Mae had been feeling nauseous all afternoon since her 
early breakfast with her guests.  She was enjoying the 
company of other people in the normally empty house, but 
there was something about them that made her feel so strange 
around them.  Perhaps it was the curious, young woman that 
had almost broken a priceless glass.  Or perhaps it was the 
handsome gentlemen that was always worrying about her 
wellbeing.  Maybe it was just the pair themselves.  It 
seemed as if they were not well aquainted, and that they 
were uncomfortable around each other.  Their nervousness 
made her feel nervous and unsure of herself, which was 
something that she never felt.  

	She stared into the warm fire that the caretaker, Mr. 
Bostdorf, had put together for her before he had left to 
return to his own small cottage in the woods.  It was funny, 
but she thought that she had never heard the front door 
slam, signifying that he had left.  She shurugged off this 
thought and leafed through one of her new novels.  In a life 
as boring as the one she led, it was normal for her to wish 
to disappear to other places, dreaming of their exotic 
scents and sights.  Books were her only way of escaping the 
reality that was.  Her husband had had the same defense 
mechanism.  She was sure she had picked it up from him.  

	She sniffed gently at the thought of her dead husband.  
He had died in room above her head.  Mae knew in her heart 
that she would never be able to return to that room as long 
as she lived.  She readjusted her glasses and skimmed down 
the page like a champion speed reader.  

	The silver knight in the corner shined in the fire 
light as if he was emminating the light of the sun.  It 
picked up the light and threw it back in rays of bright 
warmth.  He was an antique that had only ever been used for 
show since every peice of him was worth countless amounts of 
money.  Especially the finely pointed ax that he clutched 
between his metal fingers was worth than more than some 
people's lives.  Not even the dust had the joy of lying on 
this knight because he was under glass.   And, since no one 
was in the room to see, no one would notice if the ax 
suddenly disappeared like a bird flying through a thick rain 
cloud.

	Mae coughed violently, covering her mouth politely even 
though there was no one there to be polite to.  She gasped 
for breath suddenly and clutched tightly to her stomach.  
The book fell from her lap and fell hollowly to the floor. 

	"Look,  I just don't think that bringing an old woman 
in for murder is going to stick."

	"She's as good as dead anyway.  She might as well learn 
where murder gets you."  Sage sighed.  

	"Oh, you are so sensitive."

	"Why should I be?"

	"Well-"  a blood curdling scream racked their minds 
like an earthquake.  Their eyes met for a single moment 
before they both took off toward the sound of Mae's panicked 
screams.  

	Mulder reached the door first.  He shoved it open and 
hurried inside.  "Mae?"  The old woman was sitting in her 
chair, clutching tightly to her stomach with a violent 
grimace on her face.  She was gasping for air as if her 
lungs had been slit by an unseen knife edge.  

	Sage shoved past him and kneeled next to the old 
woman's chair and touched her arm.  "Mae?  Mae, talk to me 
for God's sake.  What's happening?"  With the woman's 
silence, she turned toward Mulder for help.  

	"Mae, are you having a heart attack?"  Mulder kneeled 
on the opposite side of the chair and threw Sage a nervous 
look.  

	Suddenly, the woman fell back into the chair, 
motionless.  Her hands were clutched to her stomach as if 
they were frozen there.  She would never move again.  Sage 
reached to her neck and felt nothing.  "She's dead, Mulder."  


	He touched her neck to make sure Sage was right as if 
she couldn't figure out if a person was dead or alive.  
"What the hell happened?"  He pulled away from her and felt 
another shiver.  He glanced over his shoulder, feeling a 
presence, but there was nothing behind him.  There was no 
one else human and alive in the entire house.  

	"I don't know, Mulder."  She shook her head and stared 
at the dead body in the chair that moments before had been 
alive.  

	Mulder stood up slowly and glanced around the room.  
Sage watched him carefully, unsure of what he was looking 
for.  He appeared to be deep in thought about something.  He 
scratched his chin nervously and made eye contact with the 
empty knight in the corner.  He shivered again taking care 
to hide it from Sage.  There was something very wrong 
happening here.  He pointed at the knight.  "Didn't that 
thing have an ax?"  He turned toward Sage. She sat silently.  
"Sage?"  

	To his own surprise, she stood up and went to the back 
of the chair with a perfectly straight face.  She seemed to 
think over what she was about to do before she did it.  She 
reached out and with her small pinkie finger on her right 
hand she pushed Mae's shoulder forward with a gentle tap.  
The dead woman's stomach pinched and fell forward slightly 
as the ax ripped through her skin with a  sickening tearing 
sound.  It fell on the floor ripping the woman's insides out 
with it.  

	Sage closed her eyes for a moment to get herself under 
control.  She had seen worse than this, but at the moment 
she had not planned to see this.  Mulder turned away 
quickly, his face green.  He might get sick if he looked 
toward the corpse again.  He had only met her wide, dead 
eyes for a moment to understand the agony she had gone 
through before they had come into the room.  It had only 
taken a moment for her to die, it had only taken Mulder a 
moment to understand.



	"They should be here any minute.  I called them last 
night after they took Mae to the morgue."

	"Is it really necessary?" Mulder frowned.  

	"Yes, it is, Mulder.  I'm not feeling very good about 
this case.  We could use a few other specialists.  Besides, 
they're my friends from Duke.  We studied parapsychology 
together.  They're not strangers."

	"All right."  He rose to his feet and walked toward the 
door.  "I'm going to go change."  Mulder felt dirty even 
though his clothes wouldn't show it.  He had helped them get 
Mae out of the chair, which had sickened him considerably.  
He had felt nauseous all night and had not slept a wink 
because of it.  He just didn't feel tired.  He felt worried 
and nervous for an obvious good reason.  

	"Yeah, I should too."  She followed him to the hallway.  
They split into separate rooms.  After Mae's death, they had 
moved to different rooms for more privacy.  

	They both changed quickly and rejoined in the hallway.  
Neither of them wanted to miss a moment of hauntings, and in 
their rooms things usually didn't happen in the light.  
Mulder had changed back into a pair of dress pants and a 
dress shirt.  Of course, he wasn't wearing a tie or a dress 
coat.  Why should he be uncomfortable?  By the smoothness of 
his face, Sage guessed that he had shaved hurridly with an 
electric razor to get rid of the whiskers he had grown over 
the period of night.  Sage was glad.  She always thought men 
looked more handsome with a clean shave.  She had just 
thrown on a pair of jeans and a black sweatshirt, not 
wanting or needing to look desirable for Mulder.  She had 
brushed her short, black hair and pulled it back in a 
little, green rubberband since she hadn't thought about 
bringing anything to put her hair up in.   She had washed 
all of her makeup off because it had begun to make her skin 
feel itchy.  

	As they walked back down the steps to await the arrival 
of a few of Sage's friends, Mulder turned toward her.  "You 
know, I don't think you've worn any color since we got 
here."

	She smiled slightly.  "I don't usually wear colors.  I 
don't like them."

	"I see."  He nodded, not wishing to pry any further.  
Once they reached the front hallway, Mulder fell down into 
the chair and sighed.  He was losing his energy quickly.  He 
would probably run to the kitchen to make more coffee after 
the other parapsychologists arrived to measure up the scene.  
He was not happy that Sage had called more people in.  He 
felt that they could handle the case with no trouble.  

	"Do you want some coffee?"  

	He nodded.  "That is exactly what I was thinking."

	"I'll make some after they get here.  I'm sure they'll 
want some, too."  With that said,  their guests arrived with 
a quiet knock on the front door.  "Finally."  Sage glanced 
at her watch as she rose to her feet.  Mulder stayed seated.  
He found no point in coming to meet them.  Sage would 
introduce them once they were inside, anyway.  Besides, he 
wasn't feeling all too mannerly at that moment.  In fact, he 
was in a particularly bad mood after the night they had had.  


	Sage smiled as she opened the door.  "Hey, guys."  

	A rather tall and lanky fellow stepped inside and threw 
his arms around Sage.  "God, how long has it been?"  His 
name was Tyler James.  He had dated Sage for a long time in 
college, and she had broken it off at graduation.  She had 
no longing to have a boyfriend out of school.  It was almost 
immature and childish to her.  He was the perfect stereotype 
of a scientist.  James was a young man balding early with a 
brown beard and mustache that made him resemble a hippie 
from the sixties.  He had large, green eyes that were 
magnified considerably by the thick glasses that sat on his 
nose.  He had an almost goofy, little voice that reminded 
Mulder of a small child pretending to be an adult.  

	Directly behind him a short, pudgy female came striding 
in.  She had such short and stubby legs!  Her name was Opal 
Harbauer, and she was infamous for having a big mouth about 
her eccentric beliefes.  Her one distinguishing feature was 
her lengthy, blonde hair that fell all the way down her back 
and covered up her considerably large backside.  She had 
tiny, blue eyes that sunk into her skin like beads sewn too 
tight against a peice of material.  She had a violently 
circular face and a large smile, revealing her egotism.  

	And last, a rather beautiful woman with long legs came 
in, taking tiny steps as she went.  Her name was Isabella 
Britten.  Mulder had heard of her before simply because she 
was a psychic that could talk to the other side if the other 
side was willing to cooperate with her.  She reminded Mulder 
of Scully except for the fact she was six feet tall.  She 
had short, red hair that curled under her chin and blue eyes 
that shined in the light.  She was ringing her hands 
nervously.  It was obvious that she was shy and not used to 
meeting new people.  

	Once all three of them had given Sage a fond embrace, 
they finally noticed the other occupant in the room.  Sage 
pulled him to his feet.  "Guys, this is Agent Mulder.  He's 
working with us on the case."

	Tyler stepped forward first. He loved meeting new 
people.  He smiled widely and extended his hand.  "Hello, 
Agent Mulder.  I'm Tyler James.  It's a pleasure to meet 
you."

	Mulder nodded, confused at this mans kindness toward 
him. He just wasn't used to people being happy to make his 
aquaintance.  "Nice to meet you, too."

	The short, fat woman threw him a wave and winked.  
"Opal Harbauer.  How ya' doing?"

	"Okay.  Yourself?"

	She nodded.  "Just fine."

	He waited for Isabella to introduce herself, but she 
just stared at him blankly with a look of pure love on her 
face.   He tried to ignore it and extended his hand to her.  
"Fox Mulder."  

	She smiled weakly, noticing that he had seen her 
staring at him.  Now, she believed in love at first sight.  
She thought he was just gorgeous!  "Hi."  She didn't take 
his hand.  She just stared at her shoes coldly.  

	He let his hand drop to his side without a thought and 
glanced toward Sage. She just smiled and turned toward Opal, 
who was watching Isabella carefully.  It was obvious she had 
a crush on Mulder already.  Opal smiled at Sage as their 
eyes met.  They both knew how shy their friend was, so they 
would have to help her through this one.  



	Sage bit her lip and frowned.  Once they had all been 
aquainted, she had given everyone assigned posts to keep 
watch from.  The scientific side of her wanted to get this 
ghost, bad.  She had a pretty strong feeling that the 
Stirling Castle was truly a haunted area.  All she need now 
was proof.  

	She glanced around her area and yawned.  She tapped her 
pencil nervously upon her pad of paper in her lap.  She had 
been recounting the experiances they had gone through so far 
so that she wouldn't forget anything.  She knew this would 
make a great book.  Her imagination had always been so 
vivid.  She could think of stories to entertain her friends 
in less time than a person  could remember the words to 
Happy Birthday.  As a kid, she had always written stories to 
keep her mind out of reality.  Without her stories, she 
never would have been able to survive.  It was something she 
knew was true.  

	She set the pencil down on the nearby desk and sighed 
in boredom.  She wondered how the others were doing.   She 
stared at the walky-talky next to her with longing.  She 
hoped that it would click to life and a panicked voice would 
break through telling her they had found something.  Her 
mind went back to Isabella.  She had thought that she might 
throw up when Mulder had said a word to her.  She surely  
had a crush on him, and who could blame her?  Sage knew 
Mulder was cute, but that was all she really saw in him.  
That was what she had been telling herself all night, and 
she would go one telling herself that she was not attracted 
to him as long as she could.  

	She closed her eyes tightly for a moment to  organize 
her thoughts and reached toward the desk for her pencil.  
"What the-"  It wasn't there.  She opened her eyes suddenly 
and looked around.  "Jesus Christ," she screamed and stood 
up abruptly.  The pencil was floating in front of her!  She 
reached out and grabbed it out of the air.  

	A book rose off the shelf behind her, making her spin 
around.  She gasped as a few other books followed its 
example and danced through the air.  A painting rose off the 
wall and floated up to the ceiling.  Vases and statuets did 
a dance in front of the window like ballerinas on the stage 
of a great theatre.  

	Sage grabbed the walky-talky.  "SOS!  Tyler!  Answer 
me, Tyler!"  She felt her hands shaking as she waved her 
hands above one of the books.  She extended her foot and 
waved her leg around below it.  "Tyler!"

	"I'm here, Sage.  What is it?"

	"I have got some serious activity here!  She glanced 
toward the sensors Opal had set up in the corner.  "Are you 
reading the energy levels?  They've got to be off the 
charts, for God's sake!"  She waved her hand above another 
book.  "Damn it, Tyler, this is one hell of a hoax!"  

	He came back with true panic in his voice.  "Jesus, 
Sage!  I've never seen readings like this."  

	"No shit!  Everything is floating, Tyler.  Everything 
but me!"  

	"Get the hell out of there, Sage!"  His voice shook as 
he said this.  Tyler had seen a lot, but never anything even 
close to the energy his computer was throwing at him now.  

	"Yes, sir."  She switched off the walky-talky and took 
a step.  Suddenly, everything in the room fell to the floor.  
She sheilded her head from a falling book and  pounced out 
of the room.  She glanced over her shoulder slowly, seeing 
that everything was back to normal.  The books were not on 
the floor.  The vases had not shattered as she had thought 
they would.  Everything was back where it had been before it 
had floated into the air, lifted by unseen hands of those 
long dead.   

	As she turned around, she smacked into Mulder.  She let 
out a tiny gasp and swallowed her surprise.  He looked into 
the room, and his brow furrowed notably.  "I thought you 
said everything was floating."

	"How did you hear that?" 

	He held up the walky-talky in his hand and looked 
carefully around the room.  "Damn, I must have missed 
something."

	She let out a dry laugh.  "Oh, you sure did.  I felt 
like I was in space.  Everything was floating but me."  She 
scratched the back of her head.  "Come on, Mulder.  Let's 
get the hell out of here before we both start to levitate."

	"Tyler's probably waiting for us."

	She nodded in agreement.  "Let's go."  

	They walked down the hallway in silence, searching for 
the staircase that led to Tyler's station.  Sage was sure he 
had called the others into the room with him to see the 
activity he had measured in Sage's post.  She wanted to see 
it herself.  It would surely be amazing!

	She was lost in thought when she felt her feet sliding 
out from underneath her.  She grabbed Mulder's hand to 
support herself and dug her nails into his hand.  She 
regained her balance quickly and glanced down to her feet.  
Her dark shoes appeared wet in the little light in the area.  
She stepped out of the wet spot and kneeled down to 
investigate the situation further.  Mulder bent down with 
her and stuck his fingers into the crimson liquid.

	"Mulder, it's blood."  She glanced at him.  

	He stared at his fingers for a moment.  She was right.  
It was undoubtedly blood judging by the thick composition 
and the crimson color.  "But whose?" He raised his eyebrow 
and stared at the door that the blood was seaping out from 
under.  

	They stood up at the exact same time, both wondering 
who was behind the door, both not wanting to look into the 
question.  

	Mulder stepped forward first and waited  until Sage was 
behind him so that she could see who it was with him.  He 
swallowed hard and put his hand on the doorknob.  Sage held 
her breath, awaiting the moment when they would see who the 
next victim would be.

	Mulder turned the knob, but there was no need for him 
to open it.  The door opened itself.  The weight of the dead 
corpse of Halbert Bostdorf fell onto the floor with a 
sickening splat.  A small but lethal kitchen knifesuck out 
of his side, spilling his crimson insides all over the 
narrow hallway floor.  Sage simply frowned and stared at the 
body.  She was no longer sickened.  She felt so helpless.  
Mulder, on the other hand, had to look away quickly before 
losing his breakfast.  



	Mulder frowned.  "The phones don't work either."  He 
slammed the phone onto the receiver and fell into the chair.  


	Tyler pulled violently on the front door.  "We're 
totally locked in.  What the hell could have happened?"  He 
itched his head and glanced toward Sage.  She simply 
shrugged her shoulders and sighed loudly in answer.  

	Opal crossed her arms in front of her.  "Wonderful.  
The goddamn electricity is gone, too.  This really is the 
trip from hell."  She sat down in the seat next to Mulder 
and covered her face with her hands.  She wouldn't mind some 
of this handsome man's sympathy, but he gave none.  He was 
off in another world thinking of what their next move should 
be.  

	Tyler walked toward the hallway.  This sudden movement 
caught Mulder's attention and ripped him out of his little 
world that he went to whenever he needed to think about 
something important.  "Where are you off to?"

	Tyler pushed his glasses up higher on his nose.  "My 
equipment is still in the study.  I want to go check 
everything out."  

	Sage stood straight up suddenly, seeming to awaken from 
a trance that she had momentarily fallen into.  "The study's 
a good area for us to stay in.  Maybe we should all just 
stay there for now.  Besides, it's comfortable, and I'd like 
to be near the equipment."  

	Mulder nodded and shoved himself up from the chair.  

	"Hey, help me up."  Opal gave him her hand.  He pulled 
her up quickly.  She was almost complimented by how easily 
he had just picked her off of the chair.  IT made her feel 
slim.  "Thanks, babe."  She thought about smacking his 
backside, but that was just a little too much.  Besides, 
Isabella would kill her if she did any such thing.  

	They moved like a pack of wolves toward the study, 
being careful to avoid the area where they had found Halbert 
in the closet.  Mulder and Sage knew that if wouldn't help 
their situation or the amount of nervousness in the house.  
The atmosphere was already hanging heavily with death.  

	Mulder made certain to leave the door open just in case 
they had to made a quick exit. Of course, he tried not to 
think about why they might have to make a quick exit, and he 
certainly didn't share his thoughts with the rest of the 
room.  He took a seat in a comfortably puffy, red velvet 
chair and closed his eyes.  The sleeplessess was finally 
beginning to get to him.  

	"This is insane.  It can't be happening."  Tyler was 
staring at his computer.

	Sage rose to her feet and hurried to his side.  "Honey, 
I'm sure that whatever is happening could happen.  After 
everything else that's happened here, I'd say anything was 
damn possible."  She took a seat behind him and put her hand 
on his shoulder.  He was shaking slightly, but she tried her 
best to not show that she had noticed.   "Now, what are you 
bitching about?"  

	"Look at this."  He pointed toward the screen with an 
open mouth.  "The energy levels in here are raging.  It's 
just not possible.  The pressure is so high that only 
astronauts could survive, but we're not reacting to it in 
any way."

	She frowned and studied the graphs herself.  She never 
did trust other scientists interpretations.  She swallowed 
hard as she stared at the lines on the screen.  He was more 
right that she had hoped.  "My God, you're right.  I've 
never seen anything like this.  You guys, look at these 
readings."  She glanced over her shoulder.  Isabella came to 
look, but Opal remained in her place in the corner, staring 
off into oblivion.  Even the situation was getting to 
Mulder.  He was fast asleep in the corner chair. 

	 She smiled as Isabella gasped.  "Amazing."  

	Sage glanced at her watch.  It was already nearing 
midnight.  "The energy in here could have some bad 
consequences.  Maybe we should switch rooms."  She threw a 
pencil at Mulder.  "Hey, Mulder!  Wake up.  I think we 
should switch rooms."

	He yawned, exaggerating the entire thing as he stood 
up.  "You had to wake me, huh?"  He smiled weakly, 
reassuring her that he was only joking.  "You guys know 
best.  Maybe we should."  

	Mulder took a step toward the door.  The reflections on 
the wood from the dancing candles they had lit since the 
electricity had gone off moved over the door.  It was as if 
the door was moving, being pushed by an unseen hand.  Before 
any one them knew what was happening, the hollow noise of 
the slamming door rang in their ears.  Mulder had seen it 
coming, but the others jumped considerably.  

	Isabella even let out a little scream as she spun 
toward the door.  Sage stood up.  Her heart rate had just 
sped up by at least a ten measure.  She put her hands on her 
hips.  "Mulder?  What the hell are you doing?  We're all 
jumpy enough as it is. That was really inappropriate."  She 
furrowed her brow.  

	"Sage, I didn't do that."  

	Opal stood up slowly.  "He's telling the truth.  It 
just closed as if there was wind, or something."  There was 
a look of true panic on her round face as she took a step 
toward Mulder.  "Try the door."  

	The four of them held their breath as Mulder turned 
toward the door.  He tried the handle, but it was impossible 
to turn.  "Uh, it seems we may not be leaving the room 
anytime soon after all.  We seem to be locked in."  He 
hadn't lost it yet.  He was still relativly calm and 
collected, but by the look on the faces of the people around 
him told him that he was alone in feeling so.  Only Sage 
appeared as relaxed as he was.  Even she had worry written 
all over her face.  The truth was, the only reason Mulder 
was calm was because he had never encountered a truly evil 
ghost that would kill just because.  He had never even seen 
a real ghost or real ghost activity.  Why would he be 
worried?

	Suddenly, the room was enveloped in darkness.  Every 
single candle in the room was blown out at the same exact 
moment.  How was that even possible?  It was out of the 
realms of scientific knowledge as far as most people 
thought.  Even Tyler's computer had turned off abruptly.  
Mulder could just hear Scully telling him that he had only 
been seeing things.  He could just hear her denials of 
everything that he said.  She would not be able to 
understand the amazing fear raging through is system as he 
tried to see through the darkness.  A chilly breeze ran 
through all of them even though there was no wind in the 
room.  Every window was closed, and every door locked.  

	Sage ran a nervous hand through her hair as she 
searched for any sign of light.  Her eyes ran through the 
darkness like a runner on a path to the burning gates of 
hell.  All her eyes could find was the terribly blackness, 
reminding her of the inside of a coffin, making her shake 
slightly.  For that reason she was glad of the darkness.  
She didn't want any of the others seeing how afraid she 
really was.  She was truly petrified.  

	Tyler and Isabella clutched tightly to each other in 
the dark, not wanting to move, unsure of what they might run 
into.  They weren't in love or attracted to each other even 
though they were clutching to each other tight enough for 
them to be.  They were simply full of worry and fear.  
Isabella even pondered on whether she should search for 
Mulder in the darkness, but she felt that was in 
appropriate.  How could she even think of such things in 
this situation?  Besides, she knew she didn't have the 
bravery to walk through the darkness even if it was in 
search of his embrace.  

	Sage's lip quivered slightly.  "Um, is everyone all 
right?"  She had to do something.  They could not easily 
just stand there awaiting their demises.  They had to take 
some sort of action.  

	Mulder nodded but quickly answering after he thought 
about the fact that she couldn't see him nodding his head in 
the darkness.  "Safe over here."  

	"Tyler?" 

	"Issy and I are fine."  They were still clutching to 
each other like a pair of frightened children hiding from an 
unseen adult coming for them in the night.  

	"Opal?"

	Silence.

	"Opal, are you all right?"  

	Almost in answer to her question, the fire raged to 
life, sending a cloud of smoke into the air.  The room was 
suddenly almost blindingly bright.  The four of them covered 
their eyes as the light penetrated the darkness, stinging 
their eyes after being closed in the dark long enough for 
their eyes to adjust. 

	 Sage felt her heart bursting in her chest with a 
sudden panic.  Opal hadn't answered her calls.  Maybe she 
had just been too frightened to speak.  Sage was the one to 
look up first.  Her eyes adjusted quickly, seeing the fuzy 
figure of a person directly in front of her face.  She 
screamed loudly, making the others look in her direction.  
Opal was found, at least.  The creaking of the chandelier 
was the only noise as they all gaped at the dead, hanging 
body of someone who had been alive moment before.  Her face 
was hardly recognizable, because blood poured like a river 
out of her eye sockets, threatening to shove the small, 
beady things out of their place  and onto the floor.  Her 
mouth was hanging wide open in a last effort to scream out 
before her own death.  Her throat was already swollen as if 
she had been hanging for months or years, purple around the 
harsh rope that held her suspended there.  Her arms hung 
loosly at her sides, swinging gently to the breeze that 
didn't exist.  Her feet were a mere inch from the floor: an 
inch too much.  Sage backed away as the body fell to the 
floor with a loud thump.  

	All of their hearts were pounding so fast it seemed as 
if they might burst.  The sudden shattering of a vase on the 
bookcase didn't help them any.  The water splashed out and 
went all over the perfect wood floors, followed by the 
beautiful flowers.  The glass sounded almost like music as 
it fell to the ground in small shards.  The only thing was, 
there was no way the glass could have broken.  There was no  
one near to it, and nothing had knocked it over.  It was as 
if it had been squeezed by someone......or something.  
Another vase followed suit soon after, this one flying 
against the wall as if it had been thrown.  A glass 
exploded, shooting shards in all directions, but none of 
them were near enough to get touched by it.  Soon, there was 
almost no glass left in the room that was unshattered and 
lying on the floor like the dead carcass of an animal.  

	It was then that Sage was struck with a terrible idea.  
Tyler's glasses!  She spun toward him and darted in his 
direction.  She couldn't be too late.  If his glasses 
shattered, the only thing that would be left of him would be 
a bloody pulp, and she was in no mood to clean that up.  Her 
hand flew out to him and tossed the small round-rimmed 
spectacles off of his face.  They shattered as they fell, 
making them all jump and back away as the glass flew in all 
directions. 

	 Sage sighed a loud sigh of relief and turned back to 
Mulder.  He was leaning against the wall for support.  It 
was a safe place to be in a situation like this.  His eyes 
were watching something through the brightness, and by the 
look on his face, it was not something good.  He had a look 
of pure hysteria on his face, frozen with fear.  She had 
never seen him reacting to anything this way.  She almost 
didn't want to look, but she knew she had to.  

	As she turned, she touched Opal's body, sending a 
shiver down her spine as she backed away from it quickly.  
Her eyes rose until they were met with the horrid sight of 
the floating swords dancing in the air.  They had once been 
above the fireplace, but the force had ripped them from 
their places on the wall.  Now,they were taunting them with 
their sharpness, beckoning them to implant themselves on 
their silver tips, coloring their cold metal forever red 
with their thick crimson blood.  

	Sage shivered and ran toward Mulder.  "We've got to get 
out of here."  She pulled on the door, but found that it 
truly was impossible to open.  "Shit!"  She felt the 
presence of Tyler and Isabella behind her.  Their backs were 
to her, though.  They were watching the scene as the swords 
came closer and closer.  "SHIT!"

	Mulder shoved her out of the way, seeing she was near 
hysterics.  He pulled with all his might on the small knob, 
knowing that this meant life or death for every person in 
the room......except, of course, Opal.  "Damnit, open!" He 
yelled at the door in annoyance as if yelling at them would 
help them to open.  As if his command they would obey.  

	"Oh, my God!"  A horrid cry ripped out of Isabella's 
usual quietness.  

	Mulder didn't even have to turn around to know the 
swords were on their way toward the small crowd trying to 
escape inevitable death.  Everybody dies sometime, right?  
But Mulder wouldn't fall for that line.  He wasn't going to 
die.  Not yet.  He took a deep breath as the screaming 
behind him increased, and he pulled with all his might.  The 
door, surprisingly gave, opening suddenly without warning.  

	"Go," he screamed.  They were all too hypnotized by the 
sight of the flying swords to notice the door was open.  
Sage spun around first and ran out the door like a flash of 
light.  Tyler and Isabella followed directly behind her, 
still clutching onto each other like little, frightened 
children.  Mulder pounced outside the door, seeing the light 
glint off the blades that were too near for comfort.  

	He slammed the door violently behind him and jumped 
away from the door as the loud noise of the knives colliding 
with the door echoed through their ears. It was a truly 
terrible sound that was unplesant for anyone to hear.  It 
was the sound that their flesh would have made had the 
knives implanted themselves there.  It was the sound of 
their own deaths yelling a foreshadowing of what was to 
come.  The sound laughed at them, at their escape, knowing 
that the knives would get them one way or another in the 
end, knowing that no one would ever get out alive.  

	

	Mulder glanced down the crowded hallway at the other 
inhabitants of the small area.  He sighed loudly, but not 
loud enough to bother any one elses rest.  He was restless.  
He had never felt so tired in his life, but he just seemed 
unable to sleep.  He was unable to even get a wink of rest 
after the scene in the study.  His heart pace speedened just 
thinking about it.  He had never been so afraid in his life.  
Of course, he was not going to tell Sage that.  She would 
probably only laugh at his amateur behavior.  She had most 
likely seen all of this before.  He closed his eyes for a 
moment and took a deep breath. He needed to calm down and 
sleep.  But, he knew that he couldn't sleep when there was 
something worth thinking about.  He rubbed his brow.  Funny, 
but he had a headache.  

	The young girl emerged from the shadows as if she had 
just come out of the wallpaper.  She was young, perhaps 
seven or eight.  She had lengthy, brown hair that curled 
slightly, although no one would notice since all of her 
thick locks were pulled back in tight braids.  She was 
uncommonly pale for her age except for her small, red 
cheeks.  She was wearing a long,  white nighgown that 
dragged on the floor as she walked.  She was young and 
beautiful and meant a lot to someone in that hallway that 
was vulnerable of following after her.  She laughed in the 
shadows, knowing her plan would work. 

	At the sudden sound of laughter, Mulder's senses sprung 
to life.  He sat up quickly and glanced around the hallway 
to see where the sound had come from.  It had sounded 
remotley like a little child, but there were no children 
here.  Even in his nervous state, he knew that.  

	He almost jumped out of his skin at the sight of her.  
It was Samantha!  She was standing at the end of the hallway 
smiling at him.  Her dark eyes were twinkling, picking up 
light from somewhere where there was no light at all.  She 
suddenly ran away.  Mulder gasped for breath in his 
surprise.  He knew he wasn't dreaming.  This was all to 
real.  He ran after her after throwing a short glanced 
toward Sage, who was fast asleep. It had amazed him that she 
could sleep at a time like this, but now all that mattered 
was Samantha.  Where on earth had she come from?

	He followed the sound of her laughter until it had 
ceased to exist.  By that time, it was too late for him to 
get out of the danger he had put himself in.  He stepped 
into the room he had seen her enter and glanced around the 
area.  The room was empty, but how could that be?  She had 
gone in here, and he knew it.  He wasn't seeing things.  He 
wasn't that delusional, although he might as well be after 
all he had experianced that night.   He sighed.  Where was 
she?  

	Unexpectedly, the door slammed behind him, sending a 
shock though his system.  He spun toward the door, the 
hollow noise of it's slamming still echoing through his 
mind.  He laid his hand on the knob, knowing well enough 
that it was going to be locked.  He tried turning it.  His 
guess had been right.  He cursed himself silently, negative 
thoughts invading his mind.  Thoughts of flying knives and 
exploding glass. The small dagger sitting under glass on the 
small table near the far wall didn't make him feel any 
better.  He stared at it for a moment before pulling his 
eyes off it, filled with nervousness that he didn't like 
feeling.  He knew he was in for it, now. How could he have 
been so stupid?  

	"You shouldn't have left." 

	He jumped notably at the sound of the musty, sensual 
voice behind him.  He spun around, ready to defend himself 
from anything that came flying in his direction.  He 
squinted through the small amount of light in the room, 
trying to see who it was that had caputered him here, 
outsmarting him, knowing his weaknesses.  

	"It was not a good idea, Fox."  She floated out of the 
shadows slowly, softly, her white gown flowing out of the 
shadows behind her. Her blonde hair was still perfectly 
styled behind her back as she floated further into the 
light.  Her skin was sickly pale, making her look like the 
ghost she was.

	He could not believe his eyes.  It was the woman from 
the painting!  The woman that they had caught in the 
picture.  She was real and standing right in front of him.  
He was silent, not knowing what he should say.  He couldn't 
run from her, there was nowhere to go.  He was trapped.  

	"It's just not safe to stray from the group."  She 
smiled.  "Not that you're safe with the group, either."  She 
froze where she stood, watching him carefully.  "You're 
really not safe anywhere.  You're here to die."

	He shook his head, trying to appear sure of himself.  
Was he, though?  "We're not going to die here."

	She laughed a laugh that frightened him more than 
anything.  It was a laugh of pure evil. "I've killed so 
many.  Do you think I would spare you?"  She floated slowly 
closer to him, close enough to reach out and touch his face.  
"No, you will die just like the others.  I'll make sure of 
that."    She touched his cheek with her hand.  

	Mulder backed away from her touch.  She felt like ice!  
With her mere touch, he had felt such an intense shiver, it 
was as if he had just stepped into the winter cold without a 
coat on.  

	She smiled  at his reaction. She had known how she 
would feel to him.  His warmth had almost burnt her chill, 
but she was used to it by now. Her chilly touched had taken 
the lives of more than she could count.  "Are you ready to 
die now, Fox?  You might as well get it over with.  Besides, 
I can't wait to see Sage's face when she finds your cold, 
dead body.  That will give me almost as much pleasure as 
killing you."  

	He glanced around him, searching for a way out.  There 
was none.  It was a hopeless situation.  He only wondered if 
she was telling the truth.  How could she kill him?  He was 
more than sure he was more powerful than she was.  He could 
easily overtake her.  But, then a thought struck him.  She 
wasn't human.  She was dead.  He was talking to a dead 
woman.  He almost felt as if he was going to faint at this 
thought.  How would Scully explain this?  

	"You can search for an escape, Fox, but it's no use."  
She laughed with the same evil she had shown moments before, 
this time, sinking back into the shadows and disappearing 
into the woodwork.  

	Mulder sighed in relief.  She was gone!  He was alive, 
too.  That was his main goal: to live through this.  And, so 
far he was doing all right.  He almost felt like laughing 
with joy as he walked slowly toward the door.  

	He reached out to grab the knob, when a striking pain 
overloaded his stomach. He backed away quickly from the 
door, but the pain didn't stop.  The pain only increased, 
causing him to gasp for air that his lungs could not get.  
He longed for the sweet air as he tried to suck in air, but 
it was no use.  He fell back against the wall, struggling to 
stay on his feet.  What was happening to him?  What was 
going wrong?  What had she done?  He held his stomach 
tightly and glanced around the room for an answer.  

	Before he was ready, his answer came.  His eyes widened 
as he looked searchingly at the table against the far wall.  
The daggar had been there a moment ago. It had been sitting 
under the glass, looking beautiful, looking deadly. Now, it 
was gone.  He closed his eyes tightly.  He knew where the 
pain was coming from, now.  He knew why he was slowly dying.  
He knew why she was somewhere laughing at him.  She had beat 
him.  

	He clutched his stomach, full of panic as he slowly 
slid down the wall and took a seat on the floor.  He 
couldn't let this beat him.  He had to yell out.  He had to 
get help.  But even if someone found him,  what would they 
do?  They were locked in the house!  Was this what had been 
going through Mae Holkovic's mind as she died?  Was this 
what death felt like?  He felt himself becoming dizzy as an 
awful taste invaded his mouth: blood.  He coughed violently, 
struggling against the great pain he was feeling.  He 
struggled to yell, struggled to call out, but his throat 
refused to make a noise. 

	 He could almost feel his stomach ripping.  He couldn't 
move.  If he moved, the knife might come through the skin.  
Then, there would be no hope.  He had no hope, anyway.  He 
was dying, and he knew it.  His mind fell back on Scully. 
Well, he wouldn't hear her voice, after all.  What would 
they tell her?  That her partner had been murdered by a 
ghost?  She wouldn't believe a word of it, and his death 
would go on as a mystery until the end of time.  He felt a 
tear rolling down his cheek as he thought of her.  

	He coughed softly, this time, tasting the thick blood 
in the back of his mouth.  It tasted awful and 
bitter........like death.  The pain slowly began to fade as 
he lost consiousness, falling onto the floor with his head 
back, hands still ripping at his stomach.  He was still 
fighting to live as he faded into the blackness.  

	

 







	Sage shook awake suddenly, finding herself gasping for 
breath.  There was a thick panic in her, but she couldn't 
figure out why. Something just wasn't right.  Something had 
gone terribly wrong.  She sat up instantly turning around in 
the hallway, searching for the form of panic that had 
awakened her so violently.  Tyler was sleeping peacefully at 
the end of the hallway, dreaming of nothing in particular.  
She had guessed that the only dreams possible in this 
situation would be nightmares, but here he was dreaming 
softly.  Isabella was lying down a few feet, her own thin 
arms wrapped around herself.  It was almost as if she was 
trying to comfort herself, protecting herself from something 
that only she could see.  

	Mulder was, wait.  Where was Mulder?  She spun around 
in the small hallway and jumped to her feet.  He wasn't 
there!  She had remembered him lying down further toward the 
opposite end of the hallway, but he wasn't there.  It was as  
if he had simply disappeared into thin air.  She took one 
last glanced around the hallway before taking off in a mad 
run toward the open end of the hall, the end Mulder had been 
closest to.  

	She went through the are, searching room after room 
that she came upon.  Where could he have gone?  She didn't 
even want to think about what could have happened to him.  
She wouldn't let herself think of such things.  She knew 
that every arrow she saw pointed toward the one frightening 
conclusion: he had joined Opal in grisly death.  Her vivid 
imaginatin even had begun picturing how it had happened, but 
she quickly closed these doors of her subconcious and opened 
another door.  

	This door took a bit of work to open, but it opened 
after a moment.  It was almost as if it had been locked one 
moment and unlocked another.  Of course, she didn't think of 
this.  She was searching for a friend, and that was the only 
thing her mind was zeroing in on at that moment.  She had to 
find Mulder.  

	Her heart stopped when she saw him, almost leaving her 
dead on the floor.  She pulled herself together quickly and 
ran to Mulder's side.  He was dead, she knew it.  He had to 
be. He appeared to be almost in slumber, but she knew better 
then that.   Her hand shook as she reached out and touched 
his neck, searching for a pulse that she wouldn't find.  She 
screamed in agony and defeat as her finger picked up nothing 
but his smooth skin.  He had no pulse, but she wouldn't let 
it go that easily.  "Mulder, no!"  She turned him onto his 
back quickly and she laid her head on his chest, trying to 
find some sort of heartbeat.  She wasn ot going to let this 
beat her, and she was not going to let Mulder die.  

	She struggled to remember those classes when she had 
learned CPR.  She had thought at the time that it would 
never come in handy, but as she stared down at Mulder's 
peaceful face, she knew it was important.  She thought 
quickly, entertwining her fingers in the telltale CPR 
stance.  She searched for the bottom of his rid cage, 
feeling herself losing it.  Not now, Sage.  This isn't the 
time to fall apart.  She counted out as she shoved her fists 
into his stomach, trying to jump start his heart.  She put 
her ear near his mouth, praying that he would start 
breathing.  

	Nothing.

	She pulled his chin up, trying to open the windpipe as 
best she could.  She remembered this now.  They had had to 
practice on little, plastic dummies all those years ago.  Of 
course, this was different.  Much different.  A life 
depended on this, and she was the only person who could save 
it.  She closed her mouth over his and pinched his nose shut 
before blowing a woosh of air down his throat, expanding his 
lungs momentarily.  She pulled away, still tasting him in 
her mouth.  He tasted sweet to her panic, almost like fresh, 
summer fruit.  Her mind spun.  Her luck that he would be 
dead when she finally god to "kiss" those lips of his.  Only 
a dead guy would find her attractive anyway, she thought 
bitterly.  She listened for a heart beat again.

	Again, nothing.

	How long had he been gone?  She had no idea.  For all 
she knew, he could have been dead for hours, but judging by 
the warmth radiating from him, he had probably just taken 
his last breath moments before she had broken through the 
door.  What had happened? she wondered.  Had some psycho 
ghost done him in or had it been a murderer?  Was this all a 
great bit setup?  She shook this off as her mind returned to 
the task at hand.  She drove her palms into his stomach, 
again and again, still receiving nothing from him.  Her 
heart was really pounding now, and she could just feel the 
tears lying beneath the surface of her mind.  She listened 
for air.

	Nothing.

	He was dead.  She shivered as this thought registered.  
"No!"  She yelled to no one in particular and held his chin 
up again.  Pinching his nose, she blew into his throat.  She 
waited a moment before inflating his lungs a second time 
with her breath.  As she blew in, she felt a sudden pressure 
as if he was expelling a breath of air.  She ripped 
backwards and stared down into his face.  He was alive!  His 
eyes fluttered softly but remained closed.  It didn't matter 
if his eyes were still closed.  He was alive!  

	She let out a huge breath of air in relief and pulled 
him into her arms.  She cradeled him in her lap like a 
mother with a child.  She kissed his forehead affectionatly 
and brushed the hair off his forehead.  She felt her own 
skin was wet with nervous sweat, but she didn't care.  She 
felt almost faint with pure and utter joy as his eyes 
opened, staring up at her.  

	His eyes were fuzzy for a moment.  He blinked, forcing 
the fog away and stared up into her face.  She had saved 
him! He still felt her lips on his vaguely, still tasting 
her soft, feminine, sweetness.  He felt her strong arms 
clutching him close.  It must have been awfully close.  He 
glanced around the room quickly as everything came back to 
him in a bright and frightening chain of events.  

	She expelled another breath of air loudly, trying to 
force herself to calm down.  She still felt as if her heart 
was just going to burst.  He sat up slowly as she loosened 
her hold around his shoulders so that he could actually 
move.  His head was aching, and he was still having trouble 
breathing.  What had happened to the knife?  He glanced 
toward the far wall, and to his own disbelief, the knife was 
back in it's place, perfectly clean and shining in the 
light.  Adeline was doing quite a number on him.  

	Finally registering everything around him, Mulder 
leaned on Sage for support on the cold, wooden floor.  He 
wrapped his arms around her gently, not quite having the 
energy to hold her any tighter.  She wrapped her arms around 
his shoulders and laid her chin on his shoulder.  She was 
feeling faint, and if she tried to stand up, she was sure 
she would fall over. 

	 They sat together there for minutes before Sage willed 
herself to break the silence.  "Are you all right, Mulder?"  
She pulled away so that she could look into his face.  She 
didn't care that her eyes were  damp and red with tears. She 
still wasn't sure if he was all right.

	He nodded and swallowed hard.  He was still feeling 
awfully woozy.  After staring at the floor for a long 
minute, he found the energy to look her in the eye.  He was 
sure his eyes were watering, but he didn't care.  It wasn't 
a time to care about such inconsequential things.  He smiled 
slightly  as he saw a tear run down her cheek and fall onto 
the floor silently.  She smiled, too upon seeing that he was 
sharing similar emotions with her.  He reached up and laid 
his hand on her cheek, wiping her tears away with his 
fingers.  She acted similarly, laying her hand on his cheek.  
His skin was so soft.  She tenderly wiped his tears away, 
too.   They didn't even notice the figure standing in the 
corner, smiling with victory.  



	Sage tried her best to walk slowly so that Mulder could 
keep up.  He was looking awfully pale, but she was just 
happy that he was alive.  She knew that they needed to get 
him to a doctor, which was completely out of the question.  
The electricity was still out, and the doors were still 
locked.  It was a hopless situation.  She held his hand 
tightly as they returned to the others.  Mulder had thought 
it would be best if the other two people didn't know of what 
had happened.  They didn't need to be frightened any further 
than they already were.  

	She kicked Tyler gently as they moved by them. "Tyler."  


	He moved slowly, not wanting to wake up the the 
nightmare that was reality.  By the look on his tired face, 
she could see that he really had not wanted to be bothered.  
"What is it, Sage?"  His voice was shallow and pointed with 
annoyance.  

	"I think we should move.   We aren't safe here."

	He sat up, rubbing the back of his head.  "Why do you 
say that?  It seems pretty safe to me."  	

	"We saw a ghost, Tyler.  I think we should go somewhere 
else."  She lied.  If she needed to exaggerate, it didn't 
bother her.  She glanced at Mulder, and was happy to see 
that he showed no knowledge that she had lied.  The fact 
that he was such a good liar worried Sage.  Had he lied to 
her without her knowing it?  She sighed.  "Let's get out of 
here."

	He nodded.  "Whatever you say."  He thought she was a 
psycho, but he didn't care.  He did feel like getting up and 
moving around, after all.  He had been sleeping for at least 
an hour.  He kicked Isabella's extended arm.  "Issy, get up.  
We're moving."

	She groaned as he sat up, but she didn't say a word of 
disagreement or ask a question.  She just stood up and 
stretched.  She had had a very restful sleep, to her own 
surprise.  

	They moved in a small congregation toward the library, 
hoping to discover some way out.  Truthfully, though, their 
hope was practically nonexistant.  All of them just felt 
fear in the bottom of their stomachs, knowing that the 
moment of death would come at any moment.  

	Mulder looked toward Sage as they walked toward the 
room.  She was still clutching tightly to his hand as she 
had been since they had left the hallway, but she appeared 
to be off somewhere in her mind, trying to fit a puzzle 
peice into the game of life and death.  He could almost see 
her thinking of a way of escaping.  He just kept remembering 
the look on her face when he pulled out of their hug.  She 
had looked so happy and so afraid at the same time.  He 
still wasn't sure how he felt about her, but he knew that 
she was special, and that she had to live through this no 
matter what.  She was a strong girl that could take more 
than most people, and Mulder knew it.  

	Tyler closed the door behind the group as he came in 
last.  He was glad to see that there were no sharp 
implements in this room.  Of course, after losing his 
glasses everything looked fairly fuzzy, but to the best of 
his guesses, this room was as close to safe as they were 
going to get.  He sat in a chair near the darkened fireplace 
and covered his face with his hands.  He had a burning 
headache all of a sudden.  

	Mulder sat down in the chair by the door and rubbed his 
forehead.  He wished the terrible pounding would stop.  His 
mouth still tasted remotely of blood, but he swallowed this 
out of his mind.  He was alive, and he was all right.  

	Isabella sat down next to him, shivering slightly as 
she sat down.  She reached out and took Mulder's hand, much 
to the surprise of everyone else in the room.  She was 
finally coming out of her shell, was she.  Mulder squeezed 
her hand, but didn't smile.  He didn't feel he had the 
energy to perform such a feat.  Isabella smiled at him and 
leaned her head against his shoulder.  She was comfortable 
with him as she had never been with anyone before.  She 
closed her eyes and tried to get some more sleep.  

	Sage scratched her chin as she paced around the room.  
She resembled a caged lion, searching for its dinner.  She 
looked deep in though over how to handle their situation.  
If anyone would think of something, she would.  She mumbled 
something for no one to hear but herself and stopped 
suddenly.  A light had glowed in her eyes for a moment, but 
it was quickly gone.  An idea had come, but she had debunked 
her own thoughts.  

	Tyler pulled his hands off of his face.  "Would you sit 
still!"  

	"I can't Tyler.  I've got to think.  There has to be 
something we can do.  We can't just sit here and die."  She 
ran a nervous hand through her short hair. 

	"Yes we can, Sage!  There's nothing else we can do."  

	"How can you say that!  You're just going to give up 
and not care anymore?  At least I'm going to get out of here 
alive!"  She turned her back to him.  "We'll just leave your 
rotting corpse here to be eaten by the bugs, then." 

	He rose to his feet.  "What are you saying?  You're 
going to kill me because I've lost hope?"

	"I didn't say that."

	"God, you really are just as psycho as they all said 
you were."

	Her mouth widened for a moment along with her eyes.  
"What did you say?"

	"You heard me."  He stuck out his chin, representing a 
challenge.  "You're a psycho.  I've thought that since the 
very first time I met you."  

	She looked like she was just going to rip his face off, 
but she stopped.  "You asshole!  How dare you say that to 
me?"

	"How dare I?  I dare because it's the truth."  He spun 
on his heels.  "Your whole family was insane, Sage.  A whole 
freaking bunch of loonies!"

	"Oh, there's wit!  Attacking my dead parents!"

	"Did you kill your father, Sage? Did you string him 
up?" He stared her down, backing down as she stepped forward 
almost crushing his toes.  

	"I'll string you up, you little prick!  At least my 
parents were happy together.  Instead of hating each other 
like your parents.  They have the combined IQ of a pair of 
toads!"  

	Mulder rubbed his forehead and rose from his seat. He 
couldn't handle this.  Even with Isabella clinging gently to 
him to give him comfort, he still felt like his head was 
about to explode.  <*****Note to Krisit Smith- his hair is 
not going to burn up in flames!********>  He pulled out of 
Isabella's grasp and walked toward the rows of bookshelves 
lining the room's high walls.  Of all the rooms in the 
house, this was easily his favorite.  The loud and angry 
voices of his two co-workers were almost unhearable.  The 
millions of books lining the walls absorbed their 
shrillness.  

	Mulder strode through the area, watching every corner. 
His stomach was still twisted in knots with undeniable 
worries.  What else could possibly go wrong?  Who would be 
the next to die?  Perhaps, she would come back after him 
later.  Had she spared him? He still didn't understand what 
had exactly happned.  He only knew he was alive.  He almost 
thought that he saw a shadow following him, but he couldn't 
be sure.  The room had such a heavy air to it.  It was 
almost as if he was walking through a cloud of misty worry 
and fear.  

	The books around him surrounded him, covering them in 
their protective bindings.  Their eyes of paper watched him 
walk by, screaming to him to choose them.  He frowned as he 
glanced at a few of the titles.  None of them were even 
remotley familiar.  They were all most likely from the late 
nineteenth century, printed in Scotland.  Most of them 
probably had never even touched American soil.  Mulder 
sighed and picked through a few of the thinned volumes of 
books.  Maybe reading would take his mind off of everything 
else that was happening.  As he opened the cover of one of 
the books carefully, he listened for Sage and Tyler.  Their 
voices had ceased to exist.  They had probably gotten sick 
of arguing with each other.  Everyone was tired,and everyone 
had a short temper.  Mulder was in no mood to argue, so he 
made a silent promise to not say anything offensive to any 
of his commrades.  Hatred would only make the air heavier.  

	A tap on his shoulder didn't even phase him.  He knew 
who it was.  "What are you looking for?"  It was Sage.  She 
smiled weakly.

	"Hope."  His face remained the same.  He was 
indifferent to everyone and everything around him, but he 
hadn't given up hope. He wasn't going to die in this house, 
and he had strong faith in that statement.  

	"You mind if I help you look?"

	He shrugged.  "It's a good thing to have someone help 
you look for." This time he smiled.  He didn't want to make 
her feel shoved away, after all, she had saved his life.  
"That was a rather messy scene out there."

	She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.  "I 
know.  It happens sometimes.  I do love my arguements."  She 
touched his shoulder.  "Are you feeling all right?  You look 
a little green around the gills."

	"Yeah, I'm fine.  Thanks."  He reached out to pull at 
another thick book, but stopped suddenly after he had given 
it one good strong pull.  "Jesus Christ."  He gave it 
another pull.  A group of five or six books pulled  out in a 
small row.  They weren't real!  They were hiding something 
beneath them.  Something important.  

	Sage jumped slightly.  "What the-"

	"It's a safe!"  He glanced behind the books.  "God, it 
looks old!"  

	She stuck her head next to his and glanced into the 
darkness.  He was right.  It did appear to be antique.  She 
doubted that the Holkovics had even known of its existance, 
because by the look of it, it hadn't been opened in a 
century.  "We've got to get this thing open."  

	He sighed.  "How?  I don't suppose you have another 
bobby-pin with you?"  

	She smiled.  "Always, Mulder." She reached to the 
underside of her thick mane of hair and extracted a small 
hair pin that shined in the light.  "How's that for being on 
task, ay?"

	He grinned.  "You're amazing, you know that?"

	"I know, I know." She shoved past him and inspected the 
lock.  "It's old, and it should be easy to break."

	"What are you guys up to?"  Isabella poked her head 
into their conversation.

	"Look."  Mulder pulled her into their little circle to 
see what they had found.  "Sage, the amazing lock-picker, is 
going to break into it."  

	She smiled, suddenly.  She really had a beautiful 
smile, but she never really showed it to anyone.  It was a 
rare ocassion that she was caught with a smile on her small, 
pale face.  

	"Is Tyler all right?"  Sage asked as she poked and 
prodded at the tiny lock that would have kept even the best 
robber out in the nineteenth century.  "I feel kind of bad 
about out little arguement."

	Isabella pointed over her shoulder, eyes not leaving 
Mulder.  "He's back there.  I think he's all right.  He 
acted kind of sorry, himself.  Then again, you always 
argue."

	Mulder was amazed.  That was the most he had heard this 
shy little girl say since he had first met her.  She was too 
quiet!  He shoved his hands in his pockets and tried to wait 
patiently for Sage to finish, but his nerves were flowing 
heavily.  "Almost done?"

	She smiled.  "Yes.  How old are you anyway? Five."

	"Something like that."  

	With a tiny click, the small safe popped open.  A 
rather musty smell invaded their noses.  It reminded them of 
the inside of a tomb.  They all agreed on this based on the 
looks they threw around.  Death was on all of their minds, 
as it was.  

	Mulder moved first and shoved past Sage to see what was 
inside this little treasure cove.  He squinted through the 
darkness, not really wanting to stick his hand into the 
darkness and pull out what he found.  He remembered the 
stories Mae had told them about Adeline and her little 
"ceremonies," and he really didn't want to find the remains 
of someone else.    

	Sage pushed him away.  "What are you waiting for?  An 
invitation?"  She reached into the darkness, fearless of 
what they might find inside.  Her hand slipped back into the 
light, clutching tightly to a tiny and dusty bag.  "Hmm, 
very mysterious."  The three of them had forgotten about 
their fears as she opened the bag slowly.  

	Mulder opened his hand for her to pour the inards of 
the bag into.  He wasn't worried about what was inside 
anymore.  His curiousity had covered his nervousness.  Two 
shining peices of gold tumbled out onto his hand, tied 
together with a beautiful peice of red ribbon.  The ribbon 
reminded him of blood, but he shook that off and looked 
closer at the small peices of gold.  

	"They're rings!"  Sage took his hand in hers so that 
she could get a better look at them.  "How beautiful!"  One 
of them had an immense and shining diamond that send small 
shards of light flying around the area.  The other was a 
simple, golden, ring, but it was surely worth a large amount 
of money.  

	"Wedding rings."  Mulder looked up at Sage with wide 
eyes.  

	She met his gaze and struggled to remember the 
significance of wedding rings.  What was he thinking?  The 
thought stuck her directly in the forehead.  The wedding 
rings Joseph had bought for himself and Adeline!  The story 
was true, and she wouldn't be happy at all once she learned 
that they had her rings that she had been searching for 
since the beginning of time.  

	A rather loud clattering broke their gazes away from 
the rings that sat in Mulder's hand. Sage threw him a 
worried glance.  What else was going to go wrong, now?  
Mulder hastily stuffed the rings into his pants pocket and 
took a step toward the unpleasant sound.  With each step, 
his fear hightened, throwing a rememberance of his own death 
back to his mind.  How awful that had been!  He took a deep 
breath, holding in all the horrid thoughts and images 
floating around in his mind.  He couldn't think of these 
things now.  He needed to try to handle the situation with 
calmness instead of intense fear.  

	He was glad that he had stuffed the rings into his 
pocket.  If he had still been holding them in his hands, he 
would have dropped them.  Tyler swung from the ceiling, a 
shocked expression on his face as if he hadn't known his own 
death was coming.  Or maybe, the sight of the grim reaper 
coming to take him away had done it.  His eyes were halfway 
out of the sockets, just enough for a person to make out the 
inside of his skull.  Whoever that had tried to carve them 
out of his head had, had to hurry away into the darkness 
before their task had been finished.  

	The slight gasp coming out of Isabella was enough to 
let Mulder know she had just stepped out from behind the 
stacks of books.  Her hands flew to her cheeks as she let 
out a terrifying, scream.  She  shook and fell to her knees 
on the floor.  Sage stepped next to her and pulled he to her 
feet, glancing up at Mulder.  He looked and felt 
indifferent.  All this situation proved was that they were 
dying, one by one, and the dying wouldn't stop until there 
was no one left to die.  

	"Let's get out of here, Mulder, fast."  Sage tugged on 
his shoulder as she shoved   Isabella toward the doors.  "We 
can't stay here, now."  

	"We can't just keep moving from room to room to wait to 
die."  His eyes were still on the slightly swinging corpse 
as he said this.  

	She frowned.  "Mulder, you're right, but there's 
nothing else we can do.  We've got to go somewhere to think, 
and here really isn't the place for me to do so."  

	"Sage, you've got to listen to me.  I think-" the loud 
wooshing exploded in their ears as Tyler's swinging body was 
engulfed in flames.  Isabella began screaming again as the 
body burnt and burnt like a dry peice of wood.  The fire was 
hot and it threw red and orange waves across the walls that 
taunted them.  Mulder felt the sweat running down his back 
as he backed away from the hanging corpse, holding his 
breath without even realizing it.  

	The fireplace, roared to life, sending a wave of flames 
into the air that reached across the room and almost touched 
their feet.  "Let's get the hell out of here,"  Sage yelled, 
pulling Isabella behind her like a lost puppy in the night.  


	The flames flew out of their prison in a distressing 
wave.  "Shit!"  Mulder shoved them both outside before he 
followed behind them.  "That's no regular fire in there, 
Sage!  I think it's following us!"  As the door crackled 
behind them, they noticed that it wasn't only following 
them.  It was trying it's best to kill them.  

	"Run!"  Sage screamed.  She shoved Isabella down the 
hall as the three of them took off down the hallway, looking 
for some way to escape where there was none.  

	The heat pursued them rampantly, letting them know of 
it's presence as it almost bit at their heals.  The heat 
only spurred them on, but they all knew that they couldn't 
run forever.  The only thoughts running through their minds 
was that they were about to die, that they were about to be 
burnt alive.  

	Out of the corner of his eye, Mulder spotted something 
that gave him hope, something that made him almost stop 
running in happiness.  The stairs to the cellar!  He smiled 
to no one but himself.  "Issy, down there!"  He pointed the 
best he could with his shaking finger.  They had to reach it 
in order to survive.  It was their only hope.  

	She glanced over her shoulder at him, fear in her eyes.  
Would she be able to jump in the door before the fire 
reached them all, burning them alive.  She wished the door 
had been open, but it wasn't. She would have to ripi it open 
before the flames utterly consumed their flesh.  She met 
Mulder's eyes only for a moment to know that all she had to 
do was jump inside, and they would all be perfeclty safe.  

	The moment came, she held her breath.  She was sweating 
considerably with the heat on her heels.  She stopped 
momentarily and flew toward the door.  With a single 
movement, she tore it open and jumped inside.  Mulder began 
to follow after her, then he noticed that Sage hadn't heard 
their plans.  She was still running!  He lunged for her and 
grabbed her arm, tearing her inside the safety of the door 
that would lead to another floor.  She gasped in surprise as 
she fell into his arms at the foot of the staircase leading 
to the basement.  She reacted quickly, though, pulling the 
door shut tightly behind her and sighing in releif as she 
helped Mulder to his feet.  

	"Come on out, you little bitch!  Stop playing games 
with us," she screamed at the door with all her might.  Her 
fists were clenched tightly at her sides, completely white 
knuckeled and shaking.  "You may have killed my friends, but 
you won't ever kill anyone again!  Not if I have anything to 
say about it!"  

	The sound of the raging fire outside the door invaded 
their ears as  Sage swiftly descended the staircase, rage 
written on her beautiful face.  She frowned.  "Issy, get 
your ass down here!"  

	Mulder followed slowly behind the small, shy girl he 
had known with concern for Sage written all over his face.  
He had never seen her so angry, and he was almost afraid of 
what she was capable of doing.  "Sage, are you all right?"

	 She nodded, not really paying any attention to him as 
she paced back and forth.  "Look, I didn't want to do this, 
but I have no other choice.  We've got to perform a spirit 
rescue, and we've got to do it, now."  She took off her 
watch and all of her jewelry, laying them on the floor at 
her feet.  She kept on the small cross around her neck and 
clutched it tightly in her hands.

	Issy stepped forward quickly, laying a hand on Sage's 
arm.  "Sage, we can't do that.  I won't let you do it.  It's 
just too dangerous."  

	"I'm doing it, Issy, no matter what you say."  

	Mulder stepped forward, annoyed and confused.  "Hey, 
what's spirit rescue, anyway?"

	Issy turned to him, her face still calm and collected.  
"It's a term we use when we talk about possession."  She 
sighed.  "You see, a person goes into a trance like state so 
that the spirit may enter their body for a small amount of 
time.  Then, another person has to talk the ghost through to 
another dimension."  She glanced over her shoulder at Sage.  
"But, the thing is, it's very dangerous.  Sometimes, a 
spirit crosses into another dimension and takes the person 
they possessed with them.  It's just unsafe."  She turned 
back to Sage.  "I won't let you do it, Sage. I'm not good at 
talking to the spirit.  I'll lose you, and you know it as 
well as I do."  

	"We have got to do this Issy.  It doesn't matter the 
consequences.  One life for three is better than losing all 
three.  You've got to see that."  

	Mulder stepped forward.  "Wait, Sage.  There has to be 
another way."

	She shook her head.  "There's no other way, and every 
one of us knows it.  I've got to be put in the trance, and 
it has to happen now."  She turned away from them, quickly.  


	"Sage, wait."  Issy grabbed her arm and threw Mulder a 
hopeful look.  She knew that Sage liked him, and that he 
liked her.  She couldn't just stand back and let this 
happen.  She had to intercede.  "I'm doing it, Sage.  You 
can talk to the spirit better than I can.  You know that."

	"No, Issy.  I'm doing it.  I got you into this mess as 
it is."  

	"I won't do anything to help you unless you let me be 
the one."  She stared at Sage with an intense annoyance that 
Mulder had never seen in this quite girl.  She was willing 
to give her own life for theirs, and she was more than 
serious about it.   She was almost blackmailing Sage by 
putting her in this position, but she had good intentions.  
"Besides, it's easier for spirits to enter me.  It always 
has been, Sage."  She met her eyes easily.  

	Sage saw herself trapped.  There was nothing else she 
could say.  Two people who knew what they were doing were 
needed to perform a spirit rescue, and if Issy didn't help, 
there was no way to exorcise the house.  It was as easy as 
that.  "All right, Issy." She glanced around the basement.  
"We can't do it here.  We've got to get somewhere else in 
the house where we can get candles."

	Mulder crossed his arms in front of himself.  "How are 
we going to do that? We can't exactly just go upstairs."  He 
glanced over his shoulder and almost fell over.  The door 
was wide open!  

	Sage stepped next to him, her eyes widening.  "What the 
hell?"  She climbed the stairs quickly and glanced around 
the hallway.  There had been  no fire there.  There was no 
sign of any such accident.  It looked as if nothing had 
happened at all.  "That's very creative!"  She yelled to no 
one at all.  "Come on,"  she yelled harshly at Mulder and 
Issy.  She was so full of anger, Mulder knew  they would win 
this battle. How could they lose with Sage in this 
condition?  She was almost bursting with rage.  

	As they joined her in the hallway, she turned to both 
of them.  "Let's go back to the library."

	Issy looked sick.  "Tyler."

	"It's all right.  We should go to where she has killed.  
She'll probably still be lingering there if she isn't 
following us right now."  Sage's statement sent a shiver up 
Mulder's spine as he glanced over his shoulder.  He was cold 
all of a sudden, and he wanted to get out of the hallway.  
He shoved them both forward, and they walked slowly back to 
the room that they had just scrambled from moments before.  

	Mulder stuck his head in first to make sure that all 
was safe for them to enter.  To his own surprise, Tyler's 
body was no longer hanging from the ceiling.  He wondered 
silently where it had gone, but he kept these thoughts to 
himself.  He didn't want to scare Issy further than she 
already was.  She had to be ready to do the spirit rescue 
before they could start.  She was much more brave than 
Mulder had first thought.  She was willing to risk her own 
life, which made her earn his respect fully.  

	He gave them the okay nod and let them enter ahead of 
him before shutting the door tightly and locking it even 
though he knew it was a pointless gesture.  Perhaps, he just 
wanted to feel a strange sort of confidence in knowing that 
he had tried everything he could to prolong their lives.  He 
frowned.  He had a terrible feeling in his stomach that they 
were going to die.  But all he had to do was look towards 
Sage, and her confidence would make him feel better.  

	She glanced around the room impatiently.  "All right, 
guys, spread out and find candles.  As many as you possibly 
can." She paused. "Just be careful." 

	After scattering across the entire library, they had 
reformulated with handfulls of small candles and large 
candles.  All of them would work, so Sage smiled for a 
moment before becoming bossy again.  "All right, who's got 
the matches?"  She glanced around hopefully.  

	Issy's face brightened.  "I've got a lighter."

	"Great."  She set all of the candles in a small circle 
in front of the fireplace, telling Issy that it was time, 
and that she had to lay down in the middle before she began 
to light the candles.  It would help her to formulate the 
trance more efficiatnly, and they all knew that they didn't 
have a lot of time before Adeline would decide to come back 
and visit.  

	"All right."  She smiled at both of them and took her 
place inside the ring of candles.  

	Sage smiled, hopefully even though she really didn't 
feel like smiling at all.  She felt sad and almost perfectly 
sure that she was about to lose another of her friends.  
"You know what to do, right?"

	"Of course I do, Sage. I've done it before you know.  
It'll be all right.  I'm sure.  Don't worry about a thing."  
She sat down slowly and tried her best to look perfectly 
calm, but she wasn't sure she was.  She felt her heart 
pumping in her chest, but she tried to not show it to either 
of the other two people in the room.  She didn't want to 
make them as worried as she was.  "Ready?"

	"Ready."  Sage took a deep breath.  "Ready, Mulder?"

	"Ready as I'm ever going to be."  He glanced around the 
room  nervously, making sure that no beautiful woman emerged 
from the shadows to kill them all.  

	Sage clutched the lighter in her hand as she watched 
Issy concentrate.  She crossed her arms over her chest and 
took deep breaths as Sage lit each candle with the tiny, 
blue flame.  The candles let off a tiny, frightening light 
that made their faces glow ghoulishly and unpleasantly.  She 
tried to not notice her own raging pulse as she handed the 
lighter to Mulder, who took it and began to slowly light his 
half of the circle.  They had both crouched down on opposite 
sides of the circle so that they could share their energies 
with Issy, who would undoubtedly need their help through the 
ordeal.  

	He handed Sage the lighter and sighed loudly.  She put 
a finger to her mouth, telling him that they had to 
perfectly silent for the time being.  It would only take a 
moment for Issy to be ready, but if Sage was to start too 
early, it could ruin the entire rescue mission.  "Are you 
ready, Issy," she asked quietly.

	Issy only nodded her head.  The rest of her was 
motionless, and Mulder thought that she looked almost dead.  
He bit his lip until he could taste his own blood in 
nervousness.  He stopped quickly so that he could pay better 
attention to the scene unfolding in front of him.  He was 
almost sure he'd never see anything like this again.  

	Sage reached out slowly, not making a sound and laid 
both of her hands on the side of Issy's head careful not to 
touch any of the candles.  As soon as her fingers reached 
and touched Issy's temples, her fingers moved in small 
circles.  Issy's voice came out quiet and controlled as she 
began to slowly recite the entire alphabet in a haunting 
rhythym that sent a shiver down Mulder's spine. She sounded 
supernatural as she went on to recite the alphabet a full 
four times, all the time, Sage's fingers working magic 
across Issy's temples.  Mulder still wasn't sure he 
understood what was happening in front of him, but he 
pretended to be an expert as he stared at them both.  He was 
really shaking, but he didn't show it with great effort.  

	Suddenly, Issy's voice faded away as if she had just 
lost consiousness.  Sage leaned back and nodded to Mulder.  
This was going the right way.  It was supposed to be 
happening this way, and he was glad she had informed him of 
this.  Otherwise, he might have begun screaming in fright.  
"Close your eyes, Mulder," she whispered, careful not to 
wake Issy from her trance.  He did as he was told and 
relaxed slightly.  The silence along with the dancing 
candlelight was a perfect place to fall asleep.  But, his 
senses were picking up everything, not letting him truly 
relax.

	Sage took deep and counted breaths, holding herself 
calm so that she would be more than able to do whatever had 
to be done once the spirit had entered Issy's prone form.  
She bit her bottom lip as she concentrated upon calling out 
to the ghost, telling it to enter the body so that they 
could communicate with her.  She tried her best to be kind 
to the ghost so that she would be able to earn it's trust.  

	Sage opened her eyes slightly and gasped loudly.  
"Mulder," she whispered as she stared at the levitating form 
of her friend.  

	Mulder's jaw dropped as he registered what was 
happening right in front of him.  He felt a pang of worry in 
his stomach, but all he could do was stare.  His eyes were 
as wide as saucers as the body slowly returned to it's place 
on the floor.  

	"Is the spirit present?" Her voice was slow and steady 
as she stared at her friend's figure on the floor.  There 
was not one pang of movement, which caused her slight worry.  


	"He wouldn't marry me!  I told him I loved him, but he 
wouldn't listen!"  Issy's eyes and mouth jumped to life as 
the screaming words flew through the room.  "He would never 
listen!  He didn't even give me my ring!"  She was shaking 
slightly, but her eyes had closed again.  

	Sage was worried that they would miss their chance.  
The spirit didn't seem to be very strong inside Issy.  She 
laid her hand on Issy's hand and took a deep breath.  The 
time had come.  "You might never get another chance.  This 
is your chance."  She closed her eyes as she concentrated on 
the body on the floor.  "This is your chance to be free once 
and for all.  This is when you take a step through the door 
and a bigger door beyond that.  A much bigger door filled 
with light." She paused.  "Walk through that door."  

	Mulder kept his eyes prone to the unmoving body in 
front of him.  He had a terrifying fear in his stomach as he 
listened to Sage's calm words echoing through the large room 
where so many deaths had occured.  He thought he could 
almost smell the death, but he couldn't be sure.  He just 
felt sickened to be sitting on the floor underneath the 
place where someone had been hanging.  He felt unsafe with 
this spirit in Issy's body directly at his knees.  He took a 
deep breath to calm himself.  

	"Do you see the door, Adeline?"

	Issy's eyes opened again, and a piercing laughter 
emerged from her lips, but this wasn't Issy's laughter.  
This laughter sent a chill down Mulder's spine.  He had 
heard it once before, and twice was two times too much.  
"You can't get rid of me!"  She screamed.  "I'll be here 
forever!  I'll be here as long as my rings are here!"  

	Sage sprung back as Issy began to levitate once again, 
rising higher than before and smiling all the time.  Her 
laughter covered their ears like a dark, black cloak, 
causing them immense fear and dread all the time.  

	Sage ducked quickly to the floor as the fireplace 
sprung to life, throwing a fireball over the entire area.  
"Shit!"  She glanced at the fire after it had been pulled 
back into the fireplace.  Issy just laughed and laughed as 
if she was perfectly insane, but Adeline was insane.  She 
was sick, and she wouldn't leave without a battle.  

	"You're leaving no matter what you little bitch!"  To 
Mulder's surprise, she shoved the body back to the floor and 
ripped the cross from her neck. Holding it above Issy's 
stretched out body she screamed with all her might, "I saw 
and heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, 
`Come!'  And I saw, and behold, the pale horse,"  the fire 
raged as she paused to suck in another breath of oxygen.  
Sage cluthed the cross tightly on her palm.  Mulder looked 
up from the body to see why Sage had paused.  The cross was 
glowing!  It was burning hot, and she was fighting to hold 
onto it.  "And, it's rider's name was death, and hell 
followed with him!"  She screamed the last words as the 
cross fell from her hand, revealing her pink and burning 
flesh.  She clutched onto her own wrist in agony.  

	Issy's body twisted slightly in a pain that Mulder and 
Sage both could not see.  

	Sage's mind worked overtime as she thought over all she 
knew, and suddenly, she was struck with an amazing 
revelation.  "Mulder!  Give me the rings!  Give them to me, 
now!"  She extended her hand above the body and yelled at 
him with all her might.  

	He rapidly reached into his pocket and drew out the 
two, small rings, still tied tightly together with the 
ribbon.  He threw them to her quickly, not wanting to know 
what she was thinking.  She was really worrying him now, 
after she had clutched to the cross even as it burned her 
flesh.  She was truly frightening in the twinkling 
candlelight and raging fire.  He wanted to reach out and 
calm her, but he knew her psychotic actions were only 
leading them toward the end of the tunnel.  He trusted her 
to get them both throught this, so he sat back nervously.  

	She jumped to her feet and brought the rings back.  She 
was going to throw them into the fire!  She screamed out as 
she let go of the rings as if some force was trying to hold 
her back.  The rings tumbled into the raging flames as Issy 
began screaming out in agony and defeat.  Her mouth was 
twisted in a terrible scowl as the fire suddenly turned 
bright blue and flashed all around the room.  Sage fell to 
her knees on the floor as the fire seemed to be blown out by 
some amazing force.  Issy's screams filled the entire room 
as her body rose off the floor and twisted in agony.  

	Mulder's hair becamse dishelved as an impetuous wind 
took over the room.  He glanced around him, but no windows 
were open.  No doors were letting in the breeze.  It was 
almost as if the area had just opened up to the outside on a 
stormy night.  Sage felt the same strong wind, and she threw 
Mulder a glance.  She was still clutching tightly to her 
wrist, showing that she was in a great amount of pain as 
they sat there.  Her face was still read with her anger 
toward this spirit as she stared at her flying friend in a 
panic.  She was sure that Issy was dead by now.  She bit her 
lip and laid her head on the floor as the wind picked up. 
She was afraid that if she sat up high enough, the wind 
might just pick her up with it.  She glanced at Mulder 
again, and he was doing the same.  The wind was steadily 
picking up. 

	"Never!  Never ! My rings!  My rings!"  Issy's voice 
raved wildly in the darkness as she flew above the floor in 
circles.  "No! Not yet!  Stop this! Help!"  She seemed to 
almost be talking to someone.  She was arguing over 
something, something that meant a lot to her.  

	Sage sat up slowly as the wind passed over her.  She 
gasped.  It appeared that they were inside a column of wind!  
They were sitting in a middle of a some sort of tornado.  
But how could that be?  She stared up at the body, now.  Her 
mind was filled with the odd image that was floating above 
them.  She was petrified as she had never been before.  She 
stared up at her friend and cursed herself silently for 
letting her do such a thing.  

	To his own disbelief, Mulder began to see clouds 
forming above the floating body.  He bit his tongue in 
surprise, making himself jump at the sudden pain.  He just 
couldn't believe his eyes.  How could this all be happening?  
It was as if there was a storm occuring inside the walls of 
the house, and this caused him great worry.  He stared at 
the forming clouds with wide eyes.

	"No! No! No!"  Issy kept on screaming.  It still wasn't 
Issy, though.  Her voice was different, more fearsome and 
more Scottish.  "Not yet!  Leave me!  My rings!"  She spun 
faster and faster above their heads.  

	"Mulder!"  Sage screamed.  There was a man behind her 
friend.  He was a young man with a wife at his side, but the 
fact that they had simply appeared out of nowhere frightened 
her.  

	"Sage!"  Mulder stared at the form of the three tall 
men behind Sage's back with wide eyes.  He glanced around 
the room, then, and saw that these three men weren't alone.  
There were people everywhere in the room.  They were only 
staring, motionlessly, up at Issy's spinning form with 
frowns on their faces.  They were dressed in clothes that 
appeared antique even though when they had been alive, the 
clothes had been the latest fashion trend.  There were 
children there, too.  All of them were unearthly pale and 
sick looking.  They were all standing outside of the 
whirlwind that had formed around Sage, Mulder, and Issy.  
Staring, waiting.

	"Not now! You can't make me leave!"  She kicked and 
screamed as she rose toward the clouds, afraid of something.  
Terrified at something.  "No!"

	The room was suddenly brightened as the lightning 
struck, sending a convulsion through Issy's body.  The 
lightning from the cloud near the ceiling was uncanny and 
blue.  It almost appeared to be a hand as it ripped and 
pulled at the body floating to the ceiling.  It toar at 
something until that something came free.  

	Issy screamed fearfully as her the clouds slowly 
deminished.  The wind stopped altogether as fast as it had 
begun.  Sage closed her eyes and laid her head on the floor, 
afraid of what was to happen next.  Where the people outside 
the whirlwind coming to get them now?  Was Adeline standing 
over them, waiting to kill them?  She didn't want to see any 
more.  

	Mulder closed his eyes tightly and laid his head on the 
floor.  Even though he knew it was childish, he felt too 
overpowered with fear to do anything else.  As a few drops 
fell onto his back, he sat up suddenly.  Where had that come 
from?  He gasped loudly in surprise.  The house was gone!  
He could see all the way across the fields and to the 
waterfront as his eyes coasted across the countryside.  He 
stood up slowly, woozy from all that had just happened and 
brushed the ashes off of his pants.  The place was ashes.  
All that remained of the castle were immense piles of black 
dust, the only remains of a fire that to Mulder, had never 
happened.  He held his forehead for an instant. He felt so 
dizzy that he was almost tempted to sit down again and fall 
asleep, but he had to find the others.  

	"Sage?"  His voice rose above the sound of the light 
rain like a rainbow when the sun parts through the clouds.  
"Sage?"  

	She sat up suddenly at the sound of his voice.  Had she 
fallen asleep?  She certainly felt as if she had.  
Everything seemed so far away from her.  A great deal of 
black ashes poured off of her head as she rose to her feet. 
She had to stop from the immense dizziness taking over her 
system.  

	He ran to her side and held her steady. "Are you okay?"

	She nodded slowly.  "Are you?"

	"I'm fine."  He glanced back over the debris.  "What 
happened here, Sage?  I don't remember it burning down."  

	She glanced around her, finally noticing that there 
were no walls around her.  "I don't know.  I......oh, god, 
Issy!"  She rushed to where her friend had been lying and 
pulled a large peice of debris away.  

	Issy smiled weakly up at her as she sat up. "Are you 
all right?"

	Sage fell to her knees next to her.  "I'm fine.  Are 
you all right?"

	She nodded. 

	"God, I was so worried about you."  

	Mulder nodded down next to Sage.  "That was the most 
amazing and the most terrifying thing I've ever seen."  He 
scratched the back of his head.  "It almost didn't seem 
real."  

	Issy smiled widely. "That was amazing, but I was so 
scared."  

	"Oh, don't worry about all that now."  Sage wrapped her 
arms gently around her friend and gave her a squeeze.  She 
had been so sure that she was dead after all that had 
happened.  "I'm just glad you're all right."  She turned to 
Mulder with one of her arms still around Issy.  "I'm glad 
you're all right, too."  She wrapped her other arm around 
Mulder, and Issy pulled him into their little hug.  They sat 
there in the rain simply holding each other for most of the 
morning.  

	

Washington, D.C., one week later

	Mulder smiled up at his partner as she walked into 
their office early that morning.  "Hey, you."  He stood up 
and gave her a quick hug.  

	"Hi."  She glanced around their office.  "I missed this 
place, as hard as that is to believe."  

	"This place missed you, too."  He gave her hand a 
gentle squeeze.  "You're feeling better, I see."  

	"Very much so, thank you.  I loved the flowers, but you 
really didn't have to do that for me."  She set down her bag 
on his desk and stretched.  

	"Of course I did.  I was being a jerk when you called."  


	"I understand why, though. It is annoying when you've 
got to work alone."  She sat down beind her desk and looked 
over at him.  "Anything exciting happen while I was away?"  

	He thought this over for a moment before answering.  
Was he going to tell her or not?  "Oh, nothing much." He 
lied.  She would only call him insane, anyway.  "You 
probably had a hell of a lot more fun than I did this week."	


	"Oh, yes, you know how much I love being in the 
hospital."  

	He smiled as a quiet knock on the door echoed through 
the room.  

	"Mulder, open up.  We've got to get going."  A silky, 
feminine voice entered their office.  Scully glanced at 
Mulder, suspiciously. He just rose to his feet without 
meeting her gaze. He knew exactly what she was thinking, and 
he didn't need to test his theory by throwing her a glance.  


	He opened the door slowly.  "Hi, Sage." He glanced at 
his watch.  "I was expecting you about ten minutes earlier."

	She smiled, flirtatiously.  "Oh, you know me with all 
my skeletons in the closet."

	"I thought it was ghosts, Sage."

	She put her hands on her hips. "Don't start that with 
me, boy."  She finally noticed Scully as she stepped into 
their office.  "Oh, and this must be Scully.  Feeling 
better, I hope?  I'm Ruth Sage." She extended her one good 
hand.  

	"Dana Scully."  She took this woman's hand and smiled, 
noticing the thick bandage on her other hand.  She really 
felt a burning annoyance with this woman.  She was 
everything that Scully wasn't, tall, dark, and mysterious.  
Besides that, she was flirting with Mulder, and they were 
going somewhere together? This was a big change for him, she 
thought.  

	"I'd love to get to know you better after all Mulder's 
told me about you, but we've got to be off to  the church."

	Scully threw Mulder a questioning look. "You're going 
to church, Mulder?"

	He nodded.  "Yes, Scully.  Sage has been taking me 
lately."

	Scully was shocked. Mulder had always had zero faith in 
such things. He had never gone to church when Scully asked 
him to.  Why was he going now? she wondered.  What had made 
him change his mind?  "Well, I hope you enjoy yourself, 
Mulder.  Maybe you'll learn something."

	He nodded and glanced at his watch. "We'd better be 
going if we're going to get there on time."  

	"Yeah, we should.  Nice meeting you Agent Scully.  I 
hope to see you again sometime."  

	"That would be nice."  Scully watched them both leave 
and smiled weakly to herself.  At least Mulder was going to 
church.  And, he did seem awfully happy around this Sage 
person.  Maybe he had more of a life than she was aware of.  




	Mulder listened intently as the pastor spoke of faith.  
That was something Mulder could easily relate to.  He was 
believing in things that he couldn't prove or really see 
everyday, and this was a warm welcome.  He had lost his 
faith in God, though.  Maybe it would return to him as time 
went on.  He glanced down at Sage, who smiled at him warmly 
as she noticed he had turned to look at her.  She understood 
what the pastor was saying as well as Mulder did, and she 
was enjoying to hear about something she had a lot of.  
Faith had never given her a problem when it came to God or 
ghosts, but when it came to men, she had absolutly no faith 
in her heart.  She searched Mulder's eyes for a moment, 
searching for a faith she could trust in.  He put his arm 
around her shoulder softly and looked back up at the pastor.  
He wanted to hear every word the man had to say.  Sage 
smiled and laid her head gently onto his shoulder.  Perhaps, 
she could find a faith in this man.  

-4/19/97







	Mae had been feeling nauseous all afternoon since her 
early breakfast with her guests.  She was enjoying the 
company of other people in the normally empty house, but 
there was something about them that made her feel so strange 
around them.  Perhaps it was the curious, young woman that 
had almost broken a priceless glass.  Or perhaps it was the 
handsome gentlemen that was always worrying about her 
wellbeing.  Maybe it was just the pair themselves.  It 
seemed as if they were not well aquainted, and that they 
were uncomfortable around each other.  Their nervousness 
made her feel nervous and unsure of herself, which was 
something that she never felt.  

	She stared into the warm fire that the caretaker, Mr. 
Bostdorf, had put together for her before he had left to 
return to his own small cottage in the woods.  It was funny, 
but she thought that she had never heard the front door 
slam, signifying that he had left.  She shurugged off this 
thought and leafed through one of her new novels.  In a life 
as boring as the one she led, it was normal for her to wish 
to disappear to other places, dreaming of their exotic 
scents and sights.  Books were her only way of escaping the 
reality that was.  Her husband had had the same defense 
mechanism.  She was sure she had picked it up from him.  

	She sniffed gently at the thought of her dead husband.  
He had died in room above her head.  Mae knew in her heart 
that she would never be able to return to that room as long 
as she lived.  She readjusted her glasses and skimmed down 
the page like a champion speed reader.  

	The silver knight in the corner shined in the fire 
light as if he was emminating the light of the sun.  It 
picked up the light and threw it back in rays of bright 
warmth.  He was an antique that had only ever been used for 
show since every peice of him was worth countless amounts of 
money.  Especially the finely pointed ax that he clutched 
between his metal fingers was worth than more than some 
people's lives.  Not even the dust had the joy of lying on 
this knight because he was under glass.   And, since no one 
was in the room to see, no one would notice if the ax 
suddenly disappeared like a bird flying through a thick rain 
cloud.

	Mae coughed violently, covering her mouth politely even 
though there was no one there to be polite to.  She gasped 
for breath suddenly and clutched tightly to her stomach.  
The book fell from her lap and fell hollowly to the floor. 

	"Look,  I just don't think that bringing an old woman 
in for murder is going to stick."

	"She's as good as dead anyway.  She might as well learn 
where murder gets you."  Sage sighed.  

	"Oh, you are so sensitive."

	"Why should I be?"

	"Well-"  a blood curdling scream racked their minds 
like an earthquake.  Their eyes met for a single moment 
before they both took off toward the sound of Mae's panicked 
screams.  

	Mulder reached the door first.  He shoved it open and 
hurried inside.  "Mae?"  The old woman was sitting in her 
chair, clutching tightly to her stomach with a violent 
grimace on her face.  She was gasping for air as if her 
lungs had been slit by an unseen knife edge.  

	Sage shoved past him and kneeled next to the old 
woman's chair and touched her arm.  "Mae?  Mae, talk to me 
for God's sake.  What's happening?"  With the woman's 
silence, she turned toward Mulder for help.  

	"Mae, are you having a heart attack?"  Mulder kneeled 
on the opposite side of the chair and threw Sage a nervous 
look.  

	Suddenly, the woman fell back into the chair, 
motionless.  Her hands were clutched to her stomach as if 
they were frozen there.  She would never move again.  Sage 
reached to her neck and felt nothing.  "She's dead, Mulder."  


	He touched her neck to make sure Sage was right as if 
she couldn't figure out if a person was dead or alive.  
"What the hell happened?"  He pulled away from her and felt 
another shiver.  He glanced over his shoulder, feeling a 
presence, but there was nothing behind him.  There was no 
one else human and alive in the entire house.  

	"I don't know, Mulder."  She shook her head and stared 
at the dead body in the chair that moments before had been 
alive.  

	Mulder stood up slowly and glanced around the room.  
Sage watched him carefully, unsure of what he was looking 
for.  He appeared to be deep in thought about something.  He 
scratched his chin nervously and made eye contact with the 
empty knight in the corner.  He shivered again taking care 
to hide it from Sage.  There was something very wrong 
happening here.  He pointed at the knight.  "Didn't that 
thing have an ax?"  He turned toward Sage. She sat silently.  
"Sage?"  

	To his own surprise, she stood up and went to the back 
of the chair with a perfectly straight face.  She seemed to 
think over what she was about to do before she did it.  She 
reached out and with her small pinkie finger on her right 
hand she pushed Mae's shoulder forward with a gentle tap.  
The dead woman's stomach pinched and fell forward slightly 
as the ax ripped through her skin with a  sickening tearing 
sound.  It fell on the floor ripping the woman's insides out 
with it.  

	Sage closed her eyes for a moment to get herself under 
control.  She had seen worse than this, but at the moment 
she had not planned to see this.  Mulder turned away 
quickly, his face green.  He might get sick if he looked 
toward the corpse again.  He had only met her wide, dead 
eyes for a moment to understand the agony she had gone 
through before they had come into the room.  It had only 
taken a moment for her to die, it had only taken Mulder a 
moment to understand.



	"They should be here any minute.  I called them last 
night after they took Mae to the morgue."

	"Is it really necessary?" Mulder frowned.  

	"Yes, it is, Mulder.  I'm not feeling very good about 
this case.  We could use a few other specialists.  Besides, 
they're my friends from Duke.  We studied parapsychology 
together.  They're not strangers."

	"All right."  He rose to his feet and walked toward the 
door.  "I'm going to go change."  Mulder felt dirty even 
though his clothes wouldn't show it.  He had helped them get 
Mae out of the chair, which had sickened him considerably.  
He had felt nauseous all night and had not slept a wink 
because of it.  He just didn't feel tired.  He felt worried 
and nervous for an obvious good reason.  

	"Yeah, I should too."  She followed him to the hallway.  
They split into separate rooms.  After Mae's death, they had 
moved to different rooms for more privacy.  

	They both changed quickly and rejoined in the hallway.  
Neither of them wanted to miss a moment of hauntings, and in 
their rooms things usually didn't happen in the light.  
Mulder had changed back into a pair of dress pants and a 
dress shirt.  Of course, he wasn't wearing a tie or a dress 
coat.  Why should he be uncomfortable?  By the smoothness of 
his face, Sage guessed that he had shaved hurridly with an 
electric razor to get rid of the whiskers he had grown over 
the period of night.  Sage was glad.  She always thought men 
looked more handsome with a clean shave.  She had just 
thrown on a pair of jeans and a black sweatshirt, not 
wanting or needing to look desirable for Mulder.  She had 
brushed her short, black hair and pulled it back in a 
little, green rubberband since she hadn't thought about 
bringing anything to put her hair up in.   She had washed 
all of her makeup off because it had begun to make her skin 
feel itchy.  

	As they walked back down the steps to await the arrival 
of a few of Sage's friends, Mulder turned toward her.  "You 
know, I don't think you've worn any color since we got 
here."

	She smiled slightly.  "I don't usually wear colors.  I 
don't like them."

	"I see."  He nodded, not wishing to pry any further.  
Once they reached the front hallway, Mulder fell down into 
the chair and sighed.  He was losing his energy quickly.  He 
would probably run to the kitchen to make more coffee after 
the other parapsychologists arrived to measure up the scene.  
He was not happy that Sage had called more people in.  He 
felt that they could handle the case with no trouble.  

	"Do you want some coffee?"  

	He nodded.  "That is exactly what I was thinking."

	"I'll make some after they get here.  I'm sure they'll 
want some, too."  With that said,  their guests arrived with 
a quiet knock on the front door.  "Finally."  Sage glanced 
at her watch as she rose to her feet.  Mulder stayed seated.  
He found no point in coming to meet them.  Sage would 
introduce them once they were inside, anyway.  Besides, he 
wasn't feeling all too mannerly at that moment.  In fact, he 
was in a particularly bad mood after the night they had had.  


	Sage smiled as she opened the door.  "Hey, guys."  

	A rather tall and lanky fellow stepped inside and threw 
his arms around Sage.  "God, how long has it been?"  His 
name was Tyler James.  He had dated Sage for a long time in 
college, and she had broken it off at graduation.  She had 
no longing to have a boyfriend out of school.  It was almost 
immature and childish to her.  He was the perfect stereotype 
of a scientist.  James was a young man balding early with a 
brown beard and mustache that made him resemble a hippie 
from the sixties.  He had large, green eyes that were 
magnified considerably by the thick glasses that sat on his 
nose.  He had an almost goofy, little voice that reminded 
Mulder of a small child pretending to be an adult.  

	Directly behind him a short, pudgy female came striding 
in.  She had such short and stubby legs!  Her name was Opal 
Harbauer, and she was infamous for having a big mouth about 
her eccentric beliefes.  Her one distinguishing feature was 
her lengthy, blonde hair that fell all the way down her back 
and covered up her considerably large backside.  She had 
tiny, blue eyes that sunk into her skin like beads sewn too 
tight against a peice of material.  She had a violently 
circular face and a large smile, revealing her egotism.  

	And last, a rather beautiful woman with long legs came 
in, taking tiny steps as she went.  Her name was Isabella 
Britten.  Mulder had heard of her before simply because she 
was a psychic that could talk to the other side if the other 
side was willing to cooperate with her.  She reminded Mulder 
of Scully except for the fact she was six feet tall.  She 
had short, red hair that curled under her chin and blue eyes 
that shined in the light.  She was ringing her hands 
nervously.  It was obvious that she was shy and not used to 
meeting new people.  

	Once all three of them had given Sage a fond embrace, 
they finally noticed the other occupant in the room.  Sage 
pulled him to his feet.  "Guys, this is Agent Mulder.  He's 
working with us on the case."

	Tyler stepped forward first. He loved meeting new 
people.  He smiled widely and extended his hand.  "Hello, 
Agent Mulder.  I'm Tyler James.  It's a pleasure to meet 
you."

	Mulder nodded, confused at this mans kindness toward 
him. He just wasn't used to people being happy to make his 
aquaintance.  "Nice to meet you, too."

	The short, fat woman threw him a wave and winked.  
"Opal Harbauer.  How ya' doing?"

	"Okay.  Yourself?"

	She nodded.  "Just fine."

	He waited for Isabella to introduce herself, but she 
just stared at him blankly with a look of pure love on her 
face.   He tried to ignore it and extended his hand to her.  
"Fox Mulder."  

	She smiled weakly, noticing that he had seen her 
staring at him.  Now, she believed in love at first sight.  
She thought he was just gorgeous!  "Hi."  She didn't take 
his hand.  She just stared at her shoes coldly.  

	He let his hand drop to his side without a thought and 
glanced toward Sage. She just smiled and turned toward Opal, 
who was watching Isabella carefully.  It was obvious she had 
a crush on Mulder already.  Opal smiled at Sage as their 
eyes met.  They both knew how shy their friend was, so they 
would have to help her through this one.  



	Sage bit her lip and frowned.  Once they had all been 
aquainted, she had given everyone assigned posts to keep 
watch from.  The scientific side of her wanted to get this 
ghost, bad.  She had a pretty strong feeling that the 
Stirling Castle was truly a haunted area.  All she need now 
was proof.  

	She glanced around her area and yawned.  She tapped her 
pencil nervously upon her pad of paper in her lap.  She had 
been recounting the experiances they had gone through so far 
so that she wouldn't forget anything.  She knew this would 
make a great book.  Her imagination had always been so 
vivid.  She could think of stories to entertain her friends 
in less time than a person  could remember the words to 
Happy Birthday.  As a kid, she had always written stories to 
keep her mind out of reality.  Without her stories, she 
never would have been able to survive.  It was something she 
knew was true.  

	She set the pencil down on the nearby desk and sighed 
in boredom.  She wondered how the others were doing.   She 
stared at the walky-talky next to her with longing.  She 
hoped that it would click to life and a panicked voice would 
break through telling her they had found something.  Her 
mind went back to Isabella.  She had thought that she might 
throw up when Mulder had said a word to her.  She surely  
had a crush on him, and who could blame her?  Sage knew 
Mulder was cute, but that was all she really saw in him.  
That was what she had been telling herself all night, and 
she would go one telling herself that she was not attracted 
to him as long as she could.  

	She closed her eyes tightly for a moment to  organize 
her thoughts and reached toward the desk for her pencil.  
"What the-"  It wasn't there.  She opened her eyes suddenly 
and looked around.  "Jesus Christ," she screamed and stood 
up abruptly.  The pencil was floating in front of her!  She 
reached out and grabbed it out of the air.  

	A book rose off the shelf behind her, making her spin 
around.  She gasped as a few other books followed its 
example and danced through the air.  A painting rose off the 
wall and floated up to the ceiling.  Vases and statuets did 
a dance in front of the window like ballerinas on the stage 
of a great theatre.  

	Sage grabbed the walky-talky.  "SOS!  Tyler!  Answer 
me, Tyler!"  She felt her hands shaking as she waved her 
hands above one of the books.  She extended her foot and 
waved her leg around below it.  "Tyler!"

	"I'm here, Sage.  What is it?"

	"I have got some serious activity here!  She glanced 
toward the sensors Opal had set up in the corner.  "Are you 
reading the energy levels?  They've got to be off the 
charts, for God's sake!"  She waved her hand above another 
book.  "Damn it, Tyler, this is one hell of a hoax!"  

	He came back with true panic in his voice.  "Jesus, 
Sage!  I've never seen readings like this."  

	"No shit!  Everything is floating, Tyler.  Everything 
but me!"  

	"Get the hell out of there, Sage!"  His voice shook as 
he said this.  Tyler had seen a lot, but never anything even 
close to the energy his computer was throwing at him now.  

	"Yes, sir."  She switched off the walky-talky and took 
a step.  Suddenly, everything in the room fell to the floor.  
She sheilded her head from a falling book and  pounced out 
of the room.  She glanced over her shoulder slowly, seeing 
that everything was back to normal.  The books were not on 
the floor.  The vases had not shattered as she had thought 
they would.  Everything was back where it had been before it 
had floated into the air, lifted by unseen hands of those 
long dead.   

	As she turned around, she smacked into Mulder.  She let 
out a tiny gasp and swallowed her surprise.  He looked into 
the room, and his brow furrowed notably.  "I thought you 
said everything was floating."

	"How did you hear that?" 

	He held up the walky-talky in his hand and looked 
carefully around the room.  "Damn, I must have missed 
something."

	She let out a dry laugh.  "Oh, you sure did.  I felt 
like I was in space.  Everything was floating but me."  She 
scratched the back of her head.  "Come on, Mulder.  Let's 
get the hell out of here before we both start to levitate."

	"Tyler's probably waiting for us."

	She nodded in agreement.  "Let's go."  

	They walked down the hallway in silence, searching for 
the staircase that led to Tyler's station.  Sage was sure he 
had called the others into the room with him to see the 
activity he had measured in Sage's post.  She wanted to see 
it herself.  It would surely be amazing!

	She was lost in thought when she felt her feet sliding 
out from underneath her.  She grabbed Mulder's hand to 
support herself and dug her nails into his hand.  She 
regained her balance quickly and glanced down to her feet.  
Her dark shoes appeared wet in the little light in the area.  
She stepped out of the wet spot and kneeled down to 
investigate the situation further.  Mulder bent down with 
her and stuck his fingers into the crimson liquid.

	"Mulder, it's blood."  She glanced at him.  

	He stared at his fingers for a moment.  She was right.  
It was undoubtedly blood judging by the thick composition 
and the crimson color.  "But whose?" He raised his eyebrow 
and stared at the door that the blood was seaping out from 
under.  

	They stood up at the exact same time, both wondering 
who was behind the door, both not wanting to look into the 
question.  

	Mulder stepped forward first and waited  until Sage was 
behind him so that she could see who it was with him.  He 
swallowed hard and put his hand on the doorknob.  Sage held 
her breath, awaiting the moment when they would see who the 
next victim would be.

	Mulder turned the knob, but there was no need for him 
to open it.  The door opened itself.  The weight of the dead 
corpse of Halbert Bostdorf fell onto the floor with a 
sickening splat.  A small but lethal kitchen knifesuck out 
of his side, spilling his crimson insides all over the 
narrow hallway floor.  Sage simply frowned and stared at the 
body.  She was no longer sickened.  She felt so helpless.  
Mulder, on the other hand, had to look away quickly before 
losing his breakfast.  



	Mulder frowned.  "The phones don't work either."  He 
slammed the phone onto the receiver and fell into the chair.  


	Tyler pulled violently on the front door.  "We're 
totally locked in.  What the hell could have happened?"  He 
itched his head and glanced toward Sage.  She simply 
shrugged her shoulders and sighed loudly in answer.  

	Opal crossed her arms in front of her.  "Wonderful.  
The goddamn electricity is gone, too.  This really is the 
trip from hell."  She sat down in the seat next to Mulder 
and covered her face with her hands.  She wouldn't mind some 
of this handsome man's sympathy, but he gave none.  He was 
off in another world thinking of what their next move should 
be.  

	Tyler walked toward the hallway.  This sudden movement 
caught Mulder's attention and ripped him out of his little 
world that he went to whenever he needed to think about 
something important.  "Where are you off to?"

	Tyler pushed his glasses up higher on his nose.  "My 
equipment is still in the study.  I want to go check 
everything out."  

	Sage stood straight up suddenly, seeming to awaken from 
a trance that she had momentarily fallen into.  "The study's 
a good area for us to stay in.  Maybe we should all just 
stay there for now.  Besides, it's comfortable, and I'd like 
to be near the equipment."  

	Mulder nodded and shoved himself up from the chair.  

	"Hey, help me up."  Opal gave him her hand.  He pulled 
her up quickly.  She was almost complimented by how easily 
he had just picked her off of the chair.  IT made her feel 
slim.  "Thanks, babe."  She thought about smacking his 
backside, but that was just a little too much.  Besides, 
Isabella would kill her if she did any such thing.  

	They moved like a pack of wolves toward the study, 
being careful to avoid the area where they had found Halbert 
in the closet.  Mulder and Sage knew that if wouldn't help 
their situation or the amount of nervousness in the house.  
The atmosphere was already hanging heavily with death.  

	Mulder made certain to leave the door open just in case 
they had to made a quick exit. Of course, he tried not to 
think about why they might have to make a quick exit, and he 
certainly didn't share his thoughts with the rest of the 
room.  He took a seat in a comfortably puffy, red velvet 
chair and closed his eyes.  The sleeplessess was finally 
beginning to get to him.  

	"This is insane.  It can't be happening."  Tyler was 
staring at his computer.

	Sage rose to her feet and hurried to his side.  "Honey, 
I'm sure that whatever is happening could happen.  After 
everything else that's happened here, I'd say anything was 
damn possible."  She took a seat behind him and put her hand 
on his shoulder.  He was shaking slightly, but she tried her 
best to not show that she had noticed.   "Now, what are you 
bitching about?"  

	"Look at this."  He pointed toward the screen with an 
open mouth.  "The energy levels in here are raging.  It's 
just not possible.  The pressure is so high that only 
astronauts could survive, but we're not reacting to it in 
any way."

	She frowned and studied the graphs herself.  She never 
did trust other scientists interpretations.  She swallowed 
hard as she stared at the lines on the screen.  He was more 
right that she had hoped.  "My God, you're right.  I've 
never seen anything like this.  You guys, look at these 
readings."  She glanced over her shoulder.  Isabella came to 
look, but Opal remained in her place in the corner, staring 
off into oblivion.  Even the situation was getting to 
Mulder.  He was fast asleep in the corner chair. 

	 She smiled as Isabella gasped.  "Amazing."  

	Sage glanced at her watch.  It was already nearing 
midnight.  "The energy in here could have some bad 
consequences.  Maybe we should switch rooms."  She threw a 
pencil at Mulder.  "Hey, Mulder!  Wake up.  I think we 
should switch rooms."

	He yawned, exaggerating the entire thing as he stood 
up.  "You had to wake me, huh?"  He smiled weakly, 
reassuring her that he was only joking.  "You guys know 
best.  Maybe we should."  

	Mulder took a step toward the door.  The reflections on 
the wood from the dancing candles they had lit since the 
electricity had gone off moved over the door.  It was as if 
the door was moving, being pushed by an unseen hand.  Before 
any one them knew what was happening, the hollow noise of 
the slamming door rang in their ears.  Mulder had seen it 
coming, but the others jumped considerably.  

	Isabella even let out a little scream as she spun 
toward the door.  Sage stood up.  Her heart rate had just 
sped up by at least a ten measure.  She put her hands on her 
hips.  "Mulder?  What the hell are you doing?  We're all 
jumpy enough as it is. That was really inappropriate."  She 
furrowed her brow.  

	"Sage, I didn't do that."  

	Opal stood up slowly.  "He's telling the truth.  It 
just closed as if there was wind, or something."  There was 
a look of true panic on her round face as she took a step 
toward Mulder.  "Try the door."  

	The four of them held their breath as Mulder turned 
toward the door.  He tried the handle, but it was impossible 
to turn.  "Uh, it seems we may not be leaving the room 
anytime soon after all.  We seem to be locked in."  He 
hadn't lost it yet.  He was still relativly calm and 
collected, but by the look on the faces of the people around 
him told him that he was alone in feeling so.  Only Sage 
appeared as relaxed as he was.  Even she had worry written 
all over her face.  The truth was, the only reason Mulder 
was calm was because he had never encountered a truly evil 
ghost that would kill just because.  He had never even seen 
a real ghost or real ghost activity.  Why would he be 
worried?

	Suddenly, the room was enveloped in darkness.  Every 
single candle in the room was blown out at the same exact 
moment.  How was that even possible?  It was out of the 
realms of scientific knowledge as far as most people 
thought.  Even Tyler's computer had turned off abruptly.  
Mulder could just hear Scully telling him that he had only 
been seeing things.  He could just hear her denials of 
everything that he said.  She would not be able to 
understand the amazing fear raging through is system as he 
tried to see through the darkness.  A chilly breeze ran 
through all of them even though there was no wind in the 
room.  Every window was closed, and every door locked.  

	Sage ran a nervous hand through her hair as she 
searched for any sign of light.  Her eyes ran through the 
darkness like a runner on a path to the burning gates of 
hell.  All her eyes could find was the terribly blackness, 
reminding her of the inside of a coffin, making her shake 
slightly.  For that reason she was glad of the darkness.  
She didn't want any of the others seeing how afraid she 
really was.  She was truly petrified.  

	Tyler and Isabella clutched tightly to each other in 
the dark, not wanting to move, unsure of what they might run 
into.  They weren't in love or attracted to each other even 
though they were clutching to each other tight enough for 
them to be.  They were simply full of worry and fear.  
Isabella even pondered on whether she should search for 
Mulder in the darkness, but she felt that was in 
appropriate.  How could she even think of such things in 
this situation?  Besides, she knew she didn't have the 
bravery to walk through the darkness even if it was in 
search of his embrace.  

	Sage's lip quivered slightly.  "Um, is everyone all 
right?"  She had to do something.  They could not easily 
just stand there awaiting their demises.  They had to take 
some sort of action.  

	Mulder nodded but quickly answering after he thought 
about the fact that she couldn't see him nodding his head in 
the darkness.  "Safe over here."  

	"Tyler?" 

	"Issy and I are fine."  They were still clutching to 
each other like a pair of frightened children hiding from an 
unseen adult coming for them in the night.  

	"Opal?"

	Silence.

	"Opal, are you all right?"  

	Almost in answer to her question, the fire raged to 
life, sending a cloud of smoke into the air.  The room was 
suddenly almost blindingly bright.  The four of them covered 
their eyes as the light penetrated the darkness, stinging 
their eyes after being closed in the dark long enough for 
their eyes to adjust. 

	 Sage felt her heart bursting in her chest with a 
sudden panic.  Opal hadn't answered her calls.  Maybe she 
had just been too frightened to speak.  Sage was the one to 
look up first.  Her eyes adjusted quickly, seeing the fuzy 
figure of a person directly in front of her face.  She 
screamed loudly, making the others look in her direction.  
Opal was found, at least.  The creaking of the chandelier 
was the only noise as they all gaped at the dead, hanging 
body of someone who had been alive moment before.  Her face 
was hardly recognizable, because blood poured like a river 
out of her eye sockets, threatening to shove the small, 
beady things out of their place  and onto the floor.  Her 
mouth was hanging wide open in a last effort to scream out 
before her own death.  Her throat was already swollen as if 
she had been hanging for months or years, purple around the 
harsh rope that held her suspended there.  Her arms hung 
loosly at her sides, swinging gently to the breeze that 
didn't exist.  Her feet were a mere inch from the floor: an 
inch too much.  Sage backed away as the body fell to the 
floor with a loud thump.  

	All of their hearts were pounding so fast it seemed as 
if they might burst.  The sudden shattering of a vase on the 
bookcase didn't help them any.  The water splashed out and 
went all over the perfect wood floors, followed by the 
beautiful flowers.  The glass sounded almost like music as 
it fell to the ground in small shards.  The only thing was, 
there was no way the glass could have broken.  There was no  
one near to it, and nothing had knocked it over.  It was as 
if it had been squeezed by someone......or something.  
Another vase followed suit soon after, this one flying 
against the wall as if it had been thrown.  A glass 
exploded, shooting shards in all directions, but none of 
them were near enough to get touched by it.  Soon, there was 
almost no glass left in the room that was unshattered and 
lying on the floor like the dead carcass of an animal.  

	It was then that Sage was struck with a terrible idea.  
Tyler's glasses!  She spun toward him and darted in his 
direction.  She couldn't be too late.  If his glasses 
shattered, the only thing that would be left of him would be 
a bloody pulp, and she was in no mood to clean that up.  Her 
hand flew out to him and tossed the small round-rimmed 
spectacles off of his face.  They shattered as they fell, 
making them all jump and back away as the glass flew in all 
directions. 

	 Sage sighed a loud sigh of relief and turned back to 
Mulder.  He was leaning against the wall for support.  It 
was a safe place to be in a situation like this.  His eyes 
were watching something through the brightness, and by the 
look on his face, it was not something good.  He had a look 
of pure hysteria on his face, frozen with fear.  She had 
never seen him reacting to anything this way.  She almost 
didn't want to look, but she knew she had to.  

	As she turned, she touched Opal's body, sending a 
shiver down her spine as she backed away from it quickly.  
Her eyes rose until they were met with the horrid sight of 
the floating swords dancing in the air.  They had once been 
above the fireplace, but the force had ripped them from 
their places on the wall.  Now,they were taunting them with 
their sharpness, beckoning them to implant themselves on 
their silver tips, coloring their cold metal forever red 
with their thick crimson blood.  

	Sage shivered and ran toward Mulder.  "We've got to get 
out of here."  She pulled on the door, but found that it 
truly was impossible to open.  "Shit!"  She felt the 
presence of Tyler and Isabella behind her.  Their backs were 
to her, though.  They were watching the scene as the swords 
came closer and closer.  "SHIT!"

	Mulder shoved her out of the way, seeing she was near 
hysterics.  He pulled with all his might on the small knob, 
knowing that this meant life or death for every person in 
the room......except, of course, Opal.  "Damnit, open!" He 
yelled at the door in annoyance as if yelling at them would 
help them to open.  As if his command they would obey.  

	"Oh, my God!"  A horrid cry ripped out of Isabella's 
usual quietness.  

	Mulder didn't even have to turn around to know the 
swords were on their way toward the small crowd trying to 
escape inevitable death.  Everybody dies sometime, right?  
But Mulder wouldn't fall for that line.  He wasn't going to 
die.  Not yet.  He took a deep breath as the screaming 
behind him increased, and he pulled with all his might.  The 
door, surprisingly gave, opening suddenly without warning.  

	"Go," he screamed.  They were all too hypnotized by the 
sight of the flying swords to notice the door was open.  
Sage spun around first and ran out the door like a flash of 
light.  Tyler and Isabella followed directly behind her, 
still clutching onto each other like little, frightened 
children.  Mulder pounced outside the door, seeing the light 
glint off the blades that were too near for comfort.  

	He slammed the door violently behind him and jumped 
away from the door as the loud noise of the knives colliding 
with the door echoed through their ears. It was a truly 
terrible sound that was unplesant for anyone to hear.  It 
was the sound that their flesh would have made had the 
knives implanted themselves there.  It was the sound of 
their own deaths yelling a foreshadowing of what was to 
come.  The sound laughed at them, at their escape, knowing 
that the knives would get them one way or another in the 
end, knowing that no one would ever get out alive.  

	

	Mulder glanced down the crowded hallway at the other 
inhabitants of the small area.  He sighed loudly, but not 
loud enough to bother any one elses rest.  He was restless.  
He had never felt so tired in his life, but he just seemed 
unable to sleep.  He was unable to even get a wink of rest 
after the scene in the study.  His heart pace speedened just 
thinking about it.  He had never been so afraid in his life.  
Of course, he was not going to tell Sage that.  She would 
probably only laugh at his amateur behavior.  She had most 
likely seen all of this before.  He closed his eyes for a 
moment and took a deep breath. He needed to calm down and 
sleep.  But, he knew that he couldn't sleep when there was 
something worth thinking about.  He rubbed his brow.  Funny, 
but he had a headache.  

	The young girl emerged from the shadows as if she had 
just come out of the wallpaper.  She was young, perhaps 
seven or eight.  She had lengthy, brown hair that curled 
slightly, although no one would notice since all of her 
thick locks were pulled back in tight braids.  She was 
uncommonly pale for her age except for her small, red 
cheeks.  She was wearing a long,  white nighgown that 
dragged on the floor as she walked.  She was young and 
beautiful and meant a lot to someone in that hallway that 
was vulnerable of following after her.  She laughed in the 
shadows, knowing her plan would work. 

	At the sudden sound of laughter, Mulder's senses sprung 
to life.  He sat up quickly and glanced around the hallway 
to see where the sound had come from.  It had sounded 
remotley like a little child, but there were no children 
here.  Even in his nervous state, he knew that.  

	He almost jumped out of his skin at the sight of her.  
It was Samantha!  She was standing at the end of the hallway 
smiling at him.  Her dark eyes were twinkling, picking up 
light from somewhere where there was no light at all.  She 
suddenly ran away.  Mulder gasped for breath in his 
surprise.  He knew he wasn't dreaming.  This was all to 
real.  He ran after her after throwing a short glanced 
toward Sage, who was fast asleep. It had amazed him that she 
could sleep at a time like this, but now all that mattered 
was Samantha.  Where on earth had she come from?

	He followed the sound of her laughter until it had 
ceased to exist.  By that time, it was too late for him to 
get out of the danger he had put himself in.  He stepped 
into the room he had seen her enter and glanced around the 
area.  The room was empty, but how could that be?  She had 
gone in here, and he knew it.  He wasn't seeing things.  He 
wasn't that delusional, although he might as well be after 
all he had experianced that night.   He sighed.  Where was 
she?  

	Unexpectedly, the door slammed behind him, sending a 
shock though his system.  He spun toward the door, the 
hollow noise of it's slamming still echoing through his 
mind.  He laid his hand on the knob, knowing well enough 
that it was going to be locked.  He tried turning it.  His 
guess had been right.  He cursed himself silently, negative 
thoughts invading his mind.  Thoughts of flying knives and 
exploding glass. The small dagger sitting under glass on the 
small table near the far wall didn't make him feel any 
better.  He stared at it for a moment before pulling his 
eyes off it, filled with nervousness that he didn't like 
feeling.  He knew he was in for it, now. How could he have 
been so stupid?  

	"You shouldn't have left." 

	He jumped notably at the sound of the musty, sensual 
voice behind him.  He spun around, ready to defend himself 
from anything that came flying in his direction.  He 
squinted through the small amount of light in the room, 
trying to see who it was that had caputered him here, 
outsmarting him, knowing his weaknesses.  

	"It was not a good idea, Fox."  She floated out of the 
shadows slowly, softly, her white gown flowing out of the 
shadows behind her. Her blonde hair was still perfectly 
styled behind her back as she floated further into the 
light.  Her skin was sickly pale, making her look like the 
ghost she was.

	He could not believe his eyes.  It was the woman from 
the painting!  The woman that they had caught in the 
picture.  She was real and standing right in front of him.  
He was silent, not knowing what he should say.  He couldn't 
run from her, there was nowhere to go.  He was trapped.  

	"It's just not safe to stray from the group."  She 
smiled.  "Not that you're safe with the group, either."  She 
froze where she stood, watching him carefully.  "You're 
really not safe anywhere.  You're here to die."

	He shook his head, trying to appear sure of himself.  
Was he, though?  "We're not going to die here."

	She laughed a laugh that frightened him more than 
anything.  It was a laugh of pure evil. "I've killed so 
many.  Do you think I would spare you?"  She floated slowly 
closer to him, close enough to reach out and touch his face.  
"No, you will die just like the others.  I'll make sure of 
that."    She touched his cheek with her hand.  

	Mulder backed away from her touch.  She felt like ice!  
With her mere touch, he had felt such an intense shiver, it 
was as if he had just stepped into the winter cold without a 
coat on.  

	She smiled  at his reaction. She had known how she 
would feel to him.  His warmth had almost burnt her chill, 
but she was used to it by now. Her chilly touched had taken 
the lives of more than she could count.  "Are you ready to 
die now, Fox?  You might as well get it over with.  Besides, 
I can't wait to see Sage's face when she finds your cold, 
dead body.  That will give me almost as much pleasure as 
killing you."  

	He glanced around him, searching for a way out.  There 
was none.  It was a hopeless situation.  He only wondered if 
she was telling the truth.  How could she kill him?  He was 
more than sure he was more powerful than she was.  He could 
easily overtake her.  But, then a thought struck him.  She 
wasn't human.  She was dead.  He was talking to a dead 
woman.  He almost felt as if he was going to faint at this 
thought.  How would Scully explain this?  

	"You can search for an escape, Fox, but it's no use."  
She laughed with the same evil she had shown moments before, 
this time, sinking back into the shadows and disappearing 
into the woodwork.  

	Mulder sighed in relief.  She was gone!  He was alive, 
too.  That was his main goal: to live through this.  And, so 
far he was doing all right.  He almost felt like laughing 
with joy as he walked slowly toward the door.  

	He reached out to grab the knob, when a striking pain 
overloaded his stomach. He backed away quickly from the 
door, but the pain didn't stop.  The pain only increased, 
causing him to gasp for air that his lungs could not get.  
He longed for the sweet air as he tried to suck in air, but 
it was no use.  He fell back against the wall, struggling to 
stay on his feet.  What was happening to him?  What was 
going wrong?  What had she done?  He held his stomach 
tightly and glanced around the room for an answer.  

	Before he was ready, his answer came.  His eyes widened 
as he looked searchingly at the table against the far wall.  
The daggar had been there a moment ago. It had been sitting 
under the glass, looking beautiful, looking deadly. Now, it 
was gone.  He closed his eyes tightly.  He knew where the 
pain was coming from, now.  He knew why he was slowly dying.  
He knew why she was somewhere laughing at him.  She had beat 
him.  

	He clutched his stomach, full of panic as he slowly 
slid down the wall and took a seat on the floor.  He 
couldn't let this beat him.  He had to yell out.  He had to 
get help.  But even if someone found him,  what would they 
do?  They were locked in the house!  Was this what had been 
going through Mae Holkovic's mind as she died?  Was this 
what death felt like?  He felt himself becoming dizzy as an 
awful taste invaded his mouth: blood.  He coughed violently, 
struggling against the great pain he was feeling.  He 
struggled to yell, struggled to call out, but his throat 
refused to make a noise. 

	 He could almost feel his stomach ripping.  He couldn't 
move.  If he moved, the knife might come through the skin.  
Then, there would be no hope.  He had no hope, anyway.  He 
was dying, and he knew it.  His mind fell back on Scully. 
Well, he wouldn't hear her voice, after all.  What would 
they tell her?  That her partner had been murdered by a 
ghost?  She wouldn't believe a word of it, and his death 
would go on as a mystery until the end of time.  He felt a 
tear rolling down his cheek as he thought of her.  

	He coughed softly, this time, tasting the thick blood 
in the back of his mouth.  It tasted awful and 
bitter........like death.  The pain slowly began to fade as 
he lost consiousness, falling onto the floor with his head 
back, hands still ripping at his stomach.  He was still 
fighting to live as he faded into the blackness.  

	

 







	Sage shook awake suddenly, finding herself gasping for 
breath.  There was a thick panic in her, but she couldn't 
figure out why. Something just wasn't right.  Something had 
gone terribly wrong.  She sat up instantly turning around in 
the hallway, searching for the form of panic that had 
awakened her so violently.  Tyler was sleeping peacefully at 
the end of the hallway, dreaming of nothing in particular.  
She had guessed that the only dreams possible in this 
situation would be nightmares, but here he was dreaming 
softly.  Isabella was lying down a few feet, her own thin 
arms wrapped around herself.  It was almost as if she was 
trying to comfort herself, protecting herself from something 
that only she could see.  

	Mulder was, wait.  Where was Mulder?  She spun around 
in the small hallway and jumped to her feet.  He wasn't 
there!  She had remembered him lying down further toward the 
opposite end of the hallway, but he wasn't there.  It was as  
if he had simply disappeared into thin air.  She took one 
last glanced around the hallway before taking off in a mad 
run toward the open end of the hall, the end Mulder had been 
closest to.  

	She went through the are, searching room after room 
that she came upon.  Where could he have gone?  She didn't 
even want to think about what could have happened to him.  
She wouldn't let herself think of such things.  She knew 
that every arrow she saw pointed toward the one frightening 
conclusion: he had joined Opal in grisly death.  Her vivid 
imaginatin even had begun picturing how it had happened, but 
she quickly closed these doors of her subconcious and opened 
another door.  

	This door took a bit of work to open, but it opened 
after a moment.  It was almost as if it had been locked one 
moment and unlocked another.  Of course, she didn't think of 
this.  She was searching for a friend, and that was the only 
thing her mind was zeroing in on at that moment.  She had to 
find Mulder.  

	Her heart stopped when she saw him, almost leaving her 
dead on the floor.  She pulled herself together quickly and 
ran to Mulder's side.  He was dead, she knew it.  He had to 
be. He appeared to be almost in slumber, but she knew better 
then that.   Her hand shook as she reached out and touched 
his neck, searching for a pulse that she wouldn't find.  She 
screamed in agony and defeat as her finger picked up nothing 
but his smooth skin.  He had no pulse, but she wouldn't let 
it go that easily.  "Mulder, no!"  She turned him onto his 
back quickly and she laid her head on his chest, trying to 
find some sort of heartbeat.  She wasn ot going to let this 
beat her, and she was not going to let Mulder die.  

	She struggled to remember those classes when she had 
learned CPR.  She had thought at the time that it would 
never come in handy, but as she stared down at Mulder's 
peaceful face, she knew it was important.  She thought 
quickly, entertwining her fingers in the telltale CPR 
stance.  She searched for the bottom of his rid cage, 
feeling herself losing it.  Not now, Sage.  This isn't the 
time to fall apart.  She counted out as she shoved her fists 
into his stomach, trying to jump start his heart.  She put 
her ear near his mouth, praying that he would start 
breathing.  

	Nothing.

	She pulled his chin up, trying to open the windpipe as 
best she could.  She remembered this now.  They had had to 
practice on little, plastic dummies all those years ago.  Of 
course, this was different.  Much different.  A life 
depended on this, and she was the only person who could save 
it.  She closed her mouth over his and pinched his nose shut 
before blowing a woosh of air down his throat, expanding his 
lungs momentarily.  She pulled away, still tasting him in 
her mouth.  He tasted sweet to her panic, almost like fresh, 
summer fruit.  Her mind spun.  Her luck that he would be 
dead when she finally god to "kiss" those lips of his.  Only 
a dead guy would find her attractive anyway, she thought 
bitterly.  She listened for a heart beat again.

	Again, nothing.

	How long had he been gone?  She had no idea.  For all 
she knew, he could have been dead for hours, but judging by 
the warmth radiating from him, he had probably just taken 
his last breath moments before she had broken through the 
door.  What had happened? she wondered.  Had some psycho 
ghost done him in or had it been a murderer?  Was this all a 
great bit setup?  She shook this off as her mind returned to 
the task at hand.  She drove her palms into his stomach, 
again and again, still receiving nothing from him.  Her 
heart was really pounding now, and she could just feel the 
tears lying beneath the surface of her mind.  She listened 
for air.

	Nothing.

	He was dead.  She shivered as this thought registered.  
"No!"  She yelled to no one in particular and held his chin 
up again.  Pinching his nose, she blew into his throat.  She 
waited a moment before inflating his lungs a second time 
with her breath.  As she blew in, she felt a sudden pressure 
as if he was expelling a breath of air.  She ripped 
backwards and stared down into his face.  He was alive!  His 
eyes fluttered softly but remained closed.  It didn't matter 
if his eyes were still closed.  He was alive!  

	She let out a huge breath of air in relief and pulled 
him into her arms.  She cradeled him in her lap like a 
mother with a child.  She kissed his forehead affectionatly 
and brushed the hair off his forehead.  She felt her own 
skin was wet with nervous sweat, but she didn't care.  She 
felt almost faint with pure and utter joy as his eyes 
opened, staring up at her.  

	His eyes were fuzzy for a moment.  He blinked, forcing 
the fog away and stared up into her face.  She had saved 
him! He still felt her lips on his vaguely, still tasting 
her soft, feminine, sweetness.  He felt her strong arms 
clutching him close.  It must have been awfully close.  He 
glanced around the room quickly as everything came back to 
him in a bright and frightening chain of events.  

	She expelled another breath of air loudly, trying to 
force herself to calm down.  She still felt as if her heart 
was just going to burst.  He sat up slowly as she loosened 
her hold around his shoulders so that he could actually 
move.  His head was aching, and he was still having trouble 
breathing.  What had happened to the knife?  He glanced 
toward the far wall, and to his own disbelief, the knife was 
back in it's place, perfectly clean and shining in the 
light.  Adeline was doing quite a number on him.  

	Finally registering everything around him, Mulder 
leaned on Sage for support on the cold, wooden floor.  He 
wrapped his arms around her gently, not quite having the 
energy to hold her any tighter.  She wrapped her arms around 
his shoulders and laid her chin on his shoulder.  She was 
feeling faint, and if she tried to stand up, she was sure 
she would fall over. 

	 They sat together there for minutes before Sage willed 
herself to break the silence.  "Are you all right, Mulder?"  
She pulled away so that she could look into his face.  She 
didn't care that her eyes were  damp and red with tears. She 
still wasn't sure if he was all right.

	He nodded and swallowed hard.  He was still feeling 
awfully woozy.  After staring at the floor for a long 
minute, he found the energy to look her in the eye.  He was 
sure his eyes were watering, but he didn't care.  It wasn't 
a time to care about such inconsequential things.  He smiled 
slightly  as he saw a tear run down her cheek and fall onto 
the floor silently.  She smiled, too upon seeing that he was 
sharing similar emotions with her.  He reached up and laid 
his hand on her cheek, wiping her tears away with his 
fingers.  She acted similarly, laying her hand on his cheek.  
His skin was so soft.  She tenderly wiped his tears away, 
too.   They didn't even notice the figure standing in the 
corner, smiling with victory.  



	Sage tried her best to walk slowly so that Mulder could 
keep up.  He was looking awfully pale, but she was just 
happy that he was alive.  She knew that they needed to get 
him to a doctor, which was completely out of the question.  
The electricity was still out, and the doors were still 
locked.  It was a hopless situation.  She held his hand 
tightly as they returned to the others.  Mulder had thought 
it would be best if the other two people didn't know of what 
had happened.  They didn't need to be frightened any further 
than they already were.  

	She kicked Tyler gently as they moved by them. "Tyler."  


	He moved slowly, not wanting to wake up the the 
nightmare that was reality.  By the look on his tired face, 
she could see that he really had not wanted to be bothered.  
"What is it, Sage?"  His voice was shallow and pointed with 
annoyance.  

	"I think we should move.   We aren't safe here."

	He sat up, rubbing the back of his head.  "Why do you 
say that?  It seems pretty safe to me."  	

	"We saw a ghost, Tyler.  I think we should go somewhere 
else."  She lied.  If she needed to exaggerate, it didn't 
bother her.  She glanced at Mulder, and was happy to see 
that he showed no knowledge that she had lied.  The fact 
that he was such a good liar worried Sage.  Had he lied to 
her without her knowing it?  She sighed.  "Let's get out of 
here."

	He nodded.  "Whatever you say."  He thought she was a 
psycho, but he didn't care.  He did feel like getting up and 
moving around, after all.  He had been sleeping for at least 
an hour.  He kicked Isabella's extended arm.  "Issy, get up.  
We're moving."

	She groaned as he sat up, but she didn't say a word of 
disagreement or ask a question.  She just stood up and 
stretched.  She had had a very restful sleep, to her own 
surprise.  

	They moved in a small congregation toward the library, 
hoping to discover some way out.  Truthfully, though, their 
hope was practically nonexistant.  All of them just felt 
fear in the bottom of their stomachs, knowing that the 
moment of death would come at any moment.  

	Mulder looked toward Sage as they walked toward the 
room.  She was still clutching tightly to his hand as she 
had been since they had left the hallway, but she appeared 
to be off somewhere in her mind, trying to fit a puzzle 
peice into the game of life and death.  He could almost see 
her thinking of a way of escaping.  He just kept remembering 
the look on her face when he pulled out of their hug.  She 
had looked so happy and so afraid at the same time.  He 
still wasn't sure how he felt about her, but he knew that 
she was special, and that she had to live through this no 
matter what.  She was a strong girl that could take more 
than most people, and Mulder knew it.  

	Tyler closed the door behind the group as he came in 
last.  He was glad to see that there were no sharp 
implements in this room.  Of course, after losing his 
glasses everything looked fairly fuzzy, but to the best of 
his guesses, this room was as close to safe as they were 
going to get.  He sat in a chair near the darkened fireplace 
and covered his face with his hands.  He had a burning 
headache all of a sudden.  

	Mulder sat down in the chair by the door and rubbed his 
forehead.  He wished the terrible pounding would stop.  His 
mouth still tasted remotely of blood, but he swallowed this 
out of his mind.  He was alive, and he was all right.  

	Isabella sat down next to him, shivering slightly as 
she sat down.  She reached out and took Mulder's hand, much 
to the surprise of everyone else in the room.  She was 
finally coming out of her shell, was she.  Mulder squeezed 
her hand, but didn't smile.  He didn't feel he had the 
energy to perform such a feat.  Isabella smiled at him and 
leaned her head against his shoulder.  She was comfortable 
with him as she had never been with anyone before.  She 
closed her eyes and tried to get some more sleep.  

	Sage scratched her chin as she paced around the room.  
She resembled a caged lion, searching for its dinner.  She 
looked deep in though over how to handle their situation.  
If anyone would think of something, she would.  She mumbled 
something for no one to hear but herself and stopped 
suddenly.  A light had glowed in her eyes for a moment, but 
it was quickly gone.  An idea had come, but she had debunked 
her own thoughts.  

	Tyler pulled his hands off of his face.  "Would you sit 
still!"  

	"I can't Tyler.  I've got to think.  There has to be 
something we can do.  We can't just sit here and die."  She 
ran a nervous hand through her short hair. 

	"Yes we can, Sage!  There's nothing else we can do."  

	"How can you say that!  You're just going to give up 
and not care anymore?  At least I'm going to get out of here 
alive!"  She turned her back to him.  "We'll just leave your 
rotting corpse here to be eaten by the bugs, then." 

	He rose to his feet.  "What are you saying?  You're 
going to kill me because I've lost hope?"

	"I didn't say that."

	"God, you really are just as psycho as they all said 
you were."

	Her mouth widened for a moment along with her eyes.  
"What did you say?"

	"You heard me."  He stuck out his chin, representing a 
challenge.  "You're a psycho.  I've thought that since the 
very first time I met you."  

	She looked like she was just going to rip his face off, 
but she stopped.  "You asshole!  How dare you say that to 
me?"

	"How dare I?  I dare because it's the truth."  He spun 
on his heels.  "Your whole family was insane, Sage.  A whole 
freaking bunch of loonies!"

	"Oh, there's wit!  Attacking my dead parents!"

	"Did you kill your father, Sage? Did you string him 
up?" He stared her down, backing down as she stepped forward 
almost crushing his toes.  

	"I'll string you up, you little prick!  At least my 
parents were happy together.  Instead of hating each other 
like your parents.  They have the combined IQ of a pair of 
toads!"  

	Mulder rubbed his forehead and rose from his seat. He 
couldn't handle this.  Even with Isabella clinging gently to 
him to give him comfort, he still felt like his head was 
about to explode.  <*****Note to Krisit Smith- his hair is 
not going to burn up in flames!********>  He pulled out of 
Isabella's grasp and walked toward the rows of bookshelves 
lining the room's high walls.  Of all the rooms in the 
house, this was easily his favorite.  The loud and angry 
voices of his two co-workers were almost unhearable.  The 
millions of books lining the walls absorbed their 
shrillness.  

	Mulder strode through the area, watching every corner. 
His stomach was still twisted in knots with undeniable 
worries.  What else could possibly go wrong?  Who would be 
the next to die?  Perhaps, she would come back after him 
later.  Had she spared him? He still didn't understand what 
had exactly happned.  He only knew he was alive.  He almost 
thought that he saw a shadow following him, but he couldn't 
be sure.  The room had such a heavy air to it.  It was 
almost as if he was walking through a cloud of misty worry 
and fear.  

	The books around him surrounded him, covering them in 
their protective bindings.  Their eyes of paper watched him 
walk by, screaming to him to choose them.  He frowned as he 
glanced at a few of the titles.  None of them were even 
remotley familiar.  They were all most likely from the late 
nineteenth century, printed in Scotland.  Most of them 
probably had never even touched American soil.  Mulder 
sighed and picked through a few of the thinned volumes of 
books.  Maybe reading would take his mind off of everything 
else that was happening.  As he opened the cover of one of 
the books carefully, he listened for Sage and Tyler.  Their 
voices had ceased to exist.  They had probably gotten sick 
of arguing with each other.  Everyone was tired,and everyone 
had a short temper.  Mulder was in no mood to argue, so he 
made a silent promise to not say anything offensive to any 
of his commrades.  Hatred would only make the air heavier.  

	A tap on his shoulder didn't even phase him.  He knew 
who it was.  "What are you looking for?"  It was Sage.  She 
smiled weakly.

	"Hope."  His face remained the same.  He was 
indifferent to everyone and everything around him, but he 
hadn't given up hope. He wasn't going to die in this house, 
and he had strong faith in that statement.  

	"You mind if I help you look?"

	He shrugged.  "It's a good thing to have someone help 
you look for." This time he smiled.  He didn't want to make 
her feel shoved away, after all, she had saved his life.  
"That was a rather messy scene out there."

	She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.  "I 
know.  It happens sometimes.  I do love my arguements."  She 
touched his shoulder.  "Are you feeling all right?  You look 
a little green around the gills."

	"Yeah, I'm fine.  Thanks."  He reached out to pull at 
another thick book, but stopped suddenly after he had given 
it one good strong pull.  "Jesus Christ."  He gave it 
another pull.  A group of five or six books pulled  out in a 
small row.  They weren't real!  They were hiding something 
beneath them.  Something important.  

	Sage jumped slightly.  "What the-"

	"It's a safe!"  He glanced behind the books.  "God, it 
looks old!"  

	She stuck her head next to his and glanced into the 
darkness.  He was right.  It did appear to be antique.  She 
doubted that the Holkovics had even known of its existance, 
because by the look of it, it hadn't been opened in a 
century.  "We've got to get this thing open."  

	He sighed.  "How?  I don't suppose you have another 
bobby-pin with you?"  

	She smiled.  "Always, Mulder." She reached to the 
underside of her thick mane of hair and extracted a small 
hair pin that shined in the light.  "How's that for being on 
task, ay?"

	He grinned.  "You're amazing, you know that?"

	"I know, I know." She shoved past him and inspected the 
lock.  "It's old, and it should be easy to break."

	"What are you guys up to?"  Isabella poked her head 
into their conversation.

	"Look."  Mulder pulled her into their little circle to 
see what they had found.  "Sage, the amazing lock-picker, is 
going to break into it."  

	She smiled, suddenly.  She really had a beautiful 
smile, but she never really showed it to anyone.  It was a 
rare ocassion that she was caught with a smile on her small, 
pale face.  

	"Is Tyler all right?"  Sage asked as she poked