From: dana_scully_mulders_protege@hotmail.com   
      
   Scully turned around upon hearing the door slam and click. She   
   hadn't seen an indication of any kind of lock on the door. She began   
   to jiggle the doorknob and pull on the door. "It won't open!"   
      
   "What?" Mulder asked turning toward her.   
      
   Scully gestured to the door as she sighed. "I said that its locked   
   and it won't open!"   
      
   "That's impossible." Mulder replied walking over to the door. "It   
   may be an old door, Scully but that doesn't mean it would lock on   
   its own."   
      
   "Fine." Scully took a step back before gesturing to the door. "Be my   
   guest."   
      
   Mulder gave her a look before pulling on the door handle. It barely   
   moved at his touch. He tried again. "It's just…stuck or something."   
   He let out a grunt as he attempted to move the door handle   
   again. "See, the door handle is…rusty. I just need to…" He then   
   pulled back as his hand slipped and scraped something sharp on the   
   door. "Ah, shit!" He yelled as he flung out his hand.   
      
   "Now do you believe me?"   
      
   Mulder reached into his holster and pulled out his gun. "No locked   
   door is full proof against me!" He used his uninjured hand and   
   pointed his gun at the door, firing at it.   
      
   "Mulder…"   
      
   "I almost got it, Scully! Let me just get one more shot!" He stopped   
   firing as he once again took aim.   
      
   "Mulder, stop!" Scully yelled her ears still ringing from the   
   gunshots at the door.  "Just put the gun away!"   
      
   "What? Scully I can get this door. We can…"   
      
   "Look, it's obvious that the door is locked and we can't get it   
   open. And you firing at it, is just giving me a headache!" Scully   
   replied rubbing her temple. "So, PLEASE stop."   
      
   Mulder put his gun back in his holster. "So, now what? We just…   
   wander around here in the dark and hope to god someone finds us?!"   
      
   "Now just hold on there." Scully replied taking her hand away from   
   her forehead.  She looked Mulder straight in the eye. "It was your   
   idea to come in here in the first place! You were the one that   
   wanted to get warm! You were so afraid of catching pneumonia   
   outside! Don't forget that! And now thanks to that decision we are   
   stuck here. So my advice to you is don't complain or you'll get   
   another wound to match your shoulder!"   
      
   Mulder was completely amazed by Scully's voracity. He knew better   
   than to push his luck at this point. After all, they said there was   
   nothing worse than a woman who was scorned! And it was true that he   
   had talked her into coming into the house in the first place.  "Ok,   
   fine. What do you suggest?"   
      
   "You mean you're actually going to listen to me?"   
      
   "Yeah."   
      
   "I'll have to make sure to write that down in my book of thoughts   
   when I get back." Scully smirked.  "Dear, diary, today my partner   
   Special Agent Fox Mulder actually listened to me!"   
      
   "Ha, ha, ha. So, seriously what are we going to do?"   
      
   Scully shined her flashlight around the room. She noticed there were   
   several candelabras with candles unlit.  She then noticed a large   
   fireplace. "You want to ask me what I think we should do? I think we   
   should light these candles and get a nice, warm, fire going. Then,   
   when we get warmed up, I say we take a look at this place."   
      
   "Wait, you're suggesting that?"   
      
   "Well…yeah. I mean it's obvious we're going to be stuck here right?   
   Might as well find out why this place is out in the middle of   
   nowhere." She shined her flashlight on the walls which reflected   
   several paintings." Why this place looks like it's out of the late   
   18th century."   
      
   "That sounds all good and all, Scully but there's one problem."   
      
   "And that would be?"   
      
   "Well, if this place is from the 18th century like you say it   
   is….then how do you propose we light the candles? You don't happen   
   to carry a rock and flint in your purse do you?"   
      
   "No." Scully replied going into her pocket. "But I have something   
   better." She pulled out a thing of matches. "Ta da."   
      
   Mulder's eyes brightened. "You never cease to amaze me, Scully. Just   
   too bad you didn't have a spare tire with you too."   
      
   "That's in my purse." She grinned before heading toward the   
   candelabras. "Come on, Mulder. Let's shed some light in this place."   
      
   "So the easiest way to do this would be to light one candle and then   
   use that one candle to light the rest, right?"   
      
   "Wow, that's pretty good, Mulder. No wonder you graduated top in   
   your class at Quantico." She struck a match and watched as a flame   
   resulted. "Ah, the wonders of the twentieth century." Taking the   
   match, she placed the flame on the wick of a candle and watched as   
   it lit. She then picked up the lit candle and used it to light the   
   rest of the candelabras. She looked at Mulder as she blew out the   
   match. "Not bad huh?" She threw him the matches. "Now, you go do   
   some on your side. Just be careful that the wax doesn't drip down   
   and burn you."   
      
   Mulder looked at the matches in his hand.  "You remember how I feel   
   about fire, right?"   
      
   "You want to be stuck in complete darkness all night? There's no   
   telling what could be living in here over the past century or so.   
   Rats….mice…cockroaches…spiders…"   
      
   Mulder swallowed. "I'll light the candles."   
      
   Scully couldn't help but grin as she watched Mulder head toward the   
   other side with his flashlight. "Yeah, I kind of thought you might   
   see it my way." Picking up a candle she went about lighting several   
   other candles in the room. As the room became more lit, she noticed   
   how elaborate some of the architecture was. Whoever had owned this   
   mansion had obviously taken great detail in its décor. Some of the   
   faces in the stone on the fireplace seemed almost life like as the   
   candles flickered on their shapes.  They almost appeared to be   
   smiling or even leering at her. Picking up a candle from its holder,   
   she threw it into the fireplace onto the logs already in it. She was   
   pretty sure that it would not light due to the age of the logs but   
   was quite surprised when to her amazement it did. As the flames shot   
   up into the fireplace emitting sparks, she noticed a large painting   
   above it. It appeared to be an oil painting of a man and a young man   
   by the looks of it. As the flames cast their light on it, she could   
   see that the young man had dark hair and was wearing some kind of   
   suit.  Scully's eyes ran over the painting. "Boy, weren't you quite   
   the looker back in the day. Hey there, handsome." As soon as she   
   said that, the flames in the fireplace suddenly shot up to an   
   unusual height. And as Scully looked, it appeared that the painting   
   was smiling at her. She also felt a cold chill suddenly fill the   
   room. She began to shiver as she rubbed her arms to keep warm.  Even   
   though she was standing in front of a fireplace, cold air came from   
   her mouth as she breathed. She slowly started to back away as her   
   heart beat rapidly. She then felt herself bump into something and   
   turned around and screamed.   
      
   Mulder screamed back at her as he jumped.   
      
   Scully pushed him. "Dammit, Mulder! Don't do that to me again!" She   
   closed her eyes as she tried to catch her breath.   
      
   "I'm sorry, Scully. I didn't mean to, I swear. I'm really…." He then   
   noticed she was shaking. "Are you ok?"   
      
   "I'm….I'm fine."   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)