PART SEVEN


Chloe wasn't much of a nature girl, but even she had to admit this place was beautiful.

The woods around the lake were thick and, for the moment, untouched. The leaves of the trees glowed emerald green in the afternoon sunlight. A soft breeze made the wildflowers—blue and yellow, pink and purple—sway from side to side. The air was filled with the trill of birdsong. It was the kind of place that inspired people to write poetry and love songs.

In no hurry to reach the lake itself, Chloe took her time, walking at a leisurely pace. If there really was a ghost, it wasn't going anywhere. Besides, it was hard to believe anything spooky or ominous could happen around here.

As she made her way through the maze of trees, Chloe wondered how Lex was doing. Actually, he'd taken the whole Sentinel thing pretty well. If someone had told her she was—as he put it—a throwback to a pre-civilized super hero, she would have been bouncing off the walls. But Lex had remained calm the entire time. And, most importantly, he'd believed her.

Then again, he'd probably thought he was going crazy until now. The Sentinel thing might seem farfetched, but at least it was an explanation. And a logical explanation, if you looked at it with an open mind.

Stepping over an exposed tree root, Chloe grinned. This morning had been fun. Yeah, she took the article to Lex mostly to help him. But considering how guarded and secretive he was, it had been kind of satisfying to reveal that she knew more about him than he knew about himself. That, despite all of his stonewalling, she'd been able to find the truth.

Question was, what was he going to do now? Yeah, being a Sentinel sounded cool. But, from what she could tell, Lex's senses were out of control, which probably wasn't a lot of fun. He'd even admitted that, because of them, he had a constant headache. Which just didn't seem right. Chloe couldn't imagine a Sentinel being able to protect the tribe if he was in pain all the time.

Lex's headache probably came from his senses being all over the charts. Right now, he had zero control of them, and his brain was being overloaded. Until he gained that control, his senses would be under assault 24/7, and he really would go crazy.

"He has to learn to suppress them," she muttered, talking out loud to help herself think. "To keep them at normal levels until he consciously decides to use them. Otherwise, going to Metropolis, or even the Talon, will eventually be out of the question. The minute he set foot in the place, he'd be crushed under a barrage of sights, sounds, smells." Chloe frown was thoughtful. "Maybe some kind of self-hypnosis would help. It did when I had that tooth ache."

Mind running through the possibilities, Chloe never stopped to wonder why she was so preoccupied with helping Lex solve his problem. It just seemed…natural. Like it was exactly what she should be doing.

Finally, Chloe spotted the lake up ahead, through the trees. She paused, taking a moment to admire the way the sunlight made the water sparkle. And that's when she realized someone was already there.

Slowly, still hidden by the trees, Chloe approached, trying to make a lot of noise. If she'd stumbled across a skinny-dipping party, being able to leave without anyone ever knowing she had been there would cut down on the embarrassment for everybody.

But it wasn't a skinny-dipping party. Instead, she saw two ten year old boys—one blond, one with a head full of red curls—working industriously. It looked like they'd tossed a wire across the limb of a tree. At one end, they'd attached a length of fabric, diaphanous and almost transparent. When Blondie pulled on the wire, the fabric lifted in the air. And the way it fluttered in the breeze, it almost looked alive.

"I think we should stick with what we've been doing already." Rusty said, shaking his head. "Because this is gonna look so fake."

"Not at night, it won't," Blondie insisted. "Plus, when this drops don't on whoever's here, you really think they're gonna stick around to take a closer look. No way!" He grinned with satisfaction. "They're really going to think this place is haunted after this."

As she realized what she was seeing, a wry smile twisted Chloe's lips. It looked like she'd found the ghost of the lake after all. Or, at least, two young boys who were doing a pretty good job of hoaxing the entire town. Which, if you asked her, made for an even better story.

Reaching into her bag for her digital camera, Chloe moved closer…and tripped. For a moment, she struggled to keep her balance, but gravity had other ideas. Finally, she fell…right into the clearing.

"Dammit!" she hissed in disgust. She pushed up into a sitting position. "It's gotta be the boots."

Glancing up, she saw the two boys staring at her. They look horrified, like a couple of deer caught in the headlights of an eighteen-wheeler.

Chloe offered them a weak smile. "Uh, hi."

The sound of her voice seemed to break them out of their paralysis. They ran, heading for the trees on the other side of the clearing.

"Hey, wait!" Chloe called, not at all surprised when they didn't. Sighing, she stood up. "Oh, crap!" Then, she took off after them.

As she ran into the trees, Chloe was surprised by how much wilder and thicker the woods were on this side. There was a path, but it was narrow and overgrown. Branches from the trees and bushes on either side slapped at her arms, and she was in danger of falling with each step.

The two boys seemed to be having much less trouble. Obviously familiar with this poor excuse for a path, they were pulling ahead of her.

"Would you just stop!" she called through gritted teeth. But, of course, they didn't listen.

Chloe's legs strained as she chased them up a hill. When her bag slammed into her leg again, she grabbed the strap to hold it still. Fast running out of breath, she considered giving up the chase. She'd gotten a good look at the kids, and would probably recognize them if she saw them again. And Smallville was a small town, after all.

Then, what she'd expected to happen all along happened. She tripped, her body falling to the side. She winced, fully expecting to slam into a tree.

Only, she didn't. Instead, she fell through a canopy of branches and leaves. One that had been hiding a steep drop.

She hit the ground with a soft 'ooomph', the wind knocked out of her lungs. She didn't make a sound when her head slammed into a rock that was protruding from the ground.

Stars dancing before her eyes, she rolled down the short slope. Within seconds, she reached the bottom, landing on her back. Head throbbing, watching the sky dim above her. And, just before she lost consciousness, she saw something out of the corner of her eye.

A flash of reddish gold fur.

*****

"Hey," Tommy said, stumbling to a stop. "Where'd she go?"

Panting for breath, Craig looked back. There was no sign of the girl who had been chasing them. "Maybe she gave up."

"I guess so." The redhead gave his friend an anxious look. "You think she's gonna tell anybody she saw us?"

"How can she? She doesn't even know who we are. " Craig said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "Let's just get out of here."

As the two boys headed home, they didn't talk. They were too worried about how much trouble they were going to get into.

*****

The dream was familiar, but different. He was in the same densely wooded forest. The trees were just as thick, just as tall. But the golden glow of the afternoon sun was gone, replaced by the blue haze of twilight. The air was still, smothered under a blanket of oppressive silence.

Lex studied his surroundings, a feeling of dread lodging in his chest. Something was wrong.

Suddenly, a growl cut through the quiet.

Startled, Lex turned. It was the cougar, standing close enough to touch. As agitated as it had been before. Its teeth were bared, its tail whipping through the air.

Lex's heart raced. Only, it wasn't fear he was feeling. It was…urgency.

With another roar, the cougar turned, took off down the path Lex had taken in his dreams so many times before. And, acting on instinct, the man ran after the beast.

Somehow, Lex knew the cougar wasn't running as fast as it could. That it didn't want to lose Lex, but to lead him somewhere. Still, he could barely keep up with the animal.

Finally, they reached the clearing, which was bathed in moonlight.

Surprised, Lex stopped at the edge of the trees. The fox was there, lying on its side, eyes closed. It was impossible to tell whether it was asleep or unconscious.

The cougar approached the smaller animal, its powerful body tense. A low, feral purr issuing from its chest, it lowered its head, pressed its nose to the fox's shoulder.

And the fox morphed. Its body stretched, elongated. Its reddish gold fur vanished, becoming alabaster skin. Its paws became hands.

In seconds, the fox was gone, and Chloe Sullivan was in its place. She was lying naked on the hard ground, pale skin seeming to glow in the moonlight. She was tucked into a half-fetal position, eyes closed. And a patch of her golden blond hair was matted to her head by blood.

Eyes wide with shock, Lex took a step into the clearing…

*****

He woke with a start, almost falling out of the chair in which he'd fallen asleep. Chest heavy with that same dread, that same urgency, Lex stood. He didn't, for a single moment, think that the dream didn't mean anything. That it was just a dream. Didn't have time for doubt.

Chloe was in trouble.


(TO BE CONTINUED)