Taylor West (Earth 2)

Maddie (Estranged Sister)

Nathan Carlson (Ex-boyfriend)

Taylor West (Earth 2) is a secondary instance of the character Taylor West in Jack's novels. This instance has only appeared in one novel to date, 'Two of the Same', a part of the Symbiosis Series. Taylor meets the main instance of Taylor West after she accidentally travels to Earth 2. She also appears as a minor character in *Breaking Reality*.

## Background

Taylor West from Earth 2 was born on October 27, 2007, just like all other instances of Taylor. Her life is exactly the same as in the original timeline, except in September of 2020 she does not obtain the Venom Symbiote. How or why this happens is never explicitly mentioned, though it is presumed she simply never went to the beach where Venom joined to Taylor in Earth 1. Taylor's life continues to be miserable, though her family, Scout and John remain heavily supportive of Taylor.

At around the age of 14, Taylor's boyfriend Nathan is caught having an affair, which seems to send Taylor into a tailspin of depression and angst, especially as Nathan joins the dark side and bullies her extremely. It is heavily implied that this Taylor did try to kill herself, but the attempt either failed, or she ended up not attempting to at all. Living a monotone and boring life, trapped in a cycle she tries to remain on the bright side of life, but this seems to drift further and further away.

## Two of The Same

The book opens with Taylor doing homework on her laptop. She is sixteen, but doesn't appear interested in life, and in fact seems mildly jealous over her brother's accomplishments, but still laughs at her sisters drugged, drunken lifestyle that led to her dropping out of school. While eating dinner with her family, a massive power surge strikes the house and the family notices a blue lit object falling from the sky. Rushing out to investigate, they are shocked to meet Taylor 1, pretty unharmed despite falling from the sky.

The two share an awkward and confusing first meeting and Taylor takes note of Venom's travels through the other Taylor's eyes but doesn't have the slightest clue as to what it is. Her father, John, invites the other Taylor in for a cup of tea just so she can recover and get her bearing, suggesting he also views her as a daughter.

Taylor 1 tells the West family a flashback about her life, and Taylor 2 realizes just how damaged this other version of her is. The two groups agree on the prospect of parallel universes are at play, the first time such a concept is mentioned in story. Then Taylor mentions that she wants to meet Venom, to which their guests agree to. She feels disgust and horror when observing Venom, but soon shakes this off as her scientific curiosity gets the better of her. Venom starts looking around for chocolate, and Taylor points it out to him. Then her doppleganger mentions her having epilepsy, to which Taylor had been hiding for years now. Her family quickly presses this issue onto Taylor, who flees. However, she soon reconciles with her father as long as she agrees to be careful.

A few days later, Taylor slightly selfishly recruits her doppleganger to drive her to school, hoping she can protect her from her bullies. She admits this is selfish, though she's tired of constantly living in fear every day of her life. Her attempts to evade her bullies fail and they begin beating on her, before Venom arrives to help. Taylor describes even further horror seeing Venom in his ultimate form. Venom mocks the bullies before scaring them off. He plays off for the camera, which terrifies Taylor before he disappears, leaving her to wonder if he is actually helping her. Later that day, a crow attacks Taylor and bites her... only to reveal Venom has left her doppleganger and is now bonding to her.

Venom is far more arrogant and hostile to Taylor and commands her and threatens to kill her if she disobeys him any way once so ever. This comes to fruition as he talks and chats like nothing has changed, but affirming he intends to stay with her. During her functions test, Venom talks and distracts her, preventing her from finishing her exams, to her *extreme* annoyance, which only alienates the symbiote further. When Taylor shows up to get Venom back, Venom tortures his host until she dies.

Taylor is dead for about a day, before she resurrects via Venom. Sh describes death as cold and lonely, and that the Grim Reaper was a jerk. Soon, Taylor is ready to return home, and she says a last goodbye to her friends. The Creator appears, and Taylor appears ready to kill him, but he snaps his fingers and disappears, having everyone except Taylor and her family forget about Venom killing her. Afterwards, the two dopplegangers share a final goodbye, and Taylor Primary gives Taylor Secondary a portal device to travel between worlds.

## Personality

Taylor's personality is very similar to the other instances. She is very shy, timid, and without Venom, lacks any sort of confidence in herself onceover. Taylor also has temporal lobe epilepsy but since Venom cannot prevent or limit the seizures, she lives every day in paralyzing fear of having a seizure and revealing the truth to her family. She is secretive about herself and doesn't trust people easily. Taylor's anti-social disorder is far more prevalent.