The X-Files: Death In The Family By Jeremiah Pond (JerPond) Author's Note: Copyrighted, not mine, just borrowing, nuff said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chronological Note: This is an alternate history of the X-Files all events would have no bearing on anything in any X-History. It takes place after End Game. X X X X The X Files X X X X Checkmate: Part One Death In The Family Prologue Washington D.C. 10:46 PM EST Day One Agent Fox Mulder slammed the man into the car and flattened him out on the hood. He felt for any weapons other than the .45 automattic that he had just wrestled away. The man cursed and spat but couldn't break Mulder's sturdy grip. "What is it with you, man?"asked the punk as Mudler pulled him up and whirled him around. "What did you do with those children?"Mulder questioned. As he did so he led the man out of the parking garage. "They're gone, man. The man in black payed for them, I don't ask questions." "The man in black?" "I ain't telling you nothin' until I talk to my attorney." "I'll hurt you."said Mulder. "You're a freaking fed, what the @$^#*! can you do to me?" "Errrr..."growled Mulder. He stopped himself before turning the punk's head into puree. Now that he knew that this guy wasn't in charge he didn't want to blow the case. "Mulder?"asked Scully in a concerned voice as they emerged from the garage. She was standing with several cops near a squad car. "I've got him."replied Mulder. "Did he tell you where Daniel is?"asked Scully. Daniel was her nephew who had recently been kidnapped by the punk who Mulder had just captured. Her sister was worried sick and she wanted good news. "He says he sold Daniel and the others to a man in black. Officer, please take him. Scully, we need to talk."said Mulder as he handed off the prisoner. Scully followed Mulder back into the parking garage. Once inside he picked up a strange emblem lying on the ground. "It's the sign of the Order of Satanic Preservation. It's an offshoot of the Church of Satan. They believe that in the year 2000 a great war, Armageddon, will occur that will destroy all but a handfull of humanity. They will be among them. They think that God is going to give the world over to Satan to rule and then will take his followers and leave this plane of existence. They make offerings of children and animals to Satan to increase his strength so that the new world can be ruled with an iron fist. I busted up one ring out on Long Island a few days before I met you." "A Satanic..."began Scully but she was cut off. "These guys make Satanists look like choirboys. They're bad news." said Mulder. "What about Daniel?"asked Scully. "He was kidnapped a week ago....they believe that a victim must be purified for 12 days before a sacrifice." "Then we had better move."said Scully. "I think we should head out to Long Island. I know a pretty special kid there who might be able to help us." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER ONE: Future Visions East Hampton, Long Island, New York 8:09 am EST Day Two Agent Fox Mulder pulled his car into the long, steep driveway. He had to hit the pedal to the metal to barely inch up it. After awhile it leveled off and he pulled in behind a blue van. He and Scully got out of the car and they walked to the door of a large 2 story house. He had been here before, a few years ago, right before his first case with Scully. "Ma'am?"he asked as the door opened an inch. "Hello, Agent Mulder."replied the woman. "I can't talk long, I need to talk to Jeremiah." "Jeremiah? I don't know where he is. He got on his skateboard and said he was going to town with some friends. He hasn't stayed home lately." "Any idea where in town?" "You could try the Arcade."suggested the woman. "Thanks, we'll be in touch." "They're back aren't they?" "Ma'am, I'm not sure, you will be the first to know."said Mulder as he left to get back in the car. He and Scully drove into town and looked around for the arcade. "Here it is, Mulder."said Scully. There was a building that said "COMICS, CARDS, ARCADE." in large letters. Mulder pulled the car over and he and Scully got out. "Nice place."said Scully as they entered. Mulder looked for Jeremiah in the crowd. Jeremiah had read hair and was easy to spot. He was at a large arcade machine that said "Killer Instinct" in sharp red and black letters. "JEREMIAH!"shouted Mulder over the din. Jeremiah looked over and his eyes went wide. He said something to a short kid with dark hair nearby and then he made his way to Mulder and Scully. "Yeah?"he asked. Mulder looked at Jeremiah and thought that time had not been good to him. He was thinner, paler, and his red hair looked as if it had been combed with his hand. He wore a t-shirt that went down to his knees that said, "Collective Soul". he wore the same glasses as he had before, but that was it. "I need to talk to you."said Mulder. Jeremiah looked over at Scully. "She with you?"he asked. "Yeah, feel free to tell her anything you would tell me." "I doubt she'll believe it."mumbled Jeremiah and he motioned towards the door. "Hey, look at Jeremiah. He has to go home to his parents."sneered one kid. He was short and ugly. Around him were a few other guys. "Shut up, Kean. Your mom's on crack."said Jeremiah. Mulder's eyes went wide as he sensed a confrontation. "Whatchoo sayin' punk?" "These aren't my parents anyways."said Jeremiah. He stood up taller and stepped towards Kean. All the noise in the room stopped. "Um....Jeremiah, this isn't a good idea."said Scully. "I can handle..."began Jeremiah as he turned to face Scully. Kean launched a punch while his guard was down. "Ooof!"said Jeremiah. He wiped blood away from his mouth. Then he dove into Kean with his fists aimed for the nose. Mulder rushed to break up the fight, but before he got there a rack of candy fell over apparently of it's own volation on Kean. Jeremiah lept out of the way, ending the fight. "You punk, I'm gonna' getchoo."slurred Kean. His nose was bloody from the punch Jeremiah landed and his hands were scraped and bleeding from the rack. It took several of his friends to help him up out of the mess. The owner came out of the back room and looked in dismay. "What the @%^&*! happened here?!?!"he yelled. All eyes shifted to Jeremiah and Kean. "There was an accident, and a fight. I'll take care of it."said Mulder. "And just who the !@#$%& are you, anyways?" "Special Agent Fox Mulder, FBI. This is Special Agent Dana Scully. We'll take him and the other one....."said Mulder. "What? That would be bad for buisness. Just have whoever started this pay for the damage." "Uh, that would be Kean."said one of the people Jeremiah had been standing with before. "I told you not to start anymore fights. Especially with Jeremiah. He's kicked your @%^&! twice now. Pay for this and don't come back." "I..."mumbled Kean as he shelled out the money and left. Some people cracked up. "C'mon, Mulder."said Scully. Then Jeremiah and the agents left the store. Out on the street Mulder walked over to a nearby alley and then took out a picture. It was of a man with white hair and menacing eyes. An inscription in the bottom read; "Drake Hildeson." "Is it them?"asked Jeremiah. His features turned dark and concerned. "In Washington D.C. several children have been kidnapped. We found their emblem and I have reason to believe they have those kids. It's been 8 days since the kidnappings...."said Mulder. Jeremiah interrupted him in midsentence. "The 12 days of Purification......oh my god...."gasped Jeremiah. "Can you help us....one of the kidnapped children is my nephew."said Scully. "There's a lot you need to be filled in on...I've got to get the others. Where's your car?"asked Jeremiah. Mulder jerked his thumb toward the Oldsmobile they had requisitioned. "Wait there...I've got to get some other guys. I'll be a couple minutes."said Jeremiah. Then he tossed Mulder the bag he was carrying and ran off in the other direction. He wnet back inside the arcade and came out a few minutes later. With him were the short kid from the crowd, the kid who had pointed out Kean, a tall, thin kid with black hair, and a shorter kid with a dark complexion and black hair. "Let's go to my house."said Jeremiah as they squeezed into the car. "Who are all these people?"asked Mulder. "The others who were kidnapped when the cult was going to make it's sacrifices. Remember how I escpaped and warned you?"explained Jeremiah. "Could someone fill me in?"asked Scully. "I'll explain the whole thing."said Jeremiah. East Hampton, New York 12:00 PM EST Day Two Jeremiah went up to his room and came back down with a journal. It had diagrams, pictures, notes, and all the information he had collected on the Order. "I assume both of you know the cult's ideology?"asked Jeremiah. Mulder and Scully both nodded. "They believe they are the guardians of the world, they're readying for Armageddon."said Scully. "Right. That's part of it. They kidnap people in groups of 10. Steve, Jon, Eli, Chris, and I were with another five children. Right, Steve?"said Jeremiah. The tall kid with the dark hair nodded. "They performed a ceremony called The Transformation. Supposedly, it was to sap the life energy of one group into the others, making a more whole sacrifice. They believed the added life energy would produce strange powers, making for a better addition to Satan's armies."said Steve. "The ceremony was performed before Jer escaped. We didn't think it did anything until later. The other five children slowly waasted away, then died. But we survived."said the short, thin kid. Jeremiah had called him Chris. "What does that mean?"asked Scully. "The ceremony worked."said Jeremiah gravely. "Did anything strange happen to you?"asked Mulder. "We all gained psycic skills. Jer has the strongest powers. But that may be because he was used as the focal point to distribute the powers among us."said the kid who had pointed out Kean. Jeremiah had called him Jon. "Prove it."said Scully. "We have a place where we use our gifts. We'll show you."said Jeremiah. 3 Mile Harbor Beach East Hampton, New York 12:23 PM EST Day Two The car pulled into a parking lot at a beach. The whole group piled out and went down a narrow path in the tall grass. The growth was so high it was above Mulder's head. At the end of the path they were at a secluded inlet where a crude raft was beached. They took the raft out acrossed the inlet in 2 trips. Then Jeremiah and Mudler picked it up and walked for about 10 minutes into the woods before coming to a lake. In the center of the lake was a heavily forested island about a half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide. They sailed acrossed the lake to the island. Then they hid the raft in a trench dug into the ground near the beach. "You guys sure do value your privacy."said Mulder. "If anyone found out..."said Jeremiah letting his voice trail off. Mulder nodded in understanding. Then they hiked about 5 minutes until they came to a stream. "Can you two make the jump across it?"asked the kid who Jeremiah had called Eli. "Yeah, I can."said Scully as they began jumping across it. Then they walked down a hill to a crudely built cabin. "This is it."said Jeremiah. Mulder looked inside and saw a few comics, a book entitled "'Salem's Lot", and a partially opened cooler containing soda. "Anyone want a soda?"asked Chris. "Yeah. Thanks."said Mudler as he caught a 7-Up tossed at him, then he caught another for Scully. "You built all of this?"asked Scully. "Yeah. We're building a bridge...but with midterms we haven't had much time." "You were going to show us your power?"asked Mulder. Jeremiah nodded and threw a soda in the air it crushed in midflight, but the shards and liquid fell several feet away. "Was the trick with the rack your doing?"asked Mulder. "Actually, it was mine. It takes too much concentration to do while in a fight. I sensed that he needed help and I helped."said Jon. "Sensed psycically?"asked Mulder. "Yeah. We can transmitt general ideas, people, places, and other things but not words." "Then transmit your house to me."said Scully. "We can't. Our powers are too weak to use on people with no powers. We can manipulate stuff telekinetically, and we can telepathically talk amongst ourselves....but that's it."said Steve. "And you said that Jeremiah has the most power?"asked Mulder. "Yes, I can manipulate larger objects. They can manipulate anything about or below their own body weight. I can manipulate anything under about 150 pounds."said Jeremiah. "Very impressive....but what about the Order?"asked Mulder. "We know that some of the order escaped 2 years ago. We have a lead. I found a note that one of them dropped for another." "Lemme see." "Here."said Jon as he took the letter from Jeremiah and gave it to Mulder. It read: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dear Brother Ceptumus: I have seen the last of the order's books burnt. The only copies now lie in our base in New Mexico. I will be joining you in 3 weeks. We will await our brothers returning with enough children to last several more months. Te op ci tes: he Lives and Dies. Woto ek sey do: he Rises amd Favors. Brother Dak ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mulder stuffed the note in his pocket. Then he frowned. "They're somewhere in New Mexico.....but where?"asked Mulder. "I know."said Chris. "Where?"asked Scully. "While we were captured I heard them say Sand Stone. It's a town in New Mexico. They live in the desert 30 miles outside of Sand Stone, New Mexico." "Oh."said Mulder. "We'd better get going, Mulder. We don't have much time to lose."said Scully. "C'mon, I'll show you the way out."said Jeremiah. Then the group set out to return to Jeremiah's house. Jeremiah's House East Hampton, NY 3:33 PM EST Day Two "Yes...okay, sure. Bye."said Mulder. he was on the phone at Jeremiah's house with the airport. The next flight out of town was at 10:00 AM the next morning. "When are we leaving?"asked Scully. "10:00 in the morning tomorrow."said Mulder. "You can stay with us. We have two spare bedrooms."said Jeremiah's father. He had just gotten home and was sitting at the counter. Jeremiah and his friends were upstairs playing Super Nintendo. "I need to ask Jeremiah some questions. Excuse me."said Mulder. He passed Jeremiah's mom on the way out of the kitchen. "I'm going to go with Mulder."said Scully. They knocked on Jeremiah's door and heard a "Come In" amid all the noise. They entered to see a typical teenager's room. It had posters of comics on the wall, a stereo blaring the Green Day CD and a large screen tv with a Super Nintendo hooked up to it. They were all playing "NBA Jam". "Jeremiah, I need to ask you a few questions."said Mulder. He nodded for Scully to talk to the others. She was offered the controller that Jeremiah had just relinquished to talk to Mulder. Jeremiah and Mulder walked to the quieter den, where Jeremiah's computer sat humming away to itself, downloading somethign large from the Internet. "Got a seperate line for my modem...that's how come you can talk on our phone nad use the computer at the same time. I also have a radio modem for my amateur radio."said Jeremiah as he offered Mulder a chair. "Thanks."said Mulder as he sat down. "What do you need to know?"asked Jeremiah. "Do you have any idea about the sudden speeding up of the Order's plans? They've gone into hyperdrive...but the year they think is the end of the world is still 5 years away."said Mulder. He had been going through reports that showed the Order had increased it's activity by nearly 600%. "I don't know.....perhaps the failure 2 years ago, coupled with the existence of psycics they made, us, who are against them. I'm downloading some information of the Internet from a friend of mine. His brother lives in Sand Stone and has some pictures and literature that he found. It may help you."replied Jeremiah as his computer beeped, saying it was done downloading. "Hey, you've got America Online, World Wide Web Internet, and Delphi Online? I have most of them. I'll send you soem e-mail soemtime. What's your screename."asked Mulder. "Spooky."said Jeremiah. Mulder froze, then burst out laughing. "I'm Mulder."said Mulder. "What's so funny?"asked Jermiah. "Oh....nothing....just soemthing people used to call me."said Mulder. Jeremiah loaded up the pictures on the GIF file reader and was shocked at what he saw. "Oh my god......"he gasped. The pictures were of pens which held nearly fifty children...blood spattered sacrifices, and a clear shot of the leader of the cult. "We've got to stop them."said Mulder. Jeremiah recompressed the files and put them onto a disk for Mulder, then shut down the machine. "Let's go see how Scully is doing."said Mudler. The two walked down the hall to Jeremiah's room and were surprised by what they saw. Scully playing the Super Nintendo with the same enthusiasm as the kids around her. "YES!"she exclaimed as she did a super slam dunk and broke the backboard. "Scully, you think I'm the strange one?"asked Mulder. Scully looked up in surprise, then broke out laughing. "This is...hah...a pretty fun game."said Scully in her defense. "She's not so bad at it."said Jon. "I'll bet."said Mulder. "Scully, remember to be ready...tomorrow we bust the cult."said Mulder. Sand Stone Regional Airfield 11:34 PM MST Day Three Mulder and Scully disembarked from the plane wearily. They had jet lag from flying through three time zones. It would be 2:00 back East where Jeremiah was. "Our first step is to find the contact Jeremiah gave us."said Mulder. He set his bag in a taxi he had just hailed. They got in and asked for a good hotel. After checking in and putting away their stuff they set out to find Dr. Jose Ortigez. He was the town physician. After finally finding him Mudler got the location of the base and they set out in a rental car. "Mulder, what if my nephew isn't their...what'll I tell my brother?" asked Scully. "He'll be their, don't worry. I'll make sure those creeps eat their teeth before they do anything to any of those kids."said Mulder. He looked at Scully and she got an impression of determination and strength. "We're here."said Scully as she pointed to the compound. They abandoned their vehicle and approached from the back. As Mulder kicked down the door and raised his gun many thoughts whirled through his mind....seconds later he fired and took down an approaching cultist and the thoughts resolved into one: "Never again." Never again would innocent children be manipulated liek Jeremiah and his friends were, they wouldn't be killed or changed to suit soem sick Satanic theory that war would call the innocents to battle and cleanse the world in fire. "Where are they?"yelled Mulder into the face of the dying cultist. "In...i...in the second...roooooooo*"sputtered the cultist as he died. Mulder threw down the body and ran into the second room. The children were submerged in tanks of human blood and the cultists were watching the group of children who were screaming their heads off. Could this be the ritual intended to boost the power of the children to be sacrificed? "Get the kids out of the %!@#$!@#! blood!"yelled Mulder. He shot in the air to make his point. The one child at the front of the room screamed and his eyes began to glow as they cultists swung around to face him. "The transfer is not done!"yelled one cultist as he lept at Mulder. Mulder fired two rounds into him and the cultist flew backwards as quick as he came. "Our brother bought us the time to..."began one cultist as he grabbed a book. The bubbles of air that had been streming out of the blood stopped and a strange calm descended. Muder saw that the focal child was going into some kind of seizure. The cultists worked with a renewed energy, oblivious of Mulder. Mulder quickly cleared his gun of it's spent ammunition and jammed a new cartridge. The breif pause seemed to take an eternity and the whirlwind pace of the past few mintues slowed. Mulder fired at the cultist with the book and he scored a direct hit. The cultist flew back from the pentagram. "Mulder! Those kids in the vat.....they..."began Scully. The other cultists had cleared the area, except for the slower runners who were just leaving. Mulder aimed his gun and shot one through the knee. "Where the !$#%^@ are they going?!?"yelled Mulder. "Bite me...you won't...get....i....*"mumbled the dying cultist. His life slipped away and the focal kid scremed again. His eyes glowed a bright green color and blood spurted out of his mouth. The kid looked like he was going to explode. "Scully.....get the kids away!"yelled Mulder. Scully numbly ran and herded thbe remaining children away. Mulder stayed to try and help the focal child. "What....are..."Mulder's mind whirled with questions. The child scremed one final scream and was silent. Then the roof caved in. About half an hour later Agent Fox Mulder lay in a hospital room. His shirt was ripped open and the doctor was applying the paddles to revive him. They had lost him moments before while he was being put on the table. He had sustained massive injuries in the cave in and was drenched in the spilled blood from the vat and his own, mixed with the exploded child's. "CLEAR!"yelled the doctor. Scully looked on blankly, reliving a similar incident when Mulder had been shot. "I need 40 CCs of Tricordizine, STAT!" "Here you are doctor."said a nurse as she handed the doctor the needle. Mulder continued to flatline. It had been nearly 2 minutes. ___________________________________________________________. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! "CLEAR!" C-RUMPH! "CLEAR!" C-RUMPH! "CLEAR!" C-RUMPH! _______________________________________________________________. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! "CLEAR!" C-RUMPH! "CLEAR!" C-RUMPH! "God @%^$^# it! Breathe!" "CLEAR!" C-RUMPH! "CLEAR!" C-RUMPH! "CLEAR!" C-RUMPH! "C'mon you &$%#%^&%@! Live!" "CLEAR!" C-RUMPH! "Cough, cough, cough." "We've got him! I need another 15 CCs of tricordizine!" "HACK! cough, cough." "Breathe this." Kooooosh-kooooosh. "Th...th...thank you." "Hey, that's what we're hear for. Your wife can fill us in on your medical history." ".....not....wife.....Scully." "Okay, son. Just get some rest. You flatlined for nearly 3 minutes. took a !@#!$& of a beating in that cave-in." "chi.....chiiiiiiiiildren....snore." "Children, ma'am? His or...?" "Or." "What a mess." The next morning Scully came to Mudler's hospital room and found him asleep. She sat in the chair and stood watch for the better part of the day before falling asleep. The last thoughts that Agent Dana Scully thought were, thank you god. The End Note: There will be a sequel.