Neil Saunters awoke to his wife’s terrifying screams, but he knew he wasn’t really hearing them, or was he? Lucy had been missing for six months. No one knew what happened to her, she just disappeared from her room one day and ever since that day he had been hearing her voice and her terrible, terrible sobs through out the house every single day. Sometimes he could even hear her when he placed his ear against the wall. It was like she was some how inside the wall. But that was impossible. His psychiatrists told him that it was just his way of coping with the loss. Sometimes he wasn’t so sure, and that is why he made a call to the FBI. Last week he had been watching the show COPS and a pair of FBI agents were on. The male agent was very open to the paranormal and actually helped the cops solve their unusual case. His partner wasn’t so open but he went ahead and called the FBI anyway and demanded to speak to Agent Mulder. The agent was very open and agreed to come down with his partner as soon as he could. Maybe he can finally help me, Neil thinks and covers his head with his pillow to try and block out his wife’s crying voice. Finally it stops and he falls asleep.
      Scully walks into the office and sees Mulder watching the movie, “The Blair Witch Project.”
She notices that it is at the part when the kids are in the tent and they hear a child’s voice laughing.
“Mulder, why are you watching this? It’s the biggest rip off movie Hollywood ever produced.”
 Mulder shushes her and continues to watch the scene, engrossed. Scully stands with her arms crossed and waits for it to end.
Mulder rewinds the scene and starts to watch it again.
“Mulder, what the hell are you doing?” She grabs the remote from Mulder and turns off the TV.
“Scully…..This has to do with a new case.”
“Oh please don’t tell me this is going where I think it is going.”
“Scully, this movie may be manly fiction but there are few things in it that are X-files that date way back.”
“Oh come on Mulder your not suggestion that there is really a Blair Witch in the woods of Maryland.”
“No, that is not what I’m saying Scully, and if you’d let me explain….”
Scully sits down in the chair across from Mulder’s desk.
“Okay go ahead. I’m listening,” She says with a grin on her face.
“Thank you,” Mulder says and sits down. “Okay Scully you’ve seen this movie right?”
“Unfortunately yes, I was dragged to it by my nephew.”
“Okay well do you remember the parts through out the movie where the teenagers heard the noises of children and a baby crying through out the woods? And they also heard the screaming cries of their friend…. He sounded so close but yet they couldn’t find him.”
“Well, maybe because it’s a movie Mulder and it was written in the script that they weren’t supposed to find him.” Scully looks at him sarcastically.
“You’re funny, but I’m not through so listen.”
“Fine I was just answering your question Mulder.”
“Anyways…..The whole story line they have going about the Blair Witch is bogus but there are actual X-files where people disappeared in the woods of Maryland. No one could find them, but many people swore that they heard their crying voices as if they were standing right there next to them. There is even this one case…hold let me get the file.” Mulder gets up from his desk and pulls a file out of the file cabinet.
“Scully this happen thirty years ago in Burkittsville Maryland. A boy disappeared in the woods, but for a whole year the parents said they could hear his voice calling out to them. Creepy huh?”
“Yeah, but what does this have to do with the movie, or anything for that matter?” Scully says a little annoyed.
“Well, I think that someone that made this movie must have heard about these cases and just added the Blair Witch into it to make it more hollywoodish. But the reason I’m drudging all this up is because there is a new case, except this one didn’t happen in the woods. It happened in the woman’s bedroom. She has been missing for 6months but her husband has been hearing her crying out to him everyday since it happened and he wants us to look into it.”
“Called us? How did he know about us?” Mulder, looks down at his desk and starts to nervously fiddle with the papers.”
“Mulder…..how did he know about us?”
“Well, uh…..he uhh…”
“What?!” Scully says annoyed.
“He saw us on COPS and thought we’d be the people for the job.”
“You gotta be kidding me!”
“Scully, don’t get upset.”  Scully starts to pace back and forth.”I knew it, I knew it.”
“You knew what Scully?”
“I knew that this was going to happen people were going to see us on that ridiculous show and we would get wackos calling us left and right. Mulder did it ever occur to you that maybe this person just made the whole story up so he could tell his friends that he met two FBI agents that were on TV! God Mulder! I don’t believe this!”
“Scully woah! Why are you getting so upset?”  Scully glares at him.
“Fine don’t come with me on this case, but I think he is telling the truth and if he isn’t then…”
“Then you will have just made a foul out of your self and wasted the whole day.” Scully says interrupting him.
“Fine Scully don’t come.” Mulder grabs his jacket and walks out of the office angry.
Scully stands there for a moment and then grabs her jacket and runs out of the office after him. She reaches the elevator just before it is about to close.
“Mulder, wait!” She runs towards the elevator and then trips just as she reaches the inside of the elevator. She falls to the floor with a thud. Mulder looks down at her and smiles amused.
“Oh, glad you find this amusing.” Scully says.
Mulder bends down to help her up. “So you changed your mind huh?”
“Well, I had nothing better to do today and I thought that you would be lost with out my help.” She looks at him teasingly.
“Oh, yeah Scully you just seem to solve the case every time! If it weren’t for you we’d never have solved a single case,” Mulder says teasing back.
”Funny Mulder.”
The elevator doors open to the garage floor and they walk to their car.
“Well, lets see if you can solve this case Scully. Up to the challenge?”
“Always,”Scully says and gets in the car.
 

     Scully stands next to Mulder on the front porch as he rings the doorbell. Suddenly the door opens and a guy says with a lot of enthusiasm in his voice, “Oh my god I saw you two on COPS the other night.” Mulder smiles and Scully looks annoyed.
“You are Neil Saunters, correct?” Scully asks him.
“No, oh are you looking for Neil?” Scully looks over at Mulder annoyed and he gives her a “what did I do” look back.
“I’m sorry, Sir we have the wrong house,” Mulder says to the man.
“Don’t be sorry I can’t believe I got to meet the two FBI agents that were on COPS!” He looks over at Scully and very obviously looks her up and down.
“You, know you’re a lot smaller in person then you seemed on TV.”
“Really,” Scully says with sarcasm in her voice.
“Yeah, but just as pretty,” The man replies back. Scully grabs onto Mulder’s arm and starts to pull him away from the front porch.
“Agent Mulder, shall we?” She pulls Mulder farther away from the porch.
“I’m sorry Sir for the inconvenience,” Mulder says as he is pulled off by Scully.
    They both get back in the car. Mulder starts to crack up laughing and Scully hits him in the arm. “It’s not funny! I was really embarrassed back there.”
“You know Scully he’s right you are smaller then you appear on television,” Mulder says still laughing.
“Mulder, just get us to the right house.”  Mulder stops laughing and pulls out his directions. “Oh yeah, see I thought this 1 was a 7. It’s just up here a little ways.”
   They drive a few blocks and reach a big Victorian style house with a swing on the porch. Mulder and Scully step out of the car.
“This better be the right house this time Mulder.”
“Trust me Scully it is.”
   Neil Saunters opens his front door before they even get up to the door.
“Thank You so much for coming Agent Mulder, I’m going out of my mind here.”
“No problem,” Mulder says.
“This is my partner…”
“Agent Scully,” Scully says interrupting Mulder and shakes Neil’s hand. Neil doesn’t take his eyes off Scully and this makes her feel uncomfortable because she knows he recognizes her. “What?” She finally says a little annoyed.
“Oh I’m sorry it’s just you seem much smaller, but you must get that a lot.”
“Oh yeah…..” Scully replies under her breath.
    Mulder tries to suppress his laughter.
“I’m sorry please come in,” Neil says and gestures for them to step inside.
“This is a nice house Mr. Saunters,” Scully remarks as she looks around the living room.
“Thank You, I had it especially designed for Lucy.”
“And Lucy is?”
“His wife,” Mulder chimes in.
“Please come sit on the couch and I will tell you what’s been going on.” Scully sits down on the couch and Mulder sits down next to her unusually close.
  “You mind if I tape this?” Mulder asks Neil.
“No not at all.”
“Okay, thanks.” Mulder takes out a small tape recorder and hits the record button.
“Okay when ever you are ready,” Mulder says as he places the recorder on the coffee table.
“Well, it happened six months ago. It was our 5th anniversary and Lucy was getting ready in our bedroom. She said she would be down in ten minutes, so after it had been 30 minutes I naturally went up to check on her but she wasn’t there…. or at least her body wasn’t.”
“What do you mean by that?” Scully asks him confused. “She either was there or wasn’t there.”
“Well, I started to call out her name and at first I heard nothing. Then I heard her calling mine back but it sounded very distant. Then it got closer and closer like she was standing right next to me.
“But, you never saw her?” Scully asks
“That’s correct, yes.”
“So, what next? Please continue” Mulder says  a little annoyed by Scully’s interruptions.
“Well, I started to panic. I looked through out the whole house and I couldn’t find her anywhere. So then I called the police and told them my wife was missing. For the first week after that I didn’t her voice again, so I thought I had just imagined it. But then at night time I started to hear her crying.”
“Did she say anything to you or was it just crying?” Mulder asks.
“No, she kept saying over and over again, “Why can’t you find me Neil.”
“And that’s it?” Scully asks, “Does she ever say anything else?”
“No that is all she ever says night after night after night. You two are going to help me aren’t you?” Scully stands up from the couch, having enough of this bogus story that she doesn’t believe in. She looks down at Mulder and gives him a look to get up.
“Scully wait I have a few more questions for him. If that’s all right with you Mr. Saunters.”
“Sure.”
“Was there anything special about your wife?” Mulder asks.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, I mean was she at all psychic or more in tune with the world then most people?”
“Well, yeah now that you mention it. She used to always say that she could feel the energy around certain places.”
“What did she mean by that?”
“I think she meant that she could feel that there was more to that particular space then the eye could see.”
Scully rolls her eyes, not buying it.
“Did she ever talk about anything else?”
“No, that is the only thing out of the ordinary that I ever heard her say, but sometimes I didn’t think she was serious…you know just playing around.”
“Yeah, okay thanks Mr. Saunters. Would it be okay if we looked at the room that Lucy disappeared from?”
“Sure it’s right this way,” Neil leads them up a long flight of stairs and then into a big bedroom.
“Here’s our room, would you like me to leave you two alone for awhile?”
“Yes, please,” Scully says quickly.
“Okay I’ll just be downstairs,” Neil says and walks out of the door.
“Mulder, please tell me you aren’t buying into this mans delusions,” Scully whispers to Mulder.
“So you don’t believe he really hears her voice?” Mulder asks.
“I think he believes that he is hearing them, but I also think that it’s his way of coping with the loss. It’s actually quite normal Mulder. After my father passed away sometimes I would think I’d hear his voice on the phone but then I’d realize that it was someone else.”
“Yeah but Scully I don’t think that is the case here.”

      Neil hears the two agents raising their voices from the bedroom and he decides to go up and check on them. When he reaches the top of the stairs he clears his throat to let them know he is there.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you Agents but I thought of something else about Lucy that I didn’t tell you earlier.”
 Mulder and Scully turn towards Neil. “What is it?” Mulder asks him.
Neil walks up to the mirror that is on the wall across from the bed. He touches it with his hand as if it’s a magical object. “Lucy used to say that she’d be able to see the woods from here,” Neil says as he delicately traces his hand across the mirror. “They would appear to her from this mirror like a portal to another world, but I always thought she was joking.”
“What woods?” Mulder asks him.
“The woods that are about 10 minute from here…well actually we call them the Blair Witch Woods now.” Scully rolls her eyes.
“You know because of the movie and many people have gone into those woods and never come out.”
“Maybe they just got lost,” Scully says sarcastically.
“No, it’s something else. I know your skeptical Agent Scully but if you walked through those woods you’d know. You’d know that those people didn’t just get lost.”
“Neil can you tell me how I can get to the Blair Witch woods?”
“You two don’t want to go out there by yourself it’s very easy to get lost.”
“Then you come with us,” Mulder replies.
“Okay I’ll get one of my friends that know the area pretty well to take us over there. But first I think you might want to change your clothing.” He says as he looks over at Mulder and Scully’s prestigious suits and Scully’s high heel shoes.
    Mulder looks down at his suit. “Oh, right, why don’t we go back to the motel and change and then meet you back at your place in an hour.”
“Okay, that will work,” Neil replies.  “I’ll see you two in an hour.”
        Mulder and Scully drive off in their car towards their motel.
“Mulder, I don’t want to go hiking through the woods,” Scully whines as they come near their motel.
“Come on Scully it will be fun.”
“You’re not actually hoping to find the Blair Witch are you Mulder?”
“Scully, I told you I don’t think The Blair Witch has any thing to do with the disappearance of these people. She was just made up to explain the disappearance of the people in these woods. But there is an explanation Scully and we are going to get to the bottom of it.”

      The Blair Witch Woods: Burkittsville  Maryland

 “Are you sure you wan to go in there,” Neil’s friend Martin asks the agents.
“Don’t tell me you buy into this whole Blair Witch thing too?” Scully asks him annoyed.
“Well, alls I know is that when I go in there I feel really creepy. And one time my friend and I heard a child’s voice calling out to us. It sounded like she was right there but we couldn’t find her anywhere. We looked for hours. And we later found out that a young girl had gone missing right from theses here woods.”
“Right, okay…lets just get walking,” Scully says and walks past Mulder and Neil’s friend.”
“Woah hang on there Ms. Scully.” Neil’s friend Martin yells. “We need to stay close together at all times.”
“So, you said so lets get moving come on.” Scully says and continues walking. Mulder smiles at her total lack of fear. Even he was getting a little spooked by the tales that these men where telling him, but Scully she was always a rock. If she was afraid she would never show it.
“Hey Scully wait up!” Mulder yells and runs after her.
“Okay Mulder out with it.” Mulder looks at her confused.
“Out with what Scully.”
“I know you have a theory and normally you would have shared it with me by now. So what are you thinking Mulder?”
“Well, at first I thought that maybe his wife was dead and it was her ghost that was speaking to him at night, but then he mentioned how she could see the woods from her mirror and how she always felt energy around certain areas. It made me think that there was something else going on. And I know there is an explanation for this Blair Witch Legend. I’m just not sure what yet.”
“So, you don’t have a theory then?” Scully asks him confused.
“Somewhat, but I want to wait until I share that with you.”
“Care to hear mine then?” Scully asks
“Always.”
“Well, I think what we have her is a man trying to cope with the loss of his wife and by doing that he imagines that he hears her voice, because if he hears her voice it means she’s not dead. And as far as the Blair Witch legend…it’s simply a ghost story told by parents to keep their children out of the woods.”
“Then how do you explain all the disappearances of people from these woods?”
“Ummm, they got lost,” Scully says sarcastically.
“How do you explain the voices people said they heard and also that the missing were never found?”
“Simple Mulder they probably died of starvation and the wolves and other animals ate their remains and as far as the voices I think these people have grown up with this tale their whole lives and want to believe so badly that they imagined it.”
“That’s your big explanation? They imagined it? Come on Scully! You know there is more going on here you just don ‘t want to admit.”
“Admit it or not Mulder there is no X-File here.”
“Just humor me then okay?” He slaps her on the back and walks up ahead to talk with Neil and Martin.
  Scully quickens her pace to catch up with him and then realizes that her shoe is untied.
“Damn it.” She bends down and starts to quickly tie it, when a dark cloud passes over her. A cold draft of air suddenly washes over her and then her ears pop. She looks up at the sky alarmed.
That was weird she thinks. I hope there isn’t a cold front moving in. She gets up and pushes the event out of her mind.
  She starts walking and suddenly realizes that she doesn’t see Mulder any more nor can she hear them. That’s not right. I wasn’t tying my shoe for no more then thirty seconds. I should be able to at least hear them.
Okay don’t panic she tells her self they can’t be too far ahead. She starts to walk very quickly.
“Mulder! Hey Mulder stop for a minute so I can catch up! Mulder!”
She starts to panic when she hears no response.
“Shit this isn’t happening! MULDER!!!! Answer me so I know where you are!”
     She stands in one place for a few moments debating whether she should walk ahead and try to find them or make her way back to the car before she gets lost. After a few more moments she decides to make her way back to the car.
  It can’t be more then fifteen minutes away she thinks as she tries to recall how long Mulder and her had walked before she made the bad decision of stopping and tying her shoe with out asking them to wait up for her.
   She walks for thirty minutes and can’t see the car anywhere in sight. She starts to panic and quickens her pace. She walks for another fifteen minutes and still sees the car no where in site.
She sits down on a log exhausted and tries to stay calm. You’re not lost, you’re not lost she keeps telling her self over and over again to keep her composure. The car is just farther off then you thought.
  She gets up and continues on the path. She starts to sing the song, “Deep Water” by Jewel the song of her life lately.
 “When your standing in deep water, bailing your self out with a straw, when your drowning in deep water and you wake up making love to wall, it’s these little times that help to remind there’s nothing without love, love, love.”
 Lately she had been feeling like she was drowning, that she was caught in a rut and her life was going no where. She felt isolated from her family and even her friendship with Mulder was suffering. Lately he had been giving her the cold shoulder and she didn’t know why. She had begun to think that is was something she did or didn’t do. Maybe I’m just not a very supportive friend and I poke too many holes in his theories. That must annoy him she thinks.
  Scully looks down at her watch and suddenly realizes that she has been walking for almost forty five minutes and still doesn’t see the car. Her stomach knots up with fear and she knows that she is lost.
  She sits down on a log and buries her head in her hands refusing to cry. I just have to stay calm and everything will be okay. I’ll just sit here and they will find me. It’s just matter of time.
     Night falls and Scully is still sitting on the same log waiting for them to find her. She starts to get very cold and hugs her self to try ward off the chills. She stands up and decides that she better find a place to sleep tonight or she is going to freeze to death.
 She starts to make her way though the dark woods with trepidation. She suddenly trips on a rock and falls unto a sharp stick. It punctures her stomach and she rolls over in pain. She is paralyzed in pain and is unable to move for a few minutes. The pain slowly subsides and she inspects the wound for its severity. The stick didn’t go any further then an inch or two. I should have stitches she thinks but I’ll live. I just need to stop the bleeding. She quickly takes off her sweatshirt and then takes off her under shirt and wraps it around her wound to stop the bleeding. Freezing, she puts her sweatshirt back on and rubs her arms trying to regain the heat back that she lost when she took off her shirt. She looks around in the frigid night air and suddenly realizes how alone she really is.
“Oh god Mulder, please find me soon.”
     The next morning she wakes up under a pile of leaves that she had placed on top of her the night before to try and keep warm. She tries to sit up forgetting about the wound in her stomach. Blinding pain shoots through her stomach and she lies back in pain. She slowly pulls up her sweatshirt and then unties the shirt that is wrapped around her waist. It is soaked through with blood but the wound underneath is starting to scab over. This is good she thinks and ties the bloody shirt back around her stomach. She drifts into a troubled sleep and when she awakes she has a terrible thirst. I have to get some water she thinks.  She slowly sits up and then uses a tree to help her stand up. A wave of dizziness passes over her but as soon as it leaves her she starts to slowly make her way to the trail that she thinks must lead somewhere. I’m going to find my way out of here she thinks.
     Four days later…..

    After three hours of walking Scully collapses to the floor and sobs. This was the first time she had allowed her self to cry. She had never been more alone or afraid in her whole life.
She knew that if they didn’t find her soon she would die. The wound in her stomach was infected, she had only a few mouth fulls of water and a few hand fulls of berries. She cries until she is too exhausted to cry anymore and slips into a deep sleep. Suddenly she awakens to the sound of Molder’s voice. At first she thinks it’s just a dream but then she realizes it’s real and she sees him running towards her. She tries to get up but is too weak and falls over.
   Mulder cannot believe what he is seeing. She has been missing for an hour and it looked like she had been missing for a week. Her face is dirty and gaunt looking from the lack of food.  There is dried blood all over her hands and her hair is all tangled and wet.
“My god Scully! What happen to you!” He runs to her and kneels down beside her. She grabs onto him and won’t let go. She is overwhelmed with a myriad of emotions but most off all she can’t believe how good it feels to be in contact with another human being. She starts to sob in relief that he finally found her.
“Scully, what happened to you? You were only missing for an hour.” Scully pulls away from him shocked at what he just said.
“What did you just say?” She says through her tears.
“You were only missing for an hour but why do I suddenly think that this isn’t the case.”
“Mulder, I can’t be sure but I know I was missing for at least five days.”
“Scully, but how?”
“Just look at me MULDER! Do I look like I’ve been gone for only and hour?! You have to believe me. I bent down to tie my shoe and then suddenly you were gone and then I was lost out here for five days. I fell on a stick and now have an infected cut on my stomach. I’m so thirsty and hungry Mulder and I and I….” She starts to cry again unable to finish.
“Shhh Scully I believe you. Just relax you are going to be okay now.”
     After Scully has calmed down Mulder starts to ask her some questions.
“I think I know what is going on here.” Mulder says as he holds Scully in his arms.
“What?” She says weakly.
“When you bent down to tie your shoes did you notice or feel anything out of the ordinary?”
“Actually yeah, a dark cloud passed over me, then I felt a cold draft of air and then my ears popped. Then I started calling for you. Did you even hear me Mulder?”
“Scully, I heard you…we all heard you but we couldn’t find you. It sounded like you were right next to me at one point. You sounded so scared and yet I couldn’t help you. I’ve never felt more freighted or helpless in my life. Scully I think that you fell into some parallel world. That would explain the cold air and the ear pooping. It would also explain why we could hear you but couldn’t see you.”
“But, Mulder why couldn’t I hear you?”
“I don’t know Scully, I really don’t.”
“Wait, Mulder where is Neil and his friend. Well, Scully I think that either they slipped into a parallel world or I did because I suddenly lost site of them and I can’t explain how it happened. Mulder sees fear in Scully’s eyes that he has never seen before. “Scully, what is it?”
“Mulder, how do we know if we slipped into this parallel world or they did? How will we ever know? And if we did how do we get out?”
Mulder grabs onto Scully’s hand. “Dana, I don’t want you to worry about that right now. We will concentrate on that later. Now we just have to focus our attention to getting you back on your feet.” Mulder pulls his backpack off his back. “I’ve got a fist aid kit in here along with some water and some food.”
“Okay, Mulder take out the first aid kit and I’ll tell you how to clean out my wound.”
“I don’t know Scully, are you sure you want me to do this? What if I hurt you?”
“No, Mulder you have to do it. I’m too weak and so I can’t properly clean out my wound. You’ll do fine, and don’t worry about hurting me.”
    Mulder smiles at her nervously and opens up the first aid kit. “Okay what first?” He asks.
“There should be a bottle of peroxide or alcohol in there.”
“k, let me see,” He start to rummage  through the contents of the tin.
“Mulder, also look for some gauze, some anti bacteria cream or neosporin and a needle and stitching thread.” Mulder suddenly looks up and into her eyes.
“What did you just say? Stitching thread? Scully I don’t know how to sow up a wound.”
“I’m not saying you’ll have to but last time I looked at my wound it needed stitches and if it still hasn’t closed up your going to have to stitch it up.”
“No, Scully….” A look of fear appears on Molder’s face.
“Mulder, it’s okay just breath. You’ll do fine,” Scully says and pulls up her sweatshirt and then starts to untie the blood soaked shirt from around her waist.
Mulder’s stomach sickens when he sees her wound. It looks to be at least two inches deep and a little blood starts to ooze out.
“Scully, ahh that looks bad.”
“I  know it’s infected, but I’m going to be fine. You just do what I tell you.”
Mulder swallows nervously.
“Take the peroxide and poor it over my wound,” Scully says in a calm voice.
“The whole bottle?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay,” Mulder says and starts to unscrew the cap. He places the cap down on the ground and moves the bottle towards Scully’s wound. “Ready?” He asks her.
“Wait,” Scully says and grabs on to his hand. “If I scream it’s just because it stings, don’t stop pouring the peroxide. The wound needs to be flushed out.”
“Ahh, Scully this is going to really hurt isn’t it?”
   Scully squeezes Mulder’s hand. “Just do it before I change my mind.”
Mulder takes a deep breath. “Okay here we go,” he says and starts to poor the peroxide over her wound. Scully closes her eyes and fights her hardest not to let the pain she is feeling escape her mouth, but she is unsuccessful and a few groans pain come out. Mulder can tell this is hurting her but is torn between stopping or continuing his task.
“Mulder, hurry up it stings so bad, ahhhhhh.”
“Hang on I’m almost done.” He empties the contents of the bottle and throws it aside.
“Okay, Scully it’s over I’m done.” He looks down at the wound and watches as the liquid begins to bubble and sizzle over the wound.
  Scully’s eyes are still closed and she starts to try and talk her self out of the pain.
“I’m okay, I’m okay, “ She repeats to her self over and over again.
“Scully just take some deep breaths.”
 “Okay Mulder you need to clean out the dirt and blood away from the infected area. Grab some of those cotton balls.”
 Mulder reaches over and grabs about three cotton balls out of the first aid kit.
“And Mulder don’t worry about being gentle, you need to get all the dirt and bacteria out before you start to stitch up the wound.”
“Scully, how am I going to do that? You were in so much pain when I poured the peroxide over your wound, I almost had to stop. I don’t know if I can stitch up your wound.”
“Mulder, you have to and that is your only option,” Scully says in a firm voice.
“Okay,” Mulder says and grabs the cotton balls and starts to clean out her wound.
Scully closes her eyes and tries to think her way out of the pain.
“Okay, I’m done Scully.”
“All right, now just grab the thread and cut off about 12 inches and then loop it through the needle.”
   Mulder’s hands are so shaky that it takes him a few tries to thread it through the needle.
“Okay, Scully done.”
“All right, now here comes the hard part but I know you can do it Mulder.” Mulder looks her in the eyes and she can tell that he is deathly afraid right now.
“Mulder, just listen to me. You can do this. If you don’t I’m going to eventually bleed to death.”
“Okay Scully I’m ready just tell me what to do.”
“Okay you need to press the needle through the top layer of my skin all the way to the other side of the wound and then push the needle through the skin on that side. Then pull the two sides of the thread together hard enough to close that section of the wound off and then tie it, cut the thread and then continue to do the same the thing until you have closed the whole wound up.”
Mulder takes a deep breath in and out. “Okay, here I go Scully.” He touches the needle to her skin but is unable to make his hand push the needle through her skin. “Scully I….. Scully I can’t do this.”
“Damn it Mulder just do it!” Scully yells.
“Okay!” Mulder yells back. Before he has a moment to think about it he shoves the needle through her skin. Scully screams out in pain and Mulder stops.
“Mulder don’t stop! Keep going!” Scully screams.
“Okay, Okay,” Mulder says flustered and pushes the needle through the other side and then pulls the wound together with the two ends of the thread.
“Now tie it in a tight naught,” Scully says through her tears of pain.
   Mulder ties the naught and then cuts the thread. “God, Scully are you okay? You look like you are going to pass out. How am I going to finish this? I can’t, I can’t hear you scream like that again.”
“Mulder if you won’t do I will!” Scully says hysterical now.
“Okay, shhh I’ll do it, just calm down.” He threads the needle and is about to push it through her skin when he suddenly stops and kisses her on the lips. “I love you.” He says as his mouth pulls away from hers. Before she can respond he pushes the needle through her skin and this time she screams out in more pain then before. “Oh God Mulder hurry up! Please hurry up! Pleeeeease!” She screams as he pushes the needle through again. “MULDER! Hurry!” She sobs.
“I’m almost done, just hang on baby, it’s almost over.” He threads the needle through one last time and then ties it. Scully takes one last deep breath before she passes out.
Mulder finishes dressing her wound and covers it with a bunch of sterile bandages. He then pulls her into his arms and holds her until she regains consciousness.
   Ten minutes later she wakes up and looks right into his eyes. “Hey, you did it,” She says and manages a weak smile. “No we did it,” Mulder says back to her. “Okay we need to get some food and water into you…but first we need to get this damp sweat shirt off of you. I have an extra one in my back pack hold.”
   He rummages through his backpack and then pulls out a New York Yankees sweatshirt.
“I hope you like the Yankees,” Mulder replies.
Scully smiles weakly at him and then grabs the sweatshirt from his hands. “Do you need help?” Mulder asks her.
“No, I can do it,” Scully replies and slowly sits up. She takes off her sweatshirt and grabs for the dry one, completely oblivious to the fact that she is in only her bra right now and Mulder is right there.
  Mulder suddenly realizes he is witnessing something he shouldn’t be and he turns his head in embarrassment. “Oh, god I’m sorry Scully.”
“What?” Scully says at first confused and then realizes what he is so embarrassed about and manages a slight giggle. “Mulder, it’s okay.”
 He slowly turns his head back and is relieved that she now has the sweatshirt on. To break the tension he reaches into his bag and pulls out some bottles of water and a bag of trail mix.
“Scully I want you to drink as much of this as you can.” He hands her the bottled water and she gulps down the whole bottle in less then a minute.
“Woah,” Mulder remarks.
“Well, you said to drink as much of it as I could.”
Mulder smiles and hands her the bag of trail mix. “Here, eat this, hopefully it will help you gain your strength back and then we can find a way out of her.”
Scully eagerly grabs the bag of food from his hands and starts munching away on the trail mix.” She has never in her life been this hungry.
 “Okay lets find our way out of here,” Mulder says and bends down and picks Scully up.
“Woah Mulder I think I can walk now.”
“No, I want you to rest a little bit longer.”
    Scully smiles at him. “Okay but you let me know if I get to heavy.”
“You’re not going to get too heavy, like Neil said you’re much smaller then you appeared on COPS.” Mulder says teasing.
“You can never stop can you?”
“Stop what?” Mulder asks even though he knows what she means.
“You can never stop joking or teasing.”
“Does it bother you Scully? Because if it does I can stop it.”
“No, Mulder I like it. I’ve always liked it,” She says and smiles.
“Okay, good because I like teasing you.”
      Mulder carries Scully for hours, putting her down every once in a while so he can rest.
“Mulder, it’s starting to get dark. Maybe we should stop for the night.”
“Good idea,” he says and puts her down. She walks slowly over to a fallen log and sits down.
Mulder sits next to her and opens up his backpack. He pulls out a power bar and hands it to her.
“Here Scully eat this.”
“No, Mulder you eat it. I’ve been the one eating the food all day. It’s your turn.”
“Yeah, but Scully I’m not the one that was out here in the woods for five days with nothing but  a few berries. I had a big breakfast and lunch so I’m fine.” He takes the wrapper off the power bar and hands it over to Scully.
“Thank you Mulder.”
“Sure,” He says and smiles.

      An hour later it is completely dark and the cold night air is starting to settle in. Mulder starts to hug himself trying to stay warm. “So, Scully you slept out here for four days how did you keep warm at night?” He asks through chattering teeth.
“I always found a pile of leave to sleep under and that kind of acted as a blanket.”
“That makes sense,” Mulder replies. “See any leaves Scully?” He takes out his flashlight and starts to shine it around. He starts to laugh when he sees that leaves are what cover the entire forest floor.
“What’s so funny?” Scully asks him.
“I guess I never realized that we were walking on a bed of leaves this entire time,” Mulder replies.
“Want me to help you gather some up?” Scully asks.
“No you sit here and drink some of this water.” He hands her a bottle of water.
     Ten minutes later Mulder has gathered up a huge pile of leaves.
“Get over here Scully.” She walks slowly towards him.
“Lay down and I’ll cover you with some leaves.”
“Okay,” Scully says and lies down.  Mulder covers her with a ton of leaves and then walks away to make a pile for him self.
“Mulder, what are you doing? Come lie with me. We can keep each other warmer that way.”
Mulder smiles liking that idea and walks over and lies next to Scully. He piles as many leaves onto himself as he can and then moves as close to Scully as he can.
   She moves closer to him and wraps her arms around him and holds him tight.
“I’m so glad you found me Mulder. I don’t think I could have spent another night out here by myself. I have never felt so lonely before in my entire life.”
“I’m glad I found you too Scully,” Mulder says and pulls her body closer to his. “Even if I did have to slip into a parallel world to do it.”
  Scully smiles. “Just go to bed Mulder.”
    Mulder is quiet for a few moments and then starts to talk again.
“Hey Scully?” He whispers.
“Yeah,” she says yawning.
“Earlier when I told you that I loved you. I meant it. I wasn’t just saying it to get you through the pain.”
“I know Mulder, I love you too.”
“I’m sorry it took a situation like this to tell you that,” Mulder replies.
“Me too,” Scully says. “If we ever get out of here I’m going to express my feelings more. If you wouldn’t have found me Mulder I would have died without you ever knowing how I felt.”
“Scully…” Mulder whispers again.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry I’ve been giving you the cold shoulder at work.”
“Yeah, Mulder why were you doing that? It was really hurting me.”
“I’m sorry Scully I just get upset sometimes because you never talk to me and tell me what’s wrong. And about two weeks ago when I walked into the office and you were already there I could tell you had been crying. But you refused to tell me what was wrong and it hurt me that you couldn’t tell me when we have been friends for seven years.”
“That is what this is all about?” Scully asks him surprised.
“Yeah but it wasn’t just that time. You never confide in me Scully and it upsets me sometimes. I know you’re not the kind of person that bares her soul, but I guess I hoped that if you’d tell anyone that it would be me.”
“Wow, Mulder I’m sorry I didn’t know that it bothered you like that. I just have a hard time confessing my feelings to anyone, and most of all you. I know I shouldn’t feel this way but ever since we fist met I’ve felt like I had to prove my self to you and remain strong or you wouldn’t think I was up to the job. You know Mulder it’s hard in a job like ours for the woman to be treated equal to her male counterparts.”
“Well, if it helps Scully, I’ve always viewed you as an equal. From the very beginning, and you never should have to feel that you have to prove yourself to me just because you are a woman.”
He kisses her on the cheek and notices that she is icy cold. “Scully your freezing!” He says alarmed and pulls her closer to him. She buries her head into his chest and tries to keep her teeth from chattering. “Mulder,” She whispers.
“Yeah…”
“Do you think this is what happen to Neil’s wife and all the people that have disappeared from theses woods? Do you think this is how the Blair Witch Legend got started?”
“That’s my theory,” Mulder replies.
“Mulder….I’m scared. I don’t want to die out here. Not like this.” Scully says in a frightened whisper.
“I got you into this Scully and I will get you out.”
“Just don’t leave me again.”
“I won’t, just try and get some sleep now okay Scully?”
“I’ll try,” She replies and buries her head back into Mulder’s chest.
   They both fall asleep entwined in each other’s arms praying that they will make it till morning.

     Mulder and Scully are both awakened by Neil’s voice calling their names. Scully sits up in terror.
“Sorry, agent Scully we didn’t mean to scare you.” Mulder sits up a little groggy.
“What are you two doing? Get tired of hiking and decided to take a nap together?” Neil jokes.
“Neil you don’t know what is going on h—“
Neil interrupts him. “Hey where did you go Mulder? We were all looking for agent Scully and then you disappeared. We’ve been looking for you for the last twenty minutes.”
“You’ve only been looking for us for twenty minutes?” Scully asks him shocked.
“Mulder yeah, we’ve been looking for you for almost two hours.” He suddenly notices that she doesn’t look too good and her face looks very gaunt. “Woah Agent Scully what happened to you?”
 “Listen Neil,” Mulder says. “We have to get out of these woods now!!! Right now! I will explain everything later.”
“Okay what ever you say.” Neil says as Mulder and Scully quickly get up from the ground.
“You heard the man let’s get out of here.” Neil says to his friend.
“How far to the car?” Mulder asks.
“Forty-five minutes at the most. But why are you in such a hurry to get out of here? And why does Agent Scully look like she’s been missing for a lot longer then two hours.”
“Like I said I’ll explain later. We just need to get out of here come on!” He turns around and looks at Scully.
“Are you okay, do you think you can make it to the car?” He asks her.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I just want to get out of here.” She quickens her pace and tries her best to keep up with them.
   Suddenly a dark shadow passes over them along with a rush of cold air.
“Shit!” Mulder yells and looks around for Scully, but it is to late and he is by himself.
He starts to run around yelling out everyone’s name, but he hears no reply.
“NOOOO I don’t believe this!” He screams. “Fuck!”  He loses it and falls to his knees and starts to pound the ground out of anger, frustration and terror. Then suddenly he feels someone’s hand touch his back. He turns around alarmed and realizes that it’s Scully. He is so happy to see her that he pulls her into his arms. Scully lets out a cry of pain.
“Ahh Mulder be gentle, my stomach remember.”
“Scully I thought I’d lost you again. I----“  He is to filled with too many emotions to finish his sentence.
“Its okay just calm down Mulder. I’m here. But I’m beginning to wonder if we are ever going to get out of here.”
“God, Scully don’t say that I can’t think about that right now,” Mulder says as he pulls away from Scully. He pounds his fist to the ground again in another fit of rage! “God Damn it!! I can’t believe this happening again!” He keeps cussing and pounding the ground with his fists.
Scully kneels down beside him and places her hand on his back, trying to calm him.
“Mulder please….don’t do this. Your scaring me, and I really need you right now. I need you to get us through this.”
“How can you need me Scully?! I always do this! I always get us into trouble! DAAAAAMNIT IT!” Mulder pounds the ground with his fist again.
“Mulder,” Scully says starting cry. “Stop it okay?! Don’t do this! Please we just both need to stay calm and we can get out of here. I know you’re frustrated but please don’t freak out on me like this. You’re scaring me Mulder.”
   Mulder gets up off the ground and starts to walk back and fourth in attempt to calm him self.
“Okay Scully you’re smart think of something.”
“Like what? You’re the expert on this parallel world theory, you think of something.”
     Suddenly they hear Neil and Martin calling their names from the distance.
“You hear that?” Mulder asks.
“Yeah!” Scully gets up and despite her pain starts to run towards the voices. She turns around to see if Mulder is behind her and then bumps into Neil and falls to the ground. Neil bends down and hugs her and won’t let her go. “Thank god you found us! We have been out here for two days!”
“Two days?!” Mulder asks him.
“Yeah, what you weren’t looking for us for two days?” He asks.
“No,” Scully replies. “And could you let go of me Neil you’re kind of hurting me.”
“Oh , I’m sorry it’s just I was so happy to see you guys,” He says and releases his grasp on her.
“What the fuck is going on!” Martin bursts out. “You’re telling me that you weren’t looking for us for two days!”
“No, more like 20 minutes and calm down Martin,” Mulder replies.
“I will calm down when someone tells me what the Fuck is going on!” Martin yells back.
“Okay, okay, I think that we keep slipping into a parallel world. First Agent Scully slipped into it and that would explain why she had been missing for five days when we had only been looking for her for two hours. Then I somehow slipped into this parallel world and found Scully and we were missing for a whole other day until you found us.”
“Yeah and we had only been looking for you for fifteen minutes,” Neil replies. “Are you saying that Martin and I then slipped into the world because we were missing for two days and you said you were only looking for us for twenty minutes.”
“Exactly!” Mulder says excited that they are getting it.
“Mulder do you see the pattern here? It’s taking turns. First it was me then it was you then Neil and Martin. If the cycle keeps repeating it’s self it will mean that I’m next.”
“Shit, Scully you’re right. Get over here.” Scully walks quickly up to Mulder and he grabs tightly onto her hand.
“Wait you never explained how this is happening or why this is happening,” Martin says still upset.
“Well, I don’t know exactly how or why this is happening. But Neil I think this is what happened to your wife, and to the many people that disappeared from this forest.”
“And if we don’t get out of here we are going to end up dead like all the rest of them,” Martin interrupts.
“Wait you don’t know their dead,” Neil replies. “My wife has been calling out to me for six months so that means she is still out here somewhere, or in the house.”
“Wait Mulder this doesn’t make sense,” Scully says. “Why do we keep popping in and out of this parallel world but no one else did and why is it that Lucy disappeared from her bedroom but everyone else disappeared from theses woods?”
“I don’t know Scully but Neil said that she had some connection with these woods, She could see them through here mirror right?”
“Yeah,” Neil replies.
“And we don’t know if the other people that have gone missing didn’t keep popping in and out like us. It probably just kept happening over and over again until, until….”
“Until they died,” Scully says finishing his sentence.
“Shit man!” Martin yells up. “We have to get the fuck out of here!”
“My sentiments exactly,”Scully says and starts to walking away from them.
“Scully wait! Let me hold your hand. We are not getting separated again.” He runs up to here and grabs onto her hand. She squeezes his hand tight.
“Come on Mulder lets get the hell out of here!”
Mulder looks back at Martin and Neil. “Hey you guys coming?”
They both hesitate for a moment and then catch up to Mulder and Scully.
Suddenly they feel another cold gush of air and Scully is no longer standing by Mulder’s side.
He panics and starts to scream her name. He can hear her screaming back but she is no where to be seen. Her screams suddenly turn into terrified sobs and Mulder just can’t take it any more and he falls to the ground,  covering his ears with his hands trying to block out her screams.
Neil and Martin run over to Mulder to try and comfort him. He is wrecked with terrible sobs and won’t release his fingers from his ears. “I can’t help her! I can’t help her,” He sobs.
“No matter what I do it’s useless.”
“No, we will find her man. If you found her once you can find her again. We all just need to calm down and think.”
“You’re right,” Mulder says. He sits up and tries to gain his composure.
He’s not a religious man but he looks up into the sky as if to ask god for his help. That is when he notices that they are in the middle of a circle of trees.
“Wait a minute guys I think I might have the solution to our problem and a way to find Agent Scully.”
“What is it?” Martin asks excited.
“Okay, Neil did your wife ever mention a circle of trees when she would see the woods in her mirror.”
“Actually yeah. How did you know that?”
“Because we are sitting in the middle of a circle of trees right now. And if you think back every time someone disappeared we were standing in the middle of a circle of trees. So all we need to do to find Agent Scully is to find another circle of trees to stand in. Then all we need to do to get out is not walk into another circle of trees.”
“Beautiful!” Neil exclaims. “You did it man!”
“Yeah but the only thing is that we better find those trees soon or it’s going to be too late for Scully.”
“Wait I just thought of something.” Martin says.
“What is it?” Mulder asks.
“Correct me if I’m wrong but if we find another circle of trees and it is your turn next won’t you slip into the parallel world with Agent Scully? “
“Damn it! You’re right Martin!”
“So what are we going to do? Because the way I see this it is just going to keep happening over and over again.”
“Okay, you two head to the car. You should be okay just don’t walk into any circle of trees. I’m going to go find Agent Scully. Once I’ve found her we will then have to find another circle of trees to get ourselves out.”
“That’s risky man,” Neil says.
“I don’t care. I’ll die if I have to but I can’t leave her out there like that. I have to find her. I mean you heard her screams she’s terrified.”
“Okay, good luck,” Neil says.
“Thanks, you two just get to the car. Go now!”
   Neil and Martin walk in the direction of the car and Mulder heads off to find Scully.
     Mulder runs through the woods in a blind furry knowing that hours mean days in the other world and he has to find Scully fast.
Finally after twenty minutes he finds another circle of trees. He quickly runs inside and a cold gust of air passes over him and suddenly he sees Scully laying on the ground curled into a ball. He bends down immediately and checks her pulse praying that she is still alive. He feels a faint pulse and breathes out a sigh of relief. He starts to shake her gently to wake her up. She opens her eyes and when she sees him she burst into tears and lies sobbing on the ground. Mulder bends down and pulls her into his arms.
“Dana, it’s okay. I’m here now. And I know how to get us out. It’s okay, It’s all over now.”
 

       One week later back in DC

Mulder and Scully sit nervously in Skinners office waiting for him to come in.
The door opens and Mulder and Scully both jump.
“Agents, Thank you for coming. You’re looking well Agent Scully. Much better then you did in the hospital.”
“Thank you sir.”
“Now do you two want to tell me what the hell happen to you and in the space of one day?”
“Scully, me and the two men that are still missing all fell into a parallel world.”
“You want to run that by me again Agent Mulder?”
“A parallel world sir. That is how the Blair Witch Legend got started.”
“The Blair Witch legend…” Skinner says incredulously.
“Scully do you believe in this ahh Parallel world as Agent Mulder is describing?”
“Sir, I don’t know what to believe. What happen to me is completely ineffable.”
“Ineffable?” Skinner asks her. “That is all you are going to say Agent Scully?”
“I’m sorry Sir I just can’t explain what happen to me out there and right now Agent Mulder’s theory is sounding pretty plausible right now.”
Skinner exhales frustrated. “Just get out of here you two. I can’t hear any more of this.”
Mulder and Scully quickly get out of their chairs and walk out of the room. Mulder starts to walk towards the elevator and then Scully grabs onto his hand.
“Mulder…”
“What is it Scully?”
“I thought maybe you could come over to my apartment tonight and we can just talk.”
Mulder smiles. “Sure Scully I’ll be there. What time?”
“Seven O’clock?”
“Okay seven o’clock sharp. I’ll be there Dana and we can talk.” He walks off with a smile on his face.

The End……

Copyright: 3/4/00