CHAPTER EIGHT

Clark looked at Lex, and saw him just standing there, looking at him with a sinister look in his eyes. Lex had completely caught him off guard. His parents hadn't told him Lex was coming. They usually did. But things had gotten a little strained in the past year. Just after his seventeenth birthday, Clark had discovered a room where Lex had been investigating everything about Clark. This and many other things put a strain on their friendship. They had both tried to mend it. But it wasn't going anywhere. That was why Clark was a little antsy around Lex.

"Lex," said Clark, a little unnerved. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Clark," said Lex, "I wanted to offer you and your parents safe passage out of here on the Luthorcorp jet. The roads are going to get pretty ugly soon."

As Lex offerred that offer, Clark tucked the key into his jacket sleeve so that Lex would not see the key, as Lex had two years ago tried to find the key to discover the mysteries around it. Clark nodded at Lex's offer very uneasily. "Uh . . . thanks, Lex, but I think we'll be okay," said Clark, as he put the key safely into his jeans pocket, away from Lex's view.

Lex just stared at Clark in amazement, almost as if he were studying Clark. The look in Lex's eyes was beginning to make Clark feel a little uneasy. He hoped Lex wouldn't notice his uneasiness.

"Clark, why take the risk? The first meteor shower caused me irrevocable damage," asked Lex, pointing to his bald head, "Trust me, you don't want to be anywhere near here when the next one hits."

"Thanks, Lex," said Clark, happy that Lex's attention wasn't riveted on him and the key, "but I think my dad's gonna want to pack the truck with as much as we can take."

"I understand. Some things can't be replaced," Lex nodded and smiled, and walked towards Clark's barnloft balcony. "Clark, my scientists have detected what looks to be an inner chamber inside the cave wall." As Lex said this, he stared up at the sky, as if gazing heavenward.

This, of course, Clark already knew. For he had discovered that chamber earlier this year. But he couldn't let Lex know that. "Oh, really?"

"It's true, Clark. I couldn't believe it myself. But I was wondering if your research into the cave might've turned up anything similar," said Lex, as he turned towards Clark.

Clark looked away and knew he had to change the subject soon and quickly. "Uh . . . no. Lex, why are you so worried about those caves when there's a natural disaster headed our way?"

Lex just smiled at Clark. "Clark, if there's anything that's irreplaceable in Smallville, it's those caves. They've been around for thousands of years, and they could very well be destroyed in the ne--"

Clark nodded and interrupted, determined to change the subject now. "Well, let's hope they're not. Look, I appreciate your concern, but I really need to get back to helping my parents. Goodbye, Lex, and good luck."

Lex smiled at Clark again, this time with a wider grin." Thanks, Clark, but I don't believe in luck. It's our wits and our fortitude that keep us safe," saiud Lex, as he headed down the stairs of Clark's loft. "And I believe that you have more than enough of both. Stay safe, Clark."

Lex then walked down stairs and headed out, as Clark continued to stare at the bright blue skies of Smallville. He almost hated to think that those skies would have fire coming down from them. That fire would be the fires of meteors. Had the meteor shower returned to finally destroy Smallville forever? Clark hoped not, for everything and everyone he knew and loved was here.

Then Clark headed to his barnloft balcony, and saw Lex's Porsche drive away. Then, Clark ran as fast as he knew how, to the caves that he and Lex were speaking of. Clark needed to speak to his father, Jor-El.

Meanwhile in the skies above Earth, a volition of meteors began to pass their way across the cosmos. The meteors had began to break down as they started to head to Earth's atmosphere.

It would only be a matter of time before they entered the atmosphere of the planet Earth. But in the darkness of space, a stronger object flew amidst the meteors.