Thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter one! It means a lot, especially since this is my first Smallville story C:

Disclaimer: I still don't own Smallville.

"What exactly are we doing?"

Chloe rolled her eyes at the question, refusing to answer as she began examining the tree in front of her.

Lois had been in Smallville for almost a week now, and it hadn't gotten any more interesting. That morning, however, Chloe had promised her they'd be doing something exciting that day. Lois, though, didn't find studying trees very exciting.

"What's so special about this tree?" Lois asked, trying to get something out of Chloe.

Chloe finally caved and answered, "There was an…incident out here late last night. It was in the papers. A girl was found comatose here early this morning, with a weird puncture wound in between her neck and shoulder. She was missing a lot of blood."

Lois raised a doubtful eyebrow. "So…what? Smallville has a case of the vampires?"

Chloe gave Lois a look. "I suspect a meteor freak."

"Oh. Right. The people who get crazy powers from radioactive green rocks that you're obsessed with. How could I have forgotten?" Lois crossed her arms over her chest, glancing around. "Well, I don't think you're gonna find anything here, cuz."

Chloe sighed, tucking her camera back into her bag. "You're right. I'll have to find a lead somewhere else."

"Ah, journalism," Lois commented, following Chloe out of the woods.

"Don't knock it," Chloe insisted, "Journalism's in your blood, Lo."

"I think I'll take a pass on that." Lois frowned as she got the feeling she was being watched, goosebumps crawling over her skin. "Especially if it involves tramping around in the woods looking for vampires."

"Meteor freaks," Chloe stressed.

"Whatever." Lois got the sudden feeling that someone was behind her, but when her head whipped around to look, there was nothing but trees. You're imagining things, she told herself, taking a deep, calming breath.

"Did you find anything about our blood-stealing friend?" Pete asked, leaning back in his seat.

Chloe sighed, shaking her head and idly stirring her coffee. "No. There was no trace of anything out of the ordinary happening out there."

"I don't get how you guys are so used to this," Lois commented. "You're acting like it's normal that someone could just wake up one day and want to suck the blood out of people."

"In Smallville, it is normal," Lana told her as she set Lois's coffee down in front of her. "A couple more weeks here, and you'll see it as normal too."

Lois scoffed. "No offense, Lana, but I don't think I'd ever want to get used to any life than had an extended involvement with super-powered criminals."

"That's a part of Smallville," Chloe put in with a shrug.

"Good thing I'm not staying, then," Lois muttered, taking a long sip of her drink.

"Good thing," Clark repeated, crossing his arms over his chest.

Lois threw a scowl at Clark before frowning at her drink. "I think I forgot to ask for sugar." She stood up, taking her drink to the counter. "Hey, Lana, can I get some sugar?"

"Can I?" a voice asked from beside her.

Lois turned, raising an incredulous eyebrow. Her gaze met tall, dark, and handsome in the flesh. He gave her a smile and his white teeth glinted in the light. "Wanna say that again?"

His grin grew and he leaned on the counter casually. "I asked if I could have some sugar. Just like you did."

"Cute."

"I thought so." He offered her his hand, saying, "I'm William. Are you new around here? I'm sure I'd remember you."

Lois took his hand, shaking it a little harder than was necessary, but he didn't wince. "Lois. Nice line."

William chuckled, but before he could say anything else, Lana appeared with the sugar Lois had requested. "Sorry, Lois."

"No problem, Lana," Lois assured her with a smile.

"So," William prompted, "Where are you from?"

Lois gave him a look, pouring a generous amount of sugar into her coffee. "Not Smallville. I can tell you that right now."

William grinned, following Lois when she began heading back to the table. "I hope this isn't too forward of me, but would you be interested in going out sometime?"

Lois paused, turning back around to face him. "Hmm… Will you be using cheesy lines the entire time?"

"Only if you want me to."

Lois pressed her lips together to hide a smile. "Alright. When?"

"Tomorrow night? We can meet here at seven."

"Sounds good." Lois turned to head back to the table, throwing over her shoulder, "See you tomorrow."

As she approached the others, Chloe asked, "Did I just see you talking to a senior?"

"Is he?" Lois asked, sliding back into her seat. "He asked me out for tomorrow night."

"Get out!" Chloe grinned, giving Lois a playful shove. "You've only been here a week and you're already being asked out."

"It's what I do, Chlo," Lois teased, taking another, much better sip of her coffee. Neither seemed to notice Clark's suddenly sour demeanor.

"How do I look?" Lois asked as she came down the stairs.

Clark, Chloe, and Pete all looked up from the movie they were watching in the Sullivan's living room. Lois did a little turn, showing off her short skirt and tight red tank top with a black jacket over it.

"You look great, Lo," Chloe assured her, grinning. "As always."

"Is that all you're wearing?" Clark asked.

Lois fisted her hands on her hips, glaring at Clark. "It's the middle of the summer, Smallville. I'm not going to wear a parka."

"Still," Clark muttered, slouching in his seat and rolling his eyes.

"Well, I'm off," Lois said, heading for the door. She glanced over her shoulder to give Chloe a wink. "Don't wait up, cuz."

As she was shutting the front door behind her, she heard Clark asking, "What does she mean by that?"

Lois rolled her eyes, a slightly fond smile on her face.

"So, you're saying that you beat a Russian at a drinking game?" William asked, his eyes almost as wide as his grin.

Lois nodded, smirking. "I may have had a little help from a secret ingredient, though."

William raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Oh? Do tell."

"Oh no." Lois shook her head. "That's something I don't tell until the third date."

"Darn," William teased, a mock disappointed look on his face. "I guess I'll just have to go out with you on two more dates."

"If I let you, big boy," Lois teased back. She paused in front of her uncle's house, nodding at it. "Well…this is me."

William glanced up at the house before back at Lois. "Do…do you maybe want to go for a walk?"

Lois bit her lip, taking a quick look at her watch before nodding. "Sure. A walk couldn't hurt."

"I know this great place. It's beautiful and quiet. You don't have to worry about running into other people," William told her, leading the way down the sidewalk.

"Sounds peaceful," Lois commented.

"It is." William reached over, taking Lois's hand in his. She glanced at him, but didn't say anything or try to take her hand back. They walked in silence for a bit as they left the houses and people of Smallville behind, heading into the woods Lois had been in with Chloe just yesterday morning.

"It's…uh…kind of dark in here," Lois said, blinking to try and adjust to the sudden darkness. It had been dark last time, but at least then the sun had been shining and could be seen somewhat through the foliage. At that moment, even the moon was hiding behind the clouds.

"Mhm," William agreed quietly. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to Lois. "Lois, has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful?"

Lois chuckled. "How can you tell? We can barely see each other."

She felt William getting closer, felt the heat radiating off of him. "You smell so…good…" he whispered, leaning down. Lois instinctively tilted her chin to receive his kiss, his lips soft and insistent against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, felt his hands on her waist. She felt him pushing her back against a tree, felt the rough bark against the backs of her legs and through her clothes, but didn't care.

Eventually, William's mouth left hers, trailing down her chin to her neck. She felt his mouth opening against her skin and held back a soft moan. However, in the next moment, there was a sharp sting, almost like a needle, piercing her skin.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Lois demanded, planting her hands on his chest and trying to push him away.

However, William held on, his teeth digging into her flesh. Lois let out a shriek as pain tore through her body. Still, she kept trying, to no avail, to push William off of her. It was no use. He was too strong.

Lois's resistance faded as her strength did, her eyes falling closed against their will. She was going to die here, in the middle of nowhere at the hands of some freak enhanced by meteor rock. What a way to go out.

Suddenly, William was gone and Lois slumped back against the tree. "Am I dead?" she asked herself, but then caught sight of two shadows fighting in the woods before her, the moon passing from behind the clouds aiding her sight. She squinted, groggily trying to figure out what was happening. She heard a cry of pain before she saw a shadow standing before her. She glimpsed a glint of brilliant blue before she passed out.

"Lois?"

Lois blinked, her vision slowly returning. The first thing she saw was Chloe standing over her, concern etched into her features. When Lois's eyes opened, relief took over Chloe's face. "Chlo?" Lois asked, her voice hoarse.

"Thank God," Chloe muttered, wrapping her arms around Lois as well as she could. "I thought I'd lost you, Lo."

"Can't get rid of me that easily," Lois teased, putting the thoughts she'd had about dying in the back of her mind. "What the hell happened?"

"You met the most recent meteor freak. Our vampire friend." Chloe gave her a sympathetic smile. "We've all fallen for their fake charm before, Lo."

Lois shook her head before wincing at how much that made her neck burn. "I should've known when he asked me to take a walk where no one would find us."

Chloe chuckled, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Yeah, probably."

The door to the hospital room opened and Clark entered tentatively. "Oh, you're awake."

"Hoping I wouldn't wake up, Smallville?" Lois asked teasingly.

Clark gave her a look, coming up on her other side. "Of course not." He gave her a slight smile. "I'm glad you're okay, Lois."

"Are you going to tell me that you always knew he was bad news?"

Clark's lips twitched. "I won't say it."

Lois gave him an eyeroll. "Oh, shove it, Smallville."

"So," Chloe started, "How did you get away? His other victim…she died from all the blood loss. But, you got away somehow before he could take that much blood."

Lois thought back to when she'd tried to push William off, when he'd begun draining her blood and she'd become weak. "I wasn't strong enough to push him off," she explained, "I tried but I couldn't. I…I gave up eventually. I just got so tired and weak. Then, he was just…gone."

"Gone?" Chloe repeated with a frown.

"Gone," Lois confirmed.

"No one…helped you?" Clark asked almost hesitantly.

Lois gave a careful shrug, taking care not to hurt her neck wound. "Not that I saw." She turned to Chloe. "So, when can I leave this hellhole? I hate hospitals."

"Yet you always end up a patient in them," Chloe put in with a grin. "The doctor said that you can leave when your neck heals up a little bit and you regain your strength."

Lois rolled her eyes and groaned. "In other words, not today."

"No, not today," Chloe agreed. "But at least you can leave."

Lois glanced at Clark before agreeing, "You're right, Chlo. I was lucky."