-Chapter Nine-
In Hell
Clark's eyes flickered open. He felt himself lying on a hot flooring. He got up weakly. His hands burnt as he touched the floor. His head was still dazed. He looked at his hands. There were burn marks on the tips of his fingers. What was going on? What had happened to his powers?
Clark looked around to find himself in a cage. He wasn't alone, Buffy lay next to Amber. She had a cut on her head. Clark bent down. He shook her. "Buffy," he said shaking her. "Buffy, wake up."
Buffy's eyes flickered open slowly. "Clark," she groaned. "Where are we?"
"Your in hell," said someone outside of the cage. Clark turned around to see a tall man with brown hair stood outside the cage with three vampires around him. He wore a black shirt and pants. Clark helped Buffy up to her feet. "Welcome," the man said with a charming smile.
"You must be Ken," Clark said weakly as he felt a twinge of pain fill his body. There was Kryptonite around there somewhere.
"Yes," Ken chimed, "and you must be Clark or would you rather be called Kal-El."
Clark was suddenly, stricken by what Ken had just called him. "How do you know my name?" Clark gasped stunned.
"Oh, I know everything about you," Ken said delectably. He moved up and down the cage like a predator circling its prey. "Kryptonian."
"How do you know about Krypton?" Clark asked fiercely. How did he know about him?
"Oh, when you were brought here we scanned your mind. It's sort of a way for his to find out what you runaways are running from," Ken chuckled manically. "So, we can find away to chip away at you. So, that you are nothing. And here we have an Alien runaway, sent here to conquer. But, you've been tainted by human feelings haven't you?" he ponders for a moment, "sort of reminds you of Angel doesn't it?"
Buffy charged at him angrily ready to attack. Clark held her back stopping her from doing something stupid. "YES!" jeered Ken, "there's the fire you've been looking for, Slayer! The Vampire Slayer is reborn! In Hell!"
Clark pulled Buffy away from Ken. "Why are you doing this?" Clark asked trying to control his anger.
"For a profit, Mr. Kent," ken said standing still at last. "You see vampires have their own black market. A lot of ancient artefacts can be found underground. We enslave you humans to get them for us. And with runaways, well nobody'll care if a few of them go missing. They already are."
"So, you just work them until they die?" growled Buffy dangerously.
"Yes, have fun in the next century," Ken said pleasantly making the hairs on the back of Clark's neck stand on end. "Oh and Clark, be careful with the bars. They're lined with Kryptonite. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."
Ken walked away leaving them alone. Clark looked at his hand green veins were growing over it. He knees began to buckle. He collapsed to the floor.
"Clark! Are you okay?" Buffy asked helping him up.
"We need to get out of here," Clark breathed.
"Tell me something I don't know," Buffy replied. She placed Clark down and walked towards the bars. "I could bend them so that we could squeeze through."
Buffy grabbed the bars ready to bend them. An excruciating pain filled her body shooting up her spine and almost making hr skull split in two. She let go off the bars falling to the floor.
"The bars are protected by magic," croaked Amber over by the corner. They only let you out to work.
"When's that?" Clark croaked weakly trying to get up to his feet.
"Now," Amber whimpered as two wrinkled vampires wearing all black walked towards their jail cell. They opened the door grabbing hold of Buffy, she was limp and weakened from the shock she had just received.
One grabbed Amber. The other grabbed Clark. They pulled them through the dark corridor of the jail cells. Clark looked around to see a large room filled with projector fans spinning quickly above them. They were underground. A fiery furnace sits at the end of a conveyor belt where ragged young men and women push mining carts towards them. Amber was right. They were in Hell.