Chapter 10: Another Vision
After spending more time contemplating about it than he would have liked, Clark decided to go ahead with his date. When he spent the rest of his trip thinking nothing but what had just transpired, he wondered if he should have called it off. He worried if he was going to be able to give Lana the attention she deserved.
After parking in the parking lot behind the small country café, he made his way around to the front where, as usual, there were at least a dozen of high-school students hanging out chatting. Some were just hanging out in front of the store talking it up with their friends; others were waiting to get in to the café. This country café was a very popular evening hangout for students.
There was one girl that stood out from the rest. He nearly forgot about the ordeal he had gone through not less than ten minutes ago. Perhaps he made a good choice after all. Lana Lang was the most beautiful girl in Smallville in Clark's biased opinion. Her hair was dark red, which matched her green eyes phenomenally well. She was a few inches smaller than your typical senior in high school. However, that definitely played to her advantage when it came to being on the cheerleader squad. Her athletic figure and her petit body made one of the best cheerleaders for Smallville's high school football team. She was always the top of the pyramid.
That also meant that she was the envy of the school. Most of the jocks could not believe that she would willingly date a nerd like Clark Kent. He never told her; that because of them dating, he was often heckled and bullied by the likes of John Corben. Clark suspected that he had a crush for Lana; another fact that he kept from her.
Her face lit-up when she saw him coming. He could not help but melt when he saw her smile. Her smile was enough to make anyone's bad day just disappear. "Clark! You're late."
"Sorry about that. I lost track of time."
"Well, we will have to wait a little for the next available table, but I think I know a way we can spend the time." Lana wrapped her arms over his shoulders.
Clark grinned, as he had to bow his head so his lips could meet hers. He wrapped his arms around her, respectfully. As if seeing her was not enough to make him forget about what had happened; holding her in his arms, and locking lips with her, was. It was the part of the whole evening that he was looking forward to the most; and the date had only just begun.
His moment of bliss was rudely interrupted when John Corben and his two buddies. Nothing had changed with him over the years. He was still the jerk he was when he was a kid. He was still afraid enough of Clark not to get physical with him, so he probably decided to settle on getting an emotional response from him. "If it ain't the dweeb."
Clark sighed as he and Lana broke off their embrace. From the look on her face, she was anything but happy with John's untimely interruption. "Great, I thought I smelled something funny," Clark said turning around to face John.
"You say something, Kent?" John was in the mood to pick a fight; which was not all that unusual.
"Absolutely nothing," Clark mumbled.
John's temper appeared to be rising, but Clark knew that it was just a front for his friends. He knew the kid well enough, that he was all talk. "You have a problem?"
"Yea, and I've been having it ever since elementary school."
"Clark, don't," Lana urged softly, taking hold of his arm.
"Keep it up, Kent. There's three of us here. We may have to teach you a lesson on respect."
"Kind of hard to learn respect from someone who doesn't give it," Clark retorted. He was fed up with this kid. He knew John was afraid of him. He could see it in his face. That did not stop him from clamping his right hand into a fist. Clark saw the first and how much he wanted to deck him right there. "You really want to try that again?"
Clark could see it in his eyes. John remembered the last time he tried to throw a punch back in elementary school. It did not go well for him at all. Having that memory thrown back into his face, his hand relaxed.
The tension, between the two of them, was timely interrupted, when a black stretched limousine slowly drove by. Clark knew exactly who was in the car, and did not even need to look through the half-opened tinted window. Lex Luthor sat in the back, wearing black shades. Sitting next to him was a blond girl, who Clark assumed was his girlfriend.
Clark had not seen his friend in so long, and his heart had leaped the moment he saw him. Lex, however, showed no emotions at all. He looked in his and John's direction and showed no indication that he even cared. His face was cold and callused. The limousine passed the crowd and drove off to wherever Lex was off too.
"Did ya' see that guys! It was that bald-headed freak!" John's insult caused his pals to laugh, which grated on Clark's nerves even more. "Still a puny freak after all these years. What a looser. Let's go guys!"
Clark was relieved to see them go. He was ready to deck that kid. Lana saw him all worked up and rubbed his back. It was astonishing how Lana had the knack of making him feel at ease. It was remarkable how quickly the tension had left his body. "Forget about him, Clark. Some men just don't know when to grow up."
"You're right," Clark replied, giving back to her all of his attention. "Did you see Lex? I haven't seen him in years. I always wondered if he was okay."
"It looks to me that Lex turned out alright, despite his father."
Clark shook his head. "I don't know. I wish I could believe that."
After dinner, Clark and Lana drove over to an open field off the highway just on the outskirts of Smallville. There, Clark laid out a blanket where the two of them could lay on their backs and stare up at the stars in the night sky. There was not a cloud in the sky, and with an open field, there were no trees to hinder the view of the vastness of the sky.
"The stars are so beautiful and bright tonight," Lana said with a smile on her face. Clark could not remember a time when she did not have a smile on her face. "Is that the Big Dipper or the small dipper?"
Clark looked in the direction she was pointing. His best subject in school was astronomy. He was the perfect person to be able to identify star constellations. "That's the large dipper."
"You know, with all those stars out there, and the vastness of space, do you think there is intelligent life out there somewhere?"
She had no idea the irony of the question she had just asked him. He could not help and smile. "I think it's safe to say that there is other life out there. I'm pretty confident."
Lana laughed at his confidence. They continued to marvel at the spectacle that so few in the world ever truly took the time to notice. Clark squinted as he noticed that a few stars were missing from the sky. He was ready to comment on that, when all the stars faded into oblivion; leaving a black, empty sky. "Lana, are you seeing this?"
He looked over to see that she was no longer lying next to him. He was alone in the middle of nowhere. He jumped to his feet to see nothing but blackness all around. A very ominous laugh echoed around him from all directions. Flames began to pierce the darkness, and before he knew it, he was surrounded by flames that reached high above his head.
A massive shadow appeared in the fire. It looked like a ten-foot gorilla. It's massive biceps were thicker than Clark's entire body. He could hear it growling, as it stared at him with its white-glowing eyes. There was no mistaking it: that creature had death on its mind. It let out a terrifying roar that put shivers down his spine. Never in his life had been so terrified of anything in his life.
"Last son of Krypton," A voice called out.
Clark turned around to see a giant, ghostly face. He could see no distinguishing facial features other than his red glowing eyes. "Who are you? What do you want? What is this?"
He did not reply to any of his questions, but Clark could still tell that the face was talking to him. "Last son of Krypton, you are going to die!"
Clark sat up screaming almost as if he had been awakened by a terrifying nightmare. The problem was he did not remember falling asleep. Looking around, he saw everything was back to the way things were before this new vision hit him. Lana was sitting up with him, with a deep look of concern on her face. "What's wrong, Clark?"
Clark could not tell her about the vision. How could he possibly explain what he had just seen? His mind struggled to find an excuse, and 'falling asleep' was not an option. "I-I…"
"Look at you, you're drenched in sweat!"
Come on think! There had to be something he could say to put her at ease and forget about this whole situation.
"Perhaps we should call it a night. Your face is flush, and you're covered in sweat. You might be coming down with something."
That was the last thing Clark wanted. He did not want this night to end, but two strange occurrences in a single night? It was probably for the best that they did call it the night. Perhaps his parents could explain a little about what he was going through.