p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"strongspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Chapter 4 /span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"strongspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The forest around Crater Lake, northern shore, same time /span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"After his last attempt to find a proper host, he nearly lost his mind completely. Feeling constantly frustrated and angry as hell, he had problems concentrating. The next pick must be it or he will die himself. He knew it. That thing in his head throbbed and ached madly and he knew it was mushing his brain tissue. His only chance was a host, that would be as strong as he was. That's why he wasn't looking for women. Yesterday, he strolled through the Cleetwood Trail, leading to the shore on the one side and on the other to the highest peak of the mountains. He detected 4 pairs of tourists hiking around there. He didn't see them coming back down, so he guessed they must be camping there. That urged him on to walk the trail this night, hoping to find these people tomorrow. His plan was to separate them by delusion and so he went up the hillside. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Dawn was breaking and there they were. He smelled the fire still burning slightly but it was silent still. The only noises to be heard was his breath and the hooting of the owls around. He outlined 4 tents around the fire and thought that it was worth the wait to see if one of the men were fitting his scheme. Meanwhile he figured out that he will wait till the right one had to go peeing in the woods and wanted to capture that person style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanSo he waited…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"strongspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"…In Mulder and Scully's room, Crater Lake Lodge, 5.00 a.m./span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Still lying in the same position they fell asleep in, Mulder began to stir and found himself surrounded by his partner. Immediately, span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanhe smiled and felt very secure. He wanted to see her face when she opened her eyes, so he turned in her embrace. Of course she woke up from that gentle movement and looked at him. Mulder had the most loving expression in his face and she smiled back in response. "Morning, partner" he said. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Morning" she replied and they embraced tighter. She loosened her grip a bit to look up at him. He couldn't help himself by this whirlwind of loving feelings for her and rained soft sweet kisses over her face, her neck and her ears. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Responding to him she intertwined their legs which urged him on even more. The soft kisses became deeper and he stopped at the corner of her mouth. She then looked deep into his eyes and tilted her head a little to give him better access, breathing already ragged. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"He brushed her lips first lightly, slightly tugging on her bottom lip as if to catch them, but she captured his first and kissed him with all her heart. His tongue rolled over hers and they mingled their now short breaths. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"At the same time he rolled her on her back, she opened her legs so he could nestle in there. Scully could feel his strong erection at her center and got more and more aroused. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"He let his hand trail down her side to cup her breast first and then moving south to tug at her pajama bottoms, earning him a deep moan. She adapted the same motion from his neck, over his back to cup his rear cheeks, tugging at the elastic band at the top of his boxers. Both released primal groans into the other's mouth. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"She shoved the boxers down his buttocks and…BRING BRING BRING./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Mulder broke the kiss at the sound of his loudly ringing cell. \God, would you please stop, you stupid thing\, he thought. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Scully, not willing to break the physical connection just yet, encircled his waist with her arms when he sat up to answer the call. He ended the call, let his head fell to his chest, stroked her arms around his tummy and sighed deeply. She already knew that could only mean that the sheriff had called to make them come to the meeting earlier. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"He turned to face her and said "Sometimes I hate my stupid cell and wished I turned it off last night. The sheriff wants us to go to the ME's office first. The test results from Quantico came in and seem to be promising." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Scully cradled his face in her palms, smiled and said in a soft voice "That's our job and we have to save these people here. We can finish that later, even when it hurts to break that wonderful spell you had on me." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""A spell. Is it that what it felt like for you?" disappointment in his voice./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Devilishly smiling she answered: "Oh yeah and I hope you have more magic to play on me later. (sighing and taking a deep breath) You know, I cannot go back to just being partners and friends after what happened between us and I also don't want to. It feels so right and you were so right with us deserving happiness. You make me so happy and…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"She took another cleansing breath to make herself get the live-altering words out and went on "…I am so in love with you. Have been for years." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"He started trembling in her arms by being so taken aback and he cradled her face. "Dana, I love you, too. You don't know how much. I don't have words for what you mean to me and hearing that you feel the same way makes me unbelievably style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanGod, you are my everything. Nothing else seem to matter anymore." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"With these words, hearing them for the second time but being able to react on them this time, she kissed him tenderly, lingering in the moment, feeling heat in her belly rising anew and finding him having trouble to break the kiss, but knowing that they had to. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Fox, we have to get going, sweetheart". /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Oh, you called me sweetheart and Fox in the same sentence. How can I deny you anything ever." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"He kissed her quickly again and then stood up from the bed. It was nearly physically painful to leave the bed with her, but they had to stop a serial killer. Both knew that they had to do their job first before they could continue what they started. Otherwise it would be very frustrating. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"So they got dressed and headed for the ME's office. Holding open files on his lap and reading them while Scully drove, Mulder already lost himself in his profiler mode./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"strongspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"…Same time in the bushes behind the campsite, Cleetwood Trail/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Finally there was a movement around the tents as the sun came out fully. Tension and anger was rising in him again which drained his energy. He watched the four couples crawling out of their tents. The first two men were rather small fellas and definitely no subject for him. The other two looked more promising. He was nearly six feet tall, lanky but with strong arms and hands. Perfect, he thought. He followed him with his eyes, fixed his subject like an animal fixes his pray. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Ducking and crawling behind the bushes he got closer, so he could hear them talking. His subject said to the others that he was about to gather some berries for breakfast. Exactly what the hunter needed. He followed him without making any noise, which is rather difficult for a man of his statue but he managed it. 200 feet away from the camp the subject came to a holt and started peeing on a tree trunk, sighing at the release. Then he moved a bit further, looking for berry bushes. He didn't hear the huge man behind him as he suddenly got hit on the head and blacked out. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The hunter put his pray over his shoulder and moved as far away from the camp side as he could, downhill, heading for the lake's shore. As the thicket of bushes was dense enough that no one would see him, he let his still unconscious subject down to the ground. He turned his face towards him, kneeling down as far as he nearly touched the face with his nose and tried to sneeze. Finally, a huge hurtful sneeze erupted from his nostrils directly on the face of his subject. The mucus started moving as it did on the other victims and entered the nostrils. The man suddenly opened his eyes, panicked by the feeling of something creeping along his paranasal sinuses into his brain tissue. He started bleeding, shaking and writhing, eyes rolling back into its cavities. Shortly after that, he collapsed and stilled completely./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The hunter checked the pulse, weak but steady and the pupils, which were widely dilated. Sighing a deep sigh of relief, he sunk down to the ground and breathed heavily. Suddenly, his vision went black and then stopped breathing. The man lying next to the huge corpse of the former lumberjack started moving, lifted his head, fire in his eyes and came to stand above his hunter. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Then he took the axe, started swinging it above his head and let it fall down into the corpse, smashing the ribcage, then the skull with big force. Doing this, he felt an anger and rage in him, he never felt before. He also forgot who he was. The only thing he knew was to find someone to take his gift and pass it on. That was everything he wanted and needed. So he started strolling through the forest, walking to the lake's shore and drank some of the water, watching the Old Man in the Lake moving east way on the water. Feeling a strength he never felt before, he stood up and focused on finding a new host. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"strongspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"…At the ME's office, 6.30 pm/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The two agents entered the office of Dr. Perenty and were greeted with a mumble of a good morning. Scully already knew this mood and slightly touched Mulder's arm, indicating that it would be better to let her talk with him. Mulder nodded and let her go ahead, using a very calm tone on him. "Good Morning, Dr. Perenty. The sheriff told us, that you have news for us?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Perenty turned to face her and her partner and said "Yeah, if you want to call that news. The lab wrote into their report, that the substance you sent included spores of a very rare fungus. It may not be even found in the modern woods. A paleontologist had a look at it and said, that this fungus existed thousands of years ago in stone age times and still can be found in stone age stratums. However, it is very unlikely that it still produces spores. It seems to be impossible." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Mulder wanted to ask a question but was held back by Scully's look. Sensing the idea of his question, she then asked for Mulder in her best investigator voice. "Alright then, is there said how those spores could be found in a human brain tissue?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Dr. Perenty, acknowledging her thoroughness again, replied a simple "No. Maybe you should call some experts on that." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Mulder got into action and remembered his college friend, working for the USGS and went outside into the hallway to make his call. Scully thanked the doctor, took the report and said her good byes and met Mulder in the hallway. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Scully, I talked to my friend and he wants to meet us on the subject this afternoon. He also brings his paleo-biologist lab partner. Maybe they can lighten these strange circumstances of deaths for us." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Scully nodded and said "We have to go to the sheriff's department for the meeting. We are already late." So they went there, Mulder's hand on the small of her back as usual, making her feel comfortable./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"In the meeting Sheriff Miller announced that the CSI didn't find new traces, but he outlined them on a map so that everybody could make out the trail of the footsteps. Mulder was immensely concentrating on this map and without warning he told the others, that there seems to be a pattern of walking near the lake's shore all around the lake, always keeping in the thicket. So the crime scenes also were near the shore. He also linked it to the older cases of the fifties, saying that there have been a similar picking of crime scenes. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The others were astonished by this new hint and also said that the connection to the old cases was ridiculous. Contradicting his colleagues, Miller thought about that for a while and said "Holy Christ, maybe we can find him that way. Pair up and walk along those trails. Everybody on that. NOW!" The officers started moving with grunting and sighing for another day of hiking and sharply glanced at Mulder while they left the room./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Making friends already, Agent Mulder." Miller said. "Better that they find something, or they won't be willing to do that again. So I certainly hope this isn't only a hunch of yours."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Mulder looked the man straight in the eye and said "You know, profiling is based on following traces, making out patterns, finding the missing link to get into the killer's head. I know it often seems to come out of the blue, but believe me, when I do profiling I am not stopping till I crawled into the monster's brain and track him down, even if it costs all my energy. Maybe you should explain that to your deputies." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Miller was surprised by the sharpness of Mulder's tone but also impressed. This man definitely knows how to stand his ground. "Alright, Agent Mulder, then what can I do for you to make the process quicker." Mulder stood back and softened his features. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""I need all the reports, especially the ones from the CSI. Scully and I are consulting experts this afternoon on a substance we found on the victims. Meanwhile, I need an office with a big wall and a table so that I can outlay everything to get the overview that I need." The sheriff nodded and passed Scully. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"They followed him to an empty room with a table and a huge bulletin board. Then a secretary brought the boxes of reports and Mulder got to work without a word. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"After two hours, Scully and him finished pinning everything to the boards. Fotos of the crime scenes and the victims, important parts of the reports, notes of him and of course the map of the sheriff in the center of everything. Mulder called Scully for help while sitting at the edge of the table, looking at the board in front of them. First, she waited for a reaction of his, but knew that asking him for any would only cause odd responses, so she tried to come up with her own ideas. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Scully didn't see connections between the crime scenes at first, but then suddenly grabbed Mulder's hand and said "Look, it's not only the trails around the lake, it all is near that tree trunk in the water on the northern side of the lake. Think that this has something to do with that fungus in the brain of the killer?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Mulder blinked twice before his mind reeled. "Oh yes. There must be a link between the movements of that thing and the picked crime scenes. It is like that the perpetrator is drawn to those places, even if they seem arbitrary at first. He ends up there any time. I guess, we should see that thing and ask the local rangers to assist us. Maybe there is a pattern to the movement of that log in the water." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Smiling at him she picked up the phone and called the ranger's office. "They'll meet us tomorrow morning at that spot there. (pointing at a certain point on the map) We can drive to that parking lot and hike down a mile to the "Old man in the lake". /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""The what?" he asked. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""That's how they called that old tree log. There seems to be a story behind that one."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Awesome, Scully. It seems we are making some progress here." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"They smiled at each other and then left the room to meet with the USGS. However, Scully thought that his behavior wasn't like him in such cases and wondered how she could approach that sensitive subject./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"strongspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The forest around Crater Lake, northern shore, same time /span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"After his last attempt to find a proper host, he nearly lost his mind completely. Feeling constantly frustrated and angry as hell, he had problems concentrating. The next pick must be it or he will die himself. He knew it. That thing in his head throbbed and ached madly and he knew it was mushing his brain tissue. His only chance was a host, that would be as strong as he was. That's why he wasn't looking for women. Yesterday, he strolled through the Cleetwood Trail, leading to the shore on the one side and on the other to the highest peak of the mountains. He detected 4 pairs of tourists hiking around there. He didn't see them coming back down, so he guessed they must be camping there. That urged him on to walk the trail this night, hoping to find these people tomorrow. His plan was to separate them by delusion and so he went up the hillside. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Dawn was breaking and there they were. He smelled the fire still burning slightly but it was silent still. The only noises to be heard was his breath and the hooting of the owls around. He outlined 4 tents around the fire and thought that it was worth the wait to see if one of the men were fitting his scheme. Meanwhile he figured out that he will wait till the right one had to go peeing in the woods and wanted to capture that person style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanSo he waited…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"strongspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"…In Mulder and Scully's room, Crater Lake Lodge, 5.00 a.m./span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Still lying in the same position they fell asleep in, Mulder began to stir and found himself surrounded by his partner. Immediately, span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanhe smiled and felt very secure. He wanted to see her face when she opened her eyes, so he turned in her embrace. Of course she woke up from that gentle movement and looked at him. Mulder had the most loving expression in his face and she smiled back in response. "Morning, partner" he said. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Morning" she replied and they embraced tighter. She loosened her grip a bit to look up at him. He couldn't help himself by this whirlwind of loving feelings for her and rained soft sweet kisses over her face, her neck and her ears. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Responding to him she intertwined their legs which urged him on even more. The soft kisses became deeper and he stopped at the corner of her mouth. She then looked deep into his eyes and tilted her head a little to give him better access, breathing already ragged. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"He brushed her lips first lightly, slightly tugging on her bottom lip as if to catch them, but she captured his first and kissed him with all her heart. His tongue rolled over hers and they mingled their now short breaths. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"At the same time he rolled her on her back, she opened her legs so he could nestle in there. Scully could feel his strong erection at her center and got more and more aroused. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"He let his hand trail down her side to cup her breast first and then moving south to tug at her pajama bottoms, earning him a deep moan. She adapted the same motion from his neck, over his back to cup his rear cheeks, tugging at the elastic band at the top of his boxers. Both released primal groans into the other's mouth. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"She shoved the boxers down his buttocks and…BRING BRING BRING./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Mulder broke the kiss at the sound of his loudly ringing cell. \God, would you please stop, you stupid thing\, he thought. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Scully, not willing to break the physical connection just yet, encircled his waist with her arms when he sat up to answer the call. He ended the call, let his head fell to his chest, stroked her arms around his tummy and sighed deeply. She already knew that could only mean that the sheriff had called to make them come to the meeting earlier. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"He turned to face her and said "Sometimes I hate my stupid cell and wished I turned it off last night. The sheriff wants us to go to the ME's office first. The test results from Quantico came in and seem to be promising." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Scully cradled his face in her palms, smiled and said in a soft voice "That's our job and we have to save these people here. We can finish that later, even when it hurts to break that wonderful spell you had on me." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""A spell. Is it that what it felt like for you?" disappointment in his voice./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Devilishly smiling she answered: "Oh yeah and I hope you have more magic to play on me later. (sighing and taking a deep breath) You know, I cannot go back to just being partners and friends after what happened between us and I also don't want to. It feels so right and you were so right with us deserving happiness. You make me so happy and…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"She took another cleansing breath to make herself get the live-altering words out and went on "…I am so in love with you. Have been for years." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"He started trembling in her arms by being so taken aback and he cradled her face. "Dana, I love you, too. You don't know how much. I don't have words for what you mean to me and hearing that you feel the same way makes me unbelievably style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanGod, you are my everything. Nothing else seem to matter anymore." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"With these words, hearing them for the second time but being able to react on them this time, she kissed him tenderly, lingering in the moment, feeling heat in her belly rising anew and finding him having trouble to break the kiss, but knowing that they had to. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Fox, we have to get going, sweetheart". /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Oh, you called me sweetheart and Fox in the same sentence. How can I deny you anything ever." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"He kissed her quickly again and then stood up from the bed. It was nearly physically painful to leave the bed with her, but they had to stop a serial killer. Both knew that they had to do their job first before they could continue what they started. Otherwise it would be very frustrating. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"So they got dressed and headed for the ME's office. Holding open files on his lap and reading them while Scully drove, Mulder already lost himself in his profiler mode./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"strongspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"…Same time in the bushes behind the campsite, Cleetwood Trail/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Finally there was a movement around the tents as the sun came out fully. Tension and anger was rising in him again which drained his energy. He watched the four couples crawling out of their tents. The first two men were rather small fellas and definitely no subject for him. The other two looked more promising. He was nearly six feet tall, lanky but with strong arms and hands. Perfect, he thought. He followed him with his eyes, fixed his subject like an animal fixes his pray. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Ducking and crawling behind the bushes he got closer, so he could hear them talking. His subject said to the others that he was about to gather some berries for breakfast. Exactly what the hunter needed. He followed him without making any noise, which is rather difficult for a man of his statue but he managed it. 200 feet away from the camp the subject came to a holt and started peeing on a tree trunk, sighing at the release. Then he moved a bit further, looking for berry bushes. He didn't hear the huge man behind him as he suddenly got hit on the head and blacked out. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The hunter put his pray over his shoulder and moved as far away from the camp side as he could, downhill, heading for the lake's shore. As the thicket of bushes was dense enough that no one would see him, he let his still unconscious subject down to the ground. He turned his face towards him, kneeling down as far as he nearly touched the face with his nose and tried to sneeze. Finally, a huge hurtful sneeze erupted from his nostrils directly on the face of his subject. The mucus started moving as it did on the other victims and entered the nostrils. The man suddenly opened his eyes, panicked by the feeling of something creeping along his paranasal sinuses into his brain tissue. He started bleeding, shaking and writhing, eyes rolling back into its cavities. Shortly after that, he collapsed and stilled completely./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The hunter checked the pulse, weak but steady and the pupils, which were widely dilated. Sighing a deep sigh of relief, he sunk down to the ground and breathed heavily. Suddenly, his vision went black and then stopped breathing. The man lying next to the huge corpse of the former lumberjack started moving, lifted his head, fire in his eyes and came to stand above his hunter. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Then he took the axe, started swinging it above his head and let it fall down into the corpse, smashing the ribcage, then the skull with big force. Doing this, he felt an anger and rage in him, he never felt before. He also forgot who he was. The only thing he knew was to find someone to take his gift and pass it on. That was everything he wanted and needed. So he started strolling through the forest, walking to the lake's shore and drank some of the water, watching the Old Man in the Lake moving east way on the water. Feeling a strength he never felt before, he stood up and focused on finding a new host. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"strongspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"…At the ME's office, 6.30 pm/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The two agents entered the office of Dr. Perenty and were greeted with a mumble of a good morning. Scully already knew this mood and slightly touched Mulder's arm, indicating that it would be better to let her talk with him. Mulder nodded and let her go ahead, using a very calm tone on him. "Good Morning, Dr. Perenty. The sheriff told us, that you have news for us?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Perenty turned to face her and her partner and said "Yeah, if you want to call that news. The lab wrote into their report, that the substance you sent included spores of a very rare fungus. It may not be even found in the modern woods. A paleontologist had a look at it and said, that this fungus existed thousands of years ago in stone age times and still can be found in stone age stratums. However, it is very unlikely that it still produces spores. It seems to be impossible." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Mulder wanted to ask a question but was held back by Scully's look. Sensing the idea of his question, she then asked for Mulder in her best investigator voice. "Alright then, is there said how those spores could be found in a human brain tissue?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Dr. Perenty, acknowledging her thoroughness again, replied a simple "No. Maybe you should call some experts on that." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Mulder got into action and remembered his college friend, working for the USGS and went outside into the hallway to make his call. Scully thanked the doctor, took the report and said her good byes and met Mulder in the hallway. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Scully, I talked to my friend and he wants to meet us on the subject this afternoon. He also brings his paleo-biologist lab partner. Maybe they can lighten these strange circumstances of deaths for us." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Scully nodded and said "We have to go to the sheriff's department for the meeting. We are already late." So they went there, Mulder's hand on the small of her back as usual, making her feel comfortable./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"In the meeting Sheriff Miller announced that the CSI didn't find new traces, but he outlined them on a map so that everybody could make out the trail of the footsteps. Mulder was immensely concentrating on this map and without warning he told the others, that there seems to be a pattern of walking near the lake's shore all around the lake, always keeping in the thicket. So the crime scenes also were near the shore. He also linked it to the older cases of the fifties, saying that there have been a similar picking of crime scenes. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The others were astonished by this new hint and also said that the connection to the old cases was ridiculous. Contradicting his colleagues, Miller thought about that for a while and said "Holy Christ, maybe we can find him that way. Pair up and walk along those trails. Everybody on that. NOW!" The officers started moving with grunting and sighing for another day of hiking and sharply glanced at Mulder while they left the room./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Making friends already, Agent Mulder." Miller said. "Better that they find something, or they won't be willing to do that again. So I certainly hope this isn't only a hunch of yours."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Mulder looked the man straight in the eye and said "You know, profiling is based on following traces, making out patterns, finding the missing link to get into the killer's head. I know it often seems to come out of the blue, but believe me, when I do profiling I am not stopping till I crawled into the monster's brain and track him down, even if it costs all my energy. Maybe you should explain that to your deputies." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Miller was surprised by the sharpness of Mulder's tone but also impressed. This man definitely knows how to stand his ground. "Alright, Agent Mulder, then what can I do for you to make the process quicker." Mulder stood back and softened his features. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""I need all the reports, especially the ones from the CSI. Scully and I are consulting experts this afternoon on a substance we found on the victims. Meanwhile, I need an office with a big wall and a table so that I can outlay everything to get the overview that I need." The sheriff nodded and passed Scully. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"They followed him to an empty room with a table and a huge bulletin board. Then a secretary brought the boxes of reports and Mulder got to work without a word. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"After two hours, Scully and him finished pinning everything to the boards. Fotos of the crime scenes and the victims, important parts of the reports, notes of him and of course the map of the sheriff in the center of everything. Mulder called Scully for help while sitting at the edge of the table, looking at the board in front of them. First, she waited for a reaction of his, but knew that asking him for any would only cause odd responses, so she tried to come up with her own ideas. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Scully didn't see connections between the crime scenes at first, but then suddenly grabbed Mulder's hand and said "Look, it's not only the trails around the lake, it all is near that tree trunk in the water on the northern side of the lake. Think that this has something to do with that fungus in the brain of the killer?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Mulder blinked twice before his mind reeled. "Oh yes. There must be a link between the movements of that thing and the picked crime scenes. It is like that the perpetrator is drawn to those places, even if they seem arbitrary at first. He ends up there any time. I guess, we should see that thing and ask the local rangers to assist us. Maybe there is a pattern to the movement of that log in the water." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Smiling at him she picked up the phone and called the ranger's office. "They'll meet us tomorrow morning at that spot there. (pointing at a certain point on the map) We can drive to that parking lot and hike down a mile to the "Old man in the lake". /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""The what?" he asked. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""That's how they called that old tree log. There seems to be a story behind that one."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Awesome, Scully. It seems we are making some progress here." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"They smiled at each other and then left the room to meet with the USGS. However, Scully thought that his behavior wasn't like him in such cases and wondered how she could approach that sensitive subject./span/p