PART TWO
Disclaimer in part one
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Part two-Memories and Chocolate Ice
6 p.m.
Staten Island University Hospital
Down deep in the lab of Staten Island University
Hospital the painted cinderblock walls soaked up the
fading light coming through the high windows. Scully
sat on a stool heavily and pushed a hand through her
hair. The tox screen was very disturbing, she couldn't
make heads or tails of it, and the hunger pangs were
starting to bug her stomach. At that moment
Mulder walked through the door, bringing a welcome respite
from the results.
"Find anything interesting?" he asked, popping the
customary sunflower seed into his mouth.
"I don't know what the hell this is," Scully sighed.
Mulder walked over to her and leaned over her shoulder
to look down at the print out she was holding. "What's this?"
"This was found in all the kids systems. At first
glance it looks very similar to the poison digitalis, but
see that extra compound in there?" Scully pointed to a spot
on the sheet.
"What's different about it?" Mulder asked, popping
another seed into his mouth.
"That's what makes it different from digitalis. Whatever
it is apparently puts the kids into a state of deep sleep
rather than outright killing them. The thing is..." Scully
trailed off.
"What?"
"I have no damn clue what it is. It's organic, but
beside that there's nothing like it. I looked through all
the lists the CDC has put out, but there's nothing that's
even remotely like it."
"So you're saying it's extra-terrestrial?" Mulder said
with an eager look on his face.
"I never said that. I just said that there's nothing
like it in the books. It probably just hasn't been identified
yet. There are many plants that haven't been identified yet
either," Scully said with an exasperated edge to her voice.
"It is organic. The elements making up the compound are very
earthly, but have never been seen before in this combination.
Now I don't know if it's this compound itself, or the compound
combined with the digitalis, but this is what's putting the
kids in a state of deep sleep. Now we just have to find
the antidote. I've sent a sample to the CDC to see if
they have any better knowledge of this compound than we
do!" Scully finished, close to yelling.
Mulder grinned down at her. "I love it when you talk
like that," he leered.
"Mulder," Scully rolled her eyes, even though she
couldn't disguise the small grin on her face. "So where
do we head next?"
"I figure we still have some time left, so we can go
interview Molly Addison." Almost imperceptibly, Scully
groaned. "Don't worry, we can go get dinner after that,"
Mulder said.
"Thank you," Scully said as she picked up her coat
and walked out through the lab door Mulder was
holding open for her.
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22 Athena Place
Manor Heights
6:30 p.m.
The car glided to smooth stop in front of the brick
house. It was an average house, with two stories, and
all the windows framed by brown shutters. To the left
was a large window that looked in on a living room, and
to the right was a smaller window. Even further to the
right of that was the garage.
Mulder and Scully got out of the car and started up
the walkway to the front door. "This is the place,"
Scully said.
"Welcome to suburbia hell," Mulder muttered.
"Actually I think that's New Jersey," Scully
retorted as the climbed the stoop and Mulder rang
the doorbell.
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The doorbell echoed throughout the nearly empty
house. "Molly, can you get that, please?" Kathy Addison
yelled from the kitchen. "I've got my hands full with
Cassie."
Molly sighed. Cassie was the one-and-a-half year
old girl her mother babysat for on a regular basis.
Today was one of those days, and most of her attentions
were focused on the playpen set in the corner of the
kitchen.
She put down her history book none too gently,
gave it a kick for good measure, and pushed her
tall frame up off the couch. She went first to the
window, to see who was at the door. Molly gently pushed
the curtains aside to get a better look at the people
who were out there. There was a short, red haired
woman and a tall, dark haired man standing on the
stoop, both dressed in trenchcoats.
"Probably the FBI," she muttered. Her mother had
received a call from the police earlier in the day while
she was at school to say that some FBI agents would be
stopping by sometime in the next few days.
Molly did a double take, though, when she got a
better look at the taller agent. He looked a hell
of a lot lake Alec...
She walked to the door, unlocked it, and
carefully pulled it open.
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The door opened to reveal a very tall girl, standing
there in a pair of jeans and a plain blue tanktop. She
was not what Scully had expected. The girl had to have
been at least 5'9", a very slim figure, with flaming
red hair pulled back sleekly in a ponytail, and
grey-blue eyes.
"Molly Addison?" Scully asked.
"Yeah. You must be the FBI?" she asked, still
holding the door halfway open.
They pulled out their badges. "I'm Agent Mulder,
this is Agent Scully," Mulder said.
The door was opened all the way. "Come on in," Molly
said, and showed them into the front hallway. "Hey, Ma, the
FBI's here!" she called down a hallway to a kitchen.
Mulder took a good look around the place, as they were
taught to in Quantico. Directly in front of him was a
staircase leading upstairs, and the hallway leading to
the kitchen. They were both wallpapered in a small
stripe pattern. To the right of him was a study with
a desk, computer, and a few bookshelves.
Molly led them into the room on their left, the
living room. On one wall was the window, on the side
wall was a large brick fireplace, and on the wall furthest
to the right of them, the one with the other door into
the kitchen was a big cabinet, holding the customary
stereo system, VCR, and a TV that was showing a rerun
of 'Northern Exposure' on A&E. The episode was one
where Fleischman and O'Connell were stranded in the
great Alaskan wilderness, and for some reason they began
kissing in their sleep, even though at that point in the
series they were most definitely not an item. Mulder
grinned to himself. He should have tried that last year
when they were stuck in the Florida woods. Maybe it would
have gotten their own relationship moving along much faster.
Then Mulder wondered how the hell he remembered that from
only a few seconds of footage. He hadn't seen the show in
years. In front of the window was an over-stuffed green
recliner, and opposite the fireplace was a long couch,
covered in a sturdy material that had probably
through years of child raising.
"Have a seat," Molly directed, taking a seat on
the end of the couch closest to the TV and folding her
long legs up under her. Scully sat down on the opposite
end and Mulder sat down on the recliner.
Before they could begin their questioning a voice
called from the kitchen. "Can I get you some coffee?"
the voice eagerly asked.
Mulder looked at Scully to make a decision, but Molly
butted in. "Just let Donna Reed in there do her thing,"
she said in a low voice, "And this'll be easier for you."
Scully looked at Mulder once more.
"Okay," she said. "Coffee's fine."
Molly leaned her head back over the arm of the couch.
"Okay, Ma, coffee's good!" she hollered back, then
straightened up. "She thinks it's a little insulting
when her attempt to be a good hostess is thwarted,"
she explained.
"It's no problem," Mulder said. Within two
minutes Mrs. Addison had coffee ready on a perfectly
set platter and handed it out to Mulder and Scully.
"I always wonder how she does that so fast,"
Molly muttered.
Mulder looked over at Scully and she pulled her
little note pad out of her purse. "Can you tell us
what happened when you found Jenna?" Mulder asked.
Molly nodded. "Okay. Uh, I had stayed after
school a little while to get some help with my history
homework. I had field hockey practice after that so I
went to the locker room, got changed into some clothes
better suited for practice, and took off into the woods.
There are some roads cutting through there; we use those
to get down to the street during a snowstorm and the buses
can't make it up the hill, but those are behind the Academy
and it would be a waste of time to go to them rather than
just cutting through the woods.
"Anyway, I had gone into the woods, and had started
running down the hill. By that time I was really late so
I wasn't exactly looking where I was going. My foot caught
on something, and I fell face first into some pine needles.
When I picked myself up to get my bag, I saw that it was
lying on top of someone's arm, which was a bit gross, if
I may say so. I brushed off the body, and saw Jenna
there. By the time I recovered enough, I ran back to
the school, got my history teacher, and then we called
the cops. And you know the rest of the story from there,"
Molly finished with a shrug.
"Did you notice anything strange about the area
where you found Jenna?" Scully asked, while she
finished writing up the notes from Molly's last response.
She looked thoughtful for a second. "Uh, nope.
Same old trees," Molly said.
Mulder looked over at Scully, using that unspoken
communication they were so good at. To Scully, it seemed
that ever since they became a couple that it was easier
to talk like that. Right now Mulder was saying that
they'd gotten all that they could from Molly Addison
and that he was getting hungry and it was time to find
a place for dinner. Internally, Scully smiled, and
Mulder saw the smile in her eyes. "Okay, thanks for
your help, Molly."
"Sure," Molly said and stood up. "I'll just
show you to the door."
Mulder and Scully stood up and followed her
to the front door. In the front hallway Scully
stopped. "Molly, do you know any good places for
dinner around here?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah. Denino's, on Richmond Avenue.
They've got some great pizza there. And for
dessert go to Ralph's Ice across the street.
When they got to the door, a baby began crying
from the kitchen, and then Molly's mother called out
from another direction. "Molly, calm Cassie down,
will you? I can't get to her right now."
Scully saw Molly roll her eyes heavenward. "How
do you want me to do that?" she yelled back.
"Try singing to her," Mrs. Addison called.
Molly turned to the FBI agents. "Just, hold on a
second, please?" she pleaded. With Mulder's quick nod
she dashed off to the kitchen. In a few seconds, Molly
came back holding a toddler with curly blond hair.
With one arm, she reached for the keys next to the front
door and unbolted it. "Well, I'm glad to be of help,"
she said hurriedly.
"Thanks for your time," Scully said, and they
walked out onto the stoop. But Mulder paused in his
tracks when her heard Molly sing. It wasn't her voice,
but her words that halted his steps.
"Come, little children
I'll take thee away
Into a land
Of enchantment.
Come, little children
The time's come to play
Here in my garden
Of magic..."
Scully looked at Mulder frozen on the landing from
the bottom of the stoop with a puzzled look on her
face. She had no clue as to what the hell was going on.
Before Molly could shut the door, Mulder turned
back towards it and began to speak. "Molly, what song
was that?" he asked calmly.
Molly was taken aback at the question that didn't
fit in with anything else she'd been asked that day.
"Uh, it's just an old Irish lullaby," she said a little
nervously.
"Thank you," Mulder said, and started walking back
to the car, brushing past Scully in his rush. Scully
looked up at Molly, still standing in the doorway holding
the toddler, and then walked after Mulder. She got into
the passenger seat and then turned to Mulder.
"What the hell was that?" she asked him.
Mulder's hands tightened on the steering wheel,
searching for the right words. But he chickened out.
"I'll tell you later, Scully. Right now, let's just
get dinner," he said, flashing his most winsome grin
at her.
Scully looked over at him. "Okay, but that doesn't
mean you're getting out of telling me whatever that was
about."
"Deal," Mulder said, and started up the car.
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Molly looked at the FBI agents' car pulling away from
the curb. She felt a little guilty about not telling them
the whole story. But then again, they probably wouldn't
have believed her anyway.
She couldn't tell them that the forest where she'd
found Jenna reeked of evil. An inhuman evil.
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9 p.m.
Holiday Inn
Mulder unlocked the door to Scully's hotel room
and pulled it open. He turned around and saw Scully
digging another spoonful out of the small pint of
chocolate ice she'd picked up to take back to the
hotel from Ralph's Ice. "You are going to share
that, right?" he asked as she brushed by him
into the room.
He shut and locked the door as Scully kicked off
her heels and laid down on the bed, her back propped
up on the headboard. Mulder took off his suit jacket
and laid down next to her. He reached out towards the
container of ice with a finger, but before he could
get a bite Scully jerked it away with a grin. "C'mon,
Scully, you had some of that before," he said with a pout.
"So did you," she said, pointing her spoon at his
mouth. "The cherry flavor stained your lips." Mulder
jerked away and rubbed his hand rapidly across his
lips as Scully laughed.
Mulder shot her an evil look and Scully finally
relented. "Okay. I'll share-" Mulder's look brightened,
"-if you tell me what got you so riled in the Addison's
house before," she finished. Mulder made a face and
slumped down on the bed. He was hoping very hard that
she'd just forgotten and would let the subject die
gracefully. No such luck.
"Okay. It was the song Molly was singing to the girl."
"What about the song?" Scully asked, handing the
spoon to Mulder.
He reached for the container and took a bite.
"I heard the exact same song in one of my dreams.
Mama was singing it." By this time, Scully was very
familiar with the cast of characters in Mulder's
dreams. "But Molly said it was just an old lullaby."
"Nothing that would provide any significant
clues to your family, huh?" Scully said, running a
hand through his hair.
"Nope. I don't know...I guess it just got to
me," he said, taking another mouthful of ice.
"You going to be okay?" she asked gently.
Mulder looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah."
He got a devilish gleam in his eyes. "Hey, you got
some ice in the corner of your mouth." Before Scully
could wipe it off Mulder reached up and kissed it off.
"Behave, Mulder," Scully said sternly, although with a grin.
He let his head drop down to her shoulder.
"I know, I know. Not while on duty." He pulled
away from her and retrieved the case folder. "I
think we should go over this once more, though."
Scully sat up straighter and put the ice down
on the nighttable, immediately going from personal
to professional. "Yeah, if we're going to be sitting
in on the class tomorrow, I don't want to walk in
there without any background on it."
Together they looked through the file and
prepared for tomorrow.
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END PART TWO-Memories and Chocolate Ice
Note to readers: There really is a Ralph's Ice on
Staten Island. If you're ever there during the
season (I think it's closed during the winter)
go visit it. You won't be sorry.
(
geocities.com/rhiaramsay)