Clark is on his way to Grandville Speedway, Saturday afternoon. Todd came by earlier to haul the car there. Sophie is getting a ride with Chloe later.
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Sophie is walking out of the school towards the parking lot, the same way she did when John surprised her. She watches the bushes nervously as she walks. Sophie is watching the bushes so closely that she doesn't realize where she's walking and bumps into something hard and falls.
"What…?" She asks and looks up at a large man dressed in black and a ski mask. "Please…" She begs and tries to crawl backwards.
"Shut up, b!tch." He tells her and another guy scrambles out from behind him and grabs her. An all black car with tinted windows screeched to a stop behind them. Sophie screams as the two men toss her into the back of the car. "We got her, let's go!" The man yells and the car squeals off. A few minutes later, Chloe pulls up in her car.
"Sophie?" She calls out the window, completely oblivious of what just happened.
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We pick up after Clark practices and qualifies the car. He qualified 9th fastest, about middle of the field. Clark is now pushing his car up to the starting line, when someone catches his attention.
"Clark! Clark, over here!" Chloe calls from the other side of the fence, waving a digital camera.
"Chloe… where's Sophie?" He asks, looking around Chloe.
"Wait, I thought she was with you." Chloe says, confused.
"Chloe! You were supposed to meet her after school." Clark tells her.
"Yeah, and she never showed up. I figured she must have changed her mind and caught a ride with you." Chloe tells Clark.
"Well no, she isn't here." Clark says, worried.
"Clark, don't worry. She probably got picked up by her parents or something. You know how parents don't care what plans you already have." She assures him.
"Yeah, I guess you're probably right." Clark agrees.
"Ok, these monkeys don't know what a press pass is, so how about a little help? I want to get a few shots of you and your car." Chloe tells him.
"Ok, sure. Hey, guys… she's with me." Clark calls to two security guards and they open the gate.
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The black car stops under a bridge in Smallville. The same bridge Lex's Porsche went off. The men get out and one pulls a taped and bound Sophie out of the car. John steps out of the shadows and walks up to her.
"Well, well, well. I said you would regret your answer didn't I?" John asks her. Sophie screams into the tape and John nods to one of the guys. He rips off the tape.
"Just let me go! You guys don't let me go in five minutes, Clark is going to come looking for me and you don't want that…" She lies.
"I don't think you are in the position to be making threats. Just tell me what I want." John tells her.
"What the hell do you want!" She screams.
"You know what I want! Tell me what this big secret Clark has." John tells Sophie.
"I don't know! I already told you that!" Sophie yells at him and tears start to run down her cheeks. John puts his hand to her face and wipes her tear away. She tries to jerk away, but he holds on to her with his other hand. "Let go of me." She commands.
"Your really beautiful, it's a shame you I have to do this to you." He says to her.
"I said, let go of me." She says through gritted teeth.
"You going to tell me what I want?" He asks.
"No! I won't." Sophie tells him and stares fearfully at him. She could still plead with "I don't know," but even if she did, she wouldn't tell him.
"Too bad." John says and smacks her hard with his right hand, knocking her down. Sophie looks back up at him with tears in her eyes and a busted lip. "Do what you want with her, I don't care. She's no use to me, just make sure she regrets keeping quiet." John tells the men and walks back into the shadows.
"My pleasure." One of the men says and gets down to her.
"Please! Don't do this!" Sophie begs to John, but he's already gone. The man gets on top of her and she screams.
"Hold still!" He yells at her and smacks her again.
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Clark is on the pace lap of the race. He has to put his worries of Sophie in the back of his mind, he can't blow this deal. If he would of known what was happening to Sophie, he would stop and rescue her, but there is no way he could know. The green flag drops and the cars take off. It's a whole new world to Clark, but he's fitting in quick. Clark weaves through traffic up to third and is closing in on second place.
"Come on, one slip and I'll have you." Clark says as he gets right up to his bumper, rounding the turn. Clark shifts as he comes out of the turn and gives the car a bump. He goes into the turn a little two hard and slams into the second place car. Clark's car slides sideways and gets hit from behind, spinning the car around up the race track.
Jonathon and Martha Kent along with Chloe watch from the stands. "Oh, no, Clark!" Martha says nervously.
"It's ok, Martha. He's fine." Jonathon assures her.
The caution flag comes out and Clark drives the car away. Clark has to start all the way from the back because of his spin out, so he has work to do. Clark makes it all the way up to ninth when he gets the white flag. He's right behind two cars racing hard. Clark pulls the car high out of the last turn, making it three wide coming to the finish line. He ends up finishing in 8th.
Clark finally breathes as he slows the car down. "8th is good, 8th is good." He tries to convince himself.
"Good race, Clark!" Todd congratulates him as he gets out of the car.
"Yeah, I raced as hard as I could." Clark tells him.
"Clark!" Chloe calls with his parents on the other side of the fence.
"I'll be right back." Clark says and runs over.
"You did good!" Chloe tells him excitedly.
"Thanks, did Sophie ever show up?" Clark asks.
"No, sorry." Martha tells him and Clark looks disappointed.
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Clark and Todd stand around the car. "Sorry about the damage on the back end." Clark apologizes.
"Don't worry about it, that's racing." Todd tells him.
"You got the car? I need to check on my girlfriend." Clark asks him.
"Yeah, go on. You did a good job, tonight." Todd says to Clark.
"Thanks, man. I'll see you later." Clark says and walks away.
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Clark stops his Camaro in Sophie's driveway and runs up to the door. The house is dark, but it is eleven-thirty at night. Clark knocks a couple of times.
"Sophie!" He calls after there is no answer. Clark gets suspicious and forces his way through the door. "Sophie?" He calls again and then he thinks he hears sobs coming from the kitchen. Clark runs after the sounds. When he gets into the kitchen, he fumbles for a light. Sophie lies on the floor, crying and looks up to Clark.
"Clark." She whispers. Clark runs to her and gets down on the floor. Her face is covered with bruises and bleeding.
"Sophie, I'm so sorry." He apologizes and hugs her. She just cries harder into his chest. "What happened?" Clark asks her and starts inspecting her.
"John. He came after me." She tells him quietly. Clark just stares at her.
"I'll kill him." Clark says, the anger building up inside him.
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