STAND BACK
CHAPTER FIVE-JOYRIDE
Lana took her chestnut gelding out for a joyride around ten o'clock. She didn't live far from the stable.
The half a full moon hung in a midnight blue sky with stars twinkling merrily.
The horses' hooves thudded over the hard grassy ground. She slowed the horse into a canter now. She had been galloping, enjoying the freedom.
The night air took on a chill and the horses' breath came out in little puffs of steam from his nostrils.
All Lana could hear were the gentle snorts coming from the horse.
Lana shifted her weight in the western saddle and adjusted her grip on the reins.
She then slowed the horse down to a walk. The horses' ears flicked back and forth listening to the surroundings.
A light mist began creeping along the surface of the ground creating eerie shadows in the wooded area where she rode behind the stable.
The night was peaceful. Crickets chirped noisily.
About 10 minutes later, the horse suddenly stopped in his tracks slightly forcing Lana to lean forward in the saddle. The horses' ears were pricked forward and he wasn't moving.
"Joe? What's wrong boy?" Lana asked rubbing the horses' neck.
She was startled to feel the horse so tense and rigid.
The crickets suddenly stopped chirping and it was getting unnerving to Lana now.
"Come on boy," Lana said gently kicking the horse in the side to urge him forward. "Let's head back."
The horse would not move an inch.
Suddenly, a long and strange howl rose up from the wooded area. The mist looked like it was moving and she couldn't see anything.
At this, the horses' ears flattened back and he began fidgeting sideways.
"Easy boy," Lana said in a soothing tone but she too herself felt frightened. "It's probably just a dog."
Something moved in the corner of her eye and the horse now did a complete 180 degree turn facing the other way.
The horse began really getting spooked and the whites of his eyes were showing.
He pranced sideways and threw up his head.
Then, a pair of glowing jaundice eyes came from the wooded area.
The horse whinnied and reared up. Lana held on for dear life and once she got the horse to calm down, she urged it to gallop back toward the stable.
Feeling safer, Lana looked over her shoulder.
She saw the animal now. It was a huge wolf or dog. It was gaining on her too.
"Go boy!" she yelled to the horse.
The horse picked up more speed and so did the wolf.
Suddenly, something jumped on the back of the horse.
The horse whinnied in pain and the horse flipped to his side on the ground. Lana's leg was caught underneath the horse. The horse struggled to get up but the wolf snarled and clamped its huge jaws on the horses' neck. After a few moments, the horse stopped struggling and lay motionless.
Lana struggled to get her leg out from under the horse, but the horse weighed over 1000 pounds.
The wolf turned to her with a blood stained muzzle. It laid back its ears and snarled, showing Lana the full set of teeth in its jaws. The canines and incisors were long and red.
The next thing Lana knew, it jumped on her.
She screamed but her scream was cut off short when the beast clamped its jaws around her throat, crushing her windpipe and digging those sharp teeth into her neck.
Chloe was washing the dishes in the kitchen when she saw a huge shape dart across her lawn. It looked like a huge dog.
It disappeared in a group of hedges. Chloe shrugged and went back to the dishes.
The next morning, Elizabeth woke up in the barn. She pulled on the set of clothes Mrs. Kent left for her. She headed into the Kent house.
"Morning," Clark said brightly as he and Mrs. Kent set the table for breakfast.
"Morning," Elizabeth said distractedly.
"What's wrong?" Mrs. Kent asked.
She and Clark watched Elizabeth intently.
"I think I escaped last night," Elizabeth said raising her eyes to meet Clarks.
"Why? What makes you think that?" Clark asked sitting down beside her.
"I woke up not chained," Elizabeth said flatly.
Clark and Mrs. Kent exchanged worried looks.
"Do you remember anything?" Mrs. Kent asked.
Elizabeth shook her head.
"Nothing,"
She began getting upset.
"What if I killed my mom or someone?" she asked as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I already killed Mrs. Reynolds."
"We don't know that," Clark said firmly. "It could be something as simple as a bear or wild dog."
"I'm the wild dog," Elizabeth muttered as she crossed her arms on the table and buried her face into them. She began sobbing.
Clark put his arms around her comfortingly and gave her a hug.
Just then, Mr. Kent came into the kitchen.
"I have some bad news, Clark," he said gravely.
Clark looked up at his father.
"What is it dad?"
Mr. Kent took a deep breath. "I just got word that there was another attack last night at the Smallville stables,"
Clark snapped to attention.
"Smallville stables? That's where Lana rides,"
There was silence before Mr. Kent continued.
"She was attacked last night by some kind of dog. The horse was killed as well,"
At that, Elizabeth's head popped up.
"You see? I'm killing people!" she cried.
"No…" Clark said.
"I can't be around here anymore! Suppose I hurt or kill one of you? Or even my mother!" Elizabeth screamed as she began backing up toward the front door.
"Elizabeth! The bite radius of this animal was too big to be yours! This animal looked to be 400 pounds! We guessed your weight at 200! It couldn't've been you," Mr. Kent said.
"It doesn't matter!" Elizabeth sobbed hysterically. "If I hurt you or my mom…"
Clark jumped up and gently grabbed Elizabeth's wrists.
"I know it wasn't you," Clark said peering into her eyes.
"How?" Elizabeth sobbed. "How do you know?"
"Because I know," Clark said firmly. "Don't forget…we still have the original wolf out there. More than likely he or she is doing the killing."
Elizabeth seemed to calm down a bit but not much.
"Have some breakfast and calm down," Mrs. Kent said as she gently took Elizabeth and sat her down at the table.
It sunk in what happened to Lana and he slumped down in his own seat beside Elizabeth.
"I'm so sorry son," Mr. Kent said gently as he too sat down.
Clark was just silent.
He knew it wasn't Elizabeth. There was just this nagging feeling in his gut that it wasn't Elizabeth doing the attacks.
At school, Chloe met up with Elizabeth and Clark.
"I'm so sorry about Lana," Chloe said gently to Clark.
"Thanks, Chloe," Clark said quietly.
"You know I saw some kind of dog last night," Chloe said.
"Dog?" Clark asked.
Elizabeth listened intently.
"Yeah. It was dark but the thing looked like it weighed 400 pounds! Almost like a bear!" Chloe said shivering.
Clark looked at Elizabeth.
She looked somewhat relieved but Clark could see she was still upset.
Clark gave her hand a gentle squeeze before they all headed off to class.
After school, they met in the loft in the barn at the Kent farm. Elizabeth was sitting on the floor, Chloe was curled up on the chair and Clark was stretched out on the couch.
Someone was coming up the stairs.
"Lex," Elizabeth said promptly and without emotion.
Lex appeared and gave Clark a hug.
"Sorry to hear about Lana," he said gently.
"Thanks," Clark said. "What are you doing here?"
"I just came by to offer condolences and to see how Liz is doing," Lex said as he sat down on the couch. Elizabeth was sitting at his feet doing homework.
"How are you feeling Liz?" Lex asked.
"Okay I guess," Elizabeth replied as she turned around and looked at him.
Lex looked from Clark to Elizabeth.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
"We're just in shock over Lana," Chloe said. Tears began forming in her eyes.
Clark sat down beside Chloe and put his arms around her.
Lex gently touched Elizabeth's chin.
Elizabeth wanted to tell him to stay away from her. She wanted to badly to tell him everything but she knew that would scare him off and she really liked him a lot.
But she couldn't tell him without revealing the truth.
That might be better than killing him in wolf form. She would probably lose him, but that was better than hurting him literally or even killing him.
"Chloe? Clark? Can I please talk to Lex alone?" Elizabeth asked quietly.
"Sure," Chloe said as she and Clark left the loft.
Elizabeth climbed up onto the couch and stared directly at Lex.
Lex was watching her intently.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I have s-something to tell you," Elizabeth stammered.
Lex waited patiently.
"Remember when I was attacked in the woods?"
Lex nodded.
"Well, that wasn't an ordinary dog…it was a werewolf. I've changed,"
Lex stared at her for a moment before replying.
"Are you saying that you're a werewolf?" he asked slowly.
Elizabeth nodded. "I know it sounds crazy but it's true. Please stay away from me. I don't want to hurt you,"
Lex didn't reply.
"You've got to be kidding me right?" Lex asked.
"I'm afraid not," Elizabeth said.
Lex jumped to his feet.
"Does anyone else know?"
Elizabeth shook her head. "You're the first I've told. I don't want to hurt you,"
"Sure. But you've killed two people probably," Lex said.
Elizabeth's eyes swelled with tears.
"I really liked you. I guess I was wrong," Lex said as he left the loft leaving Elizabeth sobbing.
Chloe and Clark came back up.
"What happened?" Clark asked.
Elizabeth just raised her eyes to Clark.
Immediately, Clark knew what had happened.
"Chloe? I've got talk to Liz. I will see you tomorrow?"
Chloe nodded and gave Liz a curious and sympathetic look before leaving.
Clark sat down beside Elizabeth.
"Did you tell him you were a werewolf?" Clark demanded.
"Yes…but I didn't tell him about you. I told him he was the first person I told,"
Clark relaxed. She was a good person and he knew he made the right decision in telling her his secret.
Elizabeth just sobbed and slumped into Clark's arms.
"Don't worry. I'll talk to him for you," Clark said gently.
Elizabeth didn't reply. She just pulled back from his embrace and left the loft, heading back into the house.
Clark left the loft also and headed over to Lex's house.
"Clark, I don't want to talk about it," Lex said when Clark had stepped into Lex's office.
"Lex, she really likes you! She was completely devastated! She told you something secret because she didn't want you to find out when it was too late," Clark said.
"Too late? When would that be?" Lex asked pouring himself some wine.
"When you're dead," Clark replied bluntly. "She doesn't want to hurt you. That's why she told you so you'd stay away. But she also thought that maybe you'd try and support her."
Lex turned around mid sip.
"Do you know how bizarre that sounds? A werewolf? Werewolves don't exist," Lex replied. "How was I supposed to support her when I don't even believe in werewolves and what she was saying?"
"Fine. You don't believe in werewolves…but believe in Elizabeth for once," Clark replied briskly as he turned and left the Luthor Mansion.
As Clark drove home, it was around 10 o'clock. There was a crescent moon out.
Suddenly, something jumped onto the hood of the red pickup. Clark slammed on the brake.
It was a huge wolf. Clark realized that it wasn't Elizabeth. This wolf had reddish type fur. When Elizabeth changed, she had black. Plus, this wolf was equivalent to a bear.
The wolf snarled and thrusted its head through the windshield, trying to get at Clark. Clark fought it off. Realization formed on Clark's face as he saw singe marks around the wolf's eyes, muzzle and shoulder blades. Singe marks from fire.
This was the original wolf that had attacked Elizabeth.
Clark hit the accelerator. The truck lurched forward. The wolf slid off the hood and both twin headlights were locked on the wolf in a spotlight momentarily before Clark felt the pickup truck bump over the body of the wolf. The wolf rolled under the wheels.
Clark glanced into the rear view mirror at the wolf. It wasn't moving.
Clark continued home without a backward glance.
When he arrived home, he found Elizabeth changed into the wolf.
She was just sitting outside the barn. Her head was low and her ears were flat sideways.
"Elizabeth?" Clark asked tentatively.
The wolf raised its head and looked at him.
She didn't move.
Clark took several steps toward the wolf. Suddenly, the wolf braced itself in an attack position.
Clark froze.
"Liz?" he asked swallowing.
The wolf was snarling angrily.
Clark didn't move.
Then, the wolf leapt into the air preparing to attack Clark.