The V Files: Strange Start to Summer
Chapter 14: Visit from a Ghost
Fred looked not a day older than the photo in the yearbook but there was something strange about his skin, a bizarre shine to it that Veronica could not account for. Brittany looked like she'd aged the fourteen years since her senior year of high school and like those fourteen years had been hard on her. She was quite a bit thinner with gaunt white skin and dark shadows beneath her eyes; she looked much more like a ghost than Fred.
A ghost? Veronica thought suddenly. Fred was definitely no ghost. While she and Brittany had stood staring at each other in surprise Fred had reached down and had his hands around Stan's throat. There was no time to wait for Mulder and Scully to get in, who she could now hear banging on the front door. If she didn't act now, Stan would surely die. It was a split second decision but Veronica figured it was her only option. She ran at Brittany who had let down her guard in her shock, the gun was held loosely in her right hand, pointing at the ground. Veronica collided with her before she could lift the gun up; it went flying from her hand as the two hit the ground hard, Brittany knocking her head on a coffee table on the way down. She was out cold and the gun was nowhere to be seen; it was too dark inside the house and Stan didn't appear to be the best of housekeepers.
"Help...me..." Stan gasped and Veronica turned around to see Fred holding him up by the throat. His feet were not touching the ground any more.
Veronica could feel the adrenaline pumping through her. She couldn't think straight. The fear was taking hold of her. Calm down! She told herself.
Fred was still holding Stan up in the air and now something else was happening. Clear liquid was pouring from Stan's mouth and he was coughing, struggling to breathe. Veronica watched in terrified bewilderment as he finally stopped coughing and went limp; the clear liquid still pouring from his mouth. Fred dropped the body and turned towards Veronica. She tried to run away but she tripped over Brittany who was still unconscious on the floor. She tried desperately to get to her feet but a cold, slippery hand stopped her. Fred pushed her to the floor and she spun around onto her back to face him. He was reaching for her throat and she knew what was coming. In her confusion she grabbed wildly at her bag that was still slung across her shoulder.
"Veronica!" she heard Mulder's voice but she had no idea where he was.
Veronica's hand was in her bag and it finally wrapped around the object she had been searching for. The wet hands of Fred were closing around her throat now and she heard Mulder yelling at him to stop. Without hesitation she pulled her taser from her bag and plunged it into the side of Fred's neck. He screamed in agony as the volts of electricity passed through him.
Mulder had stopped yelling and watched on, still holding his gun in his hands that he had been seconds from firing. Fred's body was lit up like a Christmas tree; electricity visibly coursing into his body. Then, as suddenly as Veronica had hit him with the taser, he began to change shape.
It was as if he was melting, first his face slid from his head and Veronica recoiled as much as she could. She felt the weight of his body disappear and then all at once his body turned to water and fell on Veronica, drenching her in cold, salty water.
Scully finally came running into the room, her gun at the ready. Veronica was lying on her back on the floor, soaking wet and breathing fast. Mulder stood by, his mouth hanging open at the scene he had just witnessed. Brittany was still splayed on the floor near Veronica. Stan's dead body lay slumped on the floor where he had fallen.
"What happened?" she asked, lowering her gun. "Veronica, what are you doing here?"
Veronica was getting to her feet, Mulder and Scully hurried to her aid.
"Mulder?" Scully asked.
None of them had noticed Brittany getting to her feet. She held her head and looked around the floor for her gun. Locating it she picked it up and turn towards them.
"You..." she said venomously raising the gun and heading straight across the room towards Veronica.
"Get down!" Scully yelled pushing Veronica back to the ground and firing her gun three times.
Brittany stopped dead in her tracks. She fell to her knees as blood dripped from her mouth and a single tear rolled down her cheek. Three bullet wounds marked her chest. She gave them one last look before closing her eyes and falling forward to the floor.