Chapter Eight
The next day – Georgetown Memorial Hospital Car Park – 8.09pm
Scully opened the car door and climbed inside. She looked down awkwardly as he fastened her seatbelt. He hadn't spoken to her much since their argument. She hated this coldness between them.
Mulder opened the passenger door and got inside, knocking his arm accidentally on the inside of the car door as he got in. Scully turned to look at him in shock as he banged his arm and gasped in pain.
'You ok?' She asked with concern. But Mulder didn't answer her and slammed the door. She looked back to the dash board and felt pain stab her heart.
'All right then..' She muttered, and started up the car. Mulder continued to ignore her and she noticed out of the corner of her eye that he was staring out of the window. She turned onto the main street and switched on her headlights. The roads were quite quiet, it was a Tuesday night.
They sat in silence.
Mulder felt the fury and heart ache burn in his chest. He couldn't believe that she was going to go back to her old job, not now. He had just got back into the swing of it again. He couldn't go back to that cabin and just sit there, alone, doing nothing. And she had even suggested that he continue without her?
'No way Scully.. are you insane?' He had exclaimed.
But now here they were, sitting in her car silently. Like worst enemies. He hated it, but he wasn't going to speak to her as he knew that she would say something that hurt him. He shifted in annoyance and reached with his good arm to the handle to put the car seat back. He would sleep. That would make this awful journey go faster.
He heard her heavy sigh and he closed his eyes, trying to block her out.
'Mulder?' She started timidly. He ignored her.
'Are we really going to sit here in silence?' She continued. He lay still. 'I know that you're not asleep.' She said dryly.
'Good night Scully.' He said flatly.
He felt her put down her foot and accelerate alarmingly fast.
He was worried about her, of course he was. He didn't want it to be like this. He wanted to hold her and to make everything ok.. but he was broken, all over again.
He watched as they pulled up at the Motel. They had been clever, they had checked into a different one this time, but he knew it was them. He felt a smile crawl up his lips. He had them now, he would show them. No one was going to stop him. He saw the red headed lady get out of the car first, then walk around to the passenger side. He tilted his head, studying her. She was beautiful and held herself well. She looked like she was intelligent. A doctor may be, or a lecturer. She looked well educated and he was impressed at how well she groomed herself.
He waited as she stood by the passenger door and gazed in through the window. He thinned his eyes as he tried to work out what was happening. He thought he could see her saying something. There was a pause. Suddenly the door swung open with force and she was nearly knocked out of the way. She looked shocked, hurt even. He frowned in amusement as he studied them. Something had gone wrong. Something wasn't the same between them.
Then he saw him get out of the car, his arm in a sling. He scowled as he was frustrated that he hadn't got rid of him properly the first time.
The FBI man slammed the door at her, and she recoiled in shock. She looked furious, and she turned on her heels towards the motel.
Now it was clear, they had fallen out.
It had been because of him, he was sure. It had to be. He was happy about that.
The smile erupted from his lips as he saw the FBI man shake his head in sadness as he watched her storm up the steps to reception. He saw her reach into her pocket and bring out a wallet.. no a badge. She was FBI too, he knew it. He had been right, she was his partner.
She must mean the world to him.
He smiled again, planning his attack.
Mulder and Scully knocked on the door. They stood in silence as they waited. There was a small sound from the other side of the door and it creaked open.
'Good morning, my name is Fox Mulder with the FBI and this is my…' He paused, catching Scully's stare briefly, '-Partner.. Dana Scully.' He said with difficulty. He heart ached again. This was may be the last time that he would get to say these words. He couldn't bear the thought of it.
'We are here to speak to you about your daughter, Tessie.' Scully asked. She glanced back at Mulder briefly and then back to Mrs Shearan.
'We are sorry for you loss.' Mulder sad in a heartfelt tone. He felt responsible for Tessie. He couldn't help it.
'It's ok.. please, come in.' She said, tears running down her cheeks. Mulder frowned in sympathy and walked in, brushing past Scully brazenly and leaving her on the door step. She opened her mouth in shock at his rudeness and stared for a moment in disbelief.
'Please dear.. come inside..' Mrs Shearan said, motioning for Scully to come in. Mulder didn't look at her.
'Thank you.' Scully snapped, trying to keep calm.
'Mrs Shearan, I'm so sorry about what happened to Tessie. I was here, two days ago. I ordered the police to protect her, but somehow.. for reasons no one can yet explain, someone got to her anyway.'
'They said that she killed herself!' She cried out. Scully reached out to put a hand on her arm to steady her. She looked like she was in state.
'Sit down.. please.' Scully said softly, and Mrs Shearan nodded in approval. Scully led her to the nearest armchair. Mulder sighed and put his good hand on his hips.
'I know this is difficult for you..' Mulder started, still not acknowledging Scully. 'But I need to know what you think happened, to your daughter.'
'She did NOT kill herself.' Mrs Shearan cried out, the sorrow erupting from her chest. Scully felt it. She blinked back suppressed tears.
'What happened?' Mulder asked, urging her to continue.
'There hasn't been an autopsy yet.' She started, and Scully knew that she was going to do that next. 'But they said that they found her hanging from the ceiling. She had a lamp in the living room…' She started, then broke off, tears streaming down her face. Mulder shifted in frustration. He didn't want to push her but he had to hear her out.
'So she appeared to have hung herself?' He asked in a low voice. Mrs Shearan let out another sob. Scully rushed to her and put a hand on her shoulder in concern. She flashed an angry glace at Mulder to show that she disagreed with his questioning. Mulder shook his head and turned away from her, as her look sent chills down his spine. He walked towards the sideboard and took a deep breath, putting his hand on his broken arm.
'It's all right..' Scully soothed her, handing her a tissue from the coffee table. 'I'm sorry that we came so early.'
Scully couldn't help it but her recent loss had made her more sympathetic than usual. Mulder listened to her from across the room, knowing that she was relating to this lady. He wanted to comfort Scully, to speak to her about it.
'We will find out what happened. I am going to do an autopsy, as long as that is ok with the family?' She asked softly, and Mrs Shearan nodded. 'Ok, and we are going to find out who did this, and we will stop them.'
'I know who did it.' Mrs Shearan blurted out suddenly. Scully took a breath and Mulder turned to look at Mrs Shearan again.
'It was him – the man that she was so afraid of. She had told me about him, I hadn't believed her at first but… it just didn't make sense that she was at all the suicides, watching. She had seen him multiple times. He had followed her home, she was sure of it. I know it was him.. he.. he controlled her somehow..'
'This man - he wore a hooded cloak or something right?' Mulder asked, now fully engaged. Scully looked at her Mulder. He was switched on, ready for anything. She loved this about him, when he was so determined to help. She looked away sadly as she felt the heartbreak come over her again.
'Yes! She said that he looked like he was wearing a medieval cloak or a hooded shawl.. I don't know.. she said that he had terrifying, piercing eyes and that he spoke in tongues! Like the devil! Oh my poor Tessie… my poor, poor little girl..' She said desperately, the tears falling again. Scully swallowed awkwardly and looked to the floor, the memories of her mother's death and the words she had spoken to Mulder about William filling her ears..
She stood up abruptly and glanced at Mulder.
'Mulder I'm going to do the autopsy.' She said, Mulder glanced her briefly and nodded. 'Thank you for your time Mrs Shearan.' And she left the house.
Mulder sighed as she went through the door, forcing himself to stay. He didn't want her to go on her own. He could tell that she was hurting.
'You have to find him, and stop him Agent Mulder!' Mrs Shearan begged. Mulder nodded.
'I will.. I just have to work out how.'
'How did you get your cast?' She asked sniffing away the tears and pointed to Mulder's arm. He looked down at it then back to Mrs Shearan.
'He got me too.' He said in a small voice.
Mrs Shearan opened her eyes wide with fear.
Local County Morgue – 3.36pm
She pushed up her shoulders then pushed them back down again, then wrung her neck from side to side. Her whole back ached. She was exhausted and hadn't had a good night sleep in days. She had struggled to sleep at the motel last night, even in a proper bed. She had forced herself to stay in her bed and to not go and knock on his door. She had wanted to, in the dead of night. She hadn't cared at the time, she had just wanted to comfort him and fall into his strong arms and to tell him that she was sorry. That would have been the easy thing to do.
But she knew by now that this was never going to be easy. She had found it so hard when she had left him, and it had taken her weeks to get used to the idea that she could live without him, just about. She had still felt an emptiness in her heart, but she had managed to get stuck into work and get on with her life.
But now, she was back working with him. She was back in the same position she had been all those years ago, and she was falling deeper in love with him again – she had never stopped loving him, she knew that – but when they worked together it was just something else – they were meant to be together.
She sighed and blinked back a sad tear as she thought of his reaction when she had told him she was going back to Our Lady of Sorrows. It had crushed her, seeing him like that again. She didn't want him to circle the drain again, she couldn't watch him do that to himself again.
She suddenly felt guilty and ashamed. She had gotten too emotional about all of this – but she was still hurting. She knew it. She had spent a day grieving her mother, and then Mulder had nearly been taken from her too. It had been too much for her to bear.
She placed the scalpel down on the table and reached up to the light. She hadn't found any evidence of foul play, she just had to believe him. Tessie's body was a classic case of suicide by hanging. She couldn't see any other proof to say otherwise.
She was just about to switch the light off when she saw that it flickered. She frowned in confusion and pulled her hand away from it, but it flickered again. She sighed as she ignored it and put the now clean scissors down next to the scalpel. It's sharp blades shone and reflected the light off it into her eyes. Scully blinked, longing for her bed. She would get a nap before they got something to eat. Then she would speak to Mulder, and hopefully clear all of this up.
The light burst into a cloud of smoke and sparks flew.
Scully exclaimed in shock as she was plunged into darkness. She looked around the room, trying to adjust her eyes. She blinked, and started to walk back towards the door, on the far side of the morgue. She was the only person down here, she was sure.
'Dammit!' She exclaimed as she painfully crashed into another autopsy table. Her hip throbbed and she put her hand to it, grimacing in pain. 'Mother Fu..' She started to curse, then hobbled in the direction of the door. She scrambled for her phone in her pocket and felt it against her scrubs. She pushed it up and out of her pocket, but as she was scrambling for it she heard a voice right in her ear. Scully shouted out in shock as it made her jump and she dropped her phone, the screen smashing as it hit the hard concrete floor. She felt her stomach turn in fear. Now she felt like there was a presence in the room with her. She was sure she had heard a voice.. or was it her mind playing tricks on her?
'Who's there?' She shouted out shakily, trying to work out where in the room she was. She staggered towards the nearest autopsy table, the one she had walked into and moved her hand across it, trying to find the nearest knife to use to defend herself. She felt her hand grab onto something sharp, and she cursed as she felt the scalpel cut her.
But she didn't care, she just wanted to have it ready, just in case.
She drew it up towards the front of her eyes, holding it out ready to attack.
To her horror, she heard the voice again. She realised it was chanting. She couldn't make sense of what it was saying, but it reminded her of ancient pagan words. She had heard something similar like it before, when they had been on one of their early cases. It made her shiver in fear.
'Stop it!' She shouted out. Her heart beat fast in her chest. 'Don't come any closer!'
To her horror, she felt overcome by a force that she couldn't explain. Her arm started to turn towards her. She frowned in disbelief as the chanting got louder and started to ring in her ears. She saw the sharp blade turn towards herself, and she tried to move her arm, but she couldn't. It was like she was possessed. She started to panic.
'NO! PLEASE!' She screamed, seeing the blade getting nearer to her neck. She fought hard against it, but it was useless. Tears streamed down her face as she felt the frustration and fear fill her chest. 'PLEASE STOP IT!' She begged, the chanting now deafening.
'Scully?'
It was Mulder. He was here. She felt relief wash over her.
'MULDER!' She screamed, the scalpel still dangerous near her neck. She tried to turn towards the sound of his voice but she couldn't move.
'SCULLY!' He shouted again, his change of tone distinctly noticeable. It sounded like he was in the corridor just outside the door.
'MULDEEEER!' She shouted. 'HELP ME!'
The chanting was deafening now. She cried out in pain as the scalpel cut into her neck. She felt her arm force it into her skin, slicing it open. The blood spilled down her chest.
Suddenly the door crashed open and a pool of light filled the room.
'SCULLYYYYY!' Mulder shouted in horror as he saw her.
The chanting stopped completely. She froze as she released the scalpel from her hand and it clanged as it hit the hard floor. Gasping in shock she felt the hold on her body drop completely, and the light switched back on, shocking her back into reality. She whimpered as her body dropped and she felt herself fall to the floor in a weak heap.
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