Clark's mom made fried chicken for lunch, and after lunch, he saw her starting to slice up fruit for a pie that night. He wanted to suggest a basketball game to his friends—he'd spent all year practicing how to control his speed and use just a tiny bit of it during sports—but just before he could get the words out, his dad told him to let the older boys get settled into their rooms.

Clark slouched as he went out to do some afternoon chores, until he realized that he should really be helping Lex get unpacked, since he was going to be sharing Clark's room. His parents didn't like for him to use his powers to do his chores without asking first, especially when there were other people around, but this was important. He glanced up at the house to make sure he was out of view of the windows, finished his work quickly, and then hurried up the stairs to his room.

Lex wasn't there.

Clark frowned. He almost went down to ask his mom about it, but then he heard voices from the next room over, where Sam and Dean were supposed to be staying. It wasn't just Sam and Dean; he heard Lex's voice, too.

For a moment, Clark worried that Lex might be trying to move into their room instead, but that didn't make sense—the rooms definitely weren't big enough for three. He went out into the hallway, and he was about to knock on the door when something Dean said made him pause.

"—found dead bodies out in the woods. Mauled, hearts missing."

They knew about the dead body! And there had been more than one!

"Any clues in the article?" That one was Lex's voice.

"A trail," Dean said. "A pretty clear one, actually, through the cornfields. Goes straight through fences, like the thing tore straight through them."

That was Clark's trail! Did they think he had ripped out that person's heart?

Clark's heart began to race. He wasn't allowed to let anyone know his secret, not even his friends. He trusted his older friends completely—he thought of them as brothers, or at least as cousins, not that he had either—but his parents would kill him if he told them about his speed and strength.

But they thought whoever had left that trail had killed someone! If the older boys found out Clark's secret, would they believe him when he said he was innocent?

Lex's voice again: "So we're looking for a creature with speed, strength, probably invulnerability—"

"Nothing is truly invulnerable," Sam's voice replied. "Even the strongest creature has its weakness."

That made Clark shudder.

"How many types of monsters have supernatural speed and strength?" Lex asked.

"Most of them," Dean said. "That's the problem."

Monsters! Now it almost sounded like they were playing some sort of game. If they hadn't mentioned the trail Clark made, he would have thought that that was all it was—he might have gone in and asked to play. Now, he wanted to rush in and tell them they were crazy. Monsters weren't real!

Stolen story; please report.

But then again, they all believed that people who could run faster than race cars and lift tractors weren't real, either.

. . . Could monsters be real?

"Okay, well, what kind of creature takes human hearts?" Lex asked.

"We were hoping you could help us figure that out," Dean said.

"You're the ones who fight monsters all the time," Lex said.

"You're the one who figured out that it was a Djinn that took Clark last summer," Dean said.

Clark's throat stopped up. He'd gotten lost last summer, and he'd been unconscious for most of it, but they'd never told him he was kidnapped by a monster! Why did they never tell him?

And . . . Sam and Dean fought monsters? Would Sam and Dean try to kill Clark?

No—he was sure they wouldn't try to kill him. If they found out his secret, he'd tell them he just found the bodies. They were his friends; they wouldn't think he was a killer. He'd been terrified by those dead bodies—not that he really wanted to admit that part.

"Last summer was a lucky guess," Lex said. "I don't even know which mythical creatures are real."

"Assume everything's real," Sam said.

"Well, we're going to need more evidence to narrow it down, then," Lex said.

"Then we should head out soon," Dean said. "The Kents are busy with chores. We can be back before they know we're gone."

"No, we're not going to sneak out again," Sam said. "Not after last time. We'll tell them we're going to explore a little. I don't think they'll object, as long as we're all together and don't get Clark involved."

That was it.

Clark threw open the door—he was careful not to break it, but it still slammed pretty loudly against the wall. "You weren't going to tell me?"

Dean leapt to his feet from the floor, Sam backed up on the bed, and Lex stood from the chair where he'd been sitting.

"Monsters are real?"

"Sh, shh, keep it down." Lex's eyes darted toward the door.

"I got kidnapped last summer? You guys didn't tell me?"

Sam held up his hands. "Clark, stop!"

"And Sam and Dean, you fight monsters?"

Dean lunged towards him and grabbed his head, covering over his mouth with his hand. Clark could have pried away easily, but he didn't want to hurt Dean or reveal his strength, so he tried to react the way a normal kid would. He squirmed weakly, and then he licked Dean's hand.

"Ew!" Dean pulled away, wiping his hand on his jeans.

Sam laughed. "You should've seen that coming, Dean."

"Seriously, though, Clark, you can't shout about it." Dean said.

"We don't want your parents to find out," Lex said.

Clark crossed his arms. "You didn't want me to find out, either."

"That's true." Lex took a step closer. "We wanted to protect you."

"Why? Because I'm a kid? You think I'm scared?"

"Has nothing to do with being a kid." Dean's voice was a bit softer this time. "As soon as you know what's really out there, you never sleep the same way again. I don't want that kind of life for you, and I don't want it for your parents either."

"But doesn't it make them safer?" Clark asked. "You know, so they can protect themselves?"

Dean sighed. "Maybe, but my dad would kill me if he found out I told any of you."

Clark frowned and wrapped his arms around himself. He thought about how scared his parents had seemed the summer before when he'd been missing. When the other boys were out of the room, his parents hugged him so tightly and for so long, it had made him cry. He thought about the speeches his dad had made about how important it was to keep his secret to keep himself safe; his parents' only comfort was that Clark was invulnerable, and nothing could hurt him. He couldn't imagine how worried they'd be if that was taken away from them. If they knew there were real monsters out there, that could hurt Clark . . .

Another shudder passed over his arms and legs.

"Okay," Clark said. "I get it."

"How are you at keeping secrets?" Sam asked.

"I'm pretty good at it. I think." Clark gave a little smile.

Dean and Lex exchanged a skeptical look, but they both sighed. "Okay, Clark," Lex said. "Think you can convince your parents to let us do some exploring?"

Clark smiled. "As long as I promise not to take you to any creepy warehouses, I think we'll be fine."