Author's Note: I'd just like to make a few brief notations-

1. The plot is going to pick up a little in later chapters, for you action junkies. ;) These beginning chapters are mostly setup and buildup, and since they're very short, it makes it seem like the story might be moving slowly. However, most of these chapters aren't more than a few pages, max.

2. There will be more interaction between Cullens and FBI agents soon. Patience is a virtue!

3. Lastly, I'll most likely update this story in chunks, meaning, several chapters at a time. I'm trying to organize this story well, so I'm doing my best to meld the plot successfully. I don't want to just slap it up here and hope for the best. Believe me, it doesn't work out very well...

Thank you again!

9. Help?

As soon as Mulder had a car, Mulder and Scully prepared to separate and search out the two different leads they had discussed the night before: the Quileutes and the Cullens. Scully felt discouraged at the depths to which they had to sink in order to move on the case. In her opinion, neither the Cullens nor the Indians seemed to be adequate suspects. However, she could think of no other options for their search, and so she faced Mulder with a resigned air as they decided who would go where. "I have a feeling my car will hold out better against rougher terrain, so I think I'll drive to La Push."

"I think you'll have better luck here in town," said Mulder quickly, drumming his fingers absently on the top of his borrowed car.

"Why?" asked Scully, somewhat suspiciously.

"You seem more interested in the Cullens than I am."

"I'm not the one who implied they're committing these crimes," Scully argued.

"So you'll be a more objective party to investigate them than me," answered Mulder, his words accompanied by soft taps against the metal of the car.

Scully wondered what had Mulder so uneasy; he hardly ever disagreed with her this much in one day over something so trivial. "Mulder, if you'd rather investigate the Quileutes, just say so."

"It's not that, Scully, it really isn't. It's just strange." Mulder stopped his tapping and gave her his full attention. "I just have this bad feeling about you driving outside of town by yourself."

"I've driven alone to remote places before and you never had a problem with it."

"That's debatable," said Mulder, smiling fleetingly before turning serious again. "I can't explain why I have this feeling, but it's been nagging me since last night."

Scully suppressed a snort. "Indigestion?"

"Scully, I'm serious."

And he really was, Scully noted with mild alarm. "If it's going to bother you," she said, "I'll work on the Cullens here in Forks."

"Good." Mulder adjusted his jacket and climbed into the four-door Chief Swan had lent him. "Thanks for humoring me," he said, started up his car, and drove off.

"Any time," Scully said softly after him.

***Subliminal Message Two-Ice***

"Ma'am, I just want to see the records," Scully repeated for what seemed like the fourteenth million time, although in reality it was only the fifth. "I don't need to take them with me or copy them; I just want to look at them."

The middle-aged redhead behind the desk in Forks High School's front office cast Scully another doubtful look. "I just don't know if I'm supposed to hand these out to people who aren't school staff, Miss Scully. This is student information that isn't shared with the public."

Sighing, Scully pulled out her last resort. "I'm with the FBI, Ms. Cope," she said, showing her badge clearly in the flourescent lighting. "I am Agent Dana Scully, and I need those records as part of my investigation."

Scully winced internally at Ms. Cope's reaction to the badge. The woman's eyes got huge and her jaw dropped. "Oh, I didn't-" she fussed with the large piece of jewelry around her neck, flustered. "Well, I-I'll get those records in just a second, Agent Scully." The secretary could not hide the curiosity radiating from her in waves.

"Thank you," said Scully, a little crisply. Small town scretaries could be such a pain sometimes.

"So, Agent Scully..." Ms. Cope looked up furtively from her file folder. "Did Chief Swan call you in to investigate that college girl's murder?"

"I'm not really at liberty to speak about that, Ms. Cope," said Scully quickly, unwilling to explain all the particulars of the case.

"Oh, all right." Ms. Cope was effectively shut down and did not ask any more questions. She handed the records of the Cullens and several other students over to Scully with nothing more than a 'please leave those on my desk when you're finished with them.' Scully barely heard her as she skimmed through the records. She had only requested the other five students' papers to cover the fact that she was investigating the Cullens exclusively, a fact that would have been a red flag to any gossip's tender sensibilities.

The files on the Cullen children were sparse, to say the least. They had all been adopted at different times, starting with two seniors in high school, Rosalie and Jasper Hale, Esme Cullen's niece and nephew. Next came Edward Cullen, a junior, and Emmett Cullen and Alice Cullen, both seniors. The Hale twins had been adopted at the age of eight, whereas the Cullen siblings had been adopted when Edward was fourteen, Emmett, sixteen, and Alice, fifteen. The local social worker had said the five children were remarkably well-adjusted for adopted children and had formed very close bonds with one another. The Cullens had only been attending Forks High for a year and a half, however; their papers said they transfered to the school in the summer two years before and started attending in the fall.

Edward Cullen had top grades in everything, despite the fact that he had skipped a total of twenty-seven school days. Scully raised her eyebrows as she checked the other Cullens' papers. They had all skipped a fair amount of classes, Jasper Hale and Edward the most. Jasper had a spotless GPA just like Edward. The only Cullen without a 4.0 grade average was Emmett Cullen, who had a B in gym class and another B in economics.

What struck Scully as the most odd thing about the children's papers were their medical records. Without fail, every Cullen and Hale had a perfect medical history. They had their shots and their yearly physicals, their immunizations clearly dated and their shot records in order. Perhaps that wasn't so strange, Scully reasoned to herself. After all, their adopted father was a doctor, and he'd certainly want his children to be good examples of medical specimens. But not one of the Cullen children had any sort of allergy. Wasn't that a bit strange? Since the teenagers weren't even all related, wasn't it odd that none of them struggled with alleriges?

Scully took notes discreetly as she searched the records, keeping her pen low so it wouldn't attract Ms. Cope's attention. Although she had now revealed her true identity as an FBI agent, she doubted the easily-discombobulated secretary liked strangers jotting down tidbits about students. When she was finished with the records she took them back to the desk. "Thank you very much, Ms. Cope. You've been a great help."

"Oh, no trouble," Ms. Cope said, hastily recovering the papers. "Have a good day, Agent Scully." "You, too. Oh, and Ms. Cope-" Scully sighed. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell too many people about this. I don't want this case to attract any more attention than it already has."

"Don't worry, Agent Scully," Ms. Cope promised fervently, nodding her head, "I won't mention it to anyone. If anyone asks I'll just say you were in here to check up on the school records."

"Thank you again." Scully lifted one hand in a half-hearted wave and left the office. She got into her car, revved up the engine, which seemed to be having some trouble, and pulled out of the lot. Her next stop was the police station, and then the Cullen's house...

The young police officer at the front desk of the station was as helpful as Ms. Cope.

"I don't really know how to call in suspects for questioning, Agent Scully," he said, looking crestfallen at his inexperience. "We've never had to do that in Forks, really."

"I realize that," said Scully, doing her best to have patience with him. "If it's not possible to call them to the station, I can just go visit their house. But I would like to question them here, if you could schedule that."

Chewing at his lip in consternation, the officer dithered over the telephone resting on his desk, then seemed to change his mind. "I just don't know, Agent Scully."

Scully sighed. "That's okay. I'll just go to the house, all right?"

The officer nodded, immensely relieved. "Okay, that sounds good. Would you like someone to go with you?" He was still trying to be useful. "I get off this shift in an hour, if you want an escort."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine. I've done this kind of questioning many times."

"Okay, but..." he looked around to make sure there was no one else in the deserted room, then lowered his voice conspiratorially. "The Cullens have a bit of a reputation for being weird in this town. They don't really get out much, they hardly talk to anybody. They're pretty strange."

"Oh?" Scully was interested in what the officer had to say. The more she could learn about the Cullens, the better, even if her source was repeating old rumors. "How are they strange?"

"Nobody goes out to their house but them," said the police officer. "It's way out on the edge of town, city limits. People used to invite the doctor and his wife to parties out of courtesy, but no one does that anymore. They've never accepted an invitation."

"Maybe they just like their privacy," said Scully.

"There's nothing wrong with that, of course," the young officer agreed, "but to never accept an invitation? We think it's kind of rude. They keep to themselves, the Cullens. They probably won't appreciate you going out to their house, Agent Scully."

Scully smiled at him, trying not to look too devil-may-care. "I'll be fine. Thanks for your time."

The young officer sensed that he had sounded superstitious to Scully, because he called hastily to her, "I didn't mean to sound snobby, Agent Scully. Doctor Cullen's really a nice guy. His family's just a little...off."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks," Scully called back, swinging the door to the station shut.

As she started her car, Scully wondered if maybe there was something to these rumors and superstitions about the Cullens. They couldn't all be inaccurate, could they? But maybe Forks simply wasn't used to a secluded family that didn't enjoy the company of everyone in town. Was it possible that the townspeople resented the thought that someone might not like their company?

The song playing on her radio brought Scully back to the road in front of her. It was a loud, artsy song with plenty of guitars and a warbling male voice duet. She switched the channel to a classical station, and the sound of Handel's Water Music filled the car. There, that was better. She didn't have time to flip through channels, so she would settle for the standard classics. Music Appreciation in her freshman year of college had payed off in the end.

Paying close attention to the directions the policeman had scribbled out for her, Scully headed out of the center of Forks and toward the edge of the town, the road growing less populated as she drove. The Cullens' house was far outside the main hub of Forks, like the officer had said. Trees flashed by her window as she twisted around the curves of the wet pavement, raindrops throwing themselves persistently against her windshield. Soon a steady fall of rain pelted her car. Scully internally frowned; she didn't want to get wet while investigating. She hadn't brought an extra shirt, and she would look like a drowned cat without a comb to smooth her hair down.

Although it was only midday, Scully hoped more than one of the Cullens would be home so she could question them. Her idea was to question two or three of them separately to see if their answers to the same inquiry coincided with the others'. She might even decide to question them individually, in which case, it would be better if only Doctor Cullen's wife, Esme, was home. The kids were probably at school, Scully reasoned, but with their track record she couldn't be positive. She would have to see what she got when she arrived at the house.

Above the bubbly notes of Water Music, a mechanical grinding noise dissolved into a loud pop. The car lurched under Scully, skidding on the wet road. Scully gripped the steering wheel and tapped her break. With another pop, the car gave a second kick, and a third. Something gurgled like a dying animal, the car slowed jerkily, and then the engine shuddered to a halt. Scully turned the wheel, wreslting with the vehicle to get it off the road. She had a feeling it wouldn't be going anywhere for a while, not with that spectacular death scene.

Whoever had given Chief Swan this rental car had cheated him out of good money.

Scully popped the hood, climbed out of the car, and examined the damage. She groaned in horror: she was no car expert, but she could tell when an engine was bad. She should have paid more attention when the car had problems starting at the school, and she might have been able to borrow one from the police station.

Growling in frustration at herself, Scully whipped out her cell phone and started dialling Mulder's number. It was going to embarass her to death, but she needed him to come pick her up so they could continue the investigation. She would need a new car, as well. Mulder was going to have a hey-day with this-

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something rustle in the verdant green forest to her left. Scully turned, curious, but she could see nothing moving in the spot that had caught her eye. It must have been a bird or a small animal. A breeze wound itself through the tall trees on the side of the road, carrying the scent of the rain still trickling onto her head, into her nostrils. High above her head, the trees bent to the wind and rain and swayed musically. The sound struck Scully as forlorn.

Abruptly, irrationally, Scully was nervous about being alone on the road. The breeze grew in strength, and again she thought she saw a movement, just out of the corner of her eye. Turning to the spot, she saw nothing but bark from a very large tree, almost four feet wide and at least thirty feet tall. This tree was closer to the road than the last spot she had seen movement. A prickle went up Scully's spine. There were mountain lions and bears in Washington, weren't there? Without conscious thought, Scully's hand strayed to the holster at her side.

She was distracted from her nerves by the tinny sound of a car engine coming toward her from the road. Unwilling to put her back to the forest, Scully listened harder to the noise to see how far away it was. The sound was closing in rapidly on her location, like the driver of the car had no idea that the speed limit through rural highways was fifty-five. The noise grew so loud that Scully took her eyes from the forest and searched for the approaching vehicle.

She didn't have to look very far, for there, zooming toward her at a speed worthy of the Indie 500, was a gorgeous red convertible. A BMW, Scully guessed, although she couldn't name most car labels with any level of expertise. She figured there was definitely a man behind that wheel, because she had never heard of a woman treating a highway like it was a Nascar track. The shiny red car purred like a panther as it raced down the road, and for a wild moment Scully thought it was headed straight at her with no inention of stopping. But her second of panic was unfounded.

Within half a minute of its appearance, the red convertible had roared to a halt in front of her, its wheels grinding against the pavement as it came to a complete stop. Now, that was a Safe Emergency Stop if she had ever seen one. Whoever this man's Driver's Ed teacher had been would be proud. Scully found it hard to believe that a car could make that kind of stop without burning the rubber off its tires. However, the BMW was intact. Both its glossy doors swung open at the same time to reveal the driver and-her passenger.

"Dana," said the driver, hands on hips, "what are you trying to do, get yourself stranded and lost in the woods before we even get to meet each other?"

She was short and slight, with deathly pale features and inky black hair that stuck up in spikes. Her expression was a pert pout, full lips scrunched into a compact circle and straight black eyebrows frowning over her eyes.

Her large, darkly-lashed, amber eyes.

The eyes were what disturbed Scully most; she had seen those eyes before.

Dog-gone it, Mulder had been right.