THE X-FILES: ARICONTOUS

CHAPTER THREE-THE SECOND KILLING

"So, what flavor do you want?" I asked Lizzie softly.

"Chocolate," she replied.

I had found an ice cream store and pulled up in front of it. I shut off the car and pushed open my door. I climbed out and closed it, then helped Lizzie out of the car. Lizzie stayed close to me as we entered the store. I was dressed in a black suit and tie. I stood at the counter.

"Hi. Can I help you?" a girl dressed in a fifties style uniform asked brightly.

"Yeah, I'd like a chocolate sundae and a vanilla one to stay," I replied looking down at Lizzie.

She gave me a big grin.

"Aw, your daughter's cute," the girl said as she began making the sundae's.

I smiled. "She's not my daughter. My name is Fox Mulder. I'm with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We're looking into the murder of Julie and Eric Walters. Have you noticed any strange animals around here?" I asked, as I showed the girl my FBI badge and ID.

She put the two sundaes on the counter and rang up the prices.

"Five dollars," she said.

I handed her a ten-dollar bill.

"No. But there was a report on the TV about some animal escaping from the local zoo. They didn't give much detail about what it looked like," the girl said, handing me back my change.

"When did the report come out?"

"Yesterday," the girl said.

"Did you see anything unusual around here?"

The girl frowned. "No, nothing weird,"

"Okay. Thanks for your help," I said as I took the sundaes and we found a table near the back. Lizzie was sitting across from me. I was facing the door. Lizzie began happily eating her sundae.

I began eating mine. So there was a report on the TV about an animal escaping the local zoo. But why wasn't much detail given? How were the people supposed to know what this thing looked like in order to call the authorities?

Just then, a man came in dressed in a dark green jumpsuit. I saw the words stitched on the shirt part above the left breast pocket:

OLLAVAN ZOO

He glanced at me before returning his eyes onto the girl behind the counter. He ordered a milk shake and then turned to leave.

"Stay right here, okay Lizzie?" I said.

She nodded and continued to happily eat her ice cream. I stood up and followed the man outside.

"Excuse me? Can I ask you a question?" I asked, showing him my FBI ID and badge. He took off running.

I quickly took off after him. I finally managed to catch up to him and grabbed him, banging him up against a wall.

"Why'd you run?" I demanded, gripping the collar of his shirt.

He didn't reply.

"What type of animal escaped the zoo?" I demanded again.

Again, he didn't reply.

"Answer me!" I shouted.

"It was a test animal! That's all I know I swear!" the man cried, throwing his hands up defensively.

Believing him, I released him. He took off running occasionally looking back at me.

Breathing heavily from running I headed back to the ice cream store.

Lizzie was still sitting at the table. The girl behind the counter was crouched down beside her and was talking with her.

"I gave her a free chocolate pop if that's okay," the girl said standing up when she saw me.

"That's fine," I said, smiling.

The girl smiled and went back behind the counter. I sat back down in my seat and continued eating the sundae.

About a half an hour later, I checked my watch.

"Scully should be done by now," I said and looked at Lizzie. "Shall we go back and see Scully?"

Lizzie nodded.

"You're done?"

Again, she nodded.

We stood up and threw away the empty sundae containers. We headed back to the car. I opened the back door behind the passenger seat for Lizzie and she climbed up onto the back bench style seat. I closed her door and climbed into the driver's seat. I closed my door, started the car and we pulled away from the curb.

I pulled up in front of the morgue again. I glanced at Lizzie in the rear view mirror.

I wondered if she knew this is where her mother and brother were. I felt terrible for her. Scully had gotten her a pair of jeans and a pink tee shirt with sneakers and socks. I returned my eyes onto the double sliding doors. Scully was coming out of the building. She pulled open the passenger side door and slid onto the seat before closing her door.

"So?" I asked.

Not wanting to say anything in front of Lizzie, she handed me a tan manila folder. I opened it up and nearly fell over.

There was pictures of the mother and son. Both heads were crushed.

I began reading the report:

Both mother and son had two puncture wounds on the side of the head approximately 2 and ½ inches wide. The son had the radius missing as well as a piece of the femur and tibia. Teeth marks were found on the bones as if an animal gnawed on the arm and leg. It appeared that some large predator had eaten those parts. A human growth hormone was found in both bodies. There was about 59% of the hormone found, above the amount normally found in a healthy person. It was at a lethal dosage.

The skulls have been crushed by something along the lines of 300 pounds.

I looked at Scully. She looked concerned.

"Something happened to them. We've got to find out what," she replied.

"Well, while Lizzie and I were eating ice cream, we found some interesting facts," I said, closing the folder and I handed it back to Scully.

"Apparently, yesterday there was a report on the tube about an escaped animal from the local zoo, but not much detail was given as to what type it was. Then, I found someone that worked in the zoo and questioned him. He told me that it was some sort of test animal," I replied, as I put the car in drive and pulled away from the morgue.

"A test animal?" Scully asked, curiously.

"Yeah, but again, no details. He said that was all he knew," I replied stopping for a red light.

"I bet that's what attacked…" Scully's voice trailed off.

"I wouldn't doubt it, but we don't know what It is," I replied.

Just then, the door to the Sheriff's office opened and the sheriff waved at us.

We pulled over. Scully rolled down her window all the way.

"Are you the two FBI agents here to investigate the Walters murder?" he asked.

We nodded.

"There's been a second killing. Follow me," he said as he climbed into his blue jeep with red and blue dome lights on top and a gold shield on the driver's side door that read LARDEN SHERIFF in gold letters and he started the jeep.

He pulled out of the parking spot. We followed him.

He pulled in front of a two-story blue and white Victorian about 20 minutes from the Sheriff's station. There was a young woman frantically waving the Sheriff over. The Sheriff pulled over. We followed.

"Stay in the car, okay hon?" I asked, peering over the shoulder of the driver's seat at Lizzie. She nodded and gave me a big grin. I grinned back. Scully and I pushed open our doors and climbed out, then closed the doors and we walked over to the young woman. The Sheriff was trying to calm her down.

"What happened?" the Sheriff asked.

"My sister! She was out in the backyard playing with our dog when this huge orange animal attacked them!" the young woman cried.

Scully and I pulled out our 9mm Smith and Wesson's and clicked back the hammers. We carefully made our way toward the backyard.

We peered around the edge of the house and moved our guns around. There was no sign of the animal. The body of the sister was lying on her back. The body of the dog was lying not too far away. Scully and I put our guns away and went over to the body. We crouched down beside it.

"It's the same as the Walters'," Scully said, quietly as her eyes moved onto the dogs' body next. "And the dog is the same way."

Scully pulled out her cell phone and called the coroner. We stood up and walked back to where the Sheriff and the young woman were standing.

"Did you get a good glimpse of the animal?" I asked.

The young woman frowned. "It looked like a orange cat,"

"A cat?" the Sheriff asked, startled.

"That's what it reminded me of," the young woman said as tears formed. "Lily's dead…and so is Boo…aren't they?"

"I'm afraid so. I'm so sorry," Scully said, gently.

The girl nodded and then broke down. The Sheriff put his hand on the girl's shoulder before he came over to us.

"I'm Sheriff Adam Anderson," Sheriff Anderson introduced himself. He extended his hand. Scully and I shook it.

"I'm Agent Mulder and this is Agent Scully," I introduced.

"What do you think this is?" Sheriff Anderson asked putting his hands on his hips. He was dressed in dark green slacks, a light tan shirt with his shield and nametag pinned above the left breast pocket. Around his waist was a leather holster where his gun, handcuffs and keys were. He has short, wavy thick light brown hair and brown eyes.

"We don't know. There's no eyewitness that was able to get a clear glimpse of this animal," Scully said. "I heard there was a report on TV saying that an animal escaped the local zoo?"

Sheriff Anderson nodded.

"Yeah. The Ollavan Zoo,"

"I found one of the members and questioned him. All he said was that it was a test animal," I said.

"A test animal? It's illegal here to do testing on animals," Sheriff Anderson said, startled.

"I don't know about that, but whatever this is it is totally dangerous and killed three people and a pet," I said.

"So far no one has gotten a clear view of this animal," I said. "But one witness said it was orange and looked like a cat."

"A cat? Odd. We don't have mountain lions or anything close to that here," Sheriff Anderson said tilting his head. "Maybe it's a domestic cat they saw?"

"I doubt it very much. The amount of damage on the bodies is way too extensive for a normal house cat. We're talking almost 2 and ½ inches deep from scratch marks," Scully replied.

Sheriff Anderson's eyes widened.

"2 and ½ inches deep?"

We nodded.

"Alright. I'll put a bulletin out stating that if anyone sees anything unusual, or any type of animal resembling a car, to call immediately. Either me or you," Sheriff Anderson said.

"I think that's a good idea since we still have no clue as to what we're dealing with here. All we know is that it's extremely aggressive and lethal," Scully said.

"I'll drive her to her sisters for now," Sheriff Anderson said, as he went over to the girl and put his arms around her. They headed over to the jeep. Scully and I headed back to the car. Lizzie was watching us.

We climbed into the front seats and closed our doors.

SCULLY.

I glanced back at Lizzie. She gave me a big grin. I couldn't help but smile back. Mulder gave her a wink.

"If they don't have any mountain lions or anything similar here in Maryland, what on earth could it be if the witness described it as a cat?" I mused.

"Something the zoo was testing on and didn't want the public to know," Mulder replied.

"That sounds right," I replied.

"I say we head back to the motel now," Mulder said.

Mulder started the car and we pulled away, heading back to the motel.

HARRIS RESIDENCE.

MIDNIGHT.

"Mary? Did you remember to leave the doggie door open for Patch?" asked 69 year old George Harris to his wife, Mary, sitting beside him in bed. She had been knitting.

"Of course, George," Mary replied.

"Let's get some sleep. It's after midnight," George replied.

"I agree. Good-night, honey," Mary said as she reached up and turned off the lamp.

"'Night," George replied.

Both of them settled down under the covers and were fast asleep.

Around 3 AM, George was awakened by glass breaking downstairs. Mary jumped awake as well.

"What is it?" Mary whispered, frightened.

"I don't know. Stay here," George said as he grabbed his rifle and clicked back the hammer on the rifle. He tossed off the cover and got to his feet, silently padding outside the room into the hall. He closed the door behind him, protecting Mary. Mary pulled the covers up to her tighter and watched and listened fearfully.

George silently crept downstairs. The doggie door their Jack Russell Terrier, Patch, used, looked like a human had tried to crawl through it. It was torn completely out of the door's bottom.

"Good Lord," George whispered as he saw large, muddy paw prints leading from the hole in the door through the kitchen on the tiled floor.

He followed the prints into the pitch-black dinning room. Just then, he saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes. George froze.

The next thing he knew, something jumped on him, knocking him backward. He felt a huge set of jaws clamp around his throat and head. They clamped down. Blackness swallowed him up.

Mary didn't hear anything downstairs anymore. She was really terrified. Then, she heard someone coming up the stairs.

"George?" she called tentatively.

There was no reply.

"George? What was that noise?" Mary asked again.

There was still no reply.

She heard something breathing heavily outside the door.

"George?" she asked for the third time, but weaker and more terrified. "Patch?"

It's probably Patch. She concluded.

"Patch? Here boy!"

There was a silence outside the door now.

"Patch? Come on boy!" she called.

Somehow, Patch had figured out how to open the doors. He would rear up on his hind legs and open the door using his paws.

Then, something large and orange jumped through the door, tearing it off its hinges. Mary screamed as a large animal leaped on her and began mauling her. Blood began staining the sheets and one of its paws caught the pillow. Feathers began floating around. Then, it clamped its jaws around Mary's throat and tugged.

Blackness swallowed Mary up as the feathers settled down in blood red sheets.