Chapter 7

(Lex and Dr. Garner walk out of Summerholt, neurological institute.  The city is quiet under the blanket of night.  The occasional car and bus roll by as Lex approaches his Ferrari.  Dr. Garner walks beside him, seemingly trying to convince Lex on something his mind is already set about.)

Dr. Garner: "Don't be so foolish!  We're almost there, I know it!"

Lex (Reaching his car, he puts his hand on the door and turns around): "Doctor, this conversation is over.  I already told you, I no longer need your services."

Dr. Garner: "But we have almost broken past the electroshock therapy's effects!"

Lex: "Some things are better left in the past."

(Lex opens the door and gets in his car.  He pauses before opening the door.)

Lex: "I would strongly suggest you leave it that way, doctor.  It would be a shame if all of your research was discredited due to unfortunate events seeing light.  Wouldn't it?  Have a nice night, doctor."

(Lex revs the engine and tears out of the parking lot, leaving Dr. Garner staring after him, mouth a gape.  A half hour later, Lex pulls up to his mansion.  He stops and waits for the gate to go up.  As he does, he is struck by a severe head pain, and his hands rush to his temples.  His eyes squint under the severe pain, and a bright flash of light ensues.  Lex sees himself, fully encased in a metal frame, holding him down to a metal bed.  His father stands over him.)

Lex: "The only interest you have is staying out of prison.  I'm not insane and you know it."

Lionel: "It's sad to see a man who's lost his mind, but it's tragic when he's convinced himself that he's sane."

Lex: "You son of a ."

(He bites at Lionel's hand.  Lionel jumps back.)

Lex (Screaming): "You did this to me!  YOU DROVE ME INSANE!  AHHH!!  YOU DID THIS TO ME!    RAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

(The image fades.  Lex's security guard is standing by his door.)

Guard: "Everything alright, sir?"

(Lex does not answer.  He pulls through the gate and into the garage.  He gets out of the car, but does not enter the mansion.  Lex walks out of the garage and onto the driveway.  He stops, and looks up at the sky.  The camera follows his gaze to the moon.  She is only three quarters full now, the days passing, taking their toll on her.  The camera slowly lowers itself back down to Earth on the Kent farm.  It enters the barn through a crack in the closed loft doors.  A single lantern is lit, casting shadows to play on the walls.  Clark and Lana sit close to it.  They are alone, save for the uncomfortable silence between them.  Lana finally breaks it.)

Lana: "Clark...  what happened..."

Clark: "What do you mean, Lana?"

Lana (Holding her head): "Over the past couple of days, what's happened?"

Clark: "You-, you don't remember?"

Lana (Shaking her head): "I just... remember totally blanking out, and then... a white light...  You must think I'm crazy."

Clark: "I think you're a lot of things, Lana, but crazy isn't one of them."

Lana (Frustrated): "I wish I could remember!  I feel like something important happened, but I just, can't remember!"

(Clark puts his arm around her, comforting her.)

Clark: "Lana, your memory will come back.  Don't worry."

Lana (Standing up and walking over to the closed loft doors): "Clark, it's not just my memory.  I feel like... like I don't even know myself anymore."

(Her chest gives a heave, and Clark is quickly beside her.)

Clark: "Lana, I know this is hard.  But you have to trust me when I say you'll make it through this."

(A tear runs down her cheek.  She quickly wipes it away.)

Lana (Her voice cracking): "I want to believe you Clark, I do!  I just don't know what to believe anymore."

(Clark hugs her to himself, but she slides away quickly.)

Lana: "Clark, I need to be alone now...  I'll, I'll see you, later."

(She quickly walks past him and down the stairs.  Clark hears her footsteps echo through the night as she walks down the road at a quick pace.  He leans against the loft doors, looking up into the dark rafters.  Clark slumps down to the ground, exhaling as he does.  For a time, he stares at the lantern, its flame reflecting in his eyes.  He blinks; his eyes are heavy and tired.  The soothing sounds of the night around him gently put him to sleep.  Clark sees Lana.  She is standing beside him.  A white, lacy veil is draped over the upper half of her face, her big brown eyes sparkle beneath it, looking out at him.  She is wearing a long, white dress.  Clark feels himself smile, looking back into those big, brown eyes.  A tear slowly forms at the corner of her eye, and suddenly, she is in pain.  The light around them fades quickly, and Lana pitches forward.  Clark catches her.  Lana gasps for breath and screams out in pain.  A cut opens along her hairline and blood slowly trickles down out of it.  The veil falls away.  She opens her eyes and looks up at Clark.  Pain and fear are mirrored in them.  Painfully, she raises herself up to Clark.  Their lips briefly meet, then she falls back, limp, and dead.  Clark hugs her tightly to himself, and sobs into her soft hair.  A voice perturbs their embrace, and Clark looks up.  Jor-El stands there, motionless.  His words go unspoken, but they resound throughout Clark's mind as a gong would in a closet, 'You do not have much longer here, Kal-El.  Your time is coming.  If you linger...'  Jor-El looks down at Lana.  Clark holds her dead body to himself in an attempt to shield her from him.  He stands and begins to run.  An endless white plane stretches out behind him and ahead of him.  Above, there is a light.  It is different from the white, a color Clark cannot explain.  He stares up at it and softly glides into the air, reaching for it, grasping for it.  Lana is no longer in his arms.  Clark looks down, and instead of seeing the white plane beneath him, he sees the Kent farm, stretched out far below him.  Clark looks up.  There the moon glows softly down on him.  Clark is above the clouds, which lazily drift in the night's air.  Clark looks down again, and blinks away a tear.  It separates from him, coasting down on the air's currents, and is slowly carried back down to Earth.)