Dream Girl: Chapter 1 - Seized

Sitting in front of her computer, Chloe stared at the flashing cursor. Along with newspaper articles and medical reports, notes, pieces of paper and post-its of many colors surrounded her, yet there were only two paragraphs on the screen and the article was due tomorrow with a required ten.

Chloe inhaled and then blew the breath out, fluttering her long bangs that were swept sideways across her forehead. Bowing her head, Chloe reached deep back into her brains. Usually her vernacular was right on target, but tonight there seemed to be no words. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Zero.

Chloe raised her head and looked back at her screen. It mocked her. Glaring back at it, Chloe decided thirty more minutes of procrastination wouldn't hurt anything. She glanced at her watch. Ten-thirty. After a short walk around campus to clear her mind and get the creative juices flowing, the eleventh hour should prove to be very fruitful.

While her computer powered down, Chloe quickly scribbled a note to her sleeping dorm-mate. Chloe would hate for Lana to wake up and worry when she wasn't anywhere to be seen. Sliding into her coat, Chloe placed the bright green note where Lana was sure to see it; against the framed picture of Clark kept on Lana's bedside table.

On a whim, Chloe lowered her face so she was eye level with the picture. Her breath caught; as it always did when she saw Clark, paper or live version. As usual, Chloe marveled at Clark's attractiveness. Well-built and strong at over six feet tall, Clark possessed thick, dark, run-your-fingers-through-it hair with deep set blue-green eyes peering out from under shapely brows and a cute little nose just above plump lips which made her mouth water. He was the prettiest man Chloe had ever seen and yet he screamed masculinity. Just being near Clark set Chloe's hormones raging!

But his looks weren't all that made Chloe long for Clark. He was truthful (when it counted), trust-worthy, responsible, charming, funny, to name only a few. The list could go on for miles and in Chloe's mind it did. There was also this thing where Clark could crush granite in his bare hands and throw cars over his head as if they weighed nothing that was a major turn on.

Slowly and quietly, so as not to wake Lana, Chloe took the picture in her hands and rose to her complete five foot two height. The photo was in color and looked as if Clark were standing outside his barn, smiling into the camera; smiling at Lana. The full smile with both dimples and all the white teeth most could not get from him. Love seemed to be radiating from Clark's eyes and for a moment, Chloe allowed herself to dream it was her Clark was looking at.

Lana made a noise in her sleep and Chloe quickly put the picture down, fearful of Lana waking up to catch Chloe ogling her boyfriend. Although Chloe was aware Lana knew about her feelings for Clark, she preferred to make believe she was truly over Clark which was, in fact, a big fat lie. Chloe also had a sneaky feeling both Lana and Clark knew that it wasn't the case either, but never had one of them talked about it to Chloe. A fact she wasn't sure she appreciated or disliked at this moment. Chloe met Clark in eighth grade, five years ago; when Lionel Luthor transferred her father, Gabe Sullivan, out to the Smallville Luthorcorp plant as plant manager for son Lex Luthor. Chloe was devastated over being up-rooted from thriving Metropolis only to be re-deposited in the small town soil of Smallville; the World's Meteor Capital its only claim to fame. But soon she'd met Clark Kent and Pete Ross, the boys quickly becoming her two closest friends. Lana Lang joined the group in the ninth grade after a somewhat rocky start when Chloe accused her of trying to steal the Torch from her (along with Clark, though then and still now, that had never been voiced).

Chloe fell in love with Clark on day one. Day two she kissed him, testing the waters. Later, Clark admitted, quite to his embarrassment, it'd been his first kiss. Although he didn't return the kiss with the gusto in which Chloe gave it, somehow the two teenagers bonded and the kiss led to one of the most trusting and caring relationships Chloe ever had.

Clark loved her completely. Not in the way Chloe loved him, but she knew he loved her in the purest sense. No romantic feelings were involved, though Chloe pretended at times, the Spring Formal their freshmen year being one of those times. Chloe shook her head, refusing to settle into the memory. So many hurts resided in her heart concerning Clark but so many good things outweighed the bad it was hard to remember why seeing him would sometimes cause a sharp prick of pain.

Releasing a breath, Chloe turned to the door, knowing she'd spent precious moments brooding and that was Clark's department. As she grasped the door knob, a tiny beep sounded. Checking her own phone, she heard it again and Chloe once more turned to the interior of the room. After several beeps, she pinpointed the noise coming from below a pile of Lana's dirty clothes. Digging through the pile, Chloe came up with a pair of Lana's jeans; the cell phone in the hip pocket. Chloe took the phone out and flipped the phone open. A text message opened itself instantly on the screen:

"Had a great time today. Love ya. Goodnight."

To Chloe's dismay and confusion, tears filled her eyes. Clark, of course, because who else would be texting Lana such a personal message? Suddenly, a wave of jealously possessed her and to her ever-lasting shame, she hit the delete button. After it erased, Chloe set the phone on the nightstand next to her note and thoroughly disgusted with herself, flew quietly from the room.

Outside the dorm she made her way into the night racked with guilt. Lana was her best friend! Clark was her best friend and the love of her life! She should be happy for them! Much to her chagrin, they made each other happier than Chloe had ever seen them. They were going through a rough patch right now but their love would see them through like all the other times before. But that thought still didn't keep her from feeling jealous and hateful and sad.

Not liking the way her power walk was going, Chloe put the incident behind her in true Chloe fashion. She would deal with and apologize accordingly if it ever came up again.

Chloe breathed in the cold air deeply. She always loved nights that were cold, crisp and clear. Looking up, she gazed at the stars twinkling above her. They were much brighter in Smallville and she thought it a tiny miracle you could see them here. The miracle of the night was not taken for granted by one member of Met U tonight, she thought. Chloe made her way around the well-lit student areas, letting her mind wander. At times she would rein it in, like the times it wandered too close to Clark.

Determinedly, she settled going over what she knew about the case she was currently working on. It seemed there was a new drug ring going around Met U. After a boy in one of her classes was removed due to seizures and vomiting, she'd kept her ear close to the ground and heard a couple of other students were removed for the exact same symptoms.

From a source, she heard there had been five that week and seven the week before. Chloe proceeded to do some digging. Her journalism professor urged them to write articles dealing in the current stream. This time, they were to search out a story on campus, do their own research/undercover work and present it in a month. Chloe had all her information and all the makings of a hard-hitting piece of journalism, but no article. All she had now was the disappointing start of a piece of fiction not even worthy of the pages of the Inquisitor.

Chloe rounded a corner. She turned her head and looked over her shoulder. Swearing she'd heard footsteps behind her, she scanned the perimeter and seeing nothing but the empty and still grounds of Met U continued on. Trying to put sentences together in her mind, Chloe circled back to her dorm building. Looking up at the tall structure she knew her thirty minutes were not going to cut it. Beginning her walk again, Chloe elected to go the other direction, over toward the Student Embassy.

As far as she knew, the drug was called New Death. From what she could dig up and drag out of people, the ring started in mid-August right after classes began, two and a half months ago. It was headed up by two medical students and offered the chance for users to experience death. Some participants told her they visited loved ones who'd gone beyond. Other said they'd gained affirmation for their lives or a glimpse of what the future held for them.

Chloe also learned from the slippery mouth of a student nurse in the infirmary four of the twelve students died a day or so after being brought in. The remaining eight were in a comatose state with very little brain activity. As Chloe usually did, she weeded out another source in the infirmary and he was more than happy to confirm her information and added there had been no histories of seizures in any of the affected users, dead or alive. This little factoid Chloe found to be very interesting.

But the kicker was the drug was in liquid form and glowed bright, neon green. It seemed these dealers were combining some sort of medical narcotic used in the lethal injection along with refined meteor rock. Kryptonite. After discovering that, Chloe threw herself at the case. In a month's time Chloe gathered a plethora of information and planned an entire expose for tomorrow. If only inspiration would hit her and give her the words! As if on cue, Chloe's phone vibrated and she whipped it out of her pocket. Seeing the name on the screen, a smile graced her face, stretching from ear to ear. Opening the text message, she read:

"What are you doing?"

Seemed Mr. Kent was bored out on his farm. Chloe responded, her fingers flying over the keys:

"Taking a walk around campus. Writer's block."

She didn't need to wait long for his response. Along with being able to run at super-speed, he must be able to type out messages speedily. It read:

"What, now? At night? By YOURSELF?"

Chloe laughed out loud. A couple of weeks ago, she'd been possessed by the vengeful spirit of a girl who'd been murdered and then buried behind Lois' bathroom mirror in the Talon's upstairs apartment. Lex and Lois, along with Lana, placed Chloe in Belle Reve, the state's mental institution, for hallucinations after finding out it might be a hereditary illness passed down from her mother. Clark broke Chloe out, bringing the wrath of Lois, Lex and Lana down upon himself for his stunt.

The man who killed the girl turned out to be an orderly at Belle Reve and kidnapped Chloe and then tried to kill Lois when she tried to rescue Chloe. Only when Chloe/Vengeful Girl stabbed the abductor, was Chloe released, the spirit knowing her murderer had been brought to justice. And before that, Lana almost became a member of the Eternal Darkness Committee; head Vampire-ess of a local kiss masquerading as a sorority house at Met U, trying to bring Clark over with her. Chloe couldn't blame Clark for trying to keep tabs on his two favorite gals. Sighing, she typed out her reply:

"Yes, now. Yes, at night. Yes, by myself. Lana is asleep."

Chloe was ever so able to take care of herself. Of course, seeing Clark smash concrete to smithereens kind of gave her some doubts but she had yet to meet a situation where she could not think, talk or distract her way out of. When she did come to the end of her rope, she waited patiently, complied with demands, entertaining herself with all the expressions that would cross the faces when Clark rode to Chloe's rescue. She knew there was no place she could go where Clark could not or would not find her. Clark would go to the ends of the earth to find her. Chloe admitted as long as she had Clark there was no real danger out there for her.

Lana may have Clark's heart, but Chloe had his secret. As long as she was Clark's Secret Keeper, she was a step ahead of Lana; as long as she was Secret Keeper, she'd have Clark. It might not be the healthiest of view-points, but at least she had something of Clark all to herself.

Her phone buzzed again, no doubt telling Chloe that Clark was available at a moment's notice (literally) if she wanted company. But right as her phone had buzzed Chloe saw some sort of shadow flash on the ground in front of her. Chloe stopped and turned, this time sure someone was behind her. She squinted and then out from behind a tree stepped a tall, lanky man. Chloe's heart rate quickened and then started speeding as he began to walk towards her. Chloe turned and began walking faster. No stranger to danger, her eyes began to flick around, looking for a weapon, looking for shelter, anything to use in her advantage.

Nothing.

Finally, she broke into a run with the Student Embassy as her destination just a couple hundred yards away from her. Chloe soon heard the pounding of heavy footfalls behind her and was not surprised when she was overtaken. An arm reached out and caught the sleeve of her coat. Hoping to evade her captor, Chloe began to shrug out of the jacket and make a run for it. Soon another man joined the first and took hold of her other arm. Counting on using their own weight against them, Chloe continued to struggle. Throwing herself to the ground, Chloe felt them follow her, landing with a solid thud. Knowing her small stature would give her some sort of advantage, Chloe was up in a flash and running.

Daring a look behind her, she saw both men were on their feet and gaining fast. Like a miracle, just as the smaller of the two got in range to tackle Chloe, the phone she had somehow kept a hold of during the earlier tussle, began to ring. Arms came out and caught her around the waist as Chloe scrambled to answer the call. She knew it was Clark. She just knew it! Her finger found the right button as Chloe and the man fell to the ground in a scuffle.

"Clark!" Chloe screamed into the deserted night. "Help!"

The second, larger man finally reached them and under his heaving and wheezing, she could hear Clark's own frantic voice.

"She has as phone! Get it!" The man desperately trying to hold Chloe down ordered the larger.

"No! Clark! Help me! Clark!"

The smaller man succeeded in pinning Chloe's arms to her sides as the other yanked the phone out of her grip. The larger man looked down at Chloe, her phone held in his meaty hand, smiling evilly. Chloe could still hear Clark calling her name.

The man raised the phone to his ear and spoke darkly. "Say bye-bye to your girlfriend, Lover-boy."

"Clark!" Chloe cried once before she felt a numbing pain in the back of her skull and she was sucked into inky blackness. 

To read Ch. 2, click here.