One: Opening Teaser

Present Day; 8:39 p.m.

It was a Sunday night. The weather of the day had been dark and rainy. It was a perfect day to watch my show. It was Vancouver weather.

I watched the television set good-naturedly. That was unusual for me- being good-natured on a cloudy day. (I think I have acute seasonal affective disorder. This is only one opinion, though. And, thus, I couldn't get out of gym for it.)

I couldn't help smiling as I watched the program being played. My mind was completely in sync with it. I was taking in three, no- maybe five aspects in at a time.

…The tone of the character's voice, the words spoken, their hairstyles, clothes, the surroundings…

I didn't even realize that I was doing so. I was… in the zone. It was greatly imaginable that if a bomb had dropped in the smack-dab middle of my living room, while I was engaged with this glorious show… I would not have even flinched. I was completely concentrated on the goings ons in the television set. Ok. I admit it… it was becoming a hazard to my health. Only, guilty pleasures like this are just so damn hard to quit!

"You've got to love those dolphins ... although they're pretty tasty, too." A male voice deadpanned from the T.V. set.

There was short, awkward silence when all of a sudden:

"Ah-hahaha!" A nervous female voice laughed, obviously covering up for the male's remarks. I didn't realize it, but I was smiling, smiling, smiling at the scene.

Then a third voice spoke: "So... Where'd you two meet?" He asked casually.

The red-haired woman on TV opened her mouth to speak, but her male accomplice beat her to responding.

"Actually, it was a UFO conference." The darker-haired man answered with a playful twinkle in his eye. I thought it was cute. The red-haired woman didn't seem to agree with me.

The third person, who had a "is that so?" expression on his face, stated his surprise, "Flying saucers? Interesting. Wouldn't have thought you folks would have been into that."

The dark-haired man pleasantly put his arm around the red-haired woman, "Well, it's not me so much as Laura." She fought to keep herself from physically hurting her partner. He continued on, "She's quite the New-Ager! I mean, she's into those magnetic bracelets and crystals and mood rings, what have you." He chuckled, "I mean, God bless her! She's a sucker for all that stuff."

At that point I was Grinning like a Cheshire cat. Being tempted to rewind and relive that scene once more. (Even after breaking the VCR that one time. Will I ever learn?)

"Well, I wouldn't have guessed that, would you?" A fourth, Martha Stewartish female voice asserted.

"Mm-mm."

The red-haired woman glanced at her food and forced a smile, "No kidding."

The scene was of two couples having a casual evening meal. The first couple, well, they weren't truly "a couple", but undercover FBI agents.

The second was a married couple, who may or may not have had something do with crimes committed in their "white-bred" neighborhood. (Sorry for the vague description, but I don't want to ruin the episode)

Of course, I had already known what happened in the end. Watching this episode was much like reading a beloved book again, similar to revisiting an old friend. I hadn't kept count of how many times I had watched this one. Was this the tenth? It was definitely more than five. I was sure on that. Maybe seven… no, it was more than that. The twenty-ninth time, perhaps.

The episode started with the gruesome murders of another couple that had previously inhabited the home of the dark-haired man and the red-haired woman. After their murders, the third "disappearance" since 1991, it was classified a generic "X-File". (An X-File was a case "unsolved" and had more to do with –cue the spooky music- the paranormal.) Therefore, Special Agent Fox Mulder and Special Agent Dana Scully were assigned to the case and were ordered to investigate it undercover as a happily married couple. Their names now Mr. and Mrs. Rob and Laura Petrie (pronounced Pee-tree, like the dish). Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore would be so proud, I'm sure.

By that time in the conversation, the male agent, Mulder, had changed the subject to a more serious one: The whereabouts of a neighbor, who had recently gone missing, "Yeah. You know, Win, uh, when you, uh... when you told me this morning that Big Mike was out of town on business ... I don't think that's true."

The man, Win Shroeder's, faces turned grim, "You don't?" His wife, Cami, shared the same expression.

"Mmm. No, 'cause we called his office, didn't we, Honey?"

His partner, Scully, confidently affirmed it, "We did."

"Yeah."

Shroeder cleared his throat rather uneasily.

Mulder looked at Shroeder, sensing his uneasiness, and then promptly explained, "We're thinking about getting a dog- so we wanted to call him and ask him his advice, whatever, and see if maybe his office had a forwarding number and they said, you know..."

"That he wasn't there. They didn't know where he was," Scully finished, with a slight tinge of concern in her voice.

"Yeah." There was a silence.

Scully suddenly questioned, "Do you know where he is, Win?" She also felt a sudden tension between the Shroeders, and herself and Mulder.

They knew something.

Cami nervously looked at her husband, who then laughed, "I really couldn't tell you."

Mulder grinned, "Mmm. It's got to be something really freaky-deaky, huh? …I mean, for him to lie about it like that? Maybe he's got some wild secret life going on," he looked at Scully and gave out a little chortle. He then looked straight at the very uncomfortable Shroeders; his facial expression turning somber; his tone almost arraigning, "But every community has its dark underbelly don't you think?"

"We don't have any underbelly." Shroeder replied protectively, "As far as I'm concerned this community is the American Dream." His expression also dark, Mulder nodded at his words, although, I don't think Mulder believed in the American Dream from tip to toe.

Cami Shroeder broke the silence, "Um... I'm sorry. I, um... realize that it's past time that I walk Scruffy."

"Would you like company?" Scully lightly asked.

Cami stood up and answered, "Yeah."

As the women stood up from the table, so did the men. Mulder mischievously grew closer to embrace (and I don't mean just hug) his partner, but was quickly received with an "air kiss" from Scully a few inches away from his face. Mulder turned to Win and grinned- almost as widely as I was while watching. The men then sat down again and the scene ended.

I hit the stop button on the remote, when I heard a sudden loud noise from the ventilation shaft above me. Now, I wasn't what you'd call "calm and collected" when it came to vents, or escalators for that matter. I won't get into that one time at the mall the escalator was making weird "bodily noises"… but I had the X-Files television show to thank for that also. (Myself being nervous around vents and escalators, I mean.)

The darkness of the room didn't help expel the grim atmosphere. Which was partly my fault, as I enjoyed watching the science fiction drama in the dark-- it enhanced the experience.

Now suddenly I was increasingly becoming uncomfortable in my own home. The wind force increased… making a sound resembling someone's breathing. Psycho killer breathing. You know that feeling that people get in horror movies just when they're going to get slashed up into little tiny bacon bits? (Or the feeling where you suddenly become a supporter of capital punishment, albeit as a rule you're an avid opponent against it?) I was feeling it.

I looked up… there was nothing; I could feel warm air blowing down on me, my eyes slightly stinging as I kept looking without blinking an eye. It was darkness up there… obviously. I would need a flashlight to see anything… Was I so paranoid to resort to "further exploration" of the "sound" coming from my vent? Yes, I was.

I stared at the switched off set. The sound stopped. I swallowed hard, closing my eyes to hear the sounds in the blackness of my mind. There it was! Again! It was as if SOMEONE was moving through the shafts.

"No. It isn't." I scolded myself, "It isn't like someone moving through the shafts!"

It then stopped. I swallowed again. My breathing became tenser. I stood up from the couch; as a result my blood rushed through my legs. I slowly, cautiously, apprehensively looked up at the vent. I closed my eyes again, having the distinct feeling that I was being watched. I opened them…

Cue this time the climactic Jaws music because, I WAS being watched. Small red-green eyes looked at me and I looked back at them. I was motionless and speechless at the same time. Generally the two go together.

I took deeper and deeper breaths. My heart beat even faster as I realized I wasn't the only in the room. Those eyes did not belong to any human… they couldn't have… they were…

"…aliens?"

I quickly looked back at my television set. It had suddenly turned on! I searched the room to see if there was anybody else. I was the only one.

Scully continued, "Tractor beams?"

"Wow. Admit it: you just want to play house." Mulder accused.

I turned off the TV and in front of it I stood puzzled, still holding that damn remote.

"How the hell?" I thought to myself.

The 'couples having dinner scene' I just happily watched was AFTER the scene played just then… I looked up at the vent again- The Eyes had disappeared. The sound had stopped. I was sure that I had pressed the "stop" button, instead of "rewind". I was positive. Reading electronic labels is one of my most cherished talents. And how did it turn itself on again? Spooky that it didn't any make sense. Pretty spooky.

I sighed and uttered the most logical explanation, "I've been watching WAAAY too much X-Files."

As a result, I decided not to "investigate" this matter any further. It was merely a result of a power outage, and I really didn't SEE anything up there. It was just my imagination playing tricks. The very idea was frankly impossible, and there was no use worrying about it anyway. (It seemed like the best explanation at the time, OKAY!?)

I took the tape out of the VCR. It was marked in silver felt pen: "Season Six: Arcadia – The Unnatural". I then put it in its cover, decorated with a big picture of the agents in a gallant and somewhat suggestive pose.

"Good night, Mulder and Scully."

I looked at the VCR clock, "9:04 p.m.".