Love Song | p. parker

9 | Alone While Apart

The deadly ominous drip, drip, dripping of a leaking pipe kept you on the edge of your toes.

It had been hours since you had woken to find yourself lying in a gigantic animal cage in a dark warehouse.

The scratches on the bars indicated that your prison had once housed a wild cat or other large clawed animal at a zoo.

You had called out to the darkness around you, and had cried into your tattered shirt, but now, as you sat against the cold metal bars of your cell, you were silent and still.

You were terrified.

Whoever had found you in the fire has certainly not been Peter.

You had no indication of who it had been, where you were, or how long it had been since the fire.

Your growling stomach told you some time had passed, but without the context of where you were, you could not determine what was going on.

Were you even in DC anymore? You couldn't make out the scent of burning ash, so you must be miles from the hotel.

You sat, contemplating these factors, turning them slowly over in your mind again and again until the dripping of the leaking pipe became so loud in your ears that you let out a wild scream of discomfort.

"That's it! Whoever you are, show yourself! I've had it with this stupid warehouse and this stupid cage! Tell me what's going on!" You yelled into the darkness.

But you received no answer.

Only the slow and uneven dripping of water responded to your outburst.

You sighed, defeated. You had known it would not work, but you had tried anyway, if just to keep you from going crazy.

More hours passed and you began to feel drowsy.

But no sooner had you decided to lay down for a nap when a loud metallic clang filled the dark warehouse.

A much quieter string of curses followed the noise and your heart did a double take.

It was Peter's voice.

Suddenly, lights appeared around the warehouse, and you squinted to avoid losing your sight altogether.

Through the dim light, you could make out a figure standing atop a ledge to your left. And to your right, another smaller figure was crouched behind an old refrigerator.

"Come out, come out, Spider-Man," chuckled a deep voice from our left.

The sound of his voice sent chills through your body, as if just him speaking was enough to take over the world.

Peter then squinted and shouted "Where is she!"

The man chuckled again. "Surely, you're not just here for the girl? Do I mean nothing to you? Am I not a worthy opponent?"

"I don't play games, Hellhound. Tell me where she is, or I swear I won't leave the judge anything of you to interrogate." Peter growled.

You frowned, you were standing right to the side of Peter, couldn't he see you?

"Peter!" You whispered urgently.

He didn't seem to hear you.

You waved an arm frantically at him to get his attention. "I'm right here!"

The man, Hellhound, interrupted you mid-sentence. "How sweet. The boyfriend comes to claim his girl but little does he know, she's long gone already."

"Liar!" Peter called as you saw him inch around the fridge to stand behind an old conveyor belt.

"Oh, I don't lie. I'm many things, but a liar isn't one of them. I am however, a very good entrepreneur. I know how to get what I want Spider-Man. And what I want, is your demise."