the same time but sometimes Eddie’s would finish a little earlier and he would find himself out on the track field sitting on the bleachers and waiting for Kelian to finish up, these were also the times  where he got to see Kelian properly in his element.  The young boy was hunched over, hands on his knees with sweat dripping from his forehead while his eyes were dead set on the ball as he stood on the outer field. 

“That’s your cousin, right?” one of Eddie’s friends, Jeff, asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“I heard how the coaches are dead set on him joining the High School’s baseball team, saying how he’s going to bring it back from the dead.” another way nodded their head, snapping their fingers and pointing at them.

“Our team does suck, plus, your cousin is really good. I’ve only seen him a few times in the passing, but he’s like a genius.”

“He’s just really good at throwing a ball, don’t see how that makes you a genius.” Eddie gives them a look before clearing his throat, when he got their attention he pointed over to the field where they heard the crack of the bat hitting the ball and sending the ball flying. They watch as the players scatter to try and catch the ball, it lands on the ground and bounces a couple times but Kelian was the first to slide down and catch it in his glove before proceeding to throw it towards first base and take out the same batter. His team immediately cheer and a few other spectators awed in surprise, how couldn’t they, with the distance he was standing at to the first base, that was quite the distance that no one else could possibly pull off.

“Still think he’s just good at throwing a ball?” Eddie asked rather cockily, snickering when he saw their mouth agape.

“Jesus, what the fuck are you guys feeding him? That was insane.”

“We really aren’t feeding him much.” which is the truth, Eddie and Kelian basically eat the same things, but that doesn’t stop Eddie from noticing that Kelian is building up muscles faster than him. He was much stronger than him and more physically fit, his body deflates a little of the drastic difference between him and Kelian, and sure it was understandable because they genuinely weren’t related so maybe it’s in Kelian genetics why his body is just so crazy.

“Did you see me, Eddie?” he jolted out of his thoughts when he heard a voice, looking up, he was surprised to see Kelian looking up at him from where he stood with a bright yet sweaty face “Did I look cool?”  

“Yea— Yeah, dude! You were great.” his smile brightens.

“Thanks! Sorry for making you wait so long, coach wanted us to finish the game.” he hears someone call his name so he turned his head, face lighting up at the sight of the friend he made on his first day of baseball “See you later, dude!”

“Same! Have a good rest of your afternoon!”

“You too!” that was another thing that Eddie noticed, now that Kelian wasn’t as shy or reserved as he was before, he was actually very charismatic and was easy to make friends with. Sure, his bashful personality still remained in tact but he was pretty outgoing and a lot of people swarmed around him, he was well liked by many of his peers “Eddie, you good?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking if you’re alright, you look like you’re spacing out.” Eddie blinks a little but laughs it off.

“I’m all good, don’t worry about it. Let’s get going, huh? Wayne would love to hear all about your practice.” Eddie’s friends laughed softly when they saw the absolute excitement on his face, Eddie joined them when Kelian grabbed his hand and started to tug on it to get him to his feet quickly “I’m coming, I’m coming!” 

Kelian was happy, he was really happy and he didn’t think he’d ever be this happy in a long time. Being locked away for three years and when he was free, he lived the first couple of months in fear that he would be thrown out or captured by the same people that kidnapped him when he was young. He was happy that he was found by a kind old man that brought him into his home with open arms, didn’t question his origin or force him to share his story, just let him come out of his shell on his own. He was gifted with a new home and people that he could call family, he never thought he’d be given the chance to start over and actually live a normal life. He truly felt blessed, and he was definitely not going to take this second chance for granted.