A/N: Holy crap! All of a sudden I went from hearing Pete's thoughts to meeting Trinity and Willow! I could have sworn I'd written more of a transition between the two sections, but I have no idea where it went! I will make sure that I am very clear which chapter is new. I'm so sorry! Oy vey! It'll be really short, but it'll bridge between the two. As a further apology, Chapter 3 will also be up today.
Chapter 2 – Prologue
"Clark, I'm fine," I said slowly.
He put his hand on my forehead and, for a brief moment, I wanted to lean into it. "You're feeling kinda' warm, Chlo. Are you sure?"
I shrugged."I just… Maybe my meditation program last night has put me into hyper-caffeine withdrawal? I don't know. I'll be fine, I'm sure." Clark definitely looked like he didn't believe me, which was fine because I wasn't sure I believed myself. The easiest explanation was the most insane… and I wasn't ready to go insane yet. We heard the door knock and Pete went to go answer it while Clark kept hold of my hand. I hardly paid any attention to anything other than that feeling. It almost seemed to speak to me. When I heard Lana's voice at the door, I thought I was going to scream in agony. I flipped a hand up with an exasperated "Fine!" because I knew at any moment, Clark would be letting go of my hand and focusing all of his attention on Lana.
But then I noticed something that seemed too odd for words. It wasn't that Clark hadn't let go of my hand yet.It was that it was quiet and Lana and Pete hadn't appeared at our sides immediately upon her entering. Clark had been watching me, but I think we both realized something was wrong at the same time. We turned around and saw the strangest sight. Lana was in mid-pace while Pete had his mouth open, obviously starting to say something. I got up at the same time Clark did and we bumped together awkwardly. I would have fallen back on the couch if he hadn't steadied me. I thought I would pass out with all the pornographic thoughts that ran through my mind at the incidental contact, but now just wasn't the time.
Slowly, we edged toward our friends. I reached out a hand to touch them, but Clark held me back. "What if they're poisoned or something, Chloe. Let me do it." Before I could say anything, he had his hand on Pete's. I thought it was odd that he didn't choose Lana, but decided that wasn't the thing I wanted to comment on. Thankfully, nothing had happened to him.
I was totally exasperated. "Clark! If you had frozen or collapsed, I wouldn't have been able to move you or drag you to safety! You should have just let me…"
"I couldn't risk it, Chloe." I would have demanded an explanation on that, but he distracted me again with his observations. "The weird thing is that he's only slightly warm, but his skin is rock hard. I don't know if we can move him."
Puzzled, I slid between the two. What I saw out in the hallway was enough to make me want to throw up. Everyone was in some sort of weird stasis. Papers were hanging in midair as if held up by string. What was worse was Joe Perkins. Hehad been jumping over something when… whatever had happened. He was defying the law of gravity with no signs of dropping any time soon.
What I really couldn't figure out was why Clark and I were still moving. I would love to have some romantic thoughts like this was Fate's way of putting us together, but that didn't make any sort of logical sense. I was just about to duck back inside my apparently safe office when I saw something that made my blood run chill. Two girls our age were searching around the hallway. I almost ducked out of the way in time, but they noticed me and started coming toward the Torch.
As fast as I could, I was back in the office. "Clark, do you think we can get Lana and Pete out of the way? We need to shut the door!"
"Chloe, what's wrong?" He looked at me with his soulful eyes that I would have happily drowned in had I not felt such urgency. It's not that I felt danger precisely, but if they found us, my life would never be the same. I just knew it.
"Clark, now is not the time to ask questions. We need to…" I trailed off as the girls slid inside the door. I backed up into Clark, trembling a little.
"Okay, who did this?" demanded the darker of the two girls.
A/N: If you feel the need for an author's justification, I think I've figured out what happened to me. I was reading the original to make it semi-close and I think I just read it and figured I wrote it. I honestly don't think I can blame it on my word processing program. I've looked everywhere for a handwritten copy or another saved copy and it's not there. I'm so embarrassed.
So, I'm not going to respond to all the great reviews in this one, but in Chapter 3. I'll also put a reminder in that ya'll need to read this chapter… especially if you felt the disjointed bit between Chapters 1 and 2. Thanks for putting up with me!
