| Title: Manhunt Rating: PG Copyright: The X-Files and its affiliated characters belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, and the Fox Network Summary: After a strange murder at a Girl Scout camp in Rhode Island, Mulder and Scully must solve the case with the help of two suspected teenagers Chapter 1 10:45 AM July 13, 1998 Foster, Rhode Island The girl stumbled up the long, hill. It had a slight incline so she trudged up, breathing heavily as she went. As she reached the top she viewed a large American flag waving in the distance. It was towards the edge of a large meadow, which was surrounded by trees on all sides. A wooden box was in the background and Sandy figured it was a latrine. She was walking into a Girl Scout camp that she would be spending the next two weeks at. It was an overnight camp but it was a day camp. Each day from seven in the morning until three o’clock in the afternoon, she was a prisoner of the camp. It was her first full day away from home and she was scared. She had already come in late due to the fact that she had overslept. This definitely wouldn’t be a good first impression. Sandy stopped in the middle of the dirt road and looked around. She could hear birds chirping away as well as a group of girls singing in the background. She smiled as she began to hum to the familiar Girl Scout song. Sandy turned around as she heard someone come out of the woods. It was a tall woman with dark, long hair. Her eyes seemed to be coated with a glossy covering. She looked as if she was in a trance and she didn’t recognize who she was. Sandy walked over to the woman, not knowing what else to do. She was completely clue less to where the lodge was and to where she would go to find out what to do. The woman didn’t seem to notice as Sandy walked closer to her. She continued to stare off into the woods as if something were there staring back at her. “Excuse me.” Sandy said. The woman changed her gaze from the woods down to Sandra. She smiled a sweet smile and licked her red lips. “Can I help you?” The woman asked. “I hope so.” Sandy began. “I came in late today and I need someone to direct me on where to go.” “I can’t help you.” The woman said sternly. She fixed her eyes back on the woods again. Sandy looked up at her and made a snotty face. The woman might not have been able to help her but she didn’t have to be so rude about it. Sandy looked into the strange woman’s eyes and found them to be weird. They seemed to be changing color every time she blinked. Sandy rubbed her own eyes thinking something was wrong with them. She looked back up again and the woman had vanished. Sandy was confused and worried but she wanted to get out of there as fast as she could. She began walking quickly down the only path that led from the meadow. Sandy looked back behind her to see if she could find the mysterious woman who had suddenly disappeared. She didn’t see her but instead she heard something in the woods. It was as if a large creature was running through the trees. Sandy began walking away quickly but then she quickened her pace to a jog. As she ran by the woods something stuck out and she ran right into it. She fell backwards onto her back and her belongings sprawled across the floor. She looked in front of her to see what was there but all she saw were two blinking eyes. Sandy tried to scream but the creature dragged her into the woods and no one could hear her cries. * * * * “So, who’s your favorite?” Trinity asked Piper. “Musician…um…I love that song by Bree Sharp called David Duchovny and Cher is really cool.” Piper paused. “Oh, and how could I forget, I like Celine Dion, too. How about you?” Trinity gasped and stopped short. Piper looked at her rather concerned, wondering what her problem was. “You really like Celine Dion?” “Like her…I love her. She has the most beautiful voice since…” “The invention of sliced bread.” Trinity finished. They walked along the path, heading towards the meadow. The girls continued to chat about the famous singer. They had just met each other that morning and after they had been paired up to do latrine duty, they began talking a lot. It was pretty boring having to clean a wooden bathroom all alone but they now had each other. Trinity knew that it would be the beginning of a new friendship. “What’s your favorite song?” Trinity asked. “I love If You Ask Me To but all of her songs are great.” Piper responded. The girls walked past their unit and saw everyone else burning something in the fire. A few of the girls waved to Piper and Trinity but they continued on their way. They continued to chat about Celine Dion. Piper looked to the woods and listened to the sound of rustling leaves. She swore she heard footsteps but no one was supposed to be in the woods. She brushed the feeling that something was out there as she continued to talk. Piper heard an engine sound behind her. She and Trinity went to the side of the road as they had been taught. Not many cars came down the road but once and a while a leader would need to get out of the camp. As Piper backed up to the side of the road and felt into a large pile of leaves. The car stopped in front of where Piper fell. “You okay?” The person asked from inside. Trinity and Piper quickly recognized it as Aloha, one of the camp’s organizers. Fine, just really clumsy.” Piper responded. The woman in the car nodded and continued to drive on her way. Piper stood up and dusted herself off. “Eww…what’s that smell?” Trinity suddenly asked. She plugged her nose with her fingers and looked around. “It smells like…rotten eggs and a skunk put together.” Piper said realizing what Trinity smelled. “It smells like a dead body.” Trinity answered. Piper felt something wet on her hand and she looked down at her fingers. A dark red smear was on her fingertips. Piper brought it up to her nose and smelled it and then swished it around a little with her fingers. “What’s that?” Trinity asked, seeing Piper’s fascination with her fingers. “It looks like…it looks like blood.” Piper stuttered. “Blood from what?” Trinity asked. She walked over to Piper and looked at her hand. “From that.” Piper said pointing to the pile of leaves that she had fallen into. A human hand was sticking up from under the leaves. From what Piper could see the palm and fingers of the hand were scratched severely and blood dripped down to the leaves below. Piper opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. Her voice was caught in her throat. Trinity looked up to Piper who’s jaw hung low. She, too, couldn’t scream. She knew that they should leave and tell an adult but they didn’t seem to have enough wit to leave the hand. “Maybe we should dig it out.” Trinity suggested. “No…we should just leave it where it is. I’m going to stay here and you go tell Lily, Bubbles, Daisy, Piglet…” Piper continued but Trinity didn’t wait for her to rack off more names. She began to run down the path, looking through the woods as she ran. She didn’t know who had put the hand there. She hoped it was just a joke but was it possible that the path used to be an old cemetery and the bodies were beginning to come unearthed or was it more plausible that someone had murdered the body and buried it there? Trinity walked faster towards the lodge not wanting to know the answers to the questions that spun through her head. She wanted to get to the lodge and come back so Piper wasn’t alone with the dead body. Trinity made it to the lodge and busted inside. She didn’t wait for someone to let her in, but instead she walked right over to Daisy and began blabbering about what had happened. Daisy made her slow down and Trinity told the story over again. Daisy made a worried look and left the lodge. The rest of the leaders stared at Trinity and Daisy as they left in a hurry. “Where is it?” Daisy asked. “Towards the meadow.” Trinity answered. “Who else knows about it?” “Just Piper and myself.” She responded. As they reached where the body was, Trinity saw Piper standing a few feet away from it. She held a large rock in her hand just in case the murderer tried to come back. Piper’s eyes moved from the dead body to Daisy and Trinity. “What are we going to do?” Piper asked. “Call the police.” Daisy answered. She commanded the two girls to stay by the body and not let anyone else see it. The girls did as told as they watched Daisy run back to the lodge to call the police. |
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