Hey y'all! Sorry that it took forever for me to update this! But, anyways, here is chapter 5, enjoy! :)
Scully had butterflies in her stomach as she and Mr. Ackers drove towards the invisible town. He had told her the story again on their drive but she still had a really hard time believing him. They were about half way there when a sudden thought flicked through her mind.
What if this is all some crazy lie to kidnap me like they did Mulder.
She glanced at the old man, who was driving intensely towards their destination. Scully shook her head.
Either way, this is probably my only chance to save Mulder.
Scully jumped in her seat when the old man spoke, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Only a few more minutes and we should be there."
Scully nodded her head in acknowledgement.
"What is the...plan exactly?"
At this Mr. Ackers gave her a mischievous smile.
"There is a tree in our town, that happens to sit right on the edge of the invisible veil. This tree is the only thing that is actually divided by the veil, meaning that it can be seen by both the invisible town and the outside world. Does that make sense?"
He looked over at Scully, his eyes full of excitement.
"So…that means we can somehow attach a message to the tree and Mulder would be able to find it?"
Mr. Ackers nodded his head vigorously. "Almost. We have to alter the tree in some way in order for him to see the message. I think etching it into the tree would do the trick. Looks like we're here."
He pulled the car right next to a tall, strong oak tree and parked. Scully looked past the oak tree and only saw a grassy meadow, trees sparsely filling in the area.
"The town," Scully started as they both stood, staring at the tree, "it's right in front of us? We can't see them and they can't see us?"
Again, the man nodded his head vigorously. "That's right. Unless they cross over the border, or unless we do, we can't see each other."
Scully couldn't help but scoff. "It's just…so hard to believe. If what you say is true, that means this little town is in some, some kind of alternate dimension that the people inside have this power over. I just don't see how it's physically possible."
Mr. Ackers shrugged his shoulders. "I can't begin to explain to you how it's possible; I don't know myself, but I will tell you that this is the only way for you to save your partner. Isn't that reason enough to believe?"
Again, Scully found herself believing the man. It went against every instinct she had, but it was almost like the disappearance of Mulder had cause her to look at the situation through his eyes. And she knew that if the situation was reversed, Mulder would be doing this very same thing for her.
"You're right. Did you bring a knife?"
Mr. Ackers grinned as he pulled out a pocket knife from his pocket and handed to Scully. She took it from him and went to the tree, standing in front of it so her back was facing the invisible town. She began etching her message into the wood and soon learned that it was harder than she thought. While she worked, a question popped into her mind.
"What's this town called, Mr. Ackers?"
He walked over and leaned on the tree, shaking his head. "I don't know; we never gave it a name. We all just called it 'Town'. It was all any of us had really ever known."
Scully gave Mr. Ackers an uncertain glance and continued to etch, finally on the last word. The sun was now peaking over the horizon.
"There." Scully stepped back and admired her handiwork. "Do you think he'll understand it?"
Mr. Ackers stood next to Scully, surveying the message.
"Yes, I think that will work perfectly. Now we just have to hope that he finds it."
Scully sighed. "Hope and pray."
And with that they sat down in the tall meadow grass and waited.
Mulder awoke to a bright light shining in his eyes. He squinted and slowly opened them only to be met by a beautiful sunrise; it was peaking just above the horizon. It was at this point when he realized the events that had unfolded to this point. He ran through it all in his mind, until his memory landed on last night. As if on cue, he felt a searing pain in his right side. He sucked in a deep breath as he slowly looked down at his side. He groaned as he saw the red and angry looking burn on his side.
"Well, that's not going away anytime soon." He mumbled grimly to himself.
He tried to move his hands before he remembered that he was still tied to a tree. He felt a surge of adrenaline and panic roll through him as he aggressively pulled at his bonds. He sagged against the tree as a wave of pain and nausea came over him.
Suddenly, he felt a strange crawling sensation on his back. For a brief moment, he panicked, not know what it was. The sensation began to move for about 10 minutes before it abruptly stopped. Just as curiosity was beginning to take hold, he noticed movement not too far away and was dismayed to see Jud and two other men he hadn't the pleasure of meeting walking toward him.
He looked past them at the sun rising, turning the sky a brilliant shade of red, as his thoughts drifted to Scully. In the wake of the pain he was in now and was probably going to be in, the thought of her enjoying her vacation with her family was comforting to him.
At least she's far away from this place.
A calm silence had spread over the meadow and Scully was surprised to feel a wave of sleepiness spread over her. It had been two hours since she'd left her message for Mulder on the tree and now all she could do was wait. Mr. Ackers had just gone back to his house to bring back food and water, so Scully was left to her own thoughts.
She was sitting, leaning against the tree, overlooking the meadow, hoping beyond hope that she wasn't too late and that Mulder would find her message. She was twirling the long grass between her fingers when she heard a strange, faint scratching noise coming from the tree. She jumped to her feet and took a closer look at the source of the noise.
She could see slight movement on the bark, as if something was being rubbed around the tree. It dawned on her that this meant that someone was doing something to the tree from the Town. She walked around the tree in a circle and became aware of voices. Startled, she looked around the tree again, still only seeing an empty meadow, and then she pressed her ear to the tree, straining to listen. She could hear someone breathing deeply, but it was muffled, as if she was hearing it through a wall. She heard a groan and then silence. She jerked her head away from the tree as she heard yelling and thuds coming from the other side of the tree. She pressed her ear against the tree as hard as she could until she could finally make out muffled words.
"Get away from me, you son of a bitch!"
She instinctively yelled out, "Mulder!"
Scully's heart pounded as she continued to hear what sounded like a struggle coming from beyond the tree. She gripped the side of the tree, feeling completely helpless. The sounds ebbed away until they finally stopped. She continued to cling to the tree, straining to hear Mulder's voice again, as tears streamed down her face. She sunk to the ground in a heap, staring beyond the tree, knowing that Mulder was out there, somewhere; so close but so far.
She leaned against the tree, her head in her hands, completely unaware of a hand emerging from across the invisible barrier, reaching closer and closer towards her.
