Chapter Eleven
Mulder opened the door for Scully.
He watched after her as she stepped into the diner, her heels clicking on the floor. She walked ahead of him and over to Sandra. They raised their badges and Sandra rose to her feet.
'Hi.. Agent Scully?' She asked. Her long blonde hair was tied up high on her head. Scully nodded and smiled at her kindly.
'Yes, this is my partner Agent Mulder. We spoke on the phone?'
'Yes, please. Sit down.' Sandra beckoned for them to join her at the table. Mulder held out a chair for Scully and she glanced at him briefly with a shy smile. He sat down next to her when she was seated. Sandra brushed a loose piece of hair behind her ear and glanced around nervously. She took a deep breath and put her hand on her coffee cup. Scully watched as it steamed upwards into the sunlight.
'Thank you for meeting with us Sandra. I am so sorry about Tessie.' Mulder said with sincerity. Sandra nodded and glanced at him, then back at her coffee.
'Thanks. I can see that you two have had your share of violence… by Tom as well?' She asked, looking over at Mulder's arm and Scully neck. Scully glanced at Mulder in surprise. He met her gaze.
'Yes. How did you know that… and who's Tom?' Mulder pressed urgently.
'I guessed…' She shrugged. 'Tom; He's the man who is doing this. He was the one who killed Tessie.' Sandra said, tears springing in her eyes.
'Who is he?' Scully asked. Sandra sighed and closed her eyes. She prepared herself.
'Tom was Tessie's ex-husband.' She started. Mulder frowned in surprise. He had known this when he had done his profiling – he had looked into Tom's records but he hadn't found anything suspicious.
'Tom Downs. They met when they were still at high school, I was in the year above Tessie but we grew up together around here. We have always been close...' She paused for a moment and brushed a tear away from her eye. 'Anyway, Tom was obsessed with Tessie. I never liked him from the start. He was always strange.'
'Strange?' Mulder asked.
'He wore dark clothes – he stayed away from the popular kids. I know that doesn't mean that he was strange as such, but he was quite rude. He would snap at people all the time. I have no idea how Tessie fell for him. Anyway, he started studying the dark arts.'
Scully glanced at Mulder and raised her eyebrow as she always did. Mulder looked at her briefly then back to Sandra.
'Go on.' He pressed gently.
'Tessie would do it with him. They used to do everything – Ouija, witchcraft, voodoo… you name it.' Sandra continued. 'They asked me to do it once - I didn't want to, but I went ahead with it. It was so scary, they were speaking to the dead. It was terrifying.'
Scully felt tightening in her chest as she remembered the haunting chanting she had heard the night before.
'Then one day… Tessie told me that he had been possessed by a spirit.' Sandra said slowly, with dread. Mulder stared at her with fascination. 'He...' She swallowed nervously, 'He got violent. He was out of control. Tessie was so scared for her life that she called it off. The whole thing. He disappeared shortly after.'
'Disappeared?' Mulder asked. Sandra nodded.
'Tessie and I... we thought that he had died.' She said with difficulty. Mulder sighed and shifted in his seat. 'We were so afraid that we didn't speak about it again. He was possessed by a spirt - a devil.. I have no idea what it was… but it was horrible.' She said between breaths, tears now rolling down her cheeks. 'He had no family left, so no one questioned his disappearance. And anyway – would believe us?' She exclaimed. Scully reached out and put a hand on hers gently.
'It's ok Sandra.' She said softly.
'We were sure that he was dead.' She said, brushing the tears away. 'He was obsessed with Tessie. I don't think that she ever really loved him, and he knew this. It made him furious.'
'What about Tessie's mother? I interviewed her.' Mulder asked in confusion.
'She doesn't know anything about him. Their marriage was secret.' She whispered. 'Tessie was pregnant at 17 – so they felt that they had to get married. Tessie's family is very religious. However – she lost the baby after 4 months.'
Scully looked at Sandra with concern. She tried to imagine how scared she and Tessie had been of this man. She felt anger rise inside her at the thought of it.
'I thought he was dead.' Sandra cried out, and raised her free shaking hand to her mouth.
'May be he is dead.' Mulder said in a low voice. Scully turned to look at him. 'But he's doing this… somehow. Because of his possession. He has the power to control people, just like the demon controlled him… isn't that right Sandra?'
'Yes… he did… it made him do things… terrible things.' Sandra said, her voice trembling. Scully sighed.
'How can we stop him?' She asked. Sandra shook her head.
'I don't know – he has Tessie. I can't imagine what else he wants. Except may be…' She started, and raised her eyes to them both with dread.
'You two.'
'Mulder this is insane, we can't do this.' Scully started with frustration. The sun was beating down on her and she still felt dehydrated from the night before. Mulder turned back to her.
'We have to get him to come to us Scully. I know it sounds crazy but we need to try and speak to him. We need to stop this before he kills more people – before he kills us.'
'I know Mulder but seriously… speaking to the dead?' She exclaimed.
'We have to Scully.' He urged. 'I'm not going to lose you.'
She looked up at his face and saw the overwhelming concern. She felt her heart race.
'How do you know that he is even dead?' She said. Mulder shrugged.
'I don't. But we need to try.'
10.20pm – Sandra's residence
The candlelight danced in the shadows. Sandra's hand was laced through Scully's.
Mulder placed his good hand into Sandra's other hand and sat across the table from Scully. Sandra sat at the head, her book open in front of her. Mulder looked over at his partner. She looked agitated and on edge. Mulder couldn't help but feel sympathy for her. He knew this was a stretch even for her, even after everything they had seen.
'Sandra – remember if anything happens, go to the police station and ask them to come here with back up, OK?' Scully said, looking across at Sandra.
'Ask for Detective Daniels. He knows we are out here.' Mulder said. Sandra nodded and took a deep breath.
'Yes, have you remembered everything I told you?' She asked Mulder. He nodded.
'Ok, so… Are you ready?'
She looked at them both. Scully shook her head.
'Not really.' She murmured. Mulder shifted in his seat to get comfortable.
'Wait a second, let's just get our guns out. Just in case.' He said, taking his from its holster. Scully glanced at him and quickly got hers out. She held it in her free hand and placed it down on the table. Mulder placed his in front of him. Scully met his gaze and he looked at her with forced confidence. She couldn't help but admit she was afraid.
'Mulder…' She whispered. Mulder stopped her.
'I know.' He said gently, and she swallowed nervously.
Sandra started her ritual.
As she read out the words from the book in front of her, she had only gotten to the end of the first page when there was a sudden crash from the window in the kitchen and Mulder heard the chanting. He felt his chest tighten and looked over at Scully - he knew immediately that she had heard it too. Scully pulled her hand away from Sandra's and jumped up, alert, cocking her gun towards the direction of the noise. Sandra was so deep in concentration that she didn't seem to hear anything.
'Hey! I haven't even started yet!' Sandra exclaimed. Mulder stood up after Scully and also grabbed his gun.
'Sandra. Get out.' He said with urgency. Sandra frowned in confusion.
'What?' She asked.
'Just GET OUT! He's here already!' He shouted. She looked at him in shock. Putting his gun back in his holster he grabbed her by the arm and led her towards the front door. Sandra cried out in fear as she quickly realised what was happening and ran out of the house. Mulder slammed the door shut and locked it. He raised his gun again towards the kitchen and walked back towards Scully.
They heard Sandra open the car door and slam it loudly. The engine started and she was gone, into the night.
