The sun rose slowly over the horizon and as it did light streamed in all directions. The insides of Clark's eyelids began to turn shades of red and yellow. He closed them tighter to try an block out the light but it was no use, he gave in and hesitantly opened them. He found himself looking up at a pink and yellow sky. He ran his fingers through his hair and stretched. "How'd I end up outside?" He wondered. Without thinking he rolled over to stand up but there was nothing to roll onto. He fell fast and hard, landing face first in the grass with a resounding thud. He rolled over on to his back and groaned. He looked up to see chandlers wind mill rising above him. "Well that clears up a lot." He stated sarcastically. "I think they made that thing taller when they rebuilt it." He spent a few moments standing up and brushing off his clothes."Guess I should get home." With a blast of super speed he shot off.

(A few minutes earlier)

Jonathan and Martha sat on the couch with worried looks on their faces. Jonathan is speaking with someone on the phone. "We've been looking for two days, we can't find him anywhere. I know, it's not like him to just run off like this. Mhmm, well we appreciate the help, if you see any sign of him one of us will be by the phone. Ok, thanks." He hung the phone up.

"Any luck?" Martha asked hopefully.

Jonathan sighed."Nothing yet sweetheart." He kissed her forehead. A tear ran down Martha's cheek. Jonathan wiped it away and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't give up hope. He'll come home to us. He always does."

"Jonathan you don't understand. He wasn't himself. Whatever's happened to him it turned him into, something else."

"Martha, I know that Clark's changed somehow, but what you've described sounds impossible."

"It's the truth Jonathan! He was on fire! And his face it-it was gone, there was nothing but a flaming skull. It was horrible." She began to cry again.

"Ok sweetie." He brought Martha's head to his chest and ran his fingers through her hair. "Please don't cry." He kissed the top of her head. "It's just, how do you know this thing you saw was Clark?"

"It called me mother Jonathan!"

"Ok, ok."Jonathan conceded with a stressed look on his face. "Well regardless of what he looks like right now we have to find him."

At that moment the kitchen door swung open and Clark walked in. Martha turned around and gasped. "Clark!" She ran to him and threw her arms around him. "Oh Clark we've been so worried! What happened?"

Clark scratched his head. "I-I don't know, the last thing I remember Is feeling really hot, almost like I was on fire."

Jonathan gets up off the couch. "Well son from what your mother has told me," he walked over and put his hand on clarks shoulder. "You were."

Clark gave him a confused look. "What do you mean dad?"

Martha looked him in the eyes. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what? All I remember from today is waking up on top of the windmill in Chandler's field. What are you talking about?"

"Come sit down son." Jonathan ushered Clark towards the couch. "We've got some things to talk about."

Clark got a worried look on his face. "This can't be good."

(A few minutes later)

"So, I was actually on fire?" Clark leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yes sweetheart."

"And my face, my face was a skull? And it was on fire too?"

"Mhmm" Jonathan confirmed. "I could hardly believe it myself but your mother was there, she saw the whole thing."

Clark turned to Martha with a scared look on his face. "Mom I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No Clark, I'm not sure if it was you or that thing controlling you, but I didn't feel threatened. It knew who I was." She gave him a small reassuring smile.

"And I've been gone fore the past two days?"

"We've been looking everywhere son, for a flyin fireball you were hiding pretty well."

"I was flying?" Clark eyes widened with shock. He exhaled and stared down at the floor in disbelief. "I hope I didn't hurt anyone."

Martha rubs clarks back sympathetically. "Clark we need to figure out why this happened to you. Is there anything you can think of that might have caused it?"

"I don't know mom." Clark replies. "I haven't fought any meteor freaks in a while, I haven't been having trouble with my powers, maybe this is something jor-el did. I'm sure he's angry that I abandoned him after Lana died." A sadness washed over him at the mention of his lost love.

"That's possible son." Jonathan chimed in. " but it's been a year now since that happened. If Jor-el was going to take revenge on you don't you think he'd have done it by now?"

"We can't put anything past him dad. Maybe I should go to the fortress and confront him."

"You're sure nothing else out of the ordinary has happened sweetie?" Martha interjected.

"I don't think there is an ordinary for me anymore mom." Clark ponders a moment. " I mean I'm an alien with super powers who can't get any rest because I have nightmares every night."

"You know what I meant Clark." Martha pleaded with worry in her eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry. Come to think of it I did have a nightmare that was pretty weird a few nights ago."

(Clark recounts his dream to his parents)

Jonathan scratches his chin. "So you're telling us that in this dream, the devil came to you and tried to make a deal with you?"

"Yes dad." Clark repeated In a frustrated tone. "I send this demon back to hell and in exchange Lana gets her life back."

"And then he manipulated you into accepting."

"Well not entirely." Clark shamefully admitted.

"What?" Jonathan exclaimed and shot an intense glance at his son.

"Dad I wasn't in my right mind okay?" Clark protested. "Yes he tortured me with visions of Lana dying, but even if he hadn't I would still do anything to get her back. Besides none of it was real anyway! Or at least I don't think it was."

Martha looked her son over with worry in her eyes. "What if it was though?" She stated timidly.

"Martha you can't be serious!" Her husband protested.

"Jonathan we all believe in the forces of heaven and hell and their influence in our everyday lives. Who's to say something like this couldn't happen."

"I know what we believe Martha." Jonathan replied frustrated. "I just never thought I'd ever see the day when something like this would actually happen in our world." Jonathan turned his back to them and buried his face in his hand.

Martha walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "We never thought we'd see the day when aliens came to earth either did we?"

Jonathan exhaled, turned around and grinned at his wife. "Look where that got us." He chuckled as they both turned and smiled at Clark.

Clark however did not seem comforted by this. "If this is all really happening, then there is something seriously wrong with me, I need to figure out exactly what it is and how to get rid of it before it hurts someone."

"And how exactly do you expect to do that son." Jonathan asked. "This isn't the kind of information you'll find at your local library, and I doubt there's anything in the good book that could help."

A knock came at the door. "I might be able to help with that." A low rustic voice called through the screen.

Jonathan quickly walked over and pushed it open. "Robert!" He exclaimed.

"Jonathan, Martha." He tipped his cap in greetings. The visitor was an older gentleman but it was obvious he was still in good shape, tall and stout he sported a thick grey mustache on his face. He was dressed in a navy outfit and his jacket and cap displayed the badge of the local fire station.

"Nice to see you again." Martha stated.

"Nice to be seen again." Robert chuckled

"Well what brings you all the way out here?" Johnathan asked. "Would you like to come in? Have something to drink?"

"I'll get you some lemonade!" Martha exclaimed.

"Won't be necessary Martha, thank you though. Actually I came to check up on you two, wanted to see if there was anything else I could do to help find your son." He glanced over at Clark. "looks like ya found him on your own though."

Martha glanced over to Clark. "He came home on his own actually!" She chuckled nervously. " I suppose introductions are in order, Clark this is Mr. Robert Carter. He's one of Smallville's volunteer firemen. He responded to the incident we had here the other day, he also went to great lengths to help us search for you."

Clark walked over to the elder man and extended his arm. "Glad to meet you Mr. Carter. I really appreciate everything you did for mom, dad and myself."

Robert returned the gesture and the two shook hands. "Don't mention it kid. Happy to do my job and make a few friends in the process." A smile appeared from under his thick faicial hair.

"If there's anything we can do to repay you just let us know." Martha called.

"Oh no thanks needed ma'am." Robert called back. "If I could though I'd like to have a word with your boy here, hoping he can give me a little insight into that strange fire you all had. That ok with you Jonathan?"

Jonathan glanced over at Clark, as hard as he tried to hide it he was obviously nervous.

"I'll be fine dad." Clark interrupted. "If I can help Mr. Carter maybe he can prevent this from happening to anyone else."

Jonathan sighed. "Well who could say no to that?"

"You got a good one here Kents." Robert stated. "We won't be long." Clark stepped out onto the porch and followed him down the steps.

"So what can I do for you Mr. Carter?"

"I just have a few questions about that fire."

" I'll try and help but I don't remember anything about the fire itself, only the moments leading up to it."

"Well lets start there then."

"I was just waking up, I wasn't feeling well the night before and slept most of the day."

"Mhmm." Robert scratched his chin."

"I was still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I got out of bed and that's when everything went blank. I may have caught a glimpse of the fire but I don't remember." He replied trying to hide the growing tension in his voice.

"Understandable. You're absolutely sure you didn't notice anything strange? No sounds, or smells? Any little detail could help."

Clark gave him a suspicious look. "For a volunteer fireman you take your job pretty seriously."

A grin crept across Robert's face. "Let's just say I've been working with fire a long time kid. Humor me."

Clark hesitantly replied. "Like I said, I'm sorry but that's all I've got."

"Alright, I believe ya, but how about before the fire? You said you weren't feeling well, what did you mean by that?"

"I had a pretty bad fever, but I don't see what that has to do with any of this." Clark began to get nervous.

"That was no fever kid." Robert mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Clark asked firmly. He took a step back from Robert. "What are you talking about?"

Robert continued speaking to himself, as if Clark wasn't even there. "I didn't remember the first change either, not right away."

"Mr Carter!" Clark grabbed his arm. Robert turned and looked him in the eye.

"It was you." Robert frowned. "You made the deal!"

"Deal? I haven't made any deal, I have no idea wha-" Clark remembers his dream. "I-I had this weird dream the other night."

Robert grabs Clark by the shoulders and looked at him intently. "You saw a man, only it wasn't a man exactly."

"Yeah, he was old and sickly, and his eyes they were strange, they glowed-"

"Yellow." Robert interrupted

"Yeah, how do you know that?" Clark asked.

"That was no dream kid, I think we'd better go back inside. We've got some things to discuss with your parents."

Robert headed towards the porch and Clark hesitantly followed.

(A few minutes later in the living room)

Clark stood up from the couch, walked over to the window and looked out at the world. "So you're telling us it was real?"

"Yeah kid, believe it or not you had a conversation with Hell himself."

"And the part where he said he owns me, that's true too?"

"Seein as how your dumb ass made the deal, yeah, that's real too."

Martha and Jonathan both shot him angry looks. "Excuse me?" Martha spoke up.

"Oh I beg your pardon ma'am." Robert quickly apologized.

Clark turned around to face everyone. "So now I'm the devils slave?"

"More like a bounty hunter. Lucifer only creates riders when he needs something done. Did he say anything about what he wanted from you?"

"He said that a demon escaped from hell."

"And he wants you to put the animal back in it's cage." Robert finished.

"More or less." Clark replied.

"What'd he promise you In return?" Robert asked.

Clark frowned. "Well , there was this girl."

"Say no more." Roberts sighed and put his hand up. How long?"

Clark looked at him confused. "How long what?"

"How long has she been. dead?"

"Just over a year." Clark sadly replied.

"I'm sorry for your loss, but he ain't gonna bring her back."

"How do you know?" Clark retorted.

"Son, were talking about the devil here, you know who that is right?" Robert asked sarcastically. "The king of pain, lies and deceit. He preys on weakness, sorrow and loneliness. He takes advantage of people like you. He's gonna use you and throw you away when he's done. He's not gonna hold up his end."

Clark suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head and had a quick flash back.

"But, I saw her." Clark stated.

"What do you mean saw her?" Robert asked suspiciously.

"I remember now, or at least some of it. When I was changing into that thing, I saw her. She was just standing there watching."

Martha interjected. "When I got there he was calling her name from inside the fire. And when that creature spoke to me it said her name and looked off into the distance. It must have been looking at her."

"Whatever you saw, it wasn't her kid."

"Whatever, what's done is done, now I just need to figure out how to deal with this. I need to learn more about it. You talked about a rider, what's that? Clark asked.

"That thing your mother saw, that thing you turned into, it's called a ghost rider."

"What does it want?" Clark asked nervously

"The rider doesn't want anything, it has a purpose, all it feels is the drive to fulfill that purpose."

"And what purpose would that be?" Jonathan chimed in.

Robert turned to him and spoke a single word, "vengeance."

"Vengeance?" Martha repeated softly.

"A spirit of vengeance to be exact." Robert continued. "Over hundreds of years the spirits of vengeance were created. A righteous soul , a demon forced to do hells dirty work, some were even angels. All these souls were dragged down to hell, twisted and turned, tortured and corrupted and rebuilt into something else. Whenever Lucifer has a problem he needs cleaned up he sends one of them out into the world, the spirit inhabits a human host and a rider is born.

Martha listened to his words, her anxiety growing with each one. "And this spirit, is what causes the host to turn into that gruesome thing?"

"That's what happens when the rider takes control, it causes the host body to take on a much more, frightening appearance."

Clark took a seat as a couple more flashes hit. "I remember the flames, and the pain."

"Don't worry kid the more times you change the less painful it'll get." Robert chuckled.

"This is going to happen again?" Martha inquired.

"Oh yeah, your boy made a deal with the devil, he signed a contract in blood. Until that contract is fulfilled the rider will keep coming out. You'll have trouble controlling it at first, whenever the spirit senses even the slightest injustice, anything from a purse snatching to a murder you'll feel it. It'll claw at your soul, tear you up inside until you give in and let it out. Once you do it'll hunt the perp down relentlessly letting nothing get in its way."

"There's no way to get rid of it?" Clark pleaded

"Afraid not kid. Not till the deal's complete."

Clark buried his face in his hands. "This is unbelievable."

"You can't be serious!" Jonathan spoke up. "The devil's bounty hunter, really? Robert you've gotta be joking."

"I wish I was." Robert reached into his pocket and pulled out a disc. "You got a DVD player?"

"Uh yeah." Clark took the disc from him and popped it into the player. "Why do I get the feeling this isn't going to make me feel better?"

"Just play it." Robert ordered.

Clark hit the play button and the disc loaded up. Everyone focused there eyes on the TV screen.

It was a recording of the early morning news. The anchorwoman read out the first headline."Over the past few days there have been a string of rather violent assaults in the Smallville and Metropolis areas." Her coanchor spoke up. "Assaults? More like brutal attacks. Several victims have been found lying in the streets unconscious, one was found dead."

"The rider did this? I did this?" Clark asked.

"Keep watching kid." Robert ordered.

The anchor continued. "Upon further examination it seems that every victim was a criminal of some sort. Jimmy Matthews a small time thief, Keith Jackson a money launderer and even Theo Payne, the serial killer who's eluded law enforcement for months, have all fallen victim to these rather frightening circumstances. And that's just to name a few. It looks to me like there's a rather violent vigilante prowling our streets, and they are cleaning house."

"Violent may be quite an understatement." The female anchor continued. "From the coroners report and the reports of the hospitalized victims we've learned that each victims eyes appear to be burned out of their skull."

The recording ended there. Clark turned to Robert with a terrified look on his face. "Eyes burned out of there skulls?"

"It's called the penance stare. The greatest weapon in a riders arsenal. It looks down into the victims soul, digs up all the pain and suffering they've ever caused, and turns it against em, makes em feel it.

"So this is really happening then." Martha sighed.

Jonathan turned to Robert. "I guess we have no choice but to believe you, but that doesn't answer one thing. How do you know so much about all this Robert?"

Robert sighed and rolled his sleeve back a few times. "I know about it," he held up his hand and suddenly it burst into flames leaving nothing but bones. "because I've Lived it."