Dream Girl: Chapter 5 - Wake

The hallway was silent and endless. Chloe walked down a tiled floor, looking around for any sign of life. She didn't remember escaping the clutches of the madman with the needle. If she had, why wasn't she running? Moving so quickly as if the devil himself were on her heels? Something wasn't right. Where was she? Chloe thought back to the last time she felt like this. She'd been transfigured into a wax statuette and transported to an empty warehouse along with some other select Smallville High students to re-live their senior year over and over. The plan was concocted by a somewhat mentally unstable boy would had serious issues with change. Unlike this, every door was locked and there were cameras everywhere. Actually, that time there had been doors. This was just an unending hallway, colorless concrete walls on both sides.

Again, she wondered where she was. Up ahead, a door mysteriously appeared. Jogging the last few feet, Chloe twisted the door knob and swung the door open.

The room was dark and empty inside. Chloe stood cautiously in the threshold. Wanting to go forward but not knowing what awaited her, Chloe groped both sides of the door frame for a light switch. When she didn't find one, Chloe took a deep breath and straightened her spine. She took a small step into the room. Nothing came screaming out at her and no one reached out and grabbed her. She took another small step and another. Looking for another door or a way out of this freaky place, Chloe noticed the room was beginning to fill with pale sunlight from windows squeezing their way out from the walls around her. The room was draped in dark colors and the sunlight felt cold against her exposed skin. People were beginning to materialize out of the mist, clumped together in small groups of three or four.

Chloe saw her father standing with her mother. She headed toward them. The two stood alone, arms wrapped around each other, staring out one of the windows into nothingness.

"Mama?" Chloe whispered. "Daddy?" Both parents continued to stare. Chloe longed to stay with them, but she felt something compelling her to move forward, so she did. Chloe spied Lois, Lana, Pete and Mrs. Kent in one corner; in the adjacent corner stood Mr. Kent and Whitney Fordman. Others milled around, some talking, some crying. All people she'd known or seen at one point in her life filled the room. Chloe had an awful feeling she was crashing her own funeral party.

No one took any notice of Chloe as she mingled amongst them. Every group was listening to memories about her. Lois was telling everyone how the two of them busted a Russian Girl Trading scheme. Lana recounted the tale of how she was hard-wired to kill Chloe; instead Chloe ended up kicking her own ass. Mrs. Kent wiped a tear away as she said how much she would miss Chloe's smiling face.

Pete wandered over to Mr. Kent and Whitney, the three discussing how much they would miss Chloe and how Clark would be able to go on without her.

"Pete! I'm right here! I'm not dead!" Chloe exclaimed. No one heard her. Chloe returned to her parents, standing as close to her mother as possible when a sudden hush fell over the room and its occupants. Chloe craned her neck to see what everyone else was seeing and her breath hitched in a very familiar way.

Clark. Dressed in a fine black suit, he walked into the room with a long and purposeful stride. Standing heads and shoulders above the sea of mourners, his eyes swept the room, finally settling on her. Clark's famous smile lit up his handsome face and even as a ghost, Chloe's knees shook. The crowd parted like the red sea, making a path for his feet leading straight to her. After an eternity, Clark arrived to stand before her. Gasps were heard all around them and Chloe knew they could see her now, but she only had eyes for Clark. He looked down at her from his great height, a dark strand of hair falling over his forehead. Clark brought up a hand, caressing her face before cupping her cheek. At his touch, the coldness of her body dissipated, being replaced with a warm feeling of peace.

"What are you doing here?" Clark asked softly, his voice sounding far away. His other hand reached out for hers, entwining their fingers together.

"I was sent here," Chloe answered. She didn't feel almost dead; not with her hand gripped so strongly in Clark's or his thumb swiping back and forth across her cheekbone. Chloe felt more alive than she had in years.

"No. You're not supposed be here yet. You need to go back." Clark withdrew from her, leaving Chloe very bereft and chilled.

"Clark, why-"

"Chloe, go. You're not supposed to be here!" Clark whined urgently, pulling her roughly by the upper arm toward the door.

"Clark-" she began again.

"Now! Go! Run, Chloe, run!" Clark yelled, his eyes blazing as he bore down upon her. The peace Chloe felt earlier permeate her body when Clark entered the room fled, leaving her alone and shaking. Clark released her arm, causing Chloe to stumble through the door. The door slammed shut in her face with an earth shattering crack, causing ceiling tiles to fall to the ground and the floor to shudder underneath her.

Chloe began to run, Clark's yells ringing in her ears. Feeling as if the building and the world was crashing down around her, she ran heedlessly on until her heart beat in her throat and her legs threatened to collapse from under her. As before, a door appeared. Chloe ran into the door, hitting it hard with the heels of her hands, pushing and kicking with all her might.

"Fight. Fight, Chloe! Fight for me!" Clark's voice hammered the inside of her head. Chloe let out a frantic scream as she banged on the door, feeling it splinter under her weight. Chloe fell through and began falling down a black tunnel. She fell faster and faster until upon the point impact, she crashed and her body smashed into oblivion.

Chloe continued to scream as she bolted up right from the hospital bed. Clamping her mouth shut, Chloe bit her lip, tasting blood. She stayed like that until the urge to scream was long past. She huddled on the bed, shaking and gasping for air. Chloe was awake now, no longer in her dream world. Her knees cuddled to her chest, Chloe glanced warily around the room. It was still dark, lit only by the moonlight from the bare window. The walls were devoid of any color or decoration as well. An aluminum cabinet stood in one corner, a door slightly ajar. Chloe saw she rested in a normal hospital bed, complete with steel bed rails and an elevated back rest. Along the side of the bed stood a surgical tray with a bunch of needles that made Chloe all kinds of nervous. With a small whimper, Chloe scooted as far away as possible.

She was still held hostage; she hadn't escaped at all! She just tasted New Death for the first time and didn't like it one bit.

The image of Clark's face swam up from Chloe's nightmare. When he smiled and touched her, Chloe wanted to stay there forever. But it had been a cruel joke, none of it real. Chloe heard a rustling outside the door, no doubt Mr. Mad Scientist coming to check on her. Chloe laid back down and pretended to still be knocked out. The door opened slowly. Someone came to her bedside.

"Still fighting our way back," he whispered. "I was hoping you could be the one to solve the final mystery." The man outlined her face with a finger and feathered his touch down her jaw and to her neck. Chloe fought hard not to flinch as he moved lower down her arm and back up again. Chloe admitted defeat. This was one sticky situation she could not get herself out of.

           
            Over and over, one recurrent thought played itself across her mind. Clark…

            To read Ch. 6, click here.