1 "Shadows on the Wall"

Original Smallville Fanfiction

1.1 By Rich Wheeler

Disclamer: Once again, I have to put this in here. Smallville is not my show, nor are any of the characters, they belong to the WB. I am simply using them for my own sake to make a good story. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Voices

Paul Winters walks out the front door of the Winter's Dentistry building and closes it behind him, he takes out the key and locks it. Staying there late to get some extra work done he hurries towards his car to get home before his wife gets any more angry with him. There is a full moon out; Paul didn't like full moons…always seemed to scare him. He gets down the steps of the building and walks towards his car. Paul walks around it to the driver's side, he gets out another set of keys, his car keys. As he starts to unlock the door, a faint voice is heard from down an ally way across the street. "Paul…it's me Paul…"

The voice echoes in Paul Winter's head, the voice sounds so familiar, but he can't at all remember whom it belongs to. "Paul…remember me Paul? It's me…" The faint voice continues to come from the same direction…down the alley where a single street light stands shining. Paul leaves the key in the keyhole of the door…somehow he just can't leave the area, he has to find out whose voice it is. He crosses the street and begins to walk towards the alley until he gets directly under the street light. "You wouldn't forget about me…would you Paul? Not again…" The voice continues. Paul looks ahead, the form of a ten year old boy appears down the alley in front of him.

"Doug…Doug O'Dell? Is that you, Doug?" Paul asks.

"I knew you would remember, Paul." The young boy replies.

"No…no, it…it's not possible. You…but you…" Paul tries to finish his sentence but is too shocked to do so.

"I…died? Is that what you were going to say, Paul?" The boy asks.

"Yes…yes, Doug. You did die, all those years ago…you died in that old mine. And…and now you're back, just like when I last saw you." Paul says.

"Yes, Paul, now I'm back. Do you remember how I died, Paul?" The young boy asks.

"Doug…there was a cave in, the floor started to collapse…we all got out…except you." Paul replies.

"Yes, except me. You know, when the rocks started to fall and everything started to go black…I remember seeing you guys leaving, running like cowards away from me. My leg was stuck under a rock, there was time, Paul. There was time for you to help me, there was time for you to save my life." The young boy says, as he becomes angry.

"Doug…we didn't know what to do, we were all so scared." Paul says.

"You left me there, only ten years of age to die. I fell beneath over twenty feet below ground, the rocks toppled over me…piling up. I didn't have a chance, my air was running out…I remember being so scared I couldn't even cry." The boy continues.

"I'm so sorry, Doug…I'm just so sorry." Paul replies.

"Well…now there is no need for an apology. It's all in the past…" The young boy says as he walks to the right side of the ally towards the brick wall. As the young boy walks towards it, he morphs into an adult man about the same age as Paul Winters. He walks until he gets right up to the wall, then…he walks right into it. Paul walks backwards in terror, he is now scared and very confused as to how he just talked to his childhood friend who died when they and their friends were playing together. Two shadows now appear on the wall, Paul's…and Doug's. But Doug's shadow stands alone, no body casts it. The shadow of Doug O'Dell moves towards Paul faster and faster as Paul begins to move quickly away, back to his car. Soon Paul begins to run back down the alley. Doug's shadow jumps from wall to wall, following close behind Paul.

"Please! Please, Doug! I don't know who you are now…but please! Please don't hurt me!" Paul pleads.

"I'm sorry, Paul…but its payback time, buddy." Doug says. Paul turns the corner and rests on the side of the building, trying to catch his breath. He has never been so frightened in his life. Moments pass…Paul is too afraid to move. There is no sign of Doug around him anymore…he wants to run to his car, but he can't…he is frozen. Suddenly, the adult arms of Doug O'Dell reach out of the wall behind where Paul is resting upon and grab onto his neck. Doug begins to choke him, and then…he bashes his head into the brick wall over and over again…until Paul falls to the ground, dead. The arms sink back into the wall and the shadow of Doug O'Dell disappears.



The next day at the Beanery, Lex has paid a visit to Clark Kent for a talk over some coffee. "Come on, Clark…you have to tell her how you feel." Lex says as he takes a sip of his Latte.

"I can't do that, Lex…she has a boyfriend." Clark replies.

"That shouldn't stop you, I'm sure she would be glad to hear that you like her. Who knows…maybe she likes you back." Lex says.

"Lex, why do you care so much about Lana and me having a relationship?" Clark asks.

"Because I don't like seeing her with that quarterback anymore than you do, and Clark…you deserve her." Lex replies. Clark doesn't say anything; he goes into thought about what could happen if he told Lana how he really feels about her.

"I can't…not yet." Clark says.

"Then when?" Lex asks. Clark doesn't have an answer, he doesn't know when or if he'll ever tell her. Clark turns his head up and sees Chloe and Pete come through the doors of the Beanery. They see Clark and Lex and walk over to their table.

"Thought we'd find you two here." Chloe says as she and Pete each take a seat at the table.

"Hello, Chloe…it's nice to see you again." Lex says.

"You to, Lex. Hey, did you guys see today's newspaper?" Chloe says as she pulls it out of her bag and sets it on the table. The headline reads, "Dentist Paul Winters Beaten To Death Late Last Night."

"Looks like somebody didn't enjoy their root canal." Lex says.

"The back of his head was smashed in…there are fragments of his skull still around the crime scene." Pete says.

"Thanks for the visual aid, Pete. So who is the suspect this time? The Invisible Man…or Dracula?" Clark says.

"They haven't taken anybody in on this yet, but police are saying it's probably the work of a street gang or something." Chloe says.

"And let me guess…you don't believe that." Clark says.

"It's just that they found someone's fingerprints around the guy's neck…but they're in the front, like he was being strangled from behind, and then pulled back into the wall. That doesn't make sense, they found his body laying against the building, it's like someone would have to put their arms through the wall to get a hold of him." Chloe replies.

"Well, detective…looks like you have another case on your hands to get to the bottom of." Lex says to Chloe.

"The real detectives never seem to do their jobs right, so sometimes I need to step in. What do you think, Clark?" Chloe asks.

"I don't know…maybe the killer is someone with backward hands." Clark jokes.

"When something like this happens in Smallville you can never be too sure." Pete says. The four of them laugh a little and become silent for a few moments. Clark looks out the window and then, suddenly…voices appear in his head. Voices that are crying and yelling out for help, Clark becomes dizzy and steps out of his seat. The terrified voices continue to fill his head, making it very painful. The other three look as Clark holds his head in pain, they become scared of his condition and try to help him, but he drops to the floor…his head stinging with excruciating pain.



Clark is back home now after the voices have gone and he feels better, he's reassured his friends he is all right, so they let him go. Clark walks into the barn and sees his dad inside working. "Hey son, came to give your old dad a hand?" Jonathan Kent asks.

"Sure dad…you know I told you a couple days ago that I was getting headaches again, really, really bad ones." Clark says.

"Yeah, I remember Clark. Did you have another one?" Jonathan asks.

"Today, about an hour ago at the Beanery…I was talking with Chloe and Pete and Lex and all of a sudden these really scared voices came into my head…they just kept getting louder and louder and the pain just kept getting worse until I collapsed on the floor. I think I woke up a little later, my friends were around me wondering what had happened. Dad…I'm scared. I never know when they're going to happen." Clark says.

"Son, I don't know what I could tell you that might help in any way…but this is just another obstacle you're going to have to overcome." Jonathan replies.

"There's got to be something I can do, maybe take some extra strength pain killers." Clark says.

"Clark, you know aspirin and any other pill doesn't work on you. You got headaches when you were dealing with your vision problems, you have to learn how to control this like you did that." Jonathan says.

"I don't know how dad, I don't even know what this is…could I be reading minds? Before I could see through things, and I learned to control that…but I just don't know what this is…I don't know." Clark says.

"You'll find out sooner or later, Clark. Until then you'll have to learn to deal with it until you can control it." Jonathan replies.

"Yeah…sooner or later." Clark says.

"Now how about helping me out around here?" Jonathan asks.

"Sure, Dad…" Clark says as he walks towards his father to give him some help.



The next day at Smallville High School, the third hour bell has just rung and the students are leaving their classrooms and heading towards their next ones. Clark is still finishing something up and getting ready to leave while Chloe and Pete wait for him. The lights are still dimmed from when the Teacher, Mr. Stewart, turned on an overhead projector to show the class how to do their next assignment. "Come on, Clark…hurry up." Pete says as he waits by the door with Chloe.

"That's okay, guys, I'll catch up to you." Clark says as he nears completion of writing down a few things.

"Alright, Clark…later." Chloe says as the two leave. Clark finishes his writing and puts his book back in his backpack; he stands him and puts it on.

"See ya tomorrow, Mr. Stewart." Clark says as he heads out of the room.

"Oh, Mr. Kent…I need to talk to you for just a second before you go." Mr. Stewart says.

"Okay, what about?" Clark asks.

"I just wanted to say that you did an excellent job on your English paper, it was the first one I graded." Mr. Stewart says.

"Thanks, Mr. Stewart, I worked really hard on it." Clark replies.

"Well I hope you pursue writing, you have a talent that I haven't seen in years." Mr. Stewart says.

"Thanks again, Mr. Stewart. I'll think about that, so…I better be going." Clark says.

"Yes, have a good day, Mr. Kent." Mr. Stewart says as Clark walks out of the door. In the classroom the overhead light goes out. Mr. Stewart takes out the old bulb and throws it away. He opens the closet doors and takes out a new one and then walks back to the overhead and screws it in place. The overhead flashes back on again, but now…a shadow appears in light of the projector. A shadow of a man, that does not belong to Mr. Stewart. Mr. Stewart turns around and is startled by the shadow, falling a few steps backwards. He looks around himself to see who else is in the room casting that shadow…but there is no one.

"W-What's going on here?" Mr. Stewart asks.

"Hello, David…it's been a long time." The shadow of Doug O'Dell says.

"Oh…my god! Is this some kind of a joke, who is doing this?!" Mr. Stewart asks. The shadow moves out of the light, lurking around the dim light.

"It is no joke, David. Do you remember me?" The shadow asks somewhere around the room.

"No…no, I don't know who…or what you are." Mr. Stewart says looking around himself in fear.

"Oh I am a who, David…my name is Doug. Doug O'Dell." The voice of the shadow says, now somewhere else around the room.

"No…that can't be!" Mr. Stewart says.

"Now you remember…I couldn't forget you, so I knew you couldn't forget me." The shadow says, sounding closer to Mr. Stewart than before. David Stewart runs towards the light switch but is stopped…not by a shadow, but now by a man. Doug O'Dell grabs Mr. Stewart by the neck and begins choking him like he did with Paul Winters. "You could of saved me David…now who's going to save you?" Doug says as he continues to choke the life out of him.

In the hallway Clark is about half way to his next class when he forgets he left his notebook in class. Angrily, he hurries back to the classroom to grab his notebook. As Clark approaches the door he hears Mr. Stewart's choking and runs inside. He sees a man lifting Mr. Stewart in the air choking him out, Clark quickly turns on the lights and Doug O'Dell yells out in pain as he begins to burn from the light. He throws David Stewart to the ground and then he runs away and jumps through a wall. Clark helps Mr. Stewart sit up and then looks at the wall, which Doug O'Dell just leaped straight through without leaving a scratch on it. Clark doesn't know what to make of it, but he suddenly feels very glad he forgot his notebook.