| Mulder raised his eyebrow finding it hard to believe his perfect partner could commit such a devious crime. Mulder walked into the bathroom and began to look around. “Mulder, I remember something I saw when we last checked out this crime scene.” “What’s that?” Mulder asked crawling under one of the stall doors. Scully pointed to a spot under the sink remembering where she had seen the spot of black she had mistaken as soda. Mulder looked to where she was pointing and bent down to gather it. Scully threw a pair of latex gloves at him and he snapped them on his hands. He picked up the black goo and smelled it. “It’s gasoline.” He confirmed. Scully handed him a small bag marked evidence. He scraped the gasoline inside and sealed the bag. He stood up and walked out of the bathroom and back down the hall. “Where are you going?” Scully asked sticking her head out of the bathroom. “To find Piper and Erin before they leave.” He said continuing to walk. Scully followed him closing the door behind her. Mulder made his way up the stairs back to Piper’s mom’s room. Piper and Erin were still sitting on the windowsill. They appeared to be in shock. Neither of them moved nor spoke. They didn’t know what to do, after what they had seen, they needed to be assured this wouldn’t happen to them. “Piper…Erin.” Mulder said walking down the hallway. They both looked up at him. Their eyes were droopy and sad. “How good of friends were Rose and Will?” “Really close.” Piper said not wanting to say complete sentences. Her mind wouldn’t allow her to think at the time. It was as if all the information had been erased. Everything she had ever memorized was now gone. She tried thinking of anything but the murders she had seen but not even Sailor Moon could comfort her. She knew she had been right there before with the previous murders. She had gone through the same phase and had recovered but this was different. This wasn’t a far away camp but her school. “They were like best friends since they were three or something.” Erin explained looking at Mulder. He stared into the frightened teenager’s eyes. She had seen things that no one should have to see. “I feel so bad that I was mean to him.” Piper said. “I never said a good thing about him for as long as I can remember.” A tear rolled down Piper’s cheek but she brushed it away. This life shouldn’t have meant anything to her but some how, it did. Mulder walked a little behind him to where Scully was standing. He tapped her shoulder and led her into a corner. She looked up into his eyes and wondered what was going on. “Scully, nothing about this case makes sense.” Mulder whispered not wanting the girls to be able to overhear her. “The victims have nothing in common.” “If you ask me they have everything in common.” Scully said. Mulder gave her a strange look. “Both of them died in a bathroom. In both crime scenes we found the tiniest amount of gasoline. Each of them supposedly was wearing a wool sweater before they died. I think what we need to do next is talk to Rose’s family.” “You can’t.” Piper said walking from behind them. Obviously she had overheard the entire conversation. Erin walked slightly behind her, not aware of exactly what Piper and the agents had previously been through. “Rose’s funeral is today in about a half hour.” Erin said. “I’m assuming her parents would be there.” Piper commented. “They probably already left.” “And we think you’re right, Agent Scully, there’s a definite pattern to the two victims.” Erin explained. “I haven’t seen gasoline in the girl’s or boy’s bathroom in the two years I’ve been here.” Piper said. “Anyway, if you’ll excuse us we’d like to attend Rose’s funeral.” Erin said rather snotty like. Erin and Piper turned around and walked down the hall. They walked down the stairs and out into the parking lot. Scully went to the window and watched as they climbed into Piper’s car and drove away. “Mulder, those girls knew exactly what we talked about. They’re a little suspicious.” Scully said stepping away from the window. “I’m going to go do the autopsy, to see if there’s anything else I can find.” Scully opened the doors to the stairs and began down them. When she saw Mulder wasn’t following she stopped. Scully looked out through the small windows of the doors but Mulder wasn’t coming. She made her way back up the stairs and through the doors. “You coming, Mulder?” She asked. “No, you go ahead. Slicing and dicing is in your job description. I called a Taxi.” “Where are you going?” Scully asked for the third time on this particular investigation. “To Rose’s funeral.” Mulder said. Scully nodded and went back down the stairs. Two hours later, the funeral was over. It ended in a beautiful, small cemetery. Rose’s grave was covered in flowers and it looked lovely. Students lined the cemetery. Some of them were her friends while others came because they felt it was their duty to come. Rose’s family huddled in a small circle. Her father stood to the side not wanting to mourn with the rest. Mulder stood not far from Piper and Erin. They had changed into entire black clothes, much like the rest of the people. The people broke up one by one. Many of them spoke to the family to offer their condolences, others left without saying a word. Mulder waited until just the family was left. Rose’s father still stood by himself in a corner possibly mourning his own death after his child was gone. Mulder walked to Rose’s mother and tapped her on the shoulder. “Agent Mulder.” The woman said. Her face was stricken with tears and her eyes were full of water. “Mrs. Young, I’m sorry for your loss.” He said kindly. She managed a weak smile but it quickly turned into a frown. “I’m afraid I have some more bad news.” “Will?” She questioned. Mulder nodded. Quickly, more tears sprung to her already wet eyes. “I knew there was something wrong when he didn’t show up. What happened?” “Piper Alexander and Erin Pierce found him dead this morning in the boys bathroom at Gorton. He died in the same fashion your daughter did.” Mulder explained quietly. He tried to be subtle with the poor, aching woman. “The two girls told me your daughter was very close to William.” “Yes, she was.” “Mrs. Young I need to talk to you about your mother.” Mulder said. “I’m having this hunch that she has something to do with this. Tell me what happened.” She sighed but knew she had to tell the truth. “My mother isn’t really my mother. I was adopted after my biological parents died. I was raised as an only child without a father. I didn’t go to school but instead helped my mother with the farming and after a while, with the shearing of the sheep and the making of sweaters.” “Were you raised with the sheep from birth?” Mulder asked. “No, we won a lamb at a festival and we decided to breed to see if we could make more money. Well, by the end we ended up with over thirty sheep. My mom began to cut off the wool to make clothes for me but then we came to find out I was allergic to wool. My mom continued the line and put it on the market. After three weeks of producing them, the barn, that held all the sheep, burned down. My mother was killed in the fire and I lived on my own.” “But not before something else happened.” Mulder said rather as a question than a statement. “There were two reasons why my mother didn’t allow me to go to school. For one, she wanted me to help her but another and the main reason was because she hated boys. Her husband walked out on her after beating her and her original daughter, who died because of his beatings. She didn’t want me to get involved, but I did. I was rebellious because she wouldn’t let me have friends. Every week when I went to the supermarket I saw this boy. I’d sneak away sometimes and meet him without my mother knowing but it was only because I wanted to disobey her. He told me he loved me and I told him that I loved him, but I don’t think I really meant it.” “So your husband isn’t Rose’s father, is he?” Mulder asked. “No. I did it to be rebellious but my mother found out. I didn’t mean to get pregnant but it happened. My mother beat it out of me who the boy was, and she…” “She killed him, didn’t she?” “Yes.” Rose’s mother said. She was now balling like Mulder had never seen her do before. This was more than Rose’s death, this was her whole life. “And then the accident with the barn happened. I wanted to get out of there as soon as I could. I immediately stopped the line of sweaters and ran away. I managed to survive on my own. Then I found my husband and he understood what I went through. We got married the next summer." “Did you ever find your mother’s body?” Mulder asked. “No. But when I saw Rose’s body, I knew that was the way my mother died.” “Did you ever figure out how the barn burned down?” Mulder asked. “It had something to do with a gasoline leak. My mom had this really old, beat up car that she never used. She always stored extra gasoline but one day one of the sheep kicked it over. No body noticed and when my mom went in to check on the sheep the next morning, her lamp lit the gasoline and the entire place exploded.” The woman began to cry more hysterically now. “I’m sorry.” She said. |