Disclaimer: Characters and part of the plot not mine.
Thank you all again for reviewing. Glad you like it. Here's the newest (one of my personal favorites)
Somehow Scully wasn't exactly surprised that Mulder had brought a magnifying glass with him. After he pulled that out, he also grabbed a bag of sunflower seeds which he proceeded to nibble on while examining the pictures. He would move the glass as closely as he could to the paper before pulling away and going back in again. This went on for ten minutes afterwards.
Scully moved to the bed and sat down. "Mulder; did you find anything yet?" she asked feeling very irritable.
"I think you should probably call downstairs for room service. I'm getting hungry," he muttered pulling away once again and spitting out a shell.
"Mulder, this hotel doesn't have room service," Scully said, getting frustrated.
"It doesn't?" Mulder asked. Scully shook her head and he slammed a fist down. "Well it should."
"Mulder; did you find anything yet?" Scully asked, emphasizing her annoyance and moving now to stand behind him.
Mulder motioned to the paper. "Take a look and see," he said with a mysterious grin dancing upon his face.
Scully sighed; wasn't she supposed to be on a break from this? She leaned over the paper and took a good, long look at it. It still looked to be a bit of a brown blur but upon closer inspection a few things became clear.
One was that Mulder was breathing down her neck. Another was that the blur had a distinct shape about it. The front end came to a bit of a point before dipping in the center and another point at the end. Then there were stick like objects coming from the center.
"Notice how it appears to have a railing on it," Mulder whispered into her ear.
Scully was a little amazed. "Mulder, it looks like..."
"Yes?" he said nodding, the grin growing wider.
"It looks like a ship," Scully finally said before standing upright.
"Exactly," Mulder said leaning back and putting his hands behind his head.
"But, but how is it...it's under water and standing upright!" she exclaimed.
Mulder got up and went to his book. Turning many pages at once, he came upon something and began to read aloud. "Of all the ships to ever sail the Seven Seas, only one was known to sail beyond."
Scully took a seat while Mulder continued.
"The Flying Dutchman would ferry the souls of those lost at sea to the great beyond. The Captain is said to be a man in his early twenties but his name is unknown to any among the living. Unlike its pervious Captain, the current man helps the lost and does not force them to be press ganged into his crew. "
Mulder finished and looked up to see Scully giving him her patented stare.
"How old is..." she asked reaching out the touch the book but Mulder quickly shut it and laid it on his lap.
"Family heirloom from my Mother's side. What do you think?" he said quickly.
"I think, like always, you are reading far too much into this Mulder. All it is, is some ship wreak that apparently hasn't been discovered yet."
"Ah, but," Mulder said leaning forwards right into her face, "that doesn't explain how it is nothing more than a blur. Wouldn't it just be stationary and viewable if the ship was wreaked?"
"I don't know Mulder; because ships sail above water and submarines sail under. Judging by the shape, that is no submarine."
Scully crossed her arms and Mulder knew that the conversation was finished for now.
"How about that dinner then?" He gave her a hand and she stood up, grabbed a light sweater and the two of them wordlessly walked out of the room.
"William… William..." Almost like a whisper on the wind.
Scully was walking down a long hallway. It was completely dark save for a few candles that were lit guiding a path.
She finally arrived at the end where a closed door greeted her. Reaching a hand out to grab the knob, Scully was surprised to find that it turned of its own accord.
"Hello?" she called out.
She stepped inside and right away the door slammed shut. On a table beside the door was a candle. Scully grabbed it and took a look around the room. For the most part it was barren save for a bed in the center and a tiny crib by the side.
"William… William…"
"Who's there?" Scully asked. She reached for her gun but it wasn't at her side. She turned around and a woman was standing at the window.
This woman had long honey brown hair which seemed to be damp. She was wearing a slip and the entire front of it was covered in blood. The woman was also young, barely in her twenties with brown eyes which seemed wild to match her hair.
Scully gasped and began to back away.
"He's coming back," the woman said sounding a slight bit insane. She began to walk forward, reaching out a hand in the process.
Scully tried the door again but the knob was stuck.
The woman giggled. "He's finally coming back."
The woman then turned away and went to the window. A beam of light from the moon struck her and she turned again. Now her dress was glowing white and she smiled, this time more at ease.
"He's coming."
Scully jumped up in bed and took several gasping breaths. The sun was just rising on the horizon and letting very little light into their cramped room.
She looked to her side. Mulder was fast asleep, taking deep breaths every few seconds. In the night, he seemed to remove his shirt due to the heat which was already radiating from the window.
Scully carefully got out the bed and opened it to allow some air to flow inside. She stood there and tried to focus on what she had been dreaming. Even now it was slowly beginning to fade away. She was in a bedroom of some kind. Much like this one actually. And someone had been telling her that someone was coming back. HE was coming back. This was the second time she had this dream however; in the first it ended with the stuck door. Who was this William though? When she had been awakened by Mulder yesterday, hadn't she called out to him? What did he have to do anything?
Realizing that sleep had completely evaded her as of this point, Scully got dressed quickly and decided that right now might be a good time to take a walk without having the sun beating down directly on her. It wasn't her fault she burned so easily.
Scully made sure not to make any noise while exiting and she went downstairs to find the owner sitting behind the desk doing some paperwork. He looked up having heard her enter and smiled. "Good morning to you on such a fine and beautiful morning."
"Um, good morning," she said unsurely.
"And where are you off to so early?" he asked, placing his pen down on his book.
Scully glanced behind him and up at the clock hanging on the wall reading 7:30. Sighing, she explained her need for an early morning run. As she was about to leave though, she got an idea.
"Excuse me but can I ask you a question?" she asked. The man looked up again and nodded.
"Our room, the one my partner and I are staying in..."
"Yes?"
"Is there any sort of, say, history attached to it?"
The man brought his hand to his chin and thought it over. "Not that I'm aware of...I could look into it for you."
"No, I wouldn't want to be a burden..."
"Nonsense. You go for your walk and I'll make a few phone calls. Is there any particular reason as to why you're asking?"
"Oh, just wondering. The building being as old as it is. Well, thank you sir." Scully gave the man a fleeting grin before running outside.
She walked as quickly as possible to get away. What was she doing? What could have made her possibly think this was really something that was happening? This was all so paranormal and ominous and spooky. Definitely not her usual M.O. Maybe Mulder was rubbing off on her.
Her walk quickly ended and she made her way back to the hotel. She passed a few people who were getting ready to start their day. She even passed a man who had passed out on the sidewalk.
"Where's me ship? Left me again have they. I'll show them..." the man muttered.
Once back at the hotel, the owner hung up the phone and smiled as she approached. "Enjoy your walk?"
Scully nodded and half smiled. She felt much more refreshed now that her food poisoning had passed and especially because her bags had finally arrived and she had a fresh change of clothes.
When the man picked up the phone once again, she ran up the stairs and went right into the room. Mulder was no longer in the bed and she could hear someone in the shower. "Mulder?"
"Scully?" she heard before the water stopped.
A second or two later her partner appeared, towel wrapped around his midsection as water continued to roll off his body. "Where'd you go?" he asked sounding slightly concerned.
"I-," she said regaining her bearings, "I went for a walk. I haven't seen much of the area yet and wanted to take a look around."
"Hmm; find anything interesting?" he asked as he returned to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him to begin getting dressed.
I found that we seem to be sharing one brain on this trip, she thought to herself before responding with a quiet "No."
"Oh, well that's too bad Scully. I was thinking about going into the city later, maybe find a library. Care to join me?"
"I thought I was on vacation Mulder," she said moving to stand beside the closed door.
"Oh come on Scully admit it," Mulder said (now completely dressed) opening the door and leaning against it. "You're curious."
Sighing, Scully rubbed her eyes and nodded. "But first I'm getting cleaned up, then you're taking me to breakfast and then we'll do some research," she said.
"Thank you. I'll make sure you don't regret it."
"How many times has that come to pass already?" Scully muttered as she made her way into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. She got no response save for what she believed to be a quiet laugh that he probably didn't want her to hear.
Thank you all for reading. Not sure when I can get the next chapter up (school starts this week. boo) but I'll work on it and try to get it up soon. Thanks again.