Disclaimer: I, of course, do not own The X-Files, the characters, or whatever other legal rigmarole would be needed here.

Main Spoilers/Continuity: Tooms, Shapes, Tithonus, X-Cops, William

Dell Tower
Austin, TX
22 May 2031, 9:57 P.M.

Grabbing the slim remote control from the small black coffee table at her boyfriend's apartment, Maddie Madison flopped her thin frame on the sofa. With the popularity of her surname as a first name around the time she was born, along with her parents' misguided ideas about cuteness, the best Maddie could do was go by the diminutive of her first name,.

As her long blond hair settled on and over her shoulders, Maddie pressed a square with an arrow in the remote. The screen embedded in the opposite wall segued from the final scene of the potboiler she was watching to the local news teaser. Staring at the door of the second bedroom that functioned as a study, Maddie thought to herself, He's been in that room with that stupid occult book all night. He calls it research. Some would call it an obsession. Maddie smiled. Maybe I'll say that to him sometime.

The head and well-dressed shoulders of anchor Reid Sumner appeared on the screen to summarize the main stories of the evening. "Good evening. Tonight, recent strange stories out of Fredericksburg may be connected to mysterious injuries sustained by an area man last night. Authorities remain baffled. Also, Austin city officials discuss implementation of a 20 year plan to accommodate the city's one-million plus..."

A tall man with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes emerged from the study. "Someone got injured?" he asked, walking to the sofa. "It's amazing how people take this stuff seriously." He settled on the sofa next to Maddie.

"I guess that's the only thing that will bring you out, William Van De Kamp. Something weird. Which, I might add, you take pretty seriously yourself."

Sumner's visage disappeared from the screen to make way for a series of brief commercials.

"Purely from a psychological perspective, Maddie," William replied. "It's what I'm studying."

"I keep telling you, no one cares about those old stories anymore. We already know there's aliens out there."

William stood up from the sofa, starting to pace the living room. "But no one has proven the existence of cryptozoological creatures, like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster. Poltergeists. All the rest. But the general public remains interested. People keep reporting things that 'bump in the night,' as they have done since humans started telling stories. Somebody's got to study why."

"And you've anointed yourself the man to do it."

"Here's one theory I've developed. Children have grown up with knowledge about the existence of extraterrestrial life. But for others, mainly those older than us, there's a past period perceived innocence. They could let their imaginations run free, speculating on what would happen when we finally had incontrovertible evidence of the existence of extraterrestrials. Maybe what's been happening in Fredericksburg is a part of that. People think they're seeing a creature, or creatures, whose existence they can't explain...and, deep inside, they probably hope that it remains unexplained." He paused. "It sounds like someone went too far, though."

After staring at William for a few seconds, Maddie said, "You know, William, there's so much you could do that intelligence of yours. I know UT's Psychology department actively recruited you, but you should study something more serious instead of wasting your talent on stuff like this. It's a good thing the Van De Kamps have a trust fund set up for you... in case tenure doesn't pan out."

Maddie had used the "Van De Kamp trust fund" line so many times during their year together that William ignored it. "I've got six years to obtain that hidebound goal. Just be glad I'm not one of those guys who wanders around with equipment that supposedly picks up electrical anomalies and other things that can easily be explained by elementary physics. I just want to study why they believe what they do."

"Maybe you could use what you find out to cure them of their delusions."

"Even though I don't believe in those phenomena myself, I think it's harsh to dismiss what they believe as purely delusional. I just want to understand."

Maddie looked at him skeptically. "No you don't."

"What makes you say that?"

"I think you just want to believe."

11:22 P.M.

"So, are you going to or not?" Maddie asked William with a hint of exhaustion.

His own patience with Maddie having dwindled, William replied, "I already made my decision, but you keep guilt-tripping me into staying here."

"William, someone got seriously hurt in Fredericksburg because some people thought they saw something."

"Maddie. Even with the pseudo-hippies wandering around, people get killed here, too. Besides, I study why people believe in unexplained phenomena, and the police there might find my insights useful."

Her eyes half-closed, Maddie lifted herself abruptly from the sofa and looked down at William. "Fine. If you want to go, then go. I just find it all ridiculous, not to mention highly dangerous." As she wandered to the bedroom, William got up and went into the study.

With the wall-mounted computer screen providing the study's sole illumination, William sat in the wheeled office chair. In a somewhat louder, artificially crisp conversational voice, he said, "Fredericksburg Police Department." Its site appeared on the monitor. "Contact," he added, looking over the site.

Through the slim speakers stationed around the room, William heard a response within a few seconds. "Fredericksburg Police Department."

"Yes, my name is William Van De Kamp. I'm a psychology professor at UT Austin, specializing in folklore."

"Yes?"

"I heard about what happened there on the news tonight. Considering the nature of the case you're investigating, I might be able to offer some insights."

"You'll have to speak with Chief Zamora about that."

"Can you get me in touch with him?"

"I can try, but I can't guarantee a response. I'll transfer you to his phone."

After several moments of silence, William heard someone else answer. "Chief Zamora speaking."

"Good evening, Cheif Zamora. I'm Dr. William Van De Kamp. I'm on UT Austin's psychology faculty, and I'd like to assist you with the investigation."

"How'd you be able to do that?"

"I study unexplained phenomena, and why people believe in it."

Zamora exhaled. "I'm not sure you can help us here, Dr. Van De Kamp. The victim got mutilated by some animal, though I'm not sure what the hell did it."

"Are you sure it was an animal? I'm thinking with the alleged sightings of some cryptozoological creature over the past month, someone might have wanted to make it seem like something was out there."

"An interesting theory, Dr. Van De Kamp, but the wounds definitely couldn't have been made by a person." Zamora paused. "Or, for that matter, any animal I know."

"So all possibilities are open?"

"I guess so."

"I would also like to interview others who claim to have seen the creature. Maybe that will point us to a suspect."

Somewhat begrudgingly, Zamora said, "Look, Dr. Van De Kamp, I don't think you'll find anything out here useful. However, if you really feel that you can be of service, you can come out here. I'd like to ask you a small favor, though."

"Anything you ask."

"The F.B.I. is sending a special agent to investigate the case. She's arriving at Bergstrom, probably on a red-eye flight out of Washington D.C. I'm sure she'd appreciate a lift, along with whatever insights you can offer."

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation?" William asked with some surprise. "An animal mutilation doesn't sound like their area of expertise."

"I'll just say that the nature of the case demands it."

"Which means that someone, rather than something, was the culprit."

"Not necessarily. At any rate, I need to get back to the case. I also need to know if you still plan on coming out here."

"Definitely. I hope my insights will help you solve the case."

"Good. I'll contact the agent so she knows you're picking her up. I'm not aware of flight details, but I can give you her name."

William grabbed a quarter-sheet of paper and a mechanical pencil. "All right. What is it?"

"Denise Kelley. You can probably just make one of those big signs with her last name and hold it up for her."

"Okay. I'll wear my chauffeur's outfit, too."

Zamora let out a slight laugh. "I'll get a hold of Agent Kelley and find out about her flight. I'll also tell her you're picking her up."

"Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow." Turning around in his chair, William was somewhat startled by a tall and slim figure in the light of the doorway. Wearing a bright polyester red dress, she leaned to one side of the doorframe, smiling at him with kohl-rounded green eyes, bright-red lips, and fanged teeth as she cradled a glass of red wine.

"I vant your blood," she purred.

"Maddie? What's with the outfit? Halloween is over five months away."

Pulling out the fangs and sashaying into the study, she replied, "I had something in mind we could do year-round." Settling in William's lap and draping her arms around his neck, she looked into his blue eyes. "Besides, I thought you'd like this, being into the paranormal and all." Maddie placed her lips on William's neck, slightly moving them to simulate sucking.

Feeling Maddie's moist mouth grazing slowly on his neck, William said, "Well, yes, but I'd rather have you."

Lifting her lips from William's neck, she pulled her head back and smiled. "Really? Don't you want a vampire seducing you?"

"No. Not really, anyway. That would hurt. Besides, that kohl makes you look like a corpse."

"Do you want it off?"

William paused. "No, I guess not. This is all pretend, anyway."

Maddie stood up, continuing to smile at William. "I can take something else off. Not pretend."

"What's that?" William asked, feigining innocence.

Moving her hands to shoulders, Maddie lifted the straps of the red dress with her thumbs. Pulling the straps down to the sides of her arms, she instantly transformed the dress into a crumpled red pile around her bare feet.