A/N: Ahem... after 100 years... Ahem... Not my fault! (I'm not kidding)
Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter... I have no idea on what to do next.
Oh well... please review!
Lana woke up early the next morning, neck strained and back aching from the hard ground where they had slept on.
'We should really have taken the effort to at least look for sleeping bags last night,' she thought bitterly.
She was about to wake the others up but thought better of it when she noticed Chloe's position, one arm casually draped over Clark. 'Oh, so they must have finally made up last night.' She was happy that they finally made up but was feeling a twinge of jealousy at what she was seeing. She left, trying to forget the scene she just saw and started gathering twigs to be able to start a fire.
After about 5 minutes, she had a handful of twigs and sticks and started rubbing them together.
*** 10 minutes later ***
Lana still hadn't made a single spark and was getting very pissed.
"What are you doing?"
Lana dropped the twigs in surprise. "Pete!! You nearly scared me to death!!" Lana exclaimed, exasperated. "Anyway, I was trying to start a fire. The only problem is," she started rubbing again, "nothing's happening."
"Maybe I can help," Pete offered.
*** 5 minutes later ***
"I think we should wake them up," Pete suggested. "You know how Chloe wants to explore unusual things and places as soon as possible."
"Okay. I'll wake them up," Lana replied. "You continue with that," she said, motioning to the twigs.
"This always works on television. Why isn't it working now?" Pete whined.
"Hey sleepyheads! Rise and shine!" Lana said in an annoyingly high voice.
"Mmmm... What time is it?" Chloe asked.
"About 8," Lana replied.
"What?!?" Chloe jumped up. "How could I have overslept?! We should have been exploring by now! Urrggghhh!!!" Chloe exclaimed, frustrated with herself. She tried to fix her hair, straighten her clothes, fold up the cloak she slept on, and wake up Clark all at the same time, and, unfortunately, failing, making her more aggravated.
"I'll wake up Clark," Lana offered. "Pete's there," she said, pointing to a very irritated looking Pete. "I think he needs some help with the fire for our food."
"Sure," Chloe said, walking over to Pete. Lana could here her mumbling things like "what's so hard with starting a fire," and "I can't believe I overslept!" Lana just shook her head and started waking up Clark.
"Clark... Cla-ark... Clark!" Lana said, sitting next to Clark. "Wake up, were going exploring."
Clark didn't move, clearly still asleep and unaffected by Lana's order.
"Urgghh... This guy could sleep through a storm!" Lana mumbled to herself. Lana touched his arm, clearly aware of the tingling sensation that spread through her, and stared shaking him gently.
"Clark, wake up!" Lana ordered.
"Five more minutes, mom..." Clark mumbled.
"Clark, we're going to be late and Chloe's gonna kill us," Lana said, now shaking him vigorously.
"Okay, okay, I'm up." Clark said sleepily. He stood up, and they joined Pete and Chloe, who, Lana noticed, have finally started a fire and were roasting some hotdogs, which Pete luckily forced them to bring.
"Mmmm... Smells good!" Clark said, getting one.
"So, you've finally made a fire," Lana said. "How'd you do it?"
"Well, Miss 'I-can't-believe-you-didn't-bring-matches' here brought matches, so we used them," Pete said.
"What?! It's true. You always have to bring matches on camping trips," Chloe said, clearly looking offended. "Why? Didn't anyone else bring?"
"Well, we would have if you told us that there was a meteor shower that took place here, and it's possible that there are dangerous creatures and no one wants to be here," Lana argued, head filling with anger, remembering Chloe's position, one arm over Clark...
"Even if there's no weird creature around, you still have to bring matches. Well, I would bring. Don't you know that's one of the most important things needed in camping?" Chloe asked. She sighed. "Let's just drop it. We've already wasted twenty minutes. We won't be able to see anything interesting if we don't hurry up."
They all ate in silence; Lana shooting looks of hatred at Chloe, who, obviously doesn't notice them, as she was deciding if they would explore the spooky-looking village to see if there's anyone or anything intriguing there, or if they would go into the creepy yet interesting-looking forest; Clark stealing glances at Lana when she's not looking; and Pete thinking of Spongebob Squarepants wearing a ballerina outfit.
* * *
They were walking through the village, which they had passed on the way to the campsite. It was deserted, and there was an eerie silence that seemed to fill the whole place, which unnerved them.
"It looks as though the last time somebody's lived here was in the year 1876 or something," Clark commented.
"Yeah," replied Pete. "Aren't there any signs of life here, least movement? Except for us, I mean."
"Shhh...," said Chloe. "I think I heard something from over there," she said, pointing to an old house at the side of a small dirt path. "Come. Let's see what made the noise."
They silently walked toward the house, Clark and Chloe leading the way while Pete and Lana following behind. When they got to the house, they knocked on the door (they didn't find a bell... obviously), not really expecting a response.
After a few minutes, still bothered by the previous sign of movement, they started walking around the house, peeping through small wall cracks and shattered windows. When nothing special was found, they went back to the front and Clark opened the door.
The door gave a squeaking sound and the floor creaked under their weight as they walked and scanned the house. The house looked as though someone lived there or still lives there despite its untidiness. There were unwashed dishes in the sink, a pile of dirty clothes on a corner, a living potted plant and some miscellaneous objects on the floor.
Lana and Clark went to one side of the house while Pete and Chloe went to another. Lana saw a wall with an old charcoal sketch of a man probably in his mid-50s with a girl who looked just a little older than they were. The sketch was beautiful with perfect contrasts of dark and light. The girl was so beautiful in the picture, a warm and genuine smile played on her lips as she stood beside the man who looked like her father. Lana was so transfixed with the picture-
"Hey!" boomed a man's voice causing her to jump and grasp Clark's forearm. The man was the guy in the picture, minus the smile. His features seemed harder and his eyes bore fury and sadness. He carried a gun and was now staring at both of them.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"We...uh... we..." Lana stuttered, nervous at what the man might do to the gun. Her grasp at Clark's arm tightened as she looked at Clark nervously.
"Uh, we're really sorry to trespass at your property..." Clark started.
"Yes! You really did!" the man answered impatiently.
"But we were looking for people or anyone..." Clark finished uncertainly, not knowing what to say. 'It looks like he's the only living creature in this whole village,' thought Clark.
Pete and Chloe were behind the man, sharing nervous glances at each other.
"Umm..... Excuse me, sir," began Chloe. "We were hiking yesterday and we saw this village. We wanted to see if there was anyone who still lives here, but -" her voice trailed off.
"But, it looks deserted," finished Lana, finding her voice. "Could you please tell us, I mean, if you know, where everyone is?"
"Wouldn't find anyone here... just me. Well, used to be me and me daughter." The man said. His features softened a bit. The fury in his eyes was replaced by sadness. He put his gun down as they followed him to the kitchen area.
The old man offered them water that they gratefully accepted. (A/N: I know he's a stranger and he could have poisoned it, but they were tired and thirsty.) The old man asked them to sit around the dining table, and sitting down himself, he said, "What do you want to know?"
"Sir -" began Chloe.
"Call me Hans."
"Umm..... Hans, where are all the people, if I may ask?" asked Chloe. "You were the only person we saw after looking for over an hour in this whole village. Surely you're not the only one living here."
"Well, you can say that again before the meteor shower." At this, Clark and Pete exchanged looks. Lana shifted uneasily on her chair and licked her dry lips, listening intently. "After the meteor shower, a few people died, and a lot of people got hurt. But the meteor shower wasn't the cause of their deaths; it was unknown. What made everyone leave was the legend of this half-man, half-bat," Hans said gravely.
"Half-man, half-bat?" Chloe asked, intrigued.
"Yes," Hans answered. "First, there were rumors. Some people believed it, but most thought it was nonsense. Gibberish. Balderdash. Garbage. I was the only one who believed it because I saw him with my own two eyes. One night, after collecting lumber for a cold night, I saw a big and I mean really big bat flying quite low. The next day, my friend's 19-year-old daughter was missing. She was never found." He finished.
Lana had goose bumps all over her body and felt her hair rise. She sat a bit closer to Clark, trying to find comfort in him. Chloe looked somehow fascinated at the tale while Pete and Clark said nothing. It was difficult to believe him and they understood why the people thought it was garbage but hey, this is still near Smallville. Quite far from where they live, but still near. Anything can happen.
"My daughter is also missing," he said quietly, as he took of the hat he was wearing and closed his tired-looking eyes. "She's been missing for 5 days. Every day, I look for her. I call her name but she doesn't answer." He said, looking defeated.
"I'm sorry." Chloe said, sympathetically.
"It's not your fault." He answered. "Just promise to be careful out there, ladies. It's real, very real. You don't want to get lost out here" He said. "You guys, take care of them." He said to Clark and Pete.
"We will." Clark said looking at Chloe and Lana. Pete nodded in agreement.
"So....." said Hans, standing up. "Would you mind eating lunch with an old man? I miss eating with other people, especially now that Amelia is gone," he said sadly.
The four teens stood up and exchanged looks. Finally, Lana said, "No thanks, we've already caused you too much trouble. Besides, we just ate before coming here."
'What?!? We just ate?! But that was 4 hours ago!' Pete thought. 'Well, she's right. We have already caused him too much trouble....."
"We're really sorry but we still have a lot to do," Chloe politely refused.
"Are you sure?" asked Hans, disappointed. "Well, if you're sure, let me at least give you some food before you leave." By this, he went to the kitchen and returned carrying a plastic bag with some berries and nuts. "I picked these early this morning. There are trees and bushes near here that grow fruits and berries. That is where I get my food. Well, as you can see, there aren't any animals here that I can eat, and if there were, I wouldn't be able to catch them anyway," he said, shrugging. "I don't even remember what meat tastes like," he added as an afterthought.
"Anyway, if you really have a lot to do, I think you should better go now," he said, leading them to the door. "Just remember, take care of yourselves."
A/N: It sucks! I know! Now do your thing and review! Flame me... Sorry, not so much Clana... (don't worry, you guys are gonna love the next chapter!) By the way, thank you so0o much to those who reviewed! I greatly appreciate them!
Lana woke up early the next morning, neck strained and back aching from the hard ground where they had slept on.
'We should really have taken the effort to at least look for sleeping bags last night,' she thought bitterly.
She was about to wake the others up but thought better of it when she noticed Chloe's position, one arm casually draped over Clark. 'Oh, so they must have finally made up last night.' She was happy that they finally made up but was feeling a twinge of jealousy at what she was seeing. She left, trying to forget the scene she just saw and started gathering twigs to be able to start a fire.
After about 5 minutes, she had a handful of twigs and sticks and started rubbing them together.
*** 10 minutes later ***
Lana still hadn't made a single spark and was getting very pissed.
"What are you doing?"
Lana dropped the twigs in surprise. "Pete!! You nearly scared me to death!!" Lana exclaimed, exasperated. "Anyway, I was trying to start a fire. The only problem is," she started rubbing again, "nothing's happening."
"Maybe I can help," Pete offered.
*** 5 minutes later ***
"I think we should wake them up," Pete suggested. "You know how Chloe wants to explore unusual things and places as soon as possible."
"Okay. I'll wake them up," Lana replied. "You continue with that," she said, motioning to the twigs.
"This always works on television. Why isn't it working now?" Pete whined.
"Hey sleepyheads! Rise and shine!" Lana said in an annoyingly high voice.
"Mmmm... What time is it?" Chloe asked.
"About 8," Lana replied.
"What?!?" Chloe jumped up. "How could I have overslept?! We should have been exploring by now! Urrggghhh!!!" Chloe exclaimed, frustrated with herself. She tried to fix her hair, straighten her clothes, fold up the cloak she slept on, and wake up Clark all at the same time, and, unfortunately, failing, making her more aggravated.
"I'll wake up Clark," Lana offered. "Pete's there," she said, pointing to a very irritated looking Pete. "I think he needs some help with the fire for our food."
"Sure," Chloe said, walking over to Pete. Lana could here her mumbling things like "what's so hard with starting a fire," and "I can't believe I overslept!" Lana just shook her head and started waking up Clark.
"Clark... Cla-ark... Clark!" Lana said, sitting next to Clark. "Wake up, were going exploring."
Clark didn't move, clearly still asleep and unaffected by Lana's order.
"Urgghh... This guy could sleep through a storm!" Lana mumbled to herself. Lana touched his arm, clearly aware of the tingling sensation that spread through her, and stared shaking him gently.
"Clark, wake up!" Lana ordered.
"Five more minutes, mom..." Clark mumbled.
"Clark, we're going to be late and Chloe's gonna kill us," Lana said, now shaking him vigorously.
"Okay, okay, I'm up." Clark said sleepily. He stood up, and they joined Pete and Chloe, who, Lana noticed, have finally started a fire and were roasting some hotdogs, which Pete luckily forced them to bring.
"Mmmm... Smells good!" Clark said, getting one.
"So, you've finally made a fire," Lana said. "How'd you do it?"
"Well, Miss 'I-can't-believe-you-didn't-bring-matches' here brought matches, so we used them," Pete said.
"What?! It's true. You always have to bring matches on camping trips," Chloe said, clearly looking offended. "Why? Didn't anyone else bring?"
"Well, we would have if you told us that there was a meteor shower that took place here, and it's possible that there are dangerous creatures and no one wants to be here," Lana argued, head filling with anger, remembering Chloe's position, one arm over Clark...
"Even if there's no weird creature around, you still have to bring matches. Well, I would bring. Don't you know that's one of the most important things needed in camping?" Chloe asked. She sighed. "Let's just drop it. We've already wasted twenty minutes. We won't be able to see anything interesting if we don't hurry up."
They all ate in silence; Lana shooting looks of hatred at Chloe, who, obviously doesn't notice them, as she was deciding if they would explore the spooky-looking village to see if there's anyone or anything intriguing there, or if they would go into the creepy yet interesting-looking forest; Clark stealing glances at Lana when she's not looking; and Pete thinking of Spongebob Squarepants wearing a ballerina outfit.
* * *
They were walking through the village, which they had passed on the way to the campsite. It was deserted, and there was an eerie silence that seemed to fill the whole place, which unnerved them.
"It looks as though the last time somebody's lived here was in the year 1876 or something," Clark commented.
"Yeah," replied Pete. "Aren't there any signs of life here, least movement? Except for us, I mean."
"Shhh...," said Chloe. "I think I heard something from over there," she said, pointing to an old house at the side of a small dirt path. "Come. Let's see what made the noise."
They silently walked toward the house, Clark and Chloe leading the way while Pete and Lana following behind. When they got to the house, they knocked on the door (they didn't find a bell... obviously), not really expecting a response.
After a few minutes, still bothered by the previous sign of movement, they started walking around the house, peeping through small wall cracks and shattered windows. When nothing special was found, they went back to the front and Clark opened the door.
The door gave a squeaking sound and the floor creaked under their weight as they walked and scanned the house. The house looked as though someone lived there or still lives there despite its untidiness. There were unwashed dishes in the sink, a pile of dirty clothes on a corner, a living potted plant and some miscellaneous objects on the floor.
Lana and Clark went to one side of the house while Pete and Chloe went to another. Lana saw a wall with an old charcoal sketch of a man probably in his mid-50s with a girl who looked just a little older than they were. The sketch was beautiful with perfect contrasts of dark and light. The girl was so beautiful in the picture, a warm and genuine smile played on her lips as she stood beside the man who looked like her father. Lana was so transfixed with the picture-
"Hey!" boomed a man's voice causing her to jump and grasp Clark's forearm. The man was the guy in the picture, minus the smile. His features seemed harder and his eyes bore fury and sadness. He carried a gun and was now staring at both of them.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"We...uh... we..." Lana stuttered, nervous at what the man might do to the gun. Her grasp at Clark's arm tightened as she looked at Clark nervously.
"Uh, we're really sorry to trespass at your property..." Clark started.
"Yes! You really did!" the man answered impatiently.
"But we were looking for people or anyone..." Clark finished uncertainly, not knowing what to say. 'It looks like he's the only living creature in this whole village,' thought Clark.
Pete and Chloe were behind the man, sharing nervous glances at each other.
"Umm..... Excuse me, sir," began Chloe. "We were hiking yesterday and we saw this village. We wanted to see if there was anyone who still lives here, but -" her voice trailed off.
"But, it looks deserted," finished Lana, finding her voice. "Could you please tell us, I mean, if you know, where everyone is?"
"Wouldn't find anyone here... just me. Well, used to be me and me daughter." The man said. His features softened a bit. The fury in his eyes was replaced by sadness. He put his gun down as they followed him to the kitchen area.
The old man offered them water that they gratefully accepted. (A/N: I know he's a stranger and he could have poisoned it, but they were tired and thirsty.) The old man asked them to sit around the dining table, and sitting down himself, he said, "What do you want to know?"
"Sir -" began Chloe.
"Call me Hans."
"Umm..... Hans, where are all the people, if I may ask?" asked Chloe. "You were the only person we saw after looking for over an hour in this whole village. Surely you're not the only one living here."
"Well, you can say that again before the meteor shower." At this, Clark and Pete exchanged looks. Lana shifted uneasily on her chair and licked her dry lips, listening intently. "After the meteor shower, a few people died, and a lot of people got hurt. But the meteor shower wasn't the cause of their deaths; it was unknown. What made everyone leave was the legend of this half-man, half-bat," Hans said gravely.
"Half-man, half-bat?" Chloe asked, intrigued.
"Yes," Hans answered. "First, there were rumors. Some people believed it, but most thought it was nonsense. Gibberish. Balderdash. Garbage. I was the only one who believed it because I saw him with my own two eyes. One night, after collecting lumber for a cold night, I saw a big and I mean really big bat flying quite low. The next day, my friend's 19-year-old daughter was missing. She was never found." He finished.
Lana had goose bumps all over her body and felt her hair rise. She sat a bit closer to Clark, trying to find comfort in him. Chloe looked somehow fascinated at the tale while Pete and Clark said nothing. It was difficult to believe him and they understood why the people thought it was garbage but hey, this is still near Smallville. Quite far from where they live, but still near. Anything can happen.
"My daughter is also missing," he said quietly, as he took of the hat he was wearing and closed his tired-looking eyes. "She's been missing for 5 days. Every day, I look for her. I call her name but she doesn't answer." He said, looking defeated.
"I'm sorry." Chloe said, sympathetically.
"It's not your fault." He answered. "Just promise to be careful out there, ladies. It's real, very real. You don't want to get lost out here" He said. "You guys, take care of them." He said to Clark and Pete.
"We will." Clark said looking at Chloe and Lana. Pete nodded in agreement.
"So....." said Hans, standing up. "Would you mind eating lunch with an old man? I miss eating with other people, especially now that Amelia is gone," he said sadly.
The four teens stood up and exchanged looks. Finally, Lana said, "No thanks, we've already caused you too much trouble. Besides, we just ate before coming here."
'What?!? We just ate?! But that was 4 hours ago!' Pete thought. 'Well, she's right. We have already caused him too much trouble....."
"We're really sorry but we still have a lot to do," Chloe politely refused.
"Are you sure?" asked Hans, disappointed. "Well, if you're sure, let me at least give you some food before you leave." By this, he went to the kitchen and returned carrying a plastic bag with some berries and nuts. "I picked these early this morning. There are trees and bushes near here that grow fruits and berries. That is where I get my food. Well, as you can see, there aren't any animals here that I can eat, and if there were, I wouldn't be able to catch them anyway," he said, shrugging. "I don't even remember what meat tastes like," he added as an afterthought.
"Anyway, if you really have a lot to do, I think you should better go now," he said, leading them to the door. "Just remember, take care of yourselves."
A/N: It sucks! I know! Now do your thing and review! Flame me... Sorry, not so much Clana... (don't worry, you guys are gonna love the next chapter!) By the way, thank you so0o much to those who reviewed! I greatly appreciate them!
