Superman: Dawnbreaker (DC Icons #4)(37)

Lana was patting Clark’s shoulder. “You know who that was, right? Sheldon Ealing.”

Now Clark remembered. Sheldon was a mean old cattle herder who lived in a trailer just outside town. He’d lost his farm a few years back and blamed his predicament on everything from the growing Mexican population to the US government to China. According to Clark’s dad, the real reason had been terrible farm management.

Clark took a deep breath and let out a slow exhale, hoping it would relax him, but instead something shocking happened. His breath turned to frost and instantly froze his entire glass of water. He stared in horror at the now-solid block of ice.

Lex, Lana, and Bryan were still rubbernecking the overcooked-steak drama. They watched as Mike led Sheldon and his friends outside, muttering under their breath. A busboy was now cleaning up the overturned steak and potatoes. Another swept up the shards of glass.

Before his friends turned their attention back to their own table, Clark quickly grabbed the frozen glass and put it on the floor, under the table.

So, he was breathing ice now? Great. He couldn’t even have dinner with friends without some random new power messing everything up.

“Fun fact,” Lana said. “Guess who’s one of the most vocal advocates of that proposed stop-and-search law?”

“You see how he treated the owner of this place,” Bryan said.

Lex shook his head.

“Be right back,” Clark said as nonchalantly as possible. He pointed to Lana. “Hold off on the Dr. Wesley stuff until I get back.”

Lana shot him a confused look. “Okay.”

Clark ducked into the small bathroom, locked the door, and looked at himself in the mirror. Without warning, a cacophony of overlapping voices and revving car engines and barking dogs and buzzing insects slammed into his consciousness. The ear-piercing sounds were utterly debilitating. And there seemed to be no way to stop the onslaught. No way to escape the deafening roar that threatened to overtake him.

Clark’s knees buckled. He collapsed onto the cold tile, cupping his hands over his ears and rocking back and forth.

When would it end?

What if it didn’t?

A flash of fear tore through Clark. What if he was actually losing his mind?

Then, just as quickly as the sounds had come on, they were gone, and all he could hear was his own frenetic breathing. And the faucet water he’d left running.

Clark hesitantly climbed back to his feet and gazed at his reflection in the mirror, wondering how long he would be able to go on this way. Hiding from all of Smallville. Hiding from himself.

Fire didn’t burn him.

Bullets couldn’t pierce him.

But standing here, Clark didn’t feel powerful at all. If anything, he was at the mercy of his gifts.

And he’d never felt so desperately alone.

The only way forward, he decided, was to go back into the old barn, lift up the tarp, and confront his truth. No matter what it was.

The time had come for him to know.

On his way out of the bathroom, he passed the table where Gloria and her brother were eating dinner. “I gotta say,” he told them, trying to pull himself together, “that the guy who went off on Margie…he was totally out of line. He should never be allowed in this place again.”

Gloria glanced at her brother. “Things like that seem to be happening more and more,” she said. “I don’t understand it.”

“I do,” Marco said. “We’ve let people push us around long enough. It’s time to fight back.”

Gloria slapped him on his arm. “That’s what guys like him want. You’re better than that.”

“I’m not, Glo.” He shook his head. “And I don’t want to be.”

“You remember what Uncle Rene told us,” Gloria said. “We have to fight it peacefully. It’s the only way.”

Marco seethed.

Clark tried to think of something else to say, but the tension between Gloria and her brother was palpable. And the longer the silence went on, the more uncomfortable it felt. “Anyway,” he said, “I just wanted to tell you how angry it made me.”

They said their awkward goodbyes, and Clark made his way back to his table. The food had been delivered, and everyone was already eating.

“You okay?” Lana asked discreetly after Clark had sat down.

He nodded and pulled his plate closer.

When Lex began quizzing Bryan about his new workout routine, Lana leaned toward Clark and said, “I didn’t know you were talking to Gloria Alvarez.”

Clark was caught off guard.

She motioned toward Bryan and Lex. “That’s what I hear.”

He shook his head. “It’s not like that. I mean, she’s definitely nice and everything. And smart. But…”

Lana was grinning. “Apparently you didn’t want to share this with your so-called best friend?”

“There’s nothing to share,” Clark argued.

Lana shrugged and turned to Bryan. “Before we get to Dr. Wesley, I want to ask a question about your dad’s business. Does he ever work with any…military groups?”

Bryan shook his head. “Never. He actually thinks we spend way too much on defense in this country.” He looked to Lex. “His dad’s business, on the other hand…”

Lex wiped his hands on his napkin. “You name an industry in Metropolis, my dad’s got some kind of vested interest. So?”