Title: Flight of the Spirits EPISODE: #1 Flight of the Spirits Category: Slight MSR Author's Note: I wrote this after seeing, "A Fairy Tale - A True Story". It was the type of thing that Chirs Carter hadn't covered, and I hand't read any fairy type fan fics. I am proud of this one. Lissa is named after my close net friend, and kind of based on me. I based Ellie sort of on how I imagined Emily to be. So this is it! Enjoy Nebraska 7.21pm The garden was full of spirits. Eight-year-old Ellie Jacobs sat in a patch of clover, smiling softly to herself. The spirits tangled themselves around her, like a security blanket. She moved her fingers through the clover carefully. Her fingers stopped moving as she came across a clover that didn't look like the others. The spirits helped her to pull it out carefully. She dangled it in front of her face. A four-leaf clover. A spirit whipped it out of her grasp, causing it to float high up in the air. "Hey!" Ellie cried, jumping up and chasing after the clover. The spirit pulled it higher and higher. Ellie felt another spirit lift her up into the air. Ellie held her arms out, trying to grab at the clover. It floated over Ellie's house, and down the street. It went higher and higher, with Ellie following close behind. The spirits knew Ellie couldn't swim. They tried to keep her away from the water, but one spirit liked to play? Ellie felt herself falling out of the spirits grasp. She watched the clover fall as she fell with it. She looked down, and smiled calmly as she saw the river underneath her. The spirits would save her. They always did. 10.13am "They're going to drag the river know." Eighteen year old Lissa Jacobs reported to her mother. Her mother, Maureen, bit her lip, her eyes anxious. "I don't understand! How on earth did Ellie get into the river? And she know she can't swim! Why don't they try other places instead?" Lissa looked down at her feet. It probably wasn't a good time to tell her mother that a couple of people had witnessed Ellie flying over their houses the previous night. Maureen silently watched a group of people gather on the opposite bank. She knew what Lissa didn't want to say. And she didn't believe a word of it. "It's all horse shit Lissa." Lissa crossed her fingers. "I know." She put an arm on her mother's shoulder. "She'll be all right. She's only a little girl. How much trouble can she get into?" Lissa knew better. She knew all about the Spirits. She had known them herself. She hadn't told anyone, though. She knew better. Her sister had told everyone she knew, and now everyone in town though that the Jacobs' were about as weird as you can get. "I'd better phone Ned?"Maureen's voice trailed off. Lissa raked her fingers through her hair. "I'll do it. You stay here." Without waiting for an answer, Lissa jogged down the the nearest phone booth. She pushed her phonecard in, and dialed long distance. "Federal Bureau of Investigation." "Violent Crimes Unit please." "One moment?" Lissa waited. "VCU." "Hello, may I please speak to Agent Walters?" "Who's calling?" "Lissa Jacobs." "Hang on." Lissa heard the sound of the phone being dumped on the floor. It was picked up a moment later. "Lissa? What's wrong?" "It's Ellie?and the spirits?" Ned knew all about the Spirits. Lissa had told him. And he had believed her. "Shit?" "They got her. They were playing last night, and they dumped her in the river?" "Maureen taught her to swim?didn't she?" "You weren't around to get mum to teach her!" Silence. "Dad?" "Lissa?if you want me to come down?I can't. You know that." "Dad, you left?" BEEP BEEP. "Shit!" Lissa muttered. "Lissa? Lissa?" The phone line went dead. 'Please insert money' came the reading on the display. Lissa fished through her pockets for more money. She quickly slammed the coins into the phone, and re dialed. "Federal Bureau of Investigation." "Violent Crimes Unit Please." "One moment?" "VCU." "Is Agent Walters there please?" "No sorry, he just left. Can I take a message?" "Can you tell me where he went?" "To visit some guy?oh what's his name?Ox Muldy? Something like that." "Ox Muldy? Is he some kind of wacko?" "You could say that!" the person on the other end laughed. "Can you just tell him - " "Lissa!" Lissa turned around. Her boy-friend, Matt, was standing in front of her. "They found her!" he panted. "They found your sister! She's?oh Lissa?" Lissa turned back to the phone. "Can you tell him that they dragged the river and found her body." "Is this some case?" "You could say that. Bye." She slammed the receiver down. "Lissa? Are you ok?" Matt asked. "I have something to settle." Lissa took off down the road, leaving Matt staring after her. Washington D.C Violent Crimes Unit 12.58am Ned Walter's slumped down on the leather couch in his office. He stared at the piece of paper in front of him. 'River dragged - body found' "Damn them." He knew it was partly his fault. If he hadn't have run of six years ago, leaving Maureen with the kids this would have never happened. Maureen could be very irresponsible. He lifted his head, and stared at the framed photograph on his desk. It had been taken a year ago, when Ellie and Lissa had visited him and his wife Alison in DC. In it, Ellie was on Lissa's back, and she was standing next to Alison, who was laughing. He got up, and went to his draw, pulling out an older photograph, of Lissa, when she was eight. She was sitting in a patch of clover. It was early evening, and there were wisps of white tangled around her. The spirits. The same ones that had led Ellie to her death. He wouldn't go to Nebraska, to find them. But he knew someone that would leave tomorrow. Lissa sat in the same clover patch that her sister had sat in hours before. The spirits recognised her instantly, and tangled themselves around her. "Why did you do it?" she asked. "You knew Ellie couldn't swim, so why did you do it?" A spirit floated towards her, and wrapped itself around her throat, pulling tightly. "Go away." The spirit vanished. "I don't understand! You've all gotten mean! Why? And Ellie, she was always perfectly nice to you!" She told people. Lissa looked up in surprise. "You can talk?" We can communicate when you want an answer very much. "So why did you kill Ellie?" She told people. "I told my father." He understood us. And we already knew him. "You knew my father? How?" There was no answer. Lissa lay down in the clover, and the spirits lifted her up off the ground. She hovered in the air for a few minutes, her eyes shut. "Lissa?" She dropped instantly to the ground. Matt was looking down at her. "Lissa, you're mother is looking for you." Lissa opened her eyes. "Is she ok?" "She seems all right." The silence was extremely uncomfortable. "Matt, I want to be alone." "Lissa, there's something else?I think?I don't think we should see each other anymore." Lissa felt the spirits flare up underneath here. "Uh oh." She mumbled. "What?" "Uh?" The spirits flew out from underneath her, and moved towards Matt. He was still looking expectantly at Lissa. He couldn't see them. Lissa covered her mouth in surprise as they pushed him out of the garden, and into the street. She ran after them, and screamed as the Spirits flung him onto the ground, and a tractor started up, and came straight for the boy. She turned away, but couldn't block out Matt's screams and the sound of his bone crushing. 9.35am Washington DC Special Agent Dana Scully opened the door of her and her partners basement office. Mulder was sitting at the desk, with his legs on it. "Hope you're packed Scully!" "Well, when you call me at one o'clock in the morning and tell me to pack?I just couldn't forget!" "How are you feeling? After that Eddie the h is silent VanBlundht thing last week?" Scully flushed in embarrassment. "I'm fine Mulder. Where are we going?" "Nebraska. A small case of Spirits working in overtime." "Spirits?" Scully picked up the case file lying on the desk. She flipped through it. "We're supposed to keep it quiet though. The little girl, Ellie, her father works in the VCU. I've known him for a while. It's a favour to him. Apparently this girl be friended the spirits living in their garden, and they got mean and drowned her." "It says here they dropped her in a river. Could she swim?" "Nope." "And why not?" Mulder shrugged. "Broken family," he said, as if that explained everything. But for Mulder, Scully supposed it did. Lissa looked the two FBI agents up and down. The male one was pretty good looking. But the female was just too plain. "Are you Ox Muldy?" she asked the male. Scully smothered a smile. "Special Agent Fox Mulder. This is Dana Scully." "Uh huh." "Your father told us to come down." Lissa's eyes lit up. "Oh, you're them! Quick, let's go into the garden. If Mum sees you, she'll get all upset." Scully shot Mulder one of her looks. Mulder grinned back, and they followed Lissa into the garden. Scully watched Lissa carefully as the girl sat in a patch of clover. Lissa shivered. "What is it?" Scully asked cautiously. "The spirits?they're all around us. Can't you see them?" Scully shook her head. "Lissa," she said gently. "I know that?" "Shh!" Mulder broke in. "Scully?I can see them?" "Oh great." Scully mumbled. Lissa looked at Mulder excitedly. "You're a believer!" Mulder shook his head slowly. "I wouldn't say that." "You must be. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to see them. Like her." Lissa gestured to Scully. Scully rolled her eyes. "Mulder, I'm going into town to interview people. I have my phone." She turned on her heel and walked back down the path. Mulder shrugged at Lissa. "She's very?how should I put it?enigmatic." "Oh." Lissa said, reminding herself to look the word up in the dictionary later on. Mulder sat down, cross-legged across from Lissa. "Tell me what happened." "From what I can gather, Ellie was playing with the Spirits, and they took her flying, and dumped her in the river." "But she couldn't swim." "Right." "Do they know that?do they?uh?" "Yes, they knew. They know everything." And we know what you're thinking, Fox. "Did you say something?" Mulder asked Lissa. "Yes?that they know eveything." "No, after that." "No." "Then they're talking to you." Lissa smiled. "Via your mind." What am I thinking? Mulder thought. About the other agent. Mulder made a gagging noise. About Dana. Mulder stood up. "Lissa, why did they throw her in the river?" Lissa shrugged. "I think?because she told people about them?and everyone she told didn't believe her, and started to look down on our family." "But Scully doesn't believe." Yes she does. She believes in a lot more than you do, Fox. Mulder paled visibly. "Are you ok?" Lissa asked. Mulder nodded, and handed her his card. "Call me if you can think of anything else." Scully knocked lightly on the door of the house next door to the Jacob's. A Spirit tangled itself lightly in her hair. She didn't notice, and knocked again. An old man opened the door. "Yes?" he croaked. Scully held up her identification. "I'm Special Agent Scully, with the FBI. Do you mind if I come in?" "This town is going nuts." The man said, before opening the door wide enough so that Scully could squeeze through, and into the front room. The man held out his hand. Scully shook it. "Peter Lansbury. Please, have a seat." Scully sat in a couch next to an old fireplace. Lansbury sat across from her. "Is this about the Jacob's girl?" Scully nodded. "Is there anything you know of that could help us find out why Ellie Jacob's ended up in a river at 8 o'clock at night?" The old man threw his head back and laughed. "I could tell you, but you wouldn't -" he stopped, and stared at Scully. "What?" she asked self-consciously. "You believe." Scully raised an eyebrow. "Pardon me?" "There's one in your hair." Scully's hand flew and patted the top of her head. "What is?" "A spirit." The man laughed again. "It's taken a liking to you. " "Mr Lansbury, please. Can you just tell me what you know?" "I was born in 1931. In this very house. When I was a boy, about five, my entire family died of plague. A plague that everyone had to keep very hush hush about. The FBI came down, and so did the DOD. Being a young boy, I didn't understand anything, except that my entire family - my three sisters and four older brothers, my mother and father - had all died. An old woman living in the house next door - the Jacob's place - took me in an cared for me until I was eighteen. I went off to war for a year, and came back to live in this house. And I have been here ever since." Scully looked the old man in the eyes. "Your family - and the old woman. Are they the Spirits? Is it their Spirits?" The man nodded, a smile on his face, that lit up his eyes. "Dana, don't be afraid of them. They have been taking care of me since I was eighteen. And now my wife, who died last year, has joined them." Scully continued to humor the old man. "And will you join them?" "Oh no. When I die, we will all be together again. There's no need for them to stay around." "But what about Lissa?" "Oh, they were mad when the Jacob's moved in - it was, after all, Missy's house." "Missy?" "The old woman. I inherited the house, see, and so I rented it out. The Spirits got mad, and took it out on the Jacob's. They ruined Maureen and Ned's marriage, and killed little Ellie. They seemed to take a liking to Lissa, though. I think because she reminds them so much of one of my sister's, Lisa." Scully knew that if Mulder were there, the first thing out of his mouth would have been, re-incarnation. So she said it. "Perhaps. Perhaps not." The old man shut his eyes. Scully guessed that their conversation was over, and let herself out of the house. Mulder met up with Scully at their motel half an hour later. Scully recounted her conversation with Lansbury. "You believe, Scully," he said accusingly. Scully blushed. "After everything that has happened Mulder, how could I not?" "Then why did you have to act as if you didn't? I've been through hell for believing Scully. And you? Well, if you think it's true, that's ok. But what about my theory's Scully? Oh, that's just ol' Spooky, don't worry about him!" Mulder took a deep breath. "After the thing in the Arctic, I began to believe again. But I just don't know anymore, Scully. How do we know that they didn't plant those memories in our heads? How do we know anything anymore?" Scully stood, frozen to the spot. "Mulder, do you think that you are the only person going through hell? I lost three months of my life. Who knows where they went. I was diagnosed with terminal cancer, then cured of it, only to find out that I was unable to carry a child, and then I find out I have a daughter and I have never given birth and then I have her taken from me! And then I am abducted again, and wake up to find myself naked in the middle of the Arctic with you telling me to reach up and grab the vent!" Scully yelled. "And in the midst of all that, I got stung by a bee about too - " "About to what, Scully?" Mulder asked, a smile playing around the edge of his lips. "Nothing, Mulder." She lay down on the bed, and shut her eyes. She heard the door of the room swing shut, and opened her eyes again. Mulder was gone. A tear trickled down her cheek. She sighed, and rolled over, wishing that she was anywhere but in the middle of Nebraska. Mulder pounded on the door to Scully's motel room. "Scully! Get up!" Inside, Scully sat up in bed, still dressed in the clothes she'd been wearing the day before. She shuffled over to the door, and opened it. "What is it Mulder?" "Someone else's body turned up in the middle of the river, this morning." "Lissa's?" "No. The Jacob's next door neighbour. Peter Lansbury." Scully stood, with her arms folded, as she watched the paramedics load Lansbury into a body bag. "The spirits will go, now." Scully said softly. Mulder, standing next to her, didn't respond. He was too busy staring at Scully's hair. "Scully?" "Yeah?" "They're going to want to take Lissa with them." "How do you know?" "There is one in your hair. And it would be gone if their bussiness was finished." "Mulder?" "Yeah?" "Where would Lissa be?" "In the garden?" They both took off. Lissa sat crossed legged in a patch of clover. She lay down, and shut her eyes. Don't be afraid. We want you to come with us. Lissa cried out. "No! I don't want to go!" Lissa, calm down. "Peter? Oh my god, Peter!" Mulder and Scully ran up to Lissa. Scully knelt down and shook the girl. "Lissa, Lissa, wake up." Lissa sat up. "Where's Peter?" "They found his body in the river this morning." Lissa burst into tears. "I want to go to him!" Mulder pulled Scully back. "Scully, let her go." Scully stood up. Lissa curled up into a ball, and the two agents watched as her body was slowly pulled down into the earth. Mulder's eyes widened as she disappeared completely. Scully stood frozen in shock. Mulder turned to Scully, and watched as the Spirit untangled itself from Scully's hair, and floated into the ground. THE END mEgAn DuChOvNy XxOo |