Fic: When The Sun's Rays Glint (7/8)
Dec. 11th, 2021 09:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bradygirl_12Title: When The Sun’s Rays Glint (7/8)
Author: BradyGirl_12
Pairings/Characters (this chapter): Clark/Lex, Anna Hollander, Nancy Adams, Lionel Luthor
Fandom: Smallville
Genres: Drama, Holiday, Horror, Mystery, Suspense
Rating (this chapter): G
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
General Summary: Is Castle Luthor haunted?
Chapter Summary: A shocking discovery is made.
Date Of Completion: October 26, 2020
Date Of Posting: December 11, 2021
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, DC and Warner Brothers do, more’s the pity.
Word Count (this chapter): 1945
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
All chapters can be found here.
VII
DENTS
On all Hallow’s Eve,
No need to grieve,
The spirits are out
And shall thy enemies rout.
Sir Rowland Astaire
“Spirited Poems”
1899 C.E.
Clark was on his way out the door to school when the phone rang. He grabbed the receiver off the wall telephone.
“Hello, Kent residence.”
“Hi, Clark.”
“Hi, Lex.”
“Can you stop here on your way to school?”
Clark glanced at the kitchen clock. “Sure, I’ll be right there.” He hung up, his curiosity afire.
He decided to speed unseen through the cornfields to save time. He reached Castle Luthor in record time, waiting a reasonable amount of time before knocking on the door.
Still saved ten minutes. he thought smugly.
Lex opened the door before his first knock faded. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Come on in.”
Clark entered and closed the door behind him. “What’s up?”
“Follow me.”
Clark followed Lex up the stairs and toward his bedroom. Lex pulled his door closed.
“What the…?” Clark exclaimed.
The door showed the results of being battered by something, leaving big dents in the wood.
“What caused that?” Clark asked, fingering the dents.
“Beats me.”
“Do you have a camera in the hall?”
“No.”
“The foyer?”
“Yes.”
“So what did it show?”
“C’mon.”
Clark and Lex went downstairs and went into the room which held the security cameras. Lex played the tape back.
“Static?” Clark said.
“The only thing that shows on the tape.”
“That’s weird.”
“Yeah, considering that it’s only for last night from around 10:00 to 10:30.”
“Huh.” Clark folded his arms. “Let’s look at your door again.”
Up on the second floor they studied the damaged door. Clark touched the dents again.
“What are you thinking?” Lex asked.
“Something hard and sharp made these dents. They’re not round, almost like spikes.”
“Spikes?” Lex looked skeptical.
“Yeah.” Clark sighed. “Hey, you should get some security guards out here.”
“I know.” Lex grimaced. But I had enough of guards in the city. I really don’t want to go that route.”
“How about just temporarily?”
“Maybe.”
“Really consider it, Lex. Someone’s getting in the castle and came all the way up to your room.”
Unease flitted through Lex’s stomach. “Don’t worry about me.”
“Of course I worry about you.” Green eyes met blue. “You’re important, Lex.”
A different feeling fluttered through him this time. He cleared his suddenly-dry throat. “Thanks, Clark.”
Clark smiled. He looked a little embarrassed but held Lex’s gaze.
“Hey, you’ve got to get to school.”
“Yeah.” Clark glanced at his watch. “At least call Sheriff Adams.”
“All right.”
“I’ll stop by on my way home from school.”
“Okay.”
Lex escorted Clark out and Lex checked his security tapes before lunch. Except for the half hour blocked out by static, the tapes showed the morning’s activity in the foyer. He watched as he and Clark crossed the foyer and went upstairs after he let Clark in. He watched all their movements until Clark left. He switched off the earlier tape and left the current one running as he left the control room and went to the kitchen.
“Lunch is ready, Mr. Luthor,” said Anna Hollander.
“Wonderful, Mrs. Hollander.” Lex took a seat at the table.
“Turkey on whole wheat, tomatoes, lettuce, light mayo, baked chips, and apple cider.”
“A meal fit for a King.”
“A Scottish King,” Mrs. Hollander said as she put glass and plate in front of Lex.
“What?”
“Oh, sorry, Mr. Luthor. I’m just thinking of where the castle came from.”
“Oh, right.” Lex took a sip of cider.
“Good thing this wasn’t MacBeth’s castle.”
“Definitely.”
Besides, if it was, Lionel would be MacBeth, not me.
He crunched on a chip as he decided to follow Clark’s suggestion and call Sheriff Adams. As for beefed-up security, he would think about it.
He declined dessert and called the sheriff from the library. Nancy Adams was quick to come out from town and shook her head as she examined the bedroom door.
“Mr. Luthor, you live an interesting life.”
“So glad I can amuse you,” Lex said wryly.
Nancy smirked. “I suggest you get some private security. I sure don’t have the manpower to keep you under surveillance.”
“Thanks for the advice, Sheriff,” Lex snarked.
She smiled. :Have you seen any strangers around? Gotten any threatening phone calls or letters lately?”
“Nope.”
“Sounds like a red-letter day for you, then.”
“Ha, ha, you’re a card, Sheriff.”
Nancy laughed. “I’ll have a patrol car swing by now and again. Anything on your security tapes?”
“Nothing.”
“Ah, well, something might turn up. Better lock up.”
“I always do.”
“City folk habits die hard, huh?” Nancy swiped a strand of chestnut hair from her eyes.
“So you country folk never lock your doors?”
“People might do so more these days.” She snapped her notebook shut. “I’ll be in touch.”
After escorting the sheriff out, Lex wandered back to the library. Nancy Adams did a good job, considering the weirdness of Smallville.
I’m surprised she isn’t a candidate for a rubber room. This crazy town would drive anyone to drink.
Reluctantly he arranged for shifts of security guards from Metropolis. They would arrive the next morning. He would double-check all the locks tonight.
The phone rang and he picked up the receiver. “Hello, Luthor here.”
“Hello, Luthor.”
Lex sighed. “Hello, Father.”
“How are things at the fertilizer plant?”
“Doing well.”
“Good to hear. You planning on attending the Halloween Festival as a representative of LuthorCorp?”
“Of course.”
“Excellent. Send me the progress reports on the plant.”
“I always do.”
“Anything unusual happening?”
“This is Smallville.”
Lionel chuckled. “True. In Smallville, every day is Halloween.”
Lex smirked. :It just gets a little crazier on October 31st.”
“Make sure to keep your eyes open.”
“I’ll be sure to do that.”
“Good.”
“Goodbye, Father.”
After hanging up, Lex took a deep breath. Sparring with his father was something he usually enjoyed, but today he felt irritated.
“I’ll be attending the Festival as a citizen of Smallville, not just as a corporate representative,” he muttered.
He tapped hid pen on the desk blotter. What if these strange happenings were his father’s doing? What would be his motive? A test? His father was fond of testing.
Well, whether he’s testing me or not, I don’t care.
He kept working long after Mrs. Hollander had left. By the time he finished working, it was late in the evening. He decided to go right to bed after making the rounds of checking to see if all the windows and doors were locked. The security tapes were running, and Lex made sure of his bedroom door being locked and deadbolted.
He showered, brushed his teeth and dressed in warm pajamas. He looked out his window at the garden and woods surrounding the property. Everything seemed normal. Hopeful for a good night’s sleep, he went to bed.
& & & & & &
Inside Castle Luthor, the soft whirring of the security tapes was faint in the control room. Suddenly, the distinctive sound of static crackled and hissed. In the main hall, shadows moved, one breaking free. A faint clanking noise sounded on the stairs.
Inside Lex’s bedroom, he slept peacefully. Threats on his life were not uncommon Luthors were not the most popular of people.
Thumping started on the door. As it grew louder, Lex was roused from sleep. He groaned and rolled out of bed, grabbing his gun from the nightstand. His heart pounded but he kept his eyes trained on the door.
What the hell is going on?
He debated opening the door to face the threat head-on, but decided that strategy was foolhardy. He went to his nightstand and picked up the telephone receiver.
“Hello, Smallville Sheriff’s Office? This is Lex Luthor. Someone is in my castle and pounding on my bedroom door. Thank you.”
He hung up the receiver. All he had to do was hold out until a patrol car arrived. The thumping continued, and Lex looked out the window. No one was out there. How this attacker got in past the alarm was a puzzler. If someone from the alarm company had gotten the code, why wouldn’t he just rob the place? He could be in and out without Lex knowing until morning.
While the thumping continued, he quickly dressed and put on his shoes. Pajamas and bare feet just didn’t cut it.
The thumping stopped. Lex listened carefully, but all was silence. He decided to try and find out who the intruder was, as risky as it might be. He threw the deadbolt and unlocked the door, opening it carefully and peering out into the hall. Empty. He opened the door wider. He slipped out into the hall.
Lex went down the staircase. He saw the flashing red-and-blue lights of a patrol car outside. He quickly opened the door after checking the alarm, and shut it off.
Nancy Adams ran from the car. “Is the intruder still here?”
“Maybe not. If he shut the alarm off to get in, he could have put it back on on his way out.”
“‘If’? How did he get the code? Oh, you suspect the alarm company.”
“I do. Shouldn’t we go after the guy?”
“Let’s look around outside first.”
Lex and Nancy checked around, but there were no signs that anyone had been there. They went inside but there was no intruder.
Nancy bent down and picked up the fallen mace next to the suit or armor that was having arm problems. She turned the mace around and around. “Huh.”
“What?”
“Let’s go upstairs.”
Lex followed the sheriff up to the second floor. She examined the door and pressed the mace against it. “That’s your attack weapon.”
Lex’s eyes widened and he closely examined the mace. The spikes on the mace fit the dents on the door.
“I’ll take this in to dust for fingerprints.” She was wearing gloves, “Why this intruder pounds on your door with a mace, I don’t know but it’s a novel weapon, at least. Let’s check your security tapes.”
The tapes showed the foyer, then at 12:01, dissolved into snowy static. The tapes cleared at 12:26, and showed Lex coming downstairs and checking the alarm. He shut it off and opened the front door.
“Everything’s fine except for that Nixonian gap.” Nancy watched herself pick up the mace. She tightened her grip on it.
“Yeah.”
She shrugged. “I’ll talk to a security expert about your odd tape situation.” She looked at Lex. “Maybe you should go to a friend’s house the rest of the night.”
He immediately thought of the Kents but said, “I’ll crash at The Talon. As half-owner, it’s okay.”
“All right. Pack a bag and I’ll follow you into town.”
Lex threw together an overnight bag and took the Porsche, followed by Nancy in her patrol car. In the Porsche’s rearview mirror, Lex saw the castle, stony and forbidding.
This chapter can be read on AO3.
