"Oh, hey, Clark." Lana greeted me as I entered the Talon. I smiled and waved at her walking through the shop. Maybe it was me that wasn't paying attention or maybe she did it on purpose, either way though, it happened. I ran right into a little girl.
"Oh, I'm-" I began to help her up, but I was taken aback by the appearance of the girl. It wasn't that she looked good or bad, but she looked familiar in a way I couldn't understand. She stared at me, not quite with the same interest that I had in her, but I knew she was expecting an apology. Her expression reflected that.
I finally sighed, "I'm sorry. Do you need help up?" I held my hand out. I couldn't help but feel a bit hurt when she got up on her own, saying nothing to me as she left.
Lana came over to me, saving me the trip of walking to her.
"What was that about?" she asked, more concerned than curious.
I gave her my most honest answer: "I don't know."
I left the Talon around nine o'clock that night, still trying to shrug off the odd feeling the little girl left on me. I told myself a dozen times that she just looked like someone I knew, but it felt like more than that. And, who knows? This is Smallville.
I walked passed the alleyway that I always passed when leaving the Talon, but it was always eerier at night. And that was just what I needed. An eeriness to add to my uncertainty.
When I reached the alley, I saw something unusual. A group of men in black coats. It looked as if they were surrounding something. I felt the odd, yet familiar sensation when I looked through their bodies. Another smaller skeletal figure was in the circle.
"Hey!" I shouted out of instinct. As I said, this is Smallville. Chances were the figure in the middle of the men was in trouble.
I had gotten their attention. They all turned to me. Before I could worry about dealing with them, I saw who they were circling: the little girl with blood now flowing rapidly from her head.
"Get him." One of the men said, rather calmly. As four others came at me he stayed behind, obviously letting them do the dirty work for him.
The first one to get to me threw a punch. I caught his arm and threw him to the side. The sound the bone in his arm shattering was quite audible.
The next to got to me at the same time. I ran out of the middle of the two, laughing to myself a bit when they hurt each other by accident.
By this time, the last of the four men sent to attack me was too afraid to come at me. Or he must have been because he was no longer in the alley. Neither was the man who I guessed to have been the leader. All who was left was me and that little girl, who somewhere along the line had lost consciousness. I knew it would take too long if I took the truck, so I ran with her in my arms back to the farm.
"Why didn't you take her to the hospital?" My father asked me. To be honest, I didn't have an answer. I glanced back at her, now bandaged and laying on our couch. My mother at her side, patting a wash cloth on her face.
"Well, look. She's here now." I told him, staring into his eyes. I guess he saw the pleading in them because he gave up and walked away. I couldn't explain why I felt such a connection to the young girl, and I definitely was not going to worry my parents with it.
I couldn't sleep. I couldn't shake off the feeling that there was a reason she was in my life. I knew how close she was to me in this house, and the feeling intensified. I knew I had never seen her before, but I knew her all the same…..
"…..So, what's your name?" I heard my mother's voice as I groggily entered the living room. The little girl's conscious face woke me up quickly though.
"Uhm, Calianna. But you can me Cali." She smiled a bit before looking up at me, causing my mother to repeat the action.
"Oh, Clark. Cali, this is our son, Clark. Clark, Cali." She gestured to us both at the appropriate times. I smiled and nodded. Cali did the same, though it didn't reach her eyes.
Silence filled the room and I felt obligated to fix that.
"So, uh, Cali, ….h-how old are you?" the words stumbled out of my mouth. A result of not thinking before I spoke.
She eyed me with a certain suspicion, but answered anyway. "Ten as of yesterday."
"Oh, I'm so sorry that this whole thing had to happen on your birthday." My mother's voice turned sympathetic. Cali continued to stare at me as if she knew something we didn't.
