Chapter One- Evil Comes To Call
Thick fog rolled into Smallville and hovered over the ground like a blanket. It's sticky and unwelcomed fingers slithered over every surface, invading the private spaces between buildings and pooling into well trimmed backyards. With the morning sun still an hour away from rising, the overnight lamps cast an eerie orange glow over Main Street, it's light barely breaking through the misty barrier.
Fog is not a silent beast. As it sweeps over the land, it whispers to the rolling grass and shuffling leaves and carries with it the memories of where it has been before. People who get caught in fog feel uneasy because they know they are being watched. They pull their coats tightly around them, and try to ignore it's waspy fingers that grasp at their clothes and brush their faces with wet, sticky kisses.
Occasionally, there are those who do not fear the fog. They walk in purposeful strides and cut through like a knife, their footfalls echoing loudly on the pavement. These people are unafraid because they have their own dark work to do. They cherish the fog because it helps to cover up whatever evil they want to commit.
One such a person is a woman named Jennifer Stevens. She walks briskly to work, her eyes staring straight ahead, her heart thundering in her chest. As she nears the Luthor Estate, she feels excitement welling within her and she wants to laugh like a maniac for what she is about to do. Her body is oblivious to the fog's curiosity, and she doesn't even notice the way it filters through her hair and flows into her body like smoke. She breathes it in and lets it swim through her lungs in deep, measured breaths before blowing it out again carelessly. Jennifer cannot hear the whispers, and does not realize that the fog is traveling with her, completely aware of her scheme.
The castle towers loom in the distance, and she shivers in anticipation. After the many months of planning she was finally about to accomplish her goal. The labor it took to make every piece of the puzzle fit together, the sacrifices she's made of her pride and dignity to be in the perfect position, would in only a few minutes time be worth everything.
She made it through the gate easily and smiled at the guard on duty. He smiled back with a lazy grin, dazzled it seemed by her relatively pretty face and auburn hair. As she walked away, her face turned to stone and she focused again on her task, not giving the ignorant guard another thought. He was beneath her right now, as everyone was.
During the long walk up the drive, Jennifer dreamed about what tomorrow would bring. Certainly she would be in the news and her fame would reach even the furthermost corners of the globe. They would remember her name forever. She skipped up the steps that led to the servants entrance and wiped her feet before going inside.
Very few people were up at this early hour, and they all went about their business quietly, flitting around like little bugs. Jennifer did not worry about these people seeing her, rather she hoped they would, and went out of her way to talk to them.
"Good morning Trina," she trilled at the East Wing head housekeeper. The woman looked over at her with furrowed brows, as if annoyed to be spoken to so early in the morning. "Have a lovely day," Jennifer said sweetly as she walked past. The wake she left behind was like a tidal wave, which disturbed the old woman, though she didn't know why. Trina watched suspiciously as she left the room, and then went back to work not giving it another thought.
Jennifer went up the stairs to the family quarters, and walked down the hall towards the children's rooms. There was a television room, two large playrooms, an empty nursery (baby Julian was still sleeping in his parent's room), one year old Alexander's room, which was also currently empty and then four year old Katherine's room and it was this one that she stopped at.
Taking a deep breath, Jennifer turned the knob and entered the little girl's room. Even with shadows spread out everywhere, you could still see that the room was pink. Lana had painted it herself, adding unicorns and fairies and every other storybook creature she could think of. It was a room fit for a princess.
Jennifer closed the door behind her quietly and looked around. Tiny, white table and chairs sat in the corner, a delicate tea service placed on top. Nearby was a doll shelf that held dozens of the most beautiful, and likely expensive, dolls she had ever seen. She selected two, and placed them in the chairs, adding cups and saucers to their place settings, and napkins in their laps. Satisfied, she smiled and continued her tour.
The closet surprised her, even though it shouldn't have. Hundreds of dresses and outfits were hung neatly side by side. Hats and shoes and drawers full of stockings of bows overflowed. This was one pampered child! It seemed almost sad to take her away from all of this, but it had to be done.
Jennifer finally set her eyes on the little bed where Katherine slept with her younger brother Alexander. They clung to matching brown bears that each had the names "Alex" and "Kate" stitched across their tummies. She knew that there was another bear in the nursery which bore the name "Jack."
Three privileged children, and they were all worthy targets. She easily could have taken Jack if he were sleeping in his bassinet, but he was still a baby and would have been too much trouble. Alex too was still a mite young as well, and that left Kate, the shining jewel of them all. Jennifer reached out and touched her light brown wavy hair and smoothed it away from her face like a mother would. Like she would from now on.
Katherine opened her eyes and looked around sleepily, focusing on the intruder in her room.
"Shhh," Jennifer said, holding a finger to her lips. She held her arms out, and Kate allowed herself to be picked up. The poor girl was still sleepy, and laid her head against her nanny's chest, closing her heavy eyes in exhaustion. Jennifer held her for a moment, breathing in her smell and rocking her lightly in her arms. She turned to where she knew the camera would see her, and smiled brightly, her eyes sparkling wickedly.
And then, drawing on the electricity in the room, Jennifer concentrated the energy around her, pinpointed her trajectory and disappeared, leaving the slight smell of sulphur in the air. Alexander rolled over in his sleep and reached out for his sister like he always did, but all he could find was the "Kate" bear.
Graciela Ortega had a great many responsibilities in the Luthor household, chief of which was to take care of Lana. She was not a nanny or a housekeeper, though she had no problem advising others on how to do both. She'd been trained by the best and knew exactly how a house like the Luthor Mansion needed to be run.
Graciela suddenly found herself in need of work when her former employer, Penelope Van Buren had a stroke and could no longer speak. Her son (cheap bastard that he was) was sending her away to a retirement home, and Graciela's services would no longer be needed. Penelope still had the use of her left hand though, and with one clumsily handwritten note, secured Graciela's future by giving her to Lana Luthor.
She was not an indentured servant, far from it. In fact she had accumulated more money than most ordinary women in Metropolis, and as such was highly respected. But when she took work, she was fiercely loyal to her employer, and since she was nearing middle age already, she knew she would be working for Mrs. Luthor until she retired.
The week after Lana returned home from her honeymoon, she'd been swarmed with tasks that needed completion. The most important of those were the Thank You notes.
"Do I have to write them all out by hand?" Lana had asked with wide eyes.
"Yes, Mrs Luthor. It's important to your station now that you show that you like and care about all of these people, even if you don't."
"But there are hundreds. . ."
"There are 327," Graciela pointed out. Lana's face fell and she felt a little sorry for her. "A man's reputation is based on his work, his wife and his children," she told her. "Mr. Luthor's work is good, his wife is a girl, and his child is still cooking, so you see where this situation can improve?"
Lana nodded and laid a protective hand over her still flat belly. That one was going to take a while.
Graciela handed Lana a stack of stationary, a few pens and opened the first envelope. "Mr. and Mrs. David Hill," she said, nodding towards the paper, and Lana started writing. After every fifty they took a break where Graciela would massage the feeling back into Lana's hand and arm. By the time they finished, Lana's entire arm was on ice, and her hand was purple from broken capillaries. She couldn't help but be proud of the girl, and since that day has been completely devoted to her.
On this morning, she was nervous. Of all the strange occurrences that happened on the estate grounds, this was the worst and most damaging to the family. Though she'd heard it happened often before Mr. and Mrs. Luthor were married, there hadn't been a single kidnapping since. In any other family, that might have sounded silly, but in this one it was an accomplishment.
Alexander had awakened first, and cried when he'd discovered his sister missing. She never stayed away from him for too long, certainly not in the morning. Shouts rang through the castle as people called for Katherine. Lana herself, still dressed in her robe and slippers followed her younger sister Lindsay to all of Kate's favorite hiding places.
Lindsay was a pretty girl of 11 who, when her father Henry Small died of a heart attack two years prior had moved into the Luthor Mansion with her sister's family. She was petite, like Lana, and had long brown hair and hazel eyes. You couldn't mistake their relation to each other.
Over the course of her stay, Lindsay became very close to her new family and was eager to be accepted. Though she had yet to break through to Lionel, tough old buzzard that he was, she'd weaseled her way into Lex's heart fairly easily. He would do anything for her, except for fix Barbie Dolls, because you had to draw a line somewhere. Lindsay was also especially close to Katherine, who idolized her.
"She gets in this cabinet sometimes," Lindsay told them. They were in the West Gallery, which basically was a very long hallway whose walls were covered in art. Hidden throughout were small cabinets that lined the walkway, where in centuries past valuables had been hidden.
Katherine's favorite cabinet was close to the end of the hall. Several vases and old oil portraits lived in there that Kate would hide behind. Lana pulled everything out, breaking one of the vases in the process. Nothing. She sighed in frustration.
"Where else Lindsay?" she asked. They had already been searching for over an hour. The young girl, clearly out of ideas merely shrugged her shoulders. Sensing Lana was about to explode at her, Graciela took her by the arm and lead her away.
"Let's go find Mr. Luthor," she soothed. "He may have located Kate already." The trio walked downstairs to Lex's office. Dozens of security agents littered the room, with Lex in the center barking orders at them. He obviously hadn't found her yet. Lana walked up to him with fear in her eyes and he put an arm around her. She was beginning to look very frightened.
"Sir," said yet another black suited man. He walked over to Lex with a stack of papers, his ear piece buzzing loudly at his neck. "All of the staff are accounted for except for one person."
"Who?" Lex demanded.
"Jennifer Stevens," he answered. "She signed in at the gate this morning a little after five, and never signed out. We have been unable to locate her, and there is no answer on her cell phone."
"Oh my God," Lana gasped, and Graciela's heart sank. Jennifer was baby Jack's new nanny, and had only been working for the family for two months.
"Check the cameras, maybe she's still here," Lex commanded. When they found nothing again, they began to play back the tapes. Everyone watched in silence as Jennifer checked in at the gate. She'd smiled at the guard, letting her gaze linger for a moment directly at the camera.
They watched her make her way through the house, chatting with other staff and smiling as if nothing were amiss. When she tip toed into Katherine's bedroom, Graciela felt her blood pressure begin to rise. Lana began to cry silently, gripping Lex for support.
Jennifer had seemed nice enough. She certainly didn't raise any red flags in her behavior. If anything, maybe she seemed too nice, and it pissed Graciela off that she had been so blind. They way she pranced through Kate's room, touching her things and rearranging her dolls just added insult to injury.
And then it came. Jennifer reached out for Kate who came easily into her arms like a trusting child would. The bitch turned directly to the camera that was watching her and smiled, as if to say, look here what I've done! You silly people couldn't stop me! Fury filled the eyes of the father, and Graciela knew what awaited Jennifer when she got caught.
She would be. . .
Katherine disappeared and everyone gasped. Chaos ensued. "Play that back!" Lex shouted. They did, and sure enough it wasn't a trick of the eye. Jennifer and Katherine really disappeared.
"Where did they go?" wailed Lana.
Where indeed?