completed
Title: Haves and Have-nots (1/1)
Author: HumbugGirl
Email: humbuggirl@hotmail.com
URL: http://www.geocities.com/oddfiction or http://www.geocities.com/peacefulempress/home.html
Pairing: Lex/Lana, Chloe/Lex
Rating: NC17 – for violence and some sexual imagery
Summary: Answer to challenge at Hazardous: #007 - Lana embarrasses herself by coming on to Lex and he refuses... or vice versa.
Spoilers: Post Ryan/Dichotic
Disclaimer: Okay so I haven’t had the chance to come up with a proper disclaimer yet so you’ll have to put up with the basic ‘none of the characters belong to me, this is a non-profit piece of work just written for fun with praise directed at the creators of Smallville’ kinda thing.
Author’s Notes: 1) This started off as a purely Lex/Lana piece and I tried really hard to keep it that way but my natural ‘ship is Chloe/Lex and I just couldn’t stop myself. 2) I’ve noticed something concerning about my writing developing lately and this is my tendency to skip around from one tense to the other without warning simply because it makes my writing flow more easily. I’m half aware that I’ve done this in this fic and I apologise in advance if it gets irritating – I know to some people it would do. 3) I’ve extended the idea considerably so this may seem to wander a bit don’t give up on it; the challenge will be answered.
Feedback: Please.
Part One
It seemed to Lana that you didn’t so much as choose to like a man such as Lex Luthor but that it was some sort of aforementioned conclusion that you would like him. Okay, so perhaps it didn’t extend everyone in the world, in fact there were probably more than a few people who hated Lex but still, Lana couldn’t help but feel that anyone who sat down with Lex for more than five minutes couldn’t help but liking him at least a little. There was something about him that was utterly charming. Maybe it was the calm confident manner in which he held himself or how when he talked the silk of his voice rolled easily over you. She thought that the small smiles, the real ones, not the smirks he would usually offer out, were a rare and precious thing and she secretly delighted in seeing them, finding them utterly compelling.
The smiles were far too few and far between and it wrenched a little at Lana’s heart sometimes that that was the case. That one person could be so distanced from the world around them to no even be able to smile as freely as they should was a terrible thing. Sometimes when she sat alone at night in her room, a book of one variety or another propped open in front of her, Lana would wonder how it could possibly be that Lex could be more alone than her.
In a way Lana supposed that she was inclined to feel an odd kindred for the serious young man. In some ways the idea always made her feel disgruntled and wonder what on earth she was thinking. Lex Luthor wasn’t kindred to anyone, perhaps not even to himself some of the time but that didn’t stop her from harbouring the secret opinion that in some way they were very similar. It was more than the idea of them both having lost parents and it was certainly more than the mutual connection that Talon formed between them. It was something else… something indescribable.
When she sat alone in Talon on a night time and wondered how she was going to manage to make the books balance and to get her homework done before the next day without asking for help Lana would lean back and wonder how on earth her kindred spirit managed to run his busy life when she could barely manage her own, much simpler one. It occurred to her that it wasn’t a question which she could ask during the intimate little discussions of small talk that they would occasionally indulge in; when Clark or Pete or Chloe weren’t around that was. No, questions like that were too close to questions about his personal life and to that Lex might actually take offence. Even now she could imagine what his face would look like. He would take on that stoic, completely unreadable expression and then make some excuse that he had to leave.
There always was something guarded about their conversations; almost as if they were both afraid to say what was really going on. Lana could remember one Saturday afternoon when she had been perched on a chair having just brought his order over to the table that he always seemed to occupy whenever he frequented Talon. They had been chatting away, amiable enough until the subject of her parents had come up and the meteorite strike. In that moment Lex had seemed to close down whatever lines of communication had existed between them and seconds later when Chloe had appeared over Lana’s shoulder and he had acted overly happy to see her standing there. Lana had found herself at least partially ignored as he had invited her blonde friend to take a seat and begun to engage in their usual form of bantering. Feeling a little disheartened and a little confused Lana but accepting that this was Lex’s way she had stood and wandered away from their table.
As the afternoon had progressed Lana had been able to watch as the two of them chatted away together, occasionally falling into comfortable silences for startlingly long periods of time before speaking again. All the while Lana had been unable to take her eyes from Lex’s relaxed, ever so slightly practised posture. She reasoned that no one, not even a Luthor, could really be than comfortable without practise.
Chloe left at nearly five in the afternoon to catch the bus home because her car was in the shop. After waving goodbye to Lana she had made her way towards the door at which point Lex had caught up with her had from the grateful look on the blonde girl’s features had clearly offered to give her a ride home in whichever car it was that he had turned up in that day leaving Lana once again left alone to her thoughts; ones that has turned towards the pleasant and perplexing subject of how she could next approach Lex to strike up a conversation.
Sometimes Lex would go away for days on end, sometimes for even as long as a week without telling anyone where he was going or when he might be back again. At first Lana had reserved suspicions about these odd little trips. She had at first been convinced that Clark has known of Lex’s destinations but carefully phrased questions asked of the boy had not given her any reason to continue her suspicions. Not knowing where he went left a void in Lana’s temperament that made her irritable although she tried her best not to be so. She lived in hope that he would one day decide to tell her to just he went and why and further more she hoped she would get to go with her.
That didn’t stop Lana from attempting to imagine a solution to her query instead though. She imagined that he flew off to all the exotic cities around the world, taking time out from his busy life and just being Lex the man instead of Lex the Luthor. Lana could see him relaxing in expensive hotel suites, sipping on heavenly drinks and wandering along lonely beaches in the moonlight. She never imagined Lex as the type of man who would enjoy lounging around on the beach during the day, he was much too pale for that, instead she imagined that he took to the museums and art galleries with that wonderful contemplative look on his face.
It’s at times like that when Lana wonders whether she wasn’t the tiniest bit in love with Lex Luthor and asked herself the question; would is matter if she was?
Nell would never approve of course although she would undoubtedly be proud that Lana had set her sights on someone so influential. Nell was as near to a mother as Lana had ever known and she seemed to have developed similar maternal instincts where her niece was concerned. Still, Lex was not the type of man that Nell would have envisioned settling down with her.
Clark… Well Clark would be one of the easiest and the hardest to read if he ever found out what she was thinking and feeling. She suspected that every emotion would play across his features and the idea of what she might find there pained Lana. It was something she didn’t ever want to imagine.
Chloe and Pete would be a different matter. Pete would undoubtedly flash a look of disapproval in her direction and say something condescending and cruel about Lex, the negative feelings that his family had instilled in him ever since he was young showing through clearly. Chloe though… Chloe was the most difficult to predict. Lana honestly couldn’t tell how the girl would react.
Not that any of her speculations mattered of course. There was no way on earth that Lex Luthor would ever fall for someone still in high school. No, she imagined that he would ultimately be attracted to someone who was his equal, someone who could match him quote for quote and who could play as many games with him as he enjoyed to play with other people. The person that Lex Luthor fell for would have to be someone very special indeed.
One of the best things though was when she got to go up to the Luthor mansion. There was any number of reasons why she would get to go. Sometimes it would be to take the books up there and sometimes it would be when she decided that maybe Clark needed a little help with the mansion’s groceries even though in reality he didn’t really need the help. Occasionally there would be a social reason, like when Lex would invite them up to watch a film in the small cinema screen room that was hidden away in the basement. As much fun as those times could be it was the times when she went up there on business that Lana found the most pleasure. It was at those times that she would often find herself alone with him.
The first time that she really remembered was one in winter. A flurry of snow had already descended on Smallville leaving the landscape for miles in every direction a brilliant white that almost seemed to burn in its magnificence. There were cold winds blowing across the flatlands and they blasted against Lana’s face as she climbed out of her aunt’s car at the end of the Luthor driveway. She stumbled slightly and mumbled a goodbye to Nell who promised to pick her up later and then braced herself to walk into the wind, clutching the stack of files to her chest.
The lights up at the house were dim as she struggled up the drive, her boot-clad feet crunching through the snow and onto the gravel below. Wandering up the long driveway Lana had found herself glad that she had had the foresight to wear a hat and gloves before venturing out but she still silently cursed Nell for being so stubborn as to refuse to drive her up to the door of the mansion just because it would add an extra ten minutes or so to her journey.
When she had arrived at the steps that lead up to the front door of the mansion the door was already opening and there was a kindly looking middle-aged woman holding a cardigan tightly around herself for protection from the cold stood there. As Lana climbed the steps the woman took one step outside and put her arm around Lana’s shoulders to draw her inside as quickly as possible. The door had slammed shut after her.
Inside the cavernous entrance hall Lana found she had to physically pry her stiff fingers from around the files she was holding in order to take her coat off. Immediately as she did though the warm air flooded around her and Lana realised that she had been shivering so violently that she felt sick. This thought consuming her mind it took her a few moments to realised that the housekeeper who had let her in was talking to her now in concerned tones. Somewhat wearily Lana flashed her a sunny smile and a quick assurance that she was basically fine and was not going to drop dead anytime soon.
The woman returned a smile of her own. “You shall want to see Mr Luthor I take it?” she asked and at Lana’s nod of agreement gestured that the girl should follow her down the corridor and in the direction of Lex’s study. Stepping inside the room the rich smell of freshly brewed coffee met her senses along with that of the fire burning mightily in the hearth.
Lex stood when she entered, coming to stand around the front of his desk. As usual he was dressed in neutral shades, the deep charcoal grey of slacks and a pale purple shirt that brought out the brilliance of his cool eyes; eyes that were currently staring at her with a strange expression in them. “Lana,” he said in greeting.
“Hi Lex,” she replied a little sheepishly, suddenly feeling an even greater urge to hug the account files to her chest and perhaps even to turn away from him.
“You must be freezing,” he said stepping forwards and placing a hand on her lower back to steer her towards the roaring fire. Lana gratefully took a seat without saying a word and he continued, “I had no idea that you planned on bringing the paperwork up this evening. It wasn’t necessary; it could have waited until tomorrow.”
“Oh,” she replied somewhat forlornly and let her hair fall forwards to cover her face. She hadn’t noticed until that point that it seemed damp and giving a quick glimpse towards the window she saw that there was a gentle drift starting to fall. How had she not noticed that before?
“It doesn’t matter,” he said quietly, almost gently and slid into the chair across from the one she was occupying. She was suddenly aware that he had leaned forwards and was holding a cup of coffee out towards her. Startled Lana quickly placed the files to one side and took it from him, wincing at the sharp pains that the hot china on her fingers elicited. For a moment she fumbled the cup and was certain that she would drop it and then somehow managed to give it some sense of balance again.
Looking up she prayed he hadn’t noticed her clumsiness only to find the handsome young business man looking right at her. Lana blushed brilliantly. That caused him to give a characteristic little smile that Lana refused to believe was actually a smirk.
The rest of the evening, while Lex looked over the books and Lana waited for Nell to come and pick her up was spent in a delicious kind of delirium for Lana. She relaxed in one of the deep leather chairs by the fire and watched him work while imagining what it would be like to live at the mansion with him, to have scenes like this as every day experiences. She managed to submerge herself so far into her fantasies that she did not even realise when the phone rang and Lex rose to get it only to find that it was Nell on the other end of the line, waiting outside, ready to pick her up and take her home. Lana had found herself harbouring more than a little hate for the older woman at that moment and wondered how long it would be again before she got to spend so much time alone with Lex.
Meanwhile Talon had come to mean considerably more to her than she had ever expected. Naturally she still remembered it as the place where her parents had met and she knew she would always associate it with their love because of that but Lana also came to realise that it defined her within Smallville. Lana realised that she felt like it was an opportunity to be something more than just Smallville’s little sweetheart. But she also associated it with her role in Lex’s life. They were partners together in the business and she imagined that they might be in something more than that. She wished they could be.
So Talon became something more for her. It became a comfortable refuge for the tiny brunette when the world outside seemed less that friendly and she would often find herself gravitating there, in and out of business hours. She made sure that no one would ever realise where it was she would retreat so that they might never disturb her and the night time world of Talon became her own world. It was hers and hers alone and nothing could take that from her.
One night after a particularly long and painful argument with her aunt over staying in Smallville of all things Lana had ventured there all on her own. Parking her car around the back of the coffee shop she had entered through back door into the store room and wandered through into the main café. The lights from the counter were a low fluorescent presence in the background and oddly welcoming. There was a lingering smell of coffee and something sweet below it that Lana knew must be coming from the refrigeration cabinets. Wandering over to the counter Lana brewed herself up a cup of hot chocolate and cream and then went to sink into one of the deep cushioned chairs. This was a luxury that she could rarely allow for herself as during daylight hours she was normally rushing around at a hundred miles an hour and did not have the chance to sit down and enjoy the simple peace of Talon.
Sinking into the chair she drew her knees up to her chest and sighed. Clark had his loft, Chloe had the office at the torch, Lex had a rambling mansion and she had this place. It didn’t seem to matter how many people wandered through the doors everyday this place was still hers when the doors closed and the lights were dimmed. Rolling her head back onto the back of the chair she closed her eyes and let the feeling of solitude wash over her.
She flinched as a noise invaded the room. It was only very slight but Lana was certain that she had heard it all the same. It had been a sort of clicking noise or maybe even a rattling one. Shifting she realised that she didn’t know how long she had been sat there.
There the sound was again. This time she could tell it came from the front of the shop and Lana slipped lower into her chair wondering what it could possible be but also knowing that this was Smallville and it could be anything. The door at the front of the shop was opening and as it did a familiar voice drifted through. Lana almost sat up, a smile drifting onto her face as she almost called out ‘hello’ but then she stopped. Quickly she remembered the fact that she was not meant to be here sitting here in the dark and then came another reason for her not to say anything - a second voice.
It was as familiar as the first and Lana could not for the life of her figure out why its owner was present. The couple entered the café, letting the door noisily fall shut behind them and locking it once again. They wandered across the room and as they did Lana sank lower into the shadows of the corner she was occupying hoping she would not be seen. Chloe was smiling broadly, her face alight as she practically bounced across the room, one hand tightly clasped in Lex’s. The man was watching the blonde girl with shining eyes as he pulled her back towards him and wrapped his arms about her waist.
“This is naughty,” Chloe breathed and there was no disguising the excitement in her voice.
“I know. Why else do you think we’re here?” And then he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers with an air of urgency as the girl cleaved her body to his. Even as she did Lex let out a low, satisfied moan.
It was all that Lana could do not to choke on the sip of chocolate that she had just taken.
Lex was quickly pushing the blonde’s coat from her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor before reaching to help her pull the dark t-shirt she had been wearing over her head. She quickly reached behind her back and unfastened her skirt, tugging it down over the smooth curves of her hips and stepping out of it with a little kick that sent it flying onto a chair. Chloe’s laugh was low as she listened to something that the man before her whispered into her ear and then she tapped her finger against his chest and demanded firmly that he ‘lose some clothing and quick’. And Lex actually did as she requested! Lana’s eyes widened as he stripped off his jacket and unbuttoned his dark purple shirt and tossed it over the back of a chair without even a second thought. Chloe clearly muttered something encouraging under her breath and reached towards Lex, her small hand clasping over the buckle of his belt and tugging him forwards. “You wanted to be naughty didn’t you?” she said aloud. “Then be naughty already.”
Lex laughtered aloud, a wonderfully warm sound, and he grabbed the girl before him roughly and hoisted her up to sit on the counter. Chloe gave a little squeal of delight. “Lex they were my best panties!”
“I’ll buy you another pair,” he replied as lips descended on her exposed shoulder. Even from where Lana sat she could see the way his tongue played across the surface of her skin and the way in which Chloe’s pale flesh had taken on a slight flush. Then one of them, she couldn’t be certain which exactly, managed to unfasten the buckle and his well-tailored slacks fell to the ground. Lana’s eyes widened as Chloe let out a heady, deep gasp and arched her body as Lex entered her.
Lana spun quickly on her chair so she was no longer watching the pair and felt a flush of embarrassment pass over her that was quickly followed by a rapid paling as the blood drained from her face and rushed to her rapidly pounding heart. Even from this angle she was not hidden safely from them as their long shadows were cast across the floor before her. Lana snapped her eyes shut to escape the sight only to find that even then she wasn’t safe as the noise of their coupling filled her ears.
They left in the early hours of the morning and by that time Lana had long resigned herself to the fact that she had somehow been cheated out of something. It welled in her, a feeling that was undeniable and for the life of her she could not get rid of it no matter how hard she tried.
She could not forget how meticulous they both were in cleaning up after themselves. By the time that they left and Lana was once again left alone she could find not one thing out of place from where it had been before to tell her that they had ever been there at all. It was too disturbing, too well planned, too much like them to have thought things through so thoroughly and still she could not help but wonder at the easy manner in which they both walked into Talon the next day without saying a word, not even casting a glance about the place that might be seen as unnatural. Suddenly it seemed they were so much more, they seemed to stand apart from the other people whose presence they were in as if everyone else were nobodies and they were the only people who mattered.
And Lana found she could hardly stand it.
She stopped going to Talon after that for her private hours, fearing that once again they would appear and she would be faced with them there together. She dreaded the idea that they might find her there or even worse that they would realise she had seen them there before. So instead she would lie alone in bed trying desperately not to think about whatever might be going on in her café and resisting the urge she had to ring Chloe and see if she could catch them out.
All the while though Lana couldn’t help wondering whether she was missing something and then one night, in the small hours of the morning it dawned on her; if Lex would consider being with Chloe then it would not be such a hard step for him to consider being with her.
The idea played on her mind and try as hard as she might Lana found that she simply could not dismiss it. But at the same time there was a distinct fear in Lana that what if she was wrong; what if her mind was playing tricks on her? There was, after all, no way she could be certain. But still she could not get rid of the thought, not even when she found herself wandering once again up the driveway towards the Luthor mansion with the Talon files once again clutched fast to her chest. Even as she walked into the study that Lex almost seemed to live in sometimes she could not dismiss it and when he looked up at her with those cool blue, shinning eyes she could think of nothing else. Then before she was entirely certain what she was doing Lana had fastened her lips to his and was breathing in deeply the scent of Lex Luthor.
The kiss seemed to make her lips tremble and sting a little with the ferociousness of it and Lana let out a little whimper as she felt him reach up to grasp her arms just above the elbows. His grip tightened and for a moment Lana felt the kiss deepen as she moved to step closer to him and then as suddenly as it had begun the kiss was ended and she found herself thrust away from him with such force that her heal caught on the carpet behind her and she tumbled to the floor. For a moment Lana merely sat there, the shock of the fall still running through her body as she stared up at him with wide eyes. If anything Lex seemed as shocked as she did and a moment of indecision washed over his features as he reached down and held out a hand to help her stand again. She found she was unable to take it as a crimson blush rushed to the surface of her skin and her limbs began to tremble. There was a growing sense of sickness in the pit of her stomach that Lana knew if she thought about it too long it was going to become something all too real and she felt tears rise in her eyes as the consequences of her actions suddenly rose to the forefront of her mind.
Beneath her fingertips she could feel soft carpet and she scrambled backwards away from the offered hand staring at it in horror. It took her a good few minutes to get her feet under her again so that they were steady enough for her to stand and even then when Lana pushed herself to her feet she was a shaking creature who leaned against the nearest piece of furniture to try and keep her balance. The action took so much out of her that the moment she heard the one word, “Lana,” muttered from Lex’s lips a tear rolled down her cheek.
“I… I’m sorry,” she replied stumbling over the words. They seemed so foreign in her mouth Lana was surprised that they even came out at all.
A sort of kindly expression came over Lex’s face and he raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her. In that moment Lana realised that she had never felt like such a fool in her life.
She turned and rushed from the room, only vaguely hearing Lex call after her as she went. The last thing she wanted to do was actually stop and talk with him. Leaving the mansion she found that her only option was to simply drive around, waiting until she felt calm enough to go home again. She had a shift at Talon later in the day but there was no way on earth that she could imagine going to that as things currently stood and the thought of going home and being asked questions by an over-inquisitive aunt was horrible. So Lana simply drove around, wishing that she had somewhere left that she could retreat to.
Eventually she found herself sat outside the front of Chloe’s house, staring at the red and white car parked in the driveway. An odd sort of silence had come over as she watched the house, occasionally glimpsing Chloe as the blonde girl walked back and forth in her upstairs bedroom. If it hadn’t been for the lack of any other vehicle in the driveway Lana would have supposed that there was someone else present but instead she decided that Chloe was probably working on a story. For some reason she always started pacing whenever she needed to think something through.
Moving with very slow, very careful movements Lana climbed out of the car and walked up to the front step of the porch. For a moment she could do nothing but stare at the doorbell and then suddenly the door was opening and Chloe appeared with a brilliant smile painted on her face.
“Hey Lana, I saw your car from upstairs,” she said moving aside to let the dark haired girl inside. Lana stepped past her into the hallway without another word and then turned to watch Chloe as the blonde closed the door. “I was going to make a drink. Want anything?”
“A glass of water would be nice,” she replied and followed her friend through into the kitchen.
Chloe was bouncing. Lana honestly could not remember the last time she had seen the would-be reporter look so happy and animated and as they settled into the kitchen it seemed that Chloe could not stop talking. She had good news, the Daily Planet had called her and offered her another internship if she wanted it, she was going to have another article printed in the Smallville Ledger and Lana guessed that there might be another reason that she was happy but there was no way on earth that she was expecting Chloe to tell her about that. No, that would be too much.
“How did you do it?” Lana asked suddenly, coming out of her stint of silence that Chloe had not even noticed.
“Do what? The article…”
Lana shook her head. “No, not that. I mean, how did you manage to get Lex to like you?”
There filtered over Chloe’s face a somewhat startled expression though she quickly covered it by simply pretending to be confused instead. The blonde girl half turned away from her as she quickly went to make the drinks. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“Somehow, I don’t know how but you made Lex like you.”
“Lana, Lex likes us all. It’s the reason that he hangs out with us so much. We’re his friends.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it!” she exclaimed and was shocked to hear that her voice sounded more than a little hysterical.
Chloe slowly turned to look around to look at her with wide eyes. “Lana…”
“Don’t give me any excuses. I don’t want to hear them. I… I just want a straight answer. Please.”
The blonde girl placed two glasses down on the table and leaned against the counter top. “How long have you known about us?”
“A little while,” Lana confessed. Chloe ducked her eyes away from her. “What I don’t understand is why is he seeing you?”
Chloe looked up sharply. “And that’s so hard to believe is it?”
“You took that all wrong. It’s just its Lex and I never thought I’d see him with anyone from Smallville.”
“Except maybe yourself. Is that right? Are you jealous because I landed Lex and not you?” Lana’s brow wrinkled into a frown and she opened her mouth to speak only to find that Chloe had not finished. “Why can’t you just be happy for me for once? You get every guy in Smallville you want Lana and just this once I’d like to see myself end up with the guy I like.”
“But it’s not like he loves you!” she exclaimed rising to her feet and grabbing hold of Chloe’s shoulders. She shook the taller girl slightly before speaking again, “You didn’t actually imagine he would did you?”
Chloe’s eyes shone brightly and she swung out with one hand, slapping Lana’s face. The brunette’s hand flew up to her cheek and she let out a startled gasp then gritted her teeth. Reaching forwards she pushed Chloe. The blonde girl stumbled, slipping sideways before regaining her balance. By that time though she had already bumped into the table, sending the glasses and their contents to the floor as Lana swung her hand again. Chloe slipped on a puddle of juice as she tried to retreat and fell backwards for what seemed like forever. There was a loud thud; quite unlike any sound that Lana thought she had heard before and suddenly a pure silence in the kitchen that was broken only by Lana’s heavy breathing.
“Chloe?” she questioned quietly. When no reply came she took a tiny faltering step forwards and said again, “Chloe?” Still there was no reply. The girl laid on the floor did not as much as twitch, remaining disturbing still even when Lana took another step towards her. The small brunette’s eyes were wide and she realised she was biting at the flesh of her knuckles nervously. With a sort of fumbling grace the girl dropped to her knees beside her friend and gently shook her shoulder. “Chloe, this isn’t funny. Get up. Stop it!” Her words came out as a shriek.
Chloe’s head rolled back and forth and then once again to one side revealing on the floor a brilliant stain of deep red. Gingerly Lana reached towards it, her hand finding slick redness that confirmed her suspicions and blonde hair made like red gold while drenched in blood. Lana gave a little cry and scampered back until her hand was pressed hard against the cupboard door.
The next thing she remembered was the sound of a telephone ringing. Wherever she had been until then was quickly stolen away from her and was replaced by the sight of Chloe Sullivan still laid on the floor, swimming in a puddle of her own blood that had spread out from around her head, informing Lana that she had not died immediately. It was halo-like and contrasted with the very pure whiteness that her flesh now possessed giving the girl an almost angelic like appearance. A rush of vomit rose in Lana’s throat and she struggled for a moment to try and keep it down.
She stood, only just managing to keep her feet under her and stumbled over towards the phone. Slumping against the wall for support she picked up the handset and held it to her ear. “Hello?” she said on a second attempt after the first elicited nothing but some strange gurgling noise which could not be interpreted as anything at all.
“Lana?” a voice on the other end called out. “What are you doing there?”
“Hi Lex,” she replied very calmly and that in its self seemed odd somehow. Shouldn’t she be screaming by now or something?
“Lana, is Chloe there? I need to talk to her.”
“Chloe can’t come to the phone.”
A pause came from his end of the line. “Why not?”
Biting her lip Lana replied, “There was a little accident.”
“An accident? What sort of accident?”
He sounded so calm and she couldn’t quite understand how that was possible. “She slipped and fell and now there is blood everywhere.”
Once again there was another pause from the other end and then Lex’s voice came, “Have you called an ambulance yet?”
Lana shook her head and then realised he couldn’t see the action. “No, it doesn’t…”
“Lana I’m hanging up. I’ll be over there soon but the minute I hang up I want you to call 911 and tell them what has happened, okay?”
“Sure, but Lex it doesn’t matter because…”
The line went dead and she was left listening to nothing but a dialling tone. The phone slipped out of her hand and she noticed that there were now red finger prints all over it. No, she couldn’t just let it hang there, swinging back and forth. Lex had said to ring for an ambulance so she should and it didn’t matter that it wouldn’t matter because… Lana shook her head trying to clear the thoughts before they threatened to send her spiralling back from whatever vestige of clarity she had left and reached once again for the telephone.
Lex arrived before the ambulance did. He stormed in through the back door into the kitchen, slamming it against the wall like a self-contained force of nature and marched straight towards the fallen girl. As he did Lana began to shake her head back and forth. The young man slipped to his knees, one landing in the blood as he stretched out his fingertips towards her throat. He withdrew again as he was stung.
“She’s dead,” he whispered. “Oh god, she’s dead.”
****
She felt fingertips brush hers. They danced, teasingly within reach and yet always just out of reach.
Taking a long deep breath Lana’s eyes flickered open and she found herself staring into an all too familiar face. Lex’s eyes were dulled somewhat when viewed this close and his skin seemed all the paler than usual. There was something questioning about his expression that made her look up and past him to the spot on the floor where Chloe had been laid. She was gone now of course and the only reminder was the pink stain on the white floor tiles where someone had failed to clean up properly.
“Lana what are you doing here?”
He didn’t sounds how she expected him to and looking at him again Lana noticed that there were other changes. His clothes were different. The dark grey slacks he had been wearing on the day that Chloe died were gone and had been replaced by a black pair of trousers with a matching suit jacket. Instead of the pale purple shirt he had been wearing there was not a black one with an immaculate deep red tie tight about his neck. He looked entirely different from the man she thought she had been looking at only moments before.
Looking down at herself, Lana saw that her own blue skirt had been replaced by a pair of jeans and that her light summer shirt was now a heavy red jumper. Confused she glanced up at Lex again and noticed for the first time the slight traces damp that rested on his shoulders and a few lingering snowflakes. A frown creased her features and she looked outside the window. “Where did summer go?”
“That was months ago,” Lex told her.
“But…”
“You’re not even meant to be here,” he added. “Gabe closed the house weeks ago.”
He stood, holding out his hand and Lana took it, allowing him to draw her to her feet. There was a sudden rush of memories as the past few weeks came back to her. She remembered the police questioning her and finally letting her go saying Chloe’s death had clearly been an accident. She remembered the pale blonde’s funeral, her body encased in a gorgeous red dress she had apparently loved and how much it had rained. She remembered the guilt that had washed over her during the whole affair and finally the nightmares and more importantly, the black outs she had been experiencing ever since.
“What are you doing here then?” she asked and her voice sounded more harsh that she had intended it to.
“I’ve been thinking of buying the house.”
“As a shrine?”
He turned away from her. “Something like that.”
After a moment she said, “I’m surprised you’re speaking to me.”
“Someone had to and I’m the only one here.”
She looked around the kitchen in a daze, taking in the pristine whiteness of the surfaces. It almost looked more like a show house than a home and Lana supposed that was what it had become. She wondered whether that was what Lex was going to make it into. The only thing out of place was the stain still marring the otherwise perfect floor. It was the one spot that Lana could not take her eyes off of. There was a deepening sense of dread inside her that threatened to bubble over.
“I killed her,” she breathed and waited from some change in his expression.
It never came though and Lex replied immediately, “I know.”
“And yet I’m still here, still alive.”
He nodded. “It would be much easier for you if you were not wouldn’t it?”
She raised an eyebrow at him in surprise though she supposed that nothing Lex said should ever surprise her. Wasn’t it his aim to be as mysterious and as elusive as he could? “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I know you Lana, I’ve watched the way you’ve been acting ever since Chloe’s ‘accident’. You’ve just been waiting for someone to come along accuse you of it. You’ve been acting like a trapped creature.” A smirk came to his lips. “That is more than enough to satisfy any sense of revenge I feel the need for. If you live the rest of your life looking over your shoulder all the time, waiting for one of your little friends to wake up and realise the truth – and they will do eventually – then I will be completely happy.”
Staring at him Lana asked him in forlorn voice, “Is that really what you want?”
He gave a low, somehow disturbing chuckle and reached down to stroke her cheek. “You never did understand what I wanted did you Lana?”
Flinching she stepped away from him only to find him stepping after her. Her back collided with the wall and Lana gave a small yelp as he moved in to stand so that his lips were only a hair’s berth away from hers. Lana found herself breathing in deeply, drawing the scent of Lex’s cologne and savouring it. She let her eyes fall shut, feeling certain that at any moment she would feel his lips upon hers and then the warm presence of his body was gone. Letting her eyes flicker open she was just in time to see him disappearing out of the back door and then it was almost as if he had never been there.
THE END
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uke: Lana... :evilpuke:
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