Thank you's to: Merrie, scifichick774, NickyJean, Queen of Tact, Settie,
Tayoni, Kandice, bramslullaby, MitchPell, P.C. LEE, HumbugGirl, RedWitch,
SlayerRyoko, NeeterDilly, Cassie-bear01, Shiann Reece, and desertgurl.
You guys are awesme! If it were not for you I would have given up a long
time ago. You are my inspiration. Thanks.
Day 4 Part 2
***10: 34 am November 4th
Chloe Sullivan drove erratically down the bumpy road, her blue eyes blurry and swollen with grief-sticken tears. Quiet sobs were filled with a deep heart-ache and sorrow as the pain silently wracked her body. Through liquid vision she manuevered her car aimlessly down the empty streets driving quickly away from Luthor castle. She never wanted to go back there again.
Cursing herself as she sped along Chloe thrust her fist against the cold steering wheel. She felt so foolish. Her heart burned with shame and embarassment. How could she have been so stupid as to fall for such an obvious trick? She had always thought that she was smarter than that. She hated herself for being so naieve.
Groaning at the memory Chloe just wanted to forget everything that had happened in the last few days. She wanted to repress the unhappy events and pretend nothing had happened. Reaching out she quickly turned up the volume on her raido attempting to drown out the uncontrolled thoughts of hatred and self-loathng that were slowly taking over her brain.
The song was an old sappy love song and Chloe's heart ached even more as she was reminded of the excitement she had felt when Lex had kissed her. The tears came fresh as she recalled how her heart had fluttered under his touch. It had felt so real, so special. His embrace had seemed so genuinly sweet and caring that she had been convinced that he had felt something for her. Her cheeks burned at the memory of it.
Anger replaced her embarassment and once again Chloe felt that familiar firey rage towards the mysterious billionaire. How dare he use her like that, she thought! How dare he exploit her feelings! Lex had tricked her into liking him. He really was a witch, she decided. Just maybe not the kind that Pete had hinted at in the car earlier.
Chloe had never thought of herself as an overly sensitive person but there was just something about Lex Luthor that made her lose her grasp on reality. How he did it she wasn't sure. Wether it was magical or pure charm she did not know. One thing was for certain though. She would never allow herself to fall for him again.
Her eyes still overflowing with access liquid the juvinille reporter watched the road carefully for oncoming traffic as the evidence of the begining of a rainshower began to show itsself on her windshield. Wiping away the salty tears from her face, the small blond averted her eyes from the empty road ahead of her as she focused her attention on her dashboard. Chloe sighed as she flipped on her windshield wipers to combat the intruding waterdroplets. It was as if even the weather was against her this morning, mirroring her sorrow with an uncommon gloom.
Looking up from the dashboard she suddenly spotted a figure in the middle of the road. Eyes growing wide with surprise Chloe quickly slammed her foot on the brake, swerving dangerously to the right in an attempt to avoid a collision with the person. Immedatly she recognized the woman standing in the center of the road. It was the same ominous woman she had seen in the mirror at the Talon yesterday and in her dreams last night. She felt her stomach sink as a feeling of nausia filled her throat.
Skidding across the street her heart froze in panic. She was going to wreck into the ditch.! Feeling the out of control car jostle as it slid into the side of the road the girls small body suddenly lurched forward. Her head struck violently off the steering wheel as the vechicle came to a sudden stop. Smoke began to billiow out from under the hood but Chloe did not notice. She was in too much shock to do anything besides sit there with her head against the dash.
A trickle of blood ran down her forehead as she attempted to gather her thoughts and figure out what had just happened. Leaning back in her seat she rubbed the sore spot. Had she just hallucinated? There was no way that that could have been real, right? There was no sign of a person in the road now. Her mind must have been playing tricks on her. She had heard of stress doing strange things to a persons brain but this was ridiculous.
"Great. At least things can't get any worse." Chloe mumbled to herself as she searched her car for a hankerchief. Her body trembled violently as she wiped the blood from the small cut on her forhead. Tossing the bloodied Wendy's napkin onto the floor of the passenger seat the frightened teenager tried to pull herself together.
Letting out a long low breath she once again rested her head on the steering wheel in front of her in a moment of defeat. She felt so lost and alone out in the middle of nowhere. Solving this case suddenly seemed hopeless. Sighing into the soft leather she attempted to submerge the feelings of uselessness that were threatening to overwhelm her.
Why did any of this matter anyway, she thought? Its not like it was very likely that anyone else was going to be effected anyway, right? So far it had only happened twice in two years. The odds were good that if anything did happen again it wouldn't even have anything to do with her. If the cops didn't care then why should she?
She had given it her best shot and what had she gotten out of it? Nothing but two days behind in her school work and a broken heart. She had not even been able to figure out who Bethany Starling was. Some reporter she had turned out to be.
A loud knock on her window caused Chloe's head to shoot up. The pain from the sudden movement caused her to let out a sharp involentary yelp in responce. Her surprised eyes were met by the face of an unknown man, who was looking at her with very concerned eyes. Realizing the situation she was in and what it must look like Chloe quickly rolled down her window.
"Are you okay, young lady?" The stranger asked.
"Yeah. I am fine." Chloe replied, though that was definatly not the truth. Unfortunatly she didn't think he wanted to hear about a teenage girls love life so instead she just gave him a quick reasuring smile and continued to explain. "I was just feeling a little upset so i thought i should pull over." Not a complete lie.
"You don't look so good. Are you sure you are okay?" The older man asked but he no longer looked worried. Suddenly his kind helpful expression evaporated, quickly being replaced by a look of pure hatred. His face contorted before her very eyes, twisting and bubbling into a monsterous form. His eyes now a piercing black, stared at her and right away she was aware into whose eyes she was looking. It was the woman in the street only in a differnt form. "You only think you are fine! I am going to make you sorry you ever interfeared you little bitch!"
As the person spoke the volume of the voice shifted, becoming louder, shriller. Reaching into the car with deadly intentions,clammy hands grabbed a handful of the young reporters blond hair, yanking her toward the window. "Get away from me!" Chloe shouted twisiting free from the tight grasp. Claw-like fingers wrapped around her weak bisep and once again she felt a searing burn flash over her skin. It felt like the flesh below the painful grip was melting off. Screaming, in agony the young girl writhed, attempting to pull herself free.
Yanking forward the force from her escape caused Chloe's body to whip forward, her head once again thuding roughly against the steering wheel. A flash of white light flooded her vision and for a second her mind registered nothing but blackness. Quickly regaining her senses the defenceless girl's head bolted upright turning to face her attacker.
Blinking in surprise Chloe was astounded to see nothing. The area next to the car was empty. Quickly scanning her surrounding's she noted that there was no one around.The flat obstructionless land around her indicated to her that her attacker had not run away. There was no where for them to go. It had to have disappeared.
Wasting no time to ponder the mystery Chloe, restarted up her car. Reving up the engine she listened for any damage to the vechicle. The car sounded useable so quickly shifting into gear she applied her foot to the gas. She would have to inspect the car for damage later. Driving towards the street Chloe hurridly merged into the suddenly busy traffic.
Feeling stupider then ever the young girl was unsure of what to do next. What had just happened? Looking at her unmarked arm Chloe had more questions than answers. Was that thing real or had it been a dream?
Goosebumps dotted her body like a plague and her legs were jell-o. Chloe felt like going home and crawling under the warm inviting covers of her bed and never thinking of Lex Luthor or this case again. She wanted to curl up into a tight ball and sleep for a week but she didn't feel like being alone right now. She needed someone to talk to. Not for the first time in her life Chloe wished that her mother still lived with her.
Sighing the grief-stricken young girl felt more isolated then ever. With her dad at work she had no one. She couldn't tell Clark about what had happened. She knew he would believe her but she didn't want to ruin his relationship with Lex. If she told Pete he would just beat the shit out of the jerk and no doubt find himself in a world of legal trouble. That only left one person. Switching lanes Chloe found herself suddenly driving the familiar route back to the Talon.
*** 10:45 am November 4th
Pulling into the parkinglot of the coffee shop Chloe quickly scanned the area for any signs that Lex was around. More than anything right now she did not want to see him. Satisfied that he was not there she shut off her car and walked towards the entrance.
Business seemed to be doing good and Chloe quickly made her way across the room and over to the counter where she sat down on a comfortable bar stool. Chewing her fingernails she waited for a long moment before the friendly face of Lana Lang finally appeared before her.
"What can i do for you?" The brunette asked energetically. Her kind eyes suddenly shifted from happy to sad as she noticed the spot on Chloe's forehead. "Oh ! Chloe! What happened?" She asked suddenly concerned.
Chloe sighed and forced a smile. "Don't worry. Its nothing." She said touching the cut on her head. "I just got into a small accident. Nothing major." The reporter continued nonchalantly accentuating the comment with a slight shrug. She didn't know which was worse. The horiffic accident she had just gotten into or the events that had occured at the Luthor's before that. The confliction must have been evident because the expression on Lana's face did not soften. Quite the contrary. She looked even more worried.
"You don't look so good. Did you go to the hospitle?" Lana asked her brow furrowing in doubt. A customer suddenly appeared at the register and Lana flashed Chloe an appologetic smile as she moved away from the young girl, obviously torn between work and helping a friend.
After handing the man his change Lana turned to her aunt giving her a pleading look. "Nell, could you please cover the register for me for a few minuets. I need to talk to Chloe, alone, about something important."
Finishing busing an empty booth Nell looked around the room. Most of the people had been waited on and seemed content sipping their coffee and conversing. Only a few new customers had arrived or were waiting in line. "Sure. Just don't be too long." Nell replied quickly "Oh! When your done, could you please bring out a box of creamer? Were almost out." The older woman added as an after thought.
"No problem." Lana replied cheerfully, her eyes squinching with appriciation as they were crushed by her bright smile. "Be right back." Turning to Chloe the preppy ex-cheerleader continued. "Come with me. We need to talk." Handing her friend a fresh cup of coffee Lana lead her to the back store room.
Motioning to a crate Lana indicated that Chloe should sit. Resting on a large package of coffee beans Lana gave her friend a very understanding look. "Okay Chloe, I know we are not the best of friends but I want you to know that I am here for you." Shifting in her seat Lana looked a little uncomfortable but she never lost eye contact with the young reporter. Her voice was very sweet and sincere as she spoke. "There is obviously something troubling you. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to...but If you do I want you to know that I am a great listener." Lana smiled a little shyly as she awaited Chloe's reply.
Chloe took in a deep breath before giving Lana a very grateful smile. "Listen, Lana." It was Chloes turn to look uncomfortable. "I am not really good at sharing my feelings but I really do appriciate you offering. I am not sure what to say."
"Just tell me whats bothering you. Trust me. Talking about things can really make you feel better. Does it have something to do with the suicideds you are investigating?" Lana's voice was curious but the concern in her tone made it clear that she was much more interested in helping Chloe than learning about the case.
The corner of Chloe's mouth pulled upward in a half-smile as she digested Lana's generous offer. Since her mother had left Chloe had had precious few people she could realy talk to about personal things. Her father was great but the lack of female companionship in her life was painfully absent.
Wringing her hands the young reporter tried to organize her thoughts in a way that Lana could understand. With a nervous laugh Chloe began to speak. "Sort of." She shrugged. "I mean yes,...and no."
Paitent eyes reguarded Chloe with curiousity as Lana's full pink lips pulled into a wide smile. With her small hands placed delicatly on her lap the petiete brunette awaited Chloe to clairify herself.
Chloe bit her lip in frustration. This conversation was not going at all like she had planned. She wanted to get straight to the point. "Its about Lex." She suddenly told the girl sitting across from her.
Lana's large doe eyes blinked in surprise. "Lex? What does he have to do with anything?" She asked bewildered.
"He....well....he...um..." Chloe fidgeted, playing with her fingernails. "He kissed me." she blurted out as she hesitantly met Lana's gaze. Immediatly she could feel the heat rise to her cheeks.
"He kissed you?" Lana whispered incredulously, her brown eyes remained large as she stared at the blond girl with a mixture of surprise and envy. "Lex Luthor kissed you. Wow." Lana stated astounded.
"No, not wow." Chloe corrected her. "He was using me."
Lana's smile immediatly disappeared. "What?" she asked shaking her head, silky dark hair glided through the air as she stared at her friend with confusion. "How?"
"He wanted me to stop looking into the case. He kissed me because he thought I would suddenly swoon over him and do what ever he asked." Chloe's voice began to rise at the memory. "The jerk. He must think I am such an idiot." Chloe spoke more to herself then the other girl in the room.
"I am sure thats not true, Chloe." Lana began hesitantly. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"
"Well, I was went to his house." She slowly began to explain what happened, her lips pulling down at the corners as she spoke. "Because i wanted to ask him about a library book I thought he had rented out. When i got there he was eating breakfast." Running her hand through her blond hair Chloe attempted to recall all the details. "He was being so nice. It was weird." Her voice grew sour as she continued. "He must have been acting. He was trying to trick me." Chloe folded her arms across her chest in a defensive gesture. Her pride was obviously wounded. "And i was stupid enough to fall for it."
"Wait a minute. Are you sure he was faking it, Chloe?" Lana began slowly, careful not to insult the touchy teenager. "I mean, believe it or not but Lex isn't always a bad guy. Not all his actions are self modivated. After all he did help me with the Talon. He's barely making a profit from this place yet he allows me to keep it running. Do you think you could have maybe misinterpreted his gesture? What were you doing when he kissed you?"
Chloe sighed as she brought the memories to the forefront of her mind. "We were fighting." She began. Her eyes sparkled with fire as she recalled their excange. "He called me a drama queen and I made fun of him for having no friends." Pausing for a moment as she remembered his reaction Chloe suddenly felt confused. Lex had seemed so sincerely hurt then. When she continued her voice was lower. "He looked so sad. I felt bad for yelling at him so I appologized. Then he kissed me."
"That does not sound so bad." Lana said wih a smile. "It actually sounds pretty romantic. What makes you think the kiss was not genuine?" Lana asked seriously.
"Because while he was kissing me he asked me not to look into the investigation any more." Chloe said her tone wonded but confident.
"Thats it?" Lana asked her brow wrinkeling in confusion.
"What do you mean thats it?" Chloe protested. "Isen't that enough?"
Lana shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, Lex's concern sounds justified. If he really cared about you then it seems reasonable that he would not want you to put yourself into any danger."
Chloe let those words sink in for a moment. She was not convinced that Lex had not been up to something but she had to admit Lana did make a good point. Maybe she was being a little bit too hasty. "Yeah but..." Chloe paused unable to think of a counter point.
"Did he seem sincere?" Lana asked curiously.
"What do you mean?" Chloe asked not sure of the question.
"When he kissed you did it feel like he ment it or did he seem like he was acting?" Lana asked.
Chloe paused a moment to contemplate the answer. It had seemed very real at the time but she did not have a lot of experience to back it up. She had only kissed a handful of boys in her life. How was she to know what felt real and what didn't? It had felt real to her. "I don't know." Chloe said hesitantly. "How can you tell?" She timidly asked the more experienced girl.
"Well." Lana began. As she spoke a far away look appeared in her eyes and a wide grin slowly spread across her face. "It feels like your body is on fire and you go weak in the knees." Lana spoke passionatly her voice low and thoughtful. "You can hardly breath and all you want is for that moment to last forever. Did it feel like that?" The brunette asked as a glint of mischief sparkled in her eyes.
"Yeah." Chloe admitted hesitantly, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth as she recalled his lips against hers. Then as quickly as the smile had come it vanished. "But that does not prove anything. Just because i was stupid enough to fall for him does not mean that he cares for me." Chloe stated logically her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "He was just using me, I know it. No one ever likes me."
"That's not true, Chloe." Lana stated, her voice becoming sympathetic as she moved over to kneel next to the girl, slipping a friendly arm around her. "Listen, I have no idea how Lex feels about you but either way you should not judge yourself on how one person feels about you. You have lots of friends and lots of people think you are great. You are a very sweet and caring person. You have been driving yourself crazy trying to help this town the last few days. Anyone who does not appriciate you for that is a fool." Lana said giving her friend a loving squeeze.
"I know. I just feel so horrible." Chloe said through choked sobs. "It hurts so bad."
"Don't worry, Chloe. Your a strong person. I know that you are going to be okay. It only hurts for a little while. The important thing is that you don't let this stop you from living your life. Keep trying to solve this mystery. If Lex likes you then he will just have to deal with the fact that you are a reporter and a certain amount of danger is a part of your life. If he can't deal with that then he is not the one for you."
"What if he doesn't like me?" Chloe asked attempting to gain control over her emotions.
"If he is messing with you then you should show him you are not intimadated by him." Lana said slowly, honestly. "Don't let him stop you from solving this case. If he tries to mess with you he better be prepared to deal with this whole town because there isn't a soul in Smallville who would not stand up for you. That you can count on."
Chloe felt her heart lighten a little at that but a constant nagging question continued to burn in the pit of her stomach and she just had to ask it no matter how childish she sounded. "Do you think he likes me?" The grief-stricken reporter looked at Lana with an expression of both hope and fear, as if the answer to that question was a matter of life and death.
"I don't know Chloe. There is only one way to find out. You are just going to have to ask him." Lana said giving Chloe a final squeeze before releasing her embrace. "Oh and Chloe." Lana added quickly.
"Yeah." Chloe asked hopefully.
"He would be a fool to say no." Lana said with a grin before planting a friendly kiss on the blonds cheek. Jumping to her feet Lana claped her hands together satisfied.
"Thanks, Lana....for everything." Chloe said standing up as well. "I don't know what I would have done with out you."
"Anytime." Lana said clearly meaning it. "I better get back out there." She said appologetically as she scanned the room. Spotting a box of creamer in the corner the brunette waitress quickly selected the needed package and began walking back out towards the floor. "Let me know how things work out." Lana said quickly as she approached the counter and began to open the box of fresh creamers.
"I will." Chloe assured her though she was not looking forward to talking to Lex. The uncertainty was still to great. "Thanks again."
Just then Clark Kent walked through the doors. Chloe quicky wiped her eyes hoping the the tears were not that noticeable. Clark could be pretty dense but apparently either he was quicker then she thought of she really looked bad because his first words upon seeing her were. "Hey Chloe, are you okay?" His big blue eyes reguarded her in the same manner a scolded puppy dog would show its master after getting in trouble.
"Yeah no problem, Clark. Just girl stuff." Chloe said flashing Lana a smile. This explaination seemed to satisy Clark and he nodded though he still loooked a little concerned.
Attempting to aleviate his worry Chloe smiled brightly. There was something about Clark that always made her feel better. "So whats up?"
"I just finished my chores. I had to go to the feed store with dad or i would have been here sooner." he said quietly. "Any new clues?" His typical Clark Kent grin was plastered across his face.
"Not yet." Chloe said with a sigh. "Well maybe." She corrected herself after a second of thought. "I found out that Lex did not rent out that book." She informed the farmboy brighty.
"Yeah?" Clark replied his eyes puzzled. "Then who did?"
"Ill give you a clue. His last name is also Luthor. You get two guesses." Chloe said easily slipping back into reporter mode.
"Lionel?" Clark said his expression mirroring the confusion she felt.
"Bingo."
"What does Lionel have to do with anything?" Clark asked scratching the back of his head.
"Thats what we need to find out." Chloe said. "The question is, how."
"Oh good you got the creamer." Nell said to Lana as she suddenly appearing next to Chloe. Quickly she began to sort the tiny containers by flavors and set them out for the customers to use. "Hello Chloe." Nell said giving the girl a smile as she busied herself with work. "Did Lana give you the letter?" she asked absently as she tossed the empty box into the trash.
"No... what?" Chloe asked frowning.
"You got another letter from your mysterius stranger." Nell said smiling. Turning to Lana the older woman continued. " Lana, dear, what did you do with that letter? I set it by the register this morning."
"I didn't touch it." Lana said innocently.
Leaning over the counter Nell looked next to the register and frowned. Chloe's heart froze. This case could very well rest on the contents of that misplaced letter. With a great efforet she attempted to control her impaitence.
"There it is." Clark said standing next to Chloe.
"Where?" Nell said confused, looking around.
"It fell behind the counter. It's sitting right there." He said pointing to an area concealed by the counter.
"How could you possibly know that?" Chloe asked Clark confused giving him a funny look.
"Clark shrugged in responce. "Where else could it have gone?" He asked. Chloe noticed his cheeks looked slightly flushed and he was unable to make eye contact with her. She got the sudden feeling that he was hiding something from her. Could Lex have had him tamper with her mail? Quickly Chloe pushed that ridiculos thought from her mind. She trusted Clark. He would never keep things from her, right?
Kneeling on the floor next to the register Lana peered into the crack. "He's right." Lana smiled, staring at the envelope. "I am going to need something long and thin to reach it though." Looking around she scanned the room for something that fit that description.
"How about this." Clark said quickly, grabbing a wire hanger from off the coat rack. In seconds he had the strong metal untangled and perfectly hooked at the end. Chloe was impressed. Clark always had a plan.
"Perfect." Lana replied, accepting the tool. Skillfully she retrieved the mysterious envelope handing it to Chloe.
"Well what are you waiting for?" Clark asked a note of impaitence in his tone. "Lets see what it says."
Day 4 Part 2
***10: 34 am November 4th
Chloe Sullivan drove erratically down the bumpy road, her blue eyes blurry and swollen with grief-sticken tears. Quiet sobs were filled with a deep heart-ache and sorrow as the pain silently wracked her body. Through liquid vision she manuevered her car aimlessly down the empty streets driving quickly away from Luthor castle. She never wanted to go back there again.
Cursing herself as she sped along Chloe thrust her fist against the cold steering wheel. She felt so foolish. Her heart burned with shame and embarassment. How could she have been so stupid as to fall for such an obvious trick? She had always thought that she was smarter than that. She hated herself for being so naieve.
Groaning at the memory Chloe just wanted to forget everything that had happened in the last few days. She wanted to repress the unhappy events and pretend nothing had happened. Reaching out she quickly turned up the volume on her raido attempting to drown out the uncontrolled thoughts of hatred and self-loathng that were slowly taking over her brain.
The song was an old sappy love song and Chloe's heart ached even more as she was reminded of the excitement she had felt when Lex had kissed her. The tears came fresh as she recalled how her heart had fluttered under his touch. It had felt so real, so special. His embrace had seemed so genuinly sweet and caring that she had been convinced that he had felt something for her. Her cheeks burned at the memory of it.
Anger replaced her embarassment and once again Chloe felt that familiar firey rage towards the mysterious billionaire. How dare he use her like that, she thought! How dare he exploit her feelings! Lex had tricked her into liking him. He really was a witch, she decided. Just maybe not the kind that Pete had hinted at in the car earlier.
Chloe had never thought of herself as an overly sensitive person but there was just something about Lex Luthor that made her lose her grasp on reality. How he did it she wasn't sure. Wether it was magical or pure charm she did not know. One thing was for certain though. She would never allow herself to fall for him again.
Her eyes still overflowing with access liquid the juvinille reporter watched the road carefully for oncoming traffic as the evidence of the begining of a rainshower began to show itsself on her windshield. Wiping away the salty tears from her face, the small blond averted her eyes from the empty road ahead of her as she focused her attention on her dashboard. Chloe sighed as she flipped on her windshield wipers to combat the intruding waterdroplets. It was as if even the weather was against her this morning, mirroring her sorrow with an uncommon gloom.
Looking up from the dashboard she suddenly spotted a figure in the middle of the road. Eyes growing wide with surprise Chloe quickly slammed her foot on the brake, swerving dangerously to the right in an attempt to avoid a collision with the person. Immedatly she recognized the woman standing in the center of the road. It was the same ominous woman she had seen in the mirror at the Talon yesterday and in her dreams last night. She felt her stomach sink as a feeling of nausia filled her throat.
Skidding across the street her heart froze in panic. She was going to wreck into the ditch.! Feeling the out of control car jostle as it slid into the side of the road the girls small body suddenly lurched forward. Her head struck violently off the steering wheel as the vechicle came to a sudden stop. Smoke began to billiow out from under the hood but Chloe did not notice. She was in too much shock to do anything besides sit there with her head against the dash.
A trickle of blood ran down her forehead as she attempted to gather her thoughts and figure out what had just happened. Leaning back in her seat she rubbed the sore spot. Had she just hallucinated? There was no way that that could have been real, right? There was no sign of a person in the road now. Her mind must have been playing tricks on her. She had heard of stress doing strange things to a persons brain but this was ridiculous.
"Great. At least things can't get any worse." Chloe mumbled to herself as she searched her car for a hankerchief. Her body trembled violently as she wiped the blood from the small cut on her forhead. Tossing the bloodied Wendy's napkin onto the floor of the passenger seat the frightened teenager tried to pull herself together.
Letting out a long low breath she once again rested her head on the steering wheel in front of her in a moment of defeat. She felt so lost and alone out in the middle of nowhere. Solving this case suddenly seemed hopeless. Sighing into the soft leather she attempted to submerge the feelings of uselessness that were threatening to overwhelm her.
Why did any of this matter anyway, she thought? Its not like it was very likely that anyone else was going to be effected anyway, right? So far it had only happened twice in two years. The odds were good that if anything did happen again it wouldn't even have anything to do with her. If the cops didn't care then why should she?
She had given it her best shot and what had she gotten out of it? Nothing but two days behind in her school work and a broken heart. She had not even been able to figure out who Bethany Starling was. Some reporter she had turned out to be.
A loud knock on her window caused Chloe's head to shoot up. The pain from the sudden movement caused her to let out a sharp involentary yelp in responce. Her surprised eyes were met by the face of an unknown man, who was looking at her with very concerned eyes. Realizing the situation she was in and what it must look like Chloe quickly rolled down her window.
"Are you okay, young lady?" The stranger asked.
"Yeah. I am fine." Chloe replied, though that was definatly not the truth. Unfortunatly she didn't think he wanted to hear about a teenage girls love life so instead she just gave him a quick reasuring smile and continued to explain. "I was just feeling a little upset so i thought i should pull over." Not a complete lie.
"You don't look so good. Are you sure you are okay?" The older man asked but he no longer looked worried. Suddenly his kind helpful expression evaporated, quickly being replaced by a look of pure hatred. His face contorted before her very eyes, twisting and bubbling into a monsterous form. His eyes now a piercing black, stared at her and right away she was aware into whose eyes she was looking. It was the woman in the street only in a differnt form. "You only think you are fine! I am going to make you sorry you ever interfeared you little bitch!"
As the person spoke the volume of the voice shifted, becoming louder, shriller. Reaching into the car with deadly intentions,clammy hands grabbed a handful of the young reporters blond hair, yanking her toward the window. "Get away from me!" Chloe shouted twisiting free from the tight grasp. Claw-like fingers wrapped around her weak bisep and once again she felt a searing burn flash over her skin. It felt like the flesh below the painful grip was melting off. Screaming, in agony the young girl writhed, attempting to pull herself free.
Yanking forward the force from her escape caused Chloe's body to whip forward, her head once again thuding roughly against the steering wheel. A flash of white light flooded her vision and for a second her mind registered nothing but blackness. Quickly regaining her senses the defenceless girl's head bolted upright turning to face her attacker.
Blinking in surprise Chloe was astounded to see nothing. The area next to the car was empty. Quickly scanning her surrounding's she noted that there was no one around.The flat obstructionless land around her indicated to her that her attacker had not run away. There was no where for them to go. It had to have disappeared.
Wasting no time to ponder the mystery Chloe, restarted up her car. Reving up the engine she listened for any damage to the vechicle. The car sounded useable so quickly shifting into gear she applied her foot to the gas. She would have to inspect the car for damage later. Driving towards the street Chloe hurridly merged into the suddenly busy traffic.
Feeling stupider then ever the young girl was unsure of what to do next. What had just happened? Looking at her unmarked arm Chloe had more questions than answers. Was that thing real or had it been a dream?
Goosebumps dotted her body like a plague and her legs were jell-o. Chloe felt like going home and crawling under the warm inviting covers of her bed and never thinking of Lex Luthor or this case again. She wanted to curl up into a tight ball and sleep for a week but she didn't feel like being alone right now. She needed someone to talk to. Not for the first time in her life Chloe wished that her mother still lived with her.
Sighing the grief-stricken young girl felt more isolated then ever. With her dad at work she had no one. She couldn't tell Clark about what had happened. She knew he would believe her but she didn't want to ruin his relationship with Lex. If she told Pete he would just beat the shit out of the jerk and no doubt find himself in a world of legal trouble. That only left one person. Switching lanes Chloe found herself suddenly driving the familiar route back to the Talon.
*** 10:45 am November 4th
Pulling into the parkinglot of the coffee shop Chloe quickly scanned the area for any signs that Lex was around. More than anything right now she did not want to see him. Satisfied that he was not there she shut off her car and walked towards the entrance.
Business seemed to be doing good and Chloe quickly made her way across the room and over to the counter where she sat down on a comfortable bar stool. Chewing her fingernails she waited for a long moment before the friendly face of Lana Lang finally appeared before her.
"What can i do for you?" The brunette asked energetically. Her kind eyes suddenly shifted from happy to sad as she noticed the spot on Chloe's forehead. "Oh ! Chloe! What happened?" She asked suddenly concerned.
Chloe sighed and forced a smile. "Don't worry. Its nothing." She said touching the cut on her head. "I just got into a small accident. Nothing major." The reporter continued nonchalantly accentuating the comment with a slight shrug. She didn't know which was worse. The horiffic accident she had just gotten into or the events that had occured at the Luthor's before that. The confliction must have been evident because the expression on Lana's face did not soften. Quite the contrary. She looked even more worried.
"You don't look so good. Did you go to the hospitle?" Lana asked her brow furrowing in doubt. A customer suddenly appeared at the register and Lana flashed Chloe an appologetic smile as she moved away from the young girl, obviously torn between work and helping a friend.
After handing the man his change Lana turned to her aunt giving her a pleading look. "Nell, could you please cover the register for me for a few minuets. I need to talk to Chloe, alone, about something important."
Finishing busing an empty booth Nell looked around the room. Most of the people had been waited on and seemed content sipping their coffee and conversing. Only a few new customers had arrived or were waiting in line. "Sure. Just don't be too long." Nell replied quickly "Oh! When your done, could you please bring out a box of creamer? Were almost out." The older woman added as an after thought.
"No problem." Lana replied cheerfully, her eyes squinching with appriciation as they were crushed by her bright smile. "Be right back." Turning to Chloe the preppy ex-cheerleader continued. "Come with me. We need to talk." Handing her friend a fresh cup of coffee Lana lead her to the back store room.
Motioning to a crate Lana indicated that Chloe should sit. Resting on a large package of coffee beans Lana gave her friend a very understanding look. "Okay Chloe, I know we are not the best of friends but I want you to know that I am here for you." Shifting in her seat Lana looked a little uncomfortable but she never lost eye contact with the young reporter. Her voice was very sweet and sincere as she spoke. "There is obviously something troubling you. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to...but If you do I want you to know that I am a great listener." Lana smiled a little shyly as she awaited Chloe's reply.
Chloe took in a deep breath before giving Lana a very grateful smile. "Listen, Lana." It was Chloes turn to look uncomfortable. "I am not really good at sharing my feelings but I really do appriciate you offering. I am not sure what to say."
"Just tell me whats bothering you. Trust me. Talking about things can really make you feel better. Does it have something to do with the suicideds you are investigating?" Lana's voice was curious but the concern in her tone made it clear that she was much more interested in helping Chloe than learning about the case.
The corner of Chloe's mouth pulled upward in a half-smile as she digested Lana's generous offer. Since her mother had left Chloe had had precious few people she could realy talk to about personal things. Her father was great but the lack of female companionship in her life was painfully absent.
Wringing her hands the young reporter tried to organize her thoughts in a way that Lana could understand. With a nervous laugh Chloe began to speak. "Sort of." She shrugged. "I mean yes,...and no."
Paitent eyes reguarded Chloe with curiousity as Lana's full pink lips pulled into a wide smile. With her small hands placed delicatly on her lap the petiete brunette awaited Chloe to clairify herself.
Chloe bit her lip in frustration. This conversation was not going at all like she had planned. She wanted to get straight to the point. "Its about Lex." She suddenly told the girl sitting across from her.
Lana's large doe eyes blinked in surprise. "Lex? What does he have to do with anything?" She asked bewildered.
"He....well....he...um..." Chloe fidgeted, playing with her fingernails. "He kissed me." she blurted out as she hesitantly met Lana's gaze. Immediatly she could feel the heat rise to her cheeks.
"He kissed you?" Lana whispered incredulously, her brown eyes remained large as she stared at the blond girl with a mixture of surprise and envy. "Lex Luthor kissed you. Wow." Lana stated astounded.
"No, not wow." Chloe corrected her. "He was using me."
Lana's smile immediatly disappeared. "What?" she asked shaking her head, silky dark hair glided through the air as she stared at her friend with confusion. "How?"
"He wanted me to stop looking into the case. He kissed me because he thought I would suddenly swoon over him and do what ever he asked." Chloe's voice began to rise at the memory. "The jerk. He must think I am such an idiot." Chloe spoke more to herself then the other girl in the room.
"I am sure thats not true, Chloe." Lana began hesitantly. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"
"Well, I was went to his house." She slowly began to explain what happened, her lips pulling down at the corners as she spoke. "Because i wanted to ask him about a library book I thought he had rented out. When i got there he was eating breakfast." Running her hand through her blond hair Chloe attempted to recall all the details. "He was being so nice. It was weird." Her voice grew sour as she continued. "He must have been acting. He was trying to trick me." Chloe folded her arms across her chest in a defensive gesture. Her pride was obviously wounded. "And i was stupid enough to fall for it."
"Wait a minute. Are you sure he was faking it, Chloe?" Lana began slowly, careful not to insult the touchy teenager. "I mean, believe it or not but Lex isn't always a bad guy. Not all his actions are self modivated. After all he did help me with the Talon. He's barely making a profit from this place yet he allows me to keep it running. Do you think you could have maybe misinterpreted his gesture? What were you doing when he kissed you?"
Chloe sighed as she brought the memories to the forefront of her mind. "We were fighting." She began. Her eyes sparkled with fire as she recalled their excange. "He called me a drama queen and I made fun of him for having no friends." Pausing for a moment as she remembered his reaction Chloe suddenly felt confused. Lex had seemed so sincerely hurt then. When she continued her voice was lower. "He looked so sad. I felt bad for yelling at him so I appologized. Then he kissed me."
"That does not sound so bad." Lana said wih a smile. "It actually sounds pretty romantic. What makes you think the kiss was not genuine?" Lana asked seriously.
"Because while he was kissing me he asked me not to look into the investigation any more." Chloe said her tone wonded but confident.
"Thats it?" Lana asked her brow wrinkeling in confusion.
"What do you mean thats it?" Chloe protested. "Isen't that enough?"
Lana shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, Lex's concern sounds justified. If he really cared about you then it seems reasonable that he would not want you to put yourself into any danger."
Chloe let those words sink in for a moment. She was not convinced that Lex had not been up to something but she had to admit Lana did make a good point. Maybe she was being a little bit too hasty. "Yeah but..." Chloe paused unable to think of a counter point.
"Did he seem sincere?" Lana asked curiously.
"What do you mean?" Chloe asked not sure of the question.
"When he kissed you did it feel like he ment it or did he seem like he was acting?" Lana asked.
Chloe paused a moment to contemplate the answer. It had seemed very real at the time but she did not have a lot of experience to back it up. She had only kissed a handful of boys in her life. How was she to know what felt real and what didn't? It had felt real to her. "I don't know." Chloe said hesitantly. "How can you tell?" She timidly asked the more experienced girl.
"Well." Lana began. As she spoke a far away look appeared in her eyes and a wide grin slowly spread across her face. "It feels like your body is on fire and you go weak in the knees." Lana spoke passionatly her voice low and thoughtful. "You can hardly breath and all you want is for that moment to last forever. Did it feel like that?" The brunette asked as a glint of mischief sparkled in her eyes.
"Yeah." Chloe admitted hesitantly, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth as she recalled his lips against hers. Then as quickly as the smile had come it vanished. "But that does not prove anything. Just because i was stupid enough to fall for him does not mean that he cares for me." Chloe stated logically her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "He was just using me, I know it. No one ever likes me."
"That's not true, Chloe." Lana stated, her voice becoming sympathetic as she moved over to kneel next to the girl, slipping a friendly arm around her. "Listen, I have no idea how Lex feels about you but either way you should not judge yourself on how one person feels about you. You have lots of friends and lots of people think you are great. You are a very sweet and caring person. You have been driving yourself crazy trying to help this town the last few days. Anyone who does not appriciate you for that is a fool." Lana said giving her friend a loving squeeze.
"I know. I just feel so horrible." Chloe said through choked sobs. "It hurts so bad."
"Don't worry, Chloe. Your a strong person. I know that you are going to be okay. It only hurts for a little while. The important thing is that you don't let this stop you from living your life. Keep trying to solve this mystery. If Lex likes you then he will just have to deal with the fact that you are a reporter and a certain amount of danger is a part of your life. If he can't deal with that then he is not the one for you."
"What if he doesn't like me?" Chloe asked attempting to gain control over her emotions.
"If he is messing with you then you should show him you are not intimadated by him." Lana said slowly, honestly. "Don't let him stop you from solving this case. If he tries to mess with you he better be prepared to deal with this whole town because there isn't a soul in Smallville who would not stand up for you. That you can count on."
Chloe felt her heart lighten a little at that but a constant nagging question continued to burn in the pit of her stomach and she just had to ask it no matter how childish she sounded. "Do you think he likes me?" The grief-stricken reporter looked at Lana with an expression of both hope and fear, as if the answer to that question was a matter of life and death.
"I don't know Chloe. There is only one way to find out. You are just going to have to ask him." Lana said giving Chloe a final squeeze before releasing her embrace. "Oh and Chloe." Lana added quickly.
"Yeah." Chloe asked hopefully.
"He would be a fool to say no." Lana said with a grin before planting a friendly kiss on the blonds cheek. Jumping to her feet Lana claped her hands together satisfied.
"Thanks, Lana....for everything." Chloe said standing up as well. "I don't know what I would have done with out you."
"Anytime." Lana said clearly meaning it. "I better get back out there." She said appologetically as she scanned the room. Spotting a box of creamer in the corner the brunette waitress quickly selected the needed package and began walking back out towards the floor. "Let me know how things work out." Lana said quickly as she approached the counter and began to open the box of fresh creamers.
"I will." Chloe assured her though she was not looking forward to talking to Lex. The uncertainty was still to great. "Thanks again."
Just then Clark Kent walked through the doors. Chloe quicky wiped her eyes hoping the the tears were not that noticeable. Clark could be pretty dense but apparently either he was quicker then she thought of she really looked bad because his first words upon seeing her were. "Hey Chloe, are you okay?" His big blue eyes reguarded her in the same manner a scolded puppy dog would show its master after getting in trouble.
"Yeah no problem, Clark. Just girl stuff." Chloe said flashing Lana a smile. This explaination seemed to satisy Clark and he nodded though he still loooked a little concerned.
Attempting to aleviate his worry Chloe smiled brightly. There was something about Clark that always made her feel better. "So whats up?"
"I just finished my chores. I had to go to the feed store with dad or i would have been here sooner." he said quietly. "Any new clues?" His typical Clark Kent grin was plastered across his face.
"Not yet." Chloe said with a sigh. "Well maybe." She corrected herself after a second of thought. "I found out that Lex did not rent out that book." She informed the farmboy brighty.
"Yeah?" Clark replied his eyes puzzled. "Then who did?"
"Ill give you a clue. His last name is also Luthor. You get two guesses." Chloe said easily slipping back into reporter mode.
"Lionel?" Clark said his expression mirroring the confusion she felt.
"Bingo."
"What does Lionel have to do with anything?" Clark asked scratching the back of his head.
"Thats what we need to find out." Chloe said. "The question is, how."
"Oh good you got the creamer." Nell said to Lana as she suddenly appearing next to Chloe. Quickly she began to sort the tiny containers by flavors and set them out for the customers to use. "Hello Chloe." Nell said giving the girl a smile as she busied herself with work. "Did Lana give you the letter?" she asked absently as she tossed the empty box into the trash.
"No... what?" Chloe asked frowning.
"You got another letter from your mysterius stranger." Nell said smiling. Turning to Lana the older woman continued. " Lana, dear, what did you do with that letter? I set it by the register this morning."
"I didn't touch it." Lana said innocently.
Leaning over the counter Nell looked next to the register and frowned. Chloe's heart froze. This case could very well rest on the contents of that misplaced letter. With a great efforet she attempted to control her impaitence.
"There it is." Clark said standing next to Chloe.
"Where?" Nell said confused, looking around.
"It fell behind the counter. It's sitting right there." He said pointing to an area concealed by the counter.
"How could you possibly know that?" Chloe asked Clark confused giving him a funny look.
"Clark shrugged in responce. "Where else could it have gone?" He asked. Chloe noticed his cheeks looked slightly flushed and he was unable to make eye contact with her. She got the sudden feeling that he was hiding something from her. Could Lex have had him tamper with her mail? Quickly Chloe pushed that ridiculos thought from her mind. She trusted Clark. He would never keep things from her, right?
Kneeling on the floor next to the register Lana peered into the crack. "He's right." Lana smiled, staring at the envelope. "I am going to need something long and thin to reach it though." Looking around she scanned the room for something that fit that description.
"How about this." Clark said quickly, grabbing a wire hanger from off the coat rack. In seconds he had the strong metal untangled and perfectly hooked at the end. Chloe was impressed. Clark always had a plan.
"Perfect." Lana replied, accepting the tool. Skillfully she retrieved the mysterious envelope handing it to Chloe.
"Well what are you waiting for?" Clark asked a note of impaitence in his tone. "Lets see what it says."