He never imagined that his life would end like this. He had devoted his life to the unknown, the paranormal, the unexplained, and he had always thought that his death would be related to those things in some way. He never once imagined that it would be for reasons so, human; reasons that weren't based on conspiracies and lies.
Instead, he thought to himself, my death will be the result of a run of the mill case gone bad. A normal case that should have been in and out. Something that doesn't even have anything to do with the X-Files.
He would have laughed if it didn't hurt so much.
He was in the middle of a forest in some no name town in Oregon, tied to a tree, both arms stretched as far back behind him and around the tree as possible. He could feel warm blood slowly oozing down his face; the inability to wipe it off was driving him crazy.
Fire danced in his vision as he focused on the scene in front of him. A large fire, about 20 feet away, was burning bright and he could hear excited voices and chattering from the 15 or so people sitting around it. Small children were running, screaming and laughing around the fire; their joy was evident. Just beyond the fire was a small village of broken down houses and huts. It was like he had stepped back in time. And he almost wished that was the case; at least then he'd be dying for an X-File, something strange and unexplainable.
Unfortunately, that couldn't be further from the truth.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as his mind raced back in time to the moments that brought him here.
"Listen, Scully. It's an in and out case." Mulder explained. "Just some people who haven't paid their taxes in a while that's all. I can handle this one alone."
"Mulder, I appreciate that you are trying to get on Kersh's good side, but this case is just ridiculous. Sending you on a tax evasion fraud case? It's absurd!"
She sat on the corner of his desk and her body language exuded annoyance.
Mulder smiled to himself. It always made him happy to see Scully get her feather's ruffled for some reason, especially if it was on his account.
"I know, I know," He chuckled, "but like I said, it's in and out and if it gets Kersh off my back for a while, so be it."
Scully sighed. "Fine, but at least let me see if I can come a long. I mean, it's all the way in Oregon. If something were to happen..."
Mulder shook his head and stood up, grabbing his coat off his chair. "I'll see you in a couple weeks Scully, enjoy your vacation."
He gave her his signature smirk that always drove her crazy and headed for the door.
"Mulder."
He stopped in the door frame and glanced back at Scully. Her countenance now anxious and her gaze serious.
"Just be careful, okay?"
Mulder chuckled, "Don't worry Scully, tax evaders aren't known to be that dangerous."
He yelled as he walked out of the office, "I'll call you when I get to Oregon!"
Scully couldn't help but laugh, but she felt a pit in the bottom of her stomach. As she watched him leave, his confidence was on full display and it should have given her comfort, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong with this case. She took a deep breath and looked at her watch. She had plans to go visit her brother Bill and sister-in-law during her vacation time, but something told her she should go somewhere closer to Mulder.
She shook her head. Pull yourself together, Scully. Mulder will be fine. In a couple of weeks I'll be back from vacation and we'll both be back to our normal routine.
She grabbed her coat and her keys and headed for the door, still trying to convince herself that everything was going to be fine.
It wasn't working.
Mulder had a smooth flight to Portland and from there he rented a car and drove 4 hours to a small town in the middle of nowhere in Oregon. The town had one motel, one gas station, and one restaurant.
He pulled up to the gas station and went inside to pay for his gas. He was met by a friendly faced older woman. The store was tiny and almost empty, except for scattered chips and snacks.
"Hello!" The woman exclaimed. "What can I get you, dear?"
Mulder returned her smile. "Uh, I just need to get $20 in gas." He extended his hand toward her, holding a crisp $20 bill.
"Oh, I am sorry, but we don't serve gasoline anymore, dear." Her smile didn't waver.
"Wait," Mulder's smile dropped, "are you serious? How am I supposed to get out of here? The closest town is an hour and a half away and I'm almost out of gas."
The old lady's smile was starting to get creepy now. "I understand your frustration, but there's really nothing I can do. The pump's have been out for years."
Mulder stood there, dumbfounded. How was this even possible? I guess I could call Scully and tell her to come out here, with extra gas.
He snapped out of his thoughts and was startled to see the elderly lady still staring at him intently, with the same creepy smile on her face.
"Look, I'm in...town on official F.B.I. business," He flashed her his badge and he noticed her smile falter for just a split second, "and I'm looking for Mr. and Mrs. Ackers. Do you know where I can find them?"
He stuffed his badge back in his coat pocket as she responded, "F.B.I.? They aren't in any kind of trouble, are they?"
"I'm not really in any position to say, ma'am."
She nodded slowly, smile still glued to her face, "They are about 20 miles outside of town. Just keep going straight on the main road until you see the giant oak tree and turn left. That'll take you right there."
"Thank you." Mulder nodded and walked back to his car. He thought he'd have enough gas to get there and back. He hopped in, turned the key, and...nothing. He tried again, but the engine didn't even turn over. Out of instinct he glanced back into the store and noticed the old woman was no longer there. The sun was started to dip beyond the horizon, and he din't feel good about being stuck here at night.
He got out of his car and slowly pulled his gun from his pocket, walking back into the store. Something was definitely off here.
He walked through the tiny store, weaving between the shelves, but he couldn't find the old lady. He noticed two doors, one to the wall on his left and one to his right, the exit was now behind him. He cursed to himself, why didn't I do this earlier. He pulled his cell from his pocket and quickly dialed Scully, glancing around the store for any danger. He held the phone to his ear, gun still held firm in his other hand.
"C'mon, Scully, c'mon." He glanced around nervously as the phone continued to ring, the goosebumps on the back of his neck were now fully risen. You've reached the number of Dana Scully. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. "Dammit, Scully." He heard his phone beep. "Scully, it's me. Look, I made to that town in Oregon. Something weird is going on here. I don't know what, but I can just feel it. There was this creepy old lady here, and now my car won't start and she's nowhere to be found. I think you should come here right away, Scully, there's just something..."
He was cut off short as he felt a sharp pain explode in the back of skull. His phone clattered to the floor and he fell to his knees, bringing his gun up in the direction of his attacker. It seemed like he was suddenly shrouded in darkness because he couldn't see anything. Must be from the hit. Someone behind him pinned his arms to his sides and he wheezed as a kick connected to his abdomen and a fist connected to his jaw.
There were two attackers and Mulder had a sneaking suspicion that neither one was the old lady.
The strong hands that held him heaved him up with ease and Mulder stood on his feet, shaky. He could barely make out the figure in front of him but could tell it was a man about his height, but much more muscled up than him.
"What are the damn F.B.I. doing around these parts?" The man barked at Mulder.
"Wha...I'm just here investigating a tax evasion. It's nothing serious." He tried to sound as innocent and hopeful as he could, but, as he looked into the man's crazed eyes, he felt like his chances of getting away were pretty slim. There was more than a tax evasion going on here.
The man's eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to Mulder, his face almost inches away from his. "We don't much care for the feds or any strangers as a matter of fact in these parts, do we Jed?"
Mulder was assuming the man that was holding him was Jed and he must of nodded, because the man in front of him continued. "No, sir, not one bit. One of your kind shot my brother down in Portland. Said he robbed a store and pulled a gun on the feds when they tried to catch him. But I don't believe it, not a single word. My brother was murdered by your people, and now one of you has come stumbling into our little town. What a coincidence."
The man smiled a sickening smile that made Mulder's heart drop.
"Listen," Mulder couldn't hide the panic in his voice, "whoever shot your brother wasn't one of my people. I can assure you that I had no knowledge of that incident. We aren't all like that, I promise."
The man laughed a deep, crazy laugh that made Mulder's hair rise on end. He didn't see the man pull out something from his pocket until he thrust it into his chest.
Mulder's breath caught in his throat and it felt like his body was on fire as the electrical shock of the taser coursed through his body. He let out an involuntary scream as the taser was jammed into his body once again and he dropped to the floor. Again and again it came at him and again and again he screamed. It felt like it went on forever until it abruptly stopped. He laid there, panting, barely maintaining consciousness as he looked up into the faces of his attackers. They looked to be brothers, but the one who tased him was definitely in charge based on his countenance. They both loomed over Mulder and the man reach down and grabbed Mulder roughly by the shirt, pulling his torso off of the ground. Mulder made a weak attempt to punch him, but he could barely even lift his arm from off the floor.
He flashed Mulder a wicked smile. "We're going to have ourselves some fun with you."
Mulder fought to hold onto consciousness but, as he saw the taser moving in, he knew it was no good. He watched it make contact with his chest and he convulsed and screamed in pain. The man continued to press it into Mulder's chest as he writhed in agony, his demented smile growing larger. Remembering that his phone was still recording his voicemail to Scully, Mulder managed to find enough strength to yell out, "Scully, help!" just as the darkness pushed at the edges of his vision and he finally fell into unconsciousness.