From: pdiddy@hotmail.com   
      
   "John?  I think we've looked at this enough.  Without a forensics kit, we   
   won't be able to find much.  Let's walk around."  She grasped his arm and   
   slowly dragged him away toward the trees.   
      
   As they entered the canopy of pine trees, they heard running footsteps and   
   both turned around to see Mulder enter the forest.   
      
   "That wasn't the first house she was kept hostage in."   
      
   "What?  Where else?"   
      
   Mulder looked at John, "About  2 miles away is a cabin. The owner of this   
   cabin,"   
   Mulder nodded toward it through the trees, "says he heard a lot of noise   
   coming from it a couple of nights ago.  He called the Sheriff's department   
   and they took a look the next day.  They didn't see anyone, the house was   
   locked up tight.except for a window leading out of the basement.  The   
   Sheriff found traces of blood around the windowsill.  I'm thinking it  has   
   to be  Monica's. Also, there were many boxes strewn all over the floor in   
   front of the window.  As if someone climbed up them and then it was knocked   
   down later to hide the evidence."   
      
   "The Red Guns," John concluded with disgust.   
      
   Suddenly, John began to walk farther into the trees, and Mulder and Scully   
   followed him.   
   Then he stopped and stared at a bush that looked trampled.  "She ran.  She   
   ran through these trees and found this cabin.  She was still alive   
   yesterday."   
      
   "And she could very well be alive right now."  Scully gently took Mulder's   
   hand and squeezed it as she watched John's face cloud up with controlled   
   emotion.  Taking a deep breathe, John turned around and began walked back to   
   the car.   
      
   Once inside, John waited for the other two and then pulled out onto the   
   road.  Mulder and Scully knew where he was going and didn't say a word.   
      
   About three minutes into the drive, Scully saw John's hands tighten on the   
   steering wheel.   
      
   "John?"   
      
   "Behind us...I could have sworn I saw the glint.yeah there it is.  God damn,   
   who are these people?"   
      
   John sped up and began to take the curves of the mountain with the ease of a   
   man who had done quite a bit of off-roading.  Still, Mulder and Scully hung   
   on for their lives as they tried to see the car behind them.   
      
   Suddenly, John swerved to the right and backed into a little nook on the   
   road.  Engine idling, they waited for the car to pass.   
      
   Not a minute later a Mercedes roared past with two men sitting up front.   
   They obviously didn't see the Explorer because they still kept racing up the   
   mountain and John could see the light glint off the windows through the   
   trees that aligned the road.   
      
   John pulled out and followed them at a safe distance.  Mulder leaned forward   
   with his binoculars and tried to get a good look at the car ahead of them.   
   "Don't  they know a Mercedes is the WORST car to go camping with?"   
   Smirking, Mulder began to write down the make of the Mercedes and the   
   license plate.   
      
   After calling it in to the police department, Scully stared ahead at the   
   winding road.   
   "They said they would get back to us...but it's the same one isn't it?"   
      
   "Yeah" John stared ahead and was trying to gauge the best distance between   
   them and the Mercedes.   
      
   Suddenly, the Mercedes disappeared.  "What the hell?"  John stopped the car   
   and looked around rapidly for any sign of it.   
      
   "Now where could they have gone?"  Mulder craned his head over Scully's   
   shoulder and was practically breathing down her neck.   
      
   Scully whipped around and stared coolly at him.  "You want to sit up front   
   Mulder?"   
      
   Oblivious, Mulder said, "Oh no, no.  I'm fine back here."   
      
   Scully glared at him and pushed him away slightly before asking, "What if   
   they are doing the same thing to us?  Waiting for us to drive by and then   
   take after us?"   
      
   "No, I thought about that.  But I don't think they actually saw us, or were   
   even after us.  We were just another car on the road and they never thought   
   twice.  I think they are unknowingly leading us right to Monica.  Or were."   
   John scanned the road and the trees again.   
      
   John then slowly drove forward.  All three stared out the windows, barely   
   breathing as they tried to spot a road that the Mercedes might haven driven   
   off of.   
      
   All of the sudden, Mulder spotted it and yelled the location.  John stopped   
   in front of it and all three stared down a gravel and weed path barely big   
   enough for a car.   
      
   Shaking his head, John could barely suppress a grin as he felt excited that   
   they were now physically getting closer.  "Now we know that these Red Guns   
   are idiots...taking such a nice car down a road like this."  John drove   
   forward and then parked in the trees.   
      
   From the road, the car was not visible but if anyone happened to be hiking   
   by, they'd definitely see it.  But there wasn't much they could do since   
   they needed an escape car as close as possible.   
      
   All three got out and grabbed some equipment and walked back up the main   
   road.  Once in front of the weeded path, they slowly began to walk in the   
   trees beside it, keeping an ear out for any engines or snapping of tree   
   branches.   
      
   ****   
   Monica woke groggily to darkness.  Where was she?  She was laying down on   
   some cot in.a bedroom?   
      
   Monica slowly sat up and squinted at the neon green lights flashing the time   
   at her.   
      
   "6:47," Monica read to herself.  Was that in the morning or night?   
      
   Monica forced herself to stand up, which was rather difficult since her   
   hands were retied behind her back.  Her muscles protested at the movement   
   but she ignored the pain.   
      
   Gritting her teeth, Monica finally managed to stand up, a little shaky, but   
   she was up.   
      
   Once she had her balance, Monica squeezed her eyes shut and tried to put the   
   pain out of her mind.  She told herself her legs didn't feel like muscles   
   spasms.her eyes didn't burn like fire.her gashes and cuts didn't sting   
   horribly.she was fine.  Her broken wrist and punctured feet were not going   
   to stop her.   
      
   She could do this...she just had to take it slow.  First thing first was to   
   get her hands untied.  Those bastards had taken her knife.  Well, now what?   
   Spying a metal desk in the corner, Monica hobbled toward it and turned   
   around so her back was to the corner of it.  The edge wasn't very sharp but   
   it was the best thing she could come up with.  Resting her hands below the   
   corner, she began to pump them up and down.  And almost screamed.   
      
   The pure agony...her sore and skinned wrists were sheer piercing pain.  She   
   could feel blood running down her hands and slowly dripping off her numb   
   fingers. She imagined a pool of blood was forming on the floor.   
      
   But she didn't look, just kept pumping.  She suddenly lost feeling in her   
   right worst, the broken wrist.  Monica felt the silent tears rain down her   
   cheeks as she moaned in pain.   
      
   Then, all of the sudden, success!  The rope slid off and Monica nearly   
   collapsed with relief.   
      
   Monica gingerly picked up a small towel on the bureau and loosely wrapped it   
   around her broken wrist.   
      
   Okay, she was free. Now how to get out of the room?   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)