Thanatos

Thanatos

Chapter One

"Theresa, can you not take your head out from behind your cell phone for two seconds so that we can talk long enough to settle this once and for all?" a man asked coldly as he glimpsed over at his soon to be ex-wife, who was busy concentrating on the device in her hands as she was trying to send an email to her boss back in Metropolis, before turning back to the dark road before them as he continued driving toward Smallville. "I really want to get this over and done with."

"I have a deadline to make, Tom, and if I don't make it, I'm as good as fired, all thanks to you and that cold hearted SOB you hired as your divorce attorney," the woman responded, ignoring her husband's request. "Where exactly did you dig him up and why are we coming all the way out here, to some hick town called Smallville to meet with him?"

Tom breathed in deeply in order to try to remain calm, then finally let it out and answered, "Because, Smallville is where Greg just happens to be right now while he is out of the city for a few weeks to do a job. As for where I found him, he was recommended highly by Lionel Luthor."

Theresa finally dropped her phone into her lap, then stared out at the darkness to watch the lightning in the sky around them as she replied, "That explains a lot. I just don't understand why we couldn't have waited until he came back. Are you really in that much of a hurry to leave me for good?"

"Actually yes," the man responded cruelly. "I'm getting married next month and I really don't want our messy divorce getting in the way. As I recall, you cheated on me first. I look forward to you finally being out of my life."

"And you cheated on me several times over, even though I apologized," she answered angrily. "I made a mistake, but I did still love you. You might as well have killed me."

Tom was about to say something more when all of a sudden, a streak of lightning burst as it struck a tree right before them, splitting it in two as one of its larger branches crashed down on the road and caused the couple's car to spin out of control and roll several times down a slope into the rest of the trees surrounding them until the car finally came to a stop while remaining on its roof. After several minutes, Tom slowly and painfully pulled himself from out of the wreck and fell over onto his back when he was clear. Finally, he moved again and leaned down to look inside the car for his wife, only to find that she was no longer there. He quickly looked all around him after seeing a large section of the car's windshield was broken and found her body lying unmoving on the ground a few feet away.

Blood covered the woman and he could see several of her limbs were broken, some angled at a very awkward angle, but when he reached down to touch her neck to feel for a pulse, her eyes suddenly shot open as she grabbed his wrist tightly and he could barely make out her whimpers, pleading for him to help her. However, instead of helping her, Tom slowly reached out and took hold of a large rock with a strange, green shade to it lying nearby him, then without thought or remorse, he swiftly and cruelly began to beat her with it over and over until he was positive that Theresa was dead. Afterward, the man dug into the earth wildly until there was a large enough hole in the ground, shoved her body into it, then covered the hole back up with the loose dirt and packed it tight until the woman he had once loved was buried deep within.

When he was finished, Tom walked casually back up to the street and waited for another car to pass by in hope of getting a ride into town. His wait wasn't long when a red pickup truck soon rode toward him and stopped, as the man behind the wheel rolled down the window and called out, "Are you alright? Come on, get in. I can give you a ride to our town's hospital."

Tom accepted the man's offer to get inside his truck, but quickly replied, "Thank you for the lift, but if you just want to drop me off someplace where I can clean myself up at, that'll be just fine. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" the driver asked in confusion, seeing the man's bloodied clothes and disheveled look. "You look like you could be hurt. You've got a lot of blood…"

"Look, I said I'm fine, okay!" the stranger shouted angrily, but quickly calmed down again and looked over at the man sympathetically as he continued. "I'm sorry, it's just that I'm a bit stressed and I've got a headache, as I'm sure you can imagine. I've also got a couple of pretty good size gashes that are bleeding… Also, my car down there has been totaled."

The man quickly responded, "All the more reason for you to get yourself checked out. I suppose that if you'd prefer, I can take you back to my farm where my wife and I can take care of you instead. You can make a call to the police to report the accident, rest up for the night, and then take care of everything else in the morning. I'm Jonathan, Jonathan Kent."

The stranger to Smallville took the man's hand as he held it out to him and shook it, then answered coolly, "I'm Tom. And I'm grateful for your hospitality, Mr. Kent."

"You're welcome," Jonathan replied sincerely, then started driving again, periodically taking glances over at the man whom he couldn't help, but feel an uncomfortable vibe in. "Are you going to be in Smallville long, Tom?"

"Actually, I'm thinking about looking for a job here in town," he responded after he thought for a moment. "I'm an old friend of the Luthor's, both of whom have mentioned interesting things about this place. What do you think?"

Now feeling even more uncomfortable than before and wishing that he hadn't stopped, Johnathan scoffed as he answered, "Smallville is just as its name implies. It's small and quiet. You'll have to forgive my candor, it's just that I'm not exactly a fan of the Luther's, at least not of Lionel. I don't trust him. As for whatever he told you, I wouldn't take anything he told you to heart."

Tom smiled and replied, "I think I'd like to find out for myself if that's true. I like you, Kent. You're not afraid to speak your mind and I respect that. In the morning, I'll see about getting me a ride to Lex's home, to see if he can't find someplace for me in one of the companies he runs here."

Unseen by either Jonathan or the stranger as they had already driven away from the scene of the accident, lightning struck once again into the ground where a woman's body was just buried as the area suddenly discharged a bright, green glow for several seconds, then disappeared as quickly as it came. Dead silence filled the air until Theresa Callas broke through what had become her grave as she screamed, her bloodied face and mangled body shaking as she fought to breathe, though no breath actually entered in or out of her, nor did she feel any kind of pain. Her scream wasn't out of fear, but out of a fierce anger.