Chapter Five: Telekinesis and a Poltergeist

"Ever since we were children, Melanie and I have had these... problems," said Trevor. Melanie, sitting beside him silently, is taking deep breaths, nods in agreement. "We were always capable of telepathy and telekinesis, especially when we were around each other. We grew up in the same house- my mom went a little... crazy after my dad died when I was two years old. So, Melanie and I have always been close."

Melanie nods again, but she remains silent. Trevor glances at her nervously and worriedly. "Things, other than that piece of my early history, were pretty normal until we were about eleven. Melanie's dad kind of left, and my mom suddenly came back, and Melanie was left alone with Aunt Sadie, who was distraught. I lived with my mom for four years, until a year ago." Melanie nods, and when Trevor looks at her, she takes a deep breath.

"In that four years, my mom's mind wandered, I guess," she says. "She wasn't sure what she wanted or something- I don't know. Men of all kinds came in and out of the house. I didn't really pay it much mind. I ignored her. But by the time Trevor came back to us, I couldn't control it anymore."

"Control what?" asks Mulder. "The telekinesis?"

Melanie nods. "When he first left, it went away for a year. The same for him. But, after a year, it started to happen again a little. I could still control it, but it was there."

Mulder nods slowly. "What happened a year ago? Why did you suddenly return to Melanie's family?"

"Katie, Melanie's sister, disappeared, two weeks after my mom was murdered."

Melanie shivers, and closes her eyes. Blood, blood, everywhere. I didn't want it to happen...

"Melanie?" says Scully, reaching out to the girl. Melanie's eyes open suddenly. Tension builds, builds in the room, and all of them can feel it. Scully pulls away, releasing some of the tension and Trevor grabs Melanie's shoulder.

"Melanie, calm down! Please."

The girl pulls her arms close to her body and shivers, shaking as though the room was cold. "I didn't want it to happen. It wasn't my fault."

Mulder looks up at Trevor. "Have either of you left out anything? Anything at all? What it she saying isn't her fault?"

Trevor pulls away from his cousin, sits back, biting his lip. Mulder pushes. "Trevor?"

"It's just that Melanie and Katie were fighting before it happened. She blames herself. Listen to me. Melanie had nothing to do with Katie's death. There was a man, she says. There was a man who she didn't recognise. He came into the house while they were eating their dinner. He tied down Melanie and Aunt Sadie and ran off with Katie kicking and screaming. There were no witnesses, nothing. As if the man was a ghost."

Melanie shivers still, shaking her head. "No, no. There was blood," she whispered. "Blood everywhere."

Mulder glances at Scully. "Blood, Melanie?"

"Blood... all over the walls, leaking from the corners of the walls, as if the whole house was bleeding."

Mulder and Scully leave the two kids in the nurse's office, unsure of how to proceed. Scully turns to Mulder. "I don't think we should send those two home. From what I hear, I don't think it's safe."

"I don't think so either, but what about Melanie's mother? She can't be safe."

They walk in the direction of the office to give instruction to the principal. "Mulder, do you think that the girl could be lying? Or the boy? Trevor said that the man- whoever he is- simply took Katie. But, from what Melanie says, there was some kind of murder."

Mulder shakes his head. "I don't think so, Scully. Melanie said that there was blood every- as if it was leaking from the walls. That's the same thing that happened in the classroom."

"What does that mean, though, Mulder?"

"That Melanie's mind is recreating what she saw- or what she thought she saw. Trevor, according to his story, wasn't there. So this must be what he was told, either by Melanie or her mother. Go talk to Miss Anderson and then go find what you can on the disappearance of Katie Cooke and Trevor's mother- Jessie Cooke. See if there's anything on the two kids' fathers. And the blood- we need that analyzed, remember?"

"What are you going to do, Mulder?"

"I'm going to talk to Sadie Cooke, I think. I'm going to find out what she saw."

Scully sighs. "Do I at least get the car?"

"Yeah, I'll take a cab."

Mulder knocks on the front door, but there is no answer so he knocks again. This time, after a moment, the door opens slowly. A woman is standing there, looking frail in her over sized clothes and ratty dark hair. "Mrs. Cooke? I'm with the FBI."

He shows her identification, which she examines closely. "You aren't here about either of the kids, are you?"

"In what sense?"

"Is one of them in trouble?"

"No, ma'am."

"Okay. You can come in then. So, what are you here about?"

"I'm here about the disappearance of your daughter- Katie Cooke."

Sadie Cooke closes the door harder than she tries to as she hears her daughter's name. She sighs. "They couldn't find her Agent..."

"Mulder."

"Mulder. So, why the sudden interest?"

"Mrs. Cooke, I'm actually a paranormal investigator with the FBI. I work on a project called the X-files."

"Not mainstream, is it?"

Mulder chuckles. "No. Anyway, what brought me to this case were strange occurrences in your daughter and nephew's school. I heard some strange things from them about your family, and about the night your daughter was taken."

Mrs. Cooke begins to pace around the room, taking deep, nervous breaths. "Agent Mulder, there isn't much to say that I haven't told the police and the last FBI guy that was in here, and that's merely because they don't interest themselves much with what's up here."

Mrs. Cooke points to her head quickly. She sits down and motions to a chair across the table. Mulder sits and looks at her calmly. "Mrs. Cooke, please just tell me what happened."

She sighs and stares at a few plants on the counter for a moment. "The three of us were eating. Katie and Melanie on either side of me. They were fighting, so I was trying to keep things light. People might tell you I went crazy when my husband left us, but I don't think I was really a bad mother. I still did that right. Anyway, we were sitting in silence aside from my few attempts to calm the tension in the room when this man walks in, no word, nothing. He tied Melanie and I up but left Katie, who was too afraid to move anyway. Melanie struggled a little, but I didn't at all. I was too afraid too. He simply had that effect."

Mrs. Cooke sniffs and pushes her dark ratty hair away from her thin pale face. "Then- he started walking around. He didn't seem to have taken anything at first, but then, I couldn't see him the whole time. It seemed as though he was just looking around at everything. He did have a small bag with him, so I might have guessed, but I wasn't thinking. My brain wasn't working well enough for me to even remember to breathe. He came back to the dining room, and pulled Katie to her feet. Katie was sitting right there," she points to the chair on her left. She closes her eyes then, as if to remember every little detail. "He pulls her by the wrist to her feet and both the girls struggle, both girls struggle. Melanie can only move her legs and Katie was always so small... she was no match for this man. She screamed but somehow no one heard. Or no one cared. They were used to Melanie and Katie screaming at each other. This sounded almost like any one of their spats."

Mulder leans forward, looking a little confused. "There was no blood?"

Mrs. Cooke shakes her head. "No. Melanie would say there was. But there isn't. She's complained of other non-existent things before. Once I found her in the middle of her room screaming that there were giant spiders all over the walls. There wasn't, of course. I let her sleep in Katie's vacant room, even though I didn't want anything moved. Even after Melanie slept there, I can still feel Katie in there. I can hear her walking around in there at night."

"Have you seen her, Mrs. Cooke?" asked Mulder. He has a few more questions to ask before he can be sure.

"No, Agent Mulder."

"Can you... this might sound weird... feel her presence?"

Mrs. Cooke thought about it for a moment. "No. I can just hear her."

"Why do you think she's there? Are you certain your daughter was killed?"

Mrs. Cooke looks down at the table, thinking deeply. "I can't be sure. But I have long since lost hope. When he took her, he did take something when he was looking around."

"What was that?"

"Her birth certificate."

Mulder and Scully sit in the empty staff room at the school.

"So, Mulder, did you learn anything?"

"Yes, I did. I learned that there was no blood like Trevor said. And I discovered that even though there is no certainty that Katie Cooke is dead, her mother hears her in the house."

"Well, what do you think, Mulder?"

Mulder thinks about it for a moment, and then decides. "I think that both Melanie and her mother are schizophrenic."

Scully looks at him sceptically. "That sounds too normal, Mulder. For one of your theories, anyway. Please, explain."

"Melanie, I think, because of her schizophrenia, attracted a poltergeist. The poltergeist is working with what Melanie thinks she saw- blood seeping through the walls. Both the poltergeist and the telekinesis start working when she's stressed out. Paper flying around the room- that's all the work of Melanie's powers. But the blood, that's the poltergeist. Melanie's a visual schizophrenic, by the way. I think her mother just hears things that aren't there. Because, I don't think that Katie is dead. So, I don't think there's a spirit in the house."

"And Trevor?"

"Just telekinetic. Other than that, he seems perfectly fine. What did you get, Scully?"

Scully opens the first file. "Trevor's father was killed when he was two. Gunshot wound to the head by a masked assailant. The reason that Trevor's mother had to be put through so much therapy was because she was there. The man who killed her husband tied her to a kitchen chair before going on to kill her husband before her eyes."

"And Melanie's father?"

"A former FBI agent. He hasn't been seen or heard from since he left the family four years ago."

"Mrs. Cooke seemed to have a more than general knowledge of the FBI. Is there a picture?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"There's a man, who seems to have personal ties to both families, and with the same habits. He's a man. And the only man in the family old enough is Melanie's father. He could very well be alive."

Scully says nothing for a moment, unsure of Mulder's thought. "Mulder, that doesn't explain the body in the ceiling of the classroom, which we still need to take out, by the way."

Mulder is silent. He looks down at the photo in the file. "Hmm. No, there's an explanation. Want to go for a walk, Scully?"

"Where to?"

"The nurse's office."

Mulder stands, carrying the file with him. For a moment, Scully sits alone until she decides to follow.

"Is this the man you saw when your sister was taken?" asks Mulder. Melanie stares at the photo for a long moment.

"No, it can't be. That's my dad," she answers.

"Yes. But it's an old photo. Imagine him aged."

Melanie shook her head. "Why do you ask, Agent Mulder?"

"Have you ever seen the janitor who works her, Mr. Cholka?"

Melanie shakes her head. Mulder turns to Trevor. "Have you?"

"Yeah. Once or twice."

"Does this look like a younger version of him?"

Scully reaches for the photo but Mulder pulls away. "Mulder! You're just putting thoughts into their heads."

"No, he isn't," says Trevor suddenly. "It does look like him. Look! Same eyes, same nose. Mr. Cholka has white hair and a white beard, but the face shape and his eyes and hair look the same."

"Scully, stay here," says Mulder, and he leaves the room hurriedly.

Please review!!! I know it's a lot of dialogue though.. sorry