When he got there no one was home. Clark looked at the crate of vegetables on the counter he didn't really have to take them over to Lex's house right away he thought to himself. He walked out of the kitchen and down the hallway toward the living room he scooped up his backpack that he left by the answering machine and ran up the stairs towards his room. Clark was just heading back down stairs again to watch some TV before doing his chores when the phone rang. Clark looked at the spot where the phone should have been, and was annoyed to find that it wasn't there. 'Oh great time to play hunt for the phone! this should be fun.'
Clark looked around the room and heard it ring again. He fallowed the noise into the kitchen. The phone was sitting by the sink. Clark pounced on it an answered slightly out of breath "Hello?" There was a pause on the other end of the line, then Clark heard a paniced voice. "Clark? Are you there?" Clark heard bits of static over the phone "Yeah, Lex? Is that you?" The voice on the other end of the line answered " Yeah. Clark. . . I need your help! " There was more static. "Lex what's wrong? Where are you?" There was a pause on the other end of the line. "I'm at home. . . Please. . . Clark, He's going to kill her!" suddenly the phone line went dead. Clark ran out the front door and sped toward Lex's only slowing down once he reached the gate.
Clark entered the huge stone castle and went to search for Lex. He focused his hearing concentrating on the steady thumping noise that could only be the sound of a human heart beat. It was the only heart beat in the castle other than his own. And it was coming from a room up stairs in a part of the house he had never been to.
Clark started up the stairs and stopped halfway from the top when he saw a long
dark red smudge along the railing. He reached out his hand to touch it. It was wet and
sticky. Clark tried to wipe it off on his jeans but it had stained his finger a pale red.
Clark looked further up the stairs and could see more streaks and smudges of what Clark
was seriously praying was not blood right now. The top the stairs were dark and the
entire castle was silent. Clark started to climb the stairs more quickly searching for Lex.
The stairs creaked under his weight. The groaning of the stairs under his weight
and his breathing where the only sounds that he could hear at the moment. "Great where's the camera and the film crew when you need them? I've steeped into a horror film!" He thought, trying to use humor to calm himself down. Lex so did not need him freaking out right now. Clark concentrated on the heart beat he had heard earlier. He followed the sound and walked down the hall in the direction he thought it was coming from. Clark called out Lex's name but got no answer. Clark walked down the long dark hallway.
Nothing he saw was familiar. This section of the castle looked old and uninhabited. It looked as if no one had been here for years. The only hint Clark had that he was going in the right direction were the streaks of what Clark was now sure were blood. Clark could hear the heart beat much stronger now but there was something different. He could also hear what sounded like some one sobbing. Clark followed the trail of blood to the door at the end off the hall.
Clark reached for the door knob and slowly opened the door. As light was let into the room he could see that the room was dim, dusty and dark. He could see dust lazily floating through the air drifting in and out of the light. beyond that the room was mostly empty what little furniture was covered in old tattered sheets. there was one small window that was covered with dirt that let a faint glow of light filter into a corner of the room. it was almost as if this was the room that everyone but time had forgotten. 'So this is where Dust bunnies where banished to.' Clark thought. He almost laughed but any thoughts of laughter where banished from his mind when something in the corner of the room moved.
"Lex?" Clark called out. He stepped into the room opening the door the rest of the
way letting more light in. It was then that he saw her. She was laying in the farthest
corner of the room. The light barley touched her making her seem to glow in the dim light. her skin was impossibly pale from having lost so much blood and she laying on her back with her body facing away from the door except for one arm that seemed to be reaching out toward him. Her neck was twisted at an impossible angle facing in the direction of her arm. She seemed to be staring straight at him With big dark eyes. She was disturbingly beautiful even in death, with her long dark hair spread out across the floor. The way the dim light made her skin glow hair shine as it tumbled in waves across the floor was eerily beautiful. What made this scene so disturbing was the deep red puddle of blood seeping out from under her spreading out to cover the entire corner of the room. Clark would never forget that image for as long as he lived. No matter how hard he tried.
Clark felt like he had stepped outside of reality, and was looking through some one else's eyes. Everything seemed to stop even time. Clark felt as if his heart had been ripped from his chest in that moment that he saw her lying there in a puddle of her own blood staring at him through cold lifeless eyes.
Suddenly something moved in the corner. Clark snapped out of the trance like state he had slipped into. Lex was in the corner on the opposite side of the room Just sitting there staring at her. shaking his head and rocking back and forth muttering the word "No" over and Over. Clark had never seen Lex like this. He wondered if he should be angry or scared. "Lex?" he whispered afraid to break the silence in the room with any sudden loud noises. Lex looked up for the first time noticing Clark was there. "He. . . He . . Killed Her!" Lex stuttered then looked like he was going to retreat back into his own little world inside his head.
Clark couldn't let that happen. He walked over to Lex, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to his feet. He forced Lex to look at his face instead of her body. Angrily
Clark said "Lex! Who Killed LANA?"
As if hearing her name triggered a response in him Lex turned away from Clark, doubled over and lost the entire contents of his stomach. When he was done retching he stood up and turned back to face Clark. Clark had never seen Lex like this. He was really worried and more than a little scared. But he couldn't let himself concentrate on his fear, right now he had to find out what happened to Lana.
Lex looked as if he had mostly snapped out of it by now and was ready to talk. His hands were still shaking and his eyes weren't completely focused. Like his mind was else where, Clark was sure it was a place he would not like to visit anytime soon, judging by the look on his friends face. Lex begin to slowly calm down and tell Clark everything that had happened leading up to when Clark found him. Lex's voice was low almost a whisper at first, Clark had to strain to hear it. As Lex went on his voice grew steadier. His voice betrayed no emotion as he recalled the days events, but his eyes betrayed him. Clark knew that at this moment his friend was reliving every thing that had happened in the last few hours leading up to Lana's death. Lex seemed to be staring at a spot across the room that held no light or other object, yet seemed to be the most fascinating place in the world to him.
He went on to tell Clark how he had been surprised and more then a little curious when Lana had practically rushed into his home demanding he answer her questions. She had explained that two days ago she had woken up in a research facility lab in Metropolis with no memory of who she was or where she came from. Even more surprising to him was the name of the lab, LexLABs. He had been told that that lab had been closed and that no research was being conducted there, because of its previous connections to the failed project, level three. But it seemed that what his father said had proven to be false. Lex explained to Clark that Lana had told him that a man was after her and she believed he was going to kill her. Lex was calling Clark because he thought that Clark would be the best person to help Lana regain her memories and no one would think to look for her on a farm. "When I called you he came. . .and he. . he. . " At this point Lex's voice begin to waver and he lost his ability to speak, If he would have tried again he would have failed.
Clark helped his friend make his way out of the room and steadily down the long hallway. Lex didn't seem to notice the streaks of blood on the carpet or much of any thing else around them as they made there way to the kitchen. Clark was hoping if he got Lex to eat something, maybe it would help him concentrate on something other than the dead body up stairs. 'God how could this be happening?' Clark wondered 'No more than a few hours ago I was laughing and goofing around with Chloe and Pete. Now Lana's dead!' Clark thought to himself as he half wondered, half guided, Lex and himself through Lex's 'office' area.