Title: Return to The House on Haunted Hill
Author: Cheri
Rating: R
FANDOMS: House on Haunted Hill, X-Files
Archive: Anywhere just let me know where it's going :)
Spoilers: (X-Files) Existence, House on Haunted Hill movie
Category: MSR, Crossover, Angst, Torture, Horror
Disclaimer: X Files doesn't belong to me. it belongs to Chris Carter, 1013 productions and various others, House on Haunted hill doesn't belong to me either. it belongs to assorted people. I'm making no money off of this. I'm just having fun with two of my favorite fandoms :)

Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate the house on haunted hill after the disappearance of two teenagers


Chapter 1

"C'mon Paul, Hurry up!" Frank said as he hurried along the dirt road.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Paul asked as he ran to catch up.

"Sure! Why, Are you chicken?" Frank said as he glanced back

"No, of course not!" Paul said nervously. "I just don't want to get caught breaking and entering"

Frank snorted as he navigated his way down the overgrown path. Finally he reached the end of the trail and smiled at Paul. "There it is!" he said as he pointed up. " The house on haunted hill!"

Paul looked up and gulped as he saw the huge white building balanced on the edge of the cliff. " You gotta be shittin me!" he said. "That was a looney bin?"

Frank pointed to the gate. Paul walked over and read a little plaque mounted on one of the pillars beside the gate. "Vannacutt Institue for the Criminally Insane" He looked over at Frank "You really want to go in there?"

Frank snorted. "Of course I do! Don't be such a baby! Now, Come on!"

Paul sighed as he reluctantly followed Frank up the trail towards the house. He stared in awe at the building as they got closer. It was gigantic! He wondered how many inmates they had had in there. He shuddered as he remembered hearing the stories of torture and experimentation that Doctor Vannacutt had performed on the helpless patients. He thanked God he had not been one of them.

As they neared the door, Frank turned and grinned at Paul "oooooooo scary!" he said in a mocking tone.

Paul rolled his eyes and watched as Frank picked the lock. He heard a little click and watched as the door opened slowly into darkness. As he stepped inside, he began to cough and gag from the amount of dust in the room. He wished he had brought along an oxygen tank.

Frank looked at him. "Cool, huh?" He grinned "Hard to believe this was where they experimented on crazy people!"

"I believe it!" Paul muttered as he brushed aside some cobwebs.

As they walked through the building Paul began to feel like they were being watched. He edged closer to Frank who was too busy looking around to notice. Suddenly Paul felt a gust of frigid air breeze by him. He grabbed Frank by the shoulder who turned around with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Let's get the hell outta here, NOW!"

Frank snorted. "There is nothing to be afraid of, stupid! it's just an old building! You..." He trailed off as he noticed Pauls eyes widening in terror. "Oh now what?..," he said as he spun around.

Outside the house, two terrified screams were heard for a moment and then all was silence...


"Everythings fine here, Scully!" Mulder said into the phone. "Will's just playing with his toys." He looked down at his son on the floor and made a goofy face as William looked up at him. He grinned at Williams joyfull giggle. "So, what do you want for dinner tonight?" he said playfully.

Scully chuckled. " How about we go out to eat for a change, Mulder? I'm tired of scraping the burnt food off the pans when you get done "cooking"!"

Mulder gasped. "Why Scully, I'm an excellent cook! Will always seems to like my cooking!"

"That's cause Will's only 6 months old and he can't tell you what an awful cook you are!" Scully looked up as Skinner appeared in the doorway. "I gotta go, Mulder. We'll discuss this later!"

Mulder hung up the reciever and bent over to look at William. "You like my cooking, right?" He watched as Will looked at him with a wide eyed expression, a string of drool running down his chin. Mulder nodded. "You like my cooking, you're just not opinionated like your mom is!"


Scully studied the case file Skinner had sat in front of her. "You say this Doctor Vannacutt experimented on his patients?"

Skinner nodded. "He was a real nutcase! He did things that would make Hitler cringe. For a long time, no one knew what he was doing to them. They were the criminally insane, so no one cared. It wasn't until the place burned in '31 that they realized how much of a butcher he had been!"

Scully looked up at him. "And now two kids are missing?"

Skinner nodded. "No one's seen them in two days. They talked to one of their friends though and one of them mentioned going up to the asylum on a dare. That's the last anyone's heard of them." Skinner shifted uneasily."Actually...they want Mulder to investigate."

Scully blinked "Mulder?"

"Yeah, One of the parents read about him in some article. They figure he'd be perfect for the job. They insisted he come along, since he's had experience with the supernatural."

"Do they think ghosts kidnapped their sons?"

He shrugged. "Probably at this point, they are willing to explore any possibility!"

Scully nodded. "Looks like we're gonna have to get a babysitter then!"


"Are you sure it's no trouble?" Scully said as he passed William to Langly.

Langly shook his head " No, no trouble at all. We'd be glad to look after him. I'm sure we can find something for him to do, just as long as we don't get him around Jimmy. I wouldn't trust him with a dust bunny." Langly looked over as the door opened and Byers, Frohike and Jimmy entered. "Hey guys! Scully needs us to babysit for a few days while they work on a case. I told her we would!"

Jimmy walked over to Will "Oh my, he's grown so much. Can I hold him?"

Langly looked over at Scully. Seeing her nod he handed the baby to Jimmy. "Don't drop him!"

Jimmy looked at Langly with a hurt expression. "I'm not an idiot, you know!"

Behind him, Frohike snorted softly.

As Jimmy held Will, Langly looked back to Scully. "Don't worry, We'll keep an eye on him."

Scully smiled. "It shouldn't be too long, I hope! I'm glad you are willing to do this"

"Are you kidding?" Jimmy said. "We're only too happy to do this, right guys?" He looked at each of them and was met with hard stares. Ignoring them, he began to tickle Will under the chin. "You are such a good baby, Yes you are." He gasped as Will vomited down the front of his shirt. Looking up at Langly, he sheepishly passed him to him.

Langly rolled his eyes " This is gonna be hell, I just know it!"


Mulder yawned and rubbed his eyes as he glanced over at Scully. He had been up half the night studying this case file and he felt tired. He was glad they were flying, he didn't think he could handle driving at the moment. He smiled at Scully and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Scully smiled and leaned her head on Mulder's shoulder and breathed a contented sigh.

Mulder looked at her. "Are you ok, honey?"

Scully nodded. "I'm fine, I just hope this case doesn't last very long. I hate to be apart from Will for very long"

Mulder squeezed her hand. "I know hon, I feel the same way!" Especially since Will is in the care of the Lone Gunmen. Mulder hoped they could handle him.


After an long plane ride and a sleepless night in a hotel. Mulder and Scully found themselves heading towards the Vannacutt Institute, or the house on haunted hill as the locals called it. Mulder chuckled. He loved the imaginative names people came up with for supernatural places.

As the rain pelted down around them, he opened the case file and glanced through it again. It was a horrific, but fascinating history. The Vannacutt Institute for the Criminally Insane had been founded in 1923 by a brilliant young physician named Doctor Benjamin Vannacutt. Although the sanitarium had been established to provide a humane alternative to jailing insane felons, it quickly became a house of horrors as Doctor Vannacutt decided that no one would care if he used them as guinea pigs in his reseach of the human body. Dissections, shock treatments, dissections, amputations, All carried out by Vannacutt in his thrist for knowledge. The carnage continued until 1931 when the inmates somehow escaped from their cells and quite literally began to take over the asylum. In the confusion, someone started a fire and after Vannacutt threw a lockdown switch, All but 5 of Vannacutts staff were incinerated.

After that, the asylum was shut down until a few years ago when some people decided to try to restore it. After a series of mysterious deaths however, it was abandoned.

Then a year ago, the house had been rented out by a Mr. Stephen Price, owner and proprietor of Price Amusement Parks, a chain of high tech horror theme parks. Apparently, he was giving a party for his wife, Evelyn Price and invited 5 people to spend the night with a reward of a million dollars each to everyone who was alive in the morning. The next morning only two were left. Five people including the caretaker, Watson Pritchett were found murdered or in some cases, not found at all. Now, these two boys were the latest victims.

Mulder closed the file and closed his eyes. He was really dreading going into this place. He hadn't had any sleep and he wasn't too thrilled about spending time in a haunted insane asylum, especially considering what had happened there.

He opened his eyes as the car rolled to a stop. Scully peered through the windshield at the muddy road. "I don't think we can go much further, Mulder. It looks like we'll have to walk."

Mulder groaned. *Great, just great!" He thought as Scully reached into the backseat to grab the umbrellas. As Scully handed him a black one, he looked at her "You know, being a stay at home dad has made me appreciate the comforts of a nice warm apartment."

Scully giggled and playfully punched him in the arm "Aw C'mon Spooky, I thought you lived for this kind of thing!"

Mulder punched her back "Not since I discovered afternoon naps!"


Mulder stood in shock as he spied the building through the pouring rain.

"Holy Shit, That is one big building!" he said in awe. He wondered if he and Scully were going to be able to move through it without getting lost. He noticed Scully had stopped further up the path and was staring at him.

"Coming?" She yelled.

Mulder sighed and trudged towards her. "I have a really bad feeling about this, Scully," he said.

Mulder's butterflies increased as they neared the entrance. He hoped they were in and out and away from this place. When they reached the door, Mulder pushed on it. With a loud squeak, the door slowly opened into blackness. Mulder reached for his flashlight and switching it on, he entered with Scully behind him. Coughing from the dust their footsteps stirred up, he managed to find the lightswitch. He turned it on and turned around. They seemed to be in a salon. There was a bar on the far wall and chairs and a couch were arranged beside it. A fairplace was beside the bar and a flight of stairs were beside it. There was also a table in the center of the room. Mulder looked up and noticed that a stained glass skylight that was above it was broken in places. Setting his things on the table, he began to walk around the room.

As he neared the stairs, he heard Scully gasp. He swung around to see her staring over her left shoulder. He walked to her and put his hand on her right shoulder. "Scully?" he asked tentatively.

Scully turned and looked at him with confusion in her eyes. "I thought I saw someone over there," she said pointing to the left side. "It was a man and he was staring at me with these sad eyes."

Mulder walked over to the wall. Walking back and forth along the length of it. he felt for any hidden areas or doors. Finding nothing, he looked back at Scully and shrugged.

"Mulder, I'm not imagining it! I saw someone!" Scully protested.

Mulder walked to Scully and laid a hand on her shoulder. "We better stick together, just to be on the safe side" He pointed to the staircase. "Let's search up there maybe we'll find something."

Scully nodded and followed him to the stairs.

Behind them a man stood in the shadows. As they ascended the stairs. he whispered softly.

"no!"


Chap 2

"For an insane asylum, they seemed to had alot of luxuries!" he said as he stared at the guest bedroom. He sat down on the huge bed. "Scully, look at this! This Doctor Vannacutt had a taste for the finer things, that's for sure!" he said as he bounced up and down on the mattress.

Scully appeared in the doorway and watched him. "Don't you think you should be searching for the missing teens instead of bouncing on the bed like a child?" she said with exasperation

Mulder stopped bouncing and looked at Scully with mock hurt on his face. "Oh Scully, live a little! I was just demonstrating how comfy the bed was!" He leaned towards her. "Maybe we can come back after we find the kids and have some fun!"

Scully shook her head. "Mulder, you never cease to amaze me! You are the only person I know who would want to get it on in a haunted insane asylum!"

Mulder chuckled as he stood up. "Only with you, my dear. Only with you!"

Rolling her eyes again, Scully stepped out into the corridor followed by Mulder.


As Scully walked down the hallway, she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. She looked back behind her, but all she could see was Mulder.

Mulder noticed her confusion. "Scully? What's wrong?"

Scully shook her head "I just get the feeling someone's watching us. I've had this feeling ever since we came in the door."

Mulder looked behind him, but he saw nothing. Turning back to Scully, he smiled at her. "Maybe it's your nerves, hon!" he said squeezing her shoulder.

Scully nodded and smiled. "I hope so!" she said softly.

As they walked down the corridor together, the figure quickly ran up to get a better vantage point from which he could observe the strangers. As he watched them go in and out of the rooms, he gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Get out now, dammit!" He whispered.


Mulder sighed. "Nothing up here, Scully. Maybe we should search in the basement."

In the shadows, the figure hissed "No! Get out!"

Mulder glanced behind him, but saw only an empty corridor. He turned back to Scully, who was descending the stairs.

"Did you say something, Scully?"

Scully looked up at him quizzically "No, why?"

Mulder shook his head "I coulda sworn...Never mind, let's go downstairs"

As the figure watched the strangers disappear down the staircase, he cursed silently to himself and walked over to the stairs. After he had been sure the strangers had left the staircase, he quietly went down and peeked around the corner. He could see them in the salon gathering extra equipment. He quickly ran to the couch behind them and ducked down.

Scully looked up and over at the couch. She coulda sworn she saw something run over there out of the corner of her eye. She glanced up at Mulder who was loading his revolver. She looked back again to the couch and started to walk over to it, gun drawn.

"Coming, Scully?"

She turned around to see Mulder heading for the basement steps. He looked back at her and motioned towards them. Scully took one last look at the couch and followed.


Scully coughed as they descended the stairs into inky blackness. "Mulder, I can't see a thing!"

Mulder swung his flashlight towards the wall. He squinted at a huge switch on the wall. "Stay there Scully, I think I found the power switch!" Moving past Scully, he put his hand on the huge switch and flipped it into the up position.

The lights crackled and flickered and came to life

and then...

"JESUS CHRIST!!! Scully screamed.

Mulder flew around and stood with his mouth hanging open.

Scully had her back on the stairsteps. With a look of horror frozen on her face, she pointed straight ahead.

Mulder came down the rest of the stairs and stood looking in awe at the display cases filled with skinned humans and animals. He could barely keep from puking. To the left and right of him were four display cases. One held a skinned man riding on a skinned horse. One was a dissected man and One was the torso of a female. The worst one was a skinned baby with it's head opened up like an orange to reveal the brain.

Mulders stomach churned as he thought of Will and wondered what kind of man would be able to do that to any human being, let alone a helpless baby. Looking behind him, he noticed that scully had focused on the baby as well. He ached as he noticed a tear in her eye and he knew that she was thinking the same thing as him. He reached out his hand to her and helped her to her feet.

"Oh my God, Mulder," she said softly. "I've never seen anything as horrible as this."

Mulder nodded and hugged Scully tight. He buried her head in his shoulder, so she wouldn't have to see anymore and quickly walked her away from the gruesome displays.

Behind them on the stairs, the figure shook his head. "I can't believe you still want to stay, even after seeing these!" He whispered. "Don't you realize what you're getting yourselves into?" He followed them as they walked down the hall.

After getting away from the display cases, Mulder and Scully managed to regain their composure. Mulder reached into his pocket and pulled out a rough map of the building that had been in the casefile. As they passed by a doorway, Mulder looked in.

"According to this map, this is one of the shock therapy rooms."

Scully looked in and saw a examination table covered with cobwebs. a little brown leather helmet laid on top of it.

"Really lovely," Scully said sarcastically.

Mulder nodded. "According to the casefile, a bunch of these rooms are wired together. Doctor Vannacutt liked to administer the shock therapy to 18 people at a time."

Scullys eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding" she said, looking up at Mulder.

Mulder shook his head. "I wish I was Scully, but it's the truth."

Scully stared hard at him. "And you want to make love here?"

Mulder grinned as he gestured to the table "Well..not here! I was thinking of something more comfortable. Unless you're into shock therapy" He poked her in the ribs.

"Grow up, Mulder!" Scully said as she left the room.

Mulder shrugged as he followed her. "Ask a stupid question..." he said under his breath.


Mulder found he kept having to check the map more and more. *The whole place is a damn maze, down here* He thought. He couldn't see how the staff could have gotten around. He had enough trouble getting his bearings since everything looked alike to him. Mulder looked back as Scully turned a corner in front of him. *I shoulda brought breadcrumbs* he thought.

"Mulder!!!!" Scully screamed.

Mulder spun around at the sound of Scullys screams. He flew around the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. Scully was nowhere to be found.

"Scully! Where are you?" He screamed. He shuddered as a very faint "Mulder!" came back to him somewhere down the corridor. Mulder ran as fast as he could. He ran around corners and down hallways searching frantically for Scully. At last he could run no more, and he collapsed on the floor.

As he was catching his breath, he became aware of someone standing over him. He looked up and was shocked to see the ghost of a man glaring down at him, his arms folded over his chest.

"I warned you to get out!" Watson Pritchett said. "You are just like everyone else who's been to this house. No one ever listens to me!"


Chapter 3

Mulder rubbed his eyes rapidly. He hoped that the ghost he had seen was only a result of the stress and weariness he had from trying to find Scully. When he opened his eyes and looked up however, the ghost was still there staring at him coldly.

"You're not imagining me," he said. "I'm as real as you are, and no matter how many times you rub your eyes, I'm not going to disappear."

Mulder groaned as he struggled to get to his feet. "Who are you, then?" he asked.

The ghost sighed. "My name is Watson Pritchett, I was the caretaker here before my body was corroded into a pile of ash by the evil in this place. Now I mainly try to keep other people from coming here and meeting their demise. So far, I've done a bang up job!" He sighed and gestured to Mulder. "Now how about you?"

"My name is Fox Mulder" He looked over as Watson snorted. "And before you say anything, Yes, Fox is my real name. My partner is Dana Scully. She is with the FBI and I'm here because I'm an expert in the paranormal We were sent here to investigate the disappearance of two teenage boys." He stopped talking as he saw Pritchett raise an eyebrow. "Do you know who I'm talking about?"

Pritchett nodded. "Yup"

"Well, do you know where they are?"

"Yup."

"Well, Are they still living or not?"

Pritchett looked up at the ceiling and back at Mulder "Well...It depends on your definition of "Living". They're alive but I doubt if they are still able to function normally now."

Mulder's eyes narrowed "Just what is that supposed to mean?"

Pritchett leaned against the wall and scratched his cheek thoughtfully.

"Well...last I saw of them, one boy had had the top of his skull removed like the lovely infant in the display case and the other one had been cut open and had had all his organs removed except his heart and his lungs." He folded his arms across his chest."So you see, I don't think I would call it living anymore, would you?"

Mulder felt his stomach churn as he dreaded asking the next question "And Scully?" he said softly

Pritchett shook his head. "I don't know about her, I've been trailing you the whole time you've been here, trying to get you to leave before something like this occured." He cocked his head. "But, you've been like everyone else. You have no idea what you're up against. This is no ordinary house. It's not even an ordinary haunted house. This place is nothing but a nesting place for pure evil. Everyone who has tried to stay here has died or, in the case of those two boys, are dying. There have only been two people who managed to escape the evil and that's only because I helped them. If I hadn't helped them, they would have been swallowed up like everyone else in this house, myself included."

Mulder blinked "So how come you are different?"

Pritchett sighed. "I'm different because everyone else that has been swallowed by the evil has been corrupt in some way. The evil feeds and grows off the evil of others. I'm not corrupt so It doesn't hang onto me like it does the others. I have nothing to offer it, so It leaves me alone. That's doesn't mean It won't do something to me If I get in it's way though, that's why I haven't been able to help those two boys."

Mulder stepped closer "So how did you help those other two people then, if you can't help those boys?"

"The two people I helped hadn't been taken by the evil yet. They barely managed to escape to the outside. The whole place was in lockdown and It had severed the cord that operated one of the steel panels. I was able to get to the severed rope and pull on it to raise the panel and allow their escape." Pritchett shrugged. "It was the least I could do, but I paid for it. Doctor Vannacutt tortured me afterwards, until he grew tired of it and I was able to wiggle free. Since then, I've been very carefull to stay out of his way. I've been trying to get close to the boys to free them, but Vannacutt has always been too close for me to try anything." He shook his head "It's too late now, anyway. If they aren't dead yet, they will be soon and I'm sure your partner will join them."

Mulder felt tears come to his eyes as he imagined Scully in the hands of Vannacutt. He couldn't even stand to think of what he might do to her. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. Pritchett looked at him sympathetically.

"I understand how you feel, believe me! I lost my father to this house when he was trying to restore it. But, you have to be strong right now for her. She needs you and you'll need all your strength and wits to fight this house. You can't fight the evil alone but maybe with my help we can rescue her in one piece."

Mulder looked at him. "I thought you wanted to stay the hell away from Vannacutt."

Pritchett shrugged. "I'm tired of seeing innocent people get destroyed by that maniac. He's had his fun for far too long, it's time to send him to Hell where he belongs!" Pritchett grinned. "Besides, she was good looking. I've always been a sucker for a pretty face!"

Mulder smiled. "I agree with that, Pritchett. One hundred percent. She's alot more than a pretty face though, trust me!"

Pritchett nodded. "I hope so, she's gonna need more than that to stay alive and stay sane." He began to walk down the corridor. "Follow me, I have an idea about where they might have taken her."


Scully opened her eyes and quickly closed them again at the sight of the bright light above her. wincing in pain, she turned her head to the side and slowly opened them again. Her eyes widened in horror at what she saw. On a gurney across from her lay one of the boys they had been looking for. His chest cavity had been cut open and the skin had been peeled back on either side and held down with scissors rammed into the gurney. She gagged as she realized she could make out his heart beating in his chest. As she stared silently, the boy turned his head to look at her. His eyes were full of dispair.

"Help me!" he gurgled.

She turned her head from him as he moaned softly. As she opened her eyes again, she gasped as she saw the second boy. He was chained to the back wall. The top of his skull had been lifted off to expose the brain underneith. The bottom half of his jaw had also been ripped off leaving nothing but a gaping hole and his tounge which was hanging helplessly down the front of his neck. A huge tube had been shoved into his throat and a strange black liquid was being pumped into him. Scully couldn't stand it anymore. Leaning her head over as best she could, she vomited all over the side of the gurney and the floor. As she looked up, she noticed the boy looking at her sorrowfully. He emitted a sound that sounded to Scully like "I'm sorry" Scully smiled at him apologetically. It was the only thing she could do at the moment, since she was tied down tightly to her gurney.

She raised her head as she heard a table being wheeled into the room. Her eyes widened as she recognized Doctor Vannacutt from his photo in the case file.

"No, you're dead!" She rasped.

Vannacutt looked up from the table and begin to walk toward her. Scully noted with a mixture of shock and disgust that a bunch of bloody surgical instruments were lying on top.

"Ah, a new patient!" Doctor Vannacutt said with a leer. "Excellent, I was beginning to worry since these two have almost outlived their usefullness."

"You bastard!" Scully screamed. "When I get ahold of you, I'll make you pay for this!"

She gasped as Vannacutt slapped her hard against the side of her face.

"I see that I shall have to use the gag on you!" he said "I do so hate to hear a woman scream while I'm working" Pulling Scully by the hair he began to slip a leather gag around her mouth. "Now, I trust you'll be more cooperative," he said with a grin as he reached for a scalpel.


Pritchett motioned towards the end of the corridor. "This way!" he said.

Mulder followed close behind him hoping with all his heart that scully was okay. He knew how Scully had suffered when he had been abducted, he didn't want to experience the same feelings.

He jumped as Pritchett yelled and pointed to an open doorway at the end of the hall "No! Not again, you bastard!" He screamed as he ran down the hallway.

Mulder stood perplexed. All he could see was an empty room that was filled with cobwebs. "What?" He yelled to Pritchett. "There's nothing there!"

"Do you have a camcorder with you?" Pritchett yelled.

"yes!"

"Point it at the door and look at the screen, hurry!"

Mulder slid the backpack off his shoulders and pulled out his camcorder. He raised it to the door and gasped. Vannacutt was in the room with one of the boys and Scully. He had a scalpel positioned over scullys chest and he was staring at Pritchett as he ran into the room. Mulder took off down the hallway towards the door.

"Scully!!!"...


Scully looked up as she heard Mulders voice. "Mulder, help!" she cried. her voice trembling with fear.

Mulder ran as fast as he could towards her keeping the videocamera focused on Vannacutts face. His mind was filled with all the things he would do to the son of a bitch. He watched as Pritchett ran in ahead of him.

"Enough, Vannacutt!" he screamed.

Mulder watched in horror as Vannacutt grabbed Pritchett by his neck and raised him three feet off the ground.

"Ah, Mr. Pritchett," Vannacutt said calmly. "I thought after I punished you the last time, you would know enough to stay out of my business. Perhaps you need a reminder!" He grinned as Pritchett squirmed in his grip.

As Mulder stepped into the room, the veil between the living and the dead lifted like a forcefield and he was able to see Scully and the other two boys without the camcorder. Scully looked at him with pleading in her eyes. The boy next to her raised his head and nodded wearily. "Get her out of her" He mouthed to him. Mulder quietly tiptoed to Scullys side.

Pritchett looked over Vannacutt's shoulder and saw Mulder sneaking over to where Scully was. He decided to stall for time. "You'll never get away with this!" he said to Vannacutt.

"Mr. Pritchett,"Vannacutt said smugly. "I have been getting away with it for years now. When I was alive no one questioned what I did here. If it wasn't for the fire, no one would have found out! And now that I'm dead, I'm invincible!"

Pritchett gagged as Vannacutt squeezed harder.

Mulder looked up as he heard Pritchett gag. Pritchett looked at him and gave him a look that said "Don't worry about me!" Mulder nodded and continued unstrapping Scully from the gurney.

"I think I'll will enjoy torturing you again!" he said as he pulled Pritchett close to his face. "And this time, I won't stop!" Vannacutt's eyes widened as he saw Mulder behind him freeing Scully.

"What..." Vannacutt was stunned for a moment and then it slowly dawned on him what was happening. He glanced back at Pritchett who had a smug grin on his face. With a roar, He flung Pritchett to the ground. "You won't escape!" he yelled as Mulder and Scully ran out the door. He felt a tap on his shoulder and swung around to face Pritchett.

"Surprise, bastard!" Pritchett yelled as he butted his head into Vannacutts stomach. He watched for a moment as Vannacutt was forced backwards onto the ground. Leaping over Vannacutts legs, he ran into the corridor after Mulder and Scully as Vannacutt yelled in anger and frustration.


"Hurry Scully!" Mulder yelled as they ran hand in hand down the hall. Benieth them, the ground began to shake. "Oh shit!" Mulder yelled.

"Now what?" He looked back and to his horror saw a huge black ghostly mass of people begin to give chase. While he stared transfixed at the abomination, he felt himself trip on a broken brick and fall into Scully knocking them both to the ground.

Both of them turned to see the black bohemoth barreling down on them. As it got closer they could make out naked bodies writhing and screaming in pain within the ghost. Mulder covered Scully with his body and prepared for the worst.

"Hey! Over here!"

Mulder looked up. He could barely make out Pritchett waving his arms frantically behind the ghost. The ghost turned to look at him and with a shrill scream, it began to give chase. Mulder took the opportunity to help Scully to her feet. Grabbing her hand, Mulder took off down the corridor again. He shuddered as he heard the thing scream in rage, angry at having been tricked by a simple ruse. As Mulder reached the end of the corridor and rounded the corner, he saw with dismay that the stairs were nowhere in sight. He sucked in his breath and pulling at Scully, he picked up the pace. As they reached the end of the hall, Mulder looked back and saw the ghost barreling down on them. He noticed that at the top of the ghost where the head should be was the grinning face of Vannacutt. Mulder turned the corner and saw that Pritchett was standing up at the other end.

Pritchett motioned to his left. "This way!" he yelled.

Mulder and Scully ran as fast as they could. Both of them almost out of breath. Mulder felt each step becoming like lead. He wished that he and Scully were back at home with Will. Behind him, Mulder could hear the ghost yelling threats at Pritchett in many different voices, promising him eternal torture. He felt a deep admiration for Pritchett for managing to survive being in the house with all the evil that was there. Reaching Pritchett, he turned the corner and saw the stairs at the far end. He felt Pritchett coming up behind him, his breath ragged as he ran with them.

They reached the stairs and all of them stumbled up it, the monstrosity mere feet behind them. Pritchett ran in front of Mulder and motioned across the salon to the stairs.

"Follow me!" he yelled.

Mulder ran as hard as he could. He felt his body burning from the exertion and lack of air. Reaching the steps he and Scully took them two at a time. As they reached the second level, Pritchett pointed to his right and they turned the corner and followed him, the blackness in hot pursuit.

Pritchett ran halfway down the corridor and found the door to the attic. opening it, he held the door open until Mulder and Scully were through and then he quickly shut the door and locked it. "Keep going!" he yelled as the center of the door began to creak and moan from the thing pushing on it. Just as Pritchett reached the top, the door exploded with an ear shattering boom and the darkness slinked up the stairs towards him. "Jesus, don't you ever give up?" Pritchett yelled as he ran across the room.

As the thing reached the top of the stairs, Pritchett heard Vannacutt scream at him, "You will never escape me nor will they!"

"Ah, shut your trap" Pritchett mumbled under his breath. He ran to the far side of the room where the lockdown panel was. Mulder and Scully were in front of it, frantically trying to open it. Looking up, Pritchett spotted the severed rope that he had pulled once before to save Eddie and Jennifer from the creature. Sailing up to it, He began to pull down on the rope and with a mighty groan the panel began to slide upwards. "Hurry!" he yelled "Get under it!"

Mulder quickly shoved Scully through the hole. He went halfway through himself and looked back at Pritchett. "C'mon!" He called.

Pritchett pulled down with all his might on the cord raising the panel as high as it could go. Letting go, he lunged at Mulder and pushed him through the door just as it slid shut.

Pritchett settled down beside Mulder and Scully on the ledge outside the building. Behind him, he could hear the thing screaming in rage as it realized that it could not get them. Pritchett grinned. As powerfull as the evil was, it could never leave the confines of the asylum. Vannacutt could only hold dominion over those who were trapped in the house. He sighed as the screaming faded away to be replaced by the roar of the ocean far below them. He felt a great sadness that he couldn't help the other two boys, but he was certain the one chained to the wall had died and the other boy was well on his way. He only hoped that they were able to escape, if not in body at least in spirit.

He turned his head as Mulder pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

"Um...Skinner?" Mulder said. "I think we might need some assistance in leaving the asylum," he said as he held Scully close.

Pritchett grinned. "It's a damn good thing you had that!" he said


Two weeks later....

"Scully? Have you seen the remote?" Mulder asked as he searched around the apartment. He heard a small giggle and looked down to see Will playing with it. "Give that to me, you little squirt!" he said as Will laughed.

Scully sighed as she came into the living room. "Maybe Will's trying to tell you, you watch too much television!"

Mulder looked down at Will. "Nah, he wouldn't do that! Men know the importance of the remote. Don't we?" he said as he tickled Will under the arms.

Mulder blinked as a brillian white light flashed in front of his eyes. As the light faded Mulder looked and saw Pritchett standing in front of him.

"Pritchett?"

Pritchett nodded. "I'm free now! Thanks to you, I've moved on to a higher plane. I just wanted to come back to tell you and to tell you that both of the boys souls escaped. They are here as well!" Pritchett smiled at Mulder. "Thanks, for everything."

Mulder nodded. "Thank you, without your help, we never would have made it out alive."

Pritchett shrugged. "Like I said, I'm a sucker for a pretty face!" He looked over at Scully and winked at her. Scully smiled back and picked up Will.

Pritchett grinned "So, this is your kid, eh?"

Scully nodded.

Pritchett leaned down into Will's face. "Next time your parents get ideas about visiting possessed houses, please stop them will you? I don't feel like coming over from the afterlife to save their butts again." He glanced over behind Scully "Unless it's your butt, then I might make an exception!"

"Priitchett!"

Pritchett looked at Mulder "What? I may be dead but I can still look, can't I?" He grinned as Mulder stared at him hard "Okay, I get the picture! I'll let you have Scully, I'll go find a nice dead chick and settle down."

Pritchett waved as a bright light appeared in front of him. He stopped and looked at Mulder and Scully "Goodbye, my friends!" he said. As he stepped into the light, it disappeared without a trace.

Mulder leaned back on the couch with his hands behind his head. "I'll say this Scully, You meet the nicest people in possessed houses!!"

The End

Return to Bump In The Night