CHAPTER ONE

Lana Lang walked itno her apartment at the Talon. It had been a loing day. She had been all ovwer Metropolis and everywhere trying to prepare for her graduation that was tomorrow. It was a big day for her, for all the students of Smallville High, especially her dear friend Clark Kent.

Clark, she thought. He had always been there for him. For the past 4 years, he had always been there for her, saving her. She and Clark had always tried to have a relationship. But Clark had so many secrets. Neither of them could commit to a relationship. But she knew how she fwelt about him. She loved him dearly. But she also worried about the opther man in her life, Jason Teague. Jason had come from Paris to Smallville at the beginning of Lana's senior year, but his search for some ancient crystals had divided their relationship. She smiled.

She just needed to get some rest so she wouldn't be dozing off tomorrow when she was handed the diploma that said that she would be able to graduate. Lana then locked the door. She was about to move over to the oither part of the apartment in the Talon when she heard a voice.

"I have to applaud you, Lana."

Lana about jumped out of her skin when she heard someone's voice in her apartment. She then saw a lady dressed in very fashionable clothing, come out from behind the shadows of her apartment. It was Jason's mother, Genevieve Teague! What was she doing in her apartment. Jason had told Lana all about his mother. He told him that she was not a force to be reckoned with. She said that she was manipulatiuve, devious, and was able to hold her own in war of words. But why was Jason's mother in her apartment? What did she want from Lana? Genevieve moved from the shadows into the light, and continued speaking.

"I raised my son to have a willpower that couldn't be broken by anything. Except his love for you, apparently."

Why was Genevieve going on this huge tirade? She hadn't done anything to her or to Jason, so she still wondered wehat Jason's mother was doing in her apartment. Lana looked down and couldn't help but notice the gun in Genevieve's hand. Apparently, she wasn't messing around. So why was Genevieve in her apartment, with a gun no less? If there was one thing that Clark had taught her it was to be brave. So Lana decided to be brave and she stood in front of Genevieve and decided to confront her and ask her herself.

"What do you want from me?"

Genevieve just smiled at Lana, as if it were obvious, and replied simply, "The crystal."

Lana looked at Genevieve with a look of absolute shock. So apparently Genevieve shared Jason's obsession with those ancient crystals that were linked to the mysteriopus tattoo that appeared mystically on her back. Like mother, like son.

Then Genevieve continued, "The one Lionel gave you."

Now Lana was beginning to wonder if Jason's mother was a lunatic. Because it was true she had one of the ancient crystals. Jason had retrieved one earlier this year in China, and she had stolen it from him, but Lionel - - and she was referring to Lionel Luthor, resident billionaire of Smallville, rivaled only by his son, Lex - - had not given her any of those crystals. So Lana had no idea what Genevieve was talking about. So Lana thn moved to call Genevieve on her bluff.

"Lionel? He never gave me any - - "

Apparently, Genevieve wasn;t going to have any of that, because Lana hadn't even finished her sentence before Genevieve cocked the gun and pointed it at her forehead. Lana was really starting to get scared now, but she couldn't let that show. She had to try to stay as brave as long as she could. That's what Clark would do.

"I'm going to find it whether you help me or not. Without my help would take longer, my dear Lana, and I don't have a lot of time."

Then, Lana realized that there was no way out of this mess other than to do what Genevieve wanted , and that was to give her the crystal. She didn't want to do it, as she felt that the crystals could point her to her history, her present, and even her future destiny. But, maybe it wasn't worth it. After all, it was just a little piece of rock. So, Lana opened her purse and pulled out a small red handkerchief. As she pulled out this red handkerchief, Genevieve lowered her weapon, as she was finally beginning to be pleased that Lana was doing what she wanted. Lana then opened the handkerchief, as it had been folded rather neatly, to reveal a small crystal. It was a triuangular-shaped crystal that had a crest, that looked like a triangular shape with an eight in the center. She revealed it to Genevieve, and Genevieve looked at it like that thing in those Lord of the Rings movies. Genevieve just smiled and was about to reach for it and grab it when she did a roundhouse kick and kicked the gun oiut of Genevieve's hand. She was about to make a break for it when Genevieve grabbed Lana from behins and puller her back. Genevieve has grabbed by her hair. She then proceeeded to knock Lana against a lamp, and then continued to hold her tight grip, but let it go as she pushed her to the ground.

Lana was beginning to think that Genevieve was a psychopath after all. But Lana still has grip of the crystal. So at least she still had some leverage against Genevieve. She disn;t get to think about that too much longer because Genevieve grabbed Lana anbd pushed her against a shelf in the apartment. Both Genevieve and Lana grabbed each other by the forearms and tried to push each other. Lana tried to push Genevieve but apparently Genevieve was the stronger woman. Then Genevieve pushed Lana to the ground, and Lana figured it must have taken a lot of strength on both their parts, because they were both on the ground.

As Lana hit the ground, the crystal fell out of her ground. So much for leverage, thought Lana. Genevieve was truly on the brink of madness thorighout his whole escapade. Lana was kind of glad that she broke with up with Jason a few months back. As she didn't want to get tangled with Jason's mother, oir get on her bad side, now that she had seen the madness of Genevieve Teague. Lana Lang began to wonder

what Genevieve would be willing to do to get that crystal on the ground.

Lana's question was soon answered when Genevieve proceeded to grab her by the neck and began to choke her. Genevieve was going to kill her. She was beginning to lose her breath, as her throat was being cut off by Genevieve's hold on her. Genevieve obviously didn't see the crystal on the ground, as she was choking her. Or maybe she did see on the ground, adn was just going to kill Lana so she could never have the crystal, and Genevieve could have it for herself. Whatever was going through Genevieve's mind wasn;t good.

As Genevieve's hold on Lana grew stronger, Lana began to feel something in her heart and mind, wanting to break free. She feared that it was the Isobel persona that had been injected into her with the strange tattoo. That persona had always emerged when Lana was in physical danger, almost as a protector. Isobel had arisen when Lana was threatened by Chinese guards a few months ago. She could feel Isobel's burning a way in now, trying to break out and save Lana once again, as Genevieve continued to strangle her with her strong grip.

As Genevieve's grip grew tighter, Lana could feel the beast persona that was Isobel gaining total control. I guess the old saying is true. "Sometimes when you cage the beast, the beast gets angry." Because Lana's goodness couldn;'t seem to hold back Isobel's aggressive nature.

Lana's eyes burned with a flourescent fure. It was at that moment Lana knew. Isobel was free!

Isobel couldn't believe that she was finally free again! Free to roam the earth and use the crystals of power to seek revenge on those who had wronged her. She had begun this plan to a small scale on two other occasions. On both occasions, she had been thwarted by that extraordinarily remarkable, yet meddlesome, individual named Clark Kent. She would deal with Clark later. But now she had to take care of the descendant of that meddlesome Duchess Gertrude, who had a hand on having her burned all those 400 years ago. Isobel wondered what the human Lana had done to incur her warth. But she would deal with that later. She was being choked to death.

As Isobel stared at Gertrude's descendant who she surmised to be named Genevieve, she couldn't help but notice the look of shock on Genevieve's face. Apparently, Genevieve didn't know what the Countess Isobel was made of. Now she would feel her fury firsthand. She was such a privileged mortal, thought Isobel.

Isobel then grabbed Genevieve's wrists and threw her on her back. Now Isobel lay on top of Genevieve. She had been inside Lana, dormant and had watched the battle between the mortal Lana and Genevieve. Genevieve had put up quite a fight for the crystal. Her ancestor, Gertrusde, was just the same way. It was no matter now. She would never get the crystal anyway. For the crystals of power were hers and hers only.

As Isobel sat on top of Genevieve, having subdued her, Isobel realized that she would now get her chance to exact revenge on the mortal family of the Duchess Gertrude. Part of her mission would be complete. Her next stage would be achievong all the crystals of power and ruling the world. She knew now that Genevieve Teague had to die. But she could find no suitable weapon to complete this task. She looked over beside Genevieve's body, and saw the Crystal of the element air. It had a sharp point and could suffice as a weapon to complete the task that she had traveled so far to accomplish.

Isobel used her witch-like power to grab the crystal. She held it to the sky, and smiled at Genevieve. Genevieve had a look on her face of absolute dread, as she knew what was coming. Isobel then placed the sharp edge of the crystal into her Genevieve's heart. Genevieve Teague would not survive this. She was after all, a mere mortal.

As Isobel continued to do this, a look of absolute dread and shock pepetrated her face, as Isobel could feel the crystal draining the life out of Genevieve's body. Isobel smiled, as the first part of her mission was complete.

As the crystal embedded itself further into Genevieve's heart, Isobel could feel power, slowly creeping from the stone's edge to her hands, flowing into her body. Then, suddenly, the crystal's power transferred an onsaliught of energy, power! She could feel it. It was as she was being charged like what Lana would call a "battery." Something like that. She din;t understand 21st century mortal temrinolfy really. All she knew was that it felt good With this kind of power in her body, there was no telling what she would do.

But as the power flowed thorugh her body, Isobel could feel the power siphoning her away. The crystal was not only killing Genevieve, but it was killing Isobel. NO! She would not let the fire of Isobel die out like this. But it mattered not. She had completed her mission. Genevieve Teague was murdered, and her revenge was complete.

She no longer cared for anything else. And with that thought, the spirit of Countess Isobel Thoreaux died.

Lana woke up. She had no idea what had happened in the last two minutes. Isobel must've taken control of her body again. But as she woke up, she felt a branding on her lower back, where the mysterious tattoo was. She reached behind her back and felt the tattoo was no longer there. Finally, the Isobel crisis was now a thing of the past. She could now just forget that it ever even happened. She then looked down at Genevieve and saw her eyes close. Lana feared the worst, as she looked down on her hands.

They were drenched in blood. No, thought Lana, I couldn't have done it. It wasn't possible! Genevieve Teague was dead. She didn't remember anything. What had Isobel done?

She couldn;t believe it. If anybody knew, she could possibly end up in prison, just after her graduation. Lana began to shake and tremble after learning of the deed she had just done. Genevieve's blood was on her hands. She also saw the crystal embedded in Genevieve's heart. She had done the deed right too. But she still wouldn't believe it. Then she looked up and saw something dreadful.

It was a man. It was Lex Luthor. Lex now knew that she had killed somebody. What was she to do now?

"Lana?"

Lex couldn't believe that Lana was standing over Genevieve Teague's dead body. Lex had just witnessed the murder of her son, Jason Teague, by his father. After his dad killed Jason, he rushed over to the place he thought Lana would most likely be: the Talon. He had hoped that Genevieve hadn't killed Lana and gotten the crystal. But apparently, Lana had killed Genevieve. Why would Lana kill Genevieve? Now both Teagues, Genevieve and Jason, were dead. Lex figured it was just as well. Now Lex was able to find those other crystals without the interference of the Teagues. But there was still the interference of his father. But he would deal with that later. He had to get Lana to safety.

Lex could see that Lana was in shock. It was like she hadn't done the killing. Lana looked as if she was shocked that she had done it. Lex had read that many people after they kill people, they go into utter shock. One classic example was in Macbeth when Lady Macbeth killed Duncan, she went into so much shock that she couldn't stop seeing the blood. But Lana wasn't a murderer. She was normally a strong, sweet-hearted woman. She would never murder anyone, at least not to his knowledge.

As Lex stood there, he watched Lana remove the weapon that had been used to kill Genevieve from Genevieve's heart. From a peripheral view, he saw that the weapon was one of the crystals! Lana had had one of the crystals the whole time. Lex could not believe it, but Lex instantly decided that he would not take the crystal from Lan. He cared about her and his friendship with her too much to resort to stealing a little crystal. Even if one of the crystals did contain a key of knowledge greater than the library of Alexandria.

Lex watched Lana put the crystal and wrapped it around a red handkerchief, red as the blood that almost drenched the crystal. Then she placed it in her purse. Then Lana walked up to face Lex.

"Lex, I - -"

"Lana, I understand Genevieve Teague almost tried to kill you. She almost tried to kill me and my dad. I understand yopu had to defend yourself. Now, let's get out of here, okay? I'll have some of my people cleaning up this mess in here. We'll pretend it never happenedn okay? We can go to my mansion and get you cleaned up. Okay?"

Lana nodded stiffly, as she was still in shock. Then, Lex gently moved Lana to the door, and Lana walked quickly out of her apartment in the Talon. But, Lex, however, couldn't stop looking at the body of Genevieve Teague. That body may be the leverage that Lex needed to try and get Lana to give him that crystal in her posession. He wouldn't resort to stealing, but a little friendly shove never hurt anybody.

Lex just smiled and walked down the stairs of the Talon with Lana.