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summary : despite getting rid of the journalist physically, it seems you can never get rid of him entirely. while reminiscing the past, you were interrupted with a knock at the door. you knew who it was. and as a Kasady, it was your job to put an end to it.
main tags : angst , friendly enemy , enemies to friends , scenario , female reader
warnings : descriptions of abusive households , descriptions of harming others , guns , destructive thoughts and actions
parts : one
It felt like a cruel running gag that I was nothing but the prime victim of.
Eddie Brock does this. Eddie Brock does that. Blah blah. The only thing I would like Eddie to do is holler while I shove a knife down his throat.
Too descriptive? Who cares. I'm a Kasady. It's only natural.
It had been about a week since the journalist made an introduction of himself. I thought it was a one-and-done deal, the type of incident where you meet a stranger once and never hear their name again.
Yet if that was truly the case, then why is this ‘one-and-done’ deal not done yet? Why do I still hear Eddie's name seemingly everywhere I go?
The TV, online articles, the newspapers. I see his face everywhere and get nothing but a tight feeling in my chest.
I don't hate a man on sight— I don't do that with almost anyone. My itch is the fact that I had this dude on my ass ‘cause of the whole last name sort of thing.
I found myself pondering over the situation as I paced around my living room. I had to do something, I don't like the idea of anyone else coming to my house and pestering me.
Maybe change my last name? — It seemed the most reasonable option, yet there were still noticeable cons. For one, if someone with the last name Kasady approached you with legal documents, then you were basically telling people your story without opening your mouth.
Maybe move out of state? — No, journalists would probably follow me no matter where I go.
I tried to play out each idea that popped into my head, figuring out the pros and cons of it. But they all seemed to fail in satisfying me.
I exhaled in stress as I sat down on the couch and covered my face with my hands.
Strangely, this bundle of stress felt abnormal. Usually, when I stress like this, it always had something to do with mom or dad. This was the first time the entire situation just involved me and me alone.
…You could always run to Cletus. — Cletus. What would that lunatic think of me now?
Mom tried to keep me always from him, and I don't even blame her to some extent. Yet I would be lying if I were to say Cletus wasn't someone I relied on in the short time we spent together.
We were both kids with horrible parents, it was only logical that we hang out and complain about the misfortunes of being a Kasady.
The only difference between us was our boundaries, which I do and will always have a better sense of.
Even with that, I can't help but repeat some of the words he told me in our last conversation.
“The hell happened to you?”
Cletus immediately questioned the sight of my bruised cheek. We both had a fair share of scars from our family, but I was the one to have one on my face.
"I got into it with dad, hit me with his backhand."
While I was stressed over the events that gave me the bruise, I couldn't help but question myself as to why I no longer found comfort in that teddy bear I always carried with me only a few months prior.
Maybe it was ‘cause I had learned at that moment that stuffed animals can't protect you from the dark. Nor can they protect you from the light either.
“Give me one of those cigarettes,” I demand as I extend out my hand. It would be a while until I get ahold of the concept of the word decency.
Cletus smiled and chuckled at my assertiveness before pulling a pack out of his pocket and slipping me one. “Do you know how to—” Before he could finish, I snatched the spare lighter out of his pocket and lit my cigarette. It wasn't long before I took a big exhale of smoke.
“When'd you learn to smoke?” I took another smoke before replying, making it clear how stressed I was. The cigarette was practically halfway gone.
I gave Cletus the side-eye, “I got into it with dad, remember?” It was enough for Cletus to figure the rest out for himself, but silence still managed to fill in the air.
“Y'know… These cigs are gonna kill you.” My mind felt dazed by the time Cletus told me this, I was tired of it all that day as I slouched and let the cigarette hang from my mouth.
“I know… Somethin' gotta do it sooner or later.”
If it isn't this, it's gonna be from those sick fucks who hit their kid too hard and cross the line one day.
“…I'm gonna leave this place. Get out of here. I'll go somewhere far away and act like my last name was nothing but a horrible mistake.” I rambled on and on to Cletus, he was slightly older and may have been able to recognize that it isn't that easy at the time. That it isn't as simple as telling your parents that you wanna move out of the house early.
I was unprepared for all of the future gaslighting, the guilt-tripping, the uncomfortable begging. It would be a long time until I recognize how much of a nuisance this family was.
I was a child who was born in a cast of moldy sin. It would be a long before I see how desensitized I had become to toxic relationships, and it would be even longer before I would get out of them.
Abruptly, I felt Cletus put his hand on the top of my head. He laughed at my childlike idiocy, “You make sure you do that, get out of here. This place. I wish I could be like you, pack my bags and be a runaway, but…”
There was silence as Cletus moved his hand away from my hair. If I was to know about the events that were gonna unfold involving him, I would've known he was hiding something.
But I didn't know any better at the time, so I was clueless when I asked him a simple question.
“Hey, where's your dog? Usually, that thing's barkin’ and yappin’ its throat out.”
Cletus seemed to tense up to the question, “Don't… Don't worry about it. We should probably split up before any adults find us.”
I nod in agreement as we throw our cigarettes to the ground and go separate ways.
“‘You make sure you do that…’” I mumbled the words he told me. I pull a pack of cigarettes out of my pocket and stare at it while it rests in the palm of my hand.
Over time, for health sake, I dropped the cigarettes. If I had to bump heads with dad every time I wanted to smoke, I would gladly decline and find other ways to get rid of stress.
Although I could smoke again since I'm on my own, the thought of picking up any habits either parent carried made me sick to my stomach.
I couldn't stop myself from clenching my fist with the pack in my hand, crumbling them up unevenly. The feeling of bitterness had filled my soul to the brim.
Was I frustrated with my parents? At Cletus? At myself? I didn't know anymore. I didn't wanna face any of it any longer.
I wish I could kill myself, get out of this world that's nothing but disgraceful. If death won't satisfy me with the sweet release of death, then I'll do it myself god damn it.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
I snapped back to reality by the irruption, I couldn't convince myself whether to be grateful or not. Slowly, I lift my head up to face the door. “Who is it?”
There was a moment of silence, uncomfortable silence.
“…Eddie. It's Eddie.”
My heart stopped when I hear that voice state its name. Why was he here? Why was he, of all people, here?
Was this it? Is Eddie supposedly here to answer my prayer to death?
That's when it reached me. My breaking point.
I couldn't tell you if it was anxiety, paranoia, pure insanity. All I knew was that I was no longer safe with that man at that door.
‘He wants to kill me. He's going to kill me.’
My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest as my breathing got out of control. I was in danger, danger lied right behind that door.
I didn't have a full grip on myself anymore. Clouded by the paranoid thought of my killer is right outside, I ran to my closet and dug through to find something.
A knife. A gun. I didn't care what it was.
I just needed something. ANYTHING.
I kept searching until something caught my eye in my peripheral view. I was drawn and reached out to it.
An old small pistol that I had stolen from my dad a few moments before I made my escape that night.
I locked eyes on the gun before slowly placing my other hand on my wrist, a way to tell myself to get a grip on myself.
I was on the edge of immediately killing the man, there was a sense of myself I couldn't get back anytime soon. I managed to settle on the idea of shooting Eddie the moment he shows signs of approaching me. Pure intentions or not.
I had no other choice. I really had no other choice…
I felt myself slowly rise and approach the door. I should be scared, afraid… Yet I wasn't.
I reached out to the doorknob and unlocked it quietly. Silent to the point that Eddie couldn't hear the lock on the other side.
Walking back, I braced myself for the upcoming events that would unfold. Both of us wouldn't make it out of this house fully intact.
With a heavy heart, I took a deep breath.
“Come in.”
There was no immediate response, I had almost started to doubt Eddie's entire appearance. Had I made his presence up entirely?
But to my doubts, the handle slowly turned as the door creaked open. As a reflex, I hid the gun behind my back, holding on to my last image of innocence.
It wasn't long before we locked eyes. I had to embrace his face, hopefully for the last time.
It took a lot to simply put on a show. I wanted to yell at him, attack him, kill him. It was all I ever knew from my family.
But I was better than my family, so I kept pretending. I kept acting naive.
I thought of my family, thought back to all of the life lessons that were thrown at me when I was just a little too young. I had to prepare for anything and everything, which is why I told myself to brace that outcome.
“Hello, Eddie. Is there something you need from me?” I slowly lifted a smile towards the man, turning every spiteful energy I carried in my soul into that fake smile.
I got no response, just that same eye contact from the moment he opened the door.
Was he scared of me? Possibly.
“Weather has been calming as of recently, hasn't it?” He suddenly spoke out, clearly ignoring my question. How rude.
“Yes. I suppose it has… Why do you ask? Surely you're leading to something.”
By every passing minute, the tension grew larger, something was going to arise any second now, and it will be anything but pretty.
“Happen to talk to an old buddy the other day, you'd be familiar with him, Y/N.”
“Really? I haven't talked to anyone as of recently. Who might that ‘buddy’ be?”
I knew who it was. I was ready to hear his name.
“You wouldn't happen to be close to my old friend Cletus, would you?”
To hear that name… It hurt, but I knew it had to be this way. I didn't want to believe it but knew that I had to, it was inevitable. It didn't help by any means when Eddie kept talking.
“Y'know, I managed to get a conversation with him since the man seems to like me… Slipped up and mentioned your name, just for him to be familiar with it.”
I stayed silent, the faulty smile still lightly on my face, but it no longer carried any pureness. It was a smile of defeat, because I could tell that Eddie knew he was right.
But I would be lying to myself if I was to say that this backstab was surprising.
After all, we were raised by Kasadys.
We were raised to please only ourselves.
It doesn't matter if you're family or not. If the reward wasn't beneficial, then you were to always be selfish and protect yourself.
Cletus didn't choose to snitch on me.
He had to.
Cletus knows that by every passing minute means he's getting closer and closer to death. It'll only be so long until he's finally out of that jail cell and having to endure the torture meeting his end. He had nothing to lose.
So when Eddie brought up my name, he had no choice but to drag me down to hell with him. It was only fair, if he had to go down, then he was going to bring the closest person with him.
And because of my careless actions when I was younger, it was me he was now determined to bring along.
Does Cletus not love me? No. He does. I know he does. I've met that man just a few times but know that he doesn't wanna spark a single word out of his mouth if it was toward someone he despised.
Yet when it came to me, I'm positive he would've let me run to him with open arms… Just like a good relative would.
But that's what would also be the cause of my death.
Cletus cares for me as a relative. He knows I hate this family just as much as he does.
So as the older relative, he took the initiative. Why would you leave one of the few family members you found manageable alone to suffer in this world?
He did what he believes would benefit both of us. He doesn't get dragged out of this world alone while I get dragged out of the dangers of our family.
And I think deep down, he knows I would've done the exact same if I was in his place.
Because in the end, that's what it was.
It was simply a game, the winner gets to see the loser die from their backstab.
Congrats Kasady, you won this game.
I lift my head up high, still locking eyes with Eddie. I accepted my faith as a way to show my way of sportsmanship.
“Cletus… No, I haven't seen that man in my life, what in the world gave you that idea?” I soon had a big grin on my face before laughing at my own joke. We both knew it was a lie, same only one of us got the humor out of it.
“Y/N… Look, I really don't wanna—”
“Eddie back the hell away from me.” I swiftly lift the pistol from my back and aim it towards Eddie's face. I see him trying to get close to me. I'm not gonna let him.
Eddie looked down to see his error before listening to me. He put his hands up, asking for me not to shoot.
Are you proud of me dad? Are you proud that I grew up to be just like you? No matter how hard I tried not to. Threatening people and causing harm to hide away the insecurities, that sounds exactly like you.
Because it was clear, I'm eventually going to shoot Eddie. He's not walking out of here in peace, my gut won't let him.
“So you were lying the whole time,” Eddie commented as he looked displeased. He's probably reflecting on my past actions and how good of an act I can play.
“Course I fuckin’ did, I mean… Who the fuck gives their child the last name Kasady by mistake.” I boldly walked towards Eddie until I got close to him, placing the gun right onto his head. It's not like he could do anything. “Even if I did name my child Kasady, I would still change it once I see how much shame it brought to the world.” I rambled while lowering my voice.
“You're a shady bitch, y'know,” Eddie complained.
“And you're a dumbass,” I complained back.
I took some steps back and soon took the gun off Eddie, pacing around my room as I comprehend the idiocy of the man in front of me.
“I mean, look at you, Eddie. You barge into someone's house with the last name Kasady, then proceed to ask questions revolving around the Kasadys… Just to take the suspect's words that easily?” I couldn't stop myself from laughing right in the man's face. “How slow are you, actually, I just gotta know.”
It was clear that I was pushing Eddie's buttons, he showed it on his face. There was a moment of silence as I cross my arms, always keeping the gun in a threatening direction.
Sudden Eddie started to laugh back, “You… You wanna know something?”
“What is it, Brock.”
“You're acting wasn't as good as you thought it was.” I felt pissed but figured he was just trying to get under my skin. Yet he kept going, “Y'know, I don't know if this is unintentional or not, but both you always had a way with saying words.”
...
Then it hit me.
This wasn't just some coincidence, Cletus never called Eddie over to chat because he ‘liked’ him. Eddie himself made the call because he knew it was the only way to get actual info concerning me.
If it was any other interviewer who questioned me about my name, I would've gotten away with it; but it had to be Eddie. It had to be one of the few people in the world who's accustomed to Cletus’ distinct phrasing.
Listening to me speak was as if he was listening to another Cletus.
What are the odds… I don't even wanna know.
I didn't feel any better when Eddie's light laughter rang in the background. I made myself look like an utter fool and it had to be at the worst of times.
I felt myself take a few steps back as my hand covered my face, the amount of embarrassment made me extremely aggravated. I don't want anyone to look at me. His laughing kept playing as if it was on repeat, I had become a laughing stock all because of Eddie. My entire life was ruined because of Eddie.
“…Y/N are you alright—” The calling of my name made me panic as I aimed the gun and shot at the noise, unable to stop myself when I had realize that it was at Eddie. My paranoia had made me break the only boundary I held myself to when it came to facing this man.
Yet I didn't see the effects of the shot.
I didn't see a thrown-back body being affected by a gun wound, I didn't hear the sounds of someone screaming in pain.
When I looked up to see the aftermath, I saw Eddie, while frightened, standing and not affected at all.
Something had caught the bullet midway towards Eddie.
Some sort of parasite.
“What the hell,” Words slip out of my mouth to the image. This wasn't how it was supposed to go at all. Everything was crumbling by the passing minute.
“See Y/N, I got a secret too… You can trust me.” I perked up to Eddie's words. I could trust him? He believes that I will keep his weird secret hidden in exchange for mine.
The offer seemed promising, both of us holding a life-ending secret the other owns. There was no chance Eddie could rat me out to the news…
But it can't be like that. You must keep a secret hidden and eliminate those who find out. If you were to ever fail to do that…
When I reminded myself of my morals, I could only look at the man with a deadpan face. Eddie and I locked eyes once more as I took a deep breath, placing the gun on my head.
If you were to ever fail in eliminating those who knew your secret, you must eliminate yourself to ensure safety.
“Y/N!” His cries ran in and out my ears as I felt myself hesitate to make the shot. I had recognized Eddie approach and trying to stop me. Yet before he could make it, I gathered all my energy and pulled the trigger.
The gunshot blocked out my hearing as I felt my body be shoved away just in time. The thing is, Eddie still wasn't at a close enough distance to stop me.
It had to be that damned parasite.
My body slammed to the floor as I tried to get ahold of my breathing. I had almost experienced death, just like I said I wanted to. I almost finished matters with my own hands. Yet in the end, I still laid there, unharmed.
My ear was still ringing, I could barely hear Eddie as I felt him lift me up and practically cradle me.
It was childish, but I couldn't find any more strength to push him away.
I didn't wanna move, I didn't wanna do anything. He truly had me, I was going to die because of Eddie.
Because of him, mom and dad will find their missing child. I didn't wanna imagine how they treat me when they get ahold of me.
“…I'm not gonna tell anybody, Y/N.” It was all I suddenly heard as my eyes widened. Why was Eddie so set on being buddy-buddy with me?
I couldn't bring myself to immediately respond, taking time to internally conversate with myself before opening my mouth, “It has to be that way, Eddie. Either you die or I kill myself. I can't have anyone find me. Rules are rules.”
There was a moment of silence between us, a moment where I just laid in Eddie's arms.
“But you're better than your family, which is why you gotta make your own rules.” It wasn't long before I felt myself tear up a little. ‘You are better than your family.’ I never felt more honored hearing a set of words in my life.
I got past my tears and spoke, unable to stop myself from crying a rainfall of tears, “Yeah… I am better than my family.”
I didn't know if Eddie was taking advantage of the situation or truly being modest. I can't guarantee a long era of safety, but if I am to one day die by my parents, then I'll go out doing something they could never do.
Putting my trust in someone.
“So, what's its name.” I suddenly ask; Eddie seemed confused until it clicked. For someone who had the upper hand against me, he really is a ditz.
“Venom… It's Venom.” He smiled at me, it felt genuine.
I finally found the power to push myself back onto my feet. Eddie followed along as I turn to him “Well. Eddie, Venom… happy to know I have someone I can trust.” we shared another set of smiles, before I bluntly stated, “…Now get out, I've seen you enough for today.” It took me a moment before realizing how harsh I was but it's not like I could help it.
Eddie chuckled either way and soon signed off after a farewell. Once he was out of my sight, I closed the door. I was honestly perplexed.
I was still standing in my room, in my house.
I wasn't being taken into interviews, I wasn't having to brace myself with facing my parents. I managed to end the day off knowing I'll live to see tomorrow.
I would say it felt relieving, yet I knew that deep down, there was no true word to describe how happy I was.
I walked into the kitchen not long after before remembering what I still had. I ran to the trash can to still see that note Eddie had given me before. The idea of digging in the trash felt grotesque, but I manned up and carefully got it out of the trash without touching anything else.
I washed my hands before taking a look at the note, saving Eddie's number on my phone.
I didn't know when I would see Eddie again, but knowing there was someone else in this world who had to bear with a deep secret alone managed to give me a small bit of hope for this world.
Maybe I'll turn the tables and be the one knocking at his door next time, who knows.
