Chapter 4

"So you're saying this guy has the power to… what, exactly? Be trapped?"

"I think someone else did that to him. Besides, it's not like he's trapped anymore," I said, ignoring Chloe's sarcasm. We'd been friends for years, but it was only last year that she found out my secret. After keeping it hidden from her for years I finally had to reveal my powers in order to save her. At first I was really worried, but it actually brought us closer. She'd been as loyal a friend as I could have asked for.

We were in Chloe's father's house, where she was staying for a few days on a short reprieve from her course and time at the Daily Planet. I was pacing the room impatiently while she looked through the patient files. I'd already pointed the man out to her.

"Well, his name's Edward Hall. At least according to his record, which I'm going to struggle to verify the accuracy of."

"Please, you have to try Chloe. Alicia may be in danger."

I resisted the urge to hear everything that was going on in the institute, since I didn't want to spy on Alicia. Everything was still there for me to hear, but toned down; just background noise.

"What exactly do you plan to do, whatever we find, Clark? I mean, he's already locked away…"

"I'm not sure. Until I know what we're dealing with, I can't make an informed decision."

Chloe had certainly noticed how anxious I was getting, but wasn't saying anything - at least not yet. I figured she was trying to figure out the most diplomatic way of telling me I couldn't be with Alicia, which wasn't something I wanted to hear at all.

"Wait, I think I may have something," said Chloe, sounding intrigued by whatever it was she was looking at. I moved behind her to get a look and saw a picture of a young boy in a top hat standing on a stage.

"A magic show?" I asked.

"Edward Hall, performing at his school for the first and only time."

"But there's no way to know if this is the same guy."

"Look at what happened, Clark. He performed tricks that no-one had ever seen done before, not even experienced magicians. Then he brought his kid sister out onto the stage to perform a disappearing trick. And it worked pretty well I'd say. She REALLY disappeared, literally vanishing right in front of a hundred witnesses. But he couldn't bring her back. He tried for an hour, but she never returned. The police never found her, and Edward never explained how he did it. He just kept saying it was an accident."

I frowned. I really didn't see how this was all adding up, but it couldn't all just be a coincidence.

"This was before the meteors hit Smallville… Look, it could have just been a trick," I said.

"Or maybe this guy really can do magic."

"And if he can…"

"Then he can hurt you."

Magic wasn't something I came up against very often; it was normally only kryptonite I had to worry about. Even a few years ago I could still have been hurt by things like bullets, but those days seemed a long time ago now.

"As long as I use my speed I should be alright," I said.

"Clark… I can understand you wanting to help Alicia, really. But you don't actually have feelings for her, do you? After everything that went on between you before?"

Feeling my temper rising, I bit back an angry retort. Chloe was just concerned about me, after all. I knew I wasn't going to help Alicia by acting like a jerk.

"She wasn't herself then. You saw it in the report; she's better now. She's beautiful, she's smart, fun to be with, and I don't have to worry about my secret around her."

"So I only manage one of those, do I Clark?"

There was no spite in her voice, but she couldn't hide a hurt look on her face.

"That's not what I meant…"

Her eyes widened and for a moment I thought I'd said entirely the wrong thing and made things worse somehow. Then I realised she'd actually seen something on the computer.

"Oh my God… Clark…"

Anxiously looking over the screen, it didn't take me long to figure out what Chloe was so surprised about. Even then, I don't think I realised just how bad things were about to get – for Alicia and I both. I sped back towards the institute - and Alicia - before she could say anything else.