STAND BACK
CHAPTER NINE-AGGRESSIVE TENDENCIES
The windshield of the pickup wasn't broken.
Lex was stunned at the size of the black wolf now standing on all fours in front of the pickup truck.
Elizabeth turned her back to the windshield and with one powerful hind leg, reached back and kicked out the glass.
Once the glass shattered, the wolf crawled inside the truck and something seemed to snag on her around her neck, but she ignored it and sat on her haunches. Clark wasn't conscious.
The wolf began frantically licking Clark's face. Then, once a small sign of life occurred, she began gnawing on the seatbelt.
The wolf was letting out irritated grunts as she chewed on the seatbelt.
Finally, the seatbelt snapped and Clark dropped to his stomach. Suddenly, the wolfs head snapped up as a strong scent invaded its nostrils. Gasoline.
It was dripping out from under the chassis of the truck. Clamping her jaws on Clark's shirt, she began dragging him inch by inch out of the truck.
The wolf flattened her ears out sideways in complete urgency as she dragged Clark finally through the now broken windshield.
She managed to drag Clark over to the Kents and Lex before oddly standing next to the truck.
Mr. Kent and Mrs. Kent immediately dropped to their hands and knees beside Clark.
"Clark? Are you alright?" Mrs. Kent demanded shrilly.
The wolf was standing next to the truck watching everything.
Just then, the truck exploded.
"LIZ!" Mr. Kent yelled.
From the truck exploding, it now created a ring of fire trapping the wolf.
Clark groaned and came to.
"Where's Liz?" Clark demanded groggily as Mr. Kent helped him get to his feet.
"She's trapped," Lex said looking fearful.
The wolf looked around, studying for an escape route.
She could see the Kents, Lex and Clark watching in fear. She finally had an idea and made up her mind. Laying her ears out sideways and lowering her head, she slowly backed up.
"I think she's going to try and jump over the flames," Mrs. Kent said terrified.
All four of them watched in fear and anxiety as the wolf continued to back up until its hind paw touched the flames behind it.
Ignoring the pain, the wolf then took off galloping and it gained speed as its paws touched the ground in rhythm.
Just before it hit the wall of flames, it tucked its front legs against its chest and pushed forward with its powerful hindquarters.
It seemed to happen in slow motion as the flames licked at the wolf's belly as she sailed over the flames.
Once the wolf was clear of the flames, she lowered her front legs down and tucked her hind legs up.
When her front paws touched the ground, she lowered her hind legs and took off toward the Kents and Lex.
"Her hind paw," Lex said crouching down.
The wolf came right over to him.
She was favoring the hind paw that was burned slightly.
"Here," Mr. Kent said pulling out a handkerchief and handing it to Lex. "See if she'll let you wrap this around her paw for now."
Lex took the handkerchief and tentatively reached for the wolfs hind paw.
To Lex's relief, the wolf allowed him to gently pick up the paw and wrap the handkerchief around it.
"What do we do now? Take her to a vet?" Lex asked standing upright again.
"No. She'll be fine in the morning," Mr. Kent replied.
Lex looked shocked.
"Her metabolism is fast. Any wounds she received as a wolf will be gone by the morning when she changes back or whenever she changes back. She can control the transformation," Mr. Kent explained.
Lex nodded.
Lex called for the fire department to come and put out the truck fire.
The Kents got a ride home and Lex offered to drop the 'dog' off as well.
En Route home about an hour later, the wolf was sitting on her haunches panting as Lex turned onto the road that was a block from the Kents farm.
Suddenly, when Lex glanced at the wolf, the ears were pinned sideways and the top lip was pulled back exposing white canines and incisors.
The wolf growled warningly.
"Liz? What's wrong?" Lex asked worriedly as he pulled into the Kents driveway.
And that's when he saw it.
There was a collar around the wolfs neck with a glowing blue crystal hanging from the center of it like a dog collar against the wolfs chest. The collar itself was a navy collar with the small crystal.
"Where'd that collar come from? I didn't see it before," Lex said as he went to reach for it, but the wolf snapped at his hand and he quickly drew it back.
Maybe I didn't see if before because of her fur, Lex thought. Navy would be hard to see against black and the crystal wasn't glowing before either.
The wolf snapped her jaws at him one last time before it turned and jumped through the window on the passenger side door. It took off toward the Kent farm.
Lex was stunned as he pulled away.
Elizabeth changed back into a human and pulled on clothes in the barn. She felt around her neck. It was a collar with some sort of crystal on it. She didn't mean to snap at Lex like that but when the crystal started glowing, she felt no control over her own mind.
She felt guilty about snapping at him like that.
She entered the house. Mr. and Mrs. Kent looked up. Clark was sitting at the table.
"Hey. Is everything okay?" she asked looking from the Kents to Clark.
"He's fine. Just some bruises and a headache but he'll be fine," Mrs. Kent replied. "Before you returned we took him to the hospital."
Elizabeth nodded slowly and sank into a kitchen chair.
"What's that around your neck?" Clark asked as he gently reached over and touched the crystal.
"I don't know. When I was in wolf form and I was just about to save you, I felt something snag around my neck. Then when I changed into a human again before, I just realized it," Elizabeth replied. "But the strangest thing was I remember it glowing and I snapped at Lex."
"You mean you were nasty?" Mr. Kent asked.
"No. Like I wanted to bite him when I was a wolf," Elizabeth said quietly. "I felt like I had no control over my actions."
"Take it off then," Mrs. Kent said as she placed a glass of milk in front of Clark.
Elizabeth reached up behind her neck and felt for the clasp.
There was none.
"There's no clasp," Elizabeth said.
"Try pulling it over your head," Clark suggested.
Elizabeth tried that but it seemed like the collar was not moving or stretching.
"It won't come off," Elizabeth said getting panicked now.
Mr. Kent got up and went over to her.
He too began tugging and pulling.
Suddenly, there was a short fizz sound and Mr. Kent pulled back his hand and cried out.
"Jonathan, are you alright?" Mrs. Kent demanded as she went over to Mr. Kent.
"I'm fine. Darn thing gave me a shock," he said staring at the collar.
"I don't think this was an accident," Elizabeth said looking upset. "Whoever did this also may have done something to the truck. I don't think that this was all an accident or coincidence."
"You think it's the person blackmailing you?" Mr. Kent said rubbing his hand.
"Why not?" Elizabeth asked.
"From now on, we're keeping a close eye on you," Mrs. Kent replied.
"Clark could've been killed today in the truck along with you two," Elizabeth said as tears formed. "I can't risk any of you being killed."
"You're staying right here," Mr. Kent said firmly. "You are now apart of this family. Family stays together."
Elizabeth broke down in tears. Mr. Kent went over to her and threw his arms around her and hugged her. Mrs. Kent followed and then Clark.
Elizabeth went over Lex's mansion the next day to try and explain to him what had happened.
Lionel was there as well.
"Is that Elizabeth?" Lionel asked smiling.
"Yes. Hello Mr. Luthor," Elizabeth said smiling. "I was wondering if I could speak to Lex in private."
"Sure," Lionel said as he walked toward her then past her with his walking stick.
"What happened yesterday? You looked like you wanted to rip me in half," Lex replied sitting behind his desk.
"I know. I'm sorry. I felt like I had no control over my movement or thoughts," Elizabeth explained looking guilty and upset.
Lex sighed and got up from behind the desk. He stood in front of Elizabeth and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Listen. I want to help you. You know that right? I'm going to find a way to end this curse," Lex said.
Elizabeth smiled. "I know. Right now we've got to figure out who's blackmailing me,"
Elizabeth slumped into Lex's arms and wrapped her arms around him. He wrapped his arms around her as well and rested his chin on top of her head. Her cheek was pressed against his chest.
"I care about you a lot," Lex whispered.
Elizabeth smiled and closed her eyes. "Same here,"
Suddenly, without warning, the crystal began glowing.
Elizabeth cried out and pulled away from Lex.
"Liz?" he asked worriedly.
Before Lex's eyes, Liz changed into the wolf.
The wolf shook her body and the minute she saw Lex, she began snarling.
Lex picked up his fathers cane and held it with two hands. One hand on the top of the cane and the other hand on the end, like a horizontal sword.
The wolf snarled and leapt at him, knocking him onto his back. The wolf stood over him the cane embedded in the wolfs parted jaws.
Lex struggled to keep the wolf from breaking through the cane. Once that happened, he knew she would go for his throat right away.
The wolf continued to snarl and clamp its jaws tighter on the cane. Lex heard the wood starting to groan and creak on the cane. Any more pressure like this and it was going to snap soon.
The wolfs eyes were almost glowing with rage and evil. Something Lex had not seen in Liz yesterday. He saw urgency and kindness in the wolf. It was a little weird since most of the werewolf legends have the wolves evil and carry off little children…but this was different and real. Liz wasn't an evil wolf. Someone was making her act this way.
Finally, the cane snapped in half. Lex tossed the halves away and scooted back on his rear end. The wolf snarled and took several steps toward Lex.
"LIZ," Clark's voice said sharply from the doorway.
Lex looked at Clark with confusion.
The wolf's head snapped toward Clark and she snarled at him too.
Then she lunged at him, knocking him onto his back.
The wolf pinned him down. Lex knew Clark was strong, but this time, the wolf was overpowering him.
"Liz, it's me," Clark cringed as two massive paws were pressed on his shoulders pinning him to the floor. The snout was inches from Clark's throat.
"Please…" Clark pleaded as he struggled to get up, but the wolf had him pinned good.
Finally, Clark managed to break free of the wolf's grip and he picked up the wolf and threw her out the window.
Glass showered the ground.
"Clark that was Elizabeth!" Lex said stunned as Clark helped him get to his feet.
"It was and yet it wasn't," Clark replied. "Someone is controlling her."
"I figured that," Lex replied looking at the broken window which was where the wolf sailed through. "But who?"
"Whoever is blackmailing her," Clark replied.
Lex still looked upset about Clark tossing the wolf out the window.
"She'll be fine…don't worry," Clark said putting his arm around Lex.
"I'm thinking that that crystal induces the transformation," Lex replied as Clark led him out of the house. The wolf was no where in sight.
"Why?" Clark asked.
"Because the minute the crystal glowed she changed," Lex said.
Lex and Clark climbed into Lex's Mercedes convertible and they began heading back to the Kent farm.
When they pulled into the driveway, Mr. Kent was working on the tractor.
Clark and Lex pushed open their doors and climbed out, closing the doors behind them.
A small cloud of dust began settling after the car pulled into the dirt driveway.
"What about before? She was already changed," Clark asked as they approached Mr. Kent.
Mr. Kent looked up.
"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.
Lex and Clark looked at each other.
Finally Clark spoke.
"Liz went to see Lex," Clark said. "He said about a few minutes into everything, the crystal glowed and Elizabeth changed into the wolf."
Mr. Kents face drained of all color.
"Are you sure?"
Clark and Lex nodded.
"She was aggressive and tried to attack me," Lex replied. "Clark threw her out the window."
Mr. Kent gave a look to his son.
"She'll be fine," Clark muttered.
"Any idea where she might be now?" Mr. Kent asked.
Lex and Clark shook their heads.
"I hope she had changed by now," Mr. Kent said wiping grease off of his hands with a handkerchief he had pulled out of the back pocket of his jeans. "We'll start on the Luthor property first."
Mr. Kent stood up and stretched.
"Come on," he said leading Lex and Clark over to the loner truck he borrowed. It was a dark blue Chevrolet Suburban.
Mr. Kent climbed into the drivers' seat while Clark climbed into the passenger seat and Lex climbed into the back seat behind Clark. They closed their doors and Mr. Kent started the engine. They pulled out of the driveway, the rear tires kicking up a small dust storm as they drove over the dirt and gravel. Once they hit the end of the driveway, Mr. Kent turned right and began heading to the Luthor Mansion.