Dream Girl: chapter 19 - Specter
Her breath quickened as she walked down the dark hallway toward the hazy light at the end. She could feel someone behind her, following her, stalking her. She could feel it between her shoulder blades like a drop of sweat rolling down her back. She turned and looked but all she saw was the darkness lurking behind her. Facing forward again, she continued. She knew if she could only get to the light she'd be safe. The only problem was the closer she got to it, the light always seemed to move just beyond her reach. She stopped in the middle of the hallway. It was useless to try and go to the light. How many nights had she been here? She knew what would happen next. She would get to the warm, yellow light and then it would fade away. She'd turn back and there he would be, standing there with his murderous needle and his demonic smile. She would scream and scream but nothing would save her. She turned to face him, a woman resigned to her black fate. He was there, like always. Except this time, someone else was there, too.
"No..." Chloe whispered. The mad doctor was sticking his needle deep into Clark Kent's neck. The big form of her best friend was limp as Carter Hogan pumped the never-ending green solution into his veins; his sculpted face contorted in pain.
"Stop! You must stop! You'll kill him!" Chloe cried. She ran at the man but he slapped her away like a fly. Chloe landed in a broken heap on the floor.
"You should have stayed where you were," Hogan sneered. "This would have never have happened if you had stayed with me." His voice crawled along her skin, sending chills to her toes.
"What do you want? I'll do anything, just stop hurting him!" Chloe exclaimed as she regained her feet.
"Why? Why would you do that for him? He doesn't love you." Hogan's voice filled the hall, washing over Chloe in a powerful whisper.
"But I love him. Please, stop. Leave him alone. Take me!" Chloe dropped to her knees, her arms outstretched, offering herself.
"He seems like a much more interesting subject. Why is that?"
"I don't know," Chloe whispered weakly, her bottom lip quivering.
"Yes, you do. What is he hiding? What are you hiding for him?" Hogan questioned, a deadly glint in his eye.
"Nothing. Nothing at all. He's nothing," Chloe assured the man.
"I don't believe you. He is something special."
"No he's not," Chloe repeated vehemently. "He's just Clark Kent."
"The man you love."
"Yes... Yes he is. I love him. Please, I'm begging you," Chloe choked through her tears.
"No, I think I'll kill him," Hogan told her calmly.
"No! You can't do that! Take me!" She screamed as the man plunged the needle deeper into Clark's neck, causing him to let out a shout of pain. "Why won't you take me?!"
"Why you? Why not him? This man who abandoned you? Ignored you? Treated you carelessly? Why?!" The man shouted with a force that made Chloe tremble.
"Because I love him!" Chloe screamed back, surprising herself with the intensity of her feelings. "Because he's going to do even more amazing things than I ver could! Extraordinary things that you can't even dream of!"
"Well then, in that case..." He removed the needle slowly. Chloe began to breathe again. "He'll just have to die faster."
"No!" The needle was thrust back into the thick column of Clark's throat. His eyes opened wide as he began to choke on blood seeping out of his mouth.
"Clark! Clark! Clark!" Chloe screamed over and over. Something gripped her shoulders and began to pull her away.
"No! I can't leave him! Clark!"
"Chloe! Chloe! Chloe! Wake up!" Suddenly Chloe was being hurtled in the air. She opened her eyes. Looking wildly around, Chloe found she was in Clark's room, in his bed, tangled in sheets and blankets. The hall light flooded the room through the open doorway. Chloe was flat on her back and looked into the frightened eyes of Clark, who was leaning over her, shaking her violently out of her nightmare. Mrs. Kent came running in and her face joined Clark's in Chloe's line of sight.
"Chloe? Sweetie, are you all right?" Martha asked with concern, taking in Chloe's sweaty hair and flushed face.
"I'm fine. Just a dream. That's all," Chloe gasped as she pushed Clark away and sat up, putting her back against the sturdy headboard and sucking in lung filling breaths of air.
"Sounded more like a nightmare," Clark commented as he lowered himself down onto the side of the bed, a strong arm on the other side of her legs as he leaned toward her.
"I'm going to run down and get you a glass of water," Martha said. She was gone in a swish of robe before Chloe could refuse. Clark moved up closer to Chloe, putting a large hand on her knee.
"Chloe, what was that?" Clark asked again.
"It was just a dream, Clark. Nothing more. People from this planet have dreams; sub-conscious manifestations of our Freudian desires," she snapped at him.
"Don't do that, Chloe. I know it was a nightmare. You started screaming bloody murder. And you continued to scream until I finally shook you so hard you teeth rattled."
"Here you go. Drink this." Martha handed the glass to Chloe, watching her small hand tremble as it grasped the glass. Chloe took a long sip.
"Thank you, Mrs. Kent. I'm sorry I woke you. I'm fine now, I promise," Chloe smiled weakly at Martha Kent.
"It's okay." Martha put her hand on Chloe's shoulder. "I'm going back to bed. Goodnight, kids." She gave out kisses again and walked away down the hall to her room. Clark turned back to Chloe.
"We're not done yet, are we?" Chloe asked quietly as she set the glass on the nightstand next to the bed. Clark took in the jewelry and the bottle of lotion that had taken up residence there. His heart did a funny leap. He looked back at Chloe.
"No, we're not. Why were you screaming my name? What was going on?" Clark questioned Chloe as she looked up at the ceiling, tears filling her eyes.
"Gosh," She groaned as she wiped them away. "It seems all I have been doing lately is crying!" Chloe settled her hands back in her lap. She looked back up at him, biting her bottom lip as a tear ran down her cheek.
"I've been having this nightmare since I first woke up in the hospital. Before it was always just me running down a long hall toward this light but never reaching it. When I finally get tired I stop and turn and there he is. I've been dreading falling asleep for the past couple of nights because I know he's waiting in my dreams. Tonight was the same, except this time it was different," Chloe took a breath. "When I turned around, you were there and he was feeding you that kryptonite needle."
Clark took Chloe's small hand in his and with his newfound patience, he waited for her to continue on.
"We argued and then he killed you," Chloe paraphrased, the pain in her eyes almost too much to bear. "Then I was being pulled away but I didn't want to leave you, Clark. Not dying in the middle of that hallway." Chloe's soft voice broke and for the fifth night in a row, the sobs she cried hurt her ribs. But this time, she wasn't alone. Clark gently pulled her to him, cradling her like a child in his arms. Too exhausted to care or think of the reasons why this was a bad idea Chloe snuggled up to her favorite spot on Clark's chest; near his strong heart beat soothing her frazzled nerves.
"I guess I always thought you were invincible. But seeing you lying there on that concrete floor in the warehouse reminded me that there are things out there that can hurt you," Chloe continued on, talking out all the rambled thoughts in her head. Thoughts she'd always been on the verge of speaking. "You're not invincible. You're not unbreakable. And as much as I would like to pretend you are, I know you're not. No matter how many tons you can lift or how high you can jump. I'd be lost without you, Clark. I never want to know what it's like to not have you in my life."
Clark laid his cheek against Chloe's soft blonde hair and inhaled her spicy scent. Nothing else would suit her. His mom always smelt like roses and fresh laundry. Lana had a musky vanilla scent that was heavy in his nostrils. Chloe smelt like life and heat; light yet powerful.
"I can't tell you that I'll always be here. If there's one thing I've learned from my life, it's that you never know what may happen next; what lucky or unlucky coincidence will present itself in your path. What I can tell you, Chloe Sullivan, is that no matter what, I will try to be there for you. Like you've been there for me all these years," Clark said as he laid a sweet kiss on the top of her head.
The two sat quietly for a while until Chloe began to doze off. Carefully Clark shifted Chloe to the side so he could rise from the bed.
"Clark?" He heard a sleepy whisper.
"Hey, I didn't mean to wake you," Clark whispered back as he looked down on her. "I'm going back downstairs." He brushed the hair away from her face in a parting gesture. Chloe began to sit up.
"Clark?" Chloe called out, her voice a tender wisp.
"Yeah?" He said from the doorway. Chloe looked down at her hands and then back at him. His jersey engulfed her and one side of the neck fell off her shoulder revealing her smooth skin. She gazed back at him, some of her blonde hair hiding one eye. Clark felt a hitch in his pulse rate.
"Would you mind staying? Just for tonight?" Chloe asked innocently.
"Chloe, I-"
"I'll keep my hands to myself. Promise." Chloe held up both hands in surrender.
"It's not you I don't trust, Chloe. I'm in the same boat you're in. We don't know where we stand with each other and it's too late right now to have that discussion. But I'll stay if you really want me to," Clark replied with feeling.
"I do. I do want you to stay. I want to feel safe. I need to feel safe. And I find safety with you," Chloe said simply.
"Then I'll stay," Clark said. After turning the lights off, he climbed timidly back into his own bed. Clark's back was to the door and Chloe snuggled to his side, holding his hand across her stomach. Clark curved his body around Chloe's, feeling a peace settling upon him with her slender form next to him.
Chloe began to drift soon. She forced herself not to fight slumber. With the strength of her best friend's arms around her and the knowledge he would be there throughout the night in case trouble broke, Chloe finally let herself fall into the magical realm of REM cycles.
To read Ch. 20, click here.