Chapter Six - Are We Having Fun Yet?
Mulder stood in the middle of his room drying himself off after taking a long hot shower. He hated to admit it to himself, but he was actually enjoying himself.
Colleen was a bit of a flirt, but he had to admit to himself that her tactics appeared to be working. He was actually feeling a certain sense of closeness to several people he had only met the day before.
Mulder's thoughts were broken by a soft knock on the door. Mulder quickly wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the door.
There stood Colleen in a pair of tight pants and an even tighter sweater.
"Sorry to bother you Fox, but I always get a bit bored when the group takes a break." She blatantly looked down at the towel around his waist "I was hoping you could help me stay occupied until we all meet up for afternoon tea."
Mulder tried to remember to breathe as Colleen slowly walked over to him and began to draw slow circles on his bare chest with her fingernail.
"You had a tough battle this morning, Fox. I think you could use a nice long massage"
Mulder just stood there as Colleen hooked one finger underneath the edge of his towel and slowly began to work it towards the knot holding it together.
She had just about reached her destination when the silence was broken by a blood curdling scream.
Mulder immediately pushed hand away and grabbed his sweatpants. He was out the door and down the stairs before Colleen knew what hit her.
"Damn" she thought to herself as she followed him. "Some city girl probably saw a mouse and freaked out. And for that, I have to miss a good lay."
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Colleen was wrong about the mouse. There wasn't one in sight. There was however Jake the security guard from New Orleans lying on the floor. He appeared to be motionless.
Mulder was kneeling next to Jake with Scully right beside him. Scully immediately took over the scene and began checking his vitals.
"Will someone please go into my room and get my medical bag? It is next to the dresser."
Amanda sped up the stairs.
"You're a doctor" Colleen said as she watched the proceedings. "I thought you were a field agent."
"She's both" Mulder answered. He continued when he saw Scully's perplexed look "What can I say, your reputation proceeds you."
She smiled briefly and returned her to attention to Jake. He was breathing but appeared to be having great difficulty doing so. His pulse was also very weak.
Scully turned to Amanda who had just returned with her medical bag. "Are you the one who found him? What did you see?"
"I came around the corner on my way to the lounge when I saw Jake kneeling here holding his neck and trying really hard to breath. If I didn't know better, I would say he was choking. But when I asked him if he had swallowed something, he shook his head 'no'."
Scully nodded and kept checking Jake's vitals. They were getting weaker by the minute.
"Fox" she said "you are certified, right?"
He nodded. "Good, because I think we are going to be needing to do CPR here any minute."
Scully turned to Colleen and asked "Is there anyway to call 911?"
"I am afraid not. We keep a radio here for emergencies like this but it is not working. I think the storm has brought down the antenna."
Scully nodded and looked at Mulder. "I guess we are his best hope then."
Jake stopped breathing a few minutes later and Mulder and Scully went to work on him doing CPR. All the other participants gathered around them to watch as they frantically worked to save Jake's life.
No one noticed Chip standing off slightly to the side smiling to himself. "One down, eleven to go" he said to himself. He looked at his watch. "Probably another one will be gone within the hour."
He quietly left the room to start making tea. Scully called the time of death for Jake 35 minutes later. Frustrated she sat back on her knees and brushed the loose hairs back from her face.
"Colleen, we need something to wrap the body in" she stated grimly. "I would also like to place it somewhere cool until I have a chance to examine it completely. I am not sure, but I think Jake here may have suffered from either a bad allergic reaction or food poisoning."
"Food poisoning" everyone in the group started to mumble to themselves.
Scully stood up and tried to look more positive. "It is probably nothing at all, but I think it wouldn't hurt to try and figure out as much of what Jake did and ate over the past 24 hours."
Colleen looked a bit pale "Okay, I will bring down some extra sheets and you can put him in one of the back rooms. We only use them for storage so there is hardly any heat in there."
Colleen returned with the sheets and Scully and Mulder went about tending to the body while Colleen took everyone in for tea. The group drank in silence while Mulder and Scully plotted out their next moves.
"Shall I give you a hand with him Scully?" Mulder said as Scully secured the sheet around Jake's body. Scully smiled realizing that Mulder was now addressing her not as a fellow member in a team building seminar but as another agent in the field.
"Sure, Mulder I would appreciate it. Also, do you think you could start questioning everyone else about what they ate, what they saw Jake eat etc while I examine the body?"
"No problem"
Mulder and Scully had just managed to place Jake on a table in the back storage room when they heard Scully's name being shouted.
"Dana, Dana where are you?" it was Amanda
"I'm right here. What's the matter?"
"It's Stacy. She is upstairs in the bathroom puking her brains out. She is scared, really scared that what happened to Jake is happening to her too."
Scully dashed up the stairs with Mulder right behind her. She found Stacy pale but conscious leaning her forehead against the toilet seat.
"Stacy. Tell me what's going on."
"I am not sure. All of a sudden I just felt so sick. I ran in here just in time and I think I have thrown up five or six times already. My head is spinning and I feel like my throat is starting to close up."
"Someone get me my bag." Scully ordered before turning back to Stacy. "Stacy, we are going to move you over to your bed so you can be more comfortable. I am going to give you some Benedryl just in case you are having an allergic reaction. If you are, that will help your breathing."
Colleen arrived with Scully's bag and hovered around the room not knowing exactly what to do next. She fetched Stacy a weak cup of tea which she managed to keep down.
After sitting with Stacy for an hour or so, Scully turned to Mulder. "I think she was able to fight off whatever was in her system. We need to find out what, if anything, she and Jake had to eat or drink that was the same."
Mulder nodded and lowered his voice "Do you think there is foul play going on here?"
Scully looked at him "I know this doesn't make sense, but I have a bad feeling about this place and what is going on here. It is almost like we are caught in one of those bad murder mysteries where all the guests get killed off one by one."
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Mulder stood in the middle of his room drying himself off after taking a long hot shower. He hated to admit it to himself, but he was actually enjoying himself.
Colleen was a bit of a flirt, but he had to admit to himself that her tactics appeared to be working. He was actually feeling a certain sense of closeness to several people he had only met the day before.
Mulder's thoughts were broken by a soft knock on the door. Mulder quickly wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the door.
There stood Colleen in a pair of tight pants and an even tighter sweater.
"Sorry to bother you Fox, but I always get a bit bored when the group takes a break." She blatantly looked down at the towel around his waist "I was hoping you could help me stay occupied until we all meet up for afternoon tea."
Mulder tried to remember to breathe as Colleen slowly walked over to him and began to draw slow circles on his bare chest with her fingernail.
"You had a tough battle this morning, Fox. I think you could use a nice long massage"
Mulder just stood there as Colleen hooked one finger underneath the edge of his towel and slowly began to work it towards the knot holding it together.
She had just about reached her destination when the silence was broken by a blood curdling scream.
Mulder immediately pushed hand away and grabbed his sweatpants. He was out the door and down the stairs before Colleen knew what hit her.
"Damn" she thought to herself as she followed him. "Some city girl probably saw a mouse and freaked out. And for that, I have to miss a good lay."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Colleen was wrong about the mouse. There wasn't one in sight. There was however Jake the security guard from New Orleans lying on the floor. He appeared to be motionless.
Mulder was kneeling next to Jake with Scully right beside him. Scully immediately took over the scene and began checking his vitals.
"Will someone please go into my room and get my medical bag? It is next to the dresser."
Amanda sped up the stairs.
"You're a doctor" Colleen said as she watched the proceedings. "I thought you were a field agent."
"She's both" Mulder answered. He continued when he saw Scully's perplexed look "What can I say, your reputation proceeds you."
She smiled briefly and returned her to attention to Jake. He was breathing but appeared to be having great difficulty doing so. His pulse was also very weak.
Scully turned to Amanda who had just returned with her medical bag. "Are you the one who found him? What did you see?"
"I came around the corner on my way to the lounge when I saw Jake kneeling here holding his neck and trying really hard to breath. If I didn't know better, I would say he was choking. But when I asked him if he had swallowed something, he shook his head 'no'."
Scully nodded and kept checking Jake's vitals. They were getting weaker by the minute.
"Fox" she said "you are certified, right?"
He nodded. "Good, because I think we are going to be needing to do CPR here any minute."
Scully turned to Colleen and asked "Is there anyway to call 911?"
"I am afraid not. We keep a radio here for emergencies like this but it is not working. I think the storm has brought down the antenna."
Scully nodded and looked at Mulder. "I guess we are his best hope then."
Jake stopped breathing a few minutes later and Mulder and Scully went to work on him doing CPR. All the other participants gathered around them to watch as they frantically worked to save Jake's life.
No one noticed Chip standing off slightly to the side smiling to himself. "One down, eleven to go" he said to himself. He looked at his watch. "Probably another one will be gone within the hour."
He quietly left the room to start making tea. Scully called the time of death for Jake 35 minutes later. Frustrated she sat back on her knees and brushed the loose hairs back from her face.
"Colleen, we need something to wrap the body in" she stated grimly. "I would also like to place it somewhere cool until I have a chance to examine it completely. I am not sure, but I think Jake here may have suffered from either a bad allergic reaction or food poisoning."
"Food poisoning" everyone in the group started to mumble to themselves.
Scully stood up and tried to look more positive. "It is probably nothing at all, but I think it wouldn't hurt to try and figure out as much of what Jake did and ate over the past 24 hours."
Colleen looked a bit pale "Okay, I will bring down some extra sheets and you can put him in one of the back rooms. We only use them for storage so there is hardly any heat in there."
Colleen returned with the sheets and Scully and Mulder went about tending to the body while Colleen took everyone in for tea. The group drank in silence while Mulder and Scully plotted out their next moves.
"Shall I give you a hand with him Scully?" Mulder said as Scully secured the sheet around Jake's body. Scully smiled realizing that Mulder was now addressing her not as a fellow member in a team building seminar but as another agent in the field.
"Sure, Mulder I would appreciate it. Also, do you think you could start questioning everyone else about what they ate, what they saw Jake eat etc while I examine the body?"
"No problem"
Mulder and Scully had just managed to place Jake on a table in the back storage room when they heard Scully's name being shouted.
"Dana, Dana where are you?" it was Amanda
"I'm right here. What's the matter?"
"It's Stacy. She is upstairs in the bathroom puking her brains out. She is scared, really scared that what happened to Jake is happening to her too."
Scully dashed up the stairs with Mulder right behind her. She found Stacy pale but conscious leaning her forehead against the toilet seat.
"Stacy. Tell me what's going on."
"I am not sure. All of a sudden I just felt so sick. I ran in here just in time and I think I have thrown up five or six times already. My head is spinning and I feel like my throat is starting to close up."
"Someone get me my bag." Scully ordered before turning back to Stacy. "Stacy, we are going to move you over to your bed so you can be more comfortable. I am going to give you some Benedryl just in case you are having an allergic reaction. If you are, that will help your breathing."
Colleen arrived with Scully's bag and hovered around the room not knowing exactly what to do next. She fetched Stacy a weak cup of tea which she managed to keep down.
After sitting with Stacy for an hour or so, Scully turned to Mulder. "I think she was able to fight off whatever was in her system. We need to find out what, if anything, she and Jake had to eat or drink that was the same."
Mulder nodded and lowered his voice "Do you think there is foul play going on here?"
Scully looked at him "I know this doesn't make sense, but I have a bad feeling about this place and what is going on here. It is almost like we are caught in one of those bad murder mysteries where all the guests get killed off one by one."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thanks for the feedback keep it coming