Part 5

After an hour or so of talking, neither Clark or Lana had come up with a plausible explanation for Martha and Jonathon's strange, and downright cruel behavior towards Clark.

Lana related how she'd overheard the conversation between the two just before she'd come up here, and how they'd both seemed to think Clark was asleep.

"So I'm assuming they still want me living with them," Clark said, his tone only half joking.

"Of course they do," Lana said, just a second too quickly. Though Clark noted this, he chose to ignore it and forced himself to believe her words.

Around 11:30 however, Lana had to leave for a shift at the Talon.

"Be careful," they said in unison, as they held one another in a close embrace.

"We'll get to the bottom of this," Lana reassured him, pressing a quick kiss to his lips, which she noted with some discomfort, were still blood-coated.

"I know," Clark replied returning her kiss gratefully. "And I love you."

"I love you too," she said, before turning and walking down the stairs.

Clark watched her go until she was out of sight, before sinking back onto the couch.

He'd have to face his parents sometime he knew, and now was as good a time as any.

Rising shakily after a few minutes of making up his mind, he headed down the stairs and towards the house.

---

The scene was just as it had been just under three hours ago. His mother was in the kitchen, this time washing dishes, but his father was nowhere to be scene.

"There you are," she told Clark, turning and giving him a warm smile. "Your father and I thought you must have gone out to the loft. You saw Lana I take it - Clark!"

She'd finally taken notice of the bruises on his face. Lana had ventured down to the barn and used some of the hose to wet a spare saddle blanket, and carefully cleaned the blood from Clark's face, yet the bruises still remained. Luckily, his super healing had already started its work on the handprint one, which had reduced significantly and had changed slightly in shape, no longer resembling a handprint.

"I went out for a jog this morning," Clark explained, using the reason Lana had come over for a cover excuse. "I came across some field with a bunch of green kryptonite. I fell on it and it cut me… but I'm fine now. I ran into Lana on my way back… we've just been talking and stuff."

The story sounded fake even to Clark, but Martha accepted it. She still wasn't quite back to her normal self, Clark reflected sadly. The loss of the baby had taken something from her, and though she was fine physically, her emotional state was still very fragile.

At that moment, Jonathon came inside, shirt stained with tractor grease and smiling pleasantly. They both looked exactly the same as they had 3 hours before, right down to Jonathon's mismatched socks that Martha had been too preoccupied to point out to him.

"There you are," he said, clapping Clark on the shoulder. "I thought I heard voices when I went out to feed the cows… or at least, I'd been going to. Seems someone took care of that for me."

"I got up early," Clark shrugged, trying to keep the fact that his father's touching him had scared him to death from his parents. He knew that hadn't been his father before, sort of like how he was after being exposed to red kryptonite, but he still couldn't quite relax and trust him again. He just hoped whatever had affected them this morning was gone and would stay that way.

Jonathon was watching Clark curiously. "What happened to your face, son?"

Clark related the same story he'd told Martha, though Jonathon did not accept it as quickly as his wife had moments before.

Luckily for Clark, the oven timer beeped, breaking them all from their current thoughts. Martha went over and took out a fresh apple pie. "I'm going to take these over to the retirement center," she said, gesturing to the 3 other pies on the counter.

"I think I'll join you," Jonathon said unexpectedly. "All the chores are done, and when was the last time I spent the day with my wife?" Martha smiled at him, their eyes meeting. The look they gave each other was filled with such adoration it was a wonder it wasn't palpable… it reminded Clark of the emotions he saw in Lana's eyes whenever they were together, a fact that made his spirits lift somewhat.

Martha suddenly seemed to realize Clark was still in the room, and turned to him. "Clark," she said, trying to sound sincere but a plea still clear in her voice, "would you like to come along with us?"

Clark smiled, knowing his parents wanted some alone time together. Though how they planned to do that at a retirement center was beyond him.

"No thanks," he told his mother. "I promised Chloe I'd help her with an article for the Torch."

Martha and Jonathon's smiles grew as they wished their son goodbyes and a nice day. Once they were gone, Clark headed for the Sullivan's.

---

He arrived just as Gabe was leaving. He was told that Chloe was inside, and Gabe apologized for being so rushed, but he had to get to an all day conference that he was already running late for.

Clark nodded and let himself in, walking into the kitchen where he found Chloe sipping coffee and working on her laptop.

"Hey Chloe," he greeted pleasantly, walking over to stand behind her at the table. "I just came over to help you with-"

She slammed the screen down sharply on her laptop, and turned cold eyes to look at him. "Get away from me!"

"Wha-"

"Get away from me! I hate you! You chose Lana over me and I hate you! I never want to see you again - ever! You're going to hurt Lana, just like you always hurt everyone, and I won't let that happen! Lana's like a sister to me and I love her!"

She leapt from her chair so quickly that it fell over backwards. She advanced on Clark, eyes whiled but expression resolute. A mixture of anger, hatred and so much more reflected back at Clark in her eyes, giving him clear access to her inner turmoil. If eyes were truly windows to the soul, then Chloe's was too far-gone for salvation. Still, he had to try.

"Chloe, what-"

"I'm going to make sure you never hurt Lana ever again." Her voice was now calm and quiet. Rage was laced with loathing in her usually witty voice, and her hand reached out so fast that Clark could barely see, and grabbed his neck.

Almost instantly, her other hand had grabbed the remaining side. She pushed Clark roughly to the ground, causing him to hit his head against the kitchen chair and send it across the room, but neither seemed to notice much less care.

Despite the fact that it was Chloe, Clark reluctantly struggled with her. Something had happened to her as well, most likely the same thing that had affected his parents.

"Chloe?" He grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her hands off his neck. Her fingers dug into his flesh, her nails biting into the tender skin and drawing blood.

"Don't try to fight me," she told him, a twisted smile forming on her face. Her hands squeezed tighter, and Clark's pain increased as e struggled with her and to breathe.

"Chloe - stop - Chloe!"

If anything, she only pressed harder.

"This is only a small fraction of the pain you put everyone through," she informed him. Her hands finally let up, and Clark jerked, crawling away from her.

But before he had moved so much as a foot, she had pinned him to the floor. Her hands were slapping his cheeks and digging into the skin. Blood soaked her fingers and dripped onto the kitchen floor, and Clark cried out in painful protest.

"I was going to maybe consider letting you live," Chloe told him, ripping at his t-shirt and scratching at his bruised chest with her right hand, while her left hand slapped mercilessly at his previous injuries.

---

No, no, no!

This girl's reaction to the figure's power was far more than it had imagined; maybe too far.

it wanted the pleasure of killing and torturing Clark itself, so it slipped silently over to the kitchen window.

Clark actually screamed aloud in agony, as the pain from Chloe's blows grew stronger it seemed, coupled with the abrupt effects of green kryptonite.

He threw up, getting it on his face, Chloe's hands and both their shirts. She laughed cruelly, Clark's pain seeming to encourage her to do more.

"That's enough, my dear." The figure spoke only to Chloe. "I want the pleasure of killing him myself."

"Who are you?" Chloe spoke to the figure, but Clark heard as well.

"What?" He gasped out. In her confusion Chloe had let up slightly on her attack, but at Clark's meek question she started again.

"Shut up," she ordered them both, and though Clark complied the figure had other ideas.

"Stop," he commanded her.

"NO!"

The figure sighed. Stupid humans… ah well. He had other tactics of making people obey him.

"You want to kill Clark, yes?"

"Of course I do! He's going to hurt Lana!"

"Come outside. I'll give you a knife made up entirely of kryptonite. It will make your job much easier."

Chloe didn't bother questioning what kryptonite was. All she cared about was hurting Clark, and this strange voice seemed to know how. With a few more choiced blows to Clark, ripping his t-shirt completely off she rose, stepping on Clark's stomach as she walked towards the door.

"Don't you dare move," she ordered him, walking outside with an almost insane smile on her face.

The figure laughed minutes later as a very confused Chloe Sullivan stood looking around her front yard.

"What the heck?" She muttered, staring at her blood and vomit covered shirt. Without even bothering to run inside and change, she sprinted for her car, needing to find Lana.

It was the figure's turn to laugh. Now, it was it's turn.

---

Lana looked up from where she was taking a customer's order in time to see a very dirty Chloe nearly run through the door.

"I'm taking my break," she told Jessica as she passed, and hurried over to her friend, confident that the other waitresses could handle 5 minutes without her.

"Are you okay?" Lana stared at Chloe's shirt, grimacing in disgust. "What… what is that?"

"Blood and something else," Chloe told her.

"Are you hurt?" Lana's concern grew, as she looked the blonde up and down for any sign of injury.

"No… just confused. I… I don't even remember waking up this morning… everything's just a blur, soar of like a dream… but the weirdest thing is, I remember holding Clark in a headlock."

Lana's eyes widened, her concern for Chloe instantly being replaced by worry for Clark.

"A-anything else?" She asked, trying to keep her voice casual but perplexed at the same time without letting her worry show.

Chloe thought hard, and then shook her head. "No… the next thing I know, I'm standing in the front yard looking like this. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah," Lana replied distractedly. She had to see Clark, but her shift lasted for another hour and a half.

"Anything wrong?" Chloe asked, seeing Lana's distant expression.

"I know it's a lot to ask," Lana said after a pause. "But would you mind covering for me? I just… I want to make sure Clark's all right."

Chloe smirked. "What, you don't really think I hurt him, do you?" Her eyes darkened with her own concern. "I hope I didn't…"

Lana pulled off her apron and handed it to Chloe, who gratefully slipped it on, happy to hide her ruined shirt.

"Thanks," Lana told her, reaching out to give her a hug but recoiling at the smell of her shirt. "I owe you."

---

Clark was huddled on the Sullivan's kitchen floor, panting and trembling. He was still bleeding, but luckily Chloe's cuts hadn't been too deep and his super healing would kick in soon but even if it didn't he was too upset and scared to care.

Abruptly the front door opened. He let out a gasp and froze - well, as much as a trembling person can freeze - eyes wide with terror.

Footsteps could be heard coming down the hall, and Clark closed his eyes, tensing as he waited for the blows, which would no doubt begin again at any second.

"Clark? I-is that you?"

He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Lana?" His voice came out small and quivering, much like he'd sounded earlier in the loft.

"Yeah." She said, walking over. "You look terrible. What… what happened?"

"Chloe," Clark said, voice breaking as he sat up. He reached for Lana, hoping for a hug, but she recoiled to his immense surprise.

"I came over to help her with that article on the baseball team, and she… she…" He couldn't go on, and he hoped Lana wouldn't want him to.

She seemed to understand though, to Clark's relief.

"Wow. Never knew she was so strong," was all she said. Clark stared at her.

Why was she so calm? She was acting as though this was a normal occurrence to find Clark lying on her kitchen floor, sick and bleeding.

He wanted her to be worried, needed her to hug him and tell him that everything would be all right. This was Lana, but she seemed… different.

Abruptly she ran over to him. He leaped back, startled by her sudden movement.

"Relax," she told him, sitting down. For the first time he took notice of what she was wearing.

She was clad in a short miniskirt and a halter-top, which exposed a considerable amount of skin. And there was something strange about her skin, but he couldn't place it.

"Lana-" Her lips were suddenly pressed to his, kissing him passionately. Her arms went around his neck, and he winced at the pain it brought, but he kissed her back.

Unlike Lana's usual kisses, this one did not relax him and he did not lose himself in it… there was just something different about this kiss.

Her arms tightened, her fingers pressing against the quickly rising bruises. He moaned in protest and tried to pull away.

She wouldn't let him.

Her hold tightened him; fingers forming their own bruises on his already black and blue neck.

"Lana," he said, his lips still pressed to hers.

"Shut up," she said, pressing her body against his. The normal feelings this would've triggered in Clark were absent, being replaced by a small fear, which was quickly growing.

Lana's tongue jammed itself into his mouth, and she bit his bottom lip hungrily. Her hands left his neck, exploring his bare back.

Lana was now lying stretched out on top of him, showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.

He tried again to break away, but she refused, her hold if possible growing even stronger.

"Stop that," she said, voice cold. "You're mine."

He felt himself starting to tremble. Her kiss suddenly seemed painful, and he wanted desperately for her to stop.

"Lana, stop, please."

"You are so gullible," she told him, laughing outright. No humor was in the sound however, it was cruel and mocking and so unlike Lana.

Had she been affected, too?

His eyes burned, tears dripping down his face. Lana's laughter increased as she opened her eyes and saw the tears.

Her eyes met his, and pure evil and disgust reflected back at him in her usually sweet and angelic gaze.

"Please-"

"Shut up, Kryptonian!"

"Lana…" His voice was bordering on desperation, a terror-filled whisper. Whatever you are… please… oh, please stop.

"Make me," she smirked, then laughed again. "Oh wait… you can't!"

Author's Notes:

Abrupt ending I know, sorry. I had a better one written, but I wanted to keep you confused and in suspense. I'm thinking of making this PG-13, but I'm hesitant. I've never gone passed the rating of PG with a fic before, and I'm a little nervous to do so, for some unknown reason.

Anyway! Feedback, feedback, feedback!

Also, I'm sorry for this taking so long… I left on Sunday for my annual summer vacation back to America, and I've been very lazy. I've been spending all my writing time watching Lois and Clark on TBS… that is such a good show! Lois is so much better than Chloe… and from the one ep Lana was in, better than her too. But enough of my ramblings… I consider LnC a guilty pleasure, along with Dawson's Creek right after it… I get up at 5AM every morning to watch them both, losing valuable writing time.

Oh, and one more thing. I made myself finish this before the twenty first of June, (which is today, so I guess I sort of made it :D), because in a few hours I'll be getting my copy of the fifth Harry Potter book, and shall disappear for a couple of days while I read that… then I'll probably spend a while reading HP fics… I'll be back… I honestly have no idea. And that was a looong sentence… and I'm rambling, sorry. Lack of sleep, most likely.

Wow… this A/N got really long… gimme feedback, please! :D