| “I don’t believe that you did kill her.” Scully said. She noticed strange looks as some of the other girls from Woodston began to stare. Some of them were still unsure of why the two strange people were there. Most of them didn’t even know they were from the FBI, and those who did know, weren’t sure of why they were there. “Let’s go talk on the other side of the road.” Scully said. She walked across the dirt path and the four girls followed. Piper wanted to be a part of the questioning. “First of all, for the record, what are your names?” Scully asked taking out a pen and pad from her pocket. She switched to a clean sheet and was ready to write what the girls told her. “I’m Faith Gibson.” One of the girls said. “I’m Madeline Quitson.” Another said. “And last but not least, I’m Nicole Nascar.” The last one answered. “Girls, do you know why Shannon was outside in the middle of the night?” Scully asked. “She had to go to the bathroom.” Madeline answered. “You guys are supposed to go to the bathroom using the buddy system.” Piper butted in. Scully gave her a stern look, telling her to be quiet. “None of us would get to go with her. So, I let her borrow my flashlight and she went to go.” Nicole said. “What would she be doing on the other side of the meadow? The latrine was totally on the other side from where she was found.” Piper said. Scully gave her another stern look. Piper took the hint and walked back towards her tent. “I forgot that my flashlight had run out of batteries, so I took them out that night. She probably went out of the tent, turned the flashlight on, realized it didn’t work, and then tried to make it to the latrine by herself.” Nicole explained. “Or she could have heard something in the woods and went to see what it was.” Faith guessed. “Did you girls hear anything last night?” Scully asked. “No, we were sound asleep until you guys came and woke us up. After that, none of us could sleep.” Madeline said. “What happened to her?” Faith asked. “We’re not sure, but whatever it is, it’s been killing for a long time.” Scully said. She heard the sound of an engine coming up the road so she excused herself. She walked to Piper first, wanting her to do something. “Piper, why don’t you go down and find Trinity and Agent Mulder. Tell him I’m going to perform the autopsy.” Scully said. Piper did as told and began walking down the path. As she walked, she thought about something that she had seen. After they had found Shannon’s body, she stayed awake, staring outside of the tent. She remembered seeing a flashing light. Could it have been Thumper’s eyes? Piper asked herself. Or was it Scully’s flashlight? She decided not to tell anyone until she was sure of what she saw. Piper walked onto the lodge porch and glared at Copper, who was sitting on one of the benches. Piper ignored her and knocked on the lodge door. Blue Jay came to the door as Mulder and Trinity exited. “Hey Piper.” Trinity said. She had obviously cooled down since her last encounter with Scully. “What’s up?” “Agent Mulder, Scully wanted me to tell you that she’s on her way to perform an autopsy.” Piper said. “Thank you.” Mulder said walking back down the path, towards the meadow. Trinity and Piper stood together, confused. “Where are you going?” Trinity called after him. “To sit in on the autopsy.” Mulder said. In the mean time Scully was just getting prepared to begin the autopsy. She tied the back of her clear, plastic apron around her waist. She grabbed a hair net from the shelf and looked into the mirror. She placed it on top of her head and tucked all of her loose hair inside. She picked up a face mask and put it over her mouth. She looked at herself in the mirror and then picked up a pair of goggles and she placed them on over her eyes. She sighed and walked into the autopsy room. Two men were beginning to put the body onto the table. Scully moved a tray of tools over to the table. She picked up a large knife and began to sharpen it by sliding it against another knife. The two men placed the body onto its back and uncovered her face. “I don’t know what’s going on at that camp.” The man began. “But what ever it is you better find out really quick. I’m getting tired of keep driving down there.” Scully quickly recognized the man as the van driver. She gave him a weak smile and walked over to the body. “We’re doing the best we can.” Scully said, trying to hurry the men out of the room. There was something about them that she didn’t like. They were creepy but she figured anyone who drives dead bodies around might be a little more than weird. Two hours later, Scully was still working on the girl. She heard a noise coming from behind her. She looked but there was nothing there. She grabbed one of the knives from the tray. It had blood on the end. She gripped it tightly and walked to the door, waiting for someone to enter. She sighed, trying to keep her wits. She looked around the room looking for her gun but she couldn’t remember where she had put it. The door swung open and Scully jumped in front of the person with knife in hand. Mulder through his hands up, not expecting someone to come at him with a knife. When Scully saw it was he, she was relieved. She put the knife back down on the tray and stepped back towards the body. “Mulder, what are you doing here?” Scully asked. “I came to sit in on the autopsy.” He said. “I began two hours ago. Where have you been since then?” “I went back to the hotel to take a shower and get something to eat. A night at camp can be pretty dirty.” Scully took off her gloves and through them onto the floor. She grabbed another pair from a box in the corner and snapped them onto her hands. She turned back towards the body and began digging through the girl. Mulder stood back and watched her work. She pulled something out of the body. It was long and covered in blood. It looked like a link of sausages. Mulder figured it was probably the large intestine. Scully placed it on a scale and measured it. She wrote the figures onto a chart and then went back to the body. “Is there something wrong, Scully?” Mulder asked a little while later. “What do you mean?” She asked, continuing to cut through bone in the body. “I mean, you’re awfully quiet.” He said. “I’m working.” She answered solemnly. “I know, but you seem like you’re butchering a pork roast, not a body.” He said. Scully didn’t respond. Mulder was concerned, knowing something was wrong. He had worked with Scully long enough to know something was up. “What is it?” “Mulder, I wasn’t completely honest with Trinity when she asked if I had seen something on my watch.” She said turning towards Mulder. “So you did see something.” Mulder gestured, hoping she would tell him what she had seen. “I saw something blinking in the woods.” “Blinking?” He questioned. “I’m not sure I follow.” Scully licked her lips and brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes. “I saw something in the woods. It appeared to be a human figure, but I can’t be sure. Whatever it was, it had blinking eyes. When I saw it, I went to pursue it into the woods but then it vanished. I looked for tracks or any sign of it but it was as if it just disappeared.” “Why did you lie to Trinity, or more, why did you lie to me?” “I didn’t want to believe what I saw but something inside of me is telling me that both Trinity and Piper have also seen it. After the autopsy, I want to sleep over again and talk to them.” “I’m afraid the only talking they’ve been doing is about Celine Dion. Those girls can certainly talk up a storm.” “You don’t suspect them, do you?” Scully asked, noticing a certain tone in Mulder’s voice. “I don’t know what to think. They are the only ones who don’t seem worried about themselves. Maybe that’s because they’re the murders.” “Maybe they’re just trying to be heroes.” Scully suggested. “For such big mouths, though, they’ve done a pretty good job of not letting their campmates know about the murders. Anyway, Mulder, I have to finish up here. Why don’t you go down to the camp and just keep an eye on Woodston. I’ll be done after I take a shower and get something to eat.” Mulder nodded and left the building. Chapter 8 2:46 P.M. July 22 Scully parked her car in the camp parking lot and walked up to Waterwoods. Mulder was sitting on a bench looking at the sky. “Looking for UFO’s?” Scully asked, being sarcastic. Mulder didn’t respond. Scully ignored him and she looked around the unit. There were no girls swarming around the camp unit, like there usually was. She looked to where the fire place was. The girls were sitting on the ground listening to a story Star was telling them. None of the girls had expressions on their faces, except for Trinity and Piper. They were laughing. Scully turned back to Mulder. He was still staring at the sky. Scully looked up but saw nothing out of the ordinary. White, puffy clouds hung high in the blue sky. A few birds flew overhead but besides that, there appeared to be nothing else there. Scully waved her hand in front of Mulder’s eyes. He blinked and seemed to jolt awake. He looked over at Scully. |