Venom

TWENTY-FIVE: A Monster

As Elise was driving down the road, Maisie heard a voice in her head. A voice that she never wanted to hear again. She screamed.

Shut up! Now, I have a plan to get us out of here.

"Go away! Get outta my head!" Maisie cried, shaking violently and on the verge of tears.

But didn't you miss me, daughter?

"No! Leave me alone!" Maisie shouted.

"Maisie, who are you talking to, dear?" Elise asked from the front seat, looking at Maisie with a concerned expression through the rear view mirror.

"I'm n-" Maisie started before the heart palpitations started.

F—. I'm still not strong enough to take over...oh well...there are other ways to get what I want.

Suddenly, Maisie felt frozen. Like she couldn't move. She tried to turn her head, but she was paralyzed. The next thing she remembered was being jolted forward into the seat in front of her, knocking the child unconscious.

Eddie got a call from the hospital. A doctor explained over the phone that Maisie and Elise has gotten into an accident, and that he needed to get to the hospital. He quickly put down Maisie's blankie that she left behind and rushed out the door.

Eddie. I would like to talk to the woman who stole our child first....

"Fine, but you'd better make it quick," Eddie agreed reluctantly, rolling his eyes. So, they went to Elise's room first. Elise looked at them in terror, fearful tears streaming down her face.

"She—she's a monster..." Elise stuttered. "Leave her while you still can!"

"Like hell I will! How about I decide who the monster is?" Eddie retorted. That shut Elise up.

After a conversation with Elise, Eddie went to visit Maisie, who was laying unconscious on a hospital bed. She had a bandage wrapped around her forehead, and a bandage on her cheek. Eddie sat down next to her.

"Ya know, I should really just reserve this room for you," Eddie said jokingly, even though he was dying inside.

"Maybe," Maisie replied with a giggle. Eddie turned to see Maisie sitting up in her bed with a sweet smile.

"You're awake! That was fast!" Eddie exclaimed. Maisie nodded.

"Yeah. What happened?" Maisie asked.

"You were in an accident. It was pretty bad. The police showed me pictures of the wreck when I arrived. Elise swerved far off the road and drove all the way across a field before ramming into a tree," Eddie explained. Maisie looked said.

"It was probably Carnage..." she admitted.

"Kiddo, Carnage is dead. You killed Kasady, remember?" Eddie questioned. Maisie nodded.

"I know...but Carnage just moved to me," Maisie answered sadly.

"Oh that's just great," Eddie said sarcastically. "Of course he'd do something so twisted..."

"In the car...I felt paralyzed...Carnage must've made me crash the car," Maisie continued.

"Why couldn't he just take over you and kill Elise? That would've been easier," Eddie pointed out. Maisie raised an eyebrow and tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"He said something about not being strong enough," she said.

Don't worry, daughter. I'll be strong enough soon.

Maisie started trembling and her eyes filled with tears. She couldn't believe that she still wasn't free of him. After living most of her life with him, now she'd have to hear his voice forever.