Author's Note:
In this chapter, we get to skip ahead a few months. The first section is still in mid-October, then it goes to early December.
And this is my second attempt at a cliff hanger, but it's better than my last one.
I'm really excited about the next few chapters, with all the drama in them. You'll see why. *Insert evil laughter here*
Just because I'm hurting, doesn't mean I'm hurt--doesn't mean I didn't get what I deserved, no better and no worse.
Lost by Coldplay. That makes me happy. Yeah, I won't usually do song quotes, I promise, but I just couldn't resist.
Thanks to the readers, and especially the reviewers! xoxoIchigoxoxo18, Lara-Van, Elfsquire90, and all the rest.
The day after the fight, Kaitlyn returned home from school and found a letter for her in the mail. Her excited smile turned into a grimace when she read the return address. It's the money from the Inquisitor.
She tried to slow her breathing, to calm down a bit. It still hurt to remember last week. The knife twisted in her gut as she felt all the emotions flooding back. Guilt. Pain. Anger. Sadness. More guilt.
How could I have been so stupid? What was I thinking, going up against the most powerful man in Kansas? And not to mention that I didn't even give a thought to how it would hurt the Bells. Was I really ever that dumb? I should have easily seen the consequences, made the right decision. Now look where I am: a self-pitying freak with one less friend and one more scar.
Kaitlyn glared down at the envelope in her hand. "You weren't worth it," she told the check inside. She ripped it in half. In fourths. In sixteenths. Until each little piece was too small to tear. She threw all the bits in the trash can and slammed the lid shut.
Maybe that will clear my conscience a bit.
It didn't
--
Kaitlyn sat with Chloe and Lana at lunch most days after her fight with Brooke. She didn't like it that Clark and Pete sat with the girls, though—she was still wary of guys, especially ones she didn't know very well. It didn't help that she had no interest in getting to know them, either.
Kaitlyn opened the contacts list on her phone and scrolled backwards just far enough to reach "Stanley, Tatiana". She had done it enough times that she didn't even need to glance at the screen before hitting the call button. I really need to memorize her number sometime.
Tatiana picked up on the second ring. "Ay Kate, what up?"
"Hey, T! My fam's going to Metropolis this weekend. Do you think you can come?"
"I dunno, Kate. Steve's been in a bad mood all week. I'm kinda scared to ask him," Tatiana replied, sounding a bit hesitant.
"Come on, T, please? I haven't seen you outside of school in, like, a month. Your step dad can't be that terrible." Kaitlyn didn't want to go to Metropolis alone. She would be bored to death at her cousin's house if she did.
"Kate, I'm sorry, but I don't wanna risk it. Maybe sometime next week?"
Kaitlyn sighed. "Okay, well--"
She was cut off by someone yelling in the background. "Tatiana! Why aren't these dishes done?! I told you to have them finished by the time I got back!" It was probably Steve. "After all I've done for you and you mother, this is how you thank me? After all I've sacrificed?"
Tatiana swore under her breath. "Sorry, Kate, I gotta go," she said in a rushed, panicky voice.
The line went dead before Kaitlyn was able to say, "Bye." She bit her lip and closed the phone. Crap. Now I have to face Amy alone.
Amy Baker was a year younger than Kaitlyn and seemed to hate her with a passion. At one point, they had been friends, but after middle school, the two girls slowly stopped tolerating each other. Kaitlyn never knew exactly why, but she still wasn't looking forward to visiting her freshman cousin tomorrow.
Kaitlyn sighed and massaged her temples, feeling a headache coming on. If just thinking about Amy does this, I'm going to have a migraine once I'm actually there.
She grudgingly began reading her Chemistry assignment. Her head throbbed when the phone rang again. She glanced at the caller ID, but didn't recognize the number. "Hello?"
"Hey, is this Kate?" a female voice asked.
"Yeah…" she replied, not sure of who it was.
"Hi, it's Chloe."
"Oh, hey! I didn't recognize your number at first. What's up?"
"Lana and I are going to go check out the Kawatche caves tomorrow. You want to join us?"
Kaitlyn frowned, envious. Even lurking around in a cave was better than going to Metropolis. "Sorry, can't. I'm going to visit family tomorrow. Wish I could, though."
"Oh. That's alright. Um, see you Monday?"
"Yeah. Monday. Bye, Chloe."
"Bye Kate."
Kaitlyn hung up and found the recent calls menu. She added the unfamiliar number to her contacts with the label, "Sullivan, Chloe."
--
"Katie, wake up."
Kaitlyn groaned. "Five more minutes?"
"For goodness sakes, Kaitlyn! Wake up!"
Kaitlyn opened her eyes slowly and squinted at the brightness of the light in her room. "What?" she asked groggily.
"You need to get ready to go to Metropolis, sweetie. We're leaving soon," her mother explained. "I'm going downstairs to start breakfast. Be down in a twenty minutes."
Kaitlyn's eyes widened as her mother left the room. Twenty minutes? I can't get ready that quickly!
Her stomach growled angrily.
"Yeah, yeah, we're eating soon. Shut--" Kaitlyn bit her tongue. She had formed a habit of talking to things that couldn't talk back. Stop! I can't allow myself to go psycho!
She threw on the first shirt her hands came in contact with--the plain red t-shirt that she had worn yesterday. She found her jeans and tried to pull them on while brushing her hair. That didn't work, so she had to put the brush down.
She squinted at her reflection in the mirror before deciding against all make-up but mascara. No need to look good for family I don't even like.
She rushed down the stairs with all the grace of an elephant. Her stomach still rumbled, very insistent on eating. Kaitlyn walked into the kitchen. "I'm down here with five minutes to spare. Where's the food?"
Brian chuckled. "I told your mom that would wake you up. Poor Kate, so obsessed with being on time. Did you really think we'd wake you up with only twenty minutes before we left? "
Kaitlyn frowned. "So we're not leaving soon?"
"We are leaving soon—in an hour," Kelly said, turning from the stove. "However, we're eating sooner. Can you set the table, please?"
She convinced her dad to help out, and they were soon eating the bacon and eggs Kelly had made. Kaitlyn was about to swallow when she tasted something funny. Her stomach turned, suddenly unhappy with the food.
She spat it out into her napkin. "These eggs taste weird."
Kelly looked at her plate, then back at her daughter. "They taste fine to me."
By the time Kaitlyn knew what was happening, it was too late to dash to the sink. The breakfast made a second appearance as her stomach rejected it. "Ew…" she said, looking down at her soiled shirt. She looked to Kelly. "Mom?"
Kelly looked a bit startled. "Um…go upstairs and clean yourself up. Your father will take care of the mess down here."
Brian opened his mouth in protest. "Hey! I didn't ask… Okay, okay. I'll do it."
Kaitlyn nodded and grimaced at the taste of bile. It stung her nose and burned her throat. She washed out her mouth with cool water in the bathroom upstairs and rinsed out her shirt in the shower.
She sniffed and still smelled the sickly sweet aroma of acid, so she climbed in the shower herself to erase the scent with peach body wash.
Kaitlyn kept the towel around her as she walked back to her room and pulled on her pajamas. She trembled a bit with chills that ran up and down her spine. She climbed into bed and wrapped the blankets tightly around her, trying to relax her tense muscles. They automatically stiffened up, though, to keep from shaking.
She closed her eyes for a moment before a noise made them pop open again. Her stomach was growling. "Yeah, well I tried to feed you. Ungrateful…"
There I go again, talking to my stomach! Maybe I do need to go to Belle Reeve. Psycho meteor-freak Kate. I wouldn't be surprised…
Her mother was at the door a few minutes later. "Kate? How are you feeling?"
Kaitlyn was about to answer with, "hungry," but then she realized that this could be her ticket to staying in Smallville. She grunted noncommittally.
"Do you think you need to stay home today?" her mother asked, eyebrows raised.
"Yes." Kaitlyn tried to keep the fervor out of her voice.
"Alright. Your dad and I will be leaving soon. We should be back by ten tonight." Kelly examined her daughter, doubt crossing her face. "Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?"
"Mom, I'm sixteen. I'll be fine," Kaitlyn mumbled as she rolled onto her side, clutching the blankets closer to warm her up a bit.
"Okay. We'll see you later tonight, then. Stay safe."
"Bye, Mom."
Some time later, Kaitlyn heard the door close. The engine of the family SUV purred as it back out the driveway and down the street towards the highway. An hour to Metropolis, probably ten hours there, and then back. Kaitlyn could do whatever she wanted.
She drifted off into a fitful sleep with her normal nightmares of that one afternoon almost two months ago.
The chauffeur looks about twenty--too young to be employed by the devil. He takes my arm and leads me in the back door of the building, taking the stairs. I keep tripping, my stiff legs refusing to move.
He looks down at me apologetically every time he helps me up. We keep climbing until he leads me out of the stairwell and down a hall. He unlocks one of the two doors in the corridor and gives me a quick shove in. I'm shaking like crazy and can't stop. Something about this seems so wrong.
I see him glance up and down the hall before stepping in. He closes the door behind him and pulls something out of his pocket. It's a needle. My eyes widen and I take a step back.
He shakes his head. "Mr. Luthor…is a bad man." I'm shocked by his boyish voice. He sounds like he's fifteen. "Go against his orders, and…terrible things happen." He is staring into space now, as if remembering something. At his side, the needle is almost forgotten in his hand.
"What? How do you know?" I whisper. The paralyzing fear is beginning to wear off now, and my muscles are screaming for me to run.
"My parents…" He trails off, but I know the implications. They are probably dead, possibly worse. I see pain in his eyes, maybe some tears. My heart wrenches as I think about it.
"If you run, try to fight, he'll do worse," he tells me. "I know the instincts are kicking in right now, and they will be nearly uncontrollable soon. I'm doing this to help you."
Then the needle is in my arm. I have no time to react before my left hand begins to tingle. He takes hold of my shoulders and pushes me gently to the bedroom. "I'm sorry," he whispers before leaving quickly.
My entire left side feels dead now. I walk a few steps and stumble. I realize that once my other side goes numb, I'll fall to the floor and not be able to catch myself. I struggle towards the bed and lie down awkwardly.
I hear a door opening. My heart is in my throat, hammering louder than it ever has before.
Kaitlyn sat up straight, gasping for air. Just a dream. Just a dream. You're okay. She shook her head, trying to rid the memories from her mind. She glanced at the phone on her nightstand. What could take her mind off of Luthor better than creeping around in a cave?
Picking up the phone, Kaitlyn found Chloe's number and dialed it.
Chloe picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Hey, Chloe, it's Kate."
"Oh! Hey, Kate! What's up?"
"I was wondering if you and Lana are still going to the caves? I'm actually still in Smallville today."
"Yeah, yeah we are. You wanna come?"
"Um…is anyone else coming?"
"No." Chloe laughed on the other end. "Clark would freak out if he knew we were going. He treats the caves like his own personal property. And if Pete knew, he'd be sure to tell the King of Plaid. It's just me and Lana."
"Cool, I'll come. What time, and do I need to bring anything?"
Chloe thought for a second. "Meet us there at one and bring a flashlight. It gets pretty dark down there."
Kaitlyn laughed. "Okay. I'll see you two down there in…whoa! An hour?"
"Yeah. It's noon," Chloe said, a bit confused by Kaitlyn's surprise.
"Ha, I knew that. Sorry, temporary mental lapse there."
"It's fine, happens to the best of us. See you soon."
"Bye Chloe."
--
She parked in the grass outside the cave entrance and grabbed her flashlight. Chloe was leaning against her car, waiting.
"Hey Chloe! Where's Lana?"
Chloe shrugged. "Lana said that she had to take over at the Talon. One of the employees got sick or something."
"Huh, oh well. Ready to go exploring?"
"Yeah. The paintings down there are really cool." Chloe led them down into the caves through a path that she seemed to know well. Cold, damp air stuck in Kaitlyn's throat as she tried to breathe. It smelled disgusting.
The further they went, the darker it got. "We should probably turn the flashlights on before we can't see," Chloe suggested. They clicked on their flashlights on, and the chamber exploded with light. There were paintings on the walls.
"Wow," Kaitlyn breathed.
Chloe smiled. "And you haven't even seen the best of it." She led them a bit farther in.
The next chamber they entered was huge. Kaitlyn swept the wall with her flashlight and gasped in amazement. She had never seen real cave paintings before. They were amazing.
Chloe spread her arms and spun around once. "Welcome to the Underworld."
One drawing was a person with a scribble on its chest that looked like an "S." Another looked like an animal with two heads. Writings in some dead language were everywhere.
"Wow" suddenly seemed to be the only word in Kaitlyn's vocabulary.
"Pretty neat, huh?" Chloe asked, examining an octagon with layers of symbols around it. "I wish I knew what it said." She ran a hand over the wall.
They stayed down there for an hour, marveling at everything. How did they get some of the pictures so high up?
"Clark told me Lex is coming to see this at three," Chloe said, turning towards the exit. "We better get out of here before he catches us and tells Clark."
"Lex?" Kaitlyn asked. Who was this person? Surely not—
"Lex Luthor? He owns the very land above our heads," Chloe said, pointing above them.
Kailtyn's eyes widened. Luthor!? I have to get out of here. Right now. Panic flooded through her.
"Technically, he could press charges for trespassing, but I don't think Lex would do that. He's a pretty good guy." Chloe was talking to herself more than Kaitlyn now.
"Yeah, but let's not push it," Kaitlyn said quickly. "Which way out?"
When they emerged, Chloe glanced up at the cloudy sky. "Wow, looks like we might get that snow storm after all."
"Snow storm?" Kaitlyn asked, surprised. Her thought immediately jumped to her parents.
"Yeah. Four inches by nine tonight, and another five by the morning," Chloe informed her.
"Crap. My parents are in Metropolis… I wonder if they'll be able to get back?"
"I'm sure they'll be fine." Chloe checked her watch. "Oh! It's two forty-five! We'd better get out of here."
--
Kaitlyn was back home, eating macaroni and cheese, when the phone rang. It was her mother.
"Hey, honey. How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good. I don't think I'm sick...maybe it was just the eggs."
"It could have been." Her mother paused. "Listen, Katie, we've just seen the weather, and it's going to get really nasty soon."
"Will you be coming home soon, then?" Kaitlyn asked before jamming another forkful of macaroni in her mouth.
"I don't know, honey. The roads are going to get slick. It's already snowing pretty hard."
Kaitlyn raised her eyebrows and looked out the kitchen window. Huge clumps of snow were floating to the ground. She shivered—since the bonfire, she hated the cold. "Can you guys try to make it, Mom? Leave early or something?"
"That's what we're trying to decide, Katie. The Bakers have offered to let us stay with them overnight if the roads are too dangerous, but I'm worried about you."
She frowned thoughtfully. "Mom, I want you guys to come home. It's really weird and empty here. But if the roads are bad, I'll be fine for one night."
"Okay, honey. We'll make a decision in the next half-hour and call you."
"'Kay, that sounds good. Bye, Mom."
"Bye Katie."
--
Kaitlyn woke up the next morning to her hungry stomach. Again. She slid out of bed and padded down the stairs to find something for breakfast. She could almost hear her footsteps echo throughout the empty house.
The snow was probably a more than a half-foot deep outside, and Kaitlyn was thankful that her parents had stayed in Metropolis.
She decided on eating plain toast and headed back upstairs to her bedroom to eat within the comfort of her warm blankets. She took a bite of bread and swallowed. Another bite. Another swallow. The disgusting taste of something filled her mouth…
Kaitlyn's eyes widened as she dashed for the bathroom, recognizing the symptoms from yesterday morning. She barely made it to the sink before bile and a few bits of toast spilled from her mouth. Ugh…disgusting.
She rinsed out her mouth and splashed water on her sweaty face. The taste of acid was still present, though, so she opened the cabinet above the sink and began a hunt for the mouthwash.
She found it and pushed a box of tampons out of the way to reach it. She swished the strong mint liquid and blinked at the sting that brought tears to her eyes. She spat it out as quickly as possible. When Kaitlyn moved to replace the bottle, her eyes fell on the box of tampons again.
She froze. Her eyes darted from the box to the sink. To her stomach. Back to the box.
Crap.
The knife twisted in her stomach again.
I haven't had my period in two months.
I laugh evilly. It brings me joy to see my character in such pain. There's something wrong with that, I guess.
Reviews, y'all?