Chapter Five
In the inky darkness of the night a cold wet fog rolled across Chloe's leg prompting an obligatory shudder from her. Her eyes squinted to see through the preternatural darkness which had surrounded her; the absence of light began to make her imagination go wild. A twig broken by her footsteps made her tense, a croaking frog in the distance made her cringe, it wasn't until a hand touched her shoulder when her heart completely stopped for what had seem like an eternity. After a few seconds she had managed to regain her composure and force her breathing back to normal. Turning around she pointed the beam of her flashlight into Clark's face, "Don't do that again Kent. I don't care how invulnerable you are, I'll kill you myself."
Feeling brave, he gave her a half smile, "You said you wanted to hold the flashlight, which means you'd have to lead. Besides, you didn't have to come out here with me, you insisted."
Chloe muttered several words under her breath, "I thought you didn't need a flashlight to see in the dark, doesn't one of your superpowers cover that?"
Chloe watched as Clark's eyes looked skyward behind his glasses as he began to count-off his superpowers mentally. "Nope, no night-light vision, although that would be pretty handy."
Chloe arched an eyebrow at the Man of Steel, "Clark, are you feeling alright? You seem to be in a completely different mood than usual."
Clark simply shrugged in his usual farm boyish demeanor, "I just feel a little more comfortable around people who know I'm Superman. Most of the time I have to stay aloof from people because I can't be partial to anyone, Superman can't have friends." His eyes saddened some at the thought of his own words, "I wish Superman could take a holiday, just once."
Chloe couldn't think of anything to say, nothing that could change the somber mood. Deciding that saying nothing would be the best choice she continued to walk once more. They remained silent for several moments longer; it was she who broke the silence. "How much further is it?"
"I think this is it," Clark removed his glasses and stared at the ground. "It's here; I can see the outline of the box the key is in, stand back." He handed his glasses to Chloe and waited for her to take several steps back. Looking around, he began to hover several inches off the ground; twisting at the hip he began a spin at blurring speeds. He drilled into the ground, loose patches of dirt and earth flying out in each direction. The dust soon settled and Clark's voice came from the hole, "I found it."
He began to hover out of the hole, his clothes and face covered in dirt; in his hands he held an antique looking, small metal chest. Shaking his hair out he handed her the chest, despite its relatively small size it had a large amount of mass to it. "This thing weighs a ton. What is it made out of, lead?"
"Uh, yeah it is actually. It's weird, it's the only thing that protects me from kryptonite. I wish I had a suit made of it, would have did a lot of good back in high school."
She nodded in silence, unsure of what to say. They continued to make their way towards Lana's car, one of the few sources of light along the small worn dirt road. Once they had returned Lana greeted them with a question, "Did you find the box?"
Chloe looked to Clark who in turn nodded his head in affirmation. "Yeah, it was there. It's odd, I thought I buried it a little deeper, but maybe I was wrong." He shrugged his shoulders, the small cloud of dust around him made visible by Lana's headlights. "Do you think the Haz-Mat team made it made out that far?"
Chloe shook her head, "I don't think so. They would have bagged and tagged anything that they would have found of interest, and I definitely think a lead box of stuff would have made their radar go off." She yawned lightly and excused herself, "So, what's in the box anyway?"
She knew she was going to have to ask the question eventually, she thought it would be better if she asked now than having to find out later in some shocking realization. She saw the hesitation in Clark and Lana's eyes, a brief moment where they questioned if they could trust her. As brief as it was, the moment did not lack in intensity. Finally, Clark turned the box to her, the small clasp lock pointing in her direction. "Go ahead, open it."
Chloe was speechless, for a girl who always spoke her mind this was quite an accomplishment that only he could do. Her hands slowly reached out for the box, both of her thumbs taking the clasp and pulling it open. The three objects inside seemed to glow with their own inner light, one she recognized as the class ring, the blood red stone pulsating a low light. Second was a small green gem like rock, it also pulsed with an inner light which seemed to match the rhythm of the red stone. Yet the third was unfamiliar to her, sitting in-between the two other objects was a small metallic octagonal disc, which in her eyes seemed to continually glow with a soft white light.
She slowly removed her eyes from the objects, looking up at Clark; his breathing became heavier as his face was covered in a light sheen of sweat. He swallowed heavily as he closed the box, once the lid was closed he took a deep breath.
She turned and looked at Lana, her head was lowered toward the ground trying not to look at the sight of Clark in pain. Chloe wished that she had done the same; in her mind it did not feel right to see Clark in such obvious hurt. She only wished that he didn't have to endure it for her own petty curiosity. She looked up at Clark who had seemed better now that the lid was closed, but she could tell that he was still weak and barely managed to hide it.
"What do we do now?" Chloe asked, breaking the long and uneasy silence.
Clark managed to give her a half smile, still looking pale from exposure to the Kryptonite. "You're an investigative journalist, investigate."
In the inky darkness of the night a cold wet fog rolled across Chloe's leg prompting an obligatory shudder from her. Her eyes squinted to see through the preternatural darkness which had surrounded her; the absence of light began to make her imagination go wild. A twig broken by her footsteps made her tense, a croaking frog in the distance made her cringe, it wasn't until a hand touched her shoulder when her heart completely stopped for what had seem like an eternity. After a few seconds she had managed to regain her composure and force her breathing back to normal. Turning around she pointed the beam of her flashlight into Clark's face, "Don't do that again Kent. I don't care how invulnerable you are, I'll kill you myself."
Feeling brave, he gave her a half smile, "You said you wanted to hold the flashlight, which means you'd have to lead. Besides, you didn't have to come out here with me, you insisted."
Chloe muttered several words under her breath, "I thought you didn't need a flashlight to see in the dark, doesn't one of your superpowers cover that?"
Chloe watched as Clark's eyes looked skyward behind his glasses as he began to count-off his superpowers mentally. "Nope, no night-light vision, although that would be pretty handy."
Chloe arched an eyebrow at the Man of Steel, "Clark, are you feeling alright? You seem to be in a completely different mood than usual."
Clark simply shrugged in his usual farm boyish demeanor, "I just feel a little more comfortable around people who know I'm Superman. Most of the time I have to stay aloof from people because I can't be partial to anyone, Superman can't have friends." His eyes saddened some at the thought of his own words, "I wish Superman could take a holiday, just once."
Chloe couldn't think of anything to say, nothing that could change the somber mood. Deciding that saying nothing would be the best choice she continued to walk once more. They remained silent for several moments longer; it was she who broke the silence. "How much further is it?"
"I think this is it," Clark removed his glasses and stared at the ground. "It's here; I can see the outline of the box the key is in, stand back." He handed his glasses to Chloe and waited for her to take several steps back. Looking around, he began to hover several inches off the ground; twisting at the hip he began a spin at blurring speeds. He drilled into the ground, loose patches of dirt and earth flying out in each direction. The dust soon settled and Clark's voice came from the hole, "I found it."
He began to hover out of the hole, his clothes and face covered in dirt; in his hands he held an antique looking, small metal chest. Shaking his hair out he handed her the chest, despite its relatively small size it had a large amount of mass to it. "This thing weighs a ton. What is it made out of, lead?"
"Uh, yeah it is actually. It's weird, it's the only thing that protects me from kryptonite. I wish I had a suit made of it, would have did a lot of good back in high school."
She nodded in silence, unsure of what to say. They continued to make their way towards Lana's car, one of the few sources of light along the small worn dirt road. Once they had returned Lana greeted them with a question, "Did you find the box?"
Chloe looked to Clark who in turn nodded his head in affirmation. "Yeah, it was there. It's odd, I thought I buried it a little deeper, but maybe I was wrong." He shrugged his shoulders, the small cloud of dust around him made visible by Lana's headlights. "Do you think the Haz-Mat team made it made out that far?"
Chloe shook her head, "I don't think so. They would have bagged and tagged anything that they would have found of interest, and I definitely think a lead box of stuff would have made their radar go off." She yawned lightly and excused herself, "So, what's in the box anyway?"
She knew she was going to have to ask the question eventually, she thought it would be better if she asked now than having to find out later in some shocking realization. She saw the hesitation in Clark and Lana's eyes, a brief moment where they questioned if they could trust her. As brief as it was, the moment did not lack in intensity. Finally, Clark turned the box to her, the small clasp lock pointing in her direction. "Go ahead, open it."
Chloe was speechless, for a girl who always spoke her mind this was quite an accomplishment that only he could do. Her hands slowly reached out for the box, both of her thumbs taking the clasp and pulling it open. The three objects inside seemed to glow with their own inner light, one she recognized as the class ring, the blood red stone pulsating a low light. Second was a small green gem like rock, it also pulsed with an inner light which seemed to match the rhythm of the red stone. Yet the third was unfamiliar to her, sitting in-between the two other objects was a small metallic octagonal disc, which in her eyes seemed to continually glow with a soft white light.
She slowly removed her eyes from the objects, looking up at Clark; his breathing became heavier as his face was covered in a light sheen of sweat. He swallowed heavily as he closed the box, once the lid was closed he took a deep breath.
She turned and looked at Lana, her head was lowered toward the ground trying not to look at the sight of Clark in pain. Chloe wished that she had done the same; in her mind it did not feel right to see Clark in such obvious hurt. She only wished that he didn't have to endure it for her own petty curiosity. She looked up at Clark who had seemed better now that the lid was closed, but she could tell that he was still weak and barely managed to hide it.
"What do we do now?" Chloe asked, breaking the long and uneasy silence.
Clark managed to give her a half smile, still looking pale from exposure to the Kryptonite. "You're an investigative journalist, investigate."