Chapter Four: The Body
When she is finished speaking with the girl with the long hair, she turns to see him. He looks a little worn out. "What is it, Mulder?"
He beckons her to come closer, hoping that the students don't hear. "I found a body. Just one."
Scully crosses her arms. "Hm. That doesn't at all account for so much blood."
"No, it doesn't. It doesn't account for any of it. This body is completely decomposed. It's been up there for years, it seems."
Scully glances around and takes a deep breath. "How could no one smell it?" she whispers.
"I have no clue, Scully. But that classroom will be closed until it gets cleaned, and I don't think that we have time to take the body out before the next class. I left it there... how many students have you spoken to?"
"Five. One of them was very quiet. The others talked until I had to stop them."
"Okay. Where are the class lists?"
Scully points to a small table in the corner with some paperwork and files on it. Mulder follows the direction and nods. "In that folder?"
"Yes. With all the other information I have."
Mulder nods. "Okay. Thank you."
She gives him a little, half sarcastic smile, to say good luck, even though it certainly isn't the most difficult case they've ever encountered. But Scully feels something. Something about working around all those young teenagers makes her nervous, and she wonders what could cause a student so much grief that he or she could coat a whole room with blood. She glances around at all the students, and her gaze rests on the girl wearing a pretty green dress, and with her long hair tumbling down her shoulders. The girl, Scully remembers her name as Melanie Cooke, notices her gaze and turns bright red, but doesn't meet Scully's gaze.
"Mulder, look through those," she says. "Tell me if you see anything strange. I need to talk to a particular student."
"What's up, Scully?"
"I just have a feeling," she says, something she has heard Mulder say a million times. He smiles.
"Okay, Scully."
She returns his mischievous smile. "Don't think that, Mulder. You haven't managed to convert me yet."
"If you insist." He leaves her and goes to pick up the folder from the table. Scully walks quickly across the room to Melanie, the girl wearing the green dress. The girl, turns a darker red, and seems to try to disappear as Scully walks toward her. Mulder watches as he sits at an empty chair around the large table. He opens the folder and sees the class lists at the top of all the X-file information. He picks them up and looks down at the first one. He glances at all the names on the sheet of paper, then puts it down and glances at the next. Five people, he sees, are in both classes. On the next sheet, it brings the number down even more. Three people. On the next sheet, there are two people with their names on all the lists. Both of them have the same last name. One the last sheet, he finds both names of the list again. Putting them down, he pulls a pen out of his pocket. He quickly circles the names.
His eyes go back to Scully. She speaks softly and quietly to the girl. "Would you like to talk about it elsewhere, Melanie," Mulder hears above all the chattering of the other students.
The girl nods. "Okay, Melanie. Come with me."
The girl obliges and stands to follow Scully. They walk by Mulder, and he quickly gives a tug on Scully's sleeve. "Just wait in the hall, Melanie," she tells the girl before turning to Mulder. "What is it, Mulder?"
"What's her name?" he asks.
"Melanie Cooke."
"Ask her if she has a cousin or a sibling who's in the same class, okay?"
"Why?"
"There are two Cookes with the same spelling in all four classes where this phenomenon has been occurring."
Scully glances around the room. "Just call the kid's name."
"But it could be a coincidence, Scully."
"Yeah, right," she says, although she doesn't believe it. They both know that there doesn't seem to be many coincidences in the X-files. She leaves and joins Melanie in the hallway. "Do you have somewhere you feel comfortable?"
Melanie nods. "The library," she says quietly. "I like it there."
Scully smiles. "Okay."
They walk toward the Library.
Melanie feels that feeling in her stomach again as she walks beside the FBI agent toward the Library. She feels nervous. In her mind, she starts to tell her that it wasn't her who caused things to fly around the room, or have blood spill down the walls. As she walks beside Agent Scully, her stress level rises and she tries to push it off. If it gets any worse, the agent could get hurt. No, no! She tells herself. I am not doing this. I don't want it to happen.
Oh, but you do... the voice in her head answers. You wanted it all to happen... just to be heard.
Her heart pumps faster and she tells herself over and over that it wasn't her. None of it was her fault. She drops her books suddenly, and stops dead in her tracks. Scully notices and turns to the girl, who clutches her chest.
"Melanie?" she puts her hand comfortingly on the girl's shoulder, but finds herself pushes back against the lockers, also suffocating. She tries to find her voice, to call for help. "M-Mul..."her breathing gets more and more laboured every moment. "Mulder..." she gasps.
Melanie coughs, and blood comes out of her mouth, mixed with phlegm. It hits the floor and the girl sees it. She stumbles backward, screaming. "No, no, no!"
Help me, Mulder, thinks Scully, hoping that if something in the X-files could be proved correct by her, it would be telepathy. Maybe, if she just thought hard enough, he would hear her.
Melanie faints. And there is a very loud noise. At the end of the hallway, Mulder stands, with a sixteen years old boy beside him. Scully collapses to the floor. Mulder runs to her. "Scully, are you alright?" She nods, but can hardly breathe.
"I think so. How is Melanie?"
Mulder gives her a worried look and goes to the girl to see if she is alright. The girl is passed out, her hair all around her. The boy stops over the girl and looks down at her.
"Is she going to be okay, Agent Mulder?" he asks. "I think might've hit her too hard."
Mulder looks up at the boy. "She'll live, Trevor."
Scully moves to get up, a bit groggy still. Mulder turns to her and helps her stand. "Let's see if we can get you a place to rest, Scully. Same for Melanie. Trevor, can you help her please?"
The boy nods, and puts his arm around the girl. Softly, he whispers her name. She awakens right away. She gives him a half smile.
"What on earth happened?" asks the principal.
"We've had a breakthrough," Mulder tells her. "We've isolated the source of the occurrences. Now, we just need to find out what is happening to the girl that is making her brain do these things."
"Do you actually believe it, Agent Mulder?" she asks. "Do you think that this was the work of a telekinetic, or a poltergeist?"
"Yes, I do. Where is the nurse's office?"
"Down the hall, third door on the left."
Mulder gives her a thankful smile and takes Scully out onto the hallway, where Trevor waits with Melanie. "Let's go."