Chapter Three: Nothing

It is easy to find the janitor office; it isjust down the hallway. When he approaches it, Mulder knocks and waits for an answer. An old man with greying hair opens the door. "Just come in. Janitors aren't picky." Mulder looks into the room behind him. It is immaculate. He guesses that being a janitor is the right job for this man.

"Hello, I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder, I'm with the FBI," he says, pulling out his ID. "I was wondering if you could show me a way into a ceiling. The man looked at him sceptically.

"Are you investigating these weird things that have been going on Agent Mulder?"

He nodds in reply. "Yes I am. My partner and I specialise in strange, paranormal and unsolved cases."

"I see. And why do you need to get into the roof."

Mulder steps away from the door. "If you would come with me, Mister..."

"Cholka, Ben Cholka."

"Cholka."

Mulder and the Janitor walk back to the classroom and, glancing around out of practice, Mulder opens the door. He holds it open for Mr. Cholka to see. The man gasps. "Is that blood?"

"Yes, it is. Do you know of any way that the whole room could have suddenly gotten coated in blood?"

Mr. Cholka shakes his head. "That's why you're here isn't it?" he asked dryly. Mulder chuckled.

"I will have to admit, this isn't exactly what I expected, which is why I need to get into the ceiling. I'm wondering if there's any possibility that large amounts of blood could have been hidden up there."

"There's a back room behind all the classrooms that has an opening to the ceilings."

"Alright. Show me."

Scully's eyes meet the principal's. "Yes, Agent Scully?" says the woman with all her professional politeness.

"I need class lists of all the classes where this phenomenon has been occurring. Also, I would like to inform you that there has been another... occurrence."

The woman puts down her pen and gives Scully her full attention. "What is it, Agent?"

"One of the classrooms filled with blood... while Agent Mulder and I were there. All of the students in that class have been moved into the conference room by their teacher. I am going to need the time to questions them and see what the connection may be to the blood. Some might be late for their next class, but I need that classroom kept vacant and I need the students' full cooperation."

"Yes, Agent Scully. I can arrange that. Go speak to Miss Becker at the front desk and ask her to print the class lists for you. May I ask... where is your partner?"

Scully sighs quietly. Mulder's actions were never in control and she can't imagine that this woman would understand that if Mulder were to go out of line. "He is speaking with the janitor, and taking a look in the ceiling to see if the blood could have come from there by any natural means. "

Miss Anderson nods slowly. "I understand."

"Thank you, Miss."

Scully leaves quickly and goes to speak to the woman at the front desk of the office.

"This is it," says the Janitor. "This is a back hallway that lets us at each of the classroom in this wing of the school. As you can see, it is open near the top there. You can climb up and look in."

Mulder nods, staring up at the gap in between the wall and the ceiling. It is small, but he is sure he can just barely fit if he crouches. Without turning his gaze back to the man, he asks a question. "Does anyone have access to this crawl space?"

"Well, yes... any staff, that is. No students are allowed though, of course."

"Hmm... okay. Wait here, alright? I'm going to go in."

Mr. Cholka almost makes a movement to stop the agent, but decids that the man knows what he was doing. He is, after all, an FBI agent.

Mulder reaches for a chair and pulls it to where he stands. He gets up onto it, and is barely able to see inside. So far, there is nothing. He hears the Janitor clear his throat and so, Mulder turns back to him. "If you go up there," says the man. "Do not put any weight on anything but the wood cross... the thin layer underneath is the ceiling and would not support a baby's weight."

"Got it. Thanks." Mulder jumps down off the chair and pulls the large wooden desk to where the chair was a moment before. Climbing up again, he pulls off his jacket so that he is just in his shirt. He can see in better, and has enough space to pull himself up. He still sees nothing, but he can't trust that he can see far enough back. Before pulling himself up into the gap, he rolls up his sleeves.

And then, he goes into the darkness.

"What's your name?" asks Scully, just beginning her questioning. The girl sits in front of her nervously, trembling under Scully's gaze.

"My name is... um... Melanie Cooke, ma'am."

"How long have these things been happening in your classroom?"

The girl thinks about it, but doesn't seem to be sure. "Maybe two weeks, ma'am. Never anything like this though. Never..."

Blood.

The image flashes through her mind again. Blood... a lot of blood. The man, and blood, and the knife...

Death.

"Excuse me, Melanie..." says Scully uncertainly. "Are you alright?"

The girl with the long hair looks back at her and gives her a half-hearted smile. "Yes, ma'am."

But Scully sees the lie. "Are you sure nothing is wrong?"

"Yes... nothing."

Mulder feels around the boards, trying not to slip. Nothing so far. Just a cold and dusty crawlspace. Mulder is becoming a little impatient, but he keeps moving. And then, just when he is very sure that there is nothing up there, he feels something...