*Four*
I had returned to the room in which I'd told Mulder to wait, only to find him gone. I yelled for him, but to no avail. After some time of searching around the house, I found myself in a library of sorts, confused as to where exactly I was and how, subsequently, I was to get out. I discovered a door from the library into a hallway, but it wasn't the hallway I'd come in from. At least it's a different room, I thought, recalling the Christmas Eve when Mulder and I had been trapped in a house a little too much like this one, with only the company of two psychoanalyst phantasms, stuck on a treadmill of treachery that only led us back to that same infernal room – no matter how many times we went out the door.
I pulled out my weapon and proceeded down the narrow corridor. I turned a sharp corner, aiming my gun into the adjacent room and bracing for shock. Nothing – or rather, no one. The room was painted a deep green and was lit by two old-fashioned oil lamps and a number of tall white candles in holders. As far as I could tell, it was a bedroom, but there was no bed. Oh well. Not the first bedless residence I've encountered.
I saw a shadow move in the corner, but by the time I pointed my gun, it had gone. It reappeared in the other corner, and I felt a pang of dread – not bats. Please not bats.
For a moment all the lights flickered out and I probably called something stupid like, "Who's there?" into the dark. Then the lights spontaneously re-lit, and a quiet, lanky figure stood before me.
"Put your hands in the air and tell me who you are!" I yelled, aiming my gun.
The silhouette lingered a second without moving, then raised his hands slowly and posed, statuesque and still silent. Another lamp by the wall lit of its own accord, illuminating the shy face of the figure. I wagered this was Daniel. "Are you Daniel? Would you like to tell me where Agent Mulder is?"
"He's fine," Daniel whispered, in such a way that I didn't feel even remotely assured.
"Where is he? You have a lot of explaining to do."
"He's fine. You know, you're a funny woman, Agent Scully." Daniel smiled. "Really, you are."
proceed