Chapter 13

(Lana turns the key in the ignition and hears the car start.  She shifts into gear and slowly rolls out of the Kent's driveway.  A dark object suddenly hits her wind shield.  She swerves and her car topples over, leaving her dangling upside down, still conscious.  She hears a low growl and looks towards it, off to her right.  The cat is sitting there, starring at her.  At the same time, Clark is busy helping his mother clean up the kitchen.  Freezing, Clark hears Lana's scream.  Time slows down as Clark drops the dish that was in his hand and is out of the house, running for Lana's now over turned truck.  As he is running he can see the faint ripples of what will soon be a full out explosion from the trucks gasoline tank.  He gets to the truck and rips the door off, sending it flying into the night.  He pulls Lana out.  He puts her on the ground and gets down on top of her as the truck explodes, illuminating the night behind them.  When the flames subside, Clark stands up.  Lana stands to her feet behind him startled and slightly dazed.)

Lana (Trembling): "Clark?"

(Clark silences her with an upheld finger.  He is looking into the night.)

Lana: "Clark!"

(Lana grabs Clark's arm and turns him around.  There on a fence post, the cat is sitting.  The full moon is behind it, casting an eerie glow over it.  The cat disappears and time slows down.  Clark sees the cat lunging for Lana and shoves her behind him, landing him directly in the path of the cat.  It begins ripping into his chest.  Clark screams in pain and fury.  Retaliating, Clark's fist connects with the cat's head sending it flying across the road into a tree.  It falls to its feet and stands up.  Clark's eyes begin to glow and he shoots two thin beams of red hot heat at the cat.  The ground directly below it catches fire.  The cat jumps and begins running away.  Clark follows.)

Lana: "What-"

(She turns around, looking for Clark)

Lana: "Clark?  Clark?!"

(In the woods, Clark is in hot pursuit of the cat, enraged with its attacking Lana.  Everything is a fast moving blur as Clark catches up with it and grabs its back leg, swinging it hard into a tree.  It recoils and bites his hand, causing him to release its leg.  The cat jumps up and continues running.  Suddenly time returns to normal and the fast blur of movement stops.  Clark begins to feel sick.  The cat falters in front of him, and then disappears again.  Clark looks around and sees that he is on the edge of a field glowing with green kryptonite.  Stumbling backwards out of it, he returns to normal and quickly races back to Lana, stopping just before he exits the woods.  Blood is now pouring out of his hand and his chest looks as if it has been flogged.)

Lana (Sounding extremely worried): "Clark!  Oh my God, come on, we have to get you inside!"

Clark (Hesitating momentarily, then taking Lana's hand in his non-injured one): "No, I'll be fine."

(Lana opens her mouth to protest, but the look in his eyes tells her he means it.  She looks down at his chest, which is slowly repairing itself.  Using the sleeve of her shirt, she wipes away the blood to find it completely unscathed.  She looks up at Clark's face to find him looking right back at her.  Neither says anything, and the worried look on Lana's face fades.)