Chapter 9
Gently Into That Good Night
The stars faded back until the world was grayed and dull in the twilight of early morning. Soon the gray faded pink then red until a fire was burning just below the tree line. Following the sun's lead, Lana rose from her meditation. The early morning light radiated through the solarium's glass, danced over her face, and warmed her skin. Two beings moved within one body. Every breath was a synchrony of will. Every motion sealed the two spirits more intimately together. Her brother was close, waiting for her, for them.
Like a child peeking in on a forbidden surprise, Lana ducked her head around the door to the main house. There he was, the vessel housing her brother. A trill of dissent flitted through the souls twined together inside Lana. Both felt a tug of connection for the gore covered man in the hall. We love him. I love my brother, and you do love your Clark, whether you accept it or not. "Brother, are you ready? The sun has arrived. You know how I love the morning."
With a speed her vessel's eyes couldn't even follow, brother came to stand in front of her. He leaned in too close and smiled down exposing his teeth and the ropey cords of flesh clinging there. "dO We fighT outsidE THen?"
"I will meet you outside. Run along and allow me to proceed in peace," Lana said. She seemed unphased by the proximity of her brother or his coating of gore. Maggot-face leaned a bit closer until sister could feel his breath on her ear.
"Don'T maKe mE wAIt lonG." As if flaunting his vessel's superiority, brother left with a rush of speed that stirred the paintings on the walls.
Watching the two creatures animate Lana and Clark sent chills racing up and down Lex's spine. It was like being trapped in some sick play where his friends were disposable marionettes and he was the narrator, witness to everything but able to change nothing.
With a clatter the heavy little munitions box slipped free from Lex's hand scattering green bullets across the hall. Lana dropped down to one knee and scooped up a handful of the potential projectiles. "You'll be needing these for later, just in case. Do you have your gun?"
Lex almost laughed. Not quite the narrator of the play, he was the final act, the tragic ending. "Yes," Lex said. "I'm not sure I can pull the trigger." This wouldn't be the first time he'd held a gun with a life in the balance. Lex could still remember exactly how it had felt to kill Roger Nixon. Hold the gun up, aim, pull the trigger, a little recoil, and when you opened your eyes, a man was dead. It was like a recipe, simple. Killing Nixon had been scary, not because of any guilt or regret, but because it was easy. "Please don't lose this fight, little girl. I don't want to know if I can do this."
"You're close. You're close. You're close." Sitting in the center of his circle of light, Clark rocked back and forth, his arms folded around his head, squeezing. His last foray into the black river of agonies had not been an easy one and the effects lingered perniciously. If the ringing in his ears would just stop and if the burning under his skin would just fade, maybe he'd have the strength to try again, to fight more. There was a little voice inside him that didn't want to go on. It hurt to fight, but the light was safe. If he just stayed in the light, there needn't be any more burning or ringing or screaming.
It would be so easy to just quit and rest...
"But you won't. You don't know how." Hazy and indistinct, like a picture drawn in chalk after a rainstorm, Pete Ross, had come out of the light. He took a seat next to Clark and wrapped an arm around him. "Let the pain go. Store it away and box it up. This is your head. You're the master here." Clark let the apparition hold and protect him. Shutting his eyes he held on to the light and tried to push the pain away. Comforting smells: roses-Mother, corn-home, machine oil-Father, wafted through him, soothing his senses. When Clark opened his eyes again he was alone, but the pain was gone.
Slowly he came forward until he was within arms reach of the black river, his enemy. Briefly, he considered shoving his hands back in, but what would happen if that didn't work? Would he have the strength to ever try again? While he had the strength and before he could think about it enough to reconsider, Clark threw himself into the blackness.
Big brother, stood atop a mound of daffodils, not oblivious to the destruction he wrought on the delicate yellow flowers, but definitely enjoying it. Spreading his arms wide, he sucked in a lungful of the morning air. There was rain in that air, thick and humid. The first clouds were only just arriving, but more were on their way. Today was going to be his kind of day: defeat sister, feast on a few hearts to celebrate, go home. Normally with a vessel this sturdy, the celebration would last for months, but the soul was too much of a pain, hardly worth the effort...
An agony of white light filled big brother's senses. It wasn't like before, a focal spike of violation. This was a blanket, a melding. Was this what it felt like for sister when she joined with her champion? Clark's soul was constricting over him, coating him in it's agonizing life and light.
When Clark's eyes opened again, two beings looked out. There was no synchrony or cooperation between them. Every motion, every breath, every thought was an exertion of will, an angry shouting match of yes-no, life-death, breath-I'd rather die.
"Brother, Clark, are you ready then?" Lana said. She stood quietly without a weapon, or any real chance at victory. Bare-foot and pajama-clad, she held her head high. "I have come for you to fight. Do you accept my challenge."
For the first time since their impromptu union, Clark and Brother moved in synchrony, turning to stare at sister, at Lana. Brother took advantage of Lana's entrance, exerting his will in the distraction of the moment. "I aCCept youR chAllenGe. PreParE youR chaMpion tO DIE." No! Clark's will balked almost immediately, digging its heels in to fight the attack. This was Lana, this was his dream. She was standing there wait for something. She was waiting for him to... for him to kiss... KILL HER! ... Kiss her ... KILL HER! ... Kiss her.
Abruptly, brother released his will and allowed Clark to move forward. Fine, Kiss her then. I'll kill her when you get done. While Clark's befuddled mind was occupied kissing, all Brother need do was snap Sister's neck. It wasn't the glorified victory, but it was better than defeat.
With a trembling hand, Lex manually evacuated his clip of regular bullets. Then one at a time he slipped the meteor rock bullets into place. The clip was one round from full when he finished, but Lex didn't bother searching for the missing bullet. If he couldn't manage this with fourteen shots, a fifteenth wasn't likely to turn the tide. He should hurry. While he was fumbling around with loading his gun, the confrontation could have already started, or even finished.
I can do this... Just follow the recipe. Down the hall, out the door, extend the arm, aim and wait for it. Pulling the trigger wasn't going to happen. The thing in Lana was going to win and everyone was going to walk away. When Lex pushed open the door, he didn't have to look for the combatants. They were a few feet away, standing in his back yard, not fighting. They were barely a hand's breath from one another. Was this a good turn or a bad one? Maggot-face could snuff out Lana at any moment, if he chose. "I can do this," Lex whispered. That wasn't Clark. Those mad eyes, and the smell of blood, Lex made himself remember what he was dealing with. When he finally raised his gun, it was with a steady hand.
The resistance was gone. The voice that Clark had been battling just vanished and he was back in his dream. This was his moment, a kiss to change everything. He reached out with his hand and cupped Lana's creamy soft cheek. Pulling her close, he claimed her with the kiss he practiced every night in his dreams. This kiss was going to show how much he loved her. It was going to bring her to him, make her understand. It burned, but not with passion. This kiss was fire, an agony flowing smoothly from Lana into him. Clark opened his eyes and wavered on his feet. This was a familiar pain, draining the strength from him, blurring his vision. This wasn't something you could fight and Clark didn't try, but Brother raged against his suddenly weak and immobile vessel. Then they were falling, unable to move, unable to breathe.
Lana crouched over them, stroking at Clark's head. "I hope it doesn't hurt. Surrender?"
Unable to answer with his failing vessel, brother withdrew, abandoning his champion and by extension conceding the battle. "HOW... whaT did yOu DO?" big brother hissed.
"You remember the deadly rocks? I ran across one on my way to the battle." Sister said. "Can't say that I was actually expecting the kiss, but I always follow my instincts. My mouth seemed just the place to conceal my weapon until you came close enough." Abruptly, Lana slumped over, her breaths evening into a regular sleep pattern, but little sister remained sitting. She smiled at her brother. "my first victory, aren't you even going to congratulate me."
"I wAsn'T plaNNinG tO. TaKe mE homE," Brother snapped. The black cords, his face, writhed more rapidly and he dropped to his knees. "I supplicatE beCause i musT, nOw geT thIs oveR wiTH."
"we will be beautiful, brother." Little sister came forward and knelt in front of her opposite, her other half. "i've been lonely, and i know you have as well. i want to go home." Leaning forward, little sister embraced her brother.
Lex watched the supposed battle without understanding what was happening. There was definitely a kiss then the puppeteers abandoned their marionettes. Light and dark, Lex watched them over the barrel of his gun until they embraced. When you mix black and white, you get a nice mellow gray, but where these two beings came together, a rainbow of colored light erupted. It was so bright that Lex dropped back and looked away.
After the light faded, Lex turned back, hoping that the two combatants would just be gone, that it would all finally be over. Where the siblings had embraced a young woman had appeared. She was tall and lithe with wild purple hair. Her skin was a pale cream, her clothing a translucent shift dancing with every possible color in its rainbow weave. The other two, light and dark, hadn't been beautiful. The dark was plain hideous, but the light was so white it was transparent and without life. This new thing, this woman, was an expression of every color hiding in black and white. It was almost too much, too beautiful. She smiled knowingly at Lex, the same smile as the ancient little girl. He blinked and she was gone.
In that one blink of an eye, everything was quiet and mundane again, as if none of it had happened. The only sound left to break the silence was a strong wind whipping through the trees. Looking up, Lex frowned at the darkening sky. Thick black clouds were rolling in, and the first clap of thunder broke into the quiet of the morning. He could see Clark and Lana, lying quietly next to each other. Were they dead?
Lex ran the short distance to his fallen friends and dropped to his knees beside them. Lana was lying awkwardly, but her chest was rising and falling steadily. Lex grabbed her by the shoulder and shook. "Lana, are you okay?" She blinked at him owlishly and shoved his hand away. Curling into a more comfortable position on the grass, she went back to sleep. "Fine, we'll get you some caffeine later, princess."
Clark on the other hand didn't appear to be sleeping peacefully. He was gray and silent. Was he even breathing? "Clark, wake up. Clark?"
Light as feather and free, Clark was alone inside a warm white light. He had never felt more clean or safe, floating above anything that might touch him. The dark invader from his brain was gone as were all his worries. If he stayed here, he could leave all his responsibilities and pain on the other side of the light. Clark's weariness ran deep, all the way to his soul, and this place was peace. Would he finally get to rest?
A woman emerged from the light, pretty and petite. A head full of dark curls bounced as she moved, and her vibrant green eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "I know you're weary. The last few days tore at your very soul," she said. Her voice resonated with the light here. She was the light, or at least part of it. "Life is precious though. Eternal rest would be easy, but you have to remember why we fight it. You have love and hope... life. I want you to have a life. You're my hope."
"I'm your hope?" Clark's mind filled with memories so old that he only dreamed them in his deepest sleeps. He was being held close while someone sang in a sweet melodic language. There was a smell, crisp and fresh, but unlike anything on Earth. Mother... A sob rolled out of him and Clark shook his head. "I'm too tired. Why can't I stay here with you?"
The small woman embraced him and more recent memories filled him, his parents, Lana, Chloe, Pete, Lex. He saw his family and the dangers in their lives, the mutants, the evils. "I can't leave them, can I? They need me."
"You need them," his mother whispered. "Fight."
Author's Note:
Well this is just about it. I considered putting, The End after the last line as a joke, but then I decided that would be totally unprofessional and silly. **grin** There's another chapter to come and an epilogue. (Give me a couple of days to ruminate.)
The scene, Kiss her, Kill her that battle of wills was the original concept this story was written for. Brother and sister, the twins, are a couple of characters from an original story of mine that I plan to write someday. I used them to get to write that scene. I know this fic leaves off with a lot of ambiguity where the siblings are concerned. To write their story properly would be a novel (One of many as yet unwritten novels. Maybe I should stop writing so much fan fiction?).
Lollann, I hear you about the Demon voice. It was a difficult choice, but after input from my roommate and a long discussion, I decided the mood the oDD letteRing provided outweighed the drawbacks. Would anyone else like to weigh in on this issue? I am open to criticism. If many of the readers found the choice distracting, I'll change it in a heartbeat. :)
Happy Spring Break!
