STAND BACK

CHAPTER TWO-CHANGING

Elizabeth woke up screaming. Lex had started to doze off as well and nearly fell off his chair when Elizabeth screamed. He gently grabbed her shoulders and sat on the side of the bed.

"Elizabeth! Are you okay?" he demanded.

Elizabeth just burst into tears and slumped forward into Lex's arms. She buried her face into his chest.

"I had the most horrible dream!" Elizabeth sobbed. "I dreamed that a wolf attacked you."

"Easy Elizabeth," Lex said soothingly. "It was just a dream."

"It seemed so real," Elizabeth said.

She pulled back from the embrace. Lex kept his hands on her shoulders. Elizabeth felt heat creeping into her cheeks.

He really was so cute and caring even though I just met him yesterday. Elizabeth thought.

"You're going to be just fine," Lex said reassuringly.

Elizabeth nodded and laid back against the bed. Once her head hit the pillow, she drifted off to sleep again.

The next morning, Elizabeth awoke to find Lex talking with the doctors.

He glanced at her and saw that she was awake.

"The doctors want to check your wounds," he replied. "I'll be right back."

Lex left the room.

The doctors came over and carefully checked Elizabeth's wounds on her abdomen, chest and shoulder.

"Good Lord," the doctor said her eyes wide. "These wounds are practically healed!"

Another doctor came over and examined them.

"You're right," the other doctor said. "It's a miracle but you're fit to go home. Just take a few days off from school."

Elizabeth beamed.

Lex came back in the room shortly.

"The wounds have healed and they said I can go home," Elizabeth told him happily.

Lex was grinning.

About an hour later, Mrs. Reyes was called and she signed Elizabeth out of the hospital. Lex drove them home in his Mercedes Benz.

Mrs. Reyes got out of the car first.

"Elizabeth? Would you like to join me for dinner Friday? This way it will give you a week to relax and take it easy." Lex said turning to Elizabeth in the back seat. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7:30."

"I'd love to," Elizabeth beamed. "You got it."

"Great," Lex said.

Elizabeth gave him a smile before she too climbed out of the car. Mrs. Reyes led Elizabeth into the house.

That night Elizabeth began going over what happened in her mind. The creature was attacking her, trying to maul her to death. How on earth did it suddenly catch on fire? She knew the reason why Clark had been there, but it didn't explain how the creature caught on fire. Deciding not to worry about it, Elizabeth climbed into bed and began thinking of Lex.

Smiling to herself, she eventually drifted off to sleep.

She awoke around midnight sweating and feeling a sharp pain shoot through her body. She tossed and turned in bed. Mrs. Reyes checked on her and turned on the light. She put a cool hand on Elizabeth's forehead.

"You're burning up," Mrs. Reyes said alarmed as she ran and got Elizabeth Tylenol and a cool rag.

Mrs. Reyes kept an eye on her all night. In the morning, Elizabeth seemed perfectly fine.

Elizabeth woke up to see her mother sitting on the chair beside her bed.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" she asked confused.

"You had a fever during the night and you were tossing and turning. How do you feel? Do you want to stay home from school today? I could have Chloe or Clark to get your homework for you," Mrs. Reyes said.

"I feel great, mom. Never better," Elizabeth replied smiling at her.

"Okay, if you're sure," Mrs. Reyes said.

She gave her daughter a kiss before leaving the room. Elizabeth climbed out of bed surprised at just how great she felt.

She pulled on a blue and white floral print skirt that reached her knees, a white V-necked poplin shirt and black Mary Jane shoes with a slight heel.

She tied a white sweater around her waist and grabbed her school bag. It was 7:30. Lex would be picking her up.

She jogged down stairs.

"Wait! You need breakfast!" Mrs. Reyes cried as she pushed a Pop Tart into Elizabeth's hand.

"See you later mom," Elizabeth said smiling as she left the house and stood on the front porch.

Shortly, Lex's silver Porche pulled up in front of the house. Lex leaned over the passenger side seat and opened the door for her. Elizabeth slid onto the leather seat and closed her door.

"Hi. How are you feeling?" Lex asked turning to her.

"Wonderful," Elizabeth grinned.

Lex put the car in drive and they headed to Smallville High.

Chloe gave Clark a big grin when they saw Lex pull up in front of the school with Elizabeth in the passenger seat.

"Keep an eye on her for me," Lex said to Clark.

"You got it," Clark smiled.

Lex pulled away.

"So how do you feel?" Clark asked gently as he draped each arm over Chloe's and Elizabeth's shoulders as they walked into school.

"Wonderful," Elizabeth said.

"Didn't the doctor ask you to take it easy or something? I mean you were pretty badly attacked," Chloe said.

"Nope. They checked the wounds. I'm perfectly fine," Elizabeth said.

They entered the school and headed to Biology class.

Mrs. Travis was late.

"I hope Mrs. Travis is okay," Chloe said leaning forward and prodding Clark in the back.

Clark turned around and so did Pete.

"Why wouldn't she be?" Clark asked.

"You never know," Elizabeth said. "Sometimes teachers get sick."

Just then, a new teacher came into the room. Everyone snapped to attention.

"Good afternoon," the teacher said smiling.

She was pretty with shoulder length dark blond hair and blue eyes. She was dressed in jeans and a red sweater. Her hair was pulled back into a braid. She had almost angelic features and her eyes scanned each student.

"I'm Mrs. Reynolds. Mrs. Travis is sick today. She was in an accident yesterday," Mrs. Reynolds said.

"What sort of accident?" a girl asked.

Mrs. Reynolds hesitated for a minute before answering. "She was burnt in an accident. Today, we're going to learn about frogs and dissect them,"

Elizabeth froze.

She was burnt? In what kind of accident? Cooking? Elizabeth thought. That beast was on fire yesterday. Could it…Nah. That's impossible.

Elizabeth snapped out of her thoughts and tried to concentrate on dissecting the frog that she and Chloe were sharing.

But Elizabeth couldn't help but sense that something was eerie and not right with the story Mrs. Reynolds told.

"Are you alright?" Chloe whispered leaning toward Elizabeth. "You seemed distracted."

"I-I'm fine," Elizabeth stammered. "I just can't get how gross this is."

I hate lying to her or any of them but I can't tell them what I'm thinking. They'd think I was nuts, Elizabeth thought.

"Oh I know," Chloe said satisfied with Elizabeth's answer. "I'd rather be learning about plants and insects compared to this."

Clark turned around in his seat to talk to Elizabeth for a moment, but Mrs. Reynolds spied him.

"Please turn back around in your seat," Mrs. Reynolds replied sternly.

"I need to ask her something," Clark replied.

"No talking during the lesson," she replied swiftly.

Elizabeth felt anger boiling in her.

"What is it Clark?" Elizabeth asked completely ignoring Mrs. Reynolds comment.

Clark looked at Elizabeth in amazement. Even Chloe and Pete were stunned.

"I said 'No talking during the lesson young lady'," Mrs. Reynolds replied firmly.

"Mrs. Travis let's us talk during the lesson," Chloe said.

"Well, I'm not Mrs. Travis," the teacher replied coldly.

"And we're thankful for that," Elizabeth replied stiffly as she slowly stood up, her palms face down on the edge of the desk. Her hair fell forward framing her eyes.

As Clark studied Elizabeth's face, he noticed an arc of jaundice around Elizabeth's iris and pupil.

He sat, bewildered and completely stunned at her behavior. He didn't have a problem following the new teachers' rules. What was Liz doing?

"What did you want to ask me Clark?" Elizabeth asked turning her eyes onto Clark.

"Um," Clark stammered. "It's not that…"

Clark's voice trailed off as Mrs. Reynolds grabbed Clarks shoulder.

"I warned you about talking," she snapped.

Elizabeth had leaped over her desk and landed in front of Mrs. Reynolds. She slowly stood up as if showing her full height.

"Leave him alone," Elizabeth growled.

Clark was stunned as he looked at her. She almost appeared in-human.

"March yourself down to the principals office," Mrs. Reynolds said to Clark ignoring Elizabeth.

Just as Clark was about to take a step, Elizabeth grabbed his arm.

"Don't move," Elizabeth said.

"Young lady, you are treading on thin ice! Both of you I want to head to the principals office," Mrs. Reynolds replied.

Chloe and Pete were watching them in anticipation.

Elizabeth seemed to hesitate.

"Fine," she grumbled.

She and Clark began leaving the classroom and they headed down the hall.

"Elizabeth…what were you thinking?" Clark asked as they turned a corner to head to the office.

To his surprise, Elizabeth was now shaking…not from anger, but from fear.

He gently pulled her aside.

"What's going on?" he asked peering at her.

"Oh Clark. I don't know! That wasn't me in that classroom! Something is happening to me that I don't understand," Elizabeth said her lower lip trembling. "If I tell anyone they might think I'm nuts."

"Try me," Clark said.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and told him everything.

Including how the beast caught on fire mysteriously.

Clark listened patiently. He wasn't sure if he should tell Elizabeth that he was the one who set the monster on fire with his eyes, or dismiss it. But she knew what she saw even though she was half unconscious.

"Maybe it was a hallucination?" Clark suggested casually.

Elizabeth shook her head. "No. I felt the heat. It was no hallucination,"

"Plus, doesn't it seem odd that the monster was on fire and now Mrs. Travis was burned in an accident?" Elizabeth asked.

"It does," Clark said. "But I think we're jumping to conclusions."

Elizabeth sighed. "Then what's happening to me?"

Clark hesitated. "I think it's all the stress of moving to a new state and everything,"

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed and once again, Clark saw that arc of jaundice around her pupil and iris.

"I thought you would be different. I sensed you were. But I was wrong," Elizabeth said coldly as she stormed completely out of the school leaving Clark in the hallway.

Immediately Clark felt guilty. She was right. He was different but in more ways than she knew. But he felt bad for not believing her.

He took off after her.

Elizabeth reached the curb before a sharp pain shot through her skull. She cried out and clamped her hands over her ears and was doubled over.

The afternoon sunlight shone brightly but the image of the street blurred before her eyes. Her ears seemed clogged and she was scared that she had gone deaf. Her whole body felt as if it was going to explode.

She dropped to her knees.

Clark came up behind her.

"Elizabeth! Are you alright?" he asked worriedly as he dropped to his knees beside her and grabbed her shoulders.

Then, her ears seemed to unclog. She could hear everything. Clark's watch's' hands ticking softly, a conversation that was going on in a bus stop 3 blocks away, Clark's heart beating and the bell ringing inside of school signaling school was over.

Her eyes focused and she could see the littlest movement. She also realized her sense of smell was sharper as well.

She shook her head.

"Are you okay?" Clark repeated anxiously.

"Yeah…fine," Elizabeth said wobbly. "Can I stay with you tonight? My mom is going to be working late. She found a job in town but it has long hours. I forgot to tell you. I don't feel like being alone."

"Absolutely," Clark said.

He looked up and saw his father approaching the school in the red Ford pickup.

Mr. Kent pulled up in front of Clark and Elizabeth.

"Is she alright?" Mr. Kent asked worriedly as he leaned over the passenger side seat and opened the door.

"She's staying with us tonight. Her mom won't be back until late and she didn't feel like being alone. Is that okay?" Clark asked as Elizabeth slid onto the seat and then slid next to Mr. Kent allowing Clark to climb in. She was in the middle.

"Absolutely," Mr. Kent said as he started the pickup and they pulled away from the curb.

During the ride back to the Kent farm, Elizabeth's eyes began getting heavy. She rested her head against Clark's shoulder and drifted off to sleep enjoying the gentle rocking motion of the truck.

When she woke up, she was in a guest bedroom. She easily climbed out of bed and opened the door. She was in the Kent house. She headed out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

Mrs. Kent was just setting the table for dinner.

She looked up and smiled brightly at Elizabeth.

"Hi! Have a good nap?" she asked Elizabeth kindly.

"Yeah. How long was I out?" Elizabeth asked sitting down at the table.

"Since 4 this afternoon. It's now 6," Mrs. Kent replied.

Mrs. Kent carefully scrutinized the girl.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay? Maybe that animal gave you some kind of disease,"

Elizabeth nodded. "I'm feeling much better now. Maybe Clark's right. Maybe it is the stress of moving,"

Mrs. Kent smiled. "Well you're more than welcomed here,"

Elizabeth grinned.

Just then, the back screen door banged open and Clark and Mr. Kent came into the house pulling off heavy work gloves.

"Hey. You're awake," Clark said relieved as he dropped his gloves on the table and sat down beside Elizabeth at the table.

"How are you feeling?" Mr. Kent asked.

"Great," Elizabeth grinned.

"Sure?"

"Sure,"

"Well, I'm starved!" Mr. Kent said as they all took a seat and began helping themselves to dinner.

That night, Elizabeth stood in front of the window. A gentle breeze fluttered the curtains. A full moon hung in the almost midnight sky. She felt herself smiling and her eyes changed into the jaundice color. She dropped to her hands and knees. Black fur began sprouting all over her body; her chest expanded straining the material of her shirt; her hands and feet stretched into paws with long black claws where the fingernails and toenails should be. Her ears grew and tapered off into points; her nose and jaw pulled forward into a snout and white canines and incisors slid down under purple lips. A long tail grew from the base of her spine. Her legs bent into haunches. Elizabeth was gone. All that was in place now was a black wolf.