| “Yeah, well I’m gonna find out.” Max said, grabbing Piper’s flashlight and springing out from behind the bush. “Max no!” Piper hissed after her. Max ignored her and turned on her flashlight. She pointed it towards the ground where the men were. They looked up at her. “Who are you?” One of them asked. He wore khaki shorts and a khaki vest with a matching hat. He looked like a fisherman. “I was just about to…” Max began. Piper jumped out at her. “We’re passing through.” “Passing through at two o’clock in the morning, huh?” The second man asked. “Our car crashed over there in the woods.” Max explained, pointing to the spot where their car was. “And what were you doing driving out here at this hour?” The first man questioned. “Looking for someone named Jeff.” Max answered. “I’m Jeff, who are you?” The second man replied. Piper sighed a sigh of relief. “I’m Piper Alexander and this is Maxine Keil. We’re the two who found the dead body with the snakes.” “Oh right.” Jeff said. He shook each of their hands. “I thought you were coming down with Agents Mulder and Scully.” “Well…um…they told us to come down and call them when we needed them.” Piper lied. “Okay. Well, this is my friend Richard Butte.” Jeff said. The girls shook hands with him, as well. “So how did you manage to crash your car?” “Um…because it’s so wet and things it started to slide around and we just lost total control.” Piper explained. “Oh, just got your license, huh?” Rick asked. “Yeah.” Piper replied, again lying. “Well, it’s pouring out, let’s get you girls out of the rain.” Jeff said. Piper and Max followed the two men to where they had put up camp. They four of them sat down around a campfire under a large, blue tarp. “Good thing we brought an extra tent for the FBI.” Jeff said, pointing to a second tent that was pitched just a few feet from the other. “So, if you were supposed to be coming here, where’s all your stuff?” Rick asked, somewhat suspicious. “Well, we weren’t planning on spending the night actually. We were supposed be here a few hours ago but we had some…trouble so we came down here, crashed, and now here we are.” Piper explained. “Have you guys found anything?” “No. No snakes.” Jeff answered. “I’m going to be testing the water tomorrow.” Rick added in. “Testing the water for what?” Max asked. “Anything unusual.” Rick responded. “So, you don’t think that the random building that we passed before isn’t weird?” Piper questioned. Max gave her a sharp look, asking her why she had brought it up. “Probably just a storage building.” Jeff answered. “Looks new.” Piper replied. “Piper, it’s just a building. Get over it.” Max said, trying to get off the subject. “So, if you didn’t find any snakes, what do you think happened to that guy?” “Agent Scully’s autopsy concluded that he did die from various snake bites. Now, I can’t argue with science but I’ve been working with snakes for most of my life and there are no signs of any snakes here at all.” Jeff explained. “But I saw them.” Piper protested. “Are you an ophidiophobiac, Piper?” Rick questioned. “Excuse me?” Piper questioned, confused. “Snakephobia.” Max said, sensing Piper’s confused look. “Well, why didn’t you just say so? No, I am not afraid of snakes. Are you implying something?” Piper responded quickly. “Do you fear them at all?” Rick pressed. “If you’re asking if I’m deathly afraid of snakes, no, I am not but I’d rather stay away from them and not have them around.” Piper answered. “Why do you ask?” “I’ve seen other cases where people are in a difficult situation so they see snakes because they’re afraid of them and it’s easier for them to accept a snake killing someone than…a person or something of another origin.” Rick explained. “First of all, I do not make up stories because I’m afraid of snakes.” Piper said, angrily. “Piper, I’m sure…” Jeff began. “Second of all, I was not in a difficult situation. I have been in and seen much worse than you’ll ever see. Now watching a dead body covered in snakes is not a big deal to me and if you don’t choose to believe me then you have no right to be out here!” Piper yelled. “Look, let’s just all go to bed and investigate tomorrow.” Max commented. “I think that’s a good idea.” Jeff responded. “Oh, do you have a first aid kit? We got kind of banged up in the crash.” Max said. “Yeah.” Jeff answered, reaching behind him and taking out a small first aid kit from his bag. “Do you guys want us to pitch your tent?” “We can pitch our own tent, thank you very much.” Piper replied. “Well, goodnight then.” Jeff said. He and Rick stood and walked to their own tent. “Piper…” Max began. “Don’t start.” Piper said, cutting Max off. She stood and walked off to their un-pitched tent. Chapter 6 Warren Woods 4:19 AM Piper rolled over, trying to become more comfortable. She had slept on the ground before while camping with Girl Scouts but the ground was soaked and neither her nor Max had come prepared. Piper looked over at her sleeping friend, surprised that she could actually sleep in such horrible conditions. Piper slipped her arm under her head, hoping to cushion it better than the rock that was embedded under her tent. Piper closed her eyes, hoping that she would be tired enough to fall asleep…but she wasn’t and she knew that she would be paying for it in the morning. “Beavers!” Max shouted, sitting straight up. Piper quickly sat up, too, and stared at Max. “What are you talking about?” Piper questioned. She rummaged through her backpack and took out her flashlight. She turned it on and flashed it on Max’s face. Max’s eyes were closed and she didn’t react to the bright light. “Max?” Piper said silently. “Long live the beavers!” Max quickly stood and ran into the edge of the tent. She didn’t bother trying to unzip it, instead she just kept running into the side, trying to exit. Piper tried to reach the zipper to open the door but Max was flailing her arms around so it made it impossible to reach. Piper prayed that Max wouldn’t hurt herself. Finally, Max began clawing at the vinyl siding of the tent like an animal. Piper heard it beginning to rip. A small hole started and it grew as Max kept clawing. Her eyes remained close as Piper watched. Piper knew that the same thing was happening again. She grabbed the small first aid kit from her backpack and made sure her flashlight was securely fastened around her wrist. The hole in the tent grew larger and Max scrambled out. Piper followed her, diving head first through the hole. She fell onto the hard, wet ground but then quickly picked herself up, chasing after Max. Piper kept running, losing sight of Max behind a tree or a bush once and a while. She was never able to catch up with her. Max was never that great of a runner but when she went into one of her trances she could run faster than anyone Piper had ever known. Piper screamed Max’s name every so often, hoping to wake her but she knew it was no use. Piper stopped when she heard something in the distance. She panted heavily but listened. It was a chewing sound. She began walking slowly, keeping the beam of her flashlight on the ground. She tried to look for Max but it was too dark out. As Piper walked on, the chewing sound grew louder. She stopped as she felt the ground beneath her sink. Her foot became submerged in water. Piper quickly pulled her foot away and skimmed the surrounding area with her flashlight. A large lake was in front of her. Max was standing in the middle. She was submerged in water up to her chest. “Max!” Piper called out. Max’s eyes remained closed and she didn’t move. Piper sighed and leaned down. She took the shoelace out of her right shoe and tied it around her flashlight. She brought the flashlight over to a nearby tree and tied it to the branch, positioning it so that the light beamed onto the water. She took off both her shoes and left them by the tree as well as leaving the first aid kit there. She looked out at the water, which seemed to have picked up somewhat of a current. It was still raining and had been all night so the water level was quite high. Piper walked to the edge of the lake and began her decent in towards Max. She squealed as she realized how cold the water really was. Despite the fact that it was summer, the recent rains and the cold air made the water unbearably cold. Piper continued on, trying to ignore the coldness that spread across her body. By the time she reached Max, the water level had risen considerably. |