Title: The Lost and Forgotten

Authors: Shadow's Echo (also known as Cindy from CindyandSandy)

Rating: PG-13 (some swearing!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Mulder, Scully, or any of that happy crap…but I do own Amelia and other such characters. Yadda yadda yadda. We've been over this, have we not?

Chapter 8 – Kayla's Story

Mulder stepped out of the bathroom just as Scully was hanging up. Scully glanced at him to admire him without his shirt on.

"Who was on the phone?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to meet her gaze.

"No one," she answered, looking away.

"That doesn't make any sense. Why would you be talking to no one?" Mulder asked sarcastically as he slipped on a shirt.

"Fine. I was talking to Scharlise Bergan, the principal from the school."

"Curious?"

"I just wanted to get some more information, that's all."

"No, you just wanted to know if I brought you up here with a good reason."

"No..."

"So, what did you find out?"

"Nothing. But apparently she doesn't mind punishing her students."

"Oh well. She has to keep them under control. What else is she going to do? You ready to go?" He looked at her.

"I have been for the past hour, Princess Mulder, so let's get going." He gave her a look with the 'Princess Mulder', but immediately dropped it and followed her out the door.

Amelia sat at breakfast alone. She checked around for Libby every now and then, but found nothing. Miss Bergan had pulled her away at the start of breakfast, and it was nearing 7:45. Breakfast would be done in minutes and Libby was supposed to direct Amelia to class. Amelia cleared her plate and decided to find the class herself.

It was easy to find, just as Libby had said, and Amelia entered the room just as the bell rang. She glanced at the teacher, who gave her a sweet smile. She looked like a pleasant woman in her early thirties. Her long brown hair was left loose in an elegant manner. She pointed to and empty desk in the front of the room, and Amelia sat down.

"My name is Lyla. I prefer that you all call me by my first name so we can all be much more comfortable with each other. This is Reading Class. I welcome you all," the teacher said in a beautiful voice that was neither a whisper nor a shout. Amelia instantly loved her. She decided that if she had known her mother, she would've been like Lyla. Beautiful, sweet, loving. All the things her foster parents tried to be, but never could.

"We are going to play a game to get to know each other better. So please form a circle and—" Lyla was interrupted by a knock on the door. She opened the door and the secretary from the front desk stepped in.

"I need Jacob Roberts and Kayla Baker to come with me please." The two students looked at each other confused. Then they got up and walked to the front. Other children from the class snickered as they passed, assuming that they were in trouble. Some looked shocked, for their friends could never be bad. After they left with the secretary and a couple professional looking people, the class continued quite well. Some students were worried because their friends never returned, but the teacher did not seem concerned so class carried on. To Amelia's despair, Libby never returned either. She was quite worried and returned to her room quickly after class to check if Libby had come back. She hadn't, so Amelia grabbed her books and ran to her next class, Mathematics. She was upset to find that her teacher was Mrs. Leevey. She was already bad at math, and she didn't need a strict teacher to make it worse.

Mulder and Scully watched from outside the tiny classroom at the two students inside discussing the new students. They decided to enter and when they did the students stopped and stared.

"Kayla and Jacob?" Scully asked politely.

"Yes?" they both said at the same time.

"You both knew Isabell Christiansen, correct?" They both nodded in unison. "Well, we just want to ask you some questions about what happened to her. So, Jacob, if you could go with Agent Mulder," She pointed at him, "and, Kayla, you stay with me, we will ask you some questions apart for a while, okay?" They nodded, and Jacob followed Mulder into the next room.

Scully took a seat next to Kayla and smiled at the young, pretty girl.

"Kayla, I was told you were very good friends with Isabell. I suppose you hung out with her a lot then."

Kayla nodded, obviously still unsure of what was going on. "Tell me some things about her," Scully said.

Kayla sat there for a while, thinking. Then she spoke. "She was 12, same as me, and she was my roommate. We did everything together. She wasn't scared of anything."

"Did you know what happened when she died?" Scully asked cautiously.

"We dared her to go in the haunted room, cuz she didn't believe in ghosts. So she did. We heard her scream, and we ran away."

"Who's we?"

"Me, Jacob, and Libby."

"Libby who?"

"Actually her name's Olivia. Olivia Creighton. But no one ever knew she was with us cuz her room's right next to the haunted room, and she just ran there."

"Now, is the haunted room, room 213?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you call it that?"

"Well, one time I saw a boy wandering the halls by it. He had blood all over his hands. I asked him who he was, and he just disappeared right in front of me. Libby and Jacob have seen him too."

"You've seen this boy? You're sure it wasn't some other students playing a trick on you?"

"Oh yeah. I'd never seen him before."

"So did you ever see Isabell again?"

"No, she never came out. So we went and told Mrs. Leevey. Mrs. Leevey opened the door and shook her head and said, 'Not again'."

"I thought the door was locked."

"It was, but Jacob knew how to break in without leaving a mark. And Mrs. Leevey had a key."

"I thought no one had a key," Scully said, confused.

"Nope. Just Mrs. Leevey," Kayla said, matter-of-factly. Scully thought about that a moment and then stored it in her memory for later use. Mulder walked out of the next room and dismissed Jacob after hearing very much the same story from him. Scully watched them and decided to let Kayla go back to class also.

"Thank you for your time, Kayla. I trust you can make it to class on your own." Kayla stood up to leave.

"Yep." She walked out to meet Jacob, and they walked off together. Scully turned to Mulder. They compared stories as a pair of bright blue eyes watched them from a dark corner. Then the eyes disappeared, and they were alone.

A/N: Once again, much sorrys for not updating in...well, forever. But just like wine, stories get better with time. It's hard when I'm busy, but I've tried to write. I've learned it's quite difficult when you are trying to make the chapters longer. Well, I will update very soon, for I have the next chapter written already! REVIEWS ARE AGLORIOUS GIFT!