Chapter 5

Like a dam crumbling under too much pressure, Clark poured out his story to Lex. He told him about the progressively ugly nightmares. He told him about the shadow voice and its excursion into Clark's reality... He told him about the cows. "I woke up with the taste of those cows' hearts in my mouth, Lex. I was covered in their blood. If you're telling me that the shadow voice isn't part of me, that it isn't me, I want to believe it. What if you're wrong though?"

Lex didn't flinch once, even when Clark was recounting excerpts from his most nightmarish dreams. If it were just the dreams, Lex would have been able to relate. Nightmares were a language he understood. But then came the description of the cow massacre, not a dream. It was so bizarre that it was almost comical, except it wasn't. "And you've never actually seen the face behind this voice?"

"I saw my own face covered in blood." Clark stared down at his lap and his deceptively clean hands. He held them up for Lex to see. "I saw the blood on my hands."

"Clark, I saw him. It wasn't you, okay. Maybe he possessed you, or whatever he does, but it wasn't you, not really," Lex said. "Trust me."

"So it wasn't me. Thank God. What do we do about it?" Clark said.

"First, you call your parents and tell them you're okay, not where you are, but let them know you're alive," Lex said. He tossed Clark his cell phone. "They're worried."


Martha sat and listened to Jonathan on the phone. He was calling the police about their cows, again. Something, not poison this time, killed the lot of them, and Clark was there. She stared at the warped and stained little piece of cardboard that had proven Clark's attendance to the bovine massacre. Where could he have gotten off to? Was he hurt maybe? He would have come home if he could. He...

"Martha, the police are on their way," Jonathan said. A couple of tears had slipped down Martha's cheeks and she nodded to him. "Hey, stop that. This is Clark. He isn't easy to hurt. He's probably following whatever got the cows, so that it can't cause any more trouble." But he isn't invincible and he doesn't always know when to quit.

The phone rang, stopping short any response Martha might have offered. "I've got it," she said. "It's probably Clark." Jonathan nodded and followed her to the phone. "Hello?"

"Mom."

Martha grabbed Jonathan's arm and nodded enthusiastically. She'd never been more happy to hear that word. "Clark Kent, I don't know where you've been or what happened, but you just about worried us to death. Are you okay? Did the thing that attacked the cows hurt you?"

Clark almost dropped Lex's cell phone, when his mother asked about the cows. Of course they wouldn't assume it was him that attacked the cows, but how did they know he was anywhere near the incident. "I'm fine, Mom. I didn't mean to worry you. I'll be home... First I have to take care of the thing that got the cows. Can't talk right now, okay?"

"No, you need to come home now," Martha said. "Clark? Clark!" She tossed the phone at Jonathan. "He hung up. I can't believe he just hung up."

"Where is he?" Jonathan asked. "If he isn't coming home, we'll go fetch him."

"I don't know. He didn't say, and he sounded odd, Jonathan. I don't like this."


Clark stared at the closed cell phone for a long moment. "First time I ever hung up on my mom. What now?"

Lex snorted and shrugged. "Excellent question. The thing seems to strike when you're sleeping, always at night. It likes shadows and you unconscious. We deny it both. Let's get some stimulants into your system and I want you in the solarium until dusk. Then we'll relocate to the ballroom. It has the best lighting."

Clark nodded and followed Lex from the room. "Sounds like a good short term plan, but what about the long run? How are we supposed to beat this thing? We don't even know what it is or what it can do. I haven't even seen it. You're sure that isn't just me?"

Lex paused and gave Clark a long skeptical look. "I'm no farm boy, so correct me if I'm wrong, but even if it was just you and you were just going crazy, how could you take down an entire herd of cattle. Cows are big, and they like to trample people who tear their hearts out, don't they?"

"That logic doesn't work," Clark wanted to say. He would have liked to have pointed out that a herd of cattle didn't stand a chance against him, but Lex had no idea what his good buddy was capable of. "Where's the meteor rock I told you to keep? If I lose my mind, you'll need it."

Clark hadn't agreed with him about the cow killing? He just tried to make sure Lex ad kept the safety-meteor-rock close. "That's an odd allergy, you know. Why is it that I'm just now finding out about it?"

"Because it's odd like you said, and my parents thought I'd be better off not being poked and prodded by every meteor enthusiast who wandered through town," Clark said. "It's just a stupid allergy." He headed past Lex into the solarium, a circular room awash in sunlight streaming through floor to ceiling windows and an intricately patterned skylight.

"Fine, I suppose I can understand that..." If you had something else to hide... "We can talk about it later. I need to see about some No Doze for you anyway."

The sun danced over Clark's face and hands. He almost felt safe here. "Thank you, Lex. You saved my life." I hope you don't live to regret it.


Brow furrowed and arms crossed, Chloe looked like she wanted to hurt something. She was staring at a notebook and thrumming her pencil rapidly over the binding. Pete approached cautiously, taking the seat opposite her. "Okay girl, what is causing that face? I didn't do anything did I?"

Chloe looked up and rolled her eyes. "You did nothing. I was just brutally violated by a geometry test. I hope Clark is on top of our golf hole design, because I need a good grade on that thing. Not that I'm taking advantage of him. I'm going to help. I'll glue when told to glue and nail when asked to nail."

"Clark's pretty dependable. I wouldn't worry too much," Pete said. "Have you seen him today? He missed first period."

"Actually no, he wasn't in geometry either. I guess my journalistic observational skills are more acute than anyone realized. I knew that boy was looking a little under the weather. He's probably out sick," Chloe said. "I just know he aced the test we got back today. I bet he would tutor me in this garbage if I asked."

"Probably to both." Well that was half-true. Clark would definitely tutor if asked, but there was no way he was out sick. Abstractly, Pete wondered why Clark was skipping today. Since becoming one of the inner-circle on the alien secret, Clark usually kept him up to date on things. It probably wasn't a big deal and Pete didn't dwell on the absence. He craned his neck across the picnic table. "What's in that lunch bag?"

Chloe pulled her lunch an inch closer and shook her head. "No trading today. Can you say roast beef?"


Clark passed the day following his suicide attempt mostly alone, watching the sun move across the sky, and just thinking. Occasionally Lex would pop his head in to ask for a detail about the shadow-voice or to make sure Clark was taking the Vivarin on schedule. Eventually, Lex was going to show up with a doctor who would want blood and x-rays, and a hundred things that Clark couldn't let him have. That was a bridge he would have to cross when he came to it. Right now, calmly watching the sun make it's trek across the sky seemed to be all Clark was capable of.

The sun was getting heavy and red, dipping down behind the tree line. The shadows in the solarium were stretching out warning of the evening. A shiver raced up Clark's arms, and he wished there was a way to push the sun back up in the sky.

"You look like you'd like to fight the dying of that light," Lex said. "You're going to be fine. I do think we should relocate to the ballroom, and you should think about calling your parents again."

"They're probably pretty worried," Clark said. Lex was waiting for him, but Clark didn't move. "What am I supposed to say to them after what I've done? I didn't know what to say this morning, and I don't know now."

"It isn't what you say in this situation. Let them know you're alive by hearing your voice. Unlike some parents I know, the fact that you're alive and relatively well, should be a minor relief to them." Lex gestured at the door, and this time Clark followed.

The ballroom was almost like an artificial reenactment of the glow in the solarium. The multitude of lights built on themselves reflecting in the wall mirrors. An uneasy chill raced up Clark's spine. This room was decidedly less comforting than the solarium. Maybe it was the mirrors. Clark could remember seeing himself in the mirror of his dreams. He could remember the evil grinning thing wearing his face. "You don't have your meteor rock, Lex. I can tell. Where is it?"

"It's in my office," Lex said. "Don't worry. You're so full of stimulant that there isn't any reason for it. You are not falling asleep."

Clark imagined he could see the sun outside these walls, sinking inexorably behind the horizon. "Go get it Lex, and until the sun comes up tomorrow, don't set it down. You promised me."

"Fine, I'll be back in a few minutes and we'll go over what I found out today." Lex hated to leave Clark alone right now. He was too scared and pale and quiet. He had promised to keep the rock close though, and it wasn't like anything was going to happen after all their precautions.

If Lex was reluctant to leave Clark alone, Clark was at least twice as unhappy about being left alone, alone with the mirrors and without the sun.

deATH wOUld haVe bEEn a miSTakE.

It was here then. The Demon was back into his reality. Clark started spinning, looking for the thing Lex had described as maggot-face. There weren't any shadows though. Lex said it liked shadows.

i am NOT In tHE shAdOws of tHE rOOm. LooK inTo tHe mIrrOr, clARk. gET yOUr fIRST rEal lOOk aT tHe neW Me.

Don't look. Can't look... The mirrors were everywhere though, the walls, the ceiling, the floor. The reflections were walking forward, they were all grinning. Despite the stimulants, Clark felt a deep exhaustion wash through him. His eyelids felt too heavy. "No, I won't fall asleep this time. Go away!" With a determined grit of his teeth, Clark forced his eyes to stay open. It meant he had to keep staring at the mocking reflections, but it also meant he retained control.

Like a pebble in a still pond the mirrors rippled and the twisted reflections stepped from behind their glass. Clark felt a hand from the mirrored floor clutching his leg, tearing at him, pulling him down. "I must have fallen asleep," Clark hissed. "Help me!" The other reflections swarmed over him, pushing him down stomping at his face, laughing at his efforts to keep his head above the now liquid glass.

And then there was silence. Clark felt cold and detached as though he were encased in ice. He could see the ballroom from the cold place. The many reflections had vanished. Only one remained, kneeing in the center of the room. A shrill sound broke through the silence, a laugh, pure hysteria... or maybe insanity.


Lex tossed the little piece of meteor rock Clark had insisted on and caught it casually. He shoved the rock in his pocket, hoping it wouldn't make Clark too sick. He seemed pretty sensitive to the things. Lex pushed the door to the ballroom open, and he froze. Half the lights were gone, shattered, and Clark was making quick work of the others. "What the Hell are you doing?"

Clark broke away from his project and turned to Lex. "TOO brIGHT. hOw aM i tO medITaTE wiTH so muCh distRActinG iLLumiNAtioN?"

Lex's heart sped up as adrenaline hit his system. That ugly halting voice was unmistakable. "Clark? Are you still in there, Clark?" Lex said. "You have to keep fighting this. Can you hear me?"

"I hEAr yoU," the demon practically sang. "sAvE yOur eFForT. clArk iS gOne, foR gOOd tHis tIme."


Author's Note:

Well, I made an observation to my roommate today... Everyone gets to be in on the inner circle of Clark's secrets in my stories at one point or another except Lex. Now, this isn't a Lex finds out Clark's secret fic, but it is a Lex and Clark share an important secret fic. Instead of being the excluded, Lex is the only confidant. **happy grin**

As for the question, will this be as long as the Lost? God no. If this story takes over 100 pages I'll be shocked beyond belief.