Title: The Quintessence of Evil

Author: FoxsDana

Email:

Rating: PG-13

Category/key words: Mulder/Scully relationship, Gothic/Horror, Angst, Drama

Spoilers: "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas"(sort of lol)

Dedication: To all X-Philes present and future as well as Mulder/Scully fans. To my online friends and fellow X-Philes: Jess, Jenn, Julie and Arls who read my chapters and encouraged me to continue. To my loving husband for listening to me read these chapters every night to see how they sounded and for also giving me ideas for the storyline as well. To my friend Arls for helping me come up with a title AND also the Latin included in this story! Couldn't have finished it without ya Arls! To all the messed up horror movies I saw that inspired me to write this fic.

Summary: Fox Mulder and Dana Scully end up out in the middle of nowhere while following a case on Halloween night. Getting a flat tire, they journey up to a mysterious mansion in hopes of getting help. Instead of getting help, they uncover something much more than either one of them could possibly imagine. An evil that could claim both of their souls.

Feedback: Please.....I love it!

Archive: Sure just please let me know where it's going!

Disclaimer: The characters of the X-Files do not belong to me but are the property of Chris Carter, 20th Century Fox and 1013 Productions. Any similarities to the names or places of the fictional aspects of this story are purely coincidental.

The full moon shone down on a lone country road where a car could be seen. Its headlights cut through the misty air, which clung to the knarled trees on the side. Inside the car, two figures could be seen in the front seat. One was a male who was driving and the female was a passenger, though not a satisfied one. She could be seen rummaging through a folded map.

"Mulder, are you sure that you took the right turn?" Dana Scully asked looking toward the driver.

Fox Mulder was staring straight ahead tapping the steering wheel. His head could be seen moving back and forth to the music on the car radio. "There's somethin' strange in the neighborhood. Who ya gonna call?"

"Mulder?"

"There's somethin' weird and it don't look good. Who ya gonna call?"

Scully bumped Mulder hard. "Mulder!"

Mulder jumped and turned the steering wheel slightly causing the car to veer. He quickly gained control of it. "Damn Scully! You trying to give me a heart attack or something?"

"Oh, well I'm sorry if I interrupted your jamming session." Scully replied sarcastically. "I was asking you if were sure you took the right turn back there?"

"What? Oh yeah. Of...of course I am." Mulder replied not meeting her eyes.

Scully sighed. "Dammit, Mulder! You told me you were sure where you were going!"

"I was....I mean I did..I mean I am."

"Great. We're lost!" She angrily threw the map to the floor. "This is just great!"

"Oh come on Scully. Will you just calm down?" He gestured to the outside." It's a full moon, we're out on a misty night." He raised his eyebrows. "Alone with nothing but music." He leaned toward her waggling his eyebrows. "Lots of potential here for romantic atmosphere. Anything could happen."

"I am not even going to dignify that remark with a response." She replied glaring back at him.

He pulled back from her frowning." You sure know how to break a mood, Scully."

"Aren't you even remotely worried about us being lost?"

"Should I be?" He asked putting his attention back to the road.

"Considering that we are out in the middle of nowhere and the only creature I've seen is a cat and a dead one at that. Yes, I think that is VERY good reason to worry."

"Scully, would you relax? Ok, yeah it's true that we don't know where we are but it's no big deal. All I need to do is follow this road until it meets up with the highway again. And...if for some strange reason it doesn't meet up with the highway, I'm sure there is someone who lives out here somewhere to give us directions."

"Do you mean the owner of Bate's Motel or someone at Camp Crystal Lake?"

"Ha, ha. Look don't worry, Scully ok? We've got a clear night, a warm car, some tunes. We're set." Just then a huge thud resounded followed by the car shaking, sending he and Scully forward. Mulder's arm instantly went across Scully's middle to protect her. His arm pushed her back to her seat as the car came to a stop. "Are you all right?"

"What the hell was that?"

"Maybe it was another cat." Mulder replied with a grin. He could tell that Scully was not amused from the look she was giving him. "Look, you stay in here and I'll go check it out. Probably just ran over a tree branch or something."

"Well, based on the way this car shook, that must be a HELL of a big tree branch!"

"I'll be right back." Mulder replied grabbing a tiny flashlight from under the seat. He opened the door and made his way outside into the chilly night. Closing the door behind him he began to walk around the car, flashing his tiny light. He examined the car for damage as well as the tires. Making his way to the passenger side he then saw the flat tire. "Ah, shit." He let out a sigh. "Scully! You'd better get out here!"

Scully was laying her head against the window when she heard Mulder's voice. She quickly opened the door and stepped out. "What is it, Mulder?"

"I found the source to our problem." He motioned to the back of the car.

Closing the door behind her, Scully made her way to where Mulder was. Her eyes then came to rest on the flat tire. "What the hell caused that?"

Mulder carefully examined the tire with his flashlight. "I don't know. But it definitely wasn't a cat or a tree branch based on the way its been shredded."

"I don't suppose there's a spare in the trunk?"

"Hmmmmm.....I knew I forgot to check something before we left the rental lot."

Scully let out a sigh. "Why doesn't that surprise me? Great, no spare. So now what?"

Mulder thought a minute. "Well, we could use our cells to call for help? I mean there has to be a gas station or tow truck service around here somewhere right?"

"That's the best idea you've had this entire night." Scully answered pulling out her cell from her pocket. She glanced at her cell and chuckled.

"What?" Mulder asked looking back at her.

Scully showed him her cell screen. "No service. Surprise, surprise."

Mulder pulled out his cell and looked at it. "Mine too. Is this not our night or what?"

"Ok, so we have no cellular service to call for help so now what, Sherlock?"

Mulder paused looking around and flashing his light. The light finally came to rest on what appeared to be another road. He rose up from the ground and walked toward it. "Hey, Scully check it out."

"What?" Scully asked walking up to him.

"Looks like another road." Mulder focused his flashlight further up. "And look what it leads to." He pointed to a large house in the distance.

"Great, a mansion. Out in the middle of nowhere. So we're....outside in the middle of the night on Halloween, with a flat tire and the only help we can hope to get is from a mansion in the woods? This all sounds like the beginning of a bad horror movie, Mulder."

"True but it's not. See if it was the beginning of a bad horror movie there would be a thunderstorm with...." As if almost on cue the sky began to rumble followed by a burst of lighting and a downpour of rain. He looked back at Scully as water dripped down his face and spat out his lips. "Ok, now it is."

"Remind me not to come out with you again on Halloween night." Scully muttered as the rain came down harder, stinging her eyes.

Mulder grabbed her hand. "Come on, Scully let's go see about making that phone call and getting directions!" He then started running up the road and toward the mansion with Scully at his heels.

It seemed like the rain was coming down harder with each step that they took. The mud splashed up onto their clothes as they ran through puddles of water.

Scully couldn't even see where she was going and had to rely on Mulder's navigation. "Are you sure you know where you're going?" She shouted through the torrents of rain.

"Of course! I have excellent vision, Scully!" Mulder yelled back. "This one time when I was kid, I was out with some friends and we got caught in this snow storm. And I was the only one who..." Mulder stopped dead in his tracks in front of an iron gate.

Scully bumped into Mulder not realizing he had stopped. "Ouch! Dammit, Mulder don't stop like that! You know I can't see!" She noticed Mulder's failure to respond. "Mulder? What is it?"

"I think you'd better take a look for yourself."

Scully struggled to look out but the rain coming down all around her blurred her vision. She could barely make out the form in front of her. "Yeah, it's a field so what?"

Mulder sighed and took his long coat, draping it over Scully's head to shield her from the rain. "Does that look like just a field to you?"

Scully blinked her eyes as her vision became clearer. She then saw her "field" littered with tombstones. Her eyes widened. "Oh my god, that's not a field. It's a..."

"Cemetery." Mulder finished. "You get a bonus, Scully."

"But what would a cemetery be doing out here in the middle of no where next to a mansion?"

"I don't know. Guess we have something else to ask the owner now huh?" Mulder paused. "Well, we have to pass through this cemetery to get to the mansion. You....don't have a problem doing that do you, Scully?"

"Of course not. Don't be silly. Let's get going. The sooner we do, the sooner we can get the hell out of this rain!"

"Careful where you step!" Mulder remarked as they slowly made their way through an iron gate and into the cemetery. A strange mist seemed to hover over the entire cemetery, coating it in a blanket. The leaves crunched under their feet as they made their way past the many different tombstones. Mulder made a mental note about how old some of the tombstones appeared to be as well as a few names here and there. This was definitely an old cemetery and most likely one that belonged to a family due to its close proximity to the mansion. He noticed Scully's apparent nervousness as they stepped together being shielded by Mulder's coat. He knew she would kill him but he couldn't resist. It was just too easy. And after all, it was Halloween. He put his hand up behind Scully slowly and then touched her shoulders, leaning into her ear. "They're coming to get you Barbara!" He replied in a creepy voice.

Scully instantly jumped proving that Mulder's theory on her being afraid was correct. "Dammit, Mulder! Knock it off!" She turned around and punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Mulder yelled as he winced. "Damn, Scully it was just a joke!"

"Yeah, well it wasn't funny!"

Mulder attempted to move his shoulder. "Oh come on, Scully! It's Halloween night; we're going through a cemetery. That was perfect for "Night of the Living Dead!"

Scully turned to him. "One more move like that and I'll make YOU a permanent resident in this cemetery!" She angrily, pushed his coat off of her and began running through the rest of the cemetery and toward the mansion.

"Scully, you're gonna get soaked!" Mulder sighed before running after her. "Scully, wait up!"

From the cemetery, a figure watched as Mulder and Scully made their way up to the mansion. It watched them for a few minutes before disappearing into thin air.

Mulder was out of breath when he finally reached Scully. "Damn, Scully you've been practicing your running on the side!" He stepped up on the porch and began to wring himself out.

"The quicker, I get here, the quicker I can get help and get the hell out of here." Scully replied annoyingly. "Unlike you, I have better things to do on Halloween then...walk around a cemetery and try to act like a moron scaring people!"

"You're calling me a moron?" Mulder gave her a pouty look. "That really hurt, Scully."

"You figure it out." Scully replied before picking up the large knocker on the door and banging it.

"No door bell?"

"Guess these people don't believe in twentieth century technology." Scully answered before banging the doorknocker again.

Mulder leaned on the door. "Hey, Scully you know this reminds me of a movie I saw in which this couple..."

Scully put up her hand. "Don't say it, Mulder."

"Say what?" Mulder asked in an innocent voice.

"I know exactly what you're going to say. You saw this horror movie and what is happening now reminded you of it. There was a couple whose car broke down, and they go up through this cemetery to a mansion. They knock at the door and..." It was then that the door slowly creaked open. Scully looked back at Mulder. "Did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Open the door!" Scully snapped.

"Yeah, sure, Scully. I used my mind to open it." Mulder replied sarcastically.

"Well, I didn't do it. And you didn't do it." She paused. "Maybe the force of me knocking on the door forced it open."

"Scully, do you see how thick and heavy that door is? I mean you're strong but come on!" He pushed on the door.

"Mulder, what are you doing?"

"I'm heading inside where it's warm."

Scully put her hand on his shoulder. "Mulder, you can't just go into someone's house without their permission! There could be someone in there and you could give them a heart attack or they could shoot you!"

"Fine." Mulder pushed the door open and stepped in with his flashlight. "Hello? Is anyone here?" His voice echoed throughout the large building. "Hello?" He found the place surrounded in complete darkness with no indication of habitation. He then turned back to Scully. "There are you satisfied now? There's no one here."

"They could be in another part of the house."

Mulder sighed. "Oh for crying out loud, Scully! Look at the cobwebs in here! Not to mention there is no light anywhere! Who the hell do you think lives here? Bat people?" Mulder shook his head. "Ok, look if you want to stay out here and freeze to death, fine. But I'm going inside to attempt to get warm before I get pneumonia." He looked down at his mud-stained pants. "Not to mention try to get cleaned up." He glanced back at her. "You could use a little clean up too. Hope you weren't particularly attached to that suit."

Scully glanced down at her once grey suit that was now dark brown. "The only reason it got this way was because YOU made me run! You owe me a suit!"

"Ok, ok, ok. Fine, I'll get you a new suit all right? Now, would you get in here before you freeze to death?"

Mulder held out his hand. "Come on, Scully. I'll protect you from the boogy man."

Scully pushed his hand away. "Don't get too smart. And for your information I'm not scared about anything with this. I just don't like the idea of breaking and entering someone's home. It is against the law you know."

"Let 'em put it on my epitaph when they find my frozen, dead corpse on the porch!" Mulder answered back before stepping completely inside.

Scully sighed. "All I wanted was a normal night and what do I get? Halloween with my horror movie-obsessed partner in a mansion. What a great night, this will be!" She then entered inside the house. As soon as she was safely inside, the door slammed shut and locked behind her.