Premonition
by Lener
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville.
Chapter Seven
"Wait… trouble? What kind of trouble?"
Pete winced as Clark's voice came like a piercing bark over the phone. He jerked the receiver away, then placed it back against his ear and took a deep breath before relating the day's events to his best friend. Pete told Clark everything: Chloe's visions, about how she'd thought she was having some- she used the word 'premonitions', about what she had seen in the classroom, what she planned to do after school that day.
"I told her I wouldn't do it, so she's probably gonna do it by herself," Pete concluded.
"Pete, wait. Now slow down. How do you know she's not at home right now at her laptop working on some story?" Clark felt the curious gaze of his mother bore into him.
"Because she's not! I mean, I called her a minute ago and she wasn't at home. Even Mr. Sullivan sounded worried. Clark, the school's been closed for half an hour already and you know Chloe, she's always the first to leave school. Something must have happened! I can't go out now- my parents will kill me. You've got to… hello? Clark? Hey man, you there?"
Pete registered the silence on the other end, and then sighed. All he could do was hope that Clark would put aside his conflicts with Chloe and help her.
Something told him that she was in real need of help right now.
*
The wind that whipped up around his figure tugged at his shirt and dark brown hair, but all Clark could think about was of getting to Chloe in time before she got hurt.
*
A quarter of an hour earlier…
Chloe crouched behind one of the bushes that led to the steps of Smallville High, and watched as Mr. Matthews emerged from the doors of Smallville High, carrying his black briefcase in his right hand. A folder of white papers was tucked under his left arm. Glancing at her watch, Chloe saw that it was about 7:20pm. Her theory had been right- Mr. Matthews was always the latest person to leave the school building.
It would be a difficult task to follow him all the way back without being seen, but Chloe was determined to stop his murder from taking place. What she had seen in her premonition had been terrifying, and since she was the only person who knew about this event (except for Pete, who did not want to help), she would have to protect Mr. Matthews herself.
The teacher set off at a fairly quick pace towards the West side of Smallville, directly opposite from where Chloe lived.
After waiting for a few seconds, the girl slipped out from behind the bushes and trailed her teacher silently, slipping into the little space between shop doors or behind columns if he happened to look back.
It was not difficult to keep up with Mr. Matthews, and soon Chloe was trailing him at a regular pace. He rarely looked back, so she did not have to scramble for cover every now and then.
It was only when Mr. Matthews took a shortcut and entered a dark looking alley that Chloe's senses set themselves on high alert. The alley was dark; darker than it had been in her premonition. It was almost eight- the moon was high in the night sky, and it threw little light onto the packed and narrow street that Mr. Matthews had decided to walk by.
This looks even scarier than it had been in my premonition… the only difference is now the bad guys can see me… Chloe thought as she slipped into the alley after Mr. Matthews, who carried on walking, totally oblivious to what would happen to him in a few minutes time.
There… the slight shift in the shadows…
Chloe swallowed. Her voice seemed stuck in her throat, and she could not call out a warning to her teacher…
And then the obvious movement to Mr. Matthews' right…
She stopped.
So did he.
And then they came out suddenly, nine of them. Two were big and burly and had no need for weapons. One was tall and had a crowbar in his hands. Three others held menacing knives in their hands, and two others had broken bottles. The last man had a knuckle ring. None of them seemed to have caught sight of her, standing still in the shadows of the alley, just as how they had been standing a while ago. And, just like in her vision, they surrounded Mr. Matthews swiftly. He turned around a few times, desperately seeking a way out, but to no avail.
Chloe wanted to call out, but there was a great big bubble in her throat, that forced all her words back down.
The man with the knuckle ring raised his fist with finality…
And then she found her voice.
"Stop!" she shouted, stepping out of the shadows so that a sliver of moonlight illuminated her features. Mr. Matthews turned around, shocked, and when he caught sight of her, looked even more astonished. "Ms. Sullivan!" he exclaimed, his voice coming out as a horrified whisper.
The thugs, startled, turned to look at her. Then, sneering, the leader of the pack stepped forward with his fist still raised. "Boy are you ever going to regret you meddled with us, girlie," he growled, stepping forward aggressively, step by step, until he was towering in front of her.
"You'd better stay away from that man, or else I'll-"
"You'll what? Whack us with your shopping bag?" the man sneered. Up close, he looked even more sinister, his eyes burning yellow in the darkness. Chloe decided against taking a step back. It was not out of fear, though, but rather an intrusion of personal space on the man's part.
"Ms. Sullivan, I don't know how you ended up here but please, I don't want you hurt. I can handle this myself…" Mr. Matthews spoke up, but before he could say anything else, one of the thugs raised his crowbar and slammed it down against the Geography teacher's back.
It was not a fatal blow, but definitely hard enough to send Mr. Matthews to the ground, groaning in agony.
"So, what will you do, I wonder…" the man in front of Chloe spoke.
"Don't push your luck." Her voice came out stronger than she'd expected it to sound, "Let me say it slowly once again so your diminutive brains can catch what I just said. Let. Him. Go. There, got it yet?" she said tartly.
"Why you've got the cheek…"
The man cracked his knuckles and then suddenly lunged for her.
It was as though something had seized her body by force; had taken complete control of the motion of her limbs- Chloe ducked out of the way and to her right, and then aimed a kick to the man's side. He stumbled against the gravelly ground with a curse, but a split second later he swung blindly at her.
Chloe caught his arm and forced it down, trying to look over his shoulder to where Mr. Matthews was lying. She was more concerned for her teacher than for anything else. If she failed to protect him…
The man swung his other fist at her…
And then suddenly, before it could come into contact with her, it hit another curled fist and an agonizing yelp issued from the man's lips.
Chloe released her hold on the man and stepped back in shock, only to find that the owner of the foreign arm was…
"Clark!" Chloe exclaimed.
Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter might seem short… I had to cut it at his point coz I started writing on a notepad and the approximate word counts got kinda messy. The next chapter might be a little short too, but I think after that things will be fine! Replies are below:
Kit Merlot- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! LOL… I just thought it would be a little more dramatic if Pete acted in that way… Hehe… can't help it, I AM a drama person!
Sylphide- Hey you!! LOL… Okay, okay… no Chlex… sigh… *pouts* lol… HAHAHA you called me Charlie!!! Actually, I'd rather you called me Simon… hehe… I'm obsessed with this musical called The Wedding Banquet. ANYONE IN THE US AND LIVING NEAR SEATTLE SHOULD WATCH IT RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahem, but back to the reply… Hmm… I think Charlie sounds better than Charles… what do you think? I don't mind either of them anyway, it's just that this old movie called 'Firestarter' and it's sequel 'Firestarter: Rekindled' had this main character whose name was Charlene and people called her Charlie… My fics don't REALLY have a lot of Pete in them, but I think that he's a very essential character… because, he completes the trio! And without Pete there won't be much action. Besides, he always hangs around with Clark and Chloe and it would be weird if he suddenly disappeared. Haha I can't remember where I went… Toronto I think… uhh… and one of the parks thingy. Sorry! It was a loooong time ago!!!! Oh dear… how are you confused about the Matthews dude? Basically he's there Geography teacher… and Chloe's seen a premonition of him getting into trouble. He's not a bad guy or anything, just that those gangsters decided to pick on him coz he was all alone. Or so they thought. Tell me if you don't get anything else, okay? It's my job not to let people feel confused… Well! Thanks for reviewing! Lol… see ya soon!!!!!! AAAHHH…
Suz- HEY!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the review! Glad to know you're alive… LOL KIDDING! COOL! You're working on an SV site!!!!!!! GOOD! Be mean to Lana! I hate her to the core! Who likes her anyway? People who like pink, that's who!! I'm sorry… I can't find a way for Clark to go with Chloe to the dance… so you'll have to mail me that meteor rock… Boohoo! I'll drop by the site!!!!!! Right now, in fact!!!! And don't worry, I'm just glad to know that you're still reading! *hug*
clovergrl- Hello! Thanks for reviewing! Hmm… your first review got through! Lol… Oh yeah, that's a wonderful reasoning for bad chlark. I'll be sure to keep that in mind! Weehee… LOL! I'll put Chlark into everything!!!!!!!!
Honolulu- Hello! Thanks for the review! Who likes Lana? Haha… NO ONE. Ahh… that episode… Rush!!!!!!!!!! MY FAVOURITE! (In Season 2, of course…) Hah… Sucks to Lana in that episode! She sucks!!!!!!!!! Well, thanks! I'm glad you like this story!!!!! Lol… I'm not going to watch the next episode of Smallville (that's tomorrow night) because it's got a whole load of Lana crap in it… so… you get what I mean. *wink*
ChloeKent- Bonjour!! Wow! It's so cool to have a reviewer in Paris! LOL… Wait… your real name is Chloe???? That's cool!!!!!!! LOL! I'm sorry if I made you wait too long for this update! It's just that I've been pretty busy!! Sorry… I hope this one satisfied you! Lol… Je suis tres désolée… (Did I spell that correctly?) Lol… I'm only learning French by myself so you'll have to excuse me if it's terrible. Yes, I wish Whitney would come back. Lana-pas-belle is VERY irritating without Whitney… Paris! The city of amour! LOL… Oh yeah and thanks for reviewing!
chaela27- Hello! Thanks for the review! Nah… I wouldn't count mine as good Chlark… there sure are many other Chlark fics out there better than mine!! Lol… okay, I'll try to think of another plot to follow this story!! Thanks for enjoying my fics! I'm honoured!