Chapter 9
I have been harsh with you, my son. Even now, your mind rebells against me. But your attachment to an earthly life could spell death for many. Your gifts are meant to save them and will not allow you to hide in the throng. Your destiny. Always remember your destiny...
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Chloe knew it was a risk, but she had to.
It was nearly dawn when she'd snuck out of Clark's bed and pulled his shirt off over her head. It wasn't much later when she pulled Lois' SUV up to the curb in front of her father's house. It was the same spot where it had happened. She shivered and stepped out. As she walked toward the porch, she squinted her eyes. She imagined him coming out. She didn't say a word about her car this time. She just suggested they use his.
One tiny thing. One tiny change and...
Everything would have been different. She pulled out her key and unlocked the front door. She stepped in and leaned against it.
In her mind, she called Lois and Lucy downstairs, suggesting waffles. And she could almost hear her father's station wagon start. He called for them to hurry from outside.
She closed her eyes and turned inward. They ate strawberry waffles and smiled and laughed in there. Gabriel Sullivan lived in there. She opened them.
There were boxes still piled in the living room. Muddy footprints marred the carpet from the firefighters and police. Gabriel Sullivan did not live in this shell. She sank to the floor and leaned her head back on the door, hot tears coursing down her face. She couldn't stop them.
Her father was gone. It had been four days since his funeral and she was only now accepting it. Four days and she was no further than she had been at punishing the bastard who'd caused it. It wasn't fair. Lex had treated her father's death as if it was negligible, something that hardly fazed him in his attempts to break her down.
And now? She was broken. Her fist hit the floor as she wept. They would never get him. He'd slip out of any trap they set, get off on any charge they could bring. And he'd continue to grow richer and more powerful as the world around him turned to dust.
She hit the floor again. "Bastard! Fucking bastard!" She got up and took a deep breath, roughly scraping up her keys from where she'd dropped them. Maybe she wasn't thinking clearly. But she'd kept herself clear for four days and right now she wanted the mess.
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She nearly stomped from the elevator to his offices.
She'd driven three hours and she was no calmer.
"Get out," Chloe barked at the girl leaning on Lex Luthor's desk.
She straightened and stared dumbly at Chloe. "Excuse me, but do you have an app..."
"Now," she yelled. She jumped and scurried past Chloe, who didn't miss the change in Eve Tessmacher. Her hair was straight, short, a lighter shade of blonde. Some suggestion of Lex's perhaps, to mirror the new toy he wanted.
She strode forward and pressed the button on his desk as he stood.
"Chloe. I've been meaning to give my condolences."
"Don't fucking bother," she sneered. "I'm sure the death of one man is nothing in light of what you'll accomplish."
"I hope you're not implying..."
She leaned over and grasped his tie and pulled hard. He choked slightly as she pulled down even harder. "He was my father and he was a good man. But why should that matter to you?" She found herself falling backwards as he leapt onto the desk, spilling over it and onto her legs. The wind was knocked out of her and she lay dazed for a moment as he got to his feet, untying his tie and tossing it to the floor.
"I now see what you're trying to tell me," he said so calmly she wanted to tear him to pieces. "But I didn't kill your father."
She stood, trembling with rage. "No. He was just a development that put a kink in your plans."
His eyes widened and she couldn't mistake what was in them. Fear. He rushed forward and took her by the arms. "Where did you get that? Who..."
She laughed, almost gleeful to see him crack. "You have no idea what I'm capable of," she said, putting his attention on her and away from the idea of his staff. "I could get into your goddamned thoughts if I wanted to."
His eyes narrowed and he drove her backward and she felt the cold metal door at her back. "What do you know?"
"Why would I tell you?" she taunted. "That's like waving a ruby red flag in front of a bull." His eyes shot wide and she felt a moment of pure, clear elation. Ruby. She was right. It meant something.
He shook her. "I'm not the monster, here."
"If you actually think that, you're completely fucking nuts."
"Some people have fallen along the way, but Ruby Ridge will save millions from a danger you can't even comprehend." His hands loosened and moved to her shoulders. "You think I'm just torturing a bunch of freaks, Blythe Nellie? Those freaks are just the tip of the iceberg. You have no idea what I'm fighting." His glance moved down her body. "It's not too late for you." His manic gaze softened. "I see now that you're a more than worthy adversary, but you're on the wrong side."
She stood frozen as one hand moved to the nape of her neck and buried itself in her hair. "And the side that has me followed, tries to break me? That's the right side?"
His eyes turned liquid and smoky. "But I couldn't break you. You met me at every turn and I..." He licked his lips. "I find myself fascinated. I still remember the taste of you, coming so sweetly against my face." She was horrified to feel him begin to harden against her. "The last thing I want to do is break you now." She froze as he leaned forward, brushing her lips.
"You would want to fuck now," she whispered against his mouth.
"I can't lie. I do." His tongue made a brief foray inside and she waited. He was harder. Soon. "Right this second, against my door, I want to make you come and I want the whole fucking town to hear you scream."
"And then what?"
He pulled away slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Won't you scream?" He became even harder and she heard his breathing quicken. "It's good in here, Lex. I just bet you'll scream."
"Fuck!" He closed his eyes and pressed into her.
"You know what the best part is?"
He opened his eyes, nearly swaying. "Tell me."
"You're c*ck is so hard right now that..." She brought her knee up hard and he slid down, gasping. "It just hurts all the more," she finished, kicking a pointed toe into his stomach. "I thought of Clark, by the way, when you ate me. He's done things to me you never will." His face was a twisted mask of pain as her foot found his stomach again, pressing into it from above. "If you ever come again," she whispered. "I promise it will never be inside me." She dug her heel in as she groped behind her, grasping a vase from a table. It looked delicate and expensive. "They've all left you, Lex. All of them. Do you know why?"
He only groaned and opened one eye.
"No one could ever love a twisted little freak like you." She brought the vase down on his head and it shattered, leaving him wet and unconscious. She stepped away and surveyed the room. Her eyes lighted on an ugly fertility goddess in a lighted alcove. She grasped it, knowing it would be such sweet irony to hit him with this after she'd possibly ruined his ability to sire offspring. She walked toward his limp figure, then stopped, the statue raised iver his head.
She couldn't do it. Even after all he'd done to her... You didn't come back from this. Hadn't she warned Clark about this very thing? About vengeance and how it clouds the mind and...
No.
She had to do it. This was more than vengeance. This was survival.
She'd teased him, taunted him, called him little and a freak. She'd as good as signed her death warrant. She might have been better off calling him a giant monster- anything that sounded fearful. He'd get her after this. It was neary self defense to... She bent down and raised the statue.
He must be stopped, but not harmed. Do you understand me?
She pushed Violet Tessmacher's voice away and breathed deep.
But it wasn't even about her. He would destroy so many. She could stop it now. His experiments, his projects... Her arm wilted.
The projects would go on. Some other madman would take up the torch. He probably had twenty on stand-by.
She dropped the statue and, instead, kicked him to the side of the doorway.
"This isn't about you," she muttered. She just... couldn't do it. No matter the cost. She couldn't kill him... or anyone.
She moved to the desk and pushed the button, hurrying out even as it opened. She'd rather he live, anyway. She wanted him to know when he'd been detroyed and that she'd been the one to do it.
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As the elevator doors cracked on the lobby, she was met by guards with batons drawn. She pushed the doors closed and went further down. The garage was empty, but she heard shouts from the stairwell. She panted as she ran past the booth and into the street. Twenty feet to the car and then she'd...
A long limousine blocked her way into the street. She didn't have time to scream as the door opened and large hands pulled her inside. She lay gasping on the floor, staring at a well-shined shoe.
"What have you done?" a familiar, raspy voice asked.
Chloe raised her head...
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