Through Lana's Eyes
Chapter 8
Jitters
The next night some of her friends called her and told her that there was a party at the Kent farm. 'Clark's actually throwing a party. I can't believe it. He never did that, not even when we were kids.' She decided to go over for a while and see if the rumor was true. Once she got within half a mile she could hear the music being blasted. 'I guess there really is a party.' When she walked in she saw Clark walking through a crowd of people with some dishes.
"Pretty cool party!" she said over the music.
"Lana. Thanks. It's kind of impromptu. Sometimes you just have to kick back and blow off some steam."
"If I had a hundred people trashing my house, I'd be a little freaked out too." 'Nell would never let me live it down either; I'd be grounded for like, forever.'
"After the first few dishes, you get used to it."
"I don't think I'd be brave enough to risk it."
"I don't know, Lana, I bet you're braver than you think. So, you flying solo tonight?" 'Why is it that when ever Whitney and I aren't somewhere together people want to know what's the matter?'
"You mean, what am I doing here without Whitney? I am capable of enjoying myself without him." All of a sudden a noise that sounded like fireworks came from outside. They looked and saw that it was fireworks.
"Fireworks!" 'Impressive.' "You're full of surprises tonight, Clark."
"Tell me about it." They both went outside; she stayed on the porch and he went onto the driveway followed by Chloe and Pete. Then she saw Lex walk over to Clark. 'So these were all his idea. That's typical, but still very enjoyable.' After the excitement had worn off she went back inside, sat on the couch and talked with some people.
"Hey." She turned and saw Whitney walking over.
"Whitney, what are you doing here?"
"Looking for you." He sat down on the coffee table. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming here?" 'Do I need to tell him when I breathe now too?'
"It was kind of last-minute. I didn't realize I needed your permission."
"Lana, can we talk outside?" She followed him out into the barn. "Lana, what's going on?"
"I told you when we got back together that I needed some breathing room." 'You seemed fine with it at the time.'
"So you sneak off to a party without me?" 'Why do I feel like I'm being interrogated?'
"I didn't sneak. I walked. And why are you mad at me? Is it because it's Clark's party? I'm starting to get the feeling that you don't trust me." Just then the loft floor above them started shaking.
"Go get someone." Whitney told her. She ran back to the house.
"Clark! You better get out here." She lead him and Chloe, who had been sitting on the island, back to the barn. When they got there she saw Whitney standing up in the corner holding a pitchfork.
"Kent, get up here." Clark shone a flashlight around and they walked around the corner.
"Got him!" she heard Whitney say. Then Clark said,
"Earl. Back off I know him." She looked at Chloe, who appeared to be just a clueless as she was. The barn walls started shaking again and she heard Clark say,
"Call and ambulance!" Clark and Whitney came down the stairs, and when Whitney walked past her, she grabbed his arm.
"What's going on?"
"There's some crazy guy that Clark knows is up there and he's shaking like crazy."
"Is he gonna be alright?"
"I don't know. Let me drive you home; we don't want to get involved in this."
The next day Lana, Clark, Chloe, Pete, Whitney, and some other students went on a field trip to the Luthor Corp plant. They were greeted by the plant manager.
"Hello, everybody, I'm Gabe Sullivan, plant manager and proud father. Hi, sweetheart." he said to Chloe.
"Hi, Dad."
"Welcome to Luthor Corp. Where we give a crap." She heard Chloe say to Clark,
"Okay, somebody kill me now."
"Little fertilizer humor there." Mr. Sullivan said. "Before we go inside I need you to remove all your sell phones, pagers, jewelry. Anything that jangles, dangles or rings has to go in these plastic trays right here." Lana reached up and took off her necklace. "Any other questions?" Clark rased his hand.
"Yes."
"I heard there as a third level to the plant. Is that true?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's where we do the alien autopsies. I think we'd better get started. This way everybody. Alright people stay together." Whitney put his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry," she told him, "I won't get lost." He just smiled at her as they went into the room. Next they walked down the hall.
"Watch out for these babies. Two hundred sixty degrees. They get hot. All right, stay together, please." They walked through another door. "This is it. The plant's mission control. One hundred thousand tons of animal waste to process here every year. Trust me the results can be pretty explosive. So, if any of you had beans for lunch, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." One of the doors on the side of the room started shaking just like the barn had the other night. "What the heck? Excuse me." Mr. Sullivan walked over to the door, but before he touched the handle, it opened. The man from the loft walked in with a gun and put it to Mr. Sullivan's head. Whitney pulled her closer to him. 'Theses are the times when I like having him here. He makes me feel safe.'
"Don't move! Take me to Level Three."
"Dad!"
"NOW!"
"There are only two levels to this plant."
"You're lying! I've seen level three. It exists!" The man threw Mr. Sullivan into a chair. "Everybody, sit down. Now!"
"I swear, I don't know anything about Level Three."
"You're lying." he said again.
"He's not lying!" Everyone turned to see Clark in the doorway. "I found these blueprints. There is no Level Three." Clark handed the papers to him.
"Every night I go down to Level Two follow the red pipes down that long hallway go to the door, I open it, and I take the elevator down to Level 3!" He walked back over to Clark. "You're just like everybody else. You get over there and you sit down!" Clark walked over and sad down against the wall next to her. 'Why did he come in here? Why didn't he try to get out?'
The man started pacing back and forth around the room. After a while the phone rang. Half of the people jumped at the sudden noise. Mr. Sullivan picked up the phone.
"Lionel Luthor."
"Speaker. Mr. Luthor. I've finally got your attention, haven't I?"
"Earl, why don't you come out? We've got a lot to talk about."
"Just tell me what you were using down in Level Three."
"You're sick, Earl. Let everyone go, we'll get you help." Earl started shaking, he grabbed a wheel attached to a pipe on the wall.
"Earl!" Clark got up and tried to grab his arm, but he was flung back onto the floor.
"Clark!" Lana said "Are you okay?" Pete and Chloe came over to him and helped him sit back up.
"See what you made me do. . .See what you made me do. . .See what you made me do. . ." he kept muttering. Earl got really close to camera. "See what you made me do. . . The methane gas valve just broke. The whole place is gonna go up."
"We need to do something," Whitney told them.
"That's not a good idea." said Clark.
"The man's nuts. HE's not listening to the cops, and that methane gas is gonna blow."
"He's sick, but still strong."
"Whitney I don't want you to get hurt." she told him. 'But I don't want anything to happen to any of us either.'
"I'm not putting my life in that man's hands. The two of us can take him. How about it, Clark?" 'That's such a good idea. I mean we all saw how easily he threw Clark to the ground. It's a miracle he's not hurt.'
"I can't."
"It's okay." 'I don't want him to feel like a wimp for doing what he thinks is right.' Whitney got up and walked over towards Earl.
"Whitney!" she whispered.
"I trusted you. You told me you were trying to help people." Earl turned. "What are you doing?" He pointed the gun at Whitney, but Whitney knocked it to the ground. Earl hit him across the face and Whitney fell to the ground. Clark helped him up and half dragged him back to where they had been sitting.
"It's all your fault, Luthor." Earl shot the camera, and a few people screamed. A few minutes later Lex came in wearing a bullet prof vest.
"What kind of man sends his own kid to do his dirty work?"
"I'm not doing anybody's dirty work, Earl. This is my plant." He looked over at her. She had Whitney' s head resting against her shoulder. "How is he?" 'It takes a life or death situation for him to finally care about my boyfriend.'
"He needs a doctor." she told him.
"What are we gonna do about these kids, Earl?"
"I never meant to hurt anybody. I tried talking to your father, but he wouldn't listen to me."
"I know the feeling." Lex took off the vest. "Earl, you say that everybody's been lying to you. I'm gonna tell you the truth. My father doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about anybody in this room. Because if we all die, his P.R. firm will spin it. His insurance company will pay and you will go down as the bad guy."
"I'm not the bad guy. I'm just trying to get better."
"How are you gonna get better by killing a bunch of kids? If you let everybody go, I'll take you to Level Three." Earl pointed the gun at Lex's chest. 'I hope he really know where Level Three is.'
"You stop lying."
"Let them go, and I'll show you where it is. Earl, trust me. I'm a man of my word."
"Get out. Get out. Get out! Everybody, get out!" Once they got outside the room they started running towards the door.
"Come on kids, this way!" Men were coming in telling them to leave. She saw the Kents coming towards them.
"Lana! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, but Whitney's hurt."
"They've a paramedic over there." She went overt and sat with Whitney while they bandaged his arm and cleaned the cuts on his forehead. While she was sitting there she put her hand up to her neck and realized that she had left her necklace in the tray inside. 'If the plant had blown up I might have lost it forever. Thank God it didn't.' After things had settled down, one of the security guards came around with the plastic trays, and she was able to get her necklace back. She used Whitney's cell phone to call Nell, to tell her that she was safe and that they were being driven back to the school like they were supposed to. 'I've had enough excitement for one day.' she thought as she climbed the up the stairs. Sleepily she put on her pajamas, turned out the lights, got into bed, and slipped into a pleasant sleep.