THE X-FILES: ARICONTOUS
CHAPTER FOUR-DRAGGED
We walked up the steps of the museum. I looked at my watch. It was 6:00. We knocked on the door. It was closing. A security guard answered the door.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"We're with the FBI. Is there a Paleontologist available we could speak with? It's very important," Scully said as she and I showed our badges and ID's again.
"Yes, actually there's a Danielle Peterson you can speak with. Come in," the security guard said as he opened the door and we entered the museum.
He led us down several flights of stairs to an office. There was lettering in the glass part:
DANIELLE PETERSON
PALEONTOLOGIST/ANTHROPLOGY
A woman with long brown hair was typing on a computer. The security guard knocked on the door.
The woman looked up and then got up from behind her desk. She came over and opened the door.
"Can I help you?" she asked, looking from me to Scully.
"These are FBI agents. They're looking for a paleontologist to help them with something," the security guard said.
"Sure. I can help you," she said. "Please, enter."
Scully and I entered the office while the security guard left.
"Please sit," the woman said. She looked down at Lizzie. "And who is this cutie?"
"Lizzie," Scully replied. "We're keeping an eye on her for a case."
The woman smiled and nodded.
"I'm Danielle Peterson,"
"I'm Fox Mulder and this is Dana Scully,"
"So, what can I help you with?" Danielle asked.
"We want to know of the Sabretooth's behavior," Scully replied.
"A Sabretooth's behavior? Hmm…they've been extinct for millions of years. We can only speculate about their behavior," Danielle replied.
"Do you have an idea?" I asked.
"Well, they technically hunt like a Mountain Lion, Tiger or any predator in that family. Solo hunters. They use the element of surprise to bring down their prey," Danielle continued.
"Do they crush their victims skulls?" I asked, shifting my weight in the chair.
"They could. Usually, they use their canines like knives and puncture the pray," Danielle said. "Why? What's going on?"
Scully and I looked at each other. We had to tell her what we're dealing with. She was the only one that knows what we're up against.
"Did you hear of the report of the animal escaping the zoo?" Scully asked.
Danielle nodded.
"Well, we learned what type of animal it is," I said dryly. "A Sabretooth cat, mixed with a tiger."
"That's impossible," Danielle said, shaking her head.
"Tell that to this little girls' family. This thing killed her mother and brother. Plus, an elderly couple and a zoo maintenance guy," I replied.
Danielle's face drained of all color.
"Oh my God," she whispered. "You're serious."
We nodded.
"What on earth were they doing? Experimentation?" Danielle asked.
We nodded again.
"They apparently combined tiger DNA with that of a Sabretooth," I said.
"Where would they get the DNA for a Sabretooth? That's nearly impossible," Danielle said, stunned.
"We don't know that. All we know is that they combined those two DNA strands with an alligator's DNA so now we've got an impossible animal to stop," Scully replied.
"Alligator, Tiger and Sabretooth DNA all in one animal? Geeze! The animal is ten times more lethal than a normal Sabretooth and tiger!" Danielle cried.
"Do you know how we can stop it?" I asked.
"Well, the underbelly is always soft and vulnerable. We'd have to dart it under there," Danielle replied.
"First, we've got to track this thing down before it kills again," Scully said.
"Absolutely. I can help you there. I had some experience a few years ago in Africa with tracking lions. Where have the killings taken place?"
"Around a wooded area a short bit from here," I replied.
"Perfect. That's where we start," Danielle grinned.
Danielle accompanied us back to the town.
We got the Sheriff to get some more men. Now, we were able to properly search the wooded area.
Lizzie clung close to me, since there was no one available to watch her. We had our guns out, loaded and aimed. Flashlight beams scanned the wooded area's floor.
"I don't hear anything," Scully whispered.
"Neither do I, but we've got to give Danielle a chance," I whispered back.
"Found something!" Danielle called suddenly.
We all hurried over to her.
She was crouched down on the ground next to several paw prints.
"My God…this thing has to be over 200 pounds," she whispered.
"I know," Scully said, nodding. "It's huge."
"From the direction of the prints, it's heading north," Danielle replied.
We slowly began walking forward more.
Suddenly, I heard something in the bushes to my left.
"I hear something," I whispered.
I shone my flashlight beam over to the area.
"What is it?" Scully asked also shinning her flashlight beam to the left.
"I don't know…I heard something over that way," I whispered.
We listened intently for a while.
"Nothing now," I replied.
Just as I was about to continue walking, something jumped on me, knocking me onto my back.
Lizzie was knocked as well. It was the animal.
"HERE!" Scully bellowed.
The animal clamped its jaws around my ankles and began dragging me.
Lizzie was yelling. I couldn't pull my leg from the grasp of its jaws without tearing my leg. It certainly had an extremely strong grip.
"SCULLY!" I yelled.
I could hear the officers yelling and jogging after me.
"MULDER!" I heard Scully yell back.
It was still dragging me deeper and deeper into the wooded area. The trees were getting thicker and thicker.
Finally, I couldn't hear Scully or the officers anymore.
SCULLY.
I couldn't hear Mulder's shouts anymore. There was complete silence.
"Mulder!" I called again.
Still not answer.
Lizzie was holding onto me tightly and she was sobbing hysterically.
"Where Fox?" Lizzie asked teary eyed.
"I don't know," I said quietly.
"Where is he?" Sheriff Anderson asked.
"It dragged him off that way," I said, gesturing toward the North distance.
"We've got to go back. We'll look for him tomorrow," Sheriff Anderson said.
"I'm not leaving him out there!" I said, angrily.
"Agent Scully, it's getting dark. There's no way we can find him now," Sheriff Anderson said.
I really didn't want to leave Mulder alone out there, but I had no choice and Sheriff Anderson was right.
Reluctantly, Lizzie and I followed Sheriff Anderson out of the woods. Every once and awhile I would glance back, hoping Mulder would come running after us. But he didn't.
We headed back to the motel for the night. Lizzie was really upset. She missed Mulder already.
I crouched down in front of her and put a hand on her knee.
"I miss Mulder too. We'll definitely find him…don't worry," I said, soothingly.
Lizzie nodded, still teary eyed.
She threw her arms around me and hugged me. I hugged her back.
We fell asleep that night. I fell into a troubled sleep; tossing and turning every minute, worrying if that thing killed Mulder yet.
MULDER.
I moaned and opened my eyes. I was lying in some sort of cave deep in the woods.
The cave smelled of decay and rot. I cringed and blinked.
The animal was curled up asleep a few inches from me. Now that I was close to it, it really was a huge animal.
I could hear it breathing. I sounded like a cross between a wheeze and normal breathing. The fur was coarse looking. The tiger bands were thick and black. The long canines actually measured four inches. The tip of the canine was below the bottom jaw. The eyes were closed. Both ears were round shaped and alert. The paws were almost like a human sized hand, but bigger. Deadly sharp claws were curled under. The hindquarters were the most powerful. It looked like it was capable of running a long distance and jumping easily. It looked basically like a small pony.
It had a short, stubby tail. I looked down at my leg. It was badly wounded by puncture wounds. It was bleeding as well. I felt my holster for the gun. It was still there.
I went to lean on the wall to stand up, but the pain from my leg shot up my thigh, causing me to cringe and fall down again.
I sat, frozen. The animal yawned and I saw the full extent of the teeth. It stretched and then went back to sleep.
I had sincerely hoped that Scully would be able to find me. I didn't know what this beast had planned for me. If I was supper or a chew toy.
Then, the animal opened its eyes. I froze even more. It stood up on all four, stretching and flexing its claws. It yawned again.
It looked at me and growled before it turned and walked out of the cave. I remembered my cell phone. I quickly groped around my suit jacket and found it. I dialed Scully's number.
SCULLY.
My cell phone ringing awaked me. It was lying on the table.
It was also 3:00 AM. I groggily pushed off my covers and got to my feet. Lizzie was out cold in the next bed.
I stumbled in the dark over to the table and switched on the light. I picked up the cell phone and hit the "talk" button.
"Scully," I said, groggily.
"Scully? It's me," Mulder's voice came on the line.
"Mulder? Where are you? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I rambled on worriedly.
"My leg is wounded. I'm in some sort of cave," Mulder replied. Scully, it's huge! The head is just about the size of a bears. No wonder this thing escaped! It could've certainly broken the lock on its cage! It left the cave. I'm gonna try and escape."
"No! Mulder, don't move! Suppose it comes back while you're escaping! It could kill you!" I cried.
"Scully, I've got to get out of here!" Mulder cried. "But I'm hurt."
"Don't move," I warned him. "We'll find you."
"I'm at the cave's entrance. I've got a clear shot!" Mulder said.
I heard him scuffling. There was a bit of static on the end.
"Mulder?" I demanded.
"Scully! It's after me!" Mulder cried into the phone.
"Mulder," I said, feeling my heart pounding loudly in my chest.
"It's gaining on me!" Mulder cried. I heard him panting as he ran.
"Mulder!" I cried again.
I heard something snarling in the background.
"It jumped on me! Scully!" I heard him cry.
"MULDER!" I yelled into my phone.
At that, Lizzie jumped awake and looked at me.
The phone went dead.
My heart nearly stopped. I threw my cell phone onto the bed, got dressed and quickly got Lizzie dressed.
"Fox okay?" Lizzie asked in a shaky voice.
"I don't know. We're going to find him," I said, making up my mind.
I pulled on a shirt for Lizzie and grabbed my gun, and flashlight.
I took her hand and headed out to the car, which was parked out front.
I put Lizzie in the passenger seat and buckled her in. Then, I went around to the driver's side, pulled open the door and slid onto the seat. I started the car and backed out of the parking spot. I turned left and headed back to the wooded area.
About 10 minutes later, I pulled up along side the wooded area. I put the car in park and then unbuckled my seatbelt.
I turned to Lizzie.
"Listen. I know we tell you this a lot, but you've got to stay in the car. This time, it's extremely dangerous out there okay? If you hear anything, do not open the door until you see Fox or me. Okay?" I asked, softly.
Lizzie nodded, but seemed scared.
I put a hand on the side of her face before pushing open my door and climbing out. I closed the door and pulled out my gun and flashlight and entered the wooded area.
I began walking deep into the wooded area. I shone the flashlight around several times. The floor was scattered with dead leaves, branches and twigs.
"Mulder?" I called looking around and scanning every inch of the floor.
I saw a lump lying face down several inches away from me.
"Mulder?" I cried as I hurried over to him.
It was him. But he was badly mauled and wounded. I dropped to my knees and felt for his pulse. He had a faint one.
"Come on. Let's get out of here," I whispered, as I put the flashlight in my mouth and helped him get to his feet. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and we began walking back toward the car. Mulder was in bad shape. He was semi-conscious too.
"Don't worry, Mulder. We're getting out of here," I said as I continued to help him out of the woods.
We reached the car. I carefully opened the back door and laid Mulder down across the back seat. I closed the door and went into the driver's seat. Lizzie turned around in her seat and began whimpering. I started the car and pulled away.
"Don't worry. Fox will be okay," I said, reassuringly.
Lizzie began sobbing softly.
"Hey, he'll be fine…trust me," I said, quietly and gently as I rubbed her back.
She wouldn't sit back down.
"Lizzie, please sit down again. Okay honey? You'll get hurt," I said.
Suddenly, the creature appeared and jumped onto the hood of the car. I slammed on the brake. Lizzie slid off the seat and hit her head on the dashboard.
The creature was thrown off the hood. I hit the accelerator again and the rear tires screeched, kicking up smoke. The car was aimed for the creature.
It jumped onto the roof and then off it, sailing cleanly over the entire car. I glanced back in the rearview mirror at it. It snarled at me.
I drove to the hospital.
