It was dark and there were no sounds, as if someone had hit a mute button on the whole place. The trees were decently spread apart, but very old and fragile looking. If it weren't for the fire flies flying around the place, Clark and Chloe would have been left in utter darkness and have no clue where they were, but either way, it was unsure how they had even ended up there in the first place.
'Okay Clark, what did you do?' Chloe asked in panic and stood closer to him so she wouldn't loose him in the dim light.
'Nothing' Clark said and looked around in confusion. 'Did you?'
'No, I don't think so' She replied and wished she had a coat with her.
'Here' Clark gave her his as he had much bigger things to worry about than the non-existent cold.
'Thanks' She put it on and had another look around, hoping her eyes will adjust to the darkness a little more, but no luck.
'Maybe we could use heat vision…' Clark thought aloud.
'And risk burning the place down, nah uh Clark' Chloe told him and sighed. 'One careful step at a time will do fine for now…oh if only I had my camera'
Meanwhile, back in Smallville…
'One…two…three…clear!' The doctor said loudly.
'We have a heartbeat' the nurse replied and they breathed in slight relief. 'But Miss Sullivan is still in a coma' the nurse added.
'And how is Mr Kent?' Doctor Burwood asked.
'Same' She replied. 'And his parents are in the waiting room with Mr Sullivan'
'I'll go tell them the situation, place these two in the same room so we can keep a closer eye on them' Doctor Burwood said and left the room.
'Face it Clark…we're loster than lost' Chloe said and grabbed his arm to stop him. 'And I need to breathe'
Clark watched her sit on a rock that they had passed about 3 times already.
Chloe used x-ray vision by accident as she was trying to adapt to the dark, and noticed that a bottle tree a metre away was hollow and had a doorknob-like thing on it. She got up and with Clark following her; she held the knob-thing and pulled.
'Ta da!' she smiled.
'How did you know that was there?'
'You have something called 'powers' Clark…learn to use them' She smirked teasingly and looked down into the tree, but it was even darker than their firefly surroundings. 'Well don't just stand there' She said and grabbed his arm again and started to walked into the tree…to find there was no ground…it was a hole…
Down…down…down, they fell into the bottomless, endless hole of unknown danger…
'But how could this happen?' Mr Sullivan asked Doctor Burwood.
'We are unsure, it seems they have some into contact with some sort of energy wave, their minds are in place that one would call 'another dimension' but it is more complicated than that'
'What's going to happen to them?' Martha said tearfully while Jonathan held her close.
'To be honest? We are not completely sure. Our test results are inconclusive, but I truthfully think that it is up to them to find their way back to us, they need some sort of reason to come back…they are lost in a world of the past, all their bad experiences will be all they see and hear…I guess the only good thing is that they are with each other as they were exposed to the presumed energy wave at the same time and were within contact of one another' Dr Burwood explained the best way he could.
'So basically we just sit here and hope they can make it?' Jonathan asked, slightly angry.
'No, you should get home and rest…they won't be awake for awhile yet' Dr Burwood said.
'Isn't there something…anything we can do?' Mr Sullivan asked desperately, the thought of loosing Chloe was too hard for him to imagine.
'The best thing you can do for them right now, is go home…get some rest and you can visit them first thing tomorrow morning okay?' He then left them to dwell upon the idea.
'Clark?' Chloe sat up and looked around, only to find herself alone. It was daybreak and a red sun was rising. She was lying on the ground of someone's backyard, but as she got up and looked at the house…or what used to be the house. It was easily reconized as the house Lana used to live in with her aunt, years and years back, but it had been burnt.
Chloe looked towards the Kent farm, maybe that's where Clark is. She felt weak, like she was at the end of a sickness. She slowly started to walk in the direction of the farm, but it seemed so far away and her powers were gone.
'Stupid powers, why didn't someone tell me they had a 'use by' date?' She sighed and tripped over a large stick. The Kent farm was getting further and further away the more she walked. She started running towards it, calling for Clark, but when she stopped to catch her breath, it was gone.
'What the? What is going on?' she gasped as her surroundings began to blur and she found herself in the torch, sitting at her desk, or what had been her desk during the days of high school.
'Mr Luthor' Dr Burwood said the next day and shook his hand as a greeting.
'I came as soon as I heard the news, how are they doing?' Lex asked.
'They are in a comatose state sir-' He was then cut off by a nurse running into his office.
'Doctor, the Kent boy has broken out of his coma, and is still stabilised' She told him.
'Has he woken?' Lex asked.
'No sir' She replied and looked at the doctor for instructions.
'Apply a drip, I'll be there in a minute' Dr Burwood told her after a few minutes thought, then turned back to Lex. 'We will have to talk later, my patient needs me'
Lex nodded and followed the doctor to the room to see how Chloe and Clark were doing.
Chloe put the phone down in disappointment; she had been hoping it was working.
'Hopeless' She sighed and dialled up to the internet on her computer. 'Son of a-'
'Um, hi' Lana said and knocked, then came inside, looking cheerful.
'Oh thank god! Lana, something happened…Clark and I were in the barn and then a light flashed and we ended up someplace then a tree…hole…darkness and well…ah' Chloe tried to explain, but Lana looked very confused.
'Chloe? Are you okay?' She asked in concern.
'Yes…I mean no…I don't know…where is Clark?' She asked, her mind racing with questions and confusion.
'Hey Chloe, can you look up…oh am I interrupting something?' Clark asked as he came into the room.
'Not at all Clark' Lana smiled. 'And you said you wanted to talk to me about something?'
'Yeah, how about you come over after school and we'll talk' Clark asked her.
'Sure, sounds like a date' Lana smiled. 'I also heard you have a crush on me Clark…now why would someone say something like that?'
Chloe looked at Clark in shock and confusion.
'Well, I wouldn't call it that…but ah…well um, there isn't anyone else I know who is more special…ah' Clark said quickly and nervously.
Chloe turned away through tears and listened to their talking, Clark seemed to have forgotten all about the feelings he had claimed to have for her.
'I have go' Chloe said and rushed past them to the girls toilets. She locked a cubicle and put the toilet lid down so she could sit on it. She cried out her pain until she felt a soft wind.
'He doesn't care' a teenaged boy's voice said and Chloe noticed she was in yet another different place, the house she had lived in with her father 'When will you see that your feelings for him are pointless?'
'Chloe? Chloe come on, please wake up' Clark said as he sat by her bedside the following afternoon.
'She can't hear you' the doctor told him as he came in to check on the machines hooked up to Chloe.
'Is she going to be okay?' Clark begged more than asked.
'Depends, does she have any terrible things in her past or family history?' Dr Burwood asked.
'Why can't I stay in one place!' Chloe yelled as her surroundings blurred again and she found herself in the Kent barn with a guy her age that she had never seen before.
'Because there is so much for you to realise Chloe' He said. 'So much you are blinded to with your feelings for Clark'
'Who are you anyway?' She asked while glaring at him.
'Someone who can see what is right in front of you…look at your mother…and Clark'
'What do they have to do with anything?' Chloe said, painful memories resurfacing in her mind.
'Your mother is crazy, it's in your genes…but when will you realise that Clark doesn't care about you…it's Lana he calls out to when he is ill…it's Lana he wanted to take to every dance…it's Lana that he left you at the spring formal for'
'No…you're wrong!' Chloe said, louder then she intended. 'How do you know? Have you been spying on my friends and me? Because if you have I'll…'
'They are not your friends Chloe…What are you to Clark? A search engine? A sidekick? How do you know that he isn't being nice because you know his secret, afraid you'll tell the world if he is more honest to you? Face it Chloe, you're not as important to everyone as you think you are' He told her.
'Well you seem quite confident with yourself Mr-no-name, but there is still my father…I know he loves me…and Lois, well she's more like a sister' Chloe said, trying to keep her voice and face more calm than the emotions breaking down inside her.
'Of course, Lucy went bad, Lois needs a replacement and you look so much like you mother, you father must see you as her'
'You're wrong' Chloe told him in a whisper.
'Am I?' The guy asked and pointed to the photo frames of Lana in Clark's loft.
'So? They are friends' Chloe said.
'Really? Or is it more that meets the eye?' The guy smiled when he saw in Chloe's eyes that she was breaking down inside.
'You're right, you can see right in front of me…and if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were blind' She said, but was losing the emotional battle that was fighting to release tears and accept the pain that she thought had been long buried years ago.
'You are the one blinded by images that aren't real, images that make you believe you can pretend-' The guy didn't get the chance to finish what he was saying as Chloe kicked him in a place no guy likes to be kicked.
'Go to hell' Chloe told him and ran from the barn crying.
'Clark, come home and get some rest' Jonathan told him later that night.
'I'm staying here, this is where I'm needed' Clark replied and turned away. 'I want to be here when Chloe wakes up'
'If she wakes up' A nurse nearby added. 'Her body is undergoing high levels of stress and emotions, too much for her to handle'
'She will wake up' Clark told her with determination. 'She's Chloe, it'll take more than emotions to stop her' he frowned at the nurse and she left.
Clark then noticed that according to the machines her heart rate was going up and her brain waves were other than normal.
'You can get through this Chloe, just fight it' He whispered and held her hand. 'Don't die on me now'
'Where am I going now?' Chloe sniffed as her surroundings changed again and she was back at the forest and it was getting dark. 'Stupid fireflies' She sighed and just sat on the ground, too emotionally drained and she had used up all her tears already.
'Who does he think he is?' She spoke to herself as no one else was around. 'But what if he is right? What if it is all some make-believe happiness?' She looked up at the sky, somewhere out there was a place where a planet should have been, but wasn't.
'Can an alien like Clark really fall in love with a human like me?' She asked herself. 'Lana is understandable, perfect looking ex-cheerleader…had to compare to… but Lana is great…maybe I just don't deserve Clark, or maybe-' She stopped as water hit her eye. Rain, it was starting to rain and by the sounds of it, a storm was brewing.
'Oh fantastic!' She said sarcastically. 'Things just keep getting better'
'You can get through this Chloe, just fight it' Clark's voice whispered in the thunder, almost like it was part of her imagination.
'Clark?' She called out.
'Don't die on me now' His voice whispered again, but then silence.
'Die?' She repeated, totally lost. 'Unless…I'm not really here…or am I going crazy? After all Mr-no-name said… no I can't listen to him…I…but what if he's right? Oh not again!' She nearly screamed as the darkness faded and hospital scenery surrounded her. Smallville Medical Center; and there was Clark and his parents hugging tearfully, Mr Sullivan sitting on a chair with his head buried in his hands.
'What happened?' She wondered aloud and noticed a room they were right next to. She walked over slowly and saw a girl lying in a bed, her heart had gone into over-drive and it had triggered a cardiac arrest…and killed her. Chloe stood next to the bed in shock as the nurses covered her face with a sheet…yes, her face.
'But…how?' Chloe wondered and saw the upset, but small crowd outside being joined by Lana and Lois. Clark got up and started to leave.
'No Clark…don't go' She whispered and that was when she snapped…all her pain, loss and confusion broke out into a scream.
'CLARK!' She screamed and sat up in the hospital bed in alarm, doctors and nurses came running in and Clark was instantly by her side.
'Chloe…you're okay' He smiled and allowed the doctors to get to her, so he backed away to give them the space they need.
'What the?' Chloe was very confused, but Clark was there, and by the sounds of some screaming and yelling down the hall…so was Lois. She lay back and let the doctors do their stuff while she breathed a sigh of relief.
Next thing I will do, she thought to herself, is find the guy who said that stuff and really give him something to worry about.
'Wow, she is completely healed…how on Earth did that happen?' A nurse said in shock.
Chloe realised she still had her powers, grinning even more. Then she began to drift to a dreamless sleep as her body was exhausted.