Shorts

Te Duem Part 2

Continuation of Te Duem

Mulder pov

May 29th, 1998, Lansing Beaumont, Michigan, 6:34 p.m.

Mulder opened his eyes to a bright, blinding light. As his eyes adjusted to the light he moved his hands beside him, resting them on something cool and hard.

As he recollected what had happened earlier that day in the abandoned house, he decided he must be in a hospital. And the cool, hard thing beneath his fingertips must be a bed rail.

He could just make out his surroundings. His room was that sterile hospital white that seemed to litter every hospital everywhere in the world. He had an IV hooked up to his wrist, and he was wearing a hideously ugly sky blue hospital gown. He pulled the gown up to look at the side of his leg that had been mysteriously sliced, noticing it had been promptly stitched up. He even counted each stitch.

The next thing Mulder noticed was how weak he felt. He knew it was normal to feel weak after something such as this, but he didn't just feel weak. He felt physically exhausted. As though he had just swam the length of three Olympic swimming pools, then hopped out and ran the ten miles.

Next thing Mulder knew the familiar click-clack of Scully's heels sounded as she entered the room, taking his mind off of his own exhaustion for a moment. He glanced up, meeting Scully's gaze as she waltzed in.

Scully stood by his bedside, clutching a few papers. "You suffered minor cuts and abrasions, a third degree burn on your back, and a moderate concussion," she said monotonously, sounding just like the doctor she was. "How're you feeling?" Scully had dark purple circles under her blue eyes, with her short titian hair pulled back messily into a ponytail sporting loose strands flying this way and that. She wasn't even wearing a spot of makeup - she was obviously tired.

"About like I just completed a triathlon," Mulder quipped. "Although you don't look too spry yourself," he added, nodding towards her. "What's with the papers?"

Scully dropped the papers on Mulder’s torso. He picked the batch up and looked through them briefly. As he did so, Scully said, "Another murder. The victim, Jayce Dost, was discovered in an alley beside a dance studio she went to in downtown Lansing. Not three miles from where the last victim supposedly was." Mulder handed Scully back the papers, which she filed neatly back in order. "Jayce Dost was found missing her arms and legs as well, just like the last victim."

Mulder thought for a moment, and attempted to sit upright a little. It wasn't until he tried this that he realized he had a pounding headache, and he lowered himself back down. "And this - Jayce - was she the same age as the last victim?"

Scully nodded. "Just turned sixteen a few weeks ago. Then killed just a week after her birthday." She shifted her weight back and forth. "You're due to get out of here tomorrow morning. So after you get discharged, we need to check it out."

~~~

May 30th, 1998, Lansing Michigan, 4:32 p.m.

"This is it? This is the murder sight? Seems a little 'out in the open' to me, especially for a seemingly 'disappearing' murderer," Mulder said, glancing down the alley. The alley was, in fact, part of a photography studio connected to the building the dance studio was in. It wasn't even an alley at all, it was a photographer's prop.

Scully sighed. "I guess the owner of Harrell Photography exaggerated some. Or I suppose a lot." She snapped off her latex glove after an unsuccessful search of the alley prop.