Hills outside of Hamelton
along I-35 North
Tuesday, March 9
6:00 a.m.

The man sitting on the hill sighed deeply, his mind consumed by the terrible events that were occuring in the town below. He had watched demons work from time eternal, and no matter what harm they caused, it never got easier to stomach.

And this battle was no better. Seeing the innocence of a child turned to so much dust in the wind was a pain that pierced his soul like a sword through the heart. It was common knowledge that a child's guardian angel had direct access to God himself, and any threats to a child's welfare were to be answered in the strongest possible manner. That was why he was here. The children were too valuable to let a threat like this be answered by anyone else.

Yet he knew that now was not the time to strike. Tal had not become Captain of the Host by being impatient. The prayer cover in Hamelton was almost nonexistent at the moment, and there weren't even enough warriors in the area to do more than fray the edges of the dark canopy that covered the town. Now, watching the sun rise as he did every morning, no matter where he was, Tal silently prayed for guidance and contemplated their next move.

Within a few brief moments he noticed his friend Guilo coming from the south. Tal rose to embrace his second-in-command, and Guilo sat down beside him, unsure if the news he brought would encourage the captain or bring him further trouble. "I bring news from Mercurius," said Guilo. "He had a run-in with Angelos, and was forced to flee. Another couple is dead at the hands of their own child."

Tal sighed, "I am aware of the passing of William and Jessica, friend. But I sense that you have other news. What is it? You can not trouble me more than I already am."

Gathering all his mighty strength, Guilo stated the news as simply as he could. "There are other angels in town. Case workers. They have brought the FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Captain, Andrew is among them."

For the first time since this terrible struggle began, Tal smiled. "Take heart, friend, this is good news! Andrew has a brave heart, and his time away from us must have done him some good, or the Lord would not have deemed him fit to come and help us fight this battle. And the FBI agents with them have fought many of the evil forces in this world." He remembered their largely unseen work in helping to roust the Omega Center. "I sense that the Lord has sent them here to play a key role in saving Hamelton."

Having heard his companion's words of reassurance, Guilo was both relieved and impatient. "So what now, Captain? Has the Lord granted you some insight into what our next course of action is to be?"

"I must stay far out of sight. I have become too well known among the demonic forces. If Angelos sees me, he may attack immediately, or worse, send for help and then attack, and that would be too much for us right now. However, Andrew must know that we are here. He has probably already sensed the evil that has descended on this town, and it is time to let him know how much he is needed here. We must have more prayer cover! The remnant needs to come together soon, and I believe Fox and Dana will be instrumental in starting this."

Guilo could feel the seeds of excitement sprouting to life in his soul. "Excellent! So where do we begin?"

Tal knew what he was about to say would please his friend to no end. "It seems we have an old ally in Hamelton. He and his family have just moved there, and already he has been praying for his new home."

Guilo could barely contain his excitement. "Who is this ally, Captain?"

Tal smiled, and placed a hand on Guilo's shoulder. "Tom Harris."

Hamelton Motor Inn
Room 6
6:45 a.m.

The sunlight streamed through the tiny crack in the curtains to hit Andrew right on his left eye. Unable to fight off the glare, the angel slowly, groggily woke up. [It's been so long since I've had to deal with mortal sleep,] he thought, [That I've forgotten how hard it is to wake up in the morning. Ah well, I guess it's time to wake Fox up so we make breakfast on time.] He turned over to look at the other bed...

...and realized that Mulder was gone.

Andrew panicked. Something just told him that the concept of Mulder going anywhere alone, for some reason, was a very bad idea. He started to look around for any evidence that Mulder had taken off in the middle of the night. Sure enough, both Tauruses were outside the rooms, most of Mulder's clothes were still in the closet and dresser, and his bag was still there. [So where could Fox have gone?] thought Andrew.

Just then he caught sight of the notepad left on the table. He quickly picked it up, and, sure enough, the note was from Mulder:

Andrew -

Went out for a run. I'll meet you and the ladies at the diner for breakfast.

- Mulder

Andrew sighed, quickly crumpled up the note, and headed for his favorite human activity - a hot shower. As he started the water, he heard Scully's alarm clock and her futile attempts to shut it off. [Guess she doesn't like mornings either,] thought Andrew. Finally he heard Scully wake up, shut off the clock, and then he heard Monica say something about letting Scully have the first shower. Satisfied, he stepped into the shower for himself.

Myrtle's
adjacent to the Hamelton Motor Inn
7:45 a.m.

Myrtle Caloquat thought she knew everyone in this town, but now she was starting to think otherwise. [First, the Thomases up the road turn up dead, their kids missing. Then the Joneses. Now Jessie and her husband Bill are dead, their kids gone, and all these new people are showin' up. Lot of those tourist folk been crowdin' up the Inn, just like she heard happened out in California when OJ Simpson killed his wife and that other fella.]

[Now there are these four other folks who say they're here to try and find out what happened and get those kids back, though she had no idea what they had to come back to, what with their parents dead and all. Good thing that new lady, Tess, came in here lookin' for a job the other day. If this keeps up, I'm definitely gonna need the help,] thought Myrtle. "Hey Tess," she said, "Can you go over to table 6 and take their breakfast order?"

"Sure thing, Myrtle," replied Tess. She mentally thanked God for his perfect planning. This was the best way for her to keep up with the latest opinions about things going on in town and keep an eye on Andrew and Monica. Since this was the only eating place in town, Mulder and Scully would have to be in here at least three times a day, and Andrew and Monica would have to follow. She walked over to the table where three people sat in trenchcoats. "Mornin' folks. My name is Tess, and I'll be your waitress for today. Aren't y'all waiting on someone?"

"Why, yes, he should be here any minute. How did you know?" replied Scully.

"Word travels fast around here. And you four are the talk of this town. Do you really think you're gonna find those kids?"

"We'll certainly do our best," replied Scully.

"Well that's good enough for me," said Tess, "Now can I get you good folks something in the meantime?"

"Do you have a double decaf mocha latte?" asked Monica. Tess, Andrew, and Dana all looked at her like she just asked for a dose of cyanide. Refusing to give up, Monica asked, "Well then, how about a cappuccino?"

When more uncomfortable stares were leveled in her direction, Monica raised up her hands in defeat. "All right, all right, I'll just have coffee then!"

Glaring at her young charge, Tess set about getting their coffee, while Monica decided to try and get more information out of Scully about her partnership with Mulder. "So, is this a normal type of case for you?"

"It's about as normal as our cases tend to get, yes." [Funny how your definition of normal can change over the years...]

Monica was really hoping she'd get into more detail, but after Scully said no more on the subject, the angel decided to try another approach. "So, what's it like being a woman in the Bureau? I mean, you've been around for much longer than I have. Does it get any easier?"

"Depends on what you mean by easier. If you mean the cases, yes, it does get a little easier over time. It never gets easy, especially on cases like this that involve children - if it stops bothering you, then that's exactly the time you need to resign, and fast. If you mean dealing with the 'old boys network', then no, it doesn't get any easier. Some may learn to admire you, even respect you, but that only makes the ones who don't give you more of a hard time. It helps when your partner is one of the people who respects you."

"Like Agent Mulder respects you?" asked Andrew.

Scully nodded automatically. [But does he really respect me?] she thought. If he respected me, why would he keep going off and following his own leads without me?]

Andrew and Monica looked at each other, both knowing that she wasn't quite certain what she just said was true, then stared into their cups of coffee as if they held the meaning of life.

After a few tense moments of silence, Mulder walked in. His hair was still wet from the shower he so quickly took after getting back from his run that morning. "Good morning everyone. Have I missed anything?"

Andrew and Monica stole a quick glance at each other, unsure of what to say. Finally, everyone shook their heads in unison. "No, you didn't miss much. We were just discussing life in the Bureau," replied Scully.

"Great," said Mulder, "So when do we eat?"

Tess, seeing Mulder walk in, picked just that time to show up with a fresh cup of coffee for him. "Right after you get a chance to look at that menu, honey," she said, handing Mulder a one-page laminated menu card with the few breakfast offerings the diner had. "So what'll it be?"

Dana ordered a fruit salad, half of a plain cinnamon raisin bagel and a skim milk; Andrew ordered the same. Fox, on the other hand, ordered two eggs over easy, greasy diner hash browns, extra bacon, a bagel with cream cheese, and a second cup of coffee. Before Dana could start chastising him (as usual) for ordering something that might kill him before the next liver-eating mutant has a chance, Monica piped in with, "I'll have the same." Dana, after hearing that, looked at Monica's slim physique and wondered if she just might really be some sort of alien genetic experiment after all.

As Tess went to place the order, Andrew dove right in to the case at hand, asking, "So, what's the plan for today?"

Mulder replied, "Well, I was thinking that we could go interview the neighbors of the six local victims - see if they had any connection to each other."

Monica asked, "You mean besides the sounds of the flute and the disappearance of their children?"

Mulder and Scully both nodded. Mulder added, "We should probably split up for this. Andrew, I think we should take the Joneses and the Thomases, since they lived within a couple of blocks of each other. Scully, I think you and Monica should take the McLintocks and then go over to the Medical Examiner's office to see if there's anything that might have been missed on the autopsies. I noticed in the forensic reports that they didn't do a tox scan on any of the victims; I'd like to see if they have any specimens that we could send back to Washington for analysis."

Scully nodded her agreement, and, although they both oddly nervous about the idea of splitting up, Monica and Andrew both agreed to the plan. At that point, Tess brought the food, and the foursome finished their breakfasts quickly and in relative silence, eager to get on with the day's investigation.

House of Carl & Paula Gorman
310 March Street
11:00 a.m.

Their house looked just like every other typical suburban house on this typical suburban block. The house next door looked just like theirs, too, except for the unusual, eerie quiet. The parents, Bill and Jessica McLintock, had been silenced forever; their children, Mark and Sharon, gone, with no idea as to when, or even if, they will ever be heard from again. Monica shuddered involuntarily as she looked at the quiet house. Scully noticed her uneasiness, and led her away from their blue Taurus to the front door of the Gorman house, hoping to get some answers.

An older woman with long, dark hair and soft brown eyes opened the door to the two agents. "Mrs. Gorman?" asked Scully.

The woman at the door nodded, "Yes, can I help you?"

Scully replied, "My name is Agent Dana Scully, and this is Agent Monica Smith. We're with the FBI, ma'am." She flashed her badge, and then continued, "We'd like to ask you a few questions about the incident that happened next door, if that would be all right with you."

Mrs. Gorman quickly stepped aside, ushering them into the house and closing the door behind them. "Certainly. Please, agents, have a seat. Would you like some coffee?"

Monica replied, "No, thank you Mrs. Gorman. You have a lovely home here."

Looking at their mauve-colored surroundings, Dana started to wonder again about the Irish junior agent. [I've never met a woman who warms up to people so easily,] thought Dana. [Then again, maybe I've been hanging around Mulder too long. Sometimes he practically exudes paranoia.] Being the senior agent, Dana began the questioning as soon as everyone was settled.

"Mrs. Gorman, can you tell us what happened to you that night?"

Paula shifted around uncomfortably. "Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I didn't see much that night. I'm sure you have the statement I gave Sheriff Materian that night?" Scully and Monica both nodded. "Everything I saw and heard that night and the next morning I told him. But I take it that's not the only information you need?"

Scully replied, "That's correct, ma'am. You and your husband were friends with the deceased couple, is that right?"

Paula nodded, then her face turned pale. "You couldn't possibly think that my husband and I-"

Monica interrupted her, "No, of course not! All we want to know is if they had any enemies? Anyone who might have wanted to have them..." she grimaced, hating to have to use the word, "killed?"

Paula shook her head. "No. I've known Jessie all my life. We played together as children, went through High School together, we even double dated on prom night. I was one of her bridesmaids when she married Bill, and I helped throw her welcome home parties when she brought Mark and Sharon home from the hospital. If they had any enemies, I would have known about them."

"What about Bill," asked Dana, "do you think-"

Paula shook her head again. "No way. I always thought something like this would never happen here. Definitely not to them." By this point her lower lip was quivering, and it was obvious that she was trying very hard not to cry.

It was taking a lot for Scully to keep a straight, professional face and not sigh in frustration at this point. She was certain that they were not going to get any additional information out of the neighbors. She decided to end this quickly. Standing up, she said, "Well, Mrs. Gorman, thank you very much for your time." She handed Paula a business card. "If you can think of anything else that might be helpful in our investigation, we're staying at the Motor Inn."

Monica, taking her cues from Scully, got up and, after warmly shaking Paula's hand, followed her out the door.

Scully leaned against the car door and let out the sigh she had been holding in during her interview with Paula Gorman. "Well, I don't think that got us anywhere. What about you?"

Monica looked at her sympathetically. "Well, if anything, we know that we can probably rule out war between the neighbors as a motive for the killings."

Scully shrugged her shoulders. "I agree. This neighborhood is just too tight-knit. It's like stepping into a Norman Rockwell painting."

Monica agreed, "Except for the fact that you never know if you or your neighbors is going to turn up dead the next morning."

Dana paused in thought for a moment. "It seems to me that the fact that the missing children are all around the same ages is significant. And if you need to find out information about children when the parents aren't available..."

Monica caught this train of thought immediately. "The next place you check is their school. Let's go."

Office of the Board of Education
Hamelton School District
noon

When Scully and Monica went back to the hotel, the front desk clerk, June, was more than happy to give them the address to the Board of Education office. As Scully and Monica pulled up to a small two-bedroom home, Scully wondered if June had made a mistake. Their location was confirmed, however, when the mailbox read "Hamelton Board of Ed" instead of a given name like the other mailboxes on the block. Their curiosity was piqued when Andrew and Mulder's Taurus pulled up behind theirs.

"What are you two doing here?" exclaimed Monica.

"Well, it turns out that both the Joneses and the Thomases live, or should I say lived, three blocks north of here," replied Mulder, "so as we were leaving our last interview, we saw you drive by, and we decided to follow you. How did your interviews go by the way?"

"We got nowhere," replied Scully, frustrated. "Turns out that this is your perfect little rural community. Everyone knows each other, knows each others business, and no one could possibly murder the neighbors next door."

"Seems we had similar luck, Agent Scully," commented Andrew. "So what are we doing here?"

Scully replied, "I had a hunch that the fact that the kids were all of similar ages was a primary factor in these cases, so I figured we should check out the children's school records and see if they might have known each other or taken any classes together - some connection that they might have had to each other."

"Good idea Scully," said Mulder, "let's go in and check it out." Andrew and Monica led the way up to the front door, Mulder and Scully following. Not one to miss an opportunity, Mulder leaned down and whispered in his partner's ear, "Scully, you, working on a hunch? Ooooooh, spooky!"

"Don't get your hopes up, Mulder," whispered Scully in response, "It may never happen again." The two agents stood in front of their junior counterparts as they rang the doorbell.

A tall, dark-haired, and well-built gentleman answered the door. Andrew drew in a deep breath, though only Monica heard it. Ignoring the surprise on Andrew's face, the gentleman asked, "Good morning. Can I help you?"

Before Andrew could show that he knew the man who answered the door far too well, Fox and Dana launched into their introductions, "Good morning sir," started Mulder. "My name is Agent Mulder and this," nodding to his partner, "is Agent Scully; we're with the FBI." Both flashed their badges, and Mulder continued, "we'd like to take a look any records you might have regarding the children who have disappeared over the past few weeks."

The gentleman nodded, and motioned for them to come in. Mulder and Scully walked into the small office, followed by Monica and then Andrew, who leaned in and whispered to the gentleman, "Guilo? Is that you?"

Guilo nodded, and quickly whispered, "Yes. Just wanted to let you know we're here." He winked at Andrew and smiled.

By this point, the two senior agents had looked over the office and turned to wait for the clerk to lead them to the records room. Both agents noticed the clerk wink at Andrew, then looked at each other to see if the other person noticed the same thing. As they mentally filed the incident away for future reference, Guilo motioned to them, "If you'll follow me, I'll show you where we keep our student files." He led them to a small back room lined with filing cabinets. He turned a light on and continued, "These are all of the records for the children who are currently in each of our public schools. I'll leave you to your work. If you need any help, there will always be someone outside of this door who can help you." As Mulder, Scully, and Monica nodded and turned to start looking for the appropriate files, Guilo briefly touched Andrew's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Be sure to spend some time looking in the Hs." Guilo then quickly left the room.

The second Guilo was out of sight, Monica pulled him over to the Jones files she was looking at. Completely puzzled at this point, she asked, "Andrew, who was that? He looked familiar to me, and I'm absolutely certain that you two have met before, just from the look on your face as we were walking in here."

Unable to wipe the smile from his face, Andrew replied, "You're familiar with the stories of Ashton and Bacon's Corner?" Monica nodded, and Andrew continued, "Well, you just met Guilo, second in command of Special Forces."

Monica's eyes widened, and she glanced over quickly at Mulder and Scully, just to make sure they weren't eavesdropping. "He's here? In Hamelton? Why?"

Andrew shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me. He said he was just here to let me know that they were here." He stroked his chin a bit, deep in thought. "He also suggested that I spend some time looking through the Hs..." Wondering what that meant, he opened the H drawer.

Monica looked at him in wonder. [Looks like this is going to get more and more interesting all the time.] She then went back to her appointed task of looking for the files of MaryAnn and James Jones.

Andrew started looking through the Hs, and quickly found exactly what Guilo knew he would find. In the front of the drawer were two small files, obviously new, that each had one sheet of paper in them: an application for permission to 'home-school' the child named on each file.

The files bore the names of Ruth and Josiah Harris.

He smiled, re-filed the two files, and then went to help his partner.

Fox stole a glance at the two junior agents, and muttered to himself, "Special Forces? Guilo? What the hell is going on here?"

Myrtle's
6:45 p.m.

Finding those files took much longer than anyone might have anticipated. Mark and Sharon McLintock's files were easy to find, but no one had any idea that there were so many Joneses and Thomases in a town as small as Hamelton. Add to that the fact that the files probably had not been cleaned out in the past ten years, and many files were misfiled, and by the all of the files had been tracked down, all four agents were tired, hot, sweaty, and, having skipped lunch, very hungry. They all decided to go to Myrtle's for an early dinner and go over the children's files together.

After Tess poured everyone their third round of after-dinner coffee, Dana reviewed what they had so far. "All right, so as far as we know, here are the similarities between the files. James Jones and Simon Thomas were all in the same grade in school, as were MaryAnn Jones and Andrea Thomas. None of them were in the same classes together, and all three sets of siblings attended different schools. We only have sketchy records for Mark and Sharon McLintock because they attended the local private Christian school. The four children we have full records on seemed to do well in school, getting all As for the most part. From the comments in the file, all of their teachers had nothing but praise for these children, saying they were all quiet, attentive, and well-behaved. I don't get it - it's like we're looking at records for the Stepford children."

Monica looked puzzled, but Andrew quickly gave her a look that said, "I'll explain later." Andrew, for the most part, had been quiet up until now. Finding recent records for Ruth and Josiah Harris puzzled him. [What were the Harris children doing in Hamelton? Maybe the fact that they're being schooled at home has some bearing on this,] he thought.

The angel then realized where he had seen the two FBI agents before. [The Omega Center!], he thought, [Do they know everything about what happened at Bacon's Corner? They may not even remember the case; after all, it was a while ago. Maybe...] "Do you think the first four might have learned something in school that led to their disappearances?" he asked out loud to the group.

Mulder and Scully looked at each other, then at Monica and Andrew. "It's possible," stated Mulder. Scully tensed slightly, thinking that Mulder was going to come out with some outrageous theory, but he said no more.

Andrew, too, was surprised, but he was more surprised that, with Mulder's eidetic memory, the case didn't come immediately to his mind. [I guess they didn't get very involved with Amber's side of the case,] he thought, [Maybe I should mention it.] To the group, he said, "I followed a case a while ago involving a little girl by the name of Amber Brandon. She was involved in a lawsuit against a Christian School, something about them spanking her and her mother deciding to sue for abuse. The case was eventually dropped, but there might be something in the background to that case we can use here."

"What makes you say that?" asked Scully.

Andrew took a deep breath, knowing that Scully not going to take this very well, even though it was the truth at the time. "The defense claimed that Amber was demon-possessed."