Previously - Chapter 18 ***
Chapter 19 ***
January 23, 1996
The air was crisp and cold in the faint predawn light. Even without the sun, the warm front that still lingered promised weather more appropriate for early spring later in the day. Dew covered the grass and birds fooled by the temporary warmth chirped merrily in the trees. It was during this time that Clark could be truly alone with his thoughts. Thoughts of his inadequacies and failures plagued him most days but today his mind was preoccupied with something else.
Lois.
Yesterday, she had kept showing up wherever he was. He’d seen her at work, at the grocery store, on the trail, while he was putting gas in the car. She had to have been following him everywhere he went. He felt such overwhelming regret whenever he saw her. He just wanted to get away from her and never have to feel this way again. But was leaving Columbia something he could do?
And why was she always
singing??
It made him uncomfortable. The theme of each song was love. Love lost. Love found. Love desired. There was no logical reason for her to be singing, let alone about love. It was a slap in the face. Torture. And Lana thought he should talk to her?
Realizing his frustrated breathing was making running difficult, he focused on what he was doing for a moment. The breeze was cool on his face. His heart pumped steadily as the muscles in his legs worked to propel him forward. He swung his arms in time with his steps, using their reach to stretch his stride.
He listened intently to the quiet world around him - chirping birds, rustling branches, the sound of his own steady breathing, the crunch of the gravel as his feet touched the ground.
The sound of a bicycle approaching from behind.
When after a half minute, the bike didn’t pass as he expected, he turned to see why and was shocked to see
her riding.
Lois was following him on a bike. Why did she have to come to ruin his only time to himself?
He groaned aloud as he turned forward once more and picked up his pace, knowing he would never outrun her.
“Clark?” she called to him as she approached. Why wouldn’t she leave him alone? “Please, Clark. I just need to talk to you for a minute,” she said, passing him. He saw her then, her hair pulled back from her face by the breeze that their movement was making.
This was ridiculous. This woman hated him and, as if he wasn’t already miserable enough, had come to pile on more guilt. What would she want to talk about? Had she lost her job again because of what had happened? Did she just like making him feel miserable and needed a good fix to last her a while?
He shook his head and turned to begin running the other way on the trail. He knew this wouldn’t stop her either, but it was all he could think to do, and the thin trail wouldn’t make it easy for her to turn around. At least he’d bought himself a few moments to think before being forced to listen to whatever demoralizing reproof she would throw at him.
Lana had encouraged him to talk to her. Maybe if he just let her say what she needed to, she’d leave him alone and he could be perfectly miserable without her following him around everywhere.
He stopped in the middle of the tree-lined path, steeling himself for the conversation to come, when a commotion behind him reached his ears. His expectation of seeing Lois struggling to turn the bike around was dashed when instead he saw her struggling against a person.
The man was tall and wore a coat that might have been a little too heavy for the weather. His face was angled away from him so that he couldn’t clearly see who it was. He gripped her arms, as she struggled against him. “Clark!” she yelled, pulling one arm free and reaching in his direction, entreating him. She was in trouble.
Clark took a few steps forward but staggered as a sharp pain shot from his head through every inch of him. With the next step, the pain intensified, paralyzing him. He looked up to see the horror in Lois’s eyes before he stumbled to the ground, catching himself with his hands. The small pebbles felt like needles on his palms. He reached to cradle his head.
“No!” he heard her scream. “Stop!”
What was happening? He was unable to move. He would fail her … again. But this time in a way that was far more perilous. What would that man do to her?
The commotion stopped, and Clark glanced up to see Lois looking at him with … understanding? And worry? The man glared at him, a satisfied smirk on his face. He seemed to sneer at Clark as his free hand came up to Lois’s neck with something in it. Clark reached toward them in a feeble attempt to make a difference. But the man touched whatever it was to Lois’s neck and he watched in panic as her body went limp in the man’s arms.
Adrenaline coursing through him, Clark struggled to get up and move closer to them. He
had to at least try to help. Reaching his feet, he lost his balance when the pain became unbearable. The sound of something small hitting the ground and bouncing to a stop near him coincided with the pain redoubling. He grunted at the sudden increase and tried to slow his breathing. What was happening to him?? He was consumed by invisible flames burning him until everything went black.
***
Jimmy walked up the steps of the town home. He was physically exhausted, but his brain was functioning at full speed. His phone woke him early this morning and the voice on the other end was one of the patients he’d scheduled an interview with for later in the day. Something had happened, though, and they wanted to meet now instead of waiting until later.
Naturally, Jimmy pulled himself out of bed as quickly as he could and did the minimal amount of getting ready before racing to their house. He took a moment to catch his breath before he knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.
“Mr. Olsen,” Ronald Simmons greeted as he opened the door. “Thank you for coming so early. I’m sorry if I woke you.” He thrust his hand forward and shook Jimmy’s hand as if the sun hadn’t just risen above the horizon only an hour ago.
“Not at all. You sounded like you had something important to tell me when I spoke to you on the phone.” Jimmy entered the house at Mr. Simmons’s invitation and they found a place at the dining room table to sit. “Are those the medical records?” Jimmy asked, gesturing towards the stack of papers on the table.
“Yes, those copies are for you,” Mr. Simmons answered. “I’m sure you’ll find the same thing as with the other patients, but what I have to tell you is more important than that.”
“What is it, Mr. Simmons?” Jimmy asked as he pulled his notepad out of his satchel.
“I remembered.”
Jimmy stilled at those words before he excitedly turned to face Mr. Simmons, his eyes wide. “The procedure?”
“The whole day.” Mr. Simmons turned toward the door and in a very polite manner called for his wife. “Vera, Honey? Are you coming?” Jimmy heard a faint reply from some faraway room as Ronald turned back to whisper, “I’m going to let her tell you because she’s so excited about it.”
“When did it happen?”
“This morning.” The look on Mr. Simmons’s face was all intrigue and excitement. It was contagious, and Jimmy felt his own excitement growing.
“Oh, Mr. Olsen. Wait till you hear.” An excited woman came in rubbing her hands on a dish cloth. She stopped abruptly and smiled. “Can I get you anything, dear?”
Before Jimmy could put together a response, Mr. Simmons answered for him. “No, Vera. Just tell him what happened.”
“Oh, Ronald,” she said, exasperated, but smiled at him before sitting down at the table. “I was cleaning in the kitchen this morning and I just can’t do any cleaning without singing. Ronald woke up and came to say good morning to me and we chatted for a bit while I worked on the oven. As he was leaving, I started singing ‘Miss Otis Regrets’ and that’s when it happened.”
“Everything got all fuzzy and I felt like I was falling,” Ronald said. “Then it was like I was reliving the things that happened.”
“And then it was over, quick as that.” Vera snapped her fingers. And nodded.
“You think it was the song?” Jimmy looked from Vera to Ronald. Both nodded again. “How can you be sure?”
“Well, I always clean the oven on this day of the week and I always sing, but it’s been ages since I sang ‘Miss Otis Regrets’ and it happened as soon as I started singing.”
An interesting conclusion to reach, but it made sense. Jimmy jotted down the name of the song as he thought about what this could mean for the story. His eyes widened as he remembered the Mayfields’ story and that Alexia had mentioned music. They would have heard it as soon as they walked in. “Who sings ‘Miss Otis Regrets’?” Jimmy asked hesitantly.
“Nat King Cole.”
Jimmy frowned at the answer.
Could it be? Or is it merely a coincidence? ***
“Clark?” a male voice filtered through the din resonating in Clark’s head. Where was he? What had happened? He felt a nudge to his shoulder and opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar face frowning down at him. He was sprawled flat on his back on the ground.
Closing his eyes, he moved his arms to push himself up. Agony rippled through his body as he tried to sit, a groan escaping as he fell back to the ground. How could anyone hurt this much? What had caused it?
He heard sounds of the stranger moving around, scraping across the gravel, followed by footsteps receding quickly as the pain suddenly abated. The footsteps returning made Clark flinch, but, to his relief, the pain didn’t return.
His body relaxed but he kept his eyes closed and remained motionless on the ground, catching his breath, trying to understand what just happened.
“Clark?” the male voice asked again.
“H-How do you know my name?” Clark’s voice came out thin and struggling.
“I’m a friend of Lois. I’ve been helping her,” he said. “My name’s Scott.”
Clark’s eyes opened wide and he rose as quickly as he could under the circumstances. His head swam at the sudden movement and he wobbled and grasped Scott’s outstretched hand when it was offered. Looking around, he saw no sign of her or the man or Lois. “Someone took her!” he grunted out.
“I know, I…I saw the whole thing.”
Clark turned to look at him with anger in his eyes. Even in his fear and private anguish he’d tried to do
something, however unsuccessful. Yet this seemingly healthy individual had sat idly by doing nothing? “Why didn’t you try to help?”
“It’s a long story, but Lois can handle herself with Lex. It’s you I’m worried about now.”
“Lex?” Clark repeated. Clark tried to feel relieved that Lois wasn’t in any danger, but the situation seemed anything but harmless.
Scott ignored his question and looked him over. Shaking his head, he then began looking around them.
It took another moment for Clark to process the rest of Scott’s words. “Me!? I’m fine.” Clark brushed himself off. “But someone just
kidnapped Lois.”
“She will be okay for now,” Scott assured. “But she needs your help.”
Clark huffed. “She doesn’t need my help.” He shook his head. The last time he tried to help Lois, it ended badly for everyone. His help was the last thing she needed.
“She does, and you are the only one I know of who can help her.” Scott had a look of resolve in his face that startled Clark. Given his response to the abduction of his friend, he was oddly calm.
Clark grunted a laugh. “Sorry, I think you’ve got me confused with someone else.” He turned to continue on the path but was stopped by Scott grabbing his arm. Clark shook it off but turned to look at the man.
“No, I don’t.” The determination in his face and voice made Clark pause. “Look I know you have no idea what I’m talking about yet. Lois was trying to get you to remember, but …” Scott reached into his pocket and pulled out an unmarked CD in a clear case. “Clark, I know this doesn’t make any sense. But I want you to take this CD. Find a safe, preferably private, place and listen to it.”
Clark eyed the CD and wished he could be anywhere but here. “What’s on it?” he finally asked.
“Nat King Cole.” Scott held out the CD further.
You stepped out of a dream…
Why it’s almost like bein’ in love…
L is for the way you look at me… The songs Lois had been singing. They were all sung by Nat King Cole.
Clark frowned, unable to make sense of this. “What’s going on?”
Scott shook his head. “Someone … messed with your memories. Listen to the songs. When you’re ready, come find me at this hotel.” Scott handed him a business card with a number handwritten on it and took a step back. “If you aren’t there by dinner time, I’m going without you.”
He nodded to Clark as he began to turn and continued down the path in the direction Clark had come from.
“Going where?” Clark shouted after him.
Scott turned to walk backwards, arms out to the side as he answered the question, “To save Lois.”
He picked up his pace, jogging backwards for a moment as he shouted, “Remember!” then turned and ran for several paces before disappearing onto a very narrow side trail.
Remember?
***
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