| The girls finally made their way out of the woods, walked to their things, gathered them, and begin walking out of the park. Piper’s house, where that had originally met, wasn’t far from the park and their plan was to walk back there together. Now all the girls wanted to do was go home and forget what they saw. The seven girls walked out of the park together but Candy and Erin also lived nearby so they soon split from the group bringing Jo and Daria with them. Kyla lived closer to Piper’s house so she, too, left. Max and Piper were the only two left and they walked to Piper’s house in silence. Piper wanted to ask Max about what had happened and whether or not she still didn’t remember anything that happened but Piper didn’t want to bother her and she herself wasn’t in the listening mood. “Hey Piper.” Suzanne, Piper’s sister, said as Piper walked into her dining room. Suzanne was sitting in the living room, watching some show on the history channel. “Did you have fun?” “Yeah, it was great.” Piper murmured. Max managed to give Suzanne a weak smile before the two girls walked through the house and vanished into Piper’s basement. Suzanne knew something was wrong but she didn’t dare confront Piper with it. They were still getting accustomed to living with each other and only each other. Piper’s parents were recently killed and now Piper lived at home with her sister. They had become considerably closer since the whole ordeal had taken place but Suzanne was only 23, not old enough to take on the responsibilities of being both a mother and father to Piper and honestly, Piper didn’t want her to. Downstairs, Piper dumped her CD player and the rest of her stuff on the floor. She sat down on the couch and sighed. Max sat down on Piper’s computer chair and reached for the phone. “I’m gonna tell my mom to pick me up.” She said. “Okay.” Piper responded. Max dialed her number and spoke to her mother briefly, not letting on that anything was wrong. “We should call the police.” Piper said. “No, Piper. Don’t get involved. You don’t need this anymore. You don’t need more death and destruction in your life. Let someone else find the body, let someone else call the police. Pretend in never happened.” Max said. “But it did happen, Max and I can’t just pretend that it didn’t. Death and destruction are going to follow me wherever I go. And if I don’t report this I’m not going to be able to live with myself. Someone out there is dead and it’s up to us to do something about it.” “No, no it’s not up to us. Piper, for God’s sake your 15! You’re not supposed to be chasing killers and finding dead bodies.” “But if I don’t, who will?” “The police, the FBI. That’s their job. Your job is to be a teenager.” “What if I just called Mulder and Scully. Just told them what happened.” Piper said. Max shook her head as Piper spoke. “Come on, Max, you must admit that you being led out into the woods after screaming about squirrels and then me finding you out there after being led by a squirrel and then a dead body coming crashing down on us is more than a little weird.” “I’ll give you that it’s weird, Piper, but who cares? A lot of things are weird.” “I’ll just call them and tell them what I found and what happened. Then I’ll ask to be left out. To have nothing to do with the investigation.” “Piper, you couldn’t be out of the investigation if you tried with all your might. You like this kind of thing, admit it. You like spending time with Mulder and Scully. And Piper, I hate saying this but they are your security. They’re what you’re lacking by not having parents.” Piper didn’t know how to respond. She knew it was true. She knew that she felt safe with Mulder and Scully despite the confused they had brought to her life. But in a way, they had saved her. “I’m not going to argue with you, Piper. It’s your life. If you want to call them, call them but please don’t take on something that you’re not ready to take on.” Piper nodded. The girls heard the sound of a car horn. “That must be my mom. I’ll talk to you later.” Max stood and left, leaving Piper alone. Later that night, Piper was sitting in her room reading one of the many books that she was forced to read for summer reading. She was spread out across her bed with a small lamp giving her enough light to read by. She stopped reading and put her book down when someone knocked on the door. “Come in.” She said. Piper watched the door open and Suzanne stepped in. “Okay, let’s hear it.” “Let’s hear what?” Piper asked. “I know something happened in the park today, Piper.” “Nothing happened besides us making fools of ourselves while attempting to dance.” “Piper.” Suzanne said sternly. “Okay.” Piper sighed. “Something happened in the woods today at Warren Park.” Piper continued, telling Suzanne the entire story. Chapter 2 July 3, 2001 7:04 AM Alexander Residence Piper heard the faint sound of her name. She rolled over, looked at her clock, and moaned. She hadn’t seen seven o’clock the morning for quite some time. She figured it was just Suzanne making a lot of noise before going to work. She closed her eyes again and tried to fall back asleep until someone pounded on her door. “Piper!” Suzanne yelled angrily through the door. “What?” Piper called back, keeping her eyes closed. “Phone!” Suzanne responded loudly. She opened Piper’s bedroom door and dropped the phone on her bed. “I’m off to work. Don’t get into any trouble.” Suzanne closed the door and walked down the stairs. Piper opened her eyes and reached for the phone. “Who is calling me at seven o’clock in the morning?” She asked herself out loud. She put the phone to her ear. “Alexander.” She said. “Piper, this is Agent Scully.” The voice said on the other line. Piper rubbed her eyes. “Agent Scully…ah…what’s up?” “Piper, Agent Mulder and I are at Warren Park in the woods. Suzanne called us about the body that you and your friends found. We’d like to ask you some questions about it.” Scully said. “Hold it…I don’t want to get involved.” Piper stuttered. “Did Max tell you to say that?” Mulder asked, walking into Piper’s room. He held one of Piper’s other portable phones in his hand, listening to Piper’s conversation. She jumped slightly, not knowing Mulder was even in her house. “I guess I forgot to tell you that Mulder was picking you up.” Scully said through the phone. “I guess.” Piper said quietly. “And yes, Max did tell me to stay out of the investigation. She’s just trying to look out for me.” “We understand, Piper, but we need yours and Max’s statement as well as the rest of your friends about what happened yesterday.” Mulder said, still talking on the phone with Scully as well. “Look, I know that in the past I’ve loved to get involved and honestly I’m up for a good mystery especially since the victim wasn’t someone I knew but I have to do this for my friends. I promised them that I would stop involving myself and yet here I am, discovering dead bodies and asking to become part of the investigation. For once, I’d just like to sit back and actually enjoy summer, even if I do have to read crappy books.” Piper explained. “Get dressed.” Mulder said as he walked out of Piper’s room and closed the door. Piper turned off her phone and sighed. She slumped back onto her bed and laughed. No matter how many times she said no, she was always a part of the investigation and she knew that she couldn’t change that.A few moments later, Piper walked down her stairs to find Mulder sitting at her kitchen table reading the newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee. He looked at her as she trudged towards him. “Anything important going on in the world of politics that I should know about?” Piper asked him, taking a seat, and resting her head on the table. “No but you do look like crap. Have you been feeling okay?” Mulder asked, folding up the paper. “Yeah it’s just when I get four hours of sleep I am not a happy and lively person.” Piper responded, lifting her head up slightly but then putting it back down. “Why’d you only get four hours?” Mulder asked. “Well, I was talking to Max and Erin online until about midnight and then I started watching this really interesting, really long movie and then I went to bed. Now, four hours later, I am awake and unhappy.” “Well, despite your unhappiness you better call Max.” Piper lifted her head and looked at him strangely. She smiled to herself and laughed. “What’s that look for?” “Unless you have a death wish, I suggest you don’t ask me to call Max. We’ll wake her in…another four hours. You’re lucky I didn’t kill you.” She said, standing. She walked over to her closet and grabbed a granola bar. “Now let’s get out of here before I change my mind.” Mulder smiled and walked after her. Mulder and Piper walked through the park towards the crime scene. In some sense Piper didn’t want to continue on but she knew that the body would be gone and that there was nothing to be afraid of. Two policemen stopped Mulder and Piper at the edge of the woods. Mulder showed them his badge and he and Piper were allowed through. Scully turned as she heard Piper and Mulder approach. |