Life off the Farm Chapter 2

It was early afternoon when Clark headed back to the house for lunch. He walked in: sweaty, dirty, and shirtless. "Hi mom," he said, as he expected she would be the only one in the kitchen when he walked in. To his surprise, his best friend Pete was there. Neither his friend, nor his mom minded his attire or odor, as they both lived on farms, and appreciated the life of farmers. The three of them ate lunch and talked about the unusually hot and dry weather that summer. After lunch, Pete and Clark rode out to the west field. Clark's last chore was to move the hay-bails from sitting in the field to the tractor-trailer. He looked around to make sure no one was watching, then easily picked up the bails and sat them on the trailer. Pete saw that no one was around, and took out a little silver box. Once Clark had loaded all the bails on the trailer Pete said, "Clark, get under the trailer and try to lift it with all the weight on it." "Why?" Clark said, wondering why his friend wanted him to do this. "You've seen me lift heavier things before." Clark said. "I just want to see if you can do it." Pete said. "Okay" Clark said, always eager to show his friend how strong he was. He walked over to the trailer and got under it, in a bench press position. As soon as Clark started pushing up, Pete unhooked the trailer from the tractor, and it fell hard onto Clark. His invulnerable chest took the hit.

Clark grunted, then yelled, "Pete, what happened." "Sorry about this Clark." Pete said as he laid the metal box down by Clark, opening it, so that it's green light basked Clark. "Pete. Why? What are you doing?" Clark said to his friend in a panicky voice, as the green glow of the meteor rock robbed him of his strength. The weight that didn't phase him before was now slowly crushing him. He started to feel sick, and his muscles started to give out. There was no way he could lift the trailer off of him without his strength. He felt the trailor becoming heavier, and the pain of the trailer crushing him. "Pete, Pete, Help me Pete," Clark yelled. The air was being crushed out of his lungs, and he pushed as hard as he cold on the trailer, only to lose more strength. The meteor rock made him ache and convulse. He wouldn't last much longer. Suddenly he felt his strength returning slowly. He looked over to find that Chloe was holding the metal box, and had closed it. The trailer's weight was still crushing him. His strength was returning, but he couldn't lift it because he was exhausted and in pain. Lift it off of you Clark," Chloe said, "I know you're secret, so you don't have to worry yet." Chloe looked mad. He exerted all of his strength and pushed the trailer over sideways. He lay on the ground exhausted. He looked down at his shirtless chest, which ached and stung, and saw marks branded on him by the weight of the trailer. They started to heal in the open air, so he stood up. He felt a sharp pain on his neck, and he fell to the ground. Chloe had hit him with a steel pole in the back of the neck, while holding the box open to Clark. She took out the rock that lay inside it, put it into her fist, and started punching Clark. He lay there weakened by its effect on him. He hurt more and more until he was knocked unconscious by a right hook in the jaw from Pete (who had the rock in his hand at the time). Pete and Chloe laughed in the thought that he had no idea what was going on. Later at suppertime, his parents wondered where he had been. They didn't worry too much because they figured he could handle himself, but they decided to look anyway. They looked through the fields, in the loft, and in the cellar, until they came to the trailer sitting sideways, with bails of hay everywhere. They looked in the tractor, and when they did, found a note. It said:

Dear Mr. And Mrs. Kent,
Clark is fine, FOR NOW! He has been betrayed by close acquaintances. You will never see him again. We have taken him to save you, and the world. You are better off this way. DO NOT try to find him, or he will be killed. He says goodbye.
P.S. We know more about him than he does. We will hurt him.
World Saviors

Martha cried when Johnathan read the letter to her. He did too. They called Clark's best friend Pete's house first to tell him, but he wasn't home. They then called Lana. She cried, and offered her prayers that he was okay. Chloe wasn't at home either. Martha and Johnathan thought, close acquaintances. Did Chloe and Pete kidnap Clark?