Chapter two
Scully
Logically, Scully knew that the lack of morning coffee was not effecting her day. She had gotten a cup first thing when she got to work, and had steadily sipped it throughout all of her morning appointments. When that cup was empty, she moved on to a second, and a third after that. She had plenty of caffeine running through her system, and there was only more to come. She was exhausted though either way. And her mind just kept blaming the coffee and Mulder. She couldn't figure out how to get herself to move on from that no matter how hard she tried. She knew she was really snapping when she reduced a cancer patient to tears. Ellie always came into the hospital with an upbeat attitude. She was seven, but had been in chemo five or six times since birth. Scully loved working in oncology because it was so near and dear to her heart. Even though a lot of the stories were heart breaking, every child she saved made her feel like the Xfiles used to. That feeling when her and Mulder solved a case, whether it was paranormal or not made Scully's heart soar. When it came down to it, she just loved the feeling of helping the people around her. She didn't care if it was through the FBI, the paranormal, or doctoring Cancer patients. She just loved to see the people who she aided smile at the end of the day. So that's why she was so devastated when Ellie was brought to tears. The little girl always asked Scully the same question at the end of her appointments. "We can beat this Dr. Scully right?" Every time Scully answered that she knew they could because they were an unstoppable team. Today though, Ellie's prognosis was particularly grim. Scully let her mood and literal nature get the best of her when she answered, "I hope so." The girl tried to hide it but instantly she was reduced to tears, and Scully felt like the worst person in the world. As she continued through the appointments of her day, her mind kept wandering between Ellie and Mulder. She felt horrible for the way both situations were going and felt powerless to fix them.
Mulder
Before Mulder got to work, he decided to go to the grocery store. He picked up more KCups for Scully and several other things they needed around the house. He hoped this would put a smile on her face, or at the very least encourage her not to kill him when she got home. After returning home he started on his research. He sat straight backed in his stiff leather chair, pounding away on his lap top while he scoured the web. He started by looking for accident patterns over the last few months. It was harder to find these than one might think. The best patterns were ones that people hadn't even discovered yet, so it was hard to google that kind of thing. Even though he had started with the FBI before the internet was really popular for his line of work, he adapted to it's idiosyncrasies easily. He enjoyed searching and putting things together and it filled his heart with hope as he worked.
Eventually he found a situation that looked pretty promising. In the last ten years their had been ten deaths on Folly Beach, located in Charleston Sc. The weird thing about all of these deaths was the fact that each victim was left lying in bed, completely skinless. Weirdly enough, these deaths happened on the exact same day. Even more oddly, their were other scattered reporting on Folly beach throughout the years of patients being admitted to hospitals upon waking up with extreme shortness of breath. This entire sequence fit an urban myth of South Carolina perfectly, and Mulder was shocked nobody else had seen the obvious solution in this case.
The Legend of the Boo Hag
A long time ago, residents of Folly beach began to tell each other about the incredibly terrible and strong boo hag. The boo hag was similar to a vampire, but instead of feeding on people's blood it fed on their life force. Their life force came through their energy, and it was sucked out through the victim's mouth as they slept. The abnormal thing about the boo hag though, was its skin. Boo hag's did not have any skin of their own, so while traveling among mortals, it had to borrow the skin of another. If a victim fought a boo hag from taking their energy, it would remove their skin to add to it's ever-growing costume collection. It was rumored that the only way to stop a boo hag was to leave a broom by your bed. Instead of taking your energy or skin, the hag would become distracted by counting the broom bristles.
Mulder
This myth thrilled Mulder. It matched the crimes precisely. He had found a Monster in Charleston South Carolina. He couldn't think of a better place to woo Scully once more. The salty waters of the beach, accompanied by horse drawn carriages downtown and local seafood. He knew Scully might resist at first, but ultimately he knew this was going to bring his Scully back to him. He figured the best way to start this plan was a steak out. They could get a beach house and talk to residents as they enjoyed the fresh, salty, air. The best part was that the next boo hag incident was going to occur in two weeks, at least according to the pattern. Before he could stop himself, Mulder grabbed Scully's credit part and rented them two weeks in South Carolina.
By his estimation he had worked all of this out perfectly. He gave Scully a week to warn work and to pack, and he rented a beautiful beach house that she would love. It was true that it was a little more expensive than he thought it would be, but every cent was worth it. He could not wait to tell Scully all about his plan. He even put a powerpoint and travel guide together to show her once she got home.