Chapter 4
Deep Into That Darkness Peering
The group seemed unfazed by the glare from the headlights. They stared into the car with a measured and contemplative gaze that only slightly hindered Mulder. "Still think those muscles come from an excellent gene pool, Scully?" He looked at her as he reached for the door latch.
"Yes, it is a possibility. Unless they happen to run a training camp for nightclub bouncers or professional baseball players, I don't think steroids have anything to do with it." Somehow, the tone of her voice failed to convince Mulder. In fact, she sounded almost intimidated by the group of somewhat unfriendly looking boys. That was something different for Scully. Reluctant, sure, but never intimidated. He opened the car door and got out, keeping one hand near his gun.
As Mulder moved around to the front of the car, one of the boys, looking older than the rest, separated from the group and moved toward Mulder. Mulder cast a wary glance to his partner, still in the car, but ready to back him up if he needed it. The young man stopped a few feet away from Mulder, headlights shining off the man's muscles.
"Can I help you?" Scully clearly heard the authoritative, gravelly voice above the idling car engine. She shivered at the controlled power the young man's voice held. She reached over to the ignition, hesitating about turning the key. She really should leave the car run, in case Mulder's cockiness didn't go over well with this crowd. She twisted the key to the off position, hoping it wasn't a mistake. Without the glaring headlights, she saw Mulder and the young man more distinctly.
Mulder flashed his badge. "I'm Agent Mulder, FBI. I'm looking for Emily Young. Is this her residence?" The was a note of irritation in his voice.
Silence.
The young man had crossed his arms across his broad chest. His face was stony, but seemed to be weighing out a response. At last, he nodded. "Yes, she lives here. I'm her fiance, Sam Uley." The man called Sam relaxed his figure enough to seem wary and not hostile. "She's inside." Sam gestured toward the faded door.
For once in his life, Mulder was unsure of what to make of a situation. This Sam Uley, for all appearances, acted like a temperamental guard dog. Mulder had expected this man to put up some sort of fight over Emily Young and instead, he was invited, though somewhat tersely, inside without so much as a, 'What do you want?' or a, 'It's none of your business'.
Mulder managed a faint smile. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Uley." Mulder looked back to the car, where Scully was watching the conversation with wide eyes. He jerked his head toward the door of the house, implying that Scully should follow him in for this interview. Sam had taken a step away, back in the direction of the others, as Mulder moved to the door.
Scully exited from the car hastily, giving the pack of men a wide berth, following Mulder into the house. She felt their watchful gazes on her back and it made her steps falter for half an instant. Scully snuck a quick, assessing glance at the men. They weren't as similar looking as they first appeared. Sure, they all had well defined muscles, but most wouldn't pass for gym-obsessed bodybuilders. Some were on the slighter side of massive, looking as if the muscle definition they gained had come from hard work, not pumping iron. With her discerning doctor's eye, she noted that none of them had the tell-tale acne that often accompanied steroid abuse. Even with the faint light filtering from the house windows, the acne would have been obvious on at least some of them. With this new fact, Scully felt not relief, but more contradiction and confusion. She gathered that these men were in fact boys, teenaged boys, like the one she and Mulder met earlier that evening at the Black residence. They all appeared to be much older and more physically mature than any teenager should. Without steroids a teenage boy should have some zits, but all she could see was smooth, coppery skin.
The way they watched her was unnerving.
It wasn't like the uncomfortable glares she often encountered from men trying to undress her with their eyes. No, it wasn't like that at all. Her mind wanted to liken the feeling to being watched by an animal, but that didn't seem right either. Their gazes weren't hungry or fearful. It was curious, interested. Rather like the look some dogs gave their owners during a training session.
Dogs. Shape-shifters. Wolves. Teenage boys who looked about twenty-five or thirty. Dana Scully felt herself beginning to believe without the benefit of good, solid evidence, just for a moment.
"Scully?"
"Yes, Mulder?" Scully pulled her thoughts out of speculation and into the present task of interviewing Emily Young.
Mulder held the door open for his partner, looking concerned. Scully wasn't one to get lost in her thoughts often. "You okay?"
"I'm fine. I was just thinking." She refocused her eyes, away from the group, not allowing herself to give into her ideas anymore.
"About what?"
"Nothing that matters." She pushed passed Mulder into the warm, yellow light of a tiny kitchen. A woman was removing something from the aged oven; her back was turned away from the door and the woman was apparently oblivious to the voices in her front yard. Scully sniffed deeply, inhaling a scent reminiscent of the banana bread her grandmother used to make for her and her sister. The memory brought a momentary prick of tears to the back of her eyes.
"Emily Young? I'm Agent Mulder and this is my partner, Agent Scully. We're from the FBI. We want to ask you some questions about your accident." Mulder had stepped toward the middle part of the kitchen, near the uncharacteristically large table for such a small space. The woman turned toward him slightly, unfazed by Mulder's introduction. She returned to the oven, shutting the door and resting a loaf pan, next to three others, on a wire rack.
"Have a seat. Would you like somrthing to eat or drink?" The woman, Emily, busied herself at the sink, her shiny black hair curtaining her face.
"No, thank you though." Mulder smiled, immediately fascinated by Emily's display of domesticity. Scully resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Both agents settled into the cozy comfort of the kitchen, waiting for Emily.
Scully turned in her seat to look over her shoulder and out the window. Sam was having a conversation with the group outside. Scully saw his lips moving but heard not even the slightest hint of a muffled whisper. Strange. With a final nod, Sam dismissed the group. He moved toward the front door, while the others vanished into the deepening shadows of the night. She turned back when she heard the water running in the sink shutting off.
"So what do you want to know?" Emily faced the two agents, her arms crossed loosely across her chest as she leaned against the sink. She waited for their inevitable reactions to her face. She was used to it by now, but it still hurt to see the pity in people's faces. "And why do you want to know about it. My accident isn't recent news, even around here." Emily's voice wasn't angry or suspicious, just mildly curious.
Mulder was about to speak, but Scully cut him off. "Miss Young, we were sent to investigate some murders and disappearances in Seattle. While there, we discovered similar disappearances had occurred here, in the Forks area, just a few months ago, just before they started happening in Seattle. We believe that both the Forks and Seattle disappearances are connected somehow, even though the Forks incidents were attributed to an animal. We were wondering if these animal attacks were in some way related to yours. Can you tell us exactly what happened?"
Emily's eyes widened slightly with some unreadable emotion, but returned to a neutral gaze. She hesitated for a moment, trying to find a good place to start. "I don't remember much. My grandparents lived along the Wa'atch River. When they died, they left their home, a cabin really, to my parents. We used it for camping. It was September and I was at the cabin with my cousin, Leah Clearwater. We were hiking along the river and I guess I got too close to a bear feeding on the salmon. She got help and I was taken to the hospital in Port Angeles. That's all I remember."
Scully noticed a slight hesitation in Emily's voice at nearly the same time Mulder noticed Sam entered the room.
"Was there anyone else with you and Leah?" Scully scrutinized Emily's reaction, waiting for any hint that there might be an untruth to the story. She had been sure Mulder's theory that Emily was lying about the attack was bogus, but now she wasn't so sure.
Emily looked up and across the room, where her gaze locked with Sam's. "Leah's boyfriend was there."
"Oh, and who was that?"
"Sam Uley." Emily's voice was flat, like she would rather have lied than told the truth.
Scully's mouth went dry. She couldn't think of anything else to say, but she began speculating that maybe this wasn't an animal attack after all. She moved in her seat to observe Sam more clearly. His eyes were still focused on his fiancée, dark brown and intense. Scully felt the magnetic attraction between the two. It made her uncomfortable, that depth of devotion she read in Sam's eyes and felt in the air around her.
Glancing quickly at Mulder, Scully could tell he was having a similar reaction to this puzzling couple. The strange energy in the room made her lose focus. She nodded at Mulder to continue the questioning.
After a moment, Mulder continued. "Are you sure it was a bear that attacked you and not someone or something else?"
Emily nodded. "I remember the fur, so it wasn't a person. I assumed it was a bear since it was bigger than me. There aren't many animals that get bigger than a human."
Mulder nodded thoughtfully. "Did your cousin see this bear too? I'm assuming she was close by."
"Actually, she wasn't all that close. I had rounded a bend in the trail and we weren't visible to each other. She was close enough to hear the attack, but not close enough to stop it. She found me soon after the bear left."
As far as Mulder could tell, Emily was truthful about the incident. What he couldn't tell was how Sam Uley fit into this picture. How did this guy go from being with Leah and then end up with her cousin? Was this old news, like the bear attack, or something more recent?
"Where was Sam when this happened?" Mulder put the question out there, hoping either Sam himself or Emily would answer.
"Back at the cabin." Emily's voice went flat and toneless again.
Mulder studied her face carefully. She didn't appear to be lying; her body language was placid. Sam's body language was anything but serene. His shoulders curled inward in physical pain. Mulder thought that was odd. Did Sam blame himself for letting Emily get attacked since he stayed behind at the cabin? Did he think it was his fault; that if he were with the girls, this wouldn't have happened?
Before Mulder could phrase the thought out loud in a question, Sam had crossed the small room and gathered Emily in his arms.
"It's all my fault," Sam murmured into Emily's hair. He pulled her close, as if she was going to vanish before his eyes.
Emily lifted her head from his shoulder after several moments. She looked deep into Sam's eyes with that same intense emotion Sam's held earlier. "It's not your fault. It couldn't be helped." She stressed the last sentence, while clasping her hands against Sam's face.
"I know. It still hurts though." Sam leaned forward and kissed Emily tenderly on the forehead.
A wave of intense emotion hit Mulder, observing the powerful bond between Emily and Sam. He pieced together how their relationship developed. It was clear, really. Sam obviously felt guilty for placing those two girls in danger by not accompanying them on the hike. He made up for that guilt by supporting Emily through her recovery period, which by the looks of it, was quite a substantial period. Sam's atonement for this guilt led to something more than simple support. It was entirely plausible, but there was still something off about the story.
"Do you think it's possible that we could talk to Leah Clearwater?" Mulder didn't feel sorry for interrupting Emily and Sam's moment. He should have, but he didn't.
Sam answered without looking at Mulder. "She's not around. She's with family, out of town."
The tone in which Sam spoke, made it very clear to Mulder that they weren't going to get any answers from Leah. He felt a little deflated. He knew that the events in Forks were related to the events in Seattle. He was just grasping at straws for proof.
"I think that's all the questions we have for you now." Mulder made a move to get up and leave.
Scully motioned for him to stop. "Actually, I do have one more question and then we'll leave. Do you remember which doctor first treated you, Emily?"
"Dr. Gerundy. He fills in up at the Port Angeles ER when they're short staffed. Most of the time, he's at Forks General."
"Thank you. We'll be on our way." Scully led the way to the door, Mulder following behind her. The couple in the kitchen never broke from their embrace as the FBI agents left.
(*)
Silence filled the rental car. Mulder was frustrated and Scully was thoughtful, but neither one wanted to voice their thoughts. By now, darkness had descended fully on the Olympic Peninsula. The moon was valiantly breaking through the thin spots in the passing clouds, occasionally lighting the dark world with silver. The road wound close to the cliffs that dropped down to the ocean, down into a deeper darkness.
"I might have been wrong, Scully." Mulder broke the silence at last.
His frank statement took Scully by surprise; it wasn't often that Mulder admitted he was wrong. Even more ironic, Scully didn't think he was wrong at all. "Really? Why do you think that?"
"It was pretty clear back there that Emily wasn't lying. It was a bear attack, nothing more. It's completely unrelated to the attacks that happened earlier this year and what's happening in Seattle now."
"I think that's where you might just be wrong, Mulder. Didn't you think it was odd that Sam went from dating one girl to the other?"
"Well, yeah, it was odd. I can see how it happened, though. Sam felt like it was his fault that Emily got attacked and so to make up for it, both to her and to himself, he helps her through the recovery. They develop a close bond because of this unfortunate accident."
Scully looked at Mulder for a moment. She choked back the urge to laugh. "I never thought I'd see the day." Her voice trailed off in wonderment.
"What?"
"Fox Mulder, hopeless romantic."
Mulder rolled his eyes. "Then how else can you explain that connection that they had? It was so intense you could feel it in the air."
"That I can't explain. Some people are lucky enough to have a deep connection with someone else, others aren't. I'll bet if we could talk to this Leah Clearwater, that lovely picture you just painted would look a hell of a lot different."
"You're thinking this accident was an attack of jealously, aren't you?"
"And that's exactly why you are going to drive us to Forks General Hospital. I want to talk to Dr. Gerundy about Emily's wounds."
"You don't think they are from an animal?"
"The scars suggest that the injuries were inflicted by an animal, but I want to make sure. Maybe Dr. Gerundy can even tell what type of animal did the damage."
"I like how you think." Mulder smiled at his partner, as the car interior filled with a brief glow of silver from the moonlight.
"Thank you. You know, Emily thought it was a bear that attacked her, but she can't be certain. It is possible that it was a wolf, one like the police chief's daughter saw."
"And I thought I'd never see that day."
"What?"
"Dana Scully, believer."
Scully pressed her lips together into an agitated line. "I didn't say that I believed any of that nonsense about werewolves or shape-shifters."
"But you were thinking about it. Admit it."
Scully rolled her eyes and turned to look out at the darkness through the passenger side window.
"Do you think you'll find it?"
Scully tore her gaze away from the black scenrey passing by to look at her partner. "Find what, Mulder?"
"A relationship like Sam and Emily's. A guy who looks at you like your the only woman on earth."
"I don't know. I think I'd like to."
(*)
"You didn't have to lie, Emily."
"I didn't lie, Sam. I told them what I remembered, not what other people told me about that day. It was the truth. I thought you were back at the cabin. I had no idea you had gotten ahead of us on the trail. They never asked about what happened before the accident. And that's what it was, an accident. You never meant to overhear my argument with Leah, even if it was about you. It was ugly. I said some things that I never should have said about Leah, about you, that day. I called her crazy for hanging on to a two-timing freak and she called me a man stealing whore. I rounded the curve on the trail just as you phased. I didn't know that at the time. All I saw was fur."
Sam pulled Emily tight to his chest again. "I'll never forgive myself for what I did to you and to Leah."
Emily pushed away from Sam's broad chest enough to look into his eyes. "Enough. It is in the past. It can't be changed now. Just be glad those FBI agents didn't catch on to what's really going on here."
"I don't know about that. Those two were different somehow." Sam released Emily and kissed her quickly. "I have to go and check in with the pack. I love you."
"I love you too."
(*)
The lobby of Forks Community General was vacant when Mulder and Scully arrived. It was after nine o'clock, so it wasn't surprising. The receptionist would have left hours ago and visiting hours ended a half an hour before they got there.
"The ER usually has someone at the admissions desk that can page Dr. Gerundy for us." Scully paused in front of the directory. "This way, Mulder." She pointed to a corridor off to her right.
The sound of their shoes on the linoleum was the only noise as they made their way to the ER admissions. The corridor jutted off to the left abruptly. It seemed to Mulder more of a labyrinth than a hospital hallway.
"Wouldn't it have been easier to have gone in through the ER entrance rather than the general entrance?"
"I suppose, but we're here now."
"See, this is why I drive."
Scully stopped and glared at him. "I remember plenty of times you've gotten us lost, so I don't want to hear it. It's just a hospital."
"You never know what lurks in the dark corners though."
Scully ignored him and went around the next corner, finding herself face to necktie with a handsome doctor. She took a step back and apologized.
"Oh. I'm so sorry."
"No harm done. Can I help you? You seem lost." He smiled and extended his hand. "I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen."
"I'm Agent Dana Scully with the FBI. I was looking for the ER, but maybe you can help us. We're looking for a Dr. Gerundy. Is he here now?"
Dr. Cullen didn't look surprised when Scully introduced herself as an FBI agent. He probably was used to law enforcement agents appearing every once in a while in the hospital.
"No, I think his shift ended earlier today. He'll be back in tomorrow morning. Is there something I can help you with?"
"Are you familiar with animal wounds?" Scully couldn't help but stare at Dr. Cullen. He was the handsomest doctor she had seen in a long time. The color of his eyes was very striking against the paleness of his skin. Scully never recalled seeing anyone with quite that shade of amber eyes before; it was really beautiful and disarming.
"I've seen a few cases." Few was an understatement. Carlisle had seen three hundred; that was one incident for nearly every year of his existence.
"That's good. Would you know the difference between a wolf attack and a bear attack?"
Carlisle pondered his response for a moment. "At first glance no. With many large predatory mammals, wounds at first look identical. There's deep punctures, lacerations, and occasionally crushed bones. The only definitive way to tell what animal caused the injury is by the depth and shape of some of the wounds. Unfortunately, the only way a doctor can get that information most times is through an autopsy." He stopped for a minute and regarded Scully carefully. "I can see that this is nothing new to you."
Scully smiled, flattered. "I've done my fair share of autopsies. But our victim survived and no one saw for certain, what animal did the damage."
"A fellow doctor. It's a pleasure to meet you. I think I have some medical journals in my office that might be of some help. Follow me please."
She stepped aside to let Dr. Cullen pass and followed him back down the winding corridor. Scully went a few steps, before she realized Mulder wasn't following them.
"Are you coming Mulder?"
"Yeah, sure." He followed after them, distantly. There was something about the pale doctor that was wrong. Dr. Cullen's well-meaning smile made Mulder feel ill at ease.
Dr. Cullen's office was on the first floor and the walk wasn't far. Unlike the other parts of the hospital that Mulder and Scully had been in, this wing wasn't vacant. As they passed a small waiting room, Mulder notice two teenagers looking at him through the doorway. The girl, with pale skin and spiky black hair, noticed him first. Her golden eyes went wide and her face looked suprised. The boy, who hadn't bothered to comb his odd mop of neither blond nor brown hair, just scowled. Mulder could gather, just in passing, this must be this boy's perpetual countenance. Both had extremely pale skin, but maybe this was a waiting room for those awaiting treatment for some weird, chronic blood disorder. Scully never noticed them. She was too busy conversing with the handsome doctor. He's probably some child prodigy. He's too young to be a real doctor, Mulder thought sourly. He moved on, trailing into the office after Scully.
Inside the doctor's well-furnished office, Mulder feigned interest in the discussion that Scully was having with Dr. Cullen. All he needed to know was it a bear or wolf that attacked Emily. Surely, it didn't take that long to figure out.
To keep himself from looking too disinterested, Mulder mentally reviewed the facts of the case. He needed to figure out if it was a wolf that attacked Emily, then he could link her accident to the Forks disappearances and wolf sightings. As far as linking the cases here back to Seattle, he needed to find hard evidence.
A trill from Scully's cell phone interrupted his thoughts and their conversation. Excusing herself, Scully answered it.
"Hello? That's good. Can you email me the report? Thank you." She returned her phone to her coat pocket and resumed her conversation with Dr. Cullen like there wasn't an interruption.
"Now," Dr. Cullen continued, pointing to some photos in an old looking medical journal, "bears have five claws and wolves only have four. The depth of the gouges the claws make would depend on the bear. Grizzly bears have much larger claws than black bears, thus making deeper lacerations."
The doctor's words sparked interest in Mulder. He was fairly certain there were four ragged red lines on Emily's face, two long and two shorter ones.
Scully arrived at the same conclusion too. "That's very interesting Dr. Cullen. Thank you so much for your time."
They left the office heading toward the main lobby where they entered earlier.
"Wait, Scully. Isn't the police chief's daughter in the hospital?"
"I think she is Mulder. Why?"
"She might be able to verify the wolves. She might have something to add."
"True. I forgot about interviewing her. I want to look at this lab report first, then we'll look for her."
(*)
"I've never see anything like it. I've gotten blurry images before, like with the wolves, but that's like looking through window condensation. This was very different Edward. Remember when we had to rely on an antenna for television reception? That was awful. The picture was always staticky and it rolled. Seeing those two's futures was like that. I'd only get a flash of a clear picture a few times. What I did see was certainly interesting. Do you really think they are FBI agents?"
Alice rambled on, making it difficult for Edward to follow. Even with his acute hearing, it was often hard to follow Alice's excited pace. He heard, rather than saw, the static Alice described. Normally Edward was capable of reading Alice's thoughts as well as others passing by, but when the two agents passed by with Carlisle, he could only hear their thoughts. He was completely shut off from Alice and Carlisle. The agents' minds were on a different frequency, that much was certain. All Edward could hear was the static of a poorly tuned in radio station,high pitched and squealing, with occasional breaks of clarity.
"I think they are, Alice. There is something very different about them though. We'd better go talk to Carlisle after they leave. I don't know what they want and we've already got enough to deal with, now that the wolves are joining the fight with us."
The two vampires stilled; Alice, contemplative, and Edward, brooding. They listened to the conversation down the hall in Carlisle's office, waiting.
(*)
"I've never seen anything like this before." Scully sank down into a chair in the lobby, staring blankly at the email on her phone.
"What is it, Scully? Good or bad news?"
"Good news and bad, I suppose. We know what was used as an accelerant in the burned bodies in Seattle. That's the good news. The bad news is: I never heard of such a solution existing before. The lab found traces of digestive enzymes and elements of a hemotoxic venom."
"Like snake venom? Why is that bad news?"
"It's bad because there are also traces of formaldehyde. Formaldehyde can be used to neutralize some toxins."
"So that fact the they exist together is contradictory?"
"Yes. It shouldn't exist, but it's right here in the report." She handed her phone over to Mulder.
Mulder studied the report, trying to take in the information. True to Scully's words, there was a list of enzymes, hemotoxins and formaldehyde. The list also contained several unknown traces.
"Formaldehyde would be the actual accelerant. It is flammable, right?"
"Yes."
"So somebody out there is draining bodies and injecting them with a weird mix of formaldehyde and something like snake venom?"
Scully sighed. "Apparently. I just wish I knew who. Or what."