Through Lana's Eyes
Chapter 20
Obscura
She had noticed that for the past week Whitney had stayed mostly at his house. So, she decided to take him riding with him. They had rode along in silence for a while before she spoke.
"It's been a long time since we've done this."
"Yeah."
"I though it'd be nice, you now? Something to keep your mind off of," she stopped talking. 'I don't want to upset him.'
"It's okay, you can say it, I'm not gonna break. Sorry, I've just been kind of out of it lately."
"I'm here if you need to talk." She reached over and took his hand.
"There's one thing I wanted to ask you. Would you be my date to the spring formal?" She laughed. 'He has to ask?'
"Of course. You didn't have to ask."
"Guess I'm just not taking anything for granted anymore." 'I can understand that.' All of a sudden she heard something that sounded like a gun shot, and apparently her horse heard it too, because he reared. She pushed her heels down hard, preparing for him to bolt forward, but he just came back down and stood there. She looked up and saw smoke coming from where the road was. They both dismounted and walked the horses over to the fence. Whitney tied the reigns to a post, took her hand and they started to run over to see what was happening. When they got over they saw one of the gas pipes was on fire. She looked around and saw that another one was shaking. 'It looks like it might burst.'
"Whitney, look!" She pointed to the pipe.
"Hey!" He shouted waving his arms.
"Hey!" Whitney started running over to the men trying to put out the first fire.
"Lana, got out of here. Run!"
"Whitney, don't. Don't!" She stood there and watched. Whitney had to practically grab the guy to make him turn around.
"Look at the pipe!"
"Everybody, clear out!"
"Lana, get out of here! Go, run!" She turned and started running as fast as she could. A few seconds later she heard the explosion. 'I guess the pipe burst.' The force of the blast caused her to fly a few feet through the air before she slammed into the ground. She lay still, not wanting to make any injuries she had worse. There was another gunshot-like sound and she was showered in dirt and small green rocks. She opened her eyes and realized they were meteor rock. She rolled over onto her side and say two cops and Whitney coming over to her.
"Lana? Lana!" 'I'm going to be alright now.' She closed her eyes, and apparently passed out because the next thing she knew she was waking up in the hospital. She looked around and saw Whitney sitting next to her.
"Hey."
"Hi." He helped her to sit up a bit.
"How are you feeling?"
"My head hurts."
"The doctors said you have a mild concussion."
"Nice to see that you're awake, Miss Lang." They both looked up and saw a nurse walk in. After she did some tests she handed Lana a cup of water and two pills. "These will help you sleep." She took the pills and closed here eyes. She lay there for a while and then she fell asleep. She was having a strange dream. She was outside the hospital. She saw Chloe walking to her car. Lana opened her eyes, but she was still seeing the dream playing before her as if it was a movie. Whoever was watching Chloe walked towards her and covered Chloe's mouth will a cloth. Chloe passed out and fell to the ground. The dream stopped, and Lana sat up breathing heavily.
"Chloe!" 'Someone has to do something. She's just been kidnaped. No, wait. That was just a dream. I'm sure she at school working on this week's edition of the Torch.' The next morning Whitney came into her room and told her that she could leave by noontime. The next day she when she went to school she went to the newspaper office to find Chloe. When she walked in all she saw was Clark trying to fix a printer.
"Hey. How are you feeling?"
"Better. Now it only hurts when I walk, sit, or breathe." They both laughed. 'Ow. I gotta stop doing that.'
"I'm surprised to see you. Usually a hospital visit comes with a 'get out of jail free' card." 'Yeah, Nell had the same reaction when I told her I was coming in today.'
"Actually, I was looking for Chloe."
"She's not here. She's in Metropolis until tonight."
"You covering?"
"Well, if you can call it that the printer's jammed, the scanner's broken, and the spring formal schedule is late. Chloe leaves for a day and the Torch goes down in flames."
"Safe to day we won't lose you to the entrancing world of journalism. So have you talked to Chloe?" 'I really need to see her face and know that she hasn't been abducted.'
"I left a message on her cell phone. I think she's busy convincing the Planet they were insane ever to publish without her. What's up?"
"I had this intense dream about Chloe I just can't shake. I was totally surreal, but I dreamed she was attacked outside the hospital. I know. It sounds crazy."
"It's got you freaked."
"It's just, it felt like I was right there. She was walking to her car and getting her keys out of that red bag with the butterflies on it." She looked up at his face. He looked as if he just realized something. "What is it?"
"She was carrying that bag when she left the hospital. Do you want me to call her dad to see if she's all right?"
"You know, I'm sure it's just he concussion. I don't want to scare him just because I was on painkillers."
"Yeah, it was probably just a nightmare." 'I'm still worried about Chloe.'
"I'll see you later." She turned and walked out of the office. 'Why did I go in there in the first place? I guess I was hoping to actually see her.' After school she took a shift at the Talon. While she was clearing tables, Pete and Clark came in. Once Pete left she walked over to Clark.
"Any word on our intrepid reporter?" 'I'm starting to get really worried.'
""I called her dad. He was stuck in a seminar. I'm sure she'll be okay."
"Yeah, me too." 'I guess.'
"You can buy tickets to the spring formal here. That's a cool idea."
"You ask anyone yet?"
"I've got my eye on someone."
"Well, you'd better hurry up. No one likes to look for a dress last minute. Not even Chloe."
"What makes you think I'm asking Chloe?" She laughed. 'It's not really hard to notice.' She turned and was clearing tables when it happened again. She was walking through a room with teddy bears in bags hanging from the ceiling. She stopped looked down and saw Chloe sitting on the floor, blindfolded and her feet were bound together. In the dream she turned and walked towards the door. She looked into a mirror and her reflection was of a man with his face covered and strange sunglasses on. The man punched the mirror. Lana jumped and felt herself drop the tray. The dream stopped.
"Lana." Clark came over to her.
"It happened again."
"You saw something."
"I saw Chloe. Somebody's got here. You have to believe me, Clark." 'Please. I know what I saw. Or at least I think I do.'
"I'm gonna call Chloe's dad. You should sit down and get have a glass of water." Clark went into the back room to use the phone and she sat down at the counter. A few minutes later Chloe's dad walked in accompanied by two police officers. 'They are the same ones that were there when the pipes exploded.'
"Hey, guys. I called the sheriff's office because I wanted them to hear this too."
"Any luck reaching Chloe, Mr. Sullivan?"
"No, I haven't heard from her. I'm starting to get concerned." 'This just keeps getting worse and worse.' "I called her cousin, but all I get is the machine."
"You said you had some proof Chloe might've been abducted." one of the officers said. 'They're gonna think I'm crazy.'
"Well, I sort of had a vision."
"A vision." the other one said.
"She saw Chloe being kidnapped." Clark said.
"Maybe you should have called the Psychic Friends Network instead them." 'Why is he being so skeptical?'
"What makes you think it was real?" 'Maybe they don't both think I'm insane. At least he wants to help.'
"I saw Chloe bound and blindfolded in a dark room."
"Well, too bad you didn't see something a little more useful, like and address where we might find her." Mr. Sullivan's phone rang.
"Excuse me." He hurriedly took the phone out of his pocket.
"Miss. Lang you went through a pretty rough ordeal yesterday. Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
"You mean, do I think I'm hallucinating? It felt like I was right there, like I was seeing though the kidnapper's eyes."
"I promise, we'll take this seriously, and look into it."
"Thanks." Chloe's dad hung up the phone.
"Mr. Sullivan? What is it?" Clark asked.
"They found Chloe's car. It's been abandoned in the woods." The officers, Clark, and Mr. Sullivan turned and walked out of the café. Later that night after she had gone home she walked over to the Kent farm.
"Any word on Chloe?" She asked Clark as she climbed the stairs into the loft. She had learned by now that, that was were she would most likely be able to find him.
"My dad and I went out with Mr. Sullivan and the police. We searched the woods but we didn't find anything. They've organized a search party, tomorrow morning. How you doing?"
"Spent the afternoon at the sheriff's station telling them what I saw. Kept looking at me like I was crazy." She walked over and sat down on the couch.
"I don't think you're crazy." 'Thanks Clark. That means a lot.'
"How are you holding up?"
"I keep wishing Chloe would just walk up those steps. I never appreciated how much she meant to me until now. The thought of never seeing her again. . ." 'Don't talk like that.'
"Clark." She put her hand on his arm. "You can't think that way."
"You know, I remember the first time I met her. It was eight grade. She'd just transferred from Metropolis and I was assigned to show her around. The first thing she wanted to know was where she could buy a copy of the Planet so she could keep in touch with civilization." They both laughed. 'That sounds like something Chloe wold say.' "When she found out I lived on a farm, she insisted I invite her over to experience it first hand. I think she thought I was Amish. When I brought her up here she just kissed me, right out of the blue."
"Why'd she do that?"
"She said, 'I know you're been thinking about that all day so I figured we'd get it out of the way and be friends.' It was my first kiss."
"It's nice it was with someone you still care about. We're gonna see her again, Clark." She got up and walked over to the stairs. 'Oh no. It's happening again.' She held on to the railing so she wouldn't fall over. She was standing at the base of a windmill. She looked down and saw that she was putting a coffin into the ground. There was a cross shaped window in it and she could see Chloe inside it, trying to get out.
"Lana?" She was breathing heavily.
"I just saw her again."
"Chloe? Where?"
"Buried. She's still alive." She was holding back tears. 'How could someone do that to her?'
"Did you see where she was?"
"I'm not sure, but there was a windmill. A big one."
"She must be out in Chandler's Field. I'll get help!" Lana walked over to the couch and sat down. A little while later Clark came back and told her that Chloe was at the hospital. When they walked into the room Chloe was on the phone.
"I gotta go. Some real people just came in."
"Hey." Lana said. She and Clark walked over to her bed.
"Hey."
"Who was that?" Clark asked her.
"The Daily Planet."
"Thought you missed you appointment for the internship." said Lana.
"I did. They were calling about an interview."
"Are you gonna do it?" Clark asked. Chloe shook her head.
"No. I've wanted my name in the Daily Planet, but not like this. Besides, I figured the Torch could use an exclusive, which I will write as soon as I get out of here." Clark sat down next to her on the bed.
"Chloe, do you remember anything?"
"I remember tripping on some metal rails and I remember hundreds of teddy bears hanging from the ceiling. Anyway, that's where I was kept until I . . ." She started to cry. "I'm sorry, you guys. Flashback, I can still hear the dirt falling on the coffin. Sorry. If you hadn't found me I don't know where I'd be."
"Don't thank me, thank Lana."
"Yeah, I gotta hand it to you, you sure picked a perfect time to take a walk on the weird side." They both laughed.
"You should get some rest."
"Cark. Would you mind sticking around for a while? Whoever did this is still out there."
"Of course not. I'll stay here as long as you need.
"Thanks."
"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow." 'Since I don't really need to stay here anymore.'
"Bye, Lana."
"Okay." Clark said.
"Bye." She turned and walked out into the hall. She walked towards the waiting room and noticed she was having another dream, but this on wasn't as intense. She could see the back of her head. Lana turned but there was no one there. She brushed it off and walked out to the car. She decided to go over to the Talon and clean up.
"Hey." She turned and saw that Whitney had just come in.
"Hey."
"How you feeling?"
"Better. At least the nightmares seem to have stopped." 'The one I had earlier was nothing.' "I'm glad you came by."
"I was working at the store. Went home early. Started going through some of my dad's things." 'So soon? It's only been a little over two weeks."
"Sure you're ready for that?"
"It's okay. It actually brought back some nice memories. And I found this." He showed her a green box. They sat down, he put it on the table and opened it. Inside were three medals.
"These were your father's?" 'I didn't know he was in the army.'
"Yeah. I knew he served in Vietnam, but he never talked about it."
"Do you know what they're for?"
Yeah. They keep a registry on the Internet. Sliver star's for exceptional valor. He rescued three men in his unit during a firefight. He was wounded, but he wouldn't leave his men behind."
"Sounds like your dad. Wonder why he never told you."
"Maybe he just did. You know you win a couple football games and people start calling you a hero. It feels good, but maybe he's trying to tell me throwing a ball isn't the only thing important in life." He got up. "I should go home. My mom's probably wondering where I am." After he left she went upstairs to clean up there.
"Miss Lang." She turned and saw one of the officers from the other day walk in. "I know it's late, but I just wanted to ask you a few more questions." 'So now, after Chloe's safe he's concerned about what I saw.'
"Surprised you found the time."
"I know I deserve that."
"Do you want a cup of coffee?"
"Sure."
"Okay." She walked over to counter. 'Not another dream.' Someone was walking in through the door. The person knocked out the officer and walked up behind her. She turned around and screamed when she saw the man whose reflection she had seen in the mirror. The man covered her mouth with his hand muffling her scream. All of a sudden she felt sleepy and passed out. When she woke up she was in the place she'd seen in her visions. She looked down and saw that her hands and feet were bound together.
"Hello! Hello? Help! Somebody please help me!" 'Okay, there's obviously no one here. You have to get out of this one yourself.' She struggled to get her hands free.
"No one can hear you. How did you see through my eyes?"
"I don't know." The man walked over towards her and she could see his face. "Deputy Watts." 'He was there after the explosion. And he was the one who sort of believed me when I told him and his partner about the dreams. Now I know why.' "Why are you doing this?"
"I never wanted to hurt Chloe. I didn't even want money. I wanted to rescue her."
"You kidnapped Chloe so you could take credit for finding her?" 'That is so crazy.'
"I could have been a good cop! The best cop this town's ever seen!" 'What am I going to do?' She put her head in her hands. "This case would've made my career!" He started pacing. "But it doesn't matter now. I can still be the hero."
"What are you going to do?"
"Solve your murder." He pulled a gun out of a pocket in his pants.
"No, please, please don't do this." She was crying now. He pointed the gun at her. She threw herself on the floor, praying he would miss. She heard the gun shot. 'This is it. I'm going to die no.' Instead of the bullet hitting her she felt as if someone had fallen on top of her. Then she heard glass shattering and hitting the floor around her. She sat up and saw Clark.
"Lana, you all right?" 'How did he get here?'
"Clark, it's Watts, Deputy Watts." She told him as he untied her hands.
"Okay, stay here." She watched him run out of the building. As she was untying her legs she had another dream. She saw police cars puling up, and several officers got out of the cars and pointed guns at her, or Watts actually. She heard someone far away calling her name, but one of the officers was talking too.
"Gary, drop the gun!" She saw a bullet fly at her face and the dream went black.
"Lana!" It was Clark.
"Are you alright?"
"I think so. Can we get out of here? This place gives me the creeps."
"Sure." He helped her stand up and together they walked out the door. They walked over to the police cars and one of the officers offered her a ride home. When the car pulled into the driveway Whitney came running out to meet her.
"Are you okay? I saw what happened at the Talon, and I was so worried."
"I'm fine. Clark got there just in time. Although I'm not entirely sure what he did."
"I'm just glad you're safe. Nell's been so worried. Let's go inside."
"Miss Lang, we're going to need to talk to you at some point about this. Could you come by the station tomorrow?"
"Sure. I'll stop by on my way to work." She and Whitney walked up the stair and into the kitchen where a very nervous looking Nell was waiting for them. After an hour she had convinced both of them that she would be fine after she had some sleep, and she went upstairs to go to bed. 'I'm so glad Clark was there, although I don't know what he did. He always seems to be there when I need him. I like that. It makes me feel safer than used to.'