The Venable Chronicles (W.V. x Reader)

Chapter 2

TW: Gun; Minor character death; brief descriptions of gore

I was shoved out of my sleep in the van when I woke up. Not a dream. "Put on this hazmat suit." the man said.

I did as told and opened the car door and stepped out. The place looked like the outside of a tacky haunted mansion. Fog covered the ground so you couldn't really see where you were stepping. In the middle was a building with no windows and only one door. I thought this place was underground? False advertisement I guess.

I was pushed by the two men, signaling I should be walking towards it. I did so, I mean there wasn't anywhere else to go really. As we got closer, I saw four figures. Two of them were standing up, I assumed they were guards. And the other two were... kneeling? "Please we didn't do anything wrong!" one of them sobbed.

As we got even closer I saw that the two guards had guns to the kneeling people's heads. Oh shit. I kept looking at them, unable to take my eyes away from the scene in front of me. I was right in front of them when one of the guns went off, I knew to not look at it. I could never stand the sight of blood, it made me queasy. My eyes opened and were immediately met with the others' fearful gaze. I was unable to move, a moment frozen in time. But time goes on. And in that next moment the other gun went off and a sickening splatter was heard. The two guards in front of me yelled at me to 'Hurry up'.

I couldn't move, I was stuck there, with my eyes glued, not closed, but opened.

I was roughly grabbed by the arm, yet still I couldn't look away. I was dragged towards the lone door, but I couldn't look away. I just couldn't. If I did, I'd just be avoiding the true horror of this place. That this wasn't a place of salvation. But a new kind of death. Death from the inside.

Nothing hurt more than having to look away from the scene and having the image burned behind my eyes. His face. Their sobs. Their eyes.

Eventually we came upon this big tiled room. I was told to stand over a vent, so I did. I was sprayed by a harsh stream of smoke. I couldn't tell if it was hot or cold, but by the end my skin felt itchy and raw. I shivered against the cold air.

A loud tapping could be heard. Oh god what now? I shifted my eyes over to the hallway entrance and there stood a woman. My eyes glided up her figure, taking note of the dark cane held in her right hand. They stopped at her face. Oh my god, her face. Seeing how this day was going, you'd think that it'd be a bad 'oh my god', but no. It was the complete opposite. Her face was gorgeous. Cursed by Aphrodite herself. Cheekbones that could cut marble and lips that looked softer than morning dew. If only her outer beauty matched her insides. As soon as we made eye contact-- oh god and her eyes too --she twitched her lip up in disgust. She hit her cane on the ground, and I flinched at the sudden noise. I was still shaken up about what happened outside.

She seemed to enjoy seeing my hyper-nervous state. "I'm Wilhemina Venable." She said, "Welcome to outpost three."

She hit her cane again. She really likes doing that. She turned around and I followed her. Jesus I'm such a follower, not once have I opposed anything that people are doing to me today. Should I say something? Ask a question? She hasn't said anything in a while, is she waiting for me? As we were walking forward, we came upon an intersection of many hallways. A lit fire was in the middle, though I barely felt any heat coming from it. "This is a fallout shelter?" I asked.

"It was a former boys school, before it was bought by the Cooperative."

"An underground school?"

My question didn't get a real answer. "The Cooperative got their hands on it once they realized what was going to happen." she said.

For a while I said nothing. What is happening? From all I've seen the ground is just covered in fog. That's not a lot of damage compared to what I thought was gonna happen. Wait, what even is the Cooperative? Just as I was about to ask that question she started, "The Cooperative isn't made up of nations or armies. It's a collection of the dozen greatest minds mankind has to offer."

Wilhemina stopped just before a staircase, and turned to look at me. Her eyes were as hard as rock, maybe even harder, and definitely more sharp than any blade. Then I looked down at my clothes. What am I wearing? That's so-- oh. It was my 'Man I Love Frogs' sweater, aka my MILF sweater. She was either looking at that or the numerous drool stains on it from me sleeping in it. I cleared my throat, looked around at the candles and asked, "Dozens of geniuses and they couldn't think of installing a generator?"

She looked up at me, furrowed her brows and continued up the stairs. I was about to ask why she ignored my question when she said, "Technology is what ruined the world. It made people think they were all equal, when they are, in fact, not. Fortunately that has all been erased."

She paused after that. Maybe she knew I had to take a minute to process everything she was saying, or she just did it for dramatic effect. "I'll show you to your room. As a purple, you will be given a private suite."

"Purple?"

"Those worthy of survival."

She said that as if it gave some form of clarity. I suppose it did, but were there more ranks? If so, how many? Are purple's the highest on the social standing? How many purples are there anyway? She says it like there are others. There must be those people out there-- I shook my head. I don't want to think about that anymore.

Wilhemina turned to look at me again. I was about to ask what was when I realized she was standing in front of an open door. I looked into the room and then back at her. I could tell she was getting fed up by my cluelessness, so I slipped inside without another word. I dropped my bed on the bed and then unzipped it to take out my clothes. I only bought one change so I don't know how I'm supposed to fill this whole closet. I opened the wooden door and my jaw dropped. The most stunning purple gowns I have ever seen were hanging on the rack in it. Maybe this place isn't so bad after all. As I thought that, I remembered the two people. Ugh will that ever leave my brain?

My parents always used to scold me for being selfish, 'Caught up in my own little world' they'd say. Well now it is just me and my own little world left.