Part 3

The mysterious disappearance of Lana Luthor

The papers were running story after story, one more fictitious than the other. 48 hours had gone by and Lana Luthor was no where in sight. The trial was starting in two days and she wasn't there. To many, that sounded like an admission of guilt. Her lawyer, Michael Jeffries was frantic, nervous – no one had ever seen him in that state before - which only showed that Mrs. Luthor had skipped town without consulting him. And to make matters more sizzling, Lex Luthor was having rage tantrums all over the city. He had knocked over a newspaper stand the previous morning when he had seen the headlines: Lana's had enough! The small town princess turned Metropolis vixen calls her marriage quits. Lana Luthor, really gone? Lana Luthor and Quentin Terrane enjoying an amorous escapade in the Bahamas? And of course there were rumors of him beating the hell out of a Luthorcorp executive for even mentioning the possibility of Mrs. Luthor not returning to the comfort of her home.

In his office at Luthorcorp, Lex was trying to focus on some papers that needed his attention, but wasn't very successful. His mind kept drifting back to his wife. Why had she left like that? Had he crossed the line the previous night? Had she up and left him? Or…and this was the thought that made his stomach tie in knots, had Quentin Terrane offered her something he could never give her? Sure, Lana had escaped from Metropolis before, making headlines over headlines with her tumultuous exotic affairs, but never before had she left without telling him. Whether it had been just to rub it in his face or to make sure he wouldn't get too comfortable by himself, she had always told him when, where and with whom she was going. He recalled a few very indelicate notes she had left him: Gone to Brazil with Carlo. Planning on staying a week and experiencing Latin stamina at its best. Love, Lana or the unforgettable: Decided that the Philippines are far enough from you. Couldn't stand you for another moment after last night. Plan to wash away your stench with young native men. All the love, Lana. The press would've probably gotten a kick out of them. The absence of one in this case worried him and made him angry. He had beaten the private eye that was supposed to follow her around that day to a bloody pulp.

He lifted his eyes from the papers when he heard a light knock on the door. Shortly after, a young girl, barely 19, entered the room and told him, on a shy tone:

"Mr. Luthor, the…uhm, security people are here. They said you told them to come in as soon as they arrived," the girl told him, avoiding eye contact with him at all times. Had he slept with her? Lex couldn't remember. He didn't even recall her name and she was his secretary for more than four months now since his last one made their affair public and had accused him of everything from sexual harassment to rape. He won the trial of course and she didn't get a dime out of it. Lana had been very amused by it and hadn't stopped calling him a rapist for over two months.

"Let them in," he told her and watched her as she exited his office. Yeah, he had probably slept with her. She was pretty enough. The two security men entered the office a few seconds afterwards, with Chloe Sullivan walking between them. "Chloe, I'm glad you could make it."

"Kinda hard not to," she said looking at the two men that had 'escorted' her.

"Matt, Devon, out," Lex told the security men and they immediately left.

"Glad you sent a bunch of goons with the invitation. It wouldn't have been so warm and fuzzy otherwise. After all, Matt-Mad-Dog and I go way back," Chloe said after the tugs had disappeared out the door of Lex's office. "From when I first started snooping around Luthorcorp. Man has a mean punch I'll tell you that." Lex didn't say anything. "Aren't you going to say he was just doing his job?" she asked chuckling. Lex remained silent. "Serious today, aren't we?"

"You were the only person Lana wanted to see two days ago. She cancelled all her other meetings that day," Lex said calmly, leaning in his chair. "Why did she want to see you?"

"A few extra punches she forgot to give me?" she suggested amused. Lex didn't even smile. "You really don't know where she is?" she asked surprised by his seriousness. He shook his head. "And here I was thinking this whole thing was just something you and the little lady cooked up so she could bail on the by now infamous Lang Pharmaceuticals trial."

"The complainers are going to get smashed. The jury's paid for, the witnesses compromised, the drugs proven to be effective. The only person that's going to come out of that trial clean as a whistle is going to be Lana," Lex told her bluntly.

"What do you mean compromised?" she asked suddenly annoyed by his words. She had fought long and hard to get that trial to happen and she wasn't about to let it sink with the first Luthor tempest that was heading its way.

"That's not important," Lex brushed it off. "I want to know what she talked to you about. Did she mention any plans of leaving Metropolis? Any clues as to where she might go?"

"As a matter of fact," she said, deeply disgusted by him. He had killed the hope of over a hundred thousand people in one phrase and had brushed aside the catastrophic consequences of the continuing existence of Lang Pharmaceuticals' products on the market. "She mentioned something about leaving you for good, running off to the Canary Islands with Quentin Terrane and having that half a dozen kids she always dreamed of having but you could never give her."

"You're mocking me," he said with a smirk, but there was something dangerous in his tone.

"Don't use your scary look on me, Lex. I know you too well," Chloe said standing up. "Lana didn't tell me anything, okay? Why would she, anyway? Newsflash, she hates me," she pointed out. "Haven't you read the papers? She made a bullseye out of my picture after I wrote my expose on Lang Pharmaceuticals. She trashed my name and dragged my whole family through the mud in all the interviews she gave. I'm jealous, envious, traumatized, sad and apparently very much in love with you."

"Look, I know she hasn't exactly been nice to you…," Lex said and Chloe scoffed.

"Try down right evil," she corrected him.

"Please," he pleaded with her. "I need to know where she is."

Chloe sighed and her features softened – she couldn't understand how Lex, how anyone, could love Lana anymore:

"She really didn't say anything to me about it. She seemed a little…out of it, but other than that, she didn't mention anything about leaving," she assured him. She wasn't lying after all.

"Out of it how?" he asked frowning.

"She was unusually nice," was all she said and headed for the door. "I'll see myself out," when she reached the door she turned around and added: "And the next time you want to talk to me, just call instead of sending the welcoming wagon after me. I promise to be nice and answer the phone."

And with that she was gone.

Elsewhere in Metropolis, in a shady little apartment, Lana Lang – previously Lana Luthor, billionaire extraordinaire and wife of Lex Luthor – had fallen asleep with her head on a stack of papers laid out on the small desk in front of her. The light bulb didn't work so she had had to settle with an ancient lamp. She had bought as many current papers as possible, Xeroxed old numbers from a library, printed others off the internet, in hope of finding some clue as to what had happened to her in the last two years and why she had been able to come to at that moment. She was pretty sure she could have never done it on her own. Something must have happened for Isobel to have lost her total control over her.

Surprisingly, she had gone unnoticed in that part of town as no one thought Lana Luthor would be caught dead in those neighborhoods of people just trying to get buy, with no chic restaurants or heated clubs. The clothes that she had bought for herself – casual, sporty – also helped conceal her identity. Luckily for her, few – if any – of the people living in that area had ever read the story of Lana Luthor complete with pictures from when she had been in highschool that had run in the Daily Planet shortly after her marriage to Lex. It had been an exclusive Lex had insisted Lana gave Chloe.

I promise to honor, love and respect you…Till death do us apart…I pronounce you husband and wife…You may kiss the bride…TILL DEATH DO US APART! Remember? Don't you remember!

Lana startled awake and touched her neck with her hands. In her dreams, Lex had tried to choke her to death. She blinked until her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the lamp and then looked at the mountain of papers in frustration. She had gone through less than half of them and hadn't found out anything more than the fact Isobel's marriage to Lex didn't resemble a normal one. And her lovers, had been one too many. She tried to think of Isobel as a third person. With her own body that just happened look exactly like hers. It made her feel better somehow. Made her feel less used and dirty. Less embarrassed at what might – actually no, most definitely had – gone on between herself and Lex. Her face turned a deep shade of red even then just recalling what had happened the previous night.

I almost forgot how your skin tastes. He had whispered in her ear. And the way he had kissed her…No one had kissed her like that. And that very thought seemed somehow ridiculous while she was overlooking pictures of her kissing – much more fiercely, more passionately – men over men on the covers of dozens of tabloids. I almost forgot how your skin tastes. Still those words persisted in her mind and she had a sneaking suspicion she hadn't forgotten how his skin tasted.

Lana shook her head and focused on the newspapers. Lana Luthor, sleeping with the enemy? Lana Luthor in fabulous Rio…Asian dream: Lana Luthor and her latest conquest, Olympic athlete Xian Pei Pei…Lang Pharmaceuticals targets France as a possible new market…Lex and Lana Luthor enjoying a calm vacation on Paradise Island? Title after title after title with nothing new to say, only more things that made Lana grimace.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. She looked up startled. Who could it be? No one knew she was there and she had specified to the landlord – after paying for two months up front – that she didn't want to be disturbed. She stood up from the desk and grabbing a heavy candleholder – ancient, like everything about that place – she headed for the door. The knock persisted, anxious, losing its patience.

"Who is it?" she asked out loud.

"Open up, it's Chloe," a voice said from beyond the door.

"Is it really you?" Lana asked incredulous. She had completely given up on Chloe's help after the scene at the Daily Planet.

"Yeah, open up already, I feel like someone's gonna come out of the shadows and clubber me senseless for the 20 bucks I have in my purse," Chloe told her impatiently. Lana carefully opened each of the three locks and Chloe quickly came in. She locked the door behind her. As she did, Chloe looked around at the crummy apartment and said, amused:

"Now I know you can't be the real Lana Luthor," she chuckled. "She would've had a fit just seeing a place like this let alone live in one."

"That's weird considering Isobel came from the XVIIth century," Lana pointed out.

"Yeah, well, old Izzy got used to the good life Luthor money can buy," Chloe said with a smirk.

"How did you find me?" she asked gesturing for her to sit down on one of the two chairs she had in the apartment.

"I am a reporter after all," Chloe pointed out and opening her bag she held up a beautiful necklace. "Plus, you shouldn't go around pawning Lex's anniversary gifts," she threw it toward her. Lana easily caught it. "Might draw attention you don't want to yourself. You're lucky the man you brought it to thought it was a cheap copy of the original."

"It was expensive?" Lana asked uneasily looking at the necklace closely. It had a few gems she had considered to be simply decorative. She swallowed hard. Since when did Luthors have anything that was simply decorative?

"Expensive doesn't even cover it. Try mind-blowing, obscenely priced and you might come somewhere close to it," Chloe said and observed as Lana stared at the necklace with a sort of frightened look before putting it down on the bed carefully as if afraid she could ruin it by simply holding it. No, that was definitely not the Lana Luthor she knew. "You know Lex. Always thinks big. And it was your first wedding anniversary after all."

"We've been married how long? It's 2007 now, the meteor shower was in 2005…so 2 years?" Lana assumed.

"In a few weeks," Chloe nodded walking over to the desk and flipping through the papers Lana had put there. "Interesting reading material. Trying to catch up on 2 years of absence?"

"More like trying to find out what I've been doing," Lana admitted.

"Oh, I think it's safe to sum it up to illegal businesses, sex, drinks, glamour and Lex Luthor," Chloe said stopping on one particular paper. "I remember this. You and Johnny Calvesci ran off to Vegas for the weekend. Lex fumed over it for weeks."

"So does this mean you believe me now?" Lana asked anxiously.

"No, it means I'm willing to give you the benefit of doubt," Chloe told her. "I've seen Lana Luthor pull one too many tricks not to be suspicious. If what you're saying it's true, then I have nothing to worry about. If you're lying and this is just some sort of trick, I'll be keeping the Luthor family jewels as a down-payment to my lawyer which I'm most certainly going to need."

"You can keep it," she hurried to say looking back at the necklace uneasily. "I don't want it."

"Suit yourself," the reporter shrugged and grabbed the necklace off the bed. "It would be a shame though," she put the necklace in the lamp light. "If I had to sell it on the black market." Lana stared at the necklace enthralled by its surreal glimmer.

"Give me my fuking necklace back, you two-bit piece of sht reporter!" Lana suddenly yelled and lunged toward the necklace, but Chloe pulled it away.

"Ah, ah, Mrs. L, afraid it's currently in my safe keeping," she said putting it away.

"I'm sorry…I don't know what came over me," Lana apologized horrified that those words had come out of her mouth. She never talked like that.

"It's okay," she lifted her shoulders lightly. "You're probably having some instinctual reactions Isobel has imprinted your body with. I've been doing a little research these two days you were gone. About possession and so on. Apparently if a person's possessed long enough, the spirits leave behind a sort of residue. Things that were imprinted in their minds through repetition while they were alive. Like…well, there was this guy who hadn't rowed a boat in his life that – after he was possessed for like three months or so by his dead grandfather, who was a canoe Olympic champion back in the day – did it like a pro the first time he tried it. So some of Isobel probably rubbed off on you in two years."

"You really think that's possible?" she asked, not liking the idea one bit.

"Unfortunately," Chloe nodded. "Let's just hope it wasn't her sex drive."

"Oh, god," Lana muttered as Chloe opened her bag and pulled out a thick file:

"Here. I made you a little something. The short life of Lana Luthor in pictures, articles and a few notes," she extended it toward her. Lana took it with trembling hands and stared at the cover for a few moments. She didn't dare open it. She knew very well what waited for her inside.

End Part 3