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Lex raised his gun and braced himself. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he couldn’t let Chloe hurt anyone. His hand shook. His eyes blurred. His body trembled. He couldn’t do this. “Chloe.” Despite Lex knowing that he had to do this he couldn’t. His hesitation cost him the thing that was more precious to him than anything his money had ever brought him. His life.
oh WOW! I loved the beginning description of Chloe, Ava! It was amazing! I loved the way that she was described as a terrifying, unstoppable, monster! Filled with nothing but rage, hatred and an uncontrollable blood lust. It was especially fantastic seeing Lex’s reaction to the monster, his comprehension that he was about to die, and there was no way for him to ‘negotiate’ his way out of this situation.
But, even with this kind of ‘fight or flee’ adrenaline coursing through him, Lex STILL couldn’t bring himself to hurt the monster… because he still saw it as ‘Chloe’. And even in self-defence, he can’t bring himself to harm her. Wow! He really DOES love her above and beyond the love he bears for himself.
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Lex felt Chloe’s fangs rip into his hand. The gun fell to the side. He couldn’t reach it. Chloe released Lex’s hand and went straight for his throat. After she ripped his throat out, Chloe moved to the soft of his belly and began shredding. Lex remembered being with her. The way that her tongue had danced over his throat. The way that that she gently nipped him and had him begging for more. She would lave the mark in time with the movement of her hips. He had loved the way she had made him feel. It was a sharp contrast when measured against his time with Lana and those other women.
Lex remembered how she had moved from his throat down his chest. To continue the work of her tongue on his belly. And then lower. To remember the loving passion of that night and to feel this violation…this pain as she had brutally ripped out his throat and moved to his belly was worse than death.
ROTFLMAO! Oh dear me, Ava! You amaze me! I’ve been asking for a ‘rough sex’ segment forever, and you surprise me with this twisted version of my wish? LOL! Brilliant! I loved the sick, twisted way that Lex likens Chloe’s violation and ravaging of his body to a ‘memory’ of her enrapturing and ravishing him.
I wonder whether that was Lex’s way of trying to turn his mind away from the horror of what was happening to him? Although it seems like the contrasting difference between the two physical encounters only made Lex’s suffering now all the more horrific. Heh… trust Lex to torture his mind when his body is already at the limits of physical pain.
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All Lex felt was the blood gushing from his throat. He couldn’t breathe. It was an excruciating pain that lasted for two minutes. It was an eternity. The last thing Lex felt was not the pain from his wounds, but the pain of knowing that the person he loved most in the world had ended his life. That she would live without him.
Through the haze of blood, Lex saw her rear back from his body. Lex turned his head and surveyed their surroundings. Nothing moved. Nothing lived. It was a grisly scene of destruction and the horror would stay with the patrolman that would eventually discover the scene. He watched as Chloe left him and ran to the fields. He was alone and nothing would ever change that.
It made me shudder to watch Lex dying right in front of me. Especially since I could see that he didn’t even have the numbing comfort of shock to alleviate his suffering, it seems like he felt pain right until his last moment.
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Lex jack-knifed into a sitting position. His chest was heaving. Feeling the unpleasant oiliness of the sweat on his own skin, Lex looked wildly around the room. The dream had been so real. So all consuming. Lex knew he was awake, but it felt wrong…surreal. As if the other world crafted in his mind was the true world and this was nothing more than an echo.
ROTFL! Actually, I guessed that it was a dream from the second paragraph of the beginning sequence. It was very vivid and visceral, and SEEMED very real, but it was too disconcerting a jump in plot to be anything but a dream ;)
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The sexual aspect of the dream had completely boggled his mind. He and Chloe had never had sex before and the summer they spent working to bring down his father was all business. They had gotten close, but it had been friendship and nothing more. The feeling that it could have been more asserted itself. Lex had to destroy that line of thinking because it would bring nothing but misery. He couldn’t understand why his mind would supply such a scenario; especially in a relentlessly violent dream. A fantasy would have been another matter entirely; a very welcome matter. Chloe was beautiful and he was a healthy male. “It’s just stress.” Lex would tell himself that until he couldn’t.
I appreciated Lex analysing his dream and what it revealed about his psyche. I’ve got the impression that he’s not the sort of person to go for deep introspection (he’s afraid of all those ‘here be monsters’ areas inside his head), but this is the kind of dream that demands at least token attention and analysis, LOL! It makes sense that the violent aspect of Lex’s dreams comes from his still unresolved fear of Chloe… and also, I suspect, his guilt over his complicity in her current condition. A part of him might think that he deserves to have his throat torn out by her? Ouch!
Oooh, the sexual aspect of the dream interested ME greatly too :D
I was a little puzzled about their history as recounted by the ‘memories’ in the dream, until Lex revealed that those were only false memories implanted by the dream, and that he and Chloe in fact never crossed the line into anything more than briefly allied acquaintances.
But it’s fascinating to see how Lex’s guilt somehow got all wrapped up in his desire and longing for Chloe in the dream. Those are some VERY complicated emotions he harbours for the blonde. LOL! Of course it figures that he’s not going to allow himself to think too deeply about it… he dismissed the whole sexual aspect of the dream as an ‘entertaining fantasy’, disregarding his obsessive lust, desire, longing for her.
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Lex spent half an hour in his shower before he felt the normal pressure to face his day. There were a few business propositions that he needed to go over, but those could wait. Today Lana had a doctor’s appointment and he would not miss it. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something wrong. Despite the many other things that had been going wrong with his interactions with Chloe, he had noticed that she seemed wary and uncommonly jittery in Lana’s presence. He’d even noticed it with Clark on the few occasions he had been able to observe the two. Despite his suspicions and reservations, there was nothing he could do and he would support the mother of his child. No matter what.
his suspicions and reservations? What exactly does he suspect about the situation? That the child might not be his, and that everyone knows it but him? It wouldn’t be too far-fetched a theory.
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His competitive drive helped him out of more situations than he could remember, but with her it wasn’t there anymore. He’d looked for that drive ever since he buried his father and it just wasn’t there for him anymore. Lex didn’t need any other indicator to tell him that he and Lana were over and that all that was left was for one of them to say the words. At this point, it was a demented game of chicken.
ROTFLMAO! Oh that was twisted, sad, pitiful and HILARIOUS, Ava! A demented game of chicken where both of them are waiting for the other to declare the relationship to be ‘hopeless’. LOL! I loved that visual of two procrastinators waiting each other out, waiting for the other to admit to failure, as if that signifies ‘winning’ somehow. Sad, sad, SAD… and funny as hell!
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As Lex left the room to find Chloe, he considered Lana Lang. The singular fact that repeatedly made itself known to him and Clark was that she didn’t deserve either of them. She didn’t deserve the lies and the hits her self worth took by being with either of them. She didn’t deserve that kind of discontent no matter her faults.
She deserved Whitney Ford or Jason Teague or even Pete Ross. Men who would honestly show her that she was more than what this town thought. That she was more than what she thought herself to be. It was mildly depressing that he couldn’t cast her as the villain of the piece. He really wished that he could be dishonest with himself in this matter, but Lex found that he didn’t want to devote any more mental consideration to this than absolutely required. The entire situation had gotten so far out of control that denying it would be more destructive than blowing it up.
I loved all your observations about Lana in this chapter, Ava! How the whole town had basically cast her in this role of a ‘tragic princess’, so that’s partially how she drifted into this personality and mind-set that keeps her rather ‘limited’ as a growing person. How the entire town treated her (her entire friggen LIFE) with the kind of (usually short-term) coddling that one tends to give to the intensely grief-stricken, until she grew up with that damnable sense of arrogance and entitlement.
And I LOVED Lex’s sad and grim observation that both he and Clark treated Lana like an object. Granted, an object of ultimate desire, but still an object and a symbol no less, rather than as a person. It seems like everyone contributed to turning Lana into the spoiled princess she is today, incapable of making any real friends, attachments or commitments. The poor girl has been cheated out of a chance to grow, and now there’s a good chance that it might be too late for her to learn that the world in fact does NOT revolve around her. Let’s hope she never leaves Smallville and finds out differently.
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He passed Mercy on the way to his office and she fell into step with him. Mercy never walked fully behind him, but she was always a half step off of his gait. He’d seen her do it with his father and a few others who had her in their employ at one time or another. It never mattered if they deliberately walked quickly or went at a snail’s pace. She was always right there reminding them that she was dangerous and was there to help.
I just love the very scary, intimidating, hard and merciless picture you’ve painted of Mercy, Ava! She’s exactly the killer, semi-robot I imagines from classic canon. Brilliant!
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She stopped when he did and gave him a cursory glance before her eyes met his own. Mercy held up her hand and began ticking points off of them, “Your shoes aren’t shined, you wore that suit two days ago, and Felix Dandridge called. Twice. And you have yet to answer him. I don’t trust Langston and I’m not supposed to do so. I say all that to point out the fact that you are distracted,” Mercy invaded his personal space, “I never question a client’s personal life as long as I can do my job. Get your house in order, Luthor, so I can do my job.”
Mercy executed a sharp military about face, walked away and tossed over her shoulder, “By the way, I changed all of your pass codes on all of your computers yesterday and installed a new security suite. New access codes are in your lock box.”
No other person could dismiss him quite like she could. Shaking his head, he continued the trek to his office.
ROTFL! No other person, Lex? Not true! I’ve seen the way Chloe dismisses you when she’s busy with ‘more important matters’ in your presence. Mercy’s dismissal is nothing compared to the ice-queen treatment that Chloe can deliver, ROTFL!
But that being said, I loved seeing the way Mercy bullies Lex. She’s actually playing a great ‘Lionel like role’, disdainfully listing out all of Lex’s mistakes, indiscretions, faults AND the cracks in his mask… and then basically telling him how SHE will go about fixing HIS mistakes. LOL! I don’t know how Lex lucked out in hiring her, but it was immense good fortune for him to get this scary lady on his side.
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As he watched the gentle rise and fall of her back with each breath, her muscles visibly shifted to settle into the correct pattern of a more human Chloe. The general size and shape of her body slowly crept closer to its normal configuration. Lex didn’t know if this was happening as a natural function and gradual resolution to the traumatic shift from wolf to human; or if it was because she was asleep and didn’t have anywhere near the control she had while awake and so her body randomly changed.
He did note that her body might be doing this as a way to get her more comfortable. Chloe wouldn’t need to toss and turn as much if her muscles shifted to alleviate various pressures from being in one position or from being on a sleeping surface that was too hard or soft. “Intriguing.” It would be something to ask her later. Lex was fairly certain that she wouldn’t become angered over this question. It was something that should be brought to her attention.
Wow! That WAS fascinating! I loved this whole sequence of Chloe slooowly shifting back into human shape while she was sleeping. I wonder how long has it been since she fell asleep on the couch? I wonder whether her dreams are shifting from a sensory wolfy experience to some more ‘human’. Was she too tired to shift back into human before falling into a deep sleep, or is it regular practice for her to collapse into bed in wolf form and wake up human?
I really enjoyed Lex’s geek-gasm glee and fascinating in seeing Chloe shifting. LOL! He didn’t even take a moment to appreciate her nakedness before he lost himself in observing tendons, shifting muscles and strangely arranged joints. LOL! And he’s already begun devising some questions to ask her when she wakes up. He’s being very careful about WHAT questions to ask her, wary of causing offence, but his curiosity is just too strong to keep him discrete and quiet forever, LOL!
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Chloe abruptly stopped being aggressive and began a soothing, gentle rumble that he could feel in his bones. It relaxed every muscle in his body as though he had just seen a masseuse. Whatever tensions that he carried over from his earlier realizations were removed. He felt light and nothing mattered except that she was on top of him and felt so good.
She leaned forward and down and nuzzled his neck. He heard and felt her face shift. The fangs he knew she had grazed his neck. Her hand moved over his heart and Lex inhaled and exhaled sharply. As soon as he did so, Chloe reared back. Before he even knew what had happened, Chloe had taken her blanket, wrapped herself in it once more, and was across the room with her back to the window. “What the hell?”
Wow! In light of his nightmare, I would have thought Lex would have panicked at suddenly being violently pulled in a submissive and vulnerable position under Chloe. I think he WOULD have panicked, if he hadn’t heard what I firmly believe was a soothing ‘mate growl’. LOL! I wonder how long before Lex guesses that these soothing, complementary noises that get him relaxed and tingly at the same time are meant to be mating calls?
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He could see the faint outline of the normal green of her eye, but the gold still overshadowed it. The only consolation was that she wasn’t feral and he wasn’t going to be horribly eviscerated. There was still menace in the air, but he didn’t think it would be the kind that ended in violence unless he did something stupid. It was then and there that Lex decided that maybe he should install cameras in this room. Before he lost himself in his ruminations, Lex focused on the situation at hand.
*rolls eyes* Didn’t Chloe specifically warn you against having cameras designed to capture her ‘strangeness’, Lex? Has he already forgotten everything she told him… that recording her shifting and movements might eventually put her in danger? Let’s hope he remembers all of Chloe’s entreaties and warnings before he orders a technician in the study.
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Then it got weirder and far more disturbing because when she nuzzled Lex’s neck, she had smelled his unique scent; but then he exhaled and Chloe smelled Lana. The smell became a taste that settled on the back of her tongue. Lex was marked as hers and that fact made her want to rip Lex’s throat out. But something was really wrong with the way that he smelled. “How did her scent become so thoroughly enmeshed with his?” Chloe could barely discern his own unique scent under Lana’s cloying one.
She’d smelled sex before and it didn’t obliterate the natural scent of the participants. The feeling of Lana being wrong permeated his skin. Something was terribly wrong and she didn’t understand it. Chloe might’ve been able to think more on the matter but the wolf was so close that she couldn’t focus on anything other than the fact that he smelled strongly of Lana.
Heh… at least Chloe’s inner-wolf didn’t get violent at seeing signs of her potential mate being marked by another. Does this mean that the inner-wolf actually believes in wooing rather than just claiming? That’s VERY good news for Lex (and Chloe) because I don’t know how they’d respond to inexplicable dominance and violence erupting between them.
Hmmm, dominance and violence power play sex games… mmmmmmm!!!! :D
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Lex took a step towards her and she turned from him to face the window, “You know, Lex. You know what it feels like to hate your own skin. To see something in yourself that you can’t accept.”
ouch! Harsh! And also sad to see that Chloe still feel self-loathing whenever she contemplated what she’s become. I wonder whether she would feel better knowing how Lex was filled with so much AWE and wonder seeing her looking so beautiful from his window last night. LOL! But then again, he went to sleep and dreamt of a monster tearing out his throat that exact same night :P
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Lex was incredulous. He was about to do something he almost never did and she didn’t want it from him. The realization came that he didn’t really deserve it, but he had thought that they were slowly making progress. The one time in his life that he genuinely felt contrition for something he had done and was prepared to own it was the time that the person he wanted most to unburden to was not accepting it. It hurt. It was another failure.
wow! I’m amazed by how well and easily Chloe can read Lex. Not only did she understand that he was about to take a MAJOR step with her, she also understood the reasons why that major step wasn’t enough of a concession for his sins.
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Chloe turned her body to face the window. She gently caressed it. Her voice was soft when she spoke to him again, “Lana is many things. Often times callous. Sometimes generous, but she is honest. She is what she is and has never tried to apologize for it. Lana is incapable of empathy and it’s a function of the kind of parent Nell was to her…of how everyone chooses to deal with her. But it’s not because she’s malicious. You, Lex, are incapable of empathy because you choose not to feel it. It’s something conscious on your part. It’s a function of your Lionel induced insecurities and your own unique brand of arrogance. That’s why I don’t particularly want to hear those words from you until you can tell me why you feel them.”
wow! That was… an excellent, insightful and stunning point! It’s all true, isn’t it? In a way, Lana (and even Lionel come to think of it) can be more easily forgiven for being selfish, self-serving, self-absorbed, greedy and arrogant than Lex, because she honestly doesn’t know any better way to behave. But LEX… HE should know better, because he’s actually more intelligent as well as empathic. Chloe is right that he doesn’t have any excuse for acting the way he does. That was a brilliant observation, Ava! Loved it!
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Lex knew what she was doing. If he named them, he couldn’t hide from it anymore. She wasn’t going to let him. But she said what he had wanted to hear from so many people in his life. She was telling him that she wasn’t going to make him do all the work in whatever relationship they had at the moment. That she would accept him, but only if he accepted her. Lex also noted that she wouldn’t let him skate by. Chloe would try for him if he would extend the same courtesy. This was the best he could hope for because he had no doubt that the wolf was more than willing to make demands that all amounted to him doing whatever she said.
Nice! Lex actually understood Chloe’s ‘bargain’ in the spirit in which it was offered. He understood, and agreed to her conditions. In fact, it seems like he’s even grateful to her for being so strict, merciless and ruthless in her ‘handling of him’. Mostly because he understands that Chloe wouldn’t be bothering to go through this trouble unless she actually cared about the kind of person that he was becoming. And he well SHOULD be grateful for it. Chloe’s going to whip him into a better man whether he likes it or not :D LOL! Mercy too actually! ROTFL!
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He looked down at his watch. Lana would be ready by now and they needed to leave. As he opened the door he stopped, “I’m sorry. Even if we weren’t friends you never deserved that. None of you did,” with that he left the room and closed the doors.
oh NICE! I sensed real, true and sincere regret in Lex after Chloe’s speech and bargain. I think he’s genuinely repenting what he’s done, and he might even make an effort to NOT repeat his mistakes (as apposed to just learning to cover up his mistakes better).
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Mercy knew that Lana Lang didn’t like her and she didn’t really mind. There had been many times that she had worked for a client whose significant other couldn’t stand her. It came with the territory; but there was some quality about Lana Lang that was somehow an affront to her. Mercy couldn’t put her finger on it. It was just there. Boiling beneath the surface.
hmmm, I’ll admit, I’m rather curious about what it is exactly about Lana that irritates the hell out of Mercy so much. Lana has a lot of irritating qualities about her (her dullness; shallow, superficial nature; greedy, flighty attitude). But I think Mercy hates Lana because she represents some kind of ‘threat’ that she doesn’t fully understand…? Heh… I guess I’m going to have to wait a little while longer for Mercy to examine her feelings a little better and get a definite answer.
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Mercy gave an internal smile. She would enjoy showing Lana her place. If only to remove some of that entitled attitude that the other woman wore like a second skin. Lana was the king with no clothes and this town fed her little ego like one would a starving refugee. Mercy didn’t bother to hide the fact that she was amused and condescending to Lana, “Yes, Lex and I have slept together.”
Of all the things that Lana expected to hear, that was not on the list and she had no idea how to respond. Lana was realistic and knew that he’d had many lovers in the past, but to hire one to guard them was like a slap in the face. To learn that fact from his previous paramour was an insult.
Ouch! That was rather petty of Mercy! She did that purely to get a rise out of this ‘other female’ in Lex’s life. Any woman… even Chloe would have been offended and shocked if SHE had been in Lana’s place in this situation.
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Before she knew what happened, Lana felt a stinging in her hand and realized that she had slapped Lex’s dangerous bodyguard. Mercy knew such a hit was coming, but it was important for Lana to understand that no matter what she did, Mercy was capable of recovering and doing something worse, which is what she did. Mercy grabbed Lana’s arm and bent it behind her back in classic karate hold. Just before she slammed Lana’s body into the limo, Mercy pulled back so that Lana was barely touching the surface.
Mercy’s voice lowered into a dangerous drawl, “You don’t get to touch me, Lang. Until Lex gives that bastard you’re carrying his name, you mean nothing to me. Lex is the priority. If I ever catch your handiwork on any of his computers or peeking into matters that don’t concern you; you will regret it. I’m very good at what I do and all that would be required for me to end you is to not do my job,” Mercy leaned closer so that her lips were next to Lana’s ear, “I don’t lie, Lang. And that means that I can get away with one big lie. In this case it would go something like this: “I tried my best, Lex. We were outnumbered.” Try my patience, Lang, and you’ll be my big lie.”
Heh… now I understand where that pettiness came from. Mercy was trying to GOAD Lana into making a stupid violent gesture so that she could return it ten fold back. Sneaky, cunning, vicious Mercy! LOL!
Wow! And the speech she made to Lana… it was cruel and truly vicious! Even more painful, scary and nasty than the jujitsu hold that she had Lana pinned in. I would have been frightened out of my wits if MY boyfriend’s psychotic chauffer had done that to me! But then again… we can’t really say that Mercy didn’t have a GOOD reason for warning Lana off in such a cold, callous, venomous fashion.
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Lana ran from Mercy. She had never been so threatened. So scared in her life. What hurt the most was that she didn’t think Lex would do anything about Mercy even if she told him what happened. It was just further confirmation that Anthony Burner and she were doing the right thing. She’d prevent Lex from hurting anyone else.
oh dear! This is bad! Lana is only going to take Mercy’s warning as further justification that she’s completely right in her mechanisms, backstabbing and betrayal behind Lex’s back. Although, I think Lana would have found SOME rationalization or another to assure herself that she was being ‘brave and noble’ in his disloyal, vindictive actions… so Mercy’s actions didn’t really make much of a difference in the long run… except make Lana more careful and wary around the chauffer.
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Chloe stopped two feet away from Mercy and pondered the other woman. She understood why Mercy did what she did, she just hoped the other woman fully understood what she had done.
Mercy straightened her chauffeur’s hat and stood taller, “No, I shouldn’t have. Lex should have done this. But if you’re concerned that Lang is being insufficiently watched, then I suppose you could broach the subject with him.”
Chloe shrugged, “No, I don’t think I’ll be doing that. Be careful. Lana is dangerous in her own way,” with that Chloe headed towards her own car.
That was FANTASTIC! I loved how Chloe didn’t launch into platitudes about how it was ‘wrong’ to manhandle and frighten ‘poor, innocent Lana’ like that. Because Chloe knew that the idea of Lana being helpless and innocent is ridiculous. I wonder whether Chloe’s attitude towards Lana comes from her true realization about Lana’s self-serving, manipulative nature… OR whether it’s because she now (subconsciously) views Lana as a rival and therefore not worthy of any care or mercy…?
Or perhaps Chloe was warning Mercy that Lana is not the type of ‘dangerous person’ that Mercy is used to dealing with. Mercy can deal easily with dangerous foes who face her head on and directly, but Lana has a tendency to attack from sneaky, sideway (or behind) positions. Perhaps Chloe was warning Mercy that she shouldn’t have raised Lana’s guard so early. She shouldn’t have given Lana the benefit of a warning!
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Mercy watched Chloe Sullivan walk to her car. “Her hair is longer.” She looked back towards the mansion. It was time to put surveillance on Chloe Sullivan and Lana Lang, but for two very different reasons. It was apparent that Chloe was in some sort of undefined danger and that Lana was the lone idiot who would get them all killed.
“No rest for the wicked.”
LOL! Well there’s no doubt about who Mercy has cast her loyalties with. Chloe is most definitely regarded as a person worthy of respect and protection, while Lex’s ‘official girlfriend’, Lana is only a dangerous nuisance. I think Mercy has formed a VERY clear view of this strange triangle that even the members of the triangle haven’t’ figured out yet. LOL! I love it!
This was a great chapter, Ava! I was so glad to see you’re updating again. I look forward to the next chapter. Good luck!