Chapter 14

She ran through the corridors trying to get away from the boy with the perpetual smile. Her breath was laboured and her limbs were tired but she pushed herself onwards. The laughter – sinister; oh, so sinister – grew closer, despite her efforts to escape. The halls were dark save for the shafts of light that sparsely lit her way.

She turned to her left and down the hallway she saw a doorway, nearly sobbing in relief for it. As she neared it, her heart palpitated in happiness, yet there was a strange underlying fear that she would see the feared face on the other side. Suddenly, she stumbled on herself and she let out a cry. But she didn't fall; instead she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and keep her upright. She knew it was him – no, not the boy with the never-ending smile, but the man who would sweep her off her feet.

Something told her not to look at him – no, not yet; it wasn't time for her to know. Instead, she allowed herself to be lead by him to the door ahead. She looked down when she saw one arm reach out for the doorknob – pale, hand and a white-clothed arm – and push open the door. The light on the other side was blinding at first but once her eyes adjusted, her breath caught at the beauty. A meadow of sunflower after sunflower filled her vision and she almost felt her eyes water. They stepped through and waded through the sea of yellow petals, happily swaying in the light breeze. They stopped when it seemed like they were in the middle of it all and she, feeling it was appropriate, turned her head with her eyes closed to steal a kiss.

She felt her nerves hum even before the initial touch of their mouths. When the lips finally brushed over hers she became heady; it was all so addicting, even if it was just one touch that she was pressing closer for more. She found herself drowning in the sensation of his lips on hers melding together in a wondrous mix of lust and a far more deep-rooted emotion. Her senses were heightened; she became more aware of the emotions emanating in intense waves from the man who was overwhelming her. She found herself craving for more and more of him, pressing back against his full length and loving the feel of the obvious arousal that thrust against her. She opened herself to him; allowed him to plunge his tongue into the dark recesses of her orifice, a hint of what he wanted to actually do with her; to her. Her mind was chanting uninhibitedly as the few moments seemed to last longer than they actually were.

But the beauty of it all; the heady sensation and the onslaught of lust – and a far more deep-rooted emotion – was short-lived. The sky – so bright just moments ago – began to darken into a deep, ominous crimson.

Her body was thrown out of the man's arms and she fell onto the ground, the sunflowers, dying and wilting around her. She cried out in pain at the sensation of her skin hitting uneven ground. The palms of her fingers felt something pliant but sticky; her nostrils flared at the acrid smell of what was close to her nose. When she looked down to see what was below her, she let out an inaudible shout as her eyes took in the image of rotting corpses and skeletons piled up upon themselves. She scrambled up, trying to touch the ground as little as possible and finally looked to see who her mystery man was. Only she couldn't find him. A heavy shower of blood began to rain over her and she choked at the horrid smell.

The sinister laughter returned ten-fold and the tears came flowing down her cheeks. She covered her ears in hopes that it would muffle the awful sound but there was no escaping it – no escaping it at all…

Chloe shot up out of bed, a film of cold sweat forming on her skin. The laughter was a distant echo in her ears then and eventually died out, leaving her to hear the rasping of her breaths. Tiredly she settled her eyes on the palm of her hand and took a shuddering breath. Her heart was still pumping rapidly, a reminder of just how afraid she was in her dream. When she finally gained control of herself, she looked over at Remy, who was still fast asleep, snuggled under the covers. She needed to take a walk.

Silently, she slipped out of bed and padded over to the door, opening it cautiously so as not to disturb the still slumbering child. Once the door was closed behind her, Chloe walked down the hallway towards the kitchen. She had passed through the place a number of times and the chef was accustomed to seeing her there. Being as it was the middle of the night however, Chloe had the entire place all to herself.

Or at least she thought it was all to herself. There was a light on from what she could see through the cracks at the side of the door. When she pushed it open, she noted that the refrigerator door was open and someone was rummaging through it. In spite of herself, she took a moment to admire the bottom that was extruding from the shielding refrigerator door. Her eyes caught the familiar curve of a bald head and found herself blushing.

"Lex?" she inquired in a sleep-hoarse voice.

The sounds of someone rummaging stopped and just as she suspected, Lex peered over at her from where he stood. He pursed his lips. Apparently, he wasn't used to being caught in the kitchen. If he had, he would have been more conscious and worn a top instead of just his pyjama bottoms. The crimson stain on her cheeks grew to a darker shade of rouge.

"Chloe," he acknowledged. "What are you doing down here in the middle of the night?"

"I might ask the same of you," she countered, ambling over to him, despite her better judgement.

"I was just going to get something to eat before I went to bed," he replied succinctly, before glancing back in the cool interior of the fridge and taking out a container. "Ice cream?"

Chloe momentarily forgot about the mound of corpses and withering sunflowers. "Wow, now that's one dessert I thought you would never indulge in."

"Oh?" He raised a brow and closed the door behind him, then walked to the island in the middle of the kitchen. "You think I'm all tiramisu and exotic fruits, I assume?"

She shrugged in turn and followed him, watching as he efficiently brought out a pair of bowls and spoons. "You just don't look like an ice cream kind of person. I mean the stuff you eat; they're all so healthy and balanced. Ice cream doesn't fit in anywhere."

He gave her a little smile at that and proceeded to scoop some of the creamy stuff and place it in a bowl. "We all have our surprises. So, tell me, Chloe, considering I told you why I'm here, what's your story?"

She stared momentarily at his movements only to start speaking when he paused. "Nightmare," she declared plainly.

"Really? It must have been very intense if you needed to come down here for a snack. What was it about, if you don't mind my asking?" He resumed to put one more scoop in the other bowl and went to put the ice cream back into the freezer.

"The usual nightmare dream," she replied, sighing and leaning against the island. "Fears, mostly… oh thank you," she said when he handed her the bowl and began to eat.

"Does it have anything to do with what happened today?" Lex asked quietly.

"Naturally," she stated dryly. "But there was more to it than that. It was like it was stating a prophecy that is waiting to happen. That's what scares me the most. I just don't understand what it means."

"Well, perhaps if you told me, I could interpret it for you. I have had psychiatrists analyze me left and right and I think I know all the basic symbols and analyses known by the human race," he said in a wry tone.

Chloe grimaced and took another spoonful before she asked, "Are you sure you want to hear it? Or more importantly, why should I entrust to you something so personal?"

"You need someone to confide in, Chloe, and you should know that I'm always here for you." He waited a heartbeat to allow that statement to sink in. "So shoot; tell me about it."

She pursed her lips, quiet for a moment. "Corridors," she finally said openly. "Dark corridors with lights above; it's eerie, like you're in a mine shaft but it's cleaner, straighter." She closed her eyes and frowned. "Laughter was there. It was this deep, evil laughter that followed me everywhere I went and I tried running, I really did, but my efforts were futile. I came to a door then, but I stumbled and almost fell. A –" her voice cracked. I'm not going to say who it was. "– a man stopped my fall. He held me even when I was upright already and he opened the door for me. He wore white and it showed brightly – especially in the sunlight that pierced my eyes when the door was open."

Chloe sighed and relaxed visibly. "The meadow… a beautiful place with a field of sunflowers… we stood in the middle; the man and I. And – shared – a kiss, but it was short-lived." Her voice turned bitter and fearful once again. "He pushed me away and the sunflowers withered and I fell onto a mound of skeletons and rotting flesh and the sky began to rain blood. That's when I woke up."

She was shuddering then. "Oh, God, Lex, it was so scary. I know it means a lot but I don't want to know. Don't tell me what it is. Please…" She almost broke into tears, but her eyes flew open when she felt arms circle around her. Lex, though unaccustomed to physical comfort, found himself compelled to calm the woman in his arms down.

"It's okay," he murmured. "You went through a lot today. Just, calm down now. Calm down…"

He rubbed her back and held her close to his body, breathing slowly, expecting her to follow suit. When she did, he too relaxed. He didn't want to admit it, but her dream disturbed him greatly. Skeletons and withering flowers; the dark corridors and the sinister laughter; this was a vivid nightmare and it definitely told of future struggle. After a while, she grew stiff in his arms and he pulled away, noting that she refused to look him straight in the eye. Still awkward, he thought sighing inwardly as he walked back to the side of the island that had his now-melted ice cream. He stirred it around a bit until finally he exhaled and placed the bowl in the sink.

He was rinsing out the contents when she came to stand closely by him and he glanced down at her. She stared at his hands; or in the direction of his hands. She looked more spaced out than anything. He set down his bowl and spoon and held out a hand to ask for her things and she handed it to him. They were like that – standing side by side; both thoughtfully quiet. He left the bowls and spoons for the maids to clean it up (At least I did half the job, he thought absently) and dried off his hands with a paper towel.

"Why are you so damn nice?" she suddenly asked. Her voice held no venom; quite the contrary, in fact. It held a lot of softness.

"I'm not as cold-hearted as the papers make me seem," he replied sardonically, throwing the towel in the bin.

But you should be so that I can hate you instead of like you so much. "But I'm just the 'freebie' in the actual package that you wanted. Remy should be the only one you should be kind and generous to. Not me."

"Chloe," he began and turned to her, taking hold of her arms with a gentle touch. "The two of you aren't a 'package deal' at all. Remy is my son, yes, but you are in essence, his sister and his mother. Therefore, that makes you family as well."

She searched his face for any deceit and found it oddly sincere once again. After a moment, she began to feel squeamish being at such close proximity to him. She extracted herself from his hold and walked towards the door. She paused just as she was going out. "You going upstairs or not?"

Lex smiled and shook his head. Some invite to walk her back to her room, he thought as he followed her.

Shishio Makoto sat in the darkness of his office, accompanied only by the bit o dim light that managed to make its way around the blinds and into the room. The cigarette in his hand glowed at the end as he took a puff. His thoughts were an agglomeration of chaotic layer after layer. Different scenarios filled his head, made him smile, sneer, frown; snort. Each one was how he would finally defeat Kenshin Himura. Would it be better to cleave him in half? No, I think I should cut him so that he is on the road to a slow death; then put salt on his wounds then burn him.

His thoughts of his projected victory were cut short by the series of knocking at the door. Growling low in his throat, he barked a 'come in' and leaned forward propping his elbows upon the desk top and narrowing his eyes at the spill of light that came in. A familiar and sensual scent wafted into his nose and instantly, he knew who it was. Her form was silhouetted against the brightness from the hallway behind her, accenting her curvy womanly figure. In spite of himself, he felt his mouth water.

"Yumi – my lovely little espionage," he drawled, a smirk lifting his lips.

"Shishio-sama," she greeted lithely. He couldn't see her face but from the tone of her husky voice, she was smiling coyly. "I bring good news."

She closed and locked the door behind her, then sauntered towards him and he leaned back, anticipating her next move. Just as he suspected, she sat upon his lap, wrapping her arms around his bandaged body and leaned her head against his shoulder. "You know the one that got away? Well, it seems that he wasn't smart enough to clean up after himself. We found him. He's waiting downstairs."

He smiled. "That's good… very good… hmm… why not… after a little –" he grabbed her bottom and squeezed making her gasp. "– you and I go downstairs and see how our little friend is?"

It was an hour later that they emerged – Yumi's cheeks tinted pink and her eyes still looking a little glazed from their prior activities. Shishio was looking smug as ever as he practically strutted to the elevators to check on their little 'friend.' Below the lobby of the building was a wide warehouse area. The place was bustling with people training, scientist experimenting and of course the small group of men protecting the man he was there for. As he came closer to the fortress of guards, he motioned for them to move aside so that he could see their captive.

On the floor, a man with full muscle and a lean figure rolled and groaned in pain. Agony-filled eyes looked up at Shishio and the man's face registered in his brain, causing him to gasp. The bandaged man looked down upon his captive, chuckling, before he hunkered down. "You thought you could get away, did you?"

"You – made – m – me kill – Lionel," the one on the floor wheezed out.

"Kent, Kent, Kent; now why would I do that? Unlike you, I have no reason to kill the man. You had the incentive. You chose to do that yourself. My men were following your orders that day, remember?" His smile widened to a frightening sneer.

Shishio ordered the men to put away the kryptonite for a moment. "It was all you, Kent-san. I had nothing to do with it… well, maybe half of the assassination, but you, my friend; you were there to command. And kill you did."

"You didn't want survivors. And I had no control over myself!" Clark cried, his brown eyes looking desperate.

Shishio snorted at that. "Your instincts were in full reign, boy. And from the looks of it, the man had it coming. Aren't you glad that it was at least you and not some other lowlife?"

"But –" he began to protest again.

"Urusai!" the other commanded in a snarl. "Shut up, Kent. You have no choice now, but to work for me. If you escape again, I'll make sure to tell the authorities that you were responsible for the deaths of Lionel Luthor and Shinomori Yuichi. And you wouldn't want that. No, you wouldn't want that at all. Because – because what if your oka-san and oto-san find out?" he asked in feigned innocence, his eyes wide and with fake fear.

Shishio got up and began to pace in a false terror-filled manner. "Oh, what if your little girlfriend, Lang-chan found out, too?" The faux virtuous look he gave melted and gave way to a sinister laugh. "You have no choice, boy."

And once again, Clark Kent felt helpless to the dark future he had gotten himself into.

To be continued...

Vocabulary:

Urusai - shut up (informal; rude)

Oka-san - mother

A/N: Glad you've gotten this far... and thank you to those who have reviewed. :) It's always nice to hear that those who are reading this actually like it! :) hehe...