Chapter 31 – "Town of Insanity"

"...the remains of all three members of the Drake family were found in the explosion over half an hour after firefighters arrived on the scene. The fire department is not ruling out arson or the possibility of intentional murder due to some spine-chilling evidence. One firefighter said he found two bodies downstairs – the remains of Cain and Sara Drake – in the basement, and of the two, one of them had its head torn off. Ouch! Back to you, Linda!" reported Elliot the reporter.

"Are Smallville's police officers being drugged? The police in Smallville have been treated with an unmarked, unidentified, and probably un-FDA approved serum. Sheriff Adams was alarmed, but allowed all of her deputies to be treated after being explained what it was for. The reporter was unable to hear why they were taking the serum, and suspects that they are being drugged with perhaps an experimental new medicine. We'll keep you posted. In other news..."

"Lana?"

Lana jumped and nearly dropped the tray of empty coffee cups she was carrying. That wouldn't have been a good image for her, now would it? She turned and saw Chloe's warm, smiling face beaming at her. "Chloe! What are you doing here?"

They moved away from the T.V., allowing the few others in the Talon to see it, even though no was paying attention to it. Chloe grinned, "I'm collecting all the weekend pieces for the Monday edition of the Torch. How I hate Mondays. You know, I report everything that happened over the weekend and then when the paper comes out, everyone's already read it in the Ledger. Stupid school newspaper."

"The Ledger isn't run almost single-handedly by an intrepid caffeine- junkie, which makes the Torch all the more impressive. Coffee?" offered Lana as she set down the tray on the counter.

"Yup." She drummed her fingers on the counter while Lana poured her a mug. "One piece of info you won't find in the Ledger is that our favorite farm boy came back at last."

"Clark? Where's he been?" asked Lana, handing Chloe her coffee.

"I don't know. I called him this morning looking for his mom and low and behold, guess who answered the phone. I pressured for more information but he seems to be immune. All he would say was that he never wants to own a dog."

Lana frowned. "What do you think that's supposed to mean?"

Chloe shrugged, gulping down the coffee. "So, Lana how's the 'mood' in Smallville?"

"It's finally gotten back to normal. Or what passes for normal in Smallville, anyway. People aren't scared anymore. They're finally stepping out of their houses. Although judging by the 'crowd' we have here, you'd never guess it. How are you holding up?"

Chloe's face was blank, trying to figure out what Lana was talking about. "Oh! You mean Edward! Well, it's pretty sad how he and his whole family died. His parents sure didn't deserve that, but between you and me... we both know it might have been better for Edward this way. I can't imagine having to live with a dual identity like that."

"Yeah, it's pretty sad. But I meant... you know..."

Chloe shrugged, "I've had other boyfriends hurt me a lot worse than he did. Justin Gaines, for example. Besides, I don't think he was transforming on purpose. I do wonder how he did that. Meteor rock exposure?"

"That would have been a bit too fast. He had just moved here, so there wasn't much time for him to have been bestowed with powers by the rocks. So, I guess we'll never know," sighed Lana.

"Guess not. So what are you doing later?"

Lana hesitated, but Chloe was her friend. It was okay to tell her. "I got a letter from my great-uncle. He says he wants to see me."

Chloe raised her eyebrows. "Really? Where's he live? Grandville?"

Lana hesitated before answering. "Actually... jail. He was arrested like forty years ago."

Chloe had no response to that.

S

From: mofnoahaol.com

To: LLSRLuthorCorp.com

Subject: Thank you

Dear Mr. Luthor,

I just would like to thank you and the brave soldiers you brought with you for helping the town of Noah with our wolf problem. I know we are merely a small, little village over the pond, but if you ever require the services of us, you are in our debt. Our whole town, in fact, thanks you. We think we'll be seeing a lot less of the wolf clans.

- Pierce Ellsworth, Mayor of the town of Noah.

Lionel Luthor smiled. It was nice knowing that he had a small piece of loyalty over the Atlantic Ocean. Not that he needed it. Metropolis might as well be his city. He had a piece in everything that happened in it.

At last he had a name for the town that had taken him and his comrades in! So... the town of Noah, eh? He'd have to keep an eye on it. It could be of some remote use to him in the future.

Another e-mail arrived. This one was from Dr. Teng.

Subject: Failure

Lionel, I ran the tests after you took the serum. The Wolfsbane had absolutely no affect on your system. There is no change in your condition.

Lionel frowned, but had no one at whom to direct his anger. He got up and walked to his vault, opened it, and took out a bottle of scotch. He poured it into a glass and gulped it down. Good stuff.

He heard a door hiss open from behind him. Slowly, he set down the Scotch bottle and dug into his vault, searching for the box he kept which held his spare handgun.

"Hands on the floor!" commanded an authoritive voice.

Lionel turned around slowly and was shocked by what he saw. "... Megan?"

Megan Willows, wearing a sweatshirt with one sleeve ripped off and torn jeans, held a gun aimed at Lionel.

"What happened?" asked Lionel.

"What do you think?" spat Willows. "I come back to report that I stole a helicopter and cost the lives of two soldiers! Derrick, Robinson, and Tom were all discharged dishonestly. I was supposed to be arrested! And whose fault is it? Yours! You'll pay, Lionel. I'll make you pay here!"

"Then what? Then what will you do?" reasoned Lionel, slowly inching to his desk.

"I'll go down for murder, too, I guess. Stop! I see you trying to move to your desk. Stop right there!"

"Meg, you're upset. You had to witness Jack and Omar die and you're blaming me for it. We both know we had no control over what happened. Without our efforts, the police force in Smallville would all become wolves and tear apart every last citizen. Once they're done with the farm towns, where do you think they would have gone? We made a difference."

Willows' hands began to shake. She didn't know how long before she pulled the trigger.

Lionel pressured on, "If it's your superiors that you're running away from, I can help. I can get you a new identity, a new face, and get them off your back. I can get you a new, undisturbed life. Just... put the gun down."

"NO!" a tear fell down Willows' cheek. "No, monster!"

If Lionel could just buy enough time...

"I can help you, but you have to let me. Put down the gun. Put it down."

He'd bought enough time. The doors were blown open by three bodyguards swarming in, responding to a distress call activated by a tiny device on the inside of Lionel's jacket cuff which was automatically activated in the event of a surge in heart rate. Willows turned around, taking her gaze off of Lionel. She whimpered, "No..."

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Willows fell to the ground, dead.

The last loose end was tied up at last. Lionel shook his head and walked over to his window. He'd sleep well tonight.

S

"I hope today will prove to be a more revealing session than our past ones, don't you, Lex?" asked Doctor Claire Foster as she sat down in a leather chair opposite Lex's desk. "And I would like to know why you've kept postponing our sessions."

"That's just what I would like to talk to you today, Dr. Foster. Today, instead of talking to you about my time on the island like I promised, I want to talk about something else that affected me very personally – something very deep," explained Lex as he settled into his desk.

"What happened, Lex?" asked Dr. Foster.

"I..." Lex hesitated, unsure of how to continue. Finally, he found his words and pressed on. "Earlier, this week – last week, actually – my mansion was trespassed by a sick wolf-man crossbreed of some sort. That 'crossbreed' bit me. And within twenty-four hours, I found myself turning into that same beast."

Claire Foster looked at Lex in disbelief. "Like a werewolf? You're a lycanthrope?"

"Yes, a werewolf, so to speak. I... know this is difficult to believe, but it's true. Even my father can confirm this, along with a handful of witnesses at the local coffee shop. I can assure you, this actually happened. You have to believe me."

Dr. Foster kept a poker face. "I believe you, Lex. While you were the 'werewolf', how did you feel?"

Lex scratched his hairless scalp. "I... it... felt great. I felt powerful. I've been trying to avoid becoming my father, but when I was the werewolf, I really was no different. I took away lives just the same, but in a different matter."

"Take away lives?"

"My father's business deals have put many people on the street, Doctor Foster. But, as a werewolf, I was in control of so much more. It was a rush... so hard to explain..."

"My instinct tells me to declare you insane on the spot, Lex, but my intuition tells me otherwise."

"Aren't they the same?"

Foster said nothing.

"Well, doctor, the reason I'm telling you this is..." Lex's eyes drifted away from Doctor Foster and focused on the light that illuminated her and her surroundings from behind him. He turned around, gazing at the stained glass – at the sunlight coming in.

"Lex?"

"It's almost sunset..."

"Lex?"

Lex whirled around, suddenly aware of where he was. A bead of sweat formed on his forehead. He wiped it off and took a swig from his glass of water. "I'm afraid, Dr. Foster, that I will have to postpone this session for just one more day. There's someone I need to see."