Guesthouse Inn

December 18, 2017

6:15 a.m.

A snore startled her awake and Scully's eyes flew open. The room was dark, the sun just beginning to light the sky, when she heard it again and she smiled.

Turning over carefully onto her left side, she watched Mulder sleeping, his chest rising and falling gently. Wanting to reach out and touch him, but knowing it would wake him, instead she stared, and thought about last night.

After the day she had, the autopsies she had to perform on those who had been too young to die, and seeing William in the youngest of the three, being alone was the last thing she had wanted.

As the door had closed, their eyes locked on one another, she had placed her hand on his chest, needing to feel his heart beating even though he stood in front of her, alive and well.

"Scully," he had whispered, his hand covering hers and his thumb rubbing softly, had been all the encouragement necessary to propel her forward, her lips landing on his own.

Kisses had been shared, clothing removed, and then she was on her back, her legs wrapped around his waist as he had pushed into her, both of them breathing the other's name. Her arms had been around his back, her hands gripping his skin. An arm around her waist and the other under her head, they had made love slowly.

His name had fallen repeatedly from her lips, her fingernails digging into his flesh, her heels pressing into his ass. He had whispered her name, as she had quietly fallen over the edge, holding him close, her head thrown back and his lips at her throat.

He had followed her, just as quietly, as she had clung to him, whispering his name and breathing hard.

"Mulder…" she had breathed, her hands running up and down his back. "Oh, Mulder. I've missed this."

"Scully," he had whispered, kissing her neck, her chin, her lips. "Me too."

He snored softly again and she bit her lip, sighing as she quietly pushed the covers back and got out of bed. Nearly four years apart had taught her to resist her impulses, the timing never right, no matter how much she may have wanted it. Now, even though she knew it had been her who had asked him to stay and had made the first move, she needed to put some space between them.

Needed some time to think.

She took a shower, got dressed, put on her makeup, and still he slept. As she stood and watched him, not wanting to turn on the hair dryer, knowing it would wake him up, she thought of years ago when she would leave the warmth of his bed, far too early in the morning, in order to go home and get ready for work.

Until the night he had taken her hand and shown her the drawers and space in the closet he had created for her, his smile shy and awkward. After that, their mornings had been spent making love and getting ready for work, together.

He hummed, rubbed at his face, and stretched. She quickly walked into the bathroom and closed the door, letting him get up and dressed without it feeling anymore awkward than it did at the moment.

Listening at the door, she flushed the toilet, giving him a warning, and waited a few seconds before opening the door and walking out to the sink and washing her hands.

"Dressed for the day already… you must have been up early," he said, his voice thick with sleep and she closed her eyes. His early morning voice always made her feel weak in the knees.

"Oh, you're awake," she said, feigning surprise as she turned off the water and opened her eyes, grabbing a hand towel as she turned around. He was sitting on the bed in his underwear and white undershirt, his hair mussed, and eyes closed as he rolled his neck from side to side.

He looked absolutely adorable.

How easy it would be to walk over and run her fingers through his hair, kiss him, and join him in bed for some quick morning sex. It would be fast and good, as it always had been, but she knew she needed to stay where she stood.

"Christ, it's already quarter past seven," he said, standing up and stretching, exposing that little bit of his stomach as his shirt moved. The skin she had licked and kissed far too many times to count. "Should we go to that diner again? Maybe in like twenty minutes?"

She frowned, but quickly erased that expression, not wanting him to see how his rather dismissive attitude was affecting her. Head down, she shook her head slightly as she closed her eyes.

"Scully?" he asked quietly and she opened her eyes as she looked up, finding him standing closer to her, his eyes asking her questions he did not voice.

"Twenty minutes," she agreed with a nod. He nodded back, his eyes still searching her face. "Clock's ticking and you're far behind. You better get showered and changed." She smiled and he tilted his head, still searching her face. She nodded again, and he sighed with a nod.

Gathering his clothes and his shoes, he opened the door and looked back at her.

"Go… or I'll head over on my own and order all the bacon. And I won't share when you finally make your way over. Looking good, sure, but taking your sweet ass time." He laughed and nodded, licking his lips and biting the bottom one.

"Twenty minutes."

"Or no bacon for you. Tick tock, Agent Mulder." She tapped her watch and he smiled as he walked out the door, closing it as she turned around and picked up the hair dryer, smiling at her reflection.

Corner Diner

9:00 a.m.

"It's an intriguing story, Mulder," she said, pushing her empty plate forward and picking up her half full coffee mug as he finished the story he had read in the book at Arielle's house. "Creepy and disturbing as hell, but I'm not quite sure it's completely factual."

"Which is why I stated that upfront," he said, taking the last bite of his waffle, which he had ordered after giving her a wink, as though he was proving he was not as predictable with his meals as she thought. To which she had rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile.

"I mean it's entirely possible that it all could have happened, but I think it would be more widely known if it did, especially in this area. I think it would have been quite the scandal."

"Indeed. Which is why I am going to see what I can at the public records office about Elinor and Mary." She nodded and set her mug down, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"And I need to get to the coroner's office. You can drop me on the way."

Coroner's Office

9:30 a.m.

"Okay, hopefully I'll find out what I need quickly, though I don't know. There's something I'm missing, Scully. Something I'm not seeing." He sighed as he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and shook his head.

"With that and what I find out here, we should be able to fit more pieces into this puzzle."

He nodded and as she took off her seat belt, he leaned toward her. Without thinking she met him halfway and they kissed goodbye. Both of them pulled back, equally surprised by what happened and the ease at which they fell back into the familiarity of their past relationship.

"I… I'm sorry," he said, pulling back further and shaking his head. "I…"

"Mulder," she whispered, smiling softly as she shook her head and squeezed his hand as she opened the door. "I'll see you later." He nodded, giving her a half smile as she got out of the car and waved goodbye.

"Sudden cardiac arrest?" she asked the coroner and he sighed with a nod. "Why?"

"Agent Scully," he said and shook his head. "I can't think of another explanation than that. They were all alive and then they weren't. If that's not "sudden," then I don't know what is."

"But the others-"

"The others, Agent Scully…" He shook his head again and she stared at him. "The others were hard to pinpoint as well. Exposure would never occur that quickly, but what else could we call it? They had been exposed and everyone of those who came in here… they presented with symptoms of exposure… hypothermia."

"In October in New Orleans," she stated, just as she had to Mulder in their basement office.

"Yeah," he said, staring at her with a knowing look. "Five people, all in one fell swoop. How else could I explain it? There were no true eyewitnesses, not until these three recent deaths, and according to Agent Mulder's reporting of that accounting, it was sudden. Nothing else points to the cause of death, but a sudden cardiac arrest. They were all young and healthy… and the preliminary autopsies show nothing aside from the possibility of a cardiac arrest."

She looked down at the file in her hand and sighed. "I understand what you're saying, I just…"

"I know. Believe me I know. If you think you can find something different, something I'm not seeing…" He shook his head and sighed. "Until then, I have to go with sudden cardiac arrest. These kids and their families deserve an answer to what happened to them, and right now that's the only one I can give them." He looked tired as he stared at her and she nodded. Touching his arm lightly, she sighed.

Walking over to a table, she set the file down and sat down, beginning to read over the evidence once again, to see if anything had been overlooked.

"I'll get you the other files," he said quietly and she nodded gratefully.

Coroner's Office

4:30 p.m.

Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, the lights flickering, before glowing brightly again.

"Looks like we're in for a good storm," the coroner said, walking into the room and setting down a cup of coffee in front of her. "Thought you could use a little caffeine."

"Thank you," she said with a smile, picking up the cup and taking a deep breath, breathing in the wonderful scent of freshly brewed coffee.

"Anything?" he asked, sitting across from her and she shook her head as she took a drink.

"No. Not yet, but I feel like I'm getting close." She set the cup down and rubbed at her eyebrows with a sigh. Thunder rumbled again, sounding closer than before, and she shook her head.

"Don't like the rain?" he asked with a smile and she looked at him.

"No, I do," she said with a small laugh. "It just seems that when it does rain, I'm somehow destined to be out in it, soaked to the skin and eventually covered in mud." He laughed and as lightning flashed, her phone rang, causing her to jump. "See what I mean?" She gestured down at Mulder's name and he laughed quietly, standing up and leaving the room.

She took a deep breath, eyes closed, as she picked up the phone, knowing this was the call that would bring them out into the rain. Opening her eyes, she pressed the accept button and let out her breath.

"Scully."

"Scully, it's me."

"Hey, Mulder. I'm-"

"Scully? Can you hear me? Christ, it's raining and everyone seems to have forgotten how to drive. Yeah, same to you, fucker." She heard a horn honk and she laughed silently as she knew he was most likely flipping off whoever had irked him. "I'm on my way to you. I should… in a few minutes. Almost… probably…"

"Hello? Hello? Mulder?" The call dropped and the lights flickered, went out, and did not come back. With a moan, she stood up, taking one last large drink of coffee.

Setting aside the file she had been reading, she grabbed her jacket and walked to the entrance of the building to wait for Mulder.

The rain was coming down in sheets when she saw the lights of the rental car pull up and she made a run for it, feeling nearly drenched as she opened the door and got inside the car.

"God," she said, shaking off and exhaling a breath as he turned the car around. "If I would've known it was going to rain, I would've brought an umbrella with me today." Wiping out her face, she looked at him, begrudging his dry clothing, obviously just missing the rain.

"I didn't know it was even cloudy until I'd walked outside. I've been in front of a microfiche machine most of the day. Yeah, you heard me right, a microfiche machine." He looked over his shoulder, glancing at her as he changed lanes and she shook her head.

"So, you found something."

"I did. But, it was actually Arielle who helped the most."

"Arielle?"

"I was surprised myself, but she called a little while ago, telling me that she, Davis, and Cera, were looking into some things. They even went to visit Farrah and Tyler in the hospital."

"What? They left their homes?"

"They did."

"That's great. Jesus, Mulder, slow down.," she said, holding onto the handle above her, feeling the car fishtail a little. "Where are we going in such a hurry?"

"I got another call from Arielle, telling me they were going to fix things. She mentioned something about the house, and I told them not to go without help, that we would be there, but I'm not sure she heard me, as that's when the phone cut out. I wasn't able to call her back. I was lucky to finally get through to you after I had tried five times. Fucking rain." He shook his head as he turned the wipers up to the highest setting and lightning flashed, illuminating the very dark clouds.

"So… they're at the house? The Boudreaux house?"

"Yes."

"But why? Why go there? None of them were attacked there."

"No… but they found out some things that I would never have even thought to check, or even where to check."

"What do you mean?"

"That story Michelle had in that book… well it was more fiction than fact, or they just had it backwards, and thought it was true."

"You're not making any sense." He chuckled as he got on the highway, heading for the Boudreaux home.

"Elinor and Mary were cousins, that was true. But… it was never Mary who was mean or vindictive. It was Elinor."

"What?"

"Yeah… Arielle, Davis, and Cera went on a serious dive into the past. Turns out, there was a servant, no a slave, a slave named Hany who was bought… Jesus, just saying that..." He shook his head and she nodded in understanding. "She was bought to help with the unexpected twins Mary's mother, Elizabeth, had in 1851. She was ill, as were the twins, so her husband, Robert, bought a young slave girl to help and not lose a slave elsewhere."

"Jesus Christ," Scully said under her breath.

"Yeah," he breathed, shaking his head. "Her name was Hany, like I said before, and she was twelve. Twelve, Scully. That alone is disgusting. And she was expected to care for a woman and two babies, and who knows what happened if she didn't do it properly." Scully shook her head again, holding onto the handle as they hit a large puddle.

"Hany was there for only a few months when Mary fell ill, something the doctor couldn't figure out. Elizabeth was faring better and Hany became Mary's maid, seeing to her well being."

"You found all this in public records? Seems an odd thing to have an account of, sounds more like family issues, not public ones."

"Precisely!" he said with a grin and she frowned.

"Again, you're not making sense."

"No, it wasn't in the public records. But it was something Arielle and her friends found out. Turns out the DJ at all the parties, while not involved in the attacks in any way, is related to Hany and he had also been hearing stories about Elinor and Mary his whole life. Well, Mary mostly."

"Really?"

"Yeah… small world huh?"

"It is…" she mused. "So… we're heading back to the house? And you're sure they're there?"

"They said the house. That's the only house where there was an attack."

"In the rain…" she sighed and shook her head. "And what will soon be nightfall. Perfect…"

"It won't be the first time that we were out in the rain and the mud," he said with a grin.

"No. But I always like to avoid it when I can."

"Well, tonight we won't be able to. I really hope they're okay."

"Did you call the sheriff for backup?" He looked at her and raised his eyebrows. "Right, the phone wasn't working." Looking down at her own phone, she saw there was no service. Great… fucking rain.

"Almost there," he said, going a bit faster.

"It's not enough to go on."

"What?"

"So, there was Hany who was taking care of Mary… why and how does that change the story?"

"It changes it greatly when you hear the rest," he assured her and she nodded, waiting to hear it. "As Hany was caring for her, Mary began to confide in her. Told her about Elinor, who was a frequent guest in the home. Everyone always said Elinor was the prettier of the two, but get my phone and let me know what you think. I took a few pictures of what I could find."

She took his phone from the cup holder and unlocked it, searching through his pictures. There were a few of the portraits of the Boudreaux family, Mary, and one of Elinor. Scully stared at it, going back and forth between the two women, a gnawing feeling she could not explain settling in her stomach when she stared at Elinor's.

"There's something… I don't know."

"Exactly. I know what you mean," he agreed as she continued to stare at the picture and he continued with the story. "Elinor lived with the Boudreaux's in the winter of 1854-1855. While she was there, she would force Hany away, insisting on waiting on her cousin. Bringing her drinks and treats, making sure she was comfortable."

"She was up to something."

"Mary certainly thought so, telling Hany it made her hesitant to accept her cousin's help, when she had never behaved that way before."

"Perhaps she was causing Mary's sickness... poisoning her maybe… but why?"

"Same story as always. Anger. Jealousy. The affection of a man. Or lack thereof." He glanced at her and she nodded. "Mary and James Cormier were taken with one another, and Elinor was jealous. Mary was always sicker on days when there was a party at the house or one planned elsewhere, forcing her to remain in her room."

"And you heard all this from Arielle?" she asked as they exited the highway.

"Adam's mother had a book, which she had to search to find. She lives in Houston so she read them passages over the phone."

"But what about the one Arielle's family has? How is that not true?"

"Because Hany wrote about that as well. Another slave, Coffey, was given as Elinor's maid while she stayed there and Coffey never liked Mary, telling Hany when they were alone that Mary should let Elinor have James as Mary already had so much and Elinor was an orphan."

"An orphan?"

"Yeah. At thirteen, she was orphaned and the church took her in."

"Not her family?" Scully asked, beginning to feel nervous as they approached the house, something not sitting right with her.

"No. The pastor and his wife of the church where Elinor was eventually buried, had never had children and they offered to raise her, giving her all they could."

"But it wasn't enough…" she said quietly, the house looming into view, lightning flashing and rain pouring down, as the car rolled to a stop.

"Ready?" he asked, turning off the car and she shook her head, something niggling at her. He nodded, taking the flashlights they always carried out of the glovebox and turned them on, handing one to her.

He opened the door and stepped out as she followed suit, drenched immediately as they hurried toward the house. Through the doorway, they stepped inside and looked around, shaking the water from their body and hair.

"Mulder…" she said quietly, realizing what it was that was bothering her.

"Come on."

"No, Mulder, wait."

"What?"

"Where's their car?"

"What?" She shook her head and looked at him in the dark of the house.

"They aren't here, Mulder. Are you sure they said-"

"Agent Mulder! Help me!"

They both looked up, shining their flashlights upstairs, but saw nothing.

"That's Arielle," he said, turning toward the stairs.

"No, Mulder! Wait!" She grabbed his arm and he stared at her.

"What are you doing? She needs help!"

"It's not her! Mulder, they aren't here. There's no car, Mulder…."

"Agent Mulder! Please! I need your help!"

"Scully, what are we debating here?" He shook his head, pulling from her grasp and starting up the stairs.

"Mulder! They wouldn't be up there! Mulder!" She watched him as he ran quickly, but carefully, up the stairs and out of her sight. "MULDER! Come back down here! They wouldn't have gone…"

And then she heard it. A sound she had heard the other day as she danced on the sidewalk, to a song she did not know, drunk and happy. Ignoring the words, she had listened to the beat of the music calling to her like a heartbeat.

Feeling that pull again, the heartbeat powerful, she looked to her left and started walking towards the sound, leaving Mulder running around upstairs, calling for her and Arielle, his voice far away, as she kept walking.

A light was shining under the door of the ballroom as she approached; a door she did not remember being there before. She froze, as at the same moment, music began to play. No longer was it only the sound of a heartbeat, but she recognized that it was the song she heard the other day.

She kept walking, the song getting louder as she got closer, the words like a siren song.

You're so hypnotizing

Could you be the devil, could you be an angel

Your touch magnetizing

Feels like I am floating, leaves my body glowing

They say be afraid

You're not like the others, futuristic lovers

Different DNA, they don't understand you

You're from a whole 'nother world

A different dimension

You open my eyes

And I'm ready to go, lead me into the light

Pushing the door open, the music stopped instantly, as soon as she stepped into the room. The air felt thick and impossibly quiet, the room bathed in a bluish tint; as though she was inside of a swimming pool at night.

She felt every breath she took, abnormally aware of the air filling her lungs, as she stepped further into the room.

"Arielle?" she called, the word heavy on her tongue, her eyes feeling even heavier. "Arielle, are you here?" Her voice sounded echoey in her head and she suddenly felt very cold.

She started to walk back towards the door, knowing something was wrong. Stopping for a second, she turned around, noticing the room was not the broken mess they had seen a few days ago. The glass was once more in the window frames and there was no debris sitting around the room.

Get out, get out, she thought, turning around slowly, feeling as though she was walking through deep water, when the fireplace sprang to life. Her teeth chattering, she moved toward it, seeking warmth, the air still feeling thick and heavy.

But there was no heat coming from the fire, no matter how close she got to it, her body shaking. Looking up, a chill ran through her, and she quickly turned her head looking behind her.

Nothing was there but an empty room and yet, when she looked back in the mirror above the fireplace, the room was full of people.

Stepping closer, she felt as though the world had tipped upside down, the sensation akin to slipping and falling in a dream and she shouted out, calling for help.

"No one can hear you." She heard someone say and she stared at the mirror, seeing the group of people, but no one was speaking.

"My partner is… he is…"

"Oh." The voice laughed. "No, he won't be coming to help you. He's a bit preoccupied at the moment."

"Agent Mulder, please help me!" Came the sound of Arielle's voice, bouncing off the walls of the room, and Scully looked around, but Arielle was not there. No one was, except for Scully.

And yet, when she looked back at the mirror, it reflected that the room was full of people. People she began to recognize from their photos in the case files: Desiree, Becca, Tim, Zach, Jenkins, and Zara, specifically. They were sitting and standing around the room, quiet and unmoving.

There were others from the other parties, their names escaping her, as the cold pressed around her, her body aching as she drew in a breath and closed her eyes.

Screaming suddenly came from all around her and she covered her ears, her flashlight dropping to the ground. As quickly as it began, the screaming stopped. She opened her eyes and felt a sick feeling settle in her stomach. She was now in the room with the people, as though she had gone through the looking glass like Alice.

She was not the only one as there were two new people, sitting with tears on their faces and as still as the others: Regina Wallace and Jonathon Breaux, two of the four they had seen at the hospital. She stared at them, beginning to understand what was happening. Walking closer to them, she was stopped by the sound of that voice.

"I've been waiting for you." She heard and she turned to see a woman. Not the one she had expected, regardless of the stories Mulder had just told her.

It was not Mary, but Elinor.

"It's you," she said and Elinor nodded, a dark smile on her face.

"Yes. It's me. It was always me and no one ever suspected," she giggled, a mad giggle that gave Scully goosebumps.

"I don't understand," Scully said, both because she truly did not and because she needed to take a moment and investigate her surroundings.

They were in the ballroom, but it was different, as though they had all gone back in time. Portraits hung on the wall, the furniture stylish though old, and candles glowed brightly.

Looking down in disbelief, she found herself wearing a dark blue dress and white satin elbow gloves, matching the style of the dress as those around her. She looked up at the other people in the room, a chill going through her at the still way they sat, the sound of conversations going on, but no one's lips moving.

"Of course you don't understand," Elinor said, twirling around the room, her white wedding dress flowing around her as she did. "No one understands or has ever understood me. Not in life or death." She spun again and Scully felt a pain in her chest, wincing at it as she touched it.

"This was all I ever wanted, to live here in this grand house. To be loved and given the life I deserved, but it never happened."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been watching you," Elinor said, no longer spinning and walking closer to Scully, who found the shift in conversation disturbing. "I've seen the happiness you have. I want it."

Scully stared at her and Elinor laughed, that harsh mean laugh that made her skin crawl and the others in the room react by crying or closing their eyes.

"I'll have it soon. I've been patient, but I can only wait so long. Sometimes I got bored waiting for the one I needed most to show up and I had to find ways to amuse myself." She gestured around her and the group of people set up taller.

"You killed them for fun." Scully stated and Elinor nodded.

"Some of them, yes. And it was fun to watch them die. But not to hear them when they had. Such crying and carrying on, none of them are allowed to speak anymore." She shrugged and Scully saw it then, the spoiled girl who thought she deserved everything.

"You poisoned your cousin, didn't you?" Scully asked and Elinor grinned with a nod.

"She had no idea. The doctor couldn't figure out what was ailing her and it made me laugh every time he came to the house and couldn't cure her. I would stop for a few days and then start again, just to make her feel she was getting better."

"Who else did you poison? Who were your other victims? Your parents?"

"I didn't want to, but… yes. They were poor… and I had bigger plans than they could give me." Scully saw movement out of the corner of her eye, but Elinor was not paying attention. Turning her head slightly, Scully saw very angry faces staring at Elinor.

"It didn't go to plan, however. With them dead, I thought my uncle would take me in, raise Mary and I as sisters. But, the reverend of the church near our home, and his wife, had never had children and they took me in as their own. I was so angry."

"You killed your parents to get ahead and yet you fell even further back. Bad deeds don't go unpunished."

"No, they don't," Elinor said, and for a second she was different, almost approachable.

"Why do this? Why do any of it?" Scully asked softly, seeing she may have a way to fix things, to save others that were still out there. But then, Elinor glared at her and she knew it was hopeless.

"Because I never had the happy life I should have had and I want it now. I can have it now and I will."

"You didn't have a happy life because you killed and you stole. You create your own happiness in life and you murdered yours."

"It shows what you understand. I had no chance at anything better than a life with someone such as a… a… tradesman, not a gentleman."

"Would that have been so terrible?"

"A life of possible poverty? Living in a small home with no social standing? No parties to attend while my cousin had a happy life without any worries? It would have been death," Elinor said. "I would rather have died."

"And yet, you got the gentleman, you married him, and you did die," Scully said, masking another pain in her chest, not wanting Elinor to see.

"That was a mistake," she said angrily. "My cousin wasn't supposed to be at the wedding. Laughing and dancing, charming everyone the way she always did. She flustered me and I… I made a mistake."

"You poisoned yourself," Scully said incredulously.

"It doesn't matter anymore. That was a mistake that I am fixing." She smiled and it gave Scully the chills.

"You're dead. How could you possibly?"

"Oh…" Elinor giggled and started spinning again. "You still haven't figured it out. You're so intelligent and yet you're also so stupid." She stopped spinning and stared at Scully with that same malicious smile. "You're dying, haven't you noticed?

"What? No, I'm not…"

"But you are. All of them," Elinor said, sweeping her arm to gesture to the silent people in the room. "All of them were nothing compared to you. I didn't know until I did, but all of this began to find you. Their lives were tiny, though some of them fought harder and that meant I could use them longer, keep them hanging on until I got to you."

"Why me?"

"Ohhh… because you know… despair, sadness, happiness, and love. You've experienced it all and it's made you strong. Imagine when I have that strength…"

"You won't. Not from me."

"Yes, I will. Go… see for yourself…" Elinor giggled and Scully frowned. But then, everyone in the room silently pointed behind her and she turned around slowly, the pain in her chest burning again.

Over the mantle was the same mirror and through it she could see herself lying on the ground, Mulder over her, his hands pressing on her chest. She gripped at her chest, feeling the pain of it and she started to cry as she understood what Elinor meant.

No! This was not how this was going to end. She was not going to die this way.

No.

"No!" she yelled, turning to look at Elinor and her expression darkened.

"No?" Elinor said quietly. "You think that you can tell me what I can and cannot do? You're dying and once you do, I will have your life, and your fellow. Hmm, he is ever so much better looking than James. It will be so easy."

"It won't. I won't make it easy." Elinor laughed and the others began to whimper and rock in their seats and where they stood. "You said yourself that I'm strong-"

"Ohhh, not right now, you're not," Elinor said with a loud laugh. "I'd say you have minutes left. Perhaps even seconds. You won't…"

Scully stared at her as she stopped talking, confusion on her face. The people in the room began to move, coming closer to stand around Elinor, though not to protect her, of that Scully was certain.

"No! They can't… no… it's not…" Elinor stood in place, unable to move, as the people drew in tighter, moaning excitedly.

Scully stepped back, her heart aching as she looked in the mirror, watching Mulder breathing for her and tears ran down her face, not knowing how to get back to him.

"Break… it…" She heard, and she turned her head, watching Elinor crumbling to the ground, her body breaking apart like a statue. "Go… now..." The group seemed to speak as one as they stared at her and she nodded in understanding.

"Thank you. I'm sorry I couldn't save you." They nodded and turned back to Elinor, as Scully picked up a large candlestick, throwing it at the mirror as hard as she could, the glass shattering.

Taking a running leap into the unknown, the last thing she heard was Elinor screaming, before she gasped for breath, the pain in her chest now more pronounced, every inch of her body aching.

"Scully! Breathe. Honey, breathe. Good. In. Out. Yes. You're okay. You're safe. Oh, Scully."

She opened her eyes as she took in big gulping breaths of air. They were in the ballroom, the wind whipping through the broken windows, and she began to shake, both from the cold and what she had just experienced.

"C… c… cold," she stuttered and he nodded, taking his coat off quickly and laying it over her, despite it still being wet from the rain.

"Deep breaths, Scully," he whispered, brushing her hair back and lying down beside her, an arm around her waist and a leg hooked over her legs, holding her close. "Keep breathing. An ambulance is on the way. I don't know how, but I got through. They'll be here soon. Just keep breathing."

She nodded, closing her eyes and licking her lips, feeling the warmth of his body warming hers. Turning her head to the right, she opened her eyes and saw the shattered mirror above the mantle and she smiled. However and whatever happened, it was over now.

The sound of sirens in the distance had never sounded so beautiful. Taking another deep breath, her chest and body aching, reminding her she was alive, she turned her head to rest it against Mulder's. Closing her eyes, she slipped into unconsciousness.