The X-Files: Tyvenas
Chapter Three-Changes part II
I stood, completely stunned. I walked carefully over to them. It was Mr. Meadows, Mrs. Meadows and a younger sister.
The little sister looked exactly like Elizabeth.
They were the real family…not the clones. Feeling jumpy, I turned and hurried back up the steps. I closed the basement door and sat down at the kitchen table, trying to figure this out.
Shortly, Scully and Elizabeth came back from the town with tons of groceries.
Scully saw my expression, but didn't pressure because I bet she knew I found something in the house.
Elizabeth was talking bubbly as she put the groceries away.
"…And this place was so much cleaner when I had hid away the last time. I guess the age just took over," Elizabeth said, cheerfully as she put soda and stuff in the fridge. This time, the jars were gone.
Scully and I caught each others gaze and raised our eyebrows.
"Weird," Scully mouthed to me.
I nodded and gave her a look that said, "Wait. I have more to tell you,"
Elizabeth paused and looked at Scully and I.
"Is everything okay?" she asked, slowly.
"Yeah. We're just tired," Scully said, softly
"Ah. I hear ya," Elizabeth said, brightly. "There's a shower upstairs and three guest bedrooms. You can take which ever you want."
"Great," Scully said, as she picked up her luggage and headed upstairs.
Elizabeth turned to me.
"Did you see anything unusual in the house?" she asked.
That completely caught me off guard, but I quickly recovered.
"No. Why? Do you have ghosts?" I asked in a light, teasing tone.
Elizabeth chuckled.
"No. No ghosts. Just…things," she replied as she gave me a bright smile before heading up the stairs after Scully.
I stared after her. What did that mean? Just…things? Is she feeding me a clue? Or is she up to something?
I shook my head and continued to put the groceries away.
AGENT SCULLY.
I sighed as the hot water rolled over me. It felt so good to shower.
I lathered myself up with scented soap and then rinsed it off. I then turned around and backed up under the stream of water to wash my hair.
I wet it and then groped around for the shampoo. Once I had it and squirted a liberal amount in my palm I lathered the hair.
I couldn't understand where those jars went in the fridge. I saw them and I knew Mulder had seen them plain as day.
I had a feeling that something was going on here.
After a few minutes later, I got a strange feeling that I was being watched.
I pulled back the curtain and scanned the bathroom. There was no one there.
Shrugging, I returned to the shower.
And shortly after that, I had that feeling again. I pulled back the curtain again. This time, I saw a figure standing there dressed in a dark brown hooded cape. The hood was pulled up covering the eyes.
"Hello? Elizabeth? Is that you?" I asked, keeping the curtain pulled around me so no 'parts' were exposed.
The figure didn't reply. It stepped closer to me.
It was just a few inches from me when it reached up and pulled the hood down. I screamed. The head was that of a wolf. It snarled.
I screamed again.
The next thing I knew, the bathroom door was broken down and Mulder appeared, followed by Elizabeth. The figure vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
"MULDER! GET OUT!" I screamed at him.
Mulder shielded his eyes before backing out of the bathroom. Elizabeth came over and helped me out of the shower. I quickly got dressed
"Agent Scully? What happened?" Elizabeth asked, concerned.
"This figure appeared in the bathroom! It had heavily hooded eyes and when it took down the hood, it had the head of one of the werewolves! It snarled at me!" I cried.
Elizabeth looked at me concerned.
"I think Agent Mulder is right…the stress is really getting to you," she said, slowly. "Why don't you have a nap?"
"What did Agent Mulder tell you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That the stress is getting to you from the job," Elizabeth replied.
"Really? Well, he's very opinionated isn't he?" I said, narrowing my eyes.
Elizabeth just watched me.
"I'll take that nap…after I have a talk with Mulder," I said, as I brushed past her.
I didn't see the smirk on her face.
AGENT MULDER.
I nervously paced the hallway. I put two hands on my hips and looked up. Scully was walking toward me.
"Hey…is everything okay?" I asked, worriedly.
Scully folded her arms over her chest and gave me that stern look I recognized.
"Uh-oh…what'd I do?" I asked, slowly.
"You told Elizabeth that the stress from the job was getting to me?" Scully asked.
I stepped closer to her.
"I had to tell her something, Scully! Guess what I found in the basement?" I asked, lowering my voice.
Scully waited patiently.
"The real Meadow's family!"
Scully's expression softened.
"What?"
I nodded.
"I found the real Meadows' family! They were dead!"
"How can that be? Elizabeth told us that they were the evil ones…not her," Scully said, slowly.
"I think Elizabeth is the one who's evil and she's been leading us on the whole time. I betcha she plans to turn us against each other in the end," I replied. "What did you see in the bathroom?"
"I would never turn against you!" Scully said. "A figure with heavily hooded eyes. Then, when it lowered the hood, it was one of those…werewolves."
I smiled. "Nor would I turn against you…I think we should play it out so she doesn't get suspicious. Something is definitely going on here and it totally has to do with Elizabeth,"
Scully nodded.
"What do we do now?"
"We yell…make her believe that I was wrong in telling her that the stress was getting to you," I whispered.
Scully nodded again and cleared her throat.
"You had no right to tell her anything!" Scully shouted, pretending to be outraged.
"Hey, you were acting weird! You still are!" I shouted back, winking at her. I had a hard time fighting a grin.
Scully grinned back before she retaliated.
"Maybe it's not the stress that's getting to me…maybe it's you!"
I pretended to be hurt.
"Oh…that hurt," I said.
Scully stalked past me, but as she did, she took my arm and squeezed it before heading into her room.
Elizabeth poked her head out of the bathroom.
"Is everything okay between you?" Elizabeth asked, tentatively.
"Neh, I went out of line," I said, shifting my weight onto my right foot.
"Oh," Elizabeth said, solemnly. Then, she brightened. "What would you like for dinner?"
At dinner, Scully and I pretended to be cold toward each other. Of course, when Elizabeth wasn't looking, we'd exchange grins or winks.
After dinner, we headed to bed. Elizabeth gave me a hug before hurrying up the stairs, totally ignoring Scully.
Scully and I slowly climbed up the stairs.
"I think that was her entire plan the whole time…turn you against me so it would be easier to get rid of me and move in on you," Scully said, quietly.
"But why? Why would she want to get rid of you?" I asked, facing her.
"Mulder, it's so obvious…she likes you…she has a crush on you…getting rid of me would put her in my place…closer to you," Scully said, slowly.
"But she's just a young girl. I mean, I'm flattered that she likes me, but I'm way to old for her," I replied.
Scully smiled.
"Are you saying you like someone around your own age that I don't know about?"
I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yeah. She's standing in front of me,"
Scully grinned and quickly hugged me before heading up the stairs. I followed her shortly and we went to bed.
In the morning, we got up early and got dressed.
"Okay…what are we doing today? Does the Orynix pack know you're up here?" I asked Elizabeth.
Elizabeth went pale.
"I don't think so,"
"Okay good. Are all the clones destroyed?"
Elizabeth nodded.
"So why are we up here besides hiding?" Scully asked, folding her arms over her chest.
I had to admit, I was wondering the same thing.
"To stop the Orynix pack!" Elizabeth cried. "They want to kill Agent Mulder, remember?"
"So far, I haven't seen anything that suggests they're after Mulder…but what I have seen is that they're still after you," Scully said, shrewdly.
Elizabeth came over to me.
"I'm telling you the truth! You believe me, don't you Agent Mulder?" Elizabeth asked, looking up at me.
Scully was watching me intently with that piercing look on her face.
"Well, I'm not saying no and I'm not saying yes. Right now, I think we should focus more on how to stop the pack from attacking in the first place," I said, slowly.
Elizabeth seemed happy with that explanation. Scully smiled and nodded.
"Do you know a way to stop them?" Scully asked Elizabeth.
"Silver is the most common way," Elizabeth replied. "Like a silver bullet or anything silver."
"That makes sense," Scully said, nodding.
Elizabeth didn't seem to catch the sarcasm in her voice…or did she? She was giving Scully a strange look.
"Agent Scully…we're fighting werewolves…not vampires or goblins. Silver is the most traditional way," Elizabeth said. There was a touch of ice in her voice.
"Sorry…it's the stress," Scully said, throwing me a pretend cold look.
I just looked back at her.
Elizabeth seemed satisfied with that answer once again before she continued.
"Okay…the pack is hiding in Hancock. It's about three hours from here. They had a place in West Virginia and here in Maine," Elizabeth continued.
"Do you know the precise town?"
"Waltham," Elizabeth said.
"Where are we?" Scully asked. "What part of Washington are we in?"
"Beddington,"
"Almost right near the state border," I replied.
Elizabeth nodded.
"What is the game plan?" Scully asked.
"Well, we can surprise them. They're usually at the hiding place at night. We'd have a good advantage then,"
"How many are there exactly? We met the Emexus pack and we were out numbered totally," I said.
"There's only six members of the Orynix pack. We should have no trouble,"
Once again, when Elizabeth wasn't looking, Scully and I exchanged looks.
Elizabeth decided to go that night to the hiding place. She said it was an old mine where they were hiding. We drove the three hours to Beddington. It too, was rural and had lots of trees.
We could see the old mine from a distance. The entranceway was a wood frame. There was total darkness.
Scully whispered to me that she was getting the heebie jeebies. I had to admit so was I.
I glanced up at the sky. There was a full moon hovering in the pitch-black sky. Several stars twinkled merrily.
I got the familiar pain across my abdomen. Luckily, Scully was driving. She glanced over at me in the passenger seat.
"Mulder? Are you okay?" she demanded worriedly.
"No…it's time," I said, cringing.
I lashed out and grabbed a hold of the dashboard.
AGENT SCULLY.
Mulder lashed out and grabbed a hold of the dashboard. I saw his hands lengthen into paws. Gray fur began sprouting all over his body. His fingernails grew into claws and dug into the leather on the dashboard. His chest expanded, straining the material of his suit shirt and jacket; His eyes changed into a jaundice color. His ears grew into thin, pointed and erect wolf ears; his nose and mouth stretched forward into a snout. White canine and incisors slid down under purple lips. His feet changed as well and his legs bent into haunches. Before long, there was a six-foot tall werewolf sitting beside me. The entire body was covered in the gray fur. I sat shaking. My hands were gripping the steering wheel. I slammed on the brake and the Taurus came to a screeching halt. The rear tires kicked up smoke and created skid marks. Once the car stopped, I just sat there, trembling. I glanced into the rear view mirror at Elizabeth.
She was scared and terrified. Why I didn't know. I suspected she'd change shortly too.
But she didn't.
"Mulder…?" I whispered frightened.
The gray wolf turned its head toward me and moved its face closer. The black wolfs nose was inches from mine. I was gripping the steering wheel so tightly, that my knuckles were turning white.
My breathing was sawing in and out. I could see the wolfs mind working as it studied me.
It tilted its head to the side before moving even closer. It began sniffing me.
I shut my eyes, praying that it didn't hurt me.
I slowly opened them as it continued to sniff me. Then, the next thing I knew, it licked my cheek before pulling its head back.
I began breathing normally now. It recognized me from the last time.
It sat quietly in the passenger seat. Then to my surprise, it turned around and looked back at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth flattened herself against the backseat. I could see the pure fear in her eyes.
The wolf began growling.
Then, it reached back and grabbed Elizabeth by the throat and pulled her out of the seat. She was basically kneeling on the floor in between the front two seats.
The gray wolf snarled and flattened its ears out sideways. Elizabeth then changed.
She had changed into a white wolf with ice blue eyes. The gray wolf snarled even more and tossed her out of the car. Elizabeth broke through the door. It was hanging off by its hinges. The white wolf snarled and took off toward the mine. The gray wolf went to follow her, but I put a hand on its massive arm.
"Be careful, Mulder," I whispered.
I wasn't afraid of the gray wolf. It looked at me with the jaundice colored eyes and I knew he understood me. Then, it took off following the white wolf. I did a U-turn and headed back to the house.
