**************
Title: Burn in Flames
Author: Humbuggie
Feedback: san@net4all.be
(c) 1996 - based on the X-Files
SUMMARY: A kidnapped boy becomes an unwilling participant in the reenactment of a gruesome death by the ghost of a mother who killer herself over thirty years ago and tried to take her children with her. 

**************


'Excuse me, young man...'

The boy standing patiently near the counter turned and looked up
towards the largest woman he had ever seen.  Even though she was not
really overweight, she seemed like a fortress.  Her body was built
firmly, and she was long.  Longer than his dad, who - in his young,
unexperienced eyes - was the largest person in the world till now.

'Yes?' he asked politely because his parents had always told him to
respect the elderly, even if you didn't know them.  And this woman
definitely needed help.  Her arm was broken and rested in white cloth
tied together around her neck.

'I was wondering if you could help me,' she continued.  'You see... I
am buying Christmas presents for my little girl, but my arm is broken,
and I can't carry it to the car on my own.  Can you help me?'

Daniel turned around to find his mom, but she was talking with an old
friend she had accidentally bumped into in the mall.  His dad?  He had
brought Michael to the toy section.  His twin brother had been nagging
about getting a race car for Christmas for ages.  No one to ask... ah
well, guess it's alright, he figured.  She looks like a nice lady, and
nice ladies don't hurt children.

'Of course, madam,' he said.  'Is your car parked on the lot?'

'Yes, son.  Thank you so much.  I'll reward you when I get everything
in the car.  My husband is waiting there.  He hates malls.  Therefore
I always have to go on my own.'

Daniel picked up two of the three large bags.  Even though he was only
ten, he was rather tall for his age, and carrying the heavy bags was
no effort at all.

The woman walking next to him talked with a strange accent.  He
couldn't quite figure out where she came from even though he realized
immediately that she was not from this area.  He had heard people
speak like that before, on TV.  She probably came from England.

She didn't say much, but looked back a few times, as if to make sure
that no one was looking at them.  Then, as she stopped at a grey
colored car, she opened the door, and took the bags out of his hands.

'Thank you, young man,' she said.  'You have been very sweet.  Now
here's your reward.'

'There is no need for that, madam.  And I have to get back to my
mother.  She waits for me... Where is your husband?'

Daniel turned to see if a man who suited this woman was walking
towards them, but at the same time he felt two strange hands grab him
by the neck.  One of the hands loosened a bit to push a piece of white
cloth against his nose and mouth.  He couldn't breath... his mind
screamed for help while thousands of thoughts went through him.  Mom
... he heard himself scream silently.  Mom, dad, help me! ...

As consciousness left him, he let himself slide against the woman, who
suddenly did not have a broken arm anymore.



His bed moved.  That was the first thing that went through him.  Why
is my bed moving?  It was only then that he realized it wasn't a bed
he was lying on, but the back seat of a car.

A car?  He remembered something ... the woman at the Mall.  It must
have been a dream.

'Mom?' His voice sounded strange as he got up, expecting to see his
mother in front of him.  But instead of her there was a woman with a
dress with flowers and black hair.  Not his mother.

She looked at him through the rearview mirror.  'Welcome back to the
world, Jason,' she said.  'You have been sleeping long.'

'Who are you?'

She ignored his question.  'Be silent, son,' she said.  'Cathy is
still sleeping.'

'Cathy?'  Only now he saw a little girl sitting next to him.  Her head
lay against the door, and her body was pushed in a strange position.
She had fallen asleep that way.  She couldn't have been older than two
or three years old.

'Don't wake your sister now, Jason,' the woman continued.  'She's been
awake all night while you were sleeping.'

'I'm not Jason,' Daniel protested.  'Who are you?  Where is my mom?
Why are we moving?'

His hand reached for the door, immediately realizing he couldn't open
it.  It had a child-lock on it.

'It's okay, honey,' the woman said.  'Mommie's here.  You've been away
for weeks, but now you're finally back.  But we had to leave the State.
There are people, such as your father, who want to take you away from
me.  I can't let them do that, baby.  You are my son, and no one
else's.'

'No...' Daniel couldn't comprehend what was happening.  'No .. I want
to see my mother.  Where is my real mother?  Did you kidnap me?  Did you
steal me away from here?  You lied.  Your arm is not broken.  It was
fake, wasn't it?  I trusted you!'

'Jason, calm down! They stole you from ME!  Not the other way around.
I know you don't remember, sweetheart, but that's the way it was.  You
are my son, not theirs...'

'You are lying.  I want to get out of here! Let me out!'

The woman smiled.  'You'll come around,' she said.  'Mommie is here
and you'll come around.  I promise.  It will take a bit of time, but
you'll see the truth soon enough.  I promise.'

Daniel felt like crying, but boys don't cry.  They fight back.  And he
would fight back.  One way or another.  He would fight her off, this
crazy woman.  No matter how...



The small apartment was dark and gloomy.  Daniel didn't care.  During
the long ride she had not left him out of the car once.  Eventually he
got tired of screaming and crying.  He got tired of fighting her off
and ignoring her.  So he fell asleep again, and he didn't know where
they ended up.

The trip seemed to take forever.  If she stopped to get gas, he did
not notice.  If she left him and the little girl alone, he didn't see
it.  The minutes became hours, the hours became eternity.

And finally she stopped at the back of an apartment building.  For the
first time the door opened.  All the thoughts of screaming his lungs
out or kicking her to escape faded when she said 'Listen, my son.  I
have a gun in my pocket.  Try to escape and you are dead before you
even hit the ground.  I know it sounds hard, baby, but this time you
will stay with me.  I promise.  No one will ever take you away from me
again.  No one!'

'Yes, madam,' he said.

'And stop calling me madam.  I am your mother.  Don't you remember
what we used to say to each other?  You are my baby and I am mama.
That is what you said.  Say it!'

'Mama...'

'Okay baby.  You are sweet.  My baby...'

She caressed his face before pulling the little girl out of the car
to take her inside.  Apparently she had planned this for a long time,
because she grabbed a bunch of keys and chose the right one instantly.
As she opened the door, he shivered.  The rooms were dark and cold.
The wallpaper - if you could still call it that - was peeling off.
There were just a few pieces of furniture.  A table, some chairs, a
couch.  In the bedrooms a few beds.  And above all, hardly any windows
to let him escape.  She locked the door, and only then turned on the
lights.

'Okay...' she sighed.  'Good.  So far so good.  Jason, get changed.'

'I don't have any clothes.'

'You'll find some in the bathroom.  I put some of your old stuff up.'

'Okay.'

He walked up to the bathroom, hoping to find a large window to climb
through, but his disappointed eyes soon found a small glass window,
hardly big enough to push Cathy through, let alone a ten year old.
Disappointment again.  He looked at the clothes.  They were his size
exactly.  But strange.  Old.  Like they hadn't been worn for over a
decade.  He put them on.  They felt cold against his already shivering
body.  His hands had trouble with the small buttons.  He was glad to
put on the sweater.

On the small counter beneath the mirror he found a comb and hairbrush.
He went through his blonde hair and looked at his own eyes while
combing.  His eyes looked desperate, he was tired.  Tired and scared.
He longed for his mother, his father, his brother.  He wanted - he
had! - to get out of here...

'Jason!' A hard knock on the door.  'Don't take all day.  Cathy needs
to use the bathroom.'

He opened the door.  She pushed him aside to put the girl on the
toilet seat.  Daniel backed away, looking around.  She had a gun.
That's what she said.  If only... He had to get out of here.

His hand reached for the door.  It was locked.  The keys... where
were the keys?  He grabbed her bag.  The contents dropped on the
floor.  Keys.  She turned around.  She saw him.

'Jason!' she shouted putting the girl on her feet, not caring if she
was still peeing or not.  Daniel pushed the right key in the lock,
turned it, and opened the door.  He fell off the three steps onto the
small platform, then ran off the stairs besides the building as hard
as he could.  He fell again, hit his knee, crawled up and ran, and
ran!

He didn't use the way she had taken by car.  He ran through a back
alley, next to garbage cans, and trees, and other buildings, and then
suddenly, there were no buildings anymore, but only a street.  He
heard the horn of a car.  Something black came towards him.  He heard
screams .. or was it car brakes?  His body was picked up, and he felt
himself roll over the top of that black thing he had seen coming.
Then the world turned black again.

'Jason!'  The screams from Elisa Wittle for her son sounded hard
through the cold night.  She saw nothing but the child on the hard
concrete.  'Jason ..'

Car doors opened.  Two people got out.  She heard footsteps as she
kneeled down to pick her son up.

'No wait,' the woman half of the two said.  'Let him be.  He might
have broken something.'

Elisa looked up.  Tears ran over her cheeks as millions of thoughts
went through her.  Not another one .. not this one too!

'I'm a medical doctor,' the woman said.  'We're with the F.B.I.'

Through a curtain of tears Elisa stared at the man who had driven the
car.  He had a phone in his hand.  She heard him speak softly before
hanging up.  Then he looked at them, saying 'An ambulance is on the
way...'

In a rage of fury and anger Elisa's legs found the strength to leave
her son to attack the man who had hit her son.  'You! ...'  Her
scream came loud and hard, and disturbing.  'You killed my son!'  Her
hands wanted to scratch the eyes out of his face, to damage him like
he had damaged her son.

But he didn't fight back.  Instead he said 'I'm so sorry... I didn't
see him... he just ran over the street .. I ...'

'It was not his fault,' someone else said.  Elisa turned and saw a man
in training suit who came to the F.B.I.  agent's rescue.  'The kid just
ran over.  No one could have avoided that.'

Elisa calmed down.  She had no choice.  Not if she wanted to keep
Jason to herself.  She would have to stay with him and take him with
her as soon as he woke up.  No, not then.  Now... before the
ambulance came.  She had to figure out something.  She had to keep her
son ...

But it was too late.  She already heard the sirens, and in an instant
they were surrounded by several cars.  She saw Jason being carefully
picked up.  His legs and arms were tied together next to his body.
His mouth and nose were covered by an oxygen mask.  The woman spoke
with the men in white and red uniforms.  Then she turned towards Elisa
and said 'Your son will need surgery.  I suspect internal damage.  But
he will be fine.  You can go with him if you like, but the police are
going to have to ask you some questions.'

'The police?' Elisa said.  'Why?'

'We need to know why your son was outside this time of night, and why
he was running so fast...'

'My son's business is not yours!' Elisa shouted.  'Have any of you
ever heard of privacy?'

Her words once again sounded hard.  Then she saw the face of the man,
the one that hit her son.  He knew something.  She could see it in his
eyes.  The way he looked at her.  The way he acted.  The way he wanted
to share his thoughts with the red-haired woman.  He would stop her,
just like her husband had tried to stop her.  But no more!  Not again!
'Alright, alright,' Elisa whispered.  'I will respond to their
questions, but I want you to handle it.  I cannot see a police officer
right now .. not while my son needs surgery.'

The woman and the man spoke shortly to each other.  Then the woman
said 'Alright, I'll drive in the ambulance with you...'

'Not you.  Him.'

'Agent Mulder?'

'Yes.  Him.'

The female agent wanted to object, but the man said 'Scully, it's
alright.  Why don't you go home with my car.  I'll give you a call in
an hour or so, okay?'

'Okay, Mulder,' she said, while her eyes rested on Elisa for a second.
'I'll talk to you later then.'

Elisa waited until agent Mulder climbed in the back of the ambulance,
before she took a seat next to him.  On the other side of the
stretcher a man in white was taking care of her son.  His eyes were
closed.

'How is he?' Mulder asked.

'He's doing fine, considering the circumstances.  They are already on
stand-by for surgery.'

'If he dies, it will be on you,' Elisa whispered.  'You caused this,
and may the devil himself get you if my son dies tonight.'

'I cannot tell you enough how sorry I am,' Mulder said.  'But the fact
is that he shouldn't have been outside in the first place.  How old
is he?'

'Twelve.'

'He looks younger.'

'My Jason is twelve years old! Don't you think I know my son's age?'

'Of course, Mrs.  eh ... '

'Wittle.  Elisa Wittle.'

Over the stretcher Mulder caught a glimpse of the aid, who obviously
found Mrs.  Wittle's behavior just as strange as he did.  'Alright,
Mrs.  Wittle.  Is there anyone who should be contacted?  Your
husband?'

'He is not here.  We're divorced.'

'Your accent is not from around here.  Are you from down south?'

'Yes.  South-Carolina.  A small town called Bingham.  67 Ashford Road.
We just moved here.  I thought Washington would do Jason good.'

'What is your address here?'

'40 Oxford Road.'

'Is there someone there?'

In an instant Elisa remembered her daughter .. her little girl left
alone.  But it didn't matter.  Soon they would be reunited.  The
apartment was not far away.  And then the car, and then they simply
had to drive out of here.  Her son didn't need surgery.  They only
said so to keep her here, to frighten her ...

'Mrs.  Wittle?'

'No .. there is no one there.'

'Do you want us to contact your ex-husband?'

'No!'

'Jason is his son, isn't he?'

'Yes, but it doesn't matter.  Jack won't bother coming here.  I don't
want him to know.  He will be too late, just like he was before'

'Okay.'

The agent put away the small black book in which he had written down
her address and looked at Jason.  Then he said 'Look, the boy's
waking up!  He is opening his eyes.  Jason .. can you hear us?'

Elisa knew in an instant that this could ruin everything.  Her son
only had to say one thing and it was all blown to pieces.  Her left
hand touched aside as she looked down on her son, who now looked
straight at her, trying his best to speak, and give her away.  She
found something.  Something hard, something of glass.  She picked it
up.

The blow came hard and as a total surprise.  Mulder didn't even see it
coming until the glass hit him on the temple, knocking the living
daylights out of him.  Through a mirror of pain he saw her hand
grabbing his gun, pointing it without remorse towards the aid on the
other side of the bed.  She pulled the trigger twice.  Then she shot
the driver in the back.  The ambulance immediately started going off
the road, to end up tumbling twice.  She got knocked around, still
with the gun in her hand.  Her son didn't drop off the stretcher.  He
was tied down.  The agent slammed against one of the walls while
everything fell.  Then the vehicle stopped.  She pointed the gun at
the agent.  'This is for running over my son,' she said, as her
fingers were ready to kill.  Her other hand pushed his head against
the wall.  'Do you know what it's like to die in flames, agent
Mulder?' she whispered.  'Do you know what it feels like when the
flames touch your legs and demand you to themselves?  You will know
now, for when I am through with you, this car will blow up and its
flames will take you with them, just as they took me.'

'What ... what are you talking about?'

'Shut up !  You shouldn't have interfered.  It was you who caused
your death, not me.  But death is a haven for those who seek
enlightenment.  And death it shall be .. in flames.'

He tried to get up.  The hand with the gun came down on him.  He felt
an enormous pain going through his body.  He had hit something during
the crash.  His body hurt.  He could not resist the invite to pass
out.  The last thing he saw was his own gun being pushed against his
already bleeding temple.  Then he fell forward, in between the
stretcher and one of the benches.

A car stopped.  She saw the lights.  'Damn!' she yelled.  She didn't
care for Mulder anymore.  Her hand tucked the gun between her coat and
her belt.  Grabbing her son, roughly loosening the bonds that kept him
tight, and with him in her hands she crawled out of the ambulance.

'Freeze!' she heard a voice say.  'F.B.I.'

It was his partner.

'Shoot me,' she said.  'Shoot me and chance hitting the boy.'

Scully hesitated.  'You can't take the boy.  He is hurt.'

'I'll cure him.  He is my son.'

For the first time Scully heard the boy speak.  His voice hardly
spread a sound as he whispered 'No, I'm not ...'

'Quiet, Jason,' Elisa said.  'Mama is here.  I'll take care of you.
And you, back away or the boy dies.  I mean it!'

'Alright.'  Scully backed away.  'Just don't hurt the boy.'

'I'll take your car.  And you'd better take care of that partner of
yours.  I think I might have killed him.  Oh yeah, and I have his gun.
Don't worry.  He didn't kill the people in the ambulance.  I did.'
Elisa lay her son in the back of the car just as she had done before.
Then she got in behind the wheel, turned the car and drove off in the
night.  Jason slept.



Part 2

'Mulder...'  It took all the force Scully had to push away the
stretcher to get to her partner.  One look at the others told her they
were dead.  She feared the worst when her fingers touched his throat.
But he was breathing.  Her trained hands stopped the bleeding on his
forehead, while searching for further damage.  It didn't take an
expert to see her partner was hurt badly.  She heard sirens.  Someone
had called the police.  'F.B.I.,' she said, showing them her badge.
'Agent Scully.  My partner is hurt.  Call an ambulance!'

'Already on the way, miss,' one of the cops said.  'What happened?'

'A woman shot these people and ran of with a boy, approximately twelve
years old.  She was driving a black Ford Taurus, license plate
BRO4560.  The car belongs to agent Mulder.  She is armed and
dangerous.  The boy is injured.  He needs surgery as soon as possible.
She is around her forties, wears a dress with belt, black shoes, black
coat.  Black hair, brown eyes.  Put an APB out on her now.'

'Do we have an address?'

'No.'  Scully felt tears in her eyes as she bent over her partner
again.  She was furious.  Why didn't she see this coming?  She knew
Mulder had seen it.  She had sensed it as he told her to go home.
That is why she had followed the ambulance to see it go off the road
just a few minutes later.  Now he could die.

Another ambulance.  She let them pick him up, just as the boy had been
picked up a few minutes earlier.  'I'm going with you,' she said.
'I'm his partner.  Someone please contact A.D. Skinner at the Bureau,
and tell him what happened.  We need to find this woman immediately.'

'Yes, agent Scully,' the cop said, walking back to his car.  The
second cop closed the ambulance doors.



'How is he?'  Assistant-Director Walter Skinner passed through the
hospital corridor, looking for Scully, who had taken a seat somewhere
near the operating rooms.

'Not good,' she said.  'The head injury was not too bad, but the car
crash caused internal bleeding.  They are working on him right now.'

'I understand .. and this woman?  Who is she?'

'We don't know.  The only thing we do know that the boy is not hers.
His real name is Daniel Grant.  He has been reported missing two days
ago, and his parents are flown over right now.  I found a few
addresses in Mulder's notebooks.  The one in South Carolina has been
checked and is a fake.  The address actually exists but no one has
lived there since 1966.  The house is abandoned and neglected, so a
dead end.  They are checking around there right now.  The name Elisa
Wittle has not been confirmed yet.  The address in Washington was
correct.  They found traces of someone who had been there.  Clothes in
the bathroom, some things on the floor.  And Mulder's car.  Also there
were traces of another car, but no one has seen or heard anything.'

'Alright.  I've put several units on this one.  No one gets away with
attacking one of my agents.'

'Yes, sir,' Scully said.

Skinner lay his hand on her shoulder.  'It'll be alright,' he said.

'Mulder has been through worse.  He'll survive this.'

'I hope so, sir...'

As her words died, the doors opened, and a man in green came towards
them.  'How is he?' Scully asked with trembling voice.

'He's not out of the woods yet.  We have him in Intensive Care.'

'Can we see him?'

'Yes, of course.'

Skinner and Scully followed the surgeon towards a small glass room
with just a few curtains dividing Mulder from another IC-patient.  He
didn't know they were there, just as he didn't know that somewhere,
miles away, a young boy was fighting for his life.



'Here, baby.  Drink something.'

Never before had Daniel felt this little thirst.  He was in pain.  But
she didn't listen.

'This was an unforseen circumstance,' she said.  'I was counting on
staying in Washington this week.  Now we have to go somewhere else
where I can take care of you.  But it doesn't matter.  Soon we will
reach what we came here for.'

'I want to go home...' he whispered.

The two year old girl next to him looked at him with big eyes, as if
she tried to understand what he was saying.  Then she turned away from
him and stared outside, towards nothing.

There was nothing outside.  Just a long Interstate Highway that would
bring them into Ohio.  They had been driving for hours now, taking
smaller and larger roads, always avoiding attention.  Elisa had kept
to the speed limits and covered him with a blanket when they first
arrived at the toll booths.  Daniel had spent hours losing
consciousness, waking up and passing out again.  He lost all track of
time.

'It's okay, baby,' she said.  'Another three days and we have reached
our destination.  And I will take care of you.  I swear.  This time
you will go with us, just like I promised you.'

'Go where?'

'Towards the flames.  They are waiting for us.  And this time you will
go with me.  He will not stop you.'  Her hand went through his hair.
'Sleep, my son,' she whispered.  'Sleep and I will be here when you
wake up.'

Daniel was too tired to object to her invite.  So he closed his eyes.
And he slept for hours and hours.  And the hours turned into days.



'Do you remember what she said, Mulder?'

'Parts of it, sir,' Mulder responded.  'It's all a bit vague.  She
mentioned something about flames.  She kept on asking me if I knew
what it felt like to die in flames.  She said she knew, and that soon
I would find out too because she wanted to burn the ambulance.  That's
all I know...'

'Alright.  Thanks, Mulder.  You get some rest now.  The doctor said
you are gonna be in here for a few more days, but you'll be fine.'

'Thank you, sir.'

Skinner nodded his head, and left the room.  As Scully sat down on the
edge of the bed, Mulder said 'They still haven't found him, have
they?'

'No...'

'Is he dying?'

'If he doesn't get treatment within a few days he will die for sure.
It would be a miracle if he even lived now.'

'Perhaps she gave him that miracle.'

'What do you mean?'

'Scully .. do me a favor.'

'Sure.'

'Go to the office, and look for a file from 1966.  A file called Elisa
Wittle.'

'1966?'

'Yes.  Please do what I say.  It could help the boy.'

'Okay.  I'll be back in an hour.'

Mulder nodded his head and closed his eyes.  He had been out cold for
two whole days, and yet it seemed like he still needed a lot of sleep.
He was tired.  During his dream the face of Elisa Wittle returned to
haunt him.  He knew that he was right.



'1966,' Scully read.  'Elisa Wittle, a perfectly normal housewife
picks up her son from school, and drives him and her two year old
daughter through the country to Washington, to see her lover Bobby.
They had been writing for a couple of months and she finally decided
to go and see him.  As she arrived, she found out he had been
betraying her with another woman.  In her rage she kills him.  After
that she cracks and leaves the capital city.  Her husband reports them
missing.  Less than a week later the police notice a Chevrolet in
Death Valley, not far from Las Vegas.  As they approach, the car
starts burning.  They manage to pull out the son, but the woman holds
the daughter and together they burn to death.  The son later on tells
a weird story about his mother claiming that they need to die to see
Bobby, and that life has no use for them.  He said his mother just
kept on driving until she ran out of money to buy gas.  Death Valley.
Why was this an X-File, Mulder?'

'Her husband claims that she was possessed by something or someone
when she killed her lover.  The Bureau didn't feel like having him on
their backs, so they declassified it as an X-File till I dug it up a
couple of years ago.  In fact it was just a case of a woman gone mad,
but it had something fascinated.  The way that woman rather killed
herself to see her lover again than to live on with her husband has
something romantic, don't you think?'

'What you call romantic.  But what does this case have to do with our
suspect?'

'Look at the photo, Scully.  As soon as I saw that woman's face, I
knew I had seen her face before.  And heard her name.  Remember, I
don't forget easily.'

'Oh my god, Mulder.  That is her!  The woman who kidnapped Daniel
Grant.'

'Look at the address she gave me in South-Carolina.  It's the same.
That house - her house - you said it had been abandoned since '68.
According to the file, her husband left Carolina right after her
suicide to New York.  He wanted his son to start a new life.'

'Mulder, what are you saying?  That Elisa Wittle came back from the
dead to take revenge on her son?'

'Yes.  Somehow she - the ghost of that woman - came back , looking for
her son.  Only her son is not a boy anymore.  So she picked someone
else up, and kidnapped him.'

'Mulder...'

'Scully, you have seen stranger things like this.  You know it's
true.'

'Mulder, I rather believe that a woman with a twisted mind, fascinated
by this case, who knew all the details - a far distant family member
perhaps - wants to do it all over again and kidnapped Daniel.'

'She called him Jason.  Wittle's son's name is Jason.'

'Like I said, someone who knew everything about this case.'

'Alright.  If you want to believe that.  But right now we have to find
out where Elisa died.  Because if either one of our theories is true,
this woman is going to burn the boy in the desert in a couple of
hours.'

'If he is still alive.'

'He has to be alive.'

'Alright, Mulder.  I'll take care of it.'

'Not without me, you are not.  Hang on, I'll be there in a minute.'

'Mulder, you can't just leave.  You are still recovering.'

'Who cares.  I'll recover later.  Turn around Scully, or do you want
to see me get dressed?'

Scully grinned and left the room.  Ten minutes later she drove the car
towards the airport, while Mulder explained on the phone to Skinner
what was going on.



Part 3

The night had turned into daytime again.  Daniel shivered even though
it was not as cold here as it had been in Boston, where he came from.
He felt sick.  Nauseated.  He wanted to go home, but he had given up.
It had been no use pleading for his life, and the past hours there had
been a change in the woman's eyes.  It was as if she saw straight
through him, without noticing him.  She hardly spoke, neither did the
young girl.  Around noon she said something like 'Almost there.'  And
that was it.  He felt uncomfortable with her so close, and afraid.
Above all, it was this fear that kept him going.  He was not ready to
give up yet, even if he felt sick.

Suddenly the car stopped.  He almost fell between the back seat and
the front.

'We're here,' she said.  'We made it.'

He looked around.  There was nothing here... what was she talking
about?  She didn't step out.  She did nothing.  And then the cars
began to show.  Behind them, in front of them, beside them, as if
they had been waiting for her.

'You're right, Mulder,' Scully said.  'There she is.'

'Something's wrong.'

Scully looked aside, staring at the pale face of her partner, trying
to read his mind.  It was impossible.

She just sat there.  Sit and sit and sit and wait.  Daniel tried to
push open the door.  It didn't work.  He had to get out of here.
Something was wrong.  She was not herself.



'Look,' Scully said.  'The boy is still alive.'

'Not for long.'

Mulder opened the car door.

'Mulder! Mulder, stay here.  She still has your gun!'

'She won't use it this time.  She is waiting for the flames.'

'What...'  Scully's words were stopped by the sudden impact of flames
all over and around the car.  As coming out of nowhere they surrounded
the car and everyone inside of it.  Immediately all the car doors were
thrown open.  Mulder grabbed the fire extinguisher and ran towards the
car.  Inside the boy screamed, while the figure of Elisa Wittle sat
quiet.



Daniel fought hard for his life.  Banging his hands against the glass
didn't help.  It was as if the glass was unbreakable.  He screamed,
shouted, and then screamed even more as the figures of Elisa and Cathy
Wittle faded in a pool of flames.  He was alone now.  Alone to die.
But then something went through the glass, and the car door got thrown
open, and a man he vaguely remembered seeing before pulled him out and
towards freedom.



Mulder fell over the child, holding the boy against his body,
shivering.  As he looked up, the boy's eyes were open.  He had scars
over his face, old scars, from the previous accident.  His eyes stared
into nothing.  For a second Mulder thought the boy was dead, but then
he coughed and shivered.

'Mulder,' his partner said.  'Are you okay?'

'Yeah,' he said.  'Take care of the boy...'

Helped by a colleague Mulder got back on his feet.  Scully bent over
the boy, whispering 'It will be alright, Daniel.  Just don't move.
We'll get you to a hospital.'  The boy nodded his head.  Then his eyes
turned towards the burning car, just like Mulder's.  For a second they
both saw two faces, belonging to a mother and her daughter who died in
1966.



'I don't understand, Mulder,' his partner said.  'Where are the
bodies?  Three people died in those flames, but we didn't find any
remains.'

'The fire brigade says there was no evidence of other victims in the
car, Scully.  Which leaves...'

'Your theory.  Well, I don't buy it.  A ghost just doesn't come back
to die once again.'

'Do you have a better explanation?'

'No, and as far as I am concerned, this case is closed.  The boy is
back with his parents, you are back on your feet, and everything is
well.'

'Hmm...'

'Hmm?...'

'I think it might be interesting to pay a visit to Elisa's real son.
You see, I tracked him down.  And perhaps he might even manage to
convince your sceptic mind, Scully.'

'We'll see, Mulder...'



The man sitting in front of them played nervously with the cigarette
between his fingers.  His hands were strange red, as Scully noticed.
Then she remembered reading that they were burnt in the fire, that
killed his mother and sister.

'I don't understand what brings you here,' the man said.  'My mother
died in '66.  I've been struggling with memories ever since.  Seeing
my sister die... it is something I can't and won't forget.'

'Do you know why your mother did it, sir?'  Scully asked friendly.

'Yes.  She said that life was pain and that only in death we would
find the things we need to live happy.  She always said death was the
beginning of life.  We always thought she was .. well, that she was a
bit out there.'

'I'm sorry to drag this all up again, sir,' Mulder said.  'But we need
to know just one thing.'

'Which is?'

'What is the last thing your mother said to you before she died?'

Jason Wittle took a deep breath before he closed and opened his eyes.
Then he whispered.  'As the car door opened and this guy tried to get
me out, she said 'Don't worry, son.  Don't worry.  One day I shall
return to bring you home.  Because you belong with me, and wherever I
go, you shall go.  That is what she said, sir.  And I have lived my
life in fear ever since, knowing that one day she would return to
bring me to the darkest of place.  I knew I would be punished one day.
You see, I pleaded for my life.  I knew what was going to happen.  She
turned, sitting behind the wheel of that car, and she tried to grab
one of us.  As she did, I pushed my sister towards her, so I would be
the one surviving.  And I survived, and my sister died.  That has been
my punishment ever since.  And that is why she came back.  Because she
did come back, didn't she?'

Jason Wittle's eyes stared at agent Scully as to hear her confirmation.
Scully's voice trembled as she said 'I don't know, sir.'

But Jason Wittle knew.  And so did Daniel Grant.  And so did Fox
Mulder.

For the last thing that Elisa Wittle told the young boy in the back of
the car was 'You know what it's like to die in flames, baby?  Do you
know what it feels like to be burnt to a crisp while the things run
through your head?  Don't be afraid.  I shall bring you to a place you
want to live in.  I will take care of you.  I am your mother, and this
time you won't get away from me.  Not this time.'



The End