Chloe rubbed her eyes wearily, leaning back in her chair. She glanced around the interior of the Torch newsroom idly and then returned to staring at her computer screen. With all of the other students gone for the day, the room was deserted except for her small work station. It wasn’t unusual for Chloe to spend four or five hours there after school, doing homework or putting together the next issue of the Torch. There were few other students who shared her drive to produce the best paper possible. Clark would occasionally stay with her to help, but only when the subject really interested him. Sometimes she despaired of ever making a real reporter out of him.

“So let’s see what you’re hiding, Sarah,” she muttered to herself, pulling up two files on her computer. One was a clipping from the Smallville Ledger about Sarah’s accident, just a small blurb buried in the back sections. Just like he’d promised, Sarah’s father hadn’t given out much to the papers to work with. Chloe frowned and turned to the other file. It was a medical transcript she’d hacked out of the hospital’s mainframe. Throughout the last year she’d gotten better and better at that sort of thing, something she was both proud and a little ashamed about. Anything to get a story, she reminded herself, isn’t that what they say?

The transcript was mostly indecipherable, full of medical jargon and doctor’s notations. What she could decipher was that Sarah had been treated for some minor bruises from the fall and some minor irritants in her lungs and throat. “Irritants,” she murmured, scrolling down further. “What do they mean by ‘irritants’?” There was some further mention of dust and debris, but nothing concrete. “Uhhh,” she fumed, “do they mean the meteor stones or not?” The phone at the other end of the office started to ring and Chloe got up to answer it, still thinking about the accident. Clark had mentioned that Sarah had been covered with green dust when he’d pulled her up, but there didn’t seem to be any mention of that in the hospital’s report. Maybe they’re so used to it they don’t even mention it, she wondered. It was a scary thought, that some people had gotten so used to the strange happenings in this town that they didn’t even notice them anymore.

“Smallville Torch,” she said into the phone, “if the story’s not there in thirty minutes, we’ll print your next alien abduction half off.”

“Chloe?” a familiar voice asked nervously.

“Mrs. Kent? How are you?”

“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “Is Clark there with you?”

“Uh, no. I haven’t seen him since school let out.” Chloe started to wind the telephone cord around her fingers nervously. “He was going with Pete to talk to Sarah for me. You know, Sarah Sanderson? The girl who got in that accident?”

“Yes, I called her mother today and she said she hasn’t been in either. You said that he was going to talk with her?”

That had better be all he’s doing, Chloe thought quickly, but pushed it away. Despite the way she might tease him occasionally, she trusted Clark completely. If he’s gone, there’s a perfectly logical explanation for it. Yeah, she told herself cynically, just like there’s a perfectly logical explanation for the way Sarah’s dad gave her his car, or the way Clark was hanging off her every word this afternoon.

“Okay,” Chloe told her, “I’ll call Pete and see if he knows what happened to Clark and then I’ll call you back, alright?”

“Would you? Thanks, Chloe,” Mrs. Kent said, her voice overflowing with gratitude. “I’m sure he’s just over at Pete’s and forgot what time it was.”

“Yeah, probably,” Chloe said, but didn’t believe it somehow. Suddenly she had a very bad feeling about all of this; a tightness at the back of her skull that wouldn’t go away. She hung up the phone and stared down at it for a moment before picking it up again. She punched in Pete’s number robotically, chewing her lower lip and feeling that tightness start to reach around to her temples.

“Hello,” Pete’s voice sounded groggy and slightly unfocused over the line. “Who is this?”

“Pete, it’s Chloe,” she said quickly. “Is Clark there with you?”

“Clark?” he asked, sounding confused and surprised. She could almost see him in her mind staring off into space dumbly. “No. I haven’t seen Clark since our last class,” he came back finally. “Is that all, Chloe? I’m sorry, but I’ve got a wicked headache tonight, could we talk again tomorrow?” he asked her.

Forget about her temples, that tightness was pounding away behind her eyes now. “What are you talking about? You and Clark went off together to see Sarah, remember? I saw the two of you leave myself. What happened to him?”

“Sarah?” Pete couldn’t have sounded more confused.

“Yes, Sarah!” Chloe practically screamed into the line. Getting her voice under control, she asked “Pete, what happened when you went to see Sarah? Think very carefully.” There was dead silence on the other end for a minute and for a moment, she thought she’d lost him.

“Yeah,” he said slowly, “you did tell us to see her. I remember that…”

“What else?” she asked, trying not to push him too hard.

“I remember going over to her house, but… she wasn’t there.” He paused again and she could almost hear him thinking hard over the phone. “But… when we were walking away, she drove right up next to us.” Suddenly he burst out. “A Jaguar! She was driving a silver Jaguar, just like Lex’s. It might have even been his, I mean, where would she get another car like that here?”

“Forget about the car!” Chloe snapped. “What happened next.”

“Sorry. Well, she found us,” he went on, “and Clark started to ask her how she was feeling, but then she just cut him off and started talking.” He paused for a second. “I don’t know how to explain it, but whatever she said, we did. She told Clark to get in the car and he did, no questions asked, didn’t even pause to think about it. Then she told me to forget all about it and go home and…” he stopped again and then finished in a whisper. “I did.”

Whatever she said, we did. “He went with her?” Chloe asked, horrified.

“She told him too, just like she told me to forget. I couldn’t remember any of this until you forced me to think about it,” he tried to explain. “It’s like it never even happened. I don’t know what she did to us…”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I think I know,” she said quietly. “Pete, I want you to head over to the Kent’s right now. I’ll meet you there soon. First, I have to call Lex and see if he’s missing a car.”

“Right, okay,” he said numbly. She started to hang up, when he spoke up again. “What happened to Sarah, Chloe? How’d she do this to us?”

Chloe looked over at the computer screen. Debris and dust in her throat… whatever she said, we did… her father’s car… green dust all over her… “Do you remember that Rickman guy, the one who could change people’s minds by touching them?”

“Yeah,” Pete said hesitantly.

“Well, I think Sarah’s gone and one-uped him, she doesn’t need to touch people. She can get anyone to do what she wants just by talking to them.” Pete was silent on the other end so she hurried on. “Just get over to the Clark’s and tell his parents what you just told me. They probably won’t believe you, but try to convince them.” He agreed and hung up, leaving Chloe to root through the folders on her desk for Lex’s cell phone number. She turned and the phone cord snagged around her legs, making her lean over on one foot while rummaging around for it. “Where is it?” she muttered, tossing aside old Torch articles and photos. The door opened behind her and she spun around quickly, her heart in her throat. She turned a little too quickly however, because the telephone cord caught on the edge of her chair, and since it was already wrapped around her knees, caused her to trip and fall flat on her face. Chloe groaned, glanced up, and then groaned again as she saw who it was.

Lana Lang stood in the door, looking more than a little startled. “Are you alright?” she asked, concerned.

“Peachy,” Chloe muttered. “I trip and fall all the time in here, I love it.” She kicked the phone away and got up, dusting herself off. She glanced strangely at Lana; it wasn’t very often that she’d been in the Torch office, let alone this late at night. “What’s the matter?”

Lana opened her mouth wide and then closed it quickly with a snap. She reddened slightly, asking, “Well, I was just wondering if you could do some research for me?”

“’Research’? As in… history project research?” Chloe asked her, amused.

“Research as in- ‘I think there’s something definitely wrong with someone’-research.”

“Ah, spying,” she said. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Chloe spotted the elusive slip of paper with Lex’s number out of the corner of her eye and snatched it up. “Here we are,” she said to herself. “Sorry, I’d really like to help, Lana, but I’m already trying to…” she stopped and turned around. “This wouldn’t happen to be Sarah Sanderson, would it?” Lana gaped at her and nodded quickly.

“How did you know?”

“Call it a hunch,” Chloe told her. “I’m already trying to figure out what happened to her. And why she decided to turn to the bitch side,” she muttered. “What about you? Why the sudden interest?”

“I got a call from Whitney a few hours ago,” Lana explained. “He said that he’d just found himself standing on the street corner in town with bags of clothing all around him and no idea how he got there. The last thing he remembers is talking to Sarah at the school.”

“Talking with Sarah… Anything else?” Chloe asked.

“I talked to a few of the store owners in town and they remembered seeing Whitney and Sarah walking in, but none of them seemed to remember them buying anything, or leaving for that matter. It was like they just blanked out or something.” Lana frowned, thinking back, and then said quickly, “I don’t know how much it would help, but Whitney also said he found a set of car keys in his pocket. They weren’t his…”

“You don’t say,” she said dryly. The pieces were starting to come together in her mind. “Was it a Mercedes?”

Lana’s mouth fell open in surprise. “How’d you know?”

“Long story,” Chloe told her quickly. “I’ll tell you on the way.” Chloe pulled out her cell phone and started mashing in the numbers hurriedly. “I have to meet Pete at Clark’s and I think you’d better come to.”

“Clark’s? Why? What’s the matter?” Lana asked her, falling in step behind her.

“Long story,” Chloe said again, bringing the phone up to her ear. There was a short ring and then Lex’s voice came over the line. Cutting over his greeting, Chloe spoke quickly as she left the Torch office with Lana. “Lex, its Chloe. You didn’t happen to lose a car today by any chance?”

“So you’re telling me that this girl, Sarah, can make anyone do what she wants just by talking to them?” Lex asked. He stared around the room in disbelief. “Does this sound a bit crazy to anyone else, or is it just me?”

Pete sat up slowly from a chair in the corner. “I’d agree with you, Lex, but I was there. I saw it, heard it. There’s something in her voice that makes you obey, you can’t fight it.” He turned to Chloe for support and she nodded.

“It certainly goes along with what Whitney told me,” Lana added. “I just can’t believe it though, I mean, Sarah’s not exactly the sort to command anyone.”

“Yes, she was always such a quiet girl,” Martha said. “I can’t imagine her doing something like shoplifting or stealing a car.” Jonathon took her hand, but said nothing, staring at the floor intently. They were all cramped together in the Kent’s living room, having listened to Chloe and Pete in stunned shock. Chloe was personally surprised how swiftly the Kent’s had accepted her theory on Sarah’s new abilities. She thought it would have taken both Lex’s and Lana’s stories to convince them, and even that had been doubtful. But after a moment’s stunned silence, they had seemed to believe her.

“Far be it for me to say this, but power can change people,” Lex pointed out. Then he frowned and warned them quickly, “That still doesn’t mean I buy this story though.”

“But it’s the only one that makes sense,” Pete pointed out. “Why else would you give your car to her?”

“We don’t know it was her, though, do we?” Lex snapped. “It could have been stolen, someone could have knocked me out from behind and that’s why I don’t recall anything.” He gnawed on his knuckles, starting to pace the living room. “Yes, a mugging,” he mused. “I was mugged, that has to be it.” Lana frowned at him while Chloe rolled her eyebrows. “Jonathon,” Lex said suddenly, “you’re a rational man. You don’t buy this story, do you?”

Jonathon and Martha shared a quick, nervous look that set off alarm bells in the back of Chloe’s mind. “Well, I would Lex,” he said quietly, “buy you’re forgetting that I’ve already seen this kind of thing before.” Martha jumped a little in her seat, then tried to hide it by sitting back. Chloe stared at her, wondering to herself.

“What do you mean?” Lex asked him

“You’re friend, Bob Rickman,” he said quietly. Lex started to say something, but Jonathon waved it away. “I know, I know, you weren’t friends,” he admitted, “but the two of you certainly had a bit of history together didn’t you? You must have known about his powers.”

“Rickman was a good negotiater,” Lex remarked, “not just a good one, a great one, one of the best there ever was. I heard the stories people told about him, but if you expect me to believe that he could control people’s minds…” Lex’s face would have been skeptical, if it weren’t for the way his mouth kept cracking into a grin. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, turning away, “this is getting a little bit too much for me.”

“What is?” Chloe asked, exasperated. “Just what’s so hard to believe about all of this?”

“I think it was that whole part about the girl getting super powers by accident,” he told her dryly.

“Really? Tell me Lex, how many unexplained things have happened at your mansion this year?” Chloe asked him seriously. He frowned at her, but didn’t say anything. “How many strange things have happened across town? How many times have our lives been in danger?”

“That doesn’t prove anything,” he told her a bit testily.

“It proves that we can’t explain away everything in town,” Pete spoke up. “I’d love to tell you how this happened to Sarah, but I don’t think anyone can. All I know is that it did happen, and now we have to do something about it.” He looked up at the others and they nodded encouragingly. Lex was silent for a moment, and then he nodded as well. “So…” Pete asked, “does anyone have any ideas?” There was dead silence in the room as everyone shuffled their feet and looked around nervously.

“Well,” Lana broke the silence, “do we know why Sarah took Clark?” Chloe’s face darkened briefly but she didn’t say anything.

“No idea,” Martha said quietly. “I’ve never heard Clark talk about her here. Have you?” she asked her husband. Jonathon shook his head, perplexed.

“I barely remembered her until this afternoon. It’s been years since I’ve talked to her father,” he admitted.

“Oh, her father!” Pete exclaimed suddenly, but before he could explain further, there was an electronic chirping from Lex’s coat. He pulled out his cell phone and opened it, nodding to everyone as he took a few steps out of the room, speaking into it quietly. “Did anyone ask her parents’ where she might have been going?” he continued. “Maybe she let something slip?”

“No,” Martha said, “that was the first place I tried. Her mother didn’t know anything and her father…” she frowned, choosing her words delicately, “he didn’t seem very… aware… of what was going on.”

“’Aware’?” Lana asked.

“It was strange; at first he knew she was gone then he kept getting confused and thinking that Sarah was right upstairs, but then he’d remember that she was missing again.”

“Sarah’s work,” Chloe snorted angrily. “I’ve seen her change her dad’s mind before, I’m surprised she left him with any sense at all.”

“She’d do that to her own father?” Martha asked, aghast. Chloe nodded grimly and Martha paled, her hands going to her throat. “What’ll happen to poor Clark,” she moaned.

“Poor Clark nothing,” Lex remarked, coming back into the room. “That was from some friends,” he said, putting his phone away, “I told them to track any activity on my credit cards and send it to me immediately. You’ll be happy to know that someone just spent a small fortune in clothing and then checked into a very expensive suite in the Lakeside Palace.”

“Lakeside Palace…” Jonathon said, “that’s in…”

“Metropolis,” Lex finished for him. “It’s first class luxury all the way. If it is Sarah, she has expensive tastes.”

“What about Clark?” Martha asked fearfully.

“They’re calling the front desk to see who checked in. It’ll take a little time.” Martha sank back against Jonathon’s shoulder, her face pale. “For what it’s worth,” Lex added, “I don’t think she’d hurt him. From what it sounds, she doesn’t have any grudge against him.”

“But what could she want him for?” Martha asked. “Why Clark?”