SCENE 8
When Scully opened the door to their hotel room she found Mulder sprawled out on the bed watching an old movie on tv. She thought it might be "Bringing Up Baby" as she saw Katherine Hepburn chasing a leopard around onscreen. He had already changed out of his suit and into his swim trunks and nothing else.
Scully smiled secretly to herself. She could get used to this.
He sat up when he saw her, "Hey, what'd you find out?"
Scully took off her blazer, hanging it on the back of a chair and sat down on the edge of the bed beside him.
"Well at first glance the two puncture holes appeared to have been made by an instrument of some sort but upon examination I realized they had been made by teeth. Incisors in fact. But, just like you said no loss of blood. Cause of death appears to have been a form of extreme exhaustion. The body literally did not have enough energy to support its life systems."
Mulder nodded as he mulled this information over. "An aura zapper!"
Scully looked at him in confusion, "A what?"
"It's a type of creature disguised as a human that's actually very similar to a vampire in nature. He zaps his victims' of their energy, their life source, or aura until they have nothing left and simply die of exhaustion like this woman. It's the only thing that he lives off of. They're very clever, highly intelligent in fact and they can disguise themselves quite well."
"I'm sorry Mulder, vampires and aura zappers?"
"Yeah! It's a classic X-File," he said leaning towards her. "I've never come across one, only read about them. It's exciting isn't it?"
Scully rolled her eyes at him, "Oh yeah definitely. Next thing I know we'll be investigating black catson Halloween to see if people do get bad luck from them."
"Seriously Scully, this is good stuff!"
Scully had to smile a little, "Well it is rather amusing to see how excited you get about it at least. But unfortunately I have to cut this short and start getting ready for my date," she said feeling herself looking forward to it greatly.
"Ah yes, the chip chip Cheerio! man," Mulder snorted. He waved a hand at her, "Feel free to model your outfit for me. You can even change out here if you want," he said with a devilish smirk.
"Oh wow, some of us really don't grow up." Scully grabbed some clothes out of her suitcase and headed for the bathroom.
"Yeah, life's more fun that way," Mulder called from his spot on the bed. He turned up his movie and resumed watching for a few minutes but his mind was not on the film.
About 10 minutes later there was a knock on the hotel door. Mulder realized he should probably throw on at least a t-shirt and hastily grabbed one and put it on as he walked towards the door.
He vaguely remembered what Steed had looked like from the pool. He had to admit; the man definitely looked like he worked out and still got to take in some sun. He felt himself inadvertently puff up his chest as he held the door open.
"How you doin?" He said trying to be civilized even though he was still rather annoyed this lunk was taking Scully out instead of him. He always assumed she'd be around for him whenever he needed…or wanted her around. It felt weird for that not to be the case.
"Ah hello, Steed Adams," Steed stuck out his hand and Mulder shook it.
"Fox Mulder."
"Yes Scully told me you were partners, interesting work you both do. So do you really believe in aliens and abductions and all that sort of rot?" Steed said with a slight smirk around the eyes.
Mulder stiffened. Who was this guy? Coming in here and insulting him. He couldn't believe Scully was interested in him.
"I'm sorry I can't divulge true F.B.I. business, that's on a need-to-know basis. As in Mulder and Scully need-to-know. And you don't." Mulder replied throwing it back at him.
Steed chuckled, "Whatever you say, Spooky."
Mulder's temper flared. Scully had told this joker his nickname and made him sound like the town's local yokel. He felt so betrayed.
Feeling wounded, he stepped back and propped himself on the bed again.
"Scully will be ready shortly," he said icily.
Steed nodded and took a seat by the balcony doors.
Mulder fixated his eyes on the tv, determined to ignore Steed until they left.
The light from the window caught his eyes. There was a glare due to the fact that the bed he sat on faced the window from across the room. He glanced over at Steed who was also caught in the evening sunlight streaming through and almost fell off the bed.
He couldn't believe his eyes and only dared look for a full moment.
Steed's face, catching the direct glare of the sunlight showed the image of a skeleton. It was as if his face was suddenly an X-ray photo. No skin, only the hollow white image of a skull.
Mulder swallowed quickly as Steed turned his gaze towards Mulder.
Mulder instantly looked away and when he looked back again, Steed looked completely normal as he had before.
Mulder felt an awful twinge in his stomach. He was positive of what he'd seen but he felt powerless not knowing what he was dealing with.
At that moment Scully emerged from the bathroom with a smile as soon as she saw Steed.
He stood for her and held her at arm's length to admire her. "Dana, you look wonderful."
Mulder's throat tightened, Don't touch her you sick creature. He thought.
"Are you all ready to go?" Steed asked.
Scully was about to open her mouth when Mulder butted in quickly, "NO!"
Both Scully and Steed looked at him quizzically.
"I mean um, Scully, I heard reports of a hurricane coming through. You should cancel your plans, really."
Scully looked out at the bright sunshine and cloudless sky, "Um what are you talking about, Mulder? Stop kidding around," she followed Steed's lead as they headed towards the door.
Mulder impulsively grabbed Scully's arm. "Scully, please, listen—" he held her eyes with his own.
Scully thought Mulder's behavior was a bit strange but she shrugged off his grip.
"I'll see you later," she said and headed out first as Steed held open the door.
Steed turned around to face Mulder, "Don't wait up," he said with a wink and shut the door.
Mulder felt the anger in him rise again. That was the second time he'd heard that and this time he was going to wait. Watch and wait.
He made up his mind to follow them.
