Thanatos

Chapter Nine

Two friends were driving along the farmland roads after leaving one of Smallville's few saloons in town, having had a few drinks, but before they arrived at their destination, the driver suddenly swerved causing their truck to end up in a ditch off to the side of the road. Neither he nor the passenger were knocked unconscious, but one of the men reached up to his head after hitting hard against the steering wheel and pulled it away again to reveal blood on his hand, while his friend rubbed his hand along his chest as he felt sore from being forced into the seat belt that tightened against his body upon the force of the impact.

"What the hell did you do that for, dude?" the man in the passenger's seat asked in confusion. "God damn it, this truck is brand new."

"There was a woman out there," the driver replied oddly as he struggled to look around him as far as he could turn his head while he struggled to get free of his seat belt. "She came from out of nowhere. She was… beautiful."

His friend finally managed to get out of the truck and stood beside the vehicle as looked at the man also working to get out as he responded intoxicatingly, "I think you're drunker than you realized. Actually, I think we both are because I think I see her too. Is she…?"

The woman stepped off of the road and slowly walked toward the two men in an invigorating manner and when she was only a few feet from them, she said alluringly, "I'm sorry I frightened you. I didn't mean to cause you to go off the road. Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm… we're both fine," one of them answered as his friend moved to stand beside him as they continued staring at the beautiful woman before them. "Are you okay, Miss? Would you like a ride someplace? Maybe back to my place?"

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" his friend asked as he slapped his shoulder angrily. "That's no way to treat a lady!"

She seductively moved close to the man who tried to object on her behalf as she leaned in close looking as she was about to kiss him and replied coyly, "I don't mind. In fact, I would love to, but first I need you both to do something for me."

She finally pulled him into a long kiss as a surge of power burst through him that made him want more from the moment that she released her hold on him and moved over to his friend, pulling him into a deep kiss as well as she released the same power to draw him in as well. When she finished, both men were simply staring at her as if in a trance, unable to pull away from her. The woman moved to the car and was about to attempt to climb into the truck as both men swiftly stepped forward to help her up, until she sat on the edge of the seat with her feet dangling over its side.

She spoke again as she asked, "So, who are you boys?"

"I'm Kyle," the driver quickly responded as he moved closer to her again in hope of earning another kiss from the beautiful woman sitting over them.

"And I'm Tom, Tom King," the passenger added as he too tried to move closer to her in hope of more. "Please, tell me who…"

She cut him off as she interrupted, "Theresa just got out of a relationship with a different Tom. It didn't end well for her, or for him, but it is partly because of them that I am alive, so I am grateful. You both must call me Thana. Tell me, do you find me attractive?"

Tom shoved his friend to move in closer until he was standing directly beneath the seductress as he answered yearningly, "You know that I do! How can I prove my love for you, Thana?"

"I'll do anything you ask," Kyle swiftly stated as he tried to pull his friend back so that he could step in. "Tell me what you want from me and I'll do it."

"Don't worry, I have a special task for you both," Thana replied cruelly, then leaned down to kiss them both again, allowing both men to pull her down to them as she continued to kiss them with more passion as she infused the men with temporary power so that they could do her bidding until she would no longer have an use for them.

When she was finished, the power hungry woman spoke again asking, "Now, do you both know what I want you to do?"

Kyle suddenly reached out to put his hands beneath his truck as with an entirely heightened strength he pulled it from the ditch so that it was once again on the road, then he turned back to the woman he now saw as a goddess and responded, "We saw what it is that you will of us. I am happy to do whatever you ask of me."

"Can I not be what you need instead, my lady?" Tom asked longingly. "I beg of you!"

"I showed you what I want and you will do it without questioning my choice!" Thana answered angrily. "Now go, or you will die as painfully as the rest of my victims!"

As Thana demanded, the two men now fully under her control turned away and drove off, leaving the power hungry woman once again alone upon the road. She smiled as she watched them drive until they were out of sight, then she continued walking toward town without feeling weary of the threatening weather looming in the skies above her. In fact, she longed for the thunder and the lightening as it was one half of the source of her newfound powers sent down to her from the one whom she will soon be reunited with.