Disclaimer: I do not own or am affiliated with the SMALLVILLE series aired on CW. The character and series belong to their respected owners. This fanfiction is truly for entertainment purpose. Thank you.

The Queen Of Fables

Summary:

A sorceress has arrived in Smallville after being spellbound into a book by a legendary beauty. Now, she's out for revenge…and has her eyes set out on Chloe! Can Clark be her Prince Charming and save her from eternal sleep? Or will this fable have a tragic ending?

Category: Romance/Action/Suspense

Pairing: Chlark

Time Line: Beginnings of Season 7

Chapter One: Once Upon a Time…

"Mommy, read me a story?" the small child begged her mother. The woman paused, in mid movement of turning on the child's night-light and glanced back.

"Lauren, it's late. I'll read you a story on the road tomorrow, 'k?"

"Please Mom?! I promise I'll behave and won't bug you when you read to me." Lauren crawled from under her covers and knelt on the butterfly printed mattress. "I promise!" Her mother stopped, chewed on her lower lip but sighed dejectedly.

"Alright. Scoot over," the little girl squeaked in glee and did as her mother complied. "What do you want me to read?"

"Read the book you found me, mommy!" The mother paused, combing back a strand of black hair from her face. She looked at her daughter in confusion.

"Book?"

"Yeah. The one from the attic! Papa said you found it and were gonna give it to me!"

"He said that, huh?" The woman hid an annoyed look from the small child. "Fine, where did he put it?" She rose from the mattress.

"In the kitchen," Lauren dug herself into the oddly matching covers and pounded her feet against it anxiously.

"Alright," her mother smiled, nudged her daughter's nose, and walked quietly out of the room. She could hear the low mumble of the television from the living room. She rolled her eyes. Men and their recorded games. They'd already seen it once, why record it? Readjusting the robe she had gotten from her mother in law, she padded her way into the spacious living room. "You shouldn't give away presents I don't intend, babe," she greeted.

"Huh?" the dark browned man bothered to glance back at his wife. Must she interrupt right as the quarterback was making his move? THE move that won the team the game?

"Lauren said I was going to give her a book or something like that?"

"Oh," he replied, gluing his eyes back on the screen, "Yeah, some sort of fairy tale book I found in one of the boxes up there. Figured she'd like it."

"A book? Christ, that stuff up there must be old. I haven't read a book like that since, what, five years old?"

"Exactly why I thought Lauren would like it, babe."

"Well, where is it?" she called over her shoulder, digging into the fridge and lightening up the darkened kitchen with its light.

"It's on the counter. It looks old though, so, she may not like it."

"I dunno, Steve. She's keeping up with the mud pies from last week." She heard the booming laugh of her husband's and allowed herself a smile. Always the charmer, that man was. Deciding against the midnight cravings of the chocolate cake, she turned and glared at the book on the counter. She swore it wasn't there when she had looked for it. Okay, more like glanced around for it. Shutting the door with her foot, she leaned onto the edge of the sink and grasped the book. Instantly, a slight shock met her fingers as they touched the weathered cover. "Ouch," she mumbled, rubbing the hurt pads of her fingers. Glaring once again at the offending object, she more sturdily grasped the book and leaned her back against the counter. The book certainly was old. Brown leather like material covered the worn pages, reflective gold lettering, now faded, decorated the leather, once probably having been beautiful. With a frown, she glanced at the too gold painted edges of the pages. In fact, probably far older than she was. Maybe her mother had owned it. Shrugging, she opened the cover. Suddenly, booming thunder screeched outside.

"Geez, that was loud!" Steve made his way from the recliner to the large windows north of the driveway. He stared out the shields, and his eyes widened at the rolling dark clouds in the sky. "Swore that sky was clear a second ago." Recovering from the shock, the mother closed the book and made her way out of the kitchen.

"Steve, I'm gonna read Lauren a story 'cause she's begging for one so, I'll see you in bed in a few?" He mumbled a feeble 'yeah' and continued to stare at the sudden climate change. He could literally see his breath reflected on the window. Cautiously, he placed his palm on the window and snatched it quickly back. It was freezing outside!

"What the hell?" he mumbled. Swearing, he began to turn off everything in the living room, deciding to head for bed.

Lauren looked up when her mother came into the room.

"Did you find it?"

"Yup. Now, just one story, Lauren. And that's it," Lauren nodded her head vigorously and smiled cheerfully up at her mother. Smiling in reply, the woman sat aside the girl and pried open the book. "Okay. Well, here's a story I recognize. It's called 'Snow White'."

"Yay! That's my favorite!"

"You heard it before?"

"I saw it on TV at grandpa's!"

"Ooh. Well, let's start, shall we?" Cuddling up to her mother a source of warmth, Lauren peered down into the richly decorated illustrations of the book, showing a beautiful woman who surprisingly looked a lot like her mother, branding a flowing yellow skirt and white blouse with a red cloak.

"Mommy, it's you," she whispered. Pausing before she could begin, the mother humored her daughter and bothered to glance down. Lightning lit up the dark room to reveal a painted image of herself, surrounded by forest grasses and trees, blue birds calling out from above.

"Heh. Well, what do you know," she mumbled, and blinked back to the print. "Okay," she cleared her throat, "Once upon a time…"

Steve closed the faucet and rubbed his wet hands on the towel on the ring. Sure was cold out tonight. Maybe they should put the dogs in the garage, being it too cold for them out there. He chuckled as he hit the motion censored lighting system for the bathroom. Of course, they had to be too stupid not to take shelter in the dog igloos Lauren has asked for them as a 'Christmas present'. Groaning at newly found fatigue, he flopped down onto the covers. He suddenly sat up as his back touched something gooey.

"The hell?" He reached a hand back into the gooey substance. He lifted partial of it with his fingers, still dripping from the source as he did. He sniffed it once and coughed. Reaching over, he turned on the lamp aside his pillow. Nothing happened. He tried it again. Nothing. He searched for the red numbers indicating the hour by the dresser but did not find them. Great, the lights were gone. Stupid storm! Suddenly, something slivered from behind him. Grunting in surprise, he made a move to get up from the mattress. In a flash, he was jerked onto his back, feeling the substance sliver onto his mouth instantly to muffle his surprise scream. Rank odor filtered his nose, churning his stomach and making his eyes water. God! What was going on? He tried calling out to his wife, but the damn thing kept him from making a sound! Slowly it began to extend towards the rest of his face. He struggled against it, more forcefully now that the initial shock was waning. But the more he struggled, the more he seemed to become consumed by the slushy ink like substance. He again tried to call out but the substance began to place pressure onto his ribcage, beginning to construct into a figure vertically on his chest. His eyes widened in sync as it grew eyes. They opened to empty socket of eerie yellow light. His vision was beginning to go black, making him struggle more fiercely for air. He thought he saw the thing on his chest grin maliciously at him, eyes glowing with evil glee. But he couldn't be sure anymore as his limbs grew heavy and his energy was slowly ebbing away.

"…And so the Queen, jealous of Snow White's beauty, sent out a hunter-" thunder interrupted the mother as it literally shook the house. She cursed under her breath.

"Mommy?" she whispered. Gulping down the chilly sense of dread, the mother glanced down at her daughter.

"Lauren-" she stopped short as something from the corner of her eyes shifted in the dark. She did a double take at the corner but figured it had been the over stuffed bear that sat in the 'time out chair', falling out of its seat. "Uhm. Baby? I think it's time we called it a night." She turned back to her daughter to find her suddenly hidden under the covers. "Lauren?" She heard no reply. Thunder boomed, followed by lightning. Grasping the edges of the cover, she pulled them back as a scream erupted from her throat. Gone was the kid, and what remained were heaps of pajamas, that amongst them cradled a small gingerbread cookie, in the form of a little girl. Thunder again boomed. Suddenly, the small windows to the girl's room burst open, allowing gulfs of cold air to rush inside. Another scream of surprise escaped her mouth as she dug for cover, the book falling from her lap to the bed. "Steve?!" she called out. The wind was much more stronger than an average storm's. She shakily rose as her hand feebly searched for her daughter. "Steve!?" she called again, her gaze blurry at the fury of the wind.

Then she felt it. A tremor. It started out so small she thought she had imagined it. Then the following wave hit stronger. And the next, stronger than that. And stronger, and stronger, and stronger, until she had difficulty to stand upright. "STEVE?! LAUREN?!" she called out. No response. By now, the aimlessly violent wind had created a circular current that swirled around her and the bed, inching in closer by the second. She was practically deaf now, because of the wind's roar, and thought herself blind for not being able to see through the small veil of tears in her eyes. Suddenly, as if to lure her out of blindness, an eerie glow of white brought her attention to the bed. And the source of it, made her tilt back, making her loose her balance. The sudden source of light emitted from the worn book, whose leaves were beginning to push the heavy cover off of them. Now, motionless from shock and disbelief, the light got stronger as the cover finally released the leaves, some of them fluttering into the air. "…Christ…" she mumbled as the sudden light turned maliciously red, making shadows in the room dance evilly in corners. Then, with a sudden chill running down her spin, did she realize that the shadows were in fact, moving. And not only moving, growling. And hissing. And shaping into small creatures before her very eyes. She tried to scream, but the roar of the wind grew intensely. And in a blink of an eye, they rose from the shadowed corners and pounced on her, instantly consuming her in darkness.

The light grew strong for a moment, silencing the winds and making everything motionless before suddenly disappearing and leaving darkness. A nude figure stood crouched where the book laid not a second ago, now a pile of shredded paper. The figure rose gently and placed her bare feet onto the carpeted floor. Where was she? Glancing around, she saw the demons at work on the body of a woman. Or, what remained of her. A sickening smile suddenly tugged at her lips. She liked this place already. Glancing back, she noticed the small bundle of clothing and the little girl cooking staring at her with gumdrop eyes. She mocked a smile and turned her back at her. Now, she stood on the hall of the place. Nonchalantly, she gazed as the goo made a home for itself as it spread hazardously over everything, much like spider webs in abandoned places. Allowing herself not to get dirty, she stepped on the few clean spots on the carpet and made her way to a large room, pitched in darkness much like the rest of the house.

"Where are you?" she called out. She could only be summoned out of that book by one person. And so far, she was no where in sight. "What's the matter, are you afraid?" she taunted. Silence. "Hmm." She tiptoed a few more steps when suddenly, the room was lit with a sudden hum from the outside, illuminating the ball of flame-less light above her on the ceiling. She stood in guard peering all around her. Suddenly, the large square in front of her lit up as well and, on it's flat surface, revealed moving pictures. Widening her eyes in precaution, she eased from her stand and glared at the box. People squawked and shouted at a man standing at the entrance of a building, lights flashing every and then at the man's direction. Slowly, letters appeared at the bottom of the box's surface, reading Luthor Industries: Questionable Behavior ! Metropolis News Channel 23 Exclusive. She heard the demons slither their way towards the room she was currently in. And suddenly, emitting a feral growl from her throat, she saw her! Who was she fooling with those fake severed blond locks? Certainly not her. "Snow white…!" she growled out through clenched teeth. Hugging her arms to herself, she studied the box more considerably. A crystal ball of some sort? She touched the surface with precaution and ran a pad of her pale fingers over it. She detected no foul magic from it. Frowning, she again searched for Snow White's face. She caught a glimpse of it before the picture was gone altogether and a plain woman thanked some man before continuing to talk. Whatever this thing was, it had revealed her of Snow White's location. Smiling in satisfaction, she touched in collar bone as she looked down at her nude form. She needed to dress if she was going to go and find her tonight. Turning on her heel, she moved about the house until she ended up in the room where the inkiness has originated this time and had cocooned around a man. Boxes at the cocoon's far right caught her attention. Labeled 'clothes', she made her way to it and began her search for something suitable. She grew frustrated as she did not find a dress or cloak of any kind. The only thing this damnable box held was leggings for a man, ranging from large to rather skinny! She turned, deciding to continue her search elsewhere, when she stepped onto a rectangular object on the floor. Picking it up and peeling away some of the goo, she turned it and viewed the portrait of a man, woman, and small child. Curiously, she studied the woman's wardrobe. Perhaps, this was how the females dressed in what ever time she had awaken in. Glancing back, she dug into the clothes.

The dogs barked relentlessly at the house. No one came out to silence them or offer to put them into the house in the warmth. Just when the smaller of the two's barking began to wane, the back door opened and out walked a foreign woman. With new vigor, the barked at the stranger, the hackles on the back of their necks standing on end. The woman turned to glare at them, instantly silencing them in mid whimper. "There. Was that so hard?" she taunted and faced the rumbling skies. She lifted an arm in a fashion as if lifting the edge of a cap upward with her right arm. With sudden swiftness, she made a move to wrap herself in the 'invisible cloak', warping into an anamorphous cloud, twisting and shifting to suddenly slider into the night sky, away from view.

A/N: I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter of what hopefully will turn into a story. If not, well, we'll see. This is my first SMALLVILLE fanfiction, so I would ask if you guys will have patience with me. I'm not so familiar with SMALLVILLE as I'd like to. But, we'll see where this takes us.

Till hopefully the next chapter,

inuyasharbd15fan09