The recon wasn't bad. Clark had expected it to be scary, but his brothers were with him and kept telling him stories. Really, it wasn't scary at all—until he heard a monster coming.

Okay, so he didn't know for certain it was a monster. But he definitely heard something coming. He didn't have super hearing, but he had better hearing than most people he knew.

He glanced over to make sure his friends weren't watching, then he super-sped into the cornfield.

Something was running right toward him. It looked almost like a man, except it had sharp green fangs, and glowing green eyes, and its clothes were torn and bloody.

Clark bolted away, back towards the others. He had to protect them. Sam and Dean fought monsters, but they didn't bring any weapons with them. Clark could fight the monster, and they would all be safe, but if he did that, his friends would find out his secret. He couldn't let that happen. It was too dangerous, and besides, his dad would kill him if he found out Clark had told anyone.

But if he could knock out his friends first . . . He could fight the monster without being seen. With his strength, he could do more to fight it than the three of them combined. Clark was pretty sure he was fast enough to get all three of them knocked out before he could be seen by any of them.

Clark veered around to approach the older boys from behind. He didn't know exactly how hard to hit someone to knock them out without cracking their skull, so he settled for pulling each of them back into the fence so they'd hit their head while falling—Dean first, then Lex, then Sam.

Just as Sam fell, the monster emerged through the cornfield.

Clark darted out in front of his friend's fallen bodies, holding out his hands. "Go away, and I won't hurt you."

The creature snarled—it almost appeared to be laughing.

Clark's heartbeat was so loud in his ears, he was afraid the monster would overhear it. If this was the creature that Dean had been talking about, it was going to try to eat their hearts. He was pretty sure it couldn't get to his, but his friends' skin could be much more easily broken. "They're my friends. I won't let you touch them."

The monster's eyes flicked toward the fallen bodies, then back toward Clark.

Then it darted toward Sam.

Clark used his full speed to run toward it and jump in front of Sam. He shoved the monster backwards, and it stumbled back a few feet. "I said go away!" He grabbed the creature's arm and yanked it toward the fence to try to knock it out the same way he'd knocked out his friends.

It pulled its arm away and growled at Clark. It was a lot stronger than a human.

Clark paced back and forth, guarding his friends, but the creature didn't make a run for any of them next. It lunged straight for Clark, slashing his face with its claws.

Fiery pain streaked across his left cheek, and Clark screamed. He brought his hand to his face—it was wet with blood, but his skin beneath was smooth. It must have already healed, though it was still stinging.

Clark whirled to face the creature—it was kneeling over Lex, raising its claws high.

No!

Clark launched himself at the creature's head, grabbing it in both arms and knocking the monster to the dirt. Fangs snapped at his arms, grazing the skin, but Clark wrestled it down, sitting on its chest, and started punching the monster in the face.

"THAT'S." Smack! "MY." Smack! "BROTHER." Smack! "YOU." Smack! "JERK." SMACK!

The monster batted at Clark's fists and arms with its claws, but Clark didn't care anymore. It couldn't hurt him; he'd just heal. He continued to land punches, and the creature switched to writhing and bucking.

It was trying to get away. That was what Clark had wanted in the first place.

Clark leapt back and yelled down at it, "Now go away!"

The creature whimpered, wiped its bleeding nose, and bolted.

Clark breathed hard and ran back toward his friends. The creature hadn't had time to leave a mark on Lex, and other than the headaches they'd probably have when they woke up, Sam and Dean looked okay, too.

Clark squinted in the direction the creature had run, and a terrifying thought occurred to him. What if this wasn't the only monster? What if the monster had friends, and it was just running away to get its friends so that they would attack Clark and his brothers again? And what if they came after his parents?

Sam and Dean fought monsters—did that mean they usually killed monsters? Clark didn't really want to kill anyone, especially a creature that looked so much like a human, but living on a farm, he had seen animals get killed before. Sometimes it was necessary. If the monster was going to try to come back and eat his friends' hearts, he would happily kill it.

Maybe he should have killed it already. But it was too late now.

Clark looked down at his arms. There were streaks of blood from the claws, though his skin was completely healed. He had no idea how he was going to explain this to the older boys. He would have to find a way to wash away the blood before they woke up.

He super-sped down to a little creek a couple of miles away from his house. He knelt down beside water and splashed a little onto his face, then scrubbed at his arms with his hands, watching the blood wash away in the stream. His jacket was torn up and bloody, so he just left it by the stream. He'd have to get a new one anyway.

A rustle in the trees made him freeze.

Clark looked up to see the monster off in the distance. It was disappearing into an abandoned, run-down cabin that was covered in vines and moss.

He was clean enough—he had to get out of here before he was spotted. Clark bolted away from the river and back toward his friends.

The monster hadn't seen him. He was safe now. It was time to take his friends back home.