Burning in the Dark Night

"Yes, Clark's younger brother. I never imagined Eric would have such talent, although it's filled with bizarre and absurdity, incomprehensible, but there's an indescribable mystical charm to it!"

Lana handed several manuscripts to Aunt Neil. "These are illustrations drawn by Eric. I think they resemble his writing."

"The feeling the drawings and words give is the same. It seems as if he didn't create them, but rather used these two mediums to present what's in his mind."

Lana had been reading Eric's manuscripts and texts recently, even constantly searching related documents online, showing an excited state.

"Especially this piece, 'Shadows of Innsmouth,' which mentions a kind of mermaid—the deep-sea divers of the Oceanic Trench. I searched online, and some people claim to have seen similar creatures."

"Lana!"

Neil, feeling Lana's mental state wasn't quite right, interrupted her. "These things aren't suitable for you right now."

Neil glanced at the drawing in her hand, unable to distinguish the color of the night and marked with "Arkham," and said to Lana, "These dark, crazy, and easily irrational articles and paintings are like an abyss. Staring at them for too long, and the abyss will stare back. Lana, it's not suitable for you to read these at your age."

"Like the investigators mentioned here? Pursuing the truth only to end tragically, getting closer to the truth only makes them lose their minds and go insane."

Lana wasn't as obsessed or crazy as Neil thought. On the contrary, she was very calm.

"Remember the diary you showed me of Mom's? It was from her high school days, written at the same age as me. During summer vacation, Mom and her classmates formed an exploration team to search for the Goatman of Louisville. Although that section of the North Folk Railroad was closed, leading to them ultimately finding nothing, this adventurous experience was recorded in her diary."

"Perhaps, I've inherited some curiosity from Mom."

Lana smiled at Aunt Neil. "But obviously, I'm the kind of person who prefers to put curiosity into books rather than actions. So, Aunt Neil, you don't have to worry about me suddenly becoming investigative about these existences."

"You're always sensible, Lana."

Aunt Neil comfortingly stroked Lana's hair.

"By the way, Aunt Neil, don't you know people from Metropolis Publishing House? Could you try contacting them? Maybe Eric's stuff could get published."

Lana quickly started planning for publication.

"Hmm."

Neil hesitated for a moment. "The commercial artistic value of these texts and illustrations is not low. Perhaps there really is a chance for publication. But, don't get your hopes up too much. I'll just inquire for you."

"Of course."

Lana smiled and took Aunt Neil's arm. "I knew Aunt Neil would help me."

That night.

The atmosphere at the Kent household's dinner was particularly heavy.

Eric, however, calmly enjoyed the delicious soup.

Clark kept his head down, quietly eating the fried onion rings in front of him.

"I saw you playing, Clark."

Jonathan stood up, took the empty plate to the kitchen, and casually said to Clark:

"You're very prone to hurting ordinary people, Clark. This kind of power beyond ordinary people makes it easy for you to lose control."

Clark raised his head and retorted to his father, "The point is, I didn't! Why do we keep having this meaningless conversation?"

"Because it's necessary!"

"I feel it's because you don't trust me."

Clark stubbornly said.

Listening to the argument between Clark and his father, Eric, who had finished his soup, felt nothing and continued dealing with the fried shrimp in front of him.

For Eric, the quarrel between Clark and his father had become commonplace.

But for some reason, the argument quickly involved him.

"Eric refused Coach Watt's offer, which for you isn't a problem, Clark."

Jonathan brought up the matter of Eric's refusal to join the football team coached by Watt.

"In fact, Coach Watt couldn't tolerate me not participating in the team's practice."

Eric put down the shrimp he had just picked up and said calmly.

When he first entered Smallville High School, he was invited by Coach Watt to join the football team.

It's just that football had become something without any challenge for him, so he proposed the condition of "not participating in practice."

Naturally, he was rejected by Coach Watt.

Eric's sharp tongue silenced both Clark and Jonathan.

"The phone's ringing!"

As the living room fell into an eerie silence, the phone rang.

Jonathan breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the phone to avoid the awkward silence, and spoke a few words to the person on the other end before hanging up.

"Looks like I've got something to do tonight."

Jonathan put on his coat and said, "Old Harris broke his finger because of a clumsy operation. His tractor is parked 30 miles away from our farm, and I have to go help him bring it back."

"Let Eric drive you."

Martha, worried, glanced at the gloomy sky outside, took out the car keys from the drawer, and handed them to Eric. "The probability of rain tonight is not small. Remember not to be too late."

"Hmm, it depends on the difficulty of the matter."

Jonathan, putting on his coat, smiled at Martha.

After the father and son came out, Eric started the old Ford car and drove his father to Harris' farm.

"Phew!"

Jonathan sat in the passenger seat, somewhat helpless, and exhaled. He said to Eric, "Your mother must be at home acting as a peacemaker to comfort Clark. Sometimes, she'll stand on Clark's side to oppose me."

Eric estimated that his old man's "full of grievances" had been brewing for a long time, and casually said while driving, "Men and women have different allocations of rationality and emotion, so it's normal for them to have different opinions on the same thing."

"Hmm, Martha says I'm rude and impolite on one hand, but on the other hand, she tells Clark he must be prepared to accept his mistakes. It's more like a way to mediate."

Jonathan hadn't finished speaking, when a sudden change occurred!

Eric's eyes suddenly became sharp, and in the instant Jonathan didn't react, he fiercely stepped on the brakes and turned the steering wheel to the left.

"Squeak!"

The car made a loud scraping noise on the road, drifting swiftly to the left side of the road.

With his super reflexes and learning ability, Eric had the driving experience equivalent to that of a twenty-year-old driver.

Before the old Ford car body had fully drifted to the left side of the road, a dazzling streak of flames was rushing towards the middle of the road!

The flames coming over seemed to be from a burning car!

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