Chapter six
Mulder, Scully, and Stan entered the second floor hallway. They heard banging noises.
"Hey, someone is here," Mulder said softly to the two, pointing to the left.
Stan and Scully looked up to the left part of the hallway. There was a young man seemingly to be having a fight with one of the vending machines.
"Should we go and see what he's up to?" Stan asked hesitantly.
"We have to," Scully said.
Mulder took out his gun. Scully looked at him questioningly.
"Just to be safe," he said.
Stan did the same.
"He's a student," Scully said a little alarmed at their behavior.
"Nothing is what it seems in this school. I don't want to be caught off guard," Mulder said, "I'll go and talk to him, just stay behind me," he said starting for the boy.
Scully and Stan followed. Scully still didn't take out her gun.
"Hey!" Mulder called.
The young man didn't respond; he just kept pounding on the vending machine.
Mulder walked closer, and cautiously touched his shoulder.
The man swung around with a knife in his hand. He nearly caught Mulder's arm, but Mulder was quicker at dodging him.
Mulder landed on the floor and was surprised to hear a gunshot.
The young man fell to the floor.
"Oh my god, what are you doing?!" Scully shouted at Stan, appalled.
Stan only looked at her, seemingly stunned at what he had done.
"Reflex?" Stan offered.
"Reflex?! You just killed a person!" she said kneeling down besides the young man and checking for a pulse.
"I had to, if he kills one of you or both, I would be on my own, and I don't want to die here," Stan argued, still shaken.
"Scully, I don't think he was a person," Mulder interrupted the fight as he kneeled down next to the student.
She looked at him confused, and then looked at the body.
The student had already looked like he had been dead for at least a few days.
"I don't understand. How can that be, you just shot him," she said.
"Let's not waste time trying to figure things out, we need to find Friedman, and the janitor, I want to get out of here," Stan said.
Mulder and Scully both agreed.
"Well, it sounds quiet, let's do a quick sweep for anyone up here, and Scully, it's a free-for-all, don't hesitate to shot anything trying to kill you," Mulder said.
Scully un-holstered her gun and nodded grimly. She headed up the right side on the hall. Mulder decided to search the rest of the left side of the hall, Stan followed Mulder.
They stopped in front of a door, Principal Herbert Friedman's office.
"Well, at least we found Herb's office," Mulder said opening the door.
The two entered the waiting room. Stan had gone off to the left, Herbert's office.
"Don't screw with things!" Mulder called sternly, and then turned to the secretary's desk, "He has messages," Mulder said seeing the red light blinking on an answering machine.
Mulder pushed the play button:
Today, at 5:38 P.M.
Hello?
Mrs. Smith? This is Ms. Wickson.
Could you ask Mr. Friedman to come see me as soon as possible?
It's an emergency! I can't leave the infirmary!
Make sure he comes quickly! Thanks!
Today, at 6:50 P.M.
Herbert?
If…if you're there, pick up the phone...
Please... come quickly...
I-I don't know what's going on, but I…I think it has something to do with the experiments…
I saw several students... Who… well...It's really bad, come quick!
Oh no!
End of messages.
Mulder contemplated the messages. Stan came over to him.
"Oh my god, those things used to be students, then?" Stan said horrified.
"It seems that way, we need to find Scully," Mulder said.
"Sure, I also know where to find Freidman," Stan said showing Mulder a sticky note.
"I'm in the library if you need to see me, Herbert," Mulder read, "Good, now we can get out of here,"
"I also found this weird thing, it was on his desk," Stan said handing Mulder a round object with a point.
"I have no idea of what it could be, maybe Scully knows," Mulder said and led Stan back out into the hallway.
Scully was already standing in the hallway.
"Hey, did you find anything?" Mulder asked as they neared her.
"A bunch of stuff actually. One of those monsters and Denny's satchel. He had transcripts of students, some from the students that were missing in fact, a flashlight, and this compass needle," she said slightly annoyed, and showing the same object Mulder had.
"Glad that you're all right and hey we found one just like it," Mulder said showing his compass needle.
"What do they go to?" Scully asked.
"Maybe to the map in Friedman's office," Stan said.
"What map?" Mulder and Scully said in unison.
"There is this big map in Friedman's office with two knobs on it. Come on I'll show you," Stan said and led them back to the office.
"Here," he said pointing to the map.
"Well, you deal with it, I have to show Scully the messages," Mulder said handing Stan the compass needles.
Stan looked like he wanted to argue, but thought better of it.
Scully followed Mulder curiously. He played the messages for her.
"So those things we're killing used to be students," Scully said sadly.
"Yeah, and Denny and Herbert, and obviously Ms. Wickson the nurse, are all in on it," Mulder said.
"We need to find them, and get out of here. That monster, or student, Mulder, he turned into one of those things we saw in the hall. I thought he was normal. I stepped back in front of the window, the sunlight killed him instantly," Scully said.
"It's getting darker; I don't know what will happen…" Mulder said, but was interrupted by Stan.
"Hey, I got the thing to work, turns out its Friedman's safe," Stan said.
Mulder and Scully walked into the office.
In the safe was another gun, a key to the library, a videocassette labeled SUBJECT 37, and an old letter.
Mulder gave the gun to Scully.
"Well, at least we can open the door to the library," Mulder said, and looked at the videotape, "I wonder what's on this videotape; what's the letter?" Mulder said looking at Scully who was reading the aged paper.
She read it aloud to them, "My dear Herbert, I am writing to you in secret. Leonard would leave me if he knew I was meddling in his work. You are his twin brother and sometimes it seems to me that you understand him better than I. That is why I would like you to speak to him. We quarreled last night. He is completely obsessed with his research and I fear he will go too far. He wants to attempt the experiment on himself, I am certain. You know him; he is capable of it. That would be foolish; the subjects treated are only stable after three weeks. There may be secondary effects that appear much later. Please, try to reason with him. Yours, Elisabeth,"
"Herbert has a brother, and Elisabeth is the nurse isn't she?" Mulder asked.
"Twin, and yeah she is, but what experiment, she just mentioned it now, but this paper is really old, Mulder," Scully said.
"I have no idea, but from the looks of it, I can't tell if they are failing or succeeding, what do the want to achieve with these experiments?" Mulder said.
"Well, if they are dealing with that plant, the Mortifilia, they mean to achieve immortality, but I don't understand how," Scully said.
"Let's find Herbert and make him explain what's going on," Mulder said, "And find some place to play this video, I want to know what or who is subject 37."
The three exited the building and followed Stan to the Library building.
They walked into the main hall of the library building. They saw, sitting on the stairs, another student. He didn't notice them.
"Mulder, it's another one, like I saw in the classroom upstairs, you have to kill it," she said softly.
"I didn't like it before, but now I don't even more, now that I know that these are students," Mulder said.
"I could do it," Stan said, "I mean I don't want to, but…," he said hating how he sounded when he volunteered.
"Just do it, before it turns into a monster," Scully said looking sick and turning away.
Stan aimed and shot it from behind. It didn't make any sound.
"Herbert has to pay for this. These were just students, not even adults, not enough experience with life yet," Mulder said walking over and looking at the dead body.
"He will," Scully said.
"Come on," Stan said, walking over to the library entrance.
He opened the door. The library was dark and quiet, except for the rustling of papers on the far side of the library.
The three walked over and behind a shelf, they found Herbert Friedman sitting at a desk, looking through a bunch of files.
"Well, finally we found you," Mulder said.
Herbert turned startled, "Agents Mulder and Scully," he said trying to cover up what he was looking at.
"What surprised to see us alive?" Mulder asked slightly irritated.
"Excuse me? Why would I be surprised by that? I take it your search is over," Friedman said calmly.
"No. We haven't found Kenny Matthews, but we have good reason to believe he's here, so just tell us where he is," Scully said showing him all the evidence they had found.
Herbert looked at the papers. He showed no emotion to them.
"I see nothing here that says I have Kenny Matthews," he said coolly.
"All of it incriminates you, Denny Walden, and Elisabeth Wickson too!" Scully snapped.
"Denny Walden seems to think you have everything to do with all that's happening to this school," Mulder said.
"You've spoken with Walden?" Herbert asked, "And what is happening to this school?" he asked suspiciously.
"You're kidding right? All those things you set lose, those poor students," Scully said incredulously.
"You're goddamn experiments are running loose trying to kill us!" Mulder shouted at the man and grabbed the front of his shirt roughly, "All those missing students are right here, mutated and harmed because of you, what the hell were you doing?!,"
Herbert seemed to understand what they were saying, but he didn't react.
He pushed Mulder away from him, "I'll take care of it, just tell Vick to let you out; I'll let him know that you are coming,"
"Yeah, and we'll be back to arrest you and stop you from continuing your research," Mulder said.
"Do what you must, I need to go," Herbert said hurriedly and exited through a door to his right. They heard as he locked it.
Scully turned the knob.
"Where does that door lead to?" Mulder asked Stan who had been silent through the exchange.
"Uh, I have no idea," he said.
"Well a lot good it did us to find Herbert," Mulder said frustrated and kicked the door Herbert had just walked through.
Scully moved over to the desk Herbert had been sitting at. She saw an old newspaper, and a notebook.
Scully read to Mulder and Stan the newspaper article, "Destiny strikes the Friedman family again. The community is in mourning at the death of Leonard FRIEDMAN. More than a citizen, the city has lost a brilliant, conscientious and dynamic researcher. Leonard worked to advance the work of the brotherhood, not recoiling from any obstacle. The scientific community, despite its differences with the duo, admitted that "He was among those who could have helped us advance in giant steps". As all the events surrounding this unusual family, the death of Leonard Friedman remains enigmatic. Although a good pilot, Leonard lost control of his craft before crashing into the sea. His twin brother Herbert, the only escapee from this terrible accident, was rescued from the open sea off Long Island.'"
"So his brother died, when," Mulder asked curiously.
"I don't know, the date is faded," Scully said scrutinizing the paper.
"Well long enough for that paper to have aged so much; what's in the notebook," Mulder asked picking it up.
"It looks like a journal," Scully said.
"It's from Leonard, way back in 1895, it says; the vegetation is really very strange, particularly the trees. Two more porters have disappeared and we have discovered a slashed corpse. The natives are frightened and want to leave the island. Yet, I think we are reaching our goal. The flora is evolving in parallel with our progress, which is difficult, both physically and morally. Bizarrely, the fauna is becoming rarified, the atmosphere leaden, the silence heavy. The specimens found here and the geology show that this island was cut off from the world and has followed a parallel ecological development for three thousand years. But this period of time would not be sufficient to cause such brutal changes. That would need millions of years. Something has accelerated the evolution of the species and this ecosystem. I want to find out what it was. We have a trail: black putrefying matter, which appears overnight on the vegetation, appears to be more and more prevalent as we progress northwards. Traces indicate that this may come from a tubercular plant. Tomorrow, we must reach the volcanic peak. The soil is light in this part of the island, which should facilitate our analyses of the sub-soil. Leonard Friedman, Travel journal, June 21 1895," Mulder read.
"1895, from that time to now, Herbert would be one-hundred and eight, but if counting to when he might have been born he'd be over one-hundred and fifty," Scully said awed.
"Herbert is way past 100 then, but how? These experiments are failing, I don't understand," Mulder said confused, "But once an investigation starts, all of it will come to light," Mulder said flipping through the journal.
"Bad joke Mulder," Scully said turning back to the desk.
He looked at her confused then caught what he had said. He smiled slightly at it.
Mulder found a loose page in the back of the book.
"Hey, there's more," he said to Scully. She turned her attention back to him.
He read aloud, "Dear Leonard and Herbert, I am writing to you as your friend. I have just come out of the Seattle conference where your book "Eternal life is possible" had an explosive effect. Your discoveries totally contradict the theories of Dr. Leon Korsenberg and I expect an unfavorable reaction from the council. You have virulent detractors who fear that your research is immoral and casts a slur on the entire scientific community. I have analyzed the file. Your theory certainly goes against the first law of medical ethics. You understand that without the support of a reputation, it will have no other destiny than sinking into oblivion. And, sadly, I do not have sufficient weight to prevent that. You may find salvation outside the scientific community, you know. I fear that sanctions may even be taken against you and I cannot advise you strongly enough to locate your work in a safe place. I remain, my dear friends, yours sincerely, your loyal friend, Walt Kerridan."
"What is it talking about?" Stan asked.
Mulder looked at Scully inquiringly.
She caught his look, "I've studied in the medical and scientific field, but I have never heard of any of this, as this Walt says, Herbert and Leonard may have had to push their work underground, and that would explain what we are seeing, I think these monster's are failed attempts at securing longevity; immortality," Scully said.
"Makes a twisted kind of sense, but still, how is Herbert over one hundred if these tests show the failure of the research?" Mulder said.
"I guess the question really is why do any research if he's succeeded on himself?" Scully said.
"We're missing something huge here," Mulder said thoughtfully, "Anyway, we should get moving, it's past nightfall and I want out of this school," he said indicating the window.
The sun had set and the sky was pitch black now.
They exchanged nervous glances.
"I'll show you to the janitor's room," Stan said.
They exited the library and headed to the right of the courtyard to the janitor's room.
As they walked over to the janitor's room, they heard as something collapsed, something huge. They stopped as the ground shook violently.
"God, it sounds like the whole school is collapsing," Scully said nervously.
"No. I would just assume part of it, near the north side it sounds like," Mulder said.
"Never mind, let's just get out of here and call for back up," Scully said.
Stand continued. Mulder and Scully followed.
As they neared the janitor's room, they heard what seemed to be a struggle between a human with something not human.
There was a loud screech.
"You freaky little bastards are not getting out of here that easily, come here," Vick said, and then a gunshot.
Scully, Mulder, and Stan withdrew their guns and hurried over.
There was one last growl, a loud scream of pain, and then silence from Vick.
Mulder kicked in the door. They moved to the back of the room and saw something escaping up the air vent.
"Oh god, Mulder," Scully said sounding sick, stepping back slightly.
He looked at her then down, wishing he hadn't. He had been too busy searching for what was leaving, that he didn't realize what it was leaving behind. Stan had moved back to the front of the room quickly.
On the ground were the remains of what used to be human, of what used to be Vick Garrison.
"What the hell happened?" Scully said looking at the torn remains.
"I don't know, but I think we are on our own on this one Scully," Mulder said looking sickened at the sight.