THE X-FILES: ARICONTOUS
CHAPTER ONE-THE EVIDENCE
"So the little girl found her brother and her mother?" asked FBI Agent Dana Scully as she and her partner, FBI Agent Fox Mulder, walked toward the Walter's residence in Baltimore, Maryland.
"Yeah. She hasn't spoken to any of the officers that found her," Mulder said.
"Who called the police?" Scully asked.
"A neighbor. She said she saw something weird leaving the house on four legs," Mulder replied as they ducked under yellow POLICE CRIME SECENE tape that was surrounding the house.
"A dog?" Scully suggested.
"No. She said it looked strange, but she couldn't get a clear glimpse of it because it stuck to the shadows. Apparently, the Walter's had a German Shepard, but it's nowhere to be found," Mulder said.
Mulder and Scully entered the house and entered the living room. There were forensics taking blood samples from the body near the kitchen, and some were upstairs taking samples from the child. They were dusting for fingerprints also. Scully saw a little girl about six sitting on the couch, staring at the TV. She had shoulder length dark brown hair and honey brown eyes. She was adorable. A detective was crouched down in front of her, asking her some questions. She looked up when she spied Agent Scully and Agent Mulder.
"Hi. You must be Agent Mulder and Agent Scully," the detective said, extending her hands. Mulder and Scully shook it. "I'm Detective Ellie Brown."
"What's wrong with her?" Agent Scully asked, peering around Detective Brown's arm to the little girl.
"She appears to be in shock. We haven't been able to get her to talk to tell us what happened to her mother and brother," Detective Brown said gravely.
"What condition is the mother and brother's body in?" Scully asked.
While Agent Scully and the detective talked, Mulder walked over to the little girl and sat down on the coffee table in front of her. She was dressed in pink lamb pajamas and she was hugging a white stuffed bunny. Mulder noticed something in the little girls' hair. He carefully reached over and took it. He examined it. It looked like a chip of blue paint.
"Scully? Could you come here for a moment?" Mulder called over his shoulder.
He heard Scully excuse herself from the Detective as she came over and sat down beside him on the table.
"What is it?" Scully asked.
"I found a chip of blue paint in her hair," Mulder said, showing Scully the chip. "I think she was hiding somewhere."
"You might be right…but where?" Scully mused.
"Let's find her room," Mulder said.
Mulder and Scully headed upstairs. The body of the little boy had been taken out as well as the mothers and put into the coroner's van. Mulder and Scully found the little girl's room. Mulder noticed the closet door open. He went over and pulled it open even more. The interior of the closet was painted a blue and there was a piece missing from the left side of the wall exposing the white sheetrock underneath.
"The closet," Mulder replied.
Scully nodded but just then, there was a commotion downstairs.
They rushed from the bedroom and downstairs to the living room, where the little girl was hysterical and fighting Detective Brown's attempts to calm her down. Mulder and Scully hurried over.
"She just went hysterical. I think she's snapping out of the shock," Detective Brown said, looking upset.
Scully sat down beside the little girl and put her arms around her, gradually calming the little girl down until she was sobbing.
"What's her name?" Mulder asked.
"Lizzie. The mother's name was Julie and the brother's name was Eric. Apparently, the father had left them a few years ago and it's just been Julie, Lizzie and Eric living here. We still don't know where the dog went,"
"Can we have a try?" Scully asked.
Detective Brown nodded. "Sure,"
Mulder returned to sitting on the coffee table while Scully was sitting on the couch with the little girl. She had her arms around her.
"Lizzie? My name is Dana and this is Fox. Can you tell us what happened?" Scully asked in a soothing tone.
"I want my mommy," Lizzie sobbed.
"I know," Scully said, calmly and gently. "But we need to know what happened."
Lizzie raised her eyes to Scully and looked over to Mulder.
"Something big came into my room and stayed for a minute before it left," Lizzie said.
"Can you tell us what it looked like?" Mulder asked, gently and softly.
Lizzie shook her head. "No. It was dark…but it was very furry,"
"What color was it?" Scully asked.
Lizzie frowned. "Orange,"
"You got her to talk," Detective Brown said, relieved as she came over. "Hi honey. I'm Ellie."
Lizzie just looked at Detective Brown and didn't reply.
"Do you have a grandma or grandpa to come and get you?" Detective Brown asked, kindly.
Again, Lizzie didn't reply, but buried her face into Scully's arm.
"I think meeting two people for today is enough. We don't want to stress her out," Scully replied. "Does she have any relatives?"
"Her father, but we've contacted him and he wants nothing to do with her," Detective Brown said, sadly.
Mulder sighed irritably.
"We could look after her until another relative is contacted," Scully said. "We'll call you if she tells us anything along those lines."
"Sure. No problem," Detective Brown said.
"Where's the nearest hotel?" Mulder asked.
"About 2 miles from here. It's a good motel," Detective Brown said. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She left. Lizzie unburied her face from Scully's arm.
"You're going to stay with us for a while," Scully said, gently. "Until we can find someone to look after you."
"I want my mommy," Lizzie said as fresh tears began forming.
"I know, but mommy won't be coming back," Scully said.
Lizzie burst into tears as she wrapped her arms around Scully. Scully looked at Mulder. He looked just as upset and pained as she felt.
Once Lizzie stopped crying, Mulder picked her up in his arms. Lizzie had wrapped her arms around Mulder's neck and was resting her chin on his shoulder. She was still clutching her bunny.
Mulder was dressed in black slacks, a white long sleeved shirt which, was under a matching black suit jacket and a navy tie. He has short, wavy thick dark brown hair and blue eyes.
Scully was dressed in a cream colored straight skirt, a white V necked shirt and a matching cream colored blazer. She has chin length light auburn hair and blue eyes.
Scully and Mulder headed back out of the house and over to a 2003 blue Ford Crown Victoria, four doors.
Lizzie had fallen asleep in Mulder's arms.
Scully opened the back door behind the driver's seat and Mulder gently laid her down across the back bench seat and used his suit jacket as a blanket to cover her. She was sound asleep as Scully closed the door and they climbed into the front seats. Mulder was driving.
Scully closed her door and so did Mulder. Mulder started the car and put it in drive. They pulled away from the curb.
SCULLY.
I glanced over the shoulder of the front passenger seat at Lizzie. She was out cold in the backseat, lying on her side.
"The poor kid," Mulder said, sighing. "Imagine seeing your mother and brother dead."
"I know," I said, quietly. "But we still have no idea what killed them," I said, as I turned back around in my seat and looked out the window.
"She said it was orange, right?" Mulder asked as he made a left turn onto a road.
"Yeah. But what animal is orange? Orangutans are orange, but there's no way it could do that much damage to a human," I said, frowning. "What else is orange?"
Mulder looked at me. It began raining heavily. He switched on the windshield wipers.
"What ever animal did this had to be extremely powerful and have the jaws like an alligator. Both the mother and the little boys' heads were crushed. They looked like they had been under a cement roller," I continued, lowering my voice.
"God," Mulder said, quietly. "I think unfortunately, we're going to have to wait and see if this thing strikes again. Hopefully then we'll be able to get a better description of what killed the Walters."
I nodded.
Mulder and I have been working together for nearly six years now. We've become best friends, but lately I've been having different feelings toward him. He's become more than my best friend. I trusted him with my life and I know he trusted me with his.
About ten minutes later, we came across the motel. Mulder pulled up in front of the manager's office. He pushed open his door and climbed out, closing the door and hurried into the office. The rain was still coming down heavily. The wipers moved across the windshield making a 'thump thump' sound. There was a large wooded area just beside the motel. Suddenly, I saw something streak through the trees. I leaned forward and wiped the windshield with the sleeve of my blazer as it had gotten fogged. I saw something orange streak through the trees again before it disappeared.
Mulder was coming out of the manager's office. He quickly opened the driver's side door and slid onto the seat. He was soaked. Water droplets dripped down his temple. His hair was nearly matted to his head.
"Okay. We've got two rooms. Number 11 and 12," he said, handing me the number 12 key. He paused and noticed my expression.
"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.
"I just saw something orange streak through those trees," I said, gesturing toward the wooded area.
"You sure?" he asked.
I nodded. "Absolutely,"
"Could it have been a deer?" Mulder suggested, tilting his head as he put the car in drive and we pulled up in front of the two rooms. There was a diagonal parking spot in front of the rooms.
"I don't know. There was something about the way it moved," I said, frowning. "It was too fast."
Mulder was silent.
"We should get some sleep,"
"Tomorrow I'd like to go to the morgue and have a look at the bodies. Could you stay with her?" I asked.
Mulder nodded. "Sure,"
We pulled up in front of the room and pushed open our doors. We closed them at the same time. I opened the back door and gently picked Lizzie up in my arms. I carried her over to room 12. Mulder stood in front of room 11. He looked at me and grinned.
"'Night Scully,"
"'Night Mulder,"
We entered the rooms. I closed the door behind me and locked it. I carried Lizzie over to one of the beds and pulled down the covers. I laid her down and pulled the covers up over her. She was really cute and I felt terrible for her. I changed into an old pair of sweats and I climbed into the other bed. Pretty soon, I had dozed off.
Around one o'clock AM, Lizzie woke up screaming. I jumped awake and switched on the light. Lizzie was sitting bolt upright, sobbing uncontrollably. I tossed off my covers and went to go over to her, but there was a banging on the door.
"Scully? It's me," Mulder called.
He must've heard Lizzie screaming. I went over to the door and unlocked it. He immediately barged in.
"Is everything okay?" he demanded.
"Yeah. I think Lizzie was having a nightmare," I replied as I went over to her and wrapped my arms around her, trying to comfort her.
Mulder closed the door behind him. He was dressed in navy jogging pants and a white tee shirt.
"Poor thing," he said, as he sat on the other side of Lizzie.
He put his face close to hers.
"Are you okay?" he asked, gently and softly.
"I had a bad dream," Lizzie sobbed.
"Want to tell us about it?" I asked, in a gentle tone.
"I saw that monster again and it attacked you," Lizzie sobbed, now burying her face into Mulder's arm.
"It was just a dream. I'm going to be fine," I said, soothingly.
Lizzie seemed to have taken a shine to Mulder. She wrapped her arms around Mulder's midsection and buried her face into his side. Pretty soon, she had dozed off again.
"She certainly had taken a shine to you," I said, grinning.
Mulder grinned back.
"Yeah. Except how am I supposed to go back to my room?"
"Why don't you stay here? I'll take the chair," I suggested.
"Don't be stupid. There are two beds here. I don't bite you know," Mulder said, winking.
"I don't want to take that chance," I said, keeping a straight face. "Trust me…it's okay."
I grabbed a pillow and the blanket off the second bed and curled up in one of the big comfy chairs in a corner. Mulder leaned against the headboard. Lizzie was holding onto him still. So, Mulder ended up sleeping sitting up.
The next morning, I awoke around seven o'clock. Mulder was already awake and dressed. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with Lizzie, who was also wide-awake. They were both grinning at me.
"Morning!" Lizzie said, brightly.
"Morning," I said as I stood up and stretched. My back was killing me. I cringed and rubbed the spot.
"You okay?" Mulder asked.
"Yeah. Just a little crick in my back," I replied as I bent a little backward. "Ahh, there we go."
I realized Lizzie was still in her pajamas.
"Mulder? I think we should get Lizzie a pair of clothes. She's still in her PJ's," I said.
"Good idea," Mulder said.
"Could you wait outside while I get showered and changed?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow.
"Sure,"
He left the room. I quickly showered and changed into a navy woman's pants suit with a light blue V-necked shirt under the blazer. Lizzie and I left the room and met up with Mulder, who was waiting by the car. We climbed in and closed our doors.
First we bought Lizzie a change of clothes before heading to the morgue. Mulder waited outside of the car, facing away from it as I helped Lizzie change inside the car. Once she was dressed again, Mulder slid into the driver's seat again and we continued to the morgue.
Once we hit the morgue, Mulder stayed with Lizzie in the car while I went into the one story marble building. It had double sliding doors. I met the ME and he took me into an examination like room. The two bodies of the Walter's family were lying on metal tables covered in white sheets. The ME took me over to the mother. He pulled back the sheet exposing her head.
"There are two puncture wounds that are huge," the ME said. "They look to be about 2 and ½ inches wide."
The two puncture wounds were on the side of the head.
"Any idea what might've done this?" I asked, carefully examining the rest of the body.
"No. Unless there's an animal out there with canines the side of machetes, I have no idea," he said. "The boy is in worse condition."
He covered the mother and showed me the little boy. The head was in the same condition as the mothers, but there were parts of the boys' body that looked like they had been eaten.
"There's definitely something out there that we haven't seen yet," the ME said. "I've never seen this much damage done to a body before. It looked like it had gone under a rotary tiller."
He covered the boys' body up.
"Have you done and autopsy yet? Have you found anything unusual?" I asked.
"Not yet and no,"
"I'd like to do one if that's okay," I said.
"Sure,"
"Great. Let me just tell my partner," I said and headed back out of the morgue.
MULDER.
Scully came back out and asked me to take Lizzie for some ice cream as she was going to do an autopsy on the two bodies. I agreed and turned on the car and pulled away from the curb.
