Chapter one

Fox Mulder sat at his desk in his office not really doing much. No X-files were coming in, or at least ones Skinner and Scully deemed important. A few had caught his attention, but without authorization from Skinner, he had to let them go. Therefore, it was nearly a month since he and Scully had been out in the field.

It was still early this morning. Scully had an autopsy to do down at Quantico, and then after that she had a meeting with Skinner. Mulder didn't know what it was about, but he knew she would fill him in when she came into the office.

Mulder knew that he had a lot of paperwork he should really finish, but he really didn't want to do it. On the other hand, he also knew that it wasn't fair to leave it all to Scully. Honestly, he knew she would end up doing it anyway.

He spent most of his morning looking over old case files and fixing up his desk. Doing anything to get out of doing actual paperwork.

At eleven, Dana Scully finally entered the office. She looked tired, but she also looked like she held good news.

"Hey, Scully, you get back from the meeting with Skinner?" He asked immediately.

She glared at him slightly, "Gee, thanks Mulder my day was wonderful, thanks for asking," she said sarcastically as she put her coat on a chair and then sat in it.

He at least looked apologetic, "Sorry, so what happened with the autopsy?"

Scully sighed, "Nothing that couldn't be done by some other pathologist, it was just that the other pathologist didn't process the evidence correctly, so after I did, everything fell into place, today they're making an arrest," she said.

"Great, Dr. Scully, the best as usual," he smiled.

She looked only slightly happy, "Yes, well, if I wasn't called in at five this morning, I would celebrate, anyway, to answer your question, yes, I did speak with Skinner, but first, please tell me you got through some of the paperwork that needed to be done for the last two files we did two and three months ago?"

He looked at her ashamed, "Well, I looked through them, if that counts,"

She groaned, "Is that all you did?!"

"Well, no, I also sharpened some pencils, and cleaned some of my desk," he offered.

Scully looked at him in disbelief and at his desk, which still held a bunch of files.

"So am I to assume that I am to do them?" she asked wearily.

"Well you do type faster then I do," he said.

"Yeah, because I do all the paper work down here," she complained.

"Well, then it should be a piece of cake for you," he said and recoiled at her glare.

She sighed, "Well, then I don't know if I should give you this then," she said taking out a file from her brief case and waggled it at him.

He instantly sat up and looked at her as if he was a starved dog, "An X-file?"

"Maybe?" she said vaguely.

"Oh, come on Scully, don't hold out on me," He nearly begged.

"Yes," she conceded, "One that Skinner and I see fit to be investigated." she answered.

"So, what is this one," he said as he took the file from her and started looking at it.

"Well, today, we leave for Leafmore, Pennsylvania, to meet with Sarah Matthews, and her daughter Shannon; Kenny Matthews, Sarah's son has been missing for two weeks now," Scully explained.

Mulder looked at her confused and slightly disappointed, "A missing person's case?"

"Well, ultimately yes, but there's an x-file in there, Shannon believes that something…sinister is going on at her school, I would semi-agree, it seems that from the history of the high school, Leafmore high, over twenty-five students have gone missing over the last four months, all unsolved," Scully explained.

"Okay, still missing persons, how is this an x-file?" he asked.

"Well, Shannon believes all of this somehow has to do with, her words, her creepy principal, she believes he's turning the students into monsters, and claims to have seen some on the night her brother disappeared," Scully said, "Her mother says Shannon hasn't been the same after that night.".

"So, missing students, and monsters, hmmm, sounds interesting, what do you think, Scully?" he said.

"Well, they have no leads, and since monsters were mentioned, Skinner thought that as a last resort, you and I should go and check this place out," Scully said, "As for what I think, I think this family deserves some answers,"

"All right, then we can go and check this school out, we'll take the case," he said sounding excited.

Scully knew that he was just glad to get out of the office and back into the field, but she knew that he also knew what it felt like to have a sibling go missing. She knew that he would put all his dedication to this case; she just hoped he wouldn't get overwhelmed with it.

"All right, well let's get some lunch before we head out, I haven't had breakfast." Scully said.

"Sure, then we'll swing by my place so I can get some things, and then yours to get your stuff, "Mulder said and followed her out of the office.

X x X

A couple of hours on the road later, Mulder and Scully were pulling up in front of the home of Sarah Matthews.

They got out of the car and walked up to the door. Scully knocked.

Sarah Matthews opened the door. She was slender, and a petite woman. She had dark hair and blue eyes. She also looked exhausted and worn out. Dana figured if had she lost a child, she would have looked the same.

"Hello, Mrs. Matthews, I'm Special agent Dana Scully, we spoke earlier, and this is Special agent Fox Mulder," Scully introduced.

"Oh, yes, come in," Sarah said and moved to let them in.

Sarah led them into the living room.

The house was pretty average. Nothing looked or showed that this family was grieving at the moment.

They sat in awkward silence for a moment.

"Well, as you know my son Kenny is missing," Sarah started, "He was practicing in the gym that night, um…my husband and I were out of town that night,"

"Yes, the report says that," Scully answered wanting to make it easier on Sarah.

She nodded her appreciation, "I know that nearly every angle has been investigated, I only heard of you two through another agent… he told me of the weird things you investigate,"

Mulder only gave her a tight smile. He was never really sure if he liked that 'weird things' was a phrase that always followed his reputation, not that it was untrue.

"And no one has looked into the school as being apart of the crime, but then the principal, Herbert Friedman, he has money, so he can get the police to look the other way," Sarah stated bitterly.

"We've dealt with situations like that, but don't worry, we can usually get around that," Mulder promised.

"I hope, it's just that I'm so worried about my daughter, I know she thinks she has seen…monsters, but I think it's just a psychological way for her to deal with the loss of her brother, she and he were very close, they are only a year apart," Sarah said, tears brimming her eyes. She wiped at them quickly.

"Well, it can be true, that people make up things so that they could deal with trauma, but I would like to talk with her, if it's all right?" Mulder said.

"Yes, I think she would like to talk to someone who might believe her, she's had a hard time at school, and here at home, everyone thinks she's lost her mind," Sarah said standing up, "I'll send her down,"

Sarah walked upstairs to get Shannon.

Scully and Mulder only looked at each other. Scully knew that Mulder was going to end up feeding into Sarah's delusion, and she didn't know if that was good or bad thing. Scully gave him a look that said 'be careful with this one'.

He nodded.

Shannon came down.

She was small like her mother, but with short, blonde hair, she too looked like she hadn't gotten much sleep in the last few weeks. She sat in front of them.

"Hello, Shannon," Scully greeted, her voice full of compassion.

Misreading Scully's intent, Shannon looked at her sharply, "Don't patronize me, I know you don't believe me, no one does, but I know what I saw," she said coldly.

"I believe you Shannon, I believe you saw something, and it could possibly help us," Mulder tried.

Shannon scrutinized Mulder for a moment, and then seemed to relax a bit.

"I saw monsters, I know they are responsible…for whatever has happened to my brother," she said and cried, "I don't even know what happened to Kenny, I don't know if he's alive, scared, or…dying somewhere in that damned school."

"It's all right," Scully said, trying to comfort her.

Shannon wiped her eyes and calmed a bit.

"Can you explain what these monsters looked like?" Mulder asked.

Shannon shivered a bit, "Yeah, well they looked like they were human, or at least used to be," she started, "They were dressed like people, but they had pale, nearly deathly like skin, and their faces…their eyes were black, and the teeth, they were so sharp, like for chewing through bone. Some of them had only a tongue where their mouth should be, they were so hideous and they didn't speak, just grunted. Luckily, they didn't see me; I just ran back to my house and called my parents, and then Kenny never came home. I'm so afraid that they've killed him," she said.

"Well, we know that the school hasn't been searched, your mother says it's because the Principal won't allow it," Scully said.

"Yeah, and that's why I know he has something to do with it, I mean you would think he would be more then welcome to it, to find one of his missing students; everyone thinks Kenny ran away, but I know he wouldn't…abandon me," Shannon said furiously.

"Well, we can work on that tomorrow, I promise," Scully said.

Shannon nodded, "I hope so, I just want my brother found, I want him back," she said.

Mulder and Scully both nodded, with a silent determined promise.

Mulder and Scully bade the Matthews goodnight and decided that it was time that they headed back to their motel.

"So you believe her?" Scully said as she buckled her seat belt.

"Yeah, I do, she can't have made it up, she has details…I couldn't make any of that up," Mulder said starting the car and heading for the motel.

"Well, tomorrow we can get started on looking into the school, I'll call Skinner and ask for a warrant, just in case, we know he can't be affected by money," Scully said.

"Glad for that; so what do you think?" Mulder asked.

She gave him a wry look, "What do I always think of cases like these Mulder?"

"You don't believe, I know, but the school is the last lead that hasn't been looked into," Mulder sighed.

"I know, we'll just check it out tomorrow, and interview the principal Herbert Friedman," Scully said.

"Sure, I feel sorry for the situation, but it feels good to back out in the field, huh?" Mulder said as he turned into the motel parking lot.

"I think I miss filing paper work," Scully said.

"You're no fun, you know that Scully," he smiled.

She laughed lightly.