Chapter One

"She's dead. They found her in the forest near her school wearing nothing but her underwear."

Skinner pushed a handful of crime scene photographs across the desk so that they could see for themselves.

"Cause of death?" Scully asked.

"A blow to the back of the head, and/or hypothermia."

"In June?"

"Right. The local P.D. have never had a homicide before. They're just playing doctors and nurses till the big boys come in."

"So we're talking small town?" asked Mulder.

"It's a small island community - Merton Island, off the coast of New England. Population about two thousand, if that. The law enforcement there are completely out of their depth."

Skinner turned to Scully.

"Dana, I want you to examine the body."

"With respect, Sir, haven't you got an experienced medical examiner that's a little closer?"

"I think this is a case that would befit from both your expertise," Skinner replied.

Mulder pushed the photographs back towards Skinner.

"I don't think this is really our area, Skinner," said Mulder, standing up to leave. "So if you'll excuse me, I've got a new lead on the HAARP project and an alleged sighting of an Islandic Elf in Oregan to look into, so - "

"There seems to be evidence of Occultism, Black Mass and a general consensus amongst the school community that her death is a result of Wiccan magic," Skinner replied.

Mulder sat back down.

"And now I'm listening, Skinner."

"Black Mass?" Scully raised an eyebrow. "In a boarding school?"

"That's what the preliminary report suggests."

Scully sighed. She had re-joined the X-Files to establish the link between the disappearance of pregnant women with the evidence of alien DNA in their genomes. She hadn't left her job at the hospital to investigate this kind of supernatural conjecture. She was a medical doctor, used to dealing with skin, blood, bone and matter. There might have been a time when she felt differently, but now magic and myth held nothing for her. She looked at Mulder; he was reading the case file, his eyes shining.

"Do you really think it's an X-File?" she ask him.

"Could be… " Mulder held out a photograph for her to look at more closely. "See that mark on her skin, there - just above her wrist."

"… It looks like - like a number seven, but with two small marks by it. Could be just a regular scratch or animal bite?"

"That's no animal bite. It's the Mark of Cain, Scully. The Mark of Cain is left upon the skin of a man or woman who has fallen victim of a curse. In Hebrew scriptures, the Mark of Cain served as a warning against those who might provoke God's vengeance."

Scully was beginning to lose patience.

"Mulder, this girl didn't die from a mark on her wrist! She has an acute cranial trauma, which is more than likely the cause of her death."

"Well you won't know for sure until you take a look at her," Skinner responded. "I can get you out there by late afternoon, if you're both willing to go now?"

"What's the rush?" Mulder asked.

"The Director himself has asked me to get you there as a matter of urgency."

"The director? What's Connelly got to do with it?"

"His daughter's a student at the same boarding school. 'Redfern House' it's called; costs $40,000 a year to educate your child there."

"Woah!" Mulder replied. "Next time the Bureau has a Christmas party, the drinks are on the Director."

"Connelly's chairman of the school's board of governors too."

"It's a PR stunt then?" said Scully. "He's just sending us there for damage control."

"Not necessarily. Occultism is common in small, isolated communities, Scully," Mulder replied. "And when you've got a great number of young, impressionable minds in - "

"You've already made up your mind to go - haven't you, Mulder?"

Mulder leaned over and put his hand on her arm.

"Come with me," he said. "Just take a look at the body. That's all I'm asking."

Scully had never been able to say no to him. The intensity of his pursuit for the truth and the passion of his beliefs completely overwhelmed her… and yet they were the very things that had drawn her into his world, a place that she could never regret being a part of.

"Or, you could stay here and follow-up the Icelandic Elf lead..."

"OK, fine," she said. "I'll look at the body."

"That's great," said Skinner. "Because I already booked your flights. You leave in a hour."