THE X-FILES: ARICONTOUS

CHAPTER FIVE-DEFEATED AT LAST

Mulder was stable. He had several stitches on his back and side. Lizzie was sitting in the seat. She was okay. Just a little bump on her head.

Mulder was still out.

I was sitting beside Mulder's bed on a chair. Lizzie was sitting beside me on the other one.

"Will Mulder be okay?" Lizzie asked, in a wobbly voice.

"Yeah. He'll be perfectly fine," I said, softly.

Lizzie beamed happily.

Just then, my cell phone went off.

I pulled it out of my pocket and hit the 'talk' button.

"Scully," I said.

"Agent Scully? It's Danielle Peterson. I'm with the Sheriff. I found something interesting in the woods. I had gone back to look for some more clues," Danielle's voice came on the line.

"Yes?"

"The animals skin. We found a sample of it. There's no alligator DNA in it," Danielle said.

"No DNA? Then why…?" my voice trailed off as realization dawned on me. "He didn't want us to kill it."

"What?"

"Kevin Moss…the manager of the Ollavan Zoo. He told us that the animal had alligator skin and that it was impenetrable," I said, slowly.

"I bet he did that because he didn't want you to kill it," Danielle said.

"We've got to find it and kill it now before it kills again," I said. "Tell the Sheriff that we'll meet him by the wooded area and to come with a bunch of officers with guns."

"Right," Danielle said.

There was a dial tone on the other end. I hung up my phone as well. I turned to Lizzie.

"Listen. I've got to go out for a bit. Can you stay here for me? And not move?" I asked, gently.

Lizzie nodded and looked at Mulder.

"I'll have a nurse look after you too," I said.

I gave her a hug before getting up and leaving the room. As I approached the nurses' station, Mulder's nurse was standing there talking to a doctor.

I walked up to her.

"Excuse me, I must leave for a bit. Is it possible to keep an eye on Lizzie for a bit? I won't be long," I said earnestly.

"Sure! She's adorable," the nurse said, brightly.

"Thanks," I smiled gratefully.

I left the hospital and drove to the wooded area.

When I arrived there, Danielle, Sheriff Anderson and several officers were standing there holding rifles.

"Are you ready?" Sheriff Anderson asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied.

So, we began walking into the wooded area.

We searched each area and part thoroughly.

Suddenly, the place went dead quiet.

We stopped walking and listened intently.

"What is it?" Sheriff Anderson asked, looking around.

"Something's not right," I said. "It's too quiet."

Danielle was also listening.

"It's hunting," she whispered. "This is hunting behavior."

I froze.

There was a ruffling in the bushes from somewhere behind us.

We twirled around.

About five minutes later, there was a rustling in the bushes in front of us. We twirled around again. I heard the guns' hammer's being clicked back. I also pulled out my gun and clicked back the hammer. We aimed our guns toward the bushes. Sheriff Anderson's flashlight beam shone on the bushes.

The next thing we knew, the creature jumped out from the bushes and stood on all four. It growled at us. The flashlight beam caught both canines and they glowed. The jaundice colored eyes reflected the light like gold coins.

We all froze.

"Don't move," Danielle whispered. "If you run it will chase you."

We all remained still and just waited with baited breath as to what this creature was going to do next.

Then, one of the officers on Sheriff Anderson's side, open fired at it.

"No! What are you doing?" Danielle hissed at him.

But it was too late. The creature spied the officer, snarled and leaped toward him.

It clamped its jaws on the officer's head.

"What will stop this thing?" Sheriff Anderson asked Danielle.

"Did any of your officers happen to take a tranquilizer gun?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah," Sheriff Anderson said, gesturing easily toward a female officer carrying a rifle-like gun.

"What are you carrying in there?" Danielle asked.

"30 Cc's of Isotorin," Sheriff Anderson said.

Isotorin was a powerful drug that anything more than 50 cc's injected into an elephant would kill it instantly.

"Do you have more?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah…why?"

"Inject 90 Cc's," Danielle said.

"Are you sure?" Sheriff Anderson asked surprised.

Danielle nodded.

Sheriff Anderson nodded toward the female agent. She carefully and quietly loaded the gun with 90 cc's of Isotorin. The creature was busy feeding on the other officer.

"Aim at the rib cage. That's where the softest flesh is," Danielle whispered.

The officer nodded and slowly raised the gun and aimed it at the creatures' ribs.

The creature looked up with blood stained muzzle and snarled. The officer opened fired.

A large dart shot out from the end of the gun and was embedded in the skin of the creature. The creature snarled again and went to take several steps toward the officer when she opened fired again. Another dart shot out and was embedded in the creatures' side.

This time, the creature was starting to look drowsy. It took wobbly steps to the side before collapsing onto its side. The breathing became labored and then it stopped.

The officer's cheered happily that this thing was finally over and killed. It killed so many people.

The creatures' body would be destroyed immediately. I sighed and then headed back to the hospital as I had gotten a call that Mulder was wide-awake and looking for me.

I arrived at the hospital 20 minutes later. He was sitting up grinning as I entered the room.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" I asked, as my heart lifted tremendously.

"Like I was hit with a truck," Mulder said, sighing, but then broke into a huge grin. "But I had this cutie to keep me company."

He gestured to Lizzie.

Lizzie grinned broadly at him and then looked at me.

"Scuwy!" she said eagerly as she rushed forward and threw her arms around my waist.

I smiled and gave her a hug back.

"So what's with the monster thingie?" Mulder asked.

"Dead. They injected it with 90 cc's of Isotorin," I replied, sitting down in one of the chairs. Lizzie was sitting on my lap.

"Wow. So it's finally over?" Mulder asked, looking relieved.

I nodded.

"What about Lizzie?" Mulder asked, glancing down at her.

"I don't know. I'm sure she has relatives to look after her," I replied, sensibly.

"What if she doesn't?" Mulder asked.

He got that look that I knew all too well.

"Then we'll look after her, but I'm sure she has someone able to take care of her," I said, smiling.

Mulder nodded.

"Muwder!" Lizzie cried, as she slid down off my lap and ran to Mulder. She crawled into bed with him and just stayed there.

I could see Mulder was deeply attached to her.

Just then, my phone rang.

I reached into my pocket and pulled it out.

"Scully?"

"Agent Scully? This is Sheriff Anderson. I'm so relieved that this thing is over with," Sheriff Anderson said, sighing.

"Me too. What can I do for you?" I asked.

"Some relatives for Lizzie called. They're coming in next week to get her," Sheriff Anderson said.

I looked at Mulder. He must've sensed something was wrong because he watched me intently.

"Okay. That's fine. Tell them we're at the motel," I said.

"Will do. Bye!"

We hung up.

"What is it?" Mulder asked seriously.

"Relatives for Lizzie called. They're coming in next week to pick her up," I said, quietly.

"I see," Mulder said, quietly.

Lizzie ended up dozing off near Mulder.

NEXT WEEK.

Mulder was released from the hospital. I knew what we were about to see was going to be gut wrenching and hard.

It was a nice woman and a man. The woman was Mrs. Walter's sister and she was with her husband. Her name was Amanda Dalton and her husband, Chris.

"Thank you so much for looking after Lizzie," the woman said, pleasantly as she crouched down in front of Lizzie, who was holding onto Mulder's side and she had her head buried deep into his side. I could see Mulder was trying hard not to burst into tears, but I knew he would lose the battle soon.

"You're welcomed," Mulder choked out, forcing a smile.

"Lizzie? This is Amanda. She'll be looking after you from now on," I said, crouching down beside her also.

"NO! MUWDER AND SCUWY LOOK AFTER ME!" Lizzie wailed, digging her face deeper into Mulder's side.

He was starting to crack. I swallowed my own tears and pried Lizzie's fingers off of Mulder's leg.

Lizzie was screaming the entire time.

"You can come and see her anytime," Amanda said, gently as she took a screaming Lizzie's hand.

Lizzie broke loose again and ran back to Mulder. Mulder crouched down and kept his hands on her shoulders.

Mulder took a deep breath.

"Listen, these are nice people. We can't look after you, Lizzie," Mulder said, forcing his voice to remain gentle and stable.

"You don't want me anymore?" Lizzie sobbed.

"We do. But you have to go with your family," Mulder continued.

Lizzie sobbed still.

"We'll definitely come and see you," Mulder promised.

"Promise?" Lizzie asked as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Promise," I said, also crouching down beside Mulder.

She brightened slightly and gave me a hug. I hugged her back before she turned to Mulder and gave him a hug too.

We watched as Lizzie, Amanda and Chris climbed into their car and pulled away; Lizzie watching us through the back windshield the whole time as the car drew further and further away.

"Don't worry. We'll see her again. I can guarantee it," I said, softly as I gave Mulder a hug.

Mulder looked at me.

"I hope so,"

I wrapped an arm around Mulder's waist as we headed back to our car.

It was finally over for good.

THE END.

END MUSIC: AMY GRANT-I WILL REMEMBER YOU