The streets were busy with the chitter-chatter of people, faces blossomed with smiles, hearty laughs erupted from around, and the faint tune of playing violin and guitar knitted stars in the beautiful skies of life. Humans she saw everywhere, some concealing their scents with cologne, some hiding their bruised vessels behind expensive clothes, and some secreting their true faces with fake smiles.

An ordinary human would see a beautiful lively sight with life blossoming with its wings spread over the horizon, but Venom looked at it differently. It was a war field for her where everyone slayed, and struggled for survival. Faces concealed with masks and fake smiles, the screeching evil of their souls covered with the blankets of fake innocence in their eyes. She saw every vessel possessed by a demon, every heart stoned to death and every breath stale with the smell of death. They sinned in the dark of night and charity in the light of the days. Two-faced realities and two-faced lies were their total truth. She saw it all!

To her, no one was innocent except children, yes children, she pitied them to be in this cruel world. Watching their naïve existences holding hands with someone they think as their protectors, oblivious to the fact that they are the ones leading them into the darkness. At times, he wished could shoot down those twisted beings, freeing the innocent souls, but what good would that do? There will be another to lead it back to evil and it will go on forever.

She always told her victims how lucky they were to meet her granting them death and freedom from the evil pits of sins, they were living in. A soft touch against her cheek pulled her out of her thoughts and back into reality. Her orbs shifted toward the source of warmth against her cheek finding a nearly four years old boy dressed packed in warm clothes followed by red small snickers, standing in front of her. Chubby cheeks tinted red from the cold, a cute button nose with plump lips, and big doe eyes. Pure innocence kissed the boy's face. Venom felt drawn to him immediately.

She placed her hand over his and brought it down from her cheek, clasping hers around his to provide warmth against the cold wind.

"Are you alone?" He questioned while moving closer to the girl crawling onto the bench and sitting beside her.

"Are you sad? You look so down and quiet" Venom remained quiet listening to the kid with her gaze getting warmer the more she stared at him.

"My name is Lee Jihyun, you can call me Jihyun, what is your name?" The boy asked smiling at the quiet stranger he met.

"Call me Oh Jiahn.... or Jiahn" she spoke earning another heartwarming smile from him.

"Jihyun and Jiahn, perfect" He gave off a soft giggle with the apple of his cheeks turning to a light shade of pink. Venom couldn't help but adore the warm soul beside hers cold one.

"Do you have any friends Jiahn?"

"Uh, not really"

"Will you be my friend then?" The small boy asked with flushed cheeks while he fidgeted with his fingers.

"You want to be friends with me?" Venom asked pointing a finger to herself, eyes wide in shock at the request of the pure soul, she was amazed as to why an angel wanted to be friends with a devil-like her, fuming, and screeching evil, that fed on others' fear to grow.

"Yes Jiahn, please be my friend" The boy reached forth to hold her hand while placing his innocent request.

"Sure, if you want to"

"Yay! I made a new friend. Let's be best friends Jiahn, I want to tell my classmates that I have a very nice and pretty best friend too, would you visit my school?" Jihyun squealed loudly in joy. He leaned forth throwing both arms around the girl's waist, offering a hug that left the girl stunned by the warm actions, A soft genuine smile crawled its way to her lips and she pulled the kid into her embrace.

"What if I'm not nice?"

"That is not possible, dad always says there are both good and bad sides to a person, I'm sure you are nice too, see you didn't hand me down, so that means you are a nice person at heart."

His words left her deep in thought.

"Good is just a disguise for evil to hide, Jihyun. All these faces you see around are wearing a smile, right? But, how do you know if they are real and not fake"

Jihyun glanced up towards the former and curled his lower lip into a pout.

"That is a scary thought"

The realization hit her popping the bubble of her thoughts and she looked down at the little boy in her arms. He was too pure to differentiate, he wouldn't understand it just yet.

"Would you like a candy Jihyun?" She asked instantly changing the topic watching the boy's eyes glitter at the mention of the sweet poison. He gave an eager nod peering at the girl with curious eyes as she slid her hand into her pockets retracting a wrapped caramel stick.

"Here you go" She unwrapped the candy and rose it to see the shine in his eyes intensified.

It always left her astonished to see children find happiness in the simplest and smallest of things. Deep down somewhere she wanted to know if she ever had the same too. Maybe when her mother was alive, maybe in that room she died, maybe she too had many toys and candies. But all she could remember were the many blades she had and how to kill with them. Maybe she never had a childhood.

But how would it feel to have one?

"Jihyun, How many times have I told you not to wander off on your own like this?"

A woman yelled strolling towards them with swift steps, her glare focused on the boy as she reached them leaving Jihyun to snuggle more into the girl who held him. His eyes exposed the sense of displease he felt seeing the woman.

"Ms. Jae, this is my new friend, Jiahn" the boy replied peering at the girl with warm eyes, who smiled in return.

The woman leaned forth and grabbed the kid by his arm, yanking at it, she pulled him away. Snatching the comforting feeling the She-devil was having. She felt the light engulfing her existence to finally die and leave the cracked twisted and broken soul to mourn on its unhealed wounds left just like that. The evil inside her crept up bittering the back of her throat, the rare warm hue to those hazel orbs faded, replaced by the one who saw the world as a war field of demons, darkness, and evil.

"I'm so sorry if he caused you any trouble, He is one heck of a troublesome kid" The woman offered a bow as an apology not realizing she had done wrong.

"It's okay" She muttered under her breath with her face straight and emotionless.

"Let's go now, enough of bothering others like this, your father would be so displeased to know how bothersome his son is, if only I knew he had a kid I would have poisoned you before marrying him" The woman dragged the boy along yanking at his arm, whose head remained turned around toward the sweet stranger he had met. Watery eyes and gloomy orbs were all he had now.

For a moment, Venom felt a tug to her heart, she didn't like the way that woman treated him or how she hauled him away, the evils inside her screamed to finish off the one who snatched her peace away, shoot the woman down and take the boy away, take him away, take away what you want, Venom do it, yet...

The gun stayed cold in its holster around her waist, the knives remained untouched placed in the long boots she wore. And just like that, the world around her changed back to the normal suffocating one.

In the land of darkness and shadow

Where demons rule with power and might

A war rages on with no end in sight.

Invisible forces collide and clash

With swords of fire and magic spells

The skies are lit with flashes of red and green.

The battlefield echoes with roars and screams

As the demon armies fight for their right

To conquer and rule this realm of night.

Blood is shed and souls are lost

In this war of demons, at such a great cost

Brother fights against brother, with no remorse.

In the land of darkness and shadow

Where angels remain buried in dead meadows

Venom~

ℑ𝔶𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔳𝔬𝔱𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔡𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔰.
𝔜𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔟𝔢𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔯
𝕍𝕍