"Two students unfortunately died, and six other students who attended the dance were injured and are receiving treatment in the hospital. Google search and read it, the silver lining is that those seriously injured are now out of danger."
Jonathan, as one of the parent representatives, attended the "Smallville High School Dance Accident Discussion Meeting" organized by the government, and recounted the information he knew to his family during lunch.
Due to such a major incident at the school, there will be a two-day holiday.
This is also why Eric and Clark did not go to school.
"So, Jonathan, what exactly happened?"
Martha asked with a frown.
"Clark previously mentioned that a football team member named Dan Brown was killed, and the suspect who killed him was the culprit who caused the tragedy at the dance."
Jonathan picked up the coffee beside him and explained to Martha, "The killer's name is Jerome, but he disappeared three years ago. I don't know why he suddenly returned this time."
"Did the police catch him?"
Martha continued to ask.
"In fact, Jerome is already dead."
Jonathan shrugged, raised the coffee cup in his hand and took a sip, and soon his brows furrowed.
He didn't know if it was because of the bitterness of the coffee, or his incomprehension of the matter being discussed. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
"Jerome's body was found on the high school campus, dead from a broken neck. Although he was the killer, if he were alive, he could certainly provide a lot of information to the police."
Hearing Jonathan say that Jerome died from a broken neck, Clark at the dining table immediately cast a suspicious glance at Eric.
In Smallville, Clark couldn't find a second person besides Eric who could kill Jerome without alarming anyone.
"I heard that those who were unfortunately killed and injured were all members of the football team, is that right?"
After Martha digested what Jonathan said, she inquired about the information she had heard.
"Jerome did have some conflict with the football team, but I think this is more something the school and Coach Watt should consider."
Jonathan did not want to continue discussing this topic, so after replying, he said no more and brought up other matters.
"Clark, the tractor isn't working. Help me fix it later. I suspect it's a problem with the high-pressure oil line being worn out and leaking oil. I hope we don't have to replace it this time, or it'll be another expense."
"Okay, Dad."
Clark nodded to his father and lowered his head to deal with the fruit salad on the dining table.
Eric, sitting across from Clark, began to consider how to launder the money he had obtained from the gang so that his parents would accept it.
"Clark."
Jonathan, whose hands were covered in oil and who was wearing old repair overalls, asked Clark, who was standing beside him, "Were you involved in the dance incident?"
Clark was deep in thought. He paused when he heard his father's words, then shook his head.
"No, I wanted to stop Jerome, but I didn't succeed."
Clark's tone was a bit downcast, "If I were more mature, I could have prevented this tragedy, but I messed everything up."
"No one is perfect, Clark."
Jonathan wiped his hands with a rag and patted Clark's shoulder, "If you try to blame everything on yourself, you'll find yourself riddled with holes in the end. You need to learn to push things away at the right time, whether it's pressure, responsibility, or others' harsh criticism of you."
"I thought I could change some things, but—"
Facing his father, Clark spoke his true feelings, "Just like Eric, I tried to change some of his views, but in the end, I couldn't change anything."
"Perhaps you brothers need to have a good talk."
Jonathan offered his suggestion and talked about his own experiences from back then.
"When I was in high school, I had a dispute with my cousin over the ownership of a boxing glove. Barry Lee Jones, do you remember him? He visited us last year. We had a fight back then, and neither of us would back down."
"Later, your grandfather locked the two of us in a corn storage warehouse, a place that could only fit the two of us. After half an hour of boring madness, we started talking. Because there was nothing else we could do but talk."
Jonathan paused and said, "So after two hours of talking about everything, we reconciled."
"Clark, sometimes all you need to do is create an undisturbed environment, listen and speak, and continue until you fully understand each other's thoughts."
After hearing his father's enlightenment, Clark nodded thoughtfully.
"I understand, Dad."
After helping Jonathan repair the tractor, Clark washed his hands and decided to have a good talk with Eric.
But what he didn't expect was that at this moment, his brother's room welcomed an unexpected visitor.
Lana Lang stood in Eric's room, looking in surprise at the drawings pasted on the wall.
Black and white sketches with contrasting light and shadow, outlined with pencil or charcoal, depicted a terrifying monster in an indescribable starry sky, its hideous form hungrily and greedily devouring everything.
Tools similar to crayons were used to draw a giant monster sleeping underwater. Its terrifying body and scaly wings were depicted against a viscous, gloomy background covered in green moss, and the words "Atlantis Karason" were written in the bottom right corner of the drawing.
There was also a colorful painting that impressed her, a night of unidentifiable colors, as if scarlet blood mixed with black mud, with dim yellow light shining on it, and a shadowy building with "Arkham" written on its surface, hidden in what could be called a "black" night.
"This is Arkham?!"
Lana remembered reading in a book about the history of American cities that Gotham City had an "Arkham Asylum."
Could this painting depict Gotham City's "Arkham Asylum"?!