Chapter Three
Scully watched from her perch at the foot of his bed up at her determined partner. He was leafing through the same files over and over again, desperate for something to nip him in the butt.
Her mind drifted from her sleep-deranged body and she allowed her eyes to take a scenic route along his bare arms and chest. He was one good-looking man. If only there was a way to take away the tense muscles that occupied his stressful life. What he needed was a good massage and a couple days of rest.
Like that would happen.
Suddenly his voice broke the silence. "Oh my – Scully, take a look at this! Come, look at these names in order of their abduction: Sally, Sandra, Sarah, Shannon, Stephanie, and Susanne. They're all in alphabetical order!"
Scully was now leaning in closer, her attention on full alert. "That must mean any girl with a name following Susanne could be next. Shouldn't we warn the public of this danger?"
"No, if the killer were to find out he may throw off his entire pattern. In which case, we'd have nothing. What we need to do is get a list of every girl with the name beginning with "s" and go from there." A long pause followed as he continued to read then: "He goes for only seven to ten year-old brown heads with the name starting with "s"…why? There's got be a personal reason for this. Maybe he had a daughter who died and now his anger has caused him to believe that if he can't have his then no one can have theirs. There can be millions of reasons."
Mulder leapt from the bed, dashing around like a mad man in a futile attempt to escape the cops. "Ok, let's see here. We know the type he goes after. The age group he takes." He was rambling in a high-pitched jumble. "But why? What is so damn important about "s"? I doubt he just counted off." He stopped pacing abruptly. "Wait, what number is "s"? Um…nineteen…nineteen…what can be so special about nineteen? No, it's definitely something to do with the names."
The phone on the bedside table chirped and he snatched it up. "Mulder." A short hesitation before his face fell and he forced out a muttered: "We'll be right there." He dropped the receiver onto the base, turning his back to her. "They've found the other bodies…and one more girl as gone missing."
UNKNOWN TERRITORY…
Her terrified eyes watched as the man bustled around the cave. She hugged her knees tightly to her chest as her body continued to shiver in the corner of the dark, moist rock of earth. Tears streamed silently down her anguished face.
The man turned around and smiled wickedly at her. His icy blue eyes sliced into her as a sinister laugh left his crooked mouth. "Don't worry, I ain't gonna do ya like them others." He leaned in real close to her ear. As he whispered, her hair danced with his breath. "I'm gonna fix ya up real nice. Ya a real pretty one." He ran the side of his hand down her tear stained cheek. "It'll be al'ight as long as ya don't fuss."
RONALDS' RESIDENCE…
It was a cozy, middle-class suburban house with the white picket fence and all. It was the kind of place where parents got along and the sounds of happy children were heard playing outside.
Not today, though, thought Scully as she watched Mrs. Ronald's jittery movements. Her husband held her shaking hands firmly, but gently in his own trembling ones.
Mulder was over by the mantel looking at the pictures of a brown eyed, brown hair little girl. One in particular caught his eye and he fought back a wave of sorrow. The eight-year old girl had her long hair in braided pigtails. Just like Sam, he thought, turning away to meet Scully's concerned gaze.
"She was such a good girl," Mrs. Ronald sobbed. "Why would anyone want to hurt my little girl? Abby was such a wonderful gift from God. She wouldn't hurt a fly."
Mulder came around and sat next to his partner on the love seat across from the suffering couple. "Was Abby Ronalds her full name, ma'am?" It didn't make since to him that the killer would suddenly change is M.O.
Mr. Ronald shook his head and choked out: "Abigail is adopted. Her name is Abigail Sarah Ronald, but it used to be Samantha Amber Kingsly."
Color drained from Mulder's face and he suddenly felt very dizzy. His world was spinning out of control and for an instant a vision flashed across his mind of his sister's manipulated skeleton. Her innocent face danced across his memory and he closed his eyes briefly to try and shut it out.
When he opened them, a pair of worried sea-blue eyes met him. His vision wavered a bit before clearing, giving him the full picture before him. Scully was gazing at him with all the pity in the world. It appeared from the outside that she was in control, but he could tell she was using all her will power not to leap to his side.
He stole his attention away from her and over to the grieving parents. Either they hadn't noticed his shell shock or were just choosing to ignore the strangeness of it. "Mr. And Mrs. Ronald, I assure you we'll bring your girl safely home to you." He stood up and staggered out of the room.
A chilly gust of wind brushed against him as he stepped out onto the porch. He leaned against the step's post, his head resting against the cold wood. All sounds disappeared as he was snatched away by a memory.
"Fox! Fox! Help me, Fox! Fox," screeched the terrified voice from somewhere in the house.
Fox stood frozen in fear as the blinding lights penetrated through the blinds and filled the room with its intense glow. He watched mesmerized as Samantha was lifted into the air by an invisible force and was carried away.
"Samantha," the twelve-year-old boy mouth. Once his sister's feet had disappeared through the window, he began to scream, collapsing onto the carpet and curling up into a ball.
Scully emerged from the house and froze at the threshold. Her eyes trailed down to where a rag doll lay in a heaped pile at the bottom of the stairs. "Mulder!" She raced to his side, searching for his pulse. It was rapid. His breathing was raspy and she could make out a whimper in every other breath.
"Mulder, Mulder, can you hear me?" She checked his pupils to find them dilated. "Mulder…Mulder, listen to me. You're in shock. I'm going to call an ambulance, ok?" She reached into her coat pocket and fumbled with her cell phone. "This is Special Agent Dana Scully. I have an agent in need of medical attention immediately. I'm at seven-four-seven Springs Lane."
She set the phone down and rolled Mulder onto his side. If he threw up she didn't want him choking or drowning in it. She then stripped off her coat and draped it over him to keep him as warm as possible. "Mulder? Mulder, it's going to be all right." And she gave a silent prayer in hopes that her promise would stay true.
End Chapter Three
Keys: So, which do you like more? X-files or The Lost World? Personally, X-files will forever hold that number one spot. I was so obsessed, it was sick.
Gillian Leigh: Is it our perverse minds that lead us to crave angst? Or, are we just like everybody else?
DDstalker: Wow, thank you so much. And you can hide out from the FBI in my basement if you need to.