Wednesday night at the Talon was definitely a hit, Lana Lang noted with pride as Zatanna performed her last trick. The Talon, while always a busy place, hadn't seen a crowd this huge since its first few months of business. She smiled in satisfaction as the last of the few customers that were left finished paying their tabs and exited the front door. She closed the door, changed the sign from 'Open' to 'Closed', and then locked the door. She then turned, still beaming and leaned against the door while saying to her friends, "Well, I guess that takes care of Lex's thinking about shutting this place down for another few months."

"Oh, please Lana, we both know he'll never close it," Chloe said, setting down her mug of chai latte. "He keeps it open out of respect for you and the fact that it makes you happy."

Lana smirked at Chloe and then turned to look at Zatanna, who was packing up all of her magic things. She noticed the exotic, raven-haired magician flirting vivaciously with Clark and felt the very slightest tinge of jealousy that she knew she shouldn't be feeling. She also noticed Chloe giving Zatanna an even harsher glare, and slightly rolled her eyes. Chloe was so freakishly possessive of Clark. It was what had gotten in the way of Chloe and Lana from ever becoming the truly close friends that they could have been.

"So...Chloe," Lana said, deciding to draw Chloe away from another mental warpath. "What are you up to tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night?"

Lana nodded and walked over to Chloe, slipping into a bar stool next to the blonde reporter. Chloe made a small face as she thought it over and then said, "I have this interview scheduled with the captain of our chess team. Apparently they won some big, statewide championship and the principal wants me to do a first page on them."

"Happy happy joy joy."

"My thoughts exactly. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, yeah. I needed to go to Metropolis. They're library's bigger than mine and I needed to do some research."

"Research?"

"For our world history paper? I'm doing mine on symbols and their meanings and significance in cultures, from Ancient Egypt to Modern India. They have some really good books there, or so I've heard, and so...I was just looking for some company to head out over there." Lana hated lying to Chloe, but she knew that it was a necessary lie. She had tried asking Jason if he wanted to go with her, but he was already busy with some football stuff. In any case, Lana was getting desperate to find out more about her tattoo, and Metropolis Public Library had a plethora of information on ancient symbols and artifacts.

"Oh, Lana, I'm sorry. Could we maybe postpone it until Friday?"

Lana was about to agree when Zatanna suddenly piped up, "I can go with you tomorrow. If you want me to, anyway."

"That would actually be great," Lana said. "After school then?

"Yeah, definitely."

Lana Lang rubbed her eyes and sighed as stared at the back of yet another useless book. Lana and Zatanna had been at the library for two hours already and there was nothing in any of the eight books that Lana had already looked through that helped her case any – or at all. She had even picked up a few books on tattoo designs and found nothing in there.

Zatanna glanced over from a book on Egyptian sorcery and cocked her head at the side, her chandelier earrings gently glimmering under the low lights. "You okay?"

"Yeah...my eyes just hurt. Too much reading, not enough information. You know how it is."

"Yeah, yeah I do." She slammed her book shut. "Well, there's no new information on symbols here that you haven't already found in your research."

"I figured. Hey, do you want to maybe go grab a bite to eat and then come back for another hour?"

"Yeah...I've got time to kill. Besides, the weekend's fast approaching and I SO am not in the mood for homework or studying."

"And I wonder why you're looking forward to the weekend." Lana said slyly as she grabbed her purse.

Zatanna wrinkled her nose and smiled. "Yeah, I know, Clark Kent. But you have to admit, Lana, he's definitely all-American beefcake."

"There's no denying that," Lana agreed, trying to keep any wistfulness out of her voice, and actually succeeding. "He's also one of the most loyal people I've ever met."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. He's always there for you...whether or not you're on speaking terms with him."

"Sounds like you have experience."

"Some," was all Lana said. Zatanna didn't press further because she was genuinely starting to like Lana and didn't want anything to disrupt their friendship. This last week Lana had been a real sweetheart, and that was part of the reason that Zatanna had offered to come up to Metropolis with Lana.

They walked in silence for a few moments before Lana said, "You know what, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be all secretive about Clark. We had a minor thing last year...but it's over now."

"What happened?"

"Nothing. Well, nothing much anyway. Clark..." Lana groped for the right words to use, "Clark...well, like I said, he's loyal. But he isn't without his fair share of secrets. And he doesn't ever let you in on them. I was kept in the dark for a lot of our relationship, and I got tired of it."

"So you guys broke up."

"In a nutshell."

Zatanna pondered over what Lana had said for a few minutes. So, if Clark kept secrets then that meant that he definitely was a man of power, but it also meant that finding out what his powers were exactly would be that much more difficult. She could always do a spell, but then that would be wrong...and she wasn't sure if her spell would completely backfire or not. Zatanna wasn't sure as to how much of a risk she was really willing to take with someone's mind. And would he know if she did a mind search on him?

"Hey, where's our car?" Lana asked as they exited the building. Zatanna looked around for a moment and then did a tiny half-laugh. "We went out the wrong exit, it seems. Alright, let's go back in and out the other way." The two high schoolers turned to go back into the library when both were stopped short by the sound of a blood curdling scream close by. Lana looked at Zatanna, fear in her eyes. Zatanna simply said "Go inside and stay there," as she bounded down the stairs in front of her.

The young sorceress' heels clacked against concrete as she turned the corner on started on towards the alley where she was sure she'd heard the scream come from. One thing that Zatanna hated about Metropolis more than anything was the fact that its metahuman underbelly was huge, dark, and terrifying.

Lucky for her she'd faced it before.

As soon as she entered the alley, she saw what she figured she would: a vampire preying on a young college co-ed from Metropolis University. The girl, a blonde in tight jeans and a Metro U hoodie (the stereotypical type that always seemed to get into these sorts of situations) was struggling against the vampire as he tried to find the right angle with which to bite her.

"Hey, dogbreath!" Zatanna called out as she pulled out a pen from her tote bag. The vampire turned around as Zatanna muttered the words, "Nep ot nedoow etaks!" She cursed under her breath as she watched her Parker pen transform into a wooden skate. "Nedoow etaks ot nedoow ekats!" The skate slowly transformed, going slimmer and pointier, into the object that she wanted: a wooden stake. Zatanna dropped her bag and dangled the stake from her fingers. "Looking for dinner?" She motioned for the co-ed to get going – and she did screaming all the way – and then turned back to the somewhat dumbfounded vampire.

The vampire growled and started to rush her. Zatanna lashed out with one stiletto-heeled foot and caught him in the midsection. The vampire flew back a foot or two, giving Zatanna room to rush him and throw a few punches his way. The vampire's brute strength was much more than Zatanna's though, and instead he dodged her strikes and instead backed her into a corner. She felt his hot, fetid breath on her as his fangs closed in on her. With a cry made up of terror, fear, and sheer magickal power, Zatanna screamed out "Eripmav ezeerf!" The vampire froze in place as he was, no more than a mannequin now. Zatanna slammed her stake home and watched in satisfaction as the vampire turned to dust.

Her satisfaction was replaced with surprise, though, when she saw Lana standing just outside the alley, her face open wide in fear.

"Lana?" Zatanna asked.

Lana turned and ran and Zatanna started after her, screaming out, "Lana! Lana wait!"