Chapter 20

(Jonathan can be seen standing in the middle of their driveway.  He is tightly clutching a box in his hands, and nothing else.  A shadow passes over the moon.  Hearing a soft shuffle behind him, Jonathan snaps around, combing the darkness but not seeing anything.  He hears it again, off to his left, and snaps to look.  Nothing.  Behind him now, no, to the right, the shuffling is heard from all directions.  Abruptly it stops.  Slowly, Jonathan stands up straight.  As he rights himself, he freezes.  There, sitting twenty yards in front of him is a dark shape.  It disappears and reappears ten feet closer.  Jonathan grips the box closer to himself, moving his hand slightly, ready to spring it open.  It disappears and reappears thirty feet closer.  Now only twenty feet separate them.  The dark shape raises its head to the sky.  Orange flecks of hair matted with blood can be seen and its eyes glow dangerously yellow in the pale countenance of the full moon.  It looks back down, directly at Jonathan, and emits a low growl.  Fear grips Jonathan's heart and he struggles against everything inside of him screaming to turn and run.  The creature, no longer a cat, but a spawn of the night herself, begins slowly walking forward.  Jonathan takes a step backwards, then another.  Another growl perturbs the night.  Words form in the air around Jonathan, echoing and whispering to him.)

Voice: "You did this to me.  You, you, YOU!  You took him away, the only one that ever loved me!  You, you, YOU!"

(Jonathan, gripped by fear, almost turns and runs, but a rustling in the bushes stops him and the dark shape.  The voice stops, as does the rustling, but the creature is now nervous.  It takes a step backwards.  Jonathan gets a hold of his self and slowly begins to open the box.  The creature sees him and quickly disappears, but it is too late.  Jonathan throws the box open and the creature falls to the ground in front of him, its nails several inches from ripping into Jonathan's flesh.  It howls in pain.)

Jonathan (Screaming, pushing the Kryptonite closer to the howling beast): "MARTHA, NOW!"

(A single shot echoes throughout the woods, causing a flock of crows to take flight into the chilling night air.  Martha stumbles out of the bushes, shot gun in hand.  She runs to Jonathan.  Jonathan looks over at her running towards him and takes a step towards her, then falls to his knees and gasps for air.  Clutching his chest, he falls backwards just as Martha reaches him.)

Martha: "JONATHAN!  Oh God, oh God, Jonathan!  Jonathan!"

(The camera slowly moves up to an overhead shot, then quickly flies up into the sky, moving over to the road and dropping back down on Chloe's red Volkswagen bug pulling into Lex's mansion.  As the gate opens, transition to Chloe timidly opening one of the doors to Lex's study.  She slips inside and quietly closes the door behind her.  Lex is sitting at his desk.  He shuts his laptop and stands when she enters.)

Lex: "Chloe, thanks for coming on such short notice.  Please, have a seat."

(Lex gestures towards the couch in front of the fireplace.  Chloe sits down.  Lex walks over to his bookcase and begins searching for something.)

Chloe (Following him with her eyes): "Lex, what's this about?"

Lex (Finding what he was looking for and turning to face her): "Can't a guy invite a girl over to his mansion every once in awhile?"

(He sits down across from her, placing a book on the small coffee table.)

Lex: "I suppose not.  Do you know what this is?"

(He points at the book he has placed on the table.  It looks extremely old and beaten.)

Lex: "It's one of the last surviving tomes taken from the halls of Rome, just before its fall.  It recounts griping tales of their Gods and epics of their heroes."

Chloe (Looking from the book back up to Lex, shaking her head slightly in confusion): "Why are you showing me this?"

(Lex stands and walks over to the fireplace.  He rests his hand on the mantle.)

Lex (Speaking extremely calmly, matter-of-factly): "Chloe, my father is dead.  He put his gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger."

(There is a slight pause in which Chloe looks horrified at Lex.  Lex turns back around to face her.)

Lex: "But not before he had one last letter sent."

(Chloe stands to be on eye level with Lex.)

Lex: "Sit down, Chloe."

(Shocked at the tone of his voice, she does.  He sits down on the coffee table in front of her, looking directly into her eyes.)

Lex: "Chloe, what interest did my father have in you?"

(Chloe looks disconcerted.)

Chloe (Leaning back uncomfortably): "I don't know, Lex."

(Lex stands back up and picks up the book off of the table.  He flips through several pages as he walks to his desk.  Chloe stares at him, terror playing in the back of her eyes.  Lex sets his glass down on his desk as he finds what he was looking for.)

Lex (Reading): "'Prometheus.'"

(He looks back up at Chloe.)

Lex: "An interesting man.  Have you ever heard of him, Chloe?"

(Chloe does not respond.  Lex looks back down at his book.)

Lex: "He stole fire from the God's and gave it to mankind."

(Lex looks back up at Chloe.  He speaks with a slight hint of sarcasm, slightly squinting his eyes as he speaks.)

Lex: "What a noble thing to do."

Lex: (Looking down at his book) "Do you know what Zeus did when he found out what Prometheus had done?"

(Lex sets the book down on his desk, walks over and sits back down in front of Chloe.  He looks directly into her eyes and speaks extremely seriously.)

Lex: "He chained him to a rock and had crows peck out his liver daily."

(Chloe looks openly horrified now.)

Lex: "What's wrong, Chloe?  You look frightened.  Maybe you should go."

(Chloe stands without fully realizing what's going on.  Lex puts his hand on her lower back and guides her to the door.)

Lex: "I'd hate to find out you're hiding something from me, Chloe."

(They are at the door now.  Chloe steps out.)

Lex: "You know your way out.  After all, you've been here plenty of times before, haven't you?  See you around, Chloe."

(He closes the door behind her.  Chloe stands there, motionless for several moments, then quickly walks out.  As she does, the camera splits away and reenters Lex's office.  He calmly returns to his desk and sits down.  He opens his laptop and the screen flickers on.  Lex sits back thoughtfully and watches an image of himself he can't remember.)

Lex (In the movie): "I know your secret, don't worry, I haven't said a word to anyone."

(The movie continues repeating itself.  The camera leaves Lex's desk and travels over to his bookshelf, on which is a picture of the two-headed being from the Kawatchi caves.  The camera pans in until it takes up the entire screen, then slowly pans out again on the actual Kawatchi caves.  The caves are pitch-black save for a single pulsating blue light.  A shifting of rocks can be heard.  Lana and Clark enter.  They walk to the center of the caves, the octagonal key hole opposite them.  Clark can't take his eyes off of it and the blue reflects in his eyes.  Lana is entranced by it as well.)

Clark (Breaking his gaze with it to look at Lana): "You don't have to do this."

Lana (Speaking firmly): "Clark, I'm not going to lose you again."

Clark (Concern mirroring in his eyes and voice): "Lana, I don't know what's going to happen."

Lana (Placing her hand on his cheek and drawing closer to him): "Neither do I, Clark, but I'm not going to leave you to face it alone."

(They look into each other's eyes, and slowly draw closer to each other.  The pulsating blue reflects on their bodies.  Again, their lips meet.  Both are shaking ever so slightly as their tongues collide in the dank cavern air.  Their lips slowly come apart, but they remain close to each other.  Lana wraps both arms around Clark and he puts his arm around her shoulder.  They step closer to the key hole.  It slowly glows brighter as the come closer, spreading out to light the entire cavern now.  Symbols dance around them, lighting with an eerie glow.  Clark slowly reaches out his hand, but Lana stops it several inches short.  They look into each other's eyes.  Fear is reflected, but not fear alone is present.  Still staring at each other, their hands both go out, together.  As they grow closer and closer to the wall, the light grows brighter and brighter.  The wall becomes as liquid light, slowly pulsating and moving out in waves.  Their fingers skim the surface, and a blinding white flash envelops the caverns.  When it fades, Clark and Lana are gone.  The camera slowly turns to face the octagonal keyhole.  A new painting has been added to the wall.  It is of Numon barely holding on to the wrist of an unknown figure.  They are dangling over what appears to be a pit of snakes.  The camera slowly fades to black as it pans in on the unknown figure.  An emerald colored gemstone adorns her wrist.  Black fills up the screen for several seconds, and then the credits begin.)