Title: Odium
Author: AbFab
Rating: R ( M )
Disclaimer: Mine. Mine. Mine. ( Shut up seagulls, we gotta find Nemo! ) Mulder and Suclly belong to Chris Carter - the God of unfinished mystery plots ;)
Summary: A darker story. A dead serial killer seems to be murdering again. Or is it a copycat killer? Hiding somewhere in the woods he lurks Mulder and Scully into a deadly game they might not survive this time!
Note: I've written that story in German, so it will take some time to translate it. Please be patient :)
This story is dedicated to Eric Hiems! Thank you for the good time together and for your inspirational thoughts :) *Knuddeldrück*
And now...ready...steady go:
Odium
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White moonlight grazed the tree tops caressing the silver spiderwebs and reflected in the water that covered the ground like small lakes. Withered fir needles were swashed aside with a great splash as a heavy boot stepped into a puddle. It belonged to a dark figure that hasted through the forest.
" Michael! No!" A scared female voice echoed through the darkness but suddenly turned into a high-pitched scream. The girl's foot got caught in a root and she fell down a muddy slope, rolling over until her fall was stopped by a tree.
She pushed herself up on her hands and the moonlight illuminated her frightened face.
Blue eyes whose color had faded to gray after dusk stared up at a figure that had appeared on the edge of the slope.
" Why are you doing this? It's me! Jen!"
Michael Harrington, her husband for three years, just stared at her, a grotesque smile contorting his features. His eyes roamed over her body as he pulled out a pocket knife. It popped open and the sharp blade cut through the moonlight.
" It's fun, babe." He approached and Jennifer instinctively crawled backwards until her back rested against the tree. She tried to get up but screamed out in pain as her ankle gave away underneath her weight. Michael continued grinning.
" Michael, please, you're scaring me. Stop it. Please."
Tears welled up in her eyes. She pulled herself up into a kneeling position and tried to crawl away but Michael's weight pushed her body down into the mud.
" Michael is gone." He said his hands travelling up her body until they rested in her light hair. He pulled a fistful backward and ignored her sharp intake of breath.
" But does it matter?"
The moon continued drowning the forest in its silver glow. Even as the bloodcurling scream ripped the silence apart and then stopped for ever. The moon didn't care. It had shone for billions of years. Life had come and gone. Wasted. Whatsoever. Night would turn into day. Day would turn into night. A neverending circle.
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DUHDUHDUHDUHDUUUUHDUUUUUUH! X Files Music...
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Dana Scully was wet, cold and angry. Very angry.
Her hair stuck to her forehead and her blue 'waterproof' jacket was soaked. "Mispurchase." she silently fumed and wiped away the thick raindrops that clung to her lashes.
The rain had washed away the last traces of her make up and she knew her freckles would be all over the place. The weather forecast had promised a warm and dry spring, instead they were caught in the middle of a typhoon-like rainstorm. Usually that didn't matter a lot since they investigated their cases in dry and climated rooms. Even if the radiator in their office didn't work it was never as cold as it was now. And they only had started backpacking a day ago.
Scully was so consumed in her thoughts that she didn't watch out for her steps and suddenly lost balance on the slippery ground. If it hadn't been for a strong pair of arms she would have definitely fallen face first into a large puddle. Not that it would have mattered. Could it have gotten any wetter?
" Admit it, Scully. It's hot and you needed a refreshment." He partner grinned and pushed her back into an upright position.
She turned around and her expression wavered between gratitude and fury.
" Mulder. It's wet. I am cold. And we are in the middle of a forest hunting for...what are we hunting for anyway?"
She wiped a drippingly wet strand of hair out of her face and thankfully missed her partner's amused glance. She looked small and he felt the urge to protect her, not that he would ever said that out loud. He valued his life.
" Mulder?" She still stared at him questioningly.
" I am still not sure, Scully. I've been continuously thinking about Rosenberg's theory, but it doesn't make sense."
She looked up at him, shook her head in frustration and walked on. Mulder's gaze followed her, while his thoughts drifted off.
* * *
2 days earlier, Washington DC* * *
" Morning, Mulder!" Mulder lifted his eyes from one of the thousand files spread on his desk and smiled at his partner. She wore blue today and he decided that 'today' was a good day.
" Hey!" She smiled back and then looked questioningly at the paper in his hands.
" What are you up to?"
" Doing research."
Scully sat on a chair, folded her hands in her lap and watched him patiently.
" Okay...are you going to fill me in or do you want me to guess?"
" Now THAT would be fun." Mulder grinned and handed her the file. He watched her gaze travel over the photos. Her right eyebrow arched up and her face turned a lighter shade of pale.
" Oh my...when...hold on. Mulder this case was closed in 1986!" She said and then looked up at him. " Why am I looking at a case that has been closed for more than a decade?"
He grinned and watched her purse her lips. Now that was the part she was probably not going to like.
" Because I think our new case might be connected to this one." He pulled out a few of the files and showed Scully some of the pictures.
Black and white photos never hid the cruelty of death. In contrary. They somehow illuminated the contrast of dark blood against pale skin. Scully squinted her eyes and tilted the picture to one side.
" Odium." She read. The word was carved into the flesh of the girl's thigh. "Help me out. My Latin is a bit rusty."
Mulder grinned, but grew serious again after a split second: " I had to look it up as well. It means hatred." He showed her another photo.
Scully swallowed. Again the word Odium was carved into the corpse. This time the woman's back was slashed open. Blood was splattered everywhere.
Mulder handed her a few more pictures.
" All in all 12 victims. 10 women. 2 men. No relation to each other."
" But the case was closed?" Scully asked again.
" Yes. Jamie Richardson was caught right after he had killed his last victim. He was sentenced to death and died on the electrical chair two years ago."
" So why are you interested in it? What's the connection?" Scully couldn't hide the disgust in her voice, her eyes were still fixed on one of the victims. A woman whose face had lost all beauty in death.
" Because the killings didn't stop afterwards."
" After his imprisonment?"
" No, after his death."
'There it goes.' Mulder thought watching Scullys eyebrow shoot up again.
Please review...I'm begging you :)
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TBC