A large truck bumps along the road, only the rumble of the motor cracking the quiet moments before dawn. The radio, not allowed the opportunity to cut the tension riding along in the cab, remains off, the driver seeming to want to punish himself with the silence.

The bitter cold seems to have frozen the vinyl truck seats, the engine yet to warm up enough to battle the icy winds blowing about. Clark, despite the layers of flannel, and his super strength in enduring such elements, cannot shake the chills within him, feeling their source is something much more harsh to endure.

His blue green eyes gaze out the windshield, seeing the road

before him, but thinking about everything else. His large hands grip the steering wheel, the sting of ice cold metal not able to shock him out of his defeated thoughts. If he could, he would let the knots in his stomach turn into tears, but, even that would not ease his pain. He had done this. Everything is all his fault, and the guilt of knowing that to be true is almost too much to bear, even for this super man.

x X x X x

Lana stares blankly at herself in the full length mirror barely

recognizing the reflection staring back at her. The insomnia plaguing her has stolen the sparkle out of her pretty eyes; her pale cheeks robbed of their olive complexion.

Raising her hand to add a touch of color to face, she loses the will before the gloss touches her lips, feeling no amount of make-up can cover what she's hiding.

The sound of knuckles against the glass front door startles her out of the thousands of thoughts clouding her mind. She feels as though her feet are glued to the floor, fearing to take the steps that will lead her down a path she cannot return from.

Turning away from the mirror, she slides the elastic band off her wrist, twisting it around her thick black locks to create a sloppy ponytail on the back of her head, not caring how unattractive she appears.

Reaching for her purse, she pauses, letting her eyes glide over her room, the sight of her pink toile bedspread sadly reminding her of a time she can never recapture. Her lumpy plush bunny nestled into her pillow doesn't even have the strength to comfort this broken girl. Despite the fact that she has yet to outgrow him, her problems seemed to have overnight.