~ Chapter Five ~

"My God," Scully croaked out.

Mulder's face looked drained. "She must've been

pretty desperate. Exorcisms are nothing to play

around with." He shook his head. "She should've

known the consequences."

"What consequences?"

"More often than not, they do nothing but anger the

spirits they're meant to drive out. Telling them to

leave because 'Christ compels them' pisses them off

royally."

Something in Scully's mind clicked. "You know, I

had a strange dream last night about the Talbots."

Mulder straightened up. "You did?"

She nodded, looking at the window. "Yeah. It was,

uh...pretty gruesome, actually. They were standing in

the kitchen with rosaries in their hands when this

tremendous hatred filled the room. I've never

sensed anything so angry before in my life."

Mulder uttered a curse. "It's the house."

"What?"

"It's the house! It's the house, Scully! It's -- I

don't know -- communicating with us somehow. I had

the same dream last night. It ended with all of them

sliced to ribbons on the stone floor, right? It was

so vivid. I couldn't sleep afterwards, so I got up

to check on the equipment. I was on my way to the

poolroom when I ran into you." He ran both hands

through his hair and laughed. "How else would I

find this journal? How else would I know to be in

that corridor just when you needed me? I was led

by it!"

"Are you trying to suggest that there is something

in this house that's trying to help us, Mulder?

Because forgive me, but I don't see anything

benevolent here." She gestured at her scratched

arm.

"No," he replied, face grave. "I don't think

there's anything good here. But I do think it likes

to play with people. That it does nothing that

doesn't benefit itself."

The entire foundation seemed to groan beneath them.

Scully clutched Mulder's arm. "Should we try the

doors and windows again?"

He nodded and they both got up. Working their way

from the sitting room to the living room, they

tried every window again, but to no avail. Mulder

stood before the front door, hand poised over the

handle. He looked at Scully.

"What do you want to bet this is still locked?" He

turned the knob.

"Scully! It's open!"

She ran to join him, smiling with relief. "Oh,

thank God."

But her relief was short lived. As soon as she got

near the door, it slammed with enough force to

rattle the walls, taking Mulder with it.

"No," she said, stunned. "No! Let us go!" she

pounded on the door, screaming now. "Let us go!"

The house responded with a series of creaks and

groans. "Scully," Mulder said quietly, eyes on the

staircase opposite the door. "Scully, you have to

calm down." She sobbed, still pounding and

demanding the door to open. He pulled her into a

tight embrace. "Scully, you have to calm down!"

Her hysterics subsided, but her eyes grew wide as

she listened to the house. Somewhere deep within,

came the sound of breaking glass. From where they

stood, pools of light could be seen from several

different rooms. One by one, each of these pools

were extinguished with the pop of blown light

bulbs. The sounds of creaking increased, but they

were nothing, nothing compared to the terrible

wailing that now filled the air.

Both agents stepped away from the door, standing

back-to-back in the instinctive pose they'd been

taught at the Academy. Objects flew from the

tables, from the shelves to break against the

opposite walls. Footsteps pounded to and fro above

them as if someone were running across the

floorboards. The air became chilly and smelled of

sulfur with an undertone of something much worse,

something dead and rotting and evil. They were

defenseless.

The door banged open, taking some plaster from the

wall with it. Mulder and Scully turned quickly to

see what was happening, then turned to each other

in disbelief. Was it letting them go? Or was this

another one of its tricks? Deciding to take their

chances, they both started toward the door when a

strong force pushed one of them from behind, then

another, sending them tumbling over the porch and

down the stairs.

The door slammed shut again. The house was

quiet.

As they retreated, Scully thought she understood

what Sabrina Talbot meant when she said she sensed

the house was laughing at her family. She sensed

the very same.