As Chloe, Clark, Emmeline, and Lana all headed to the Beanery, Lana was lamenting at her latest blunder that happened at the senior center.
"It's not your fault, Lana," Clark tried to reassure her.
"Do you know anyone else who's lost an entire old person in a wheelchair?" Lana asked dejectedly.
"Nope, that's pretty impressive, even by Smallville standards," Chloe said as they all sat down at a table.
"Maybe he was kidnapped," Clark offered.
"Who'd want to kidnap Harry?" Lana said as if the idea was impossible. "He's just a harmless old man."
"Maybe a koi turned into a piranha and ate him," Chloe joked. Clark and Emmeline smiled and shook their heads. "You asked for my help. I'm just thinking out of the box."
"I like your theory," the guy at the table behind them interjected.
"You know, you might want to work on your eavesdropping technique," Chloe told him.
"Sorry. I'm, uh, I'm new in town. I just heard this is where young people congregate."
Congregate? Who in high school said congregate? As Emmeline looked at him, she could sort of tell that his eyes were showing that…he was hiding something.
"Yeah, we 'congregate' here often," Chloe said sarcastically.
Clark turned and offered his hand. "Hi, I'm Clark. This is Emmeline. The rude one's Chloe, and this is—"
"Lana Lang," the boy interrupted. "Name tag was a big clue. So, uh, good luck finding your missing old person."
He turned back around as the waitress came back with the boy's coffee. "Enjoy your coffee. They brought it in by burro this morning," she said with annoyance in her tone.
"Thanks honey," the boy answered. "You're a doll."
Lana looked at the boy strangely when she heard him say those words.
"Lana?" Emmeline said. "Is everything okay?"
Lana looked up at her. "Uh, yeah. Everything's fine."
Emmeline wasn't convinced.
"Who did you say that woman's name was that you were visiting?" Emmeline asked Clark.
"Cassandra Carver," Clark answered. "She was really nice. Apparently, she can see the future."
"I'm guessing you don't exactly believe her."
"Eh, at this point, I'm a little iffy, but everyone seems to have their opinions set."
Emmeline nodded as she began thinking.
The next day after school, she headed over to the senior center and went to Cassandra Carver's room. She hesitated outside the door, unsure if she was making the right decision.
"Are you just gonna stand there wondering if I'm as scary as I seem?" the old woman called.
Emmeline cracked a small smile and entered the room. "Wow. That's impressive."
"Do I know you?"
"Um, I'm a friend of Clark Kent. He was telling me about you."
"I take it he told you I see the future and you want to see it for yourself, do you?"
"Can you?"
Cassandra paused. "Your voice sounds pained, dear. Has something happened? Uh, if you don't mind my asking."
Emmeline smiled again. "It was a while ago."
"Well, are you going to leave me hanging?"
"I'm not so sure you're going to believe me."
"You'd be surprised what I believe nowadays."
"Um…a few weeks ago, there was this guy. He was sort of flirting with me, and if you can guess, I'm not exactly the boldest person around. I've been shy and quiet my entire life. Anyway, he seemed nice and he was pretty good-looking and the idea of having someone actually like me was appealing, so I helped him out with a paper and agreed to get dinner with him. Before that dinner happened, my friends discovered that due to certain circumstances, he had begun to take on the traits of every bug in Smallville. As a result, he went into the 'mating' phase and he chose me as his mate. He kidnapped me right out of my home and if it wasn't for Clark, I don't know what would've happened."
Emmeline hadn't realized how good that would feel to get off her chest.
"You've been through quite an ordeal, it sounds like."
"I've tried to get over it, but I've been getting shaken up at every little thing and I even ended up having a panic attack a few weeks after it happened."
"Well, the best thing you can do is confront it. The more you try to push the memory away, the harder it will be to not let it affect you anymore. I know it may be the last thing you want to do, but it will help you."
"You think so?"
"I know so. If you let this event control your thoughts, eventually it will begin to control you. The sooner you defeat this struggle, the sooner you will be free from it."
"Thanks, Miss Carver. That's…really good advice."
"I'm glad I could be of service in that way. Now, shall I prove to you what you came here for?"
"No, thanks," Emmeline smiled. "I prefer to be surprised."
"What did you say your name was?"
"Emmeline."
"Emmeline, I can't tell you how refreshing it is to be able to give someone advice that doesn't involve me predicting their future."
"Thanks for your help, ma'am."
"You are most welcome. I hope everything works out for you."
That night, Emmeline met up with Pete and Chloe and they all went to Clark's barn after he never showed at the Torch.
"Clark, we got your message," Chloe said as they went up to the loft.
"Hey, where were you?" Pete asked. "What happened? I thought we were all supposed to meet at the Torch."
"Sorry," Clark apologized. "I didn't mean to blow you guys off."
"Will the lovely Miss Lang be joining us?" Chloe asked.
"No, I think she had enough weirdness for one day. What've you got?"
Pete took a newspaper out from under his arm. "Guy was found dead in his house. He was blindfolded and strangled with a piano wire."
"Which is the same signature Harry Volk used in 1945," Chloe explained.
"Sounds like a copy-cat," Clark said as he looked at the newspaper article.
"A copy-cat of a murder that happened 60 years ago, two days after the original killer happened to disappear? I don't think so."
"Harry's in a wheelchair, Chloe. Not exactly in prime condition to go on a crime spree."
"Well, I found this picture of Harry from the 40's." Chloe handed Clark a piece of paper with a picture of a young Harry.
"It looks like the kid we saw in The Beanery."
"Maybe he's got a grandson or something," Pete suggested.
"Or…maybe it's Harry," Chloe said.
"I don't think we should start looking for time machines just yet," Clark told her.
"Okay, fine. Where do you think we should start?"
"If someone is following in Harry's footsteps, maybe they sent him some fan mail."
The four of them headed over to the senior center to check Harry's room. When they got there, Chloe asked nervously, "What happens if someone sees us searching Harry's room?"
"How about we don't get seen?" Clark said.
Ironically, Cassandra called, "Clark, is that you?"
Clark looked at his friends. "Harry's room is down the hallway. I'll meet you there."
"Hello, Miss Emmeline!" Cassandra called.
"Hi, Miss Carver!" Emmeline called back.
"You know her?" Pete asked.
"I met her earlier today."
They went to Harry's room and Pete and Chloe went through his things while Emmeline stayed by the door to keep watch in case anyone noticed their prying eyes.
"You guys have any luck?" Clark said as he came into the room.
"No fan mail," Chloe answered. "Just a bunch of old news clippings from The Smallville Ledger. Obituaries, articles."
"The guy's been obsessed with Smallville for 50 years," Pete told them all.
Clark looked intently at a picture of a waitress from the Beanery, the sarcastic one who served an allegedly young Harry.
"Clark, is something wrong?" Chloe asked.
"It's her," Clark said quietly.
"It's who?"
"I gotta go."
Clark bolted out of the room leaving the three remaining teenagers wondering what he was talking about. But what else was new?
Emmeline soon learned that Harry had tried to kill Zoe, the girl from the newspaper, and that Harry was taken into custody. Unfortunately, whatever had made him young wore off while he was chained up to the hospital bed so he was released.
The four of them all went to the Torch office to do some more research on this guy.
"This is everything I could find on Harry Volk," Chloe said as she gathered up all her documents. "The Ledger carried stories on the trial, the murder, the investigation, you name it."
"Is anybody watching this guy?" Pete asked.
"Lana's got an eye on him," Clark answered.
Emmeline, Chloe, and Pete all exchanged a glance since the last time Lana was looking after him, this whole mess got started.
"I heard that," Clark said.
"Didn't say anything," Emmeline responded.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Pete asked.
"I don't know," Clark said. "There's gotta be a connection between the people Harry's going after."
"In Zoe Garfield's statement to the police, she said that Harry accused her grandmother of killing his future," Chloe explained.
Lana quickly entered the Torch office. "Harry's gone," she said urgently. "They found his wheelchair out by the koi pond half an hour ago."
"I saw meteor rocks in that pond," Clark stated.
"At least now we know how he's doing the time warp," Chloe said.
"What do you mean?" Lana asked.
"I'll explain later," Clark told her. "We gotta figure out who he's gonna kill next."
Chloe handed Clark an old newspaper. "Clark, take a look at this."
"What is it?"
"It's a list of the jurors that worked on Harry's trial."
"Rudolph Gage, Eve Garfield…He's killing the descendants of the jurors that convicted him."
"Talk about not letting it go," Pete remarked.
Clark's face turned even more concerned as he continued down the list.
"Clark, what is it?" Lana asked.
"Look at juror number eleven," Clark said as he handed the newspaper to Lana.
"Hiram Kent. Wasn't that your grandfather?"
"Harry's gonna kill my dad."
As Clark ran out to get to his house, Emmeline looked after him. "Alright," she said. "So far, me, Chloe, Lana, and now Clark have been affected by one of these guys who have strange abilities. Pete, I guess it's your turn next."
"I'll have to pass on that one."
"You may not have a choice."
The next day after it was released that Harry had died after an unsuccessful attempt to kill Martha Kent, Emmeline caught Pete and Clark in the hallway.
"Hey, guys. Clark, how's your mom?" she asked.
"She's fine. Just a bit shaken up."
"I understand. Do you guys think you can…do something for me?"
"What is it?"
"Meet me after school. I'll tell you then."
Right after school, Pete and Clark both followed Emmeline and they all found themselves at Greg's old house. No one had bought it for obvious reasons, and currently it was just sitting there collecting dust.
"Why are we here?" Clark asked Emmeline.
"I talked to Cassandra and she told me that I need to confront this. So I am, but I didn't want to do it alone. Is it okay if you guys…help me with this?"
"Of course," Pete answered.
They all went to the woods and found Greg's old tree house where he had brought Emmeline after he kidnapped her. Emmeline's heart began pounding when the tree house came into view as the memories all came back to her.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Clark asked, noticing that she was getting a little perturbed.
"Yes," Emmeline said. "I have to."
She climbed up into the tree house and the others followed her. She took some deep breaths as she looked around the wooden place. This was where Clark had found her. This was where Greg was going to mate with her.
The two boys grabbed each of her hands. "Are you alright?" Pete asked.
"You know what?" Emmeline said as a small smile stretched across her face. "I'm feeling a whole lot better."
