The X-Files

Dad! Dad!

- Tommy, what is it? - I'm afraid. I heard something.

- It's just the wind. - No. I think it's under the bed.

- Can you check? - Tommy, there is nothing to be scared of.

No. There's something under the bed. You have to check.

- All clear. - Are you sure? I thought I saw something.

In the mirror.

Tommy, it is just your imagination.

Now, let's try to get some sleep, OK?

Agh! Dad, help! It's in here!

Help! Help me!

Help!

Help! Dad!

It's in here! Help me!

Dad!

Daddy!

Dr Scully?

Sorry. After lunch. All questions answered after lunch. Thank you.

Agent Scully?

Leyla Harrison.

What a surprise.

Oh, good. I was afraid I should have maybe called first.

How have you been?

Oh, uh...

Busy. And yourself?

I'm back in Accounting now. Happily, mind you. No regrets.

Although I did relish my big adventure on the X-Files unit last year.

I have about five minutes before my next class. Can we talk while I eat?

Not a problem.

It's an X-File. I'm sure of it.

Where'd you get this?

I tracked down a mileage discrepancy in the Bureau's vehicle fleet.

A secretary from our Baltimore field office used a Ford Taurus without authorisation.

What's it got to do with...?

She was desperate to visit her grandson, which is why she borrowed the car.

She's the one who told me about this case. This was her daughter.

What makes you think this is an X-File?

This dead woman's son, my friend's grandson...

This is Tommy Conlon. Tommy is eight years old.

Tommy told her a monster killed his mother, and his father knows all about it.

I know. Why take the word of an eight-year-old?

But... look at the autopsy report.

Clearly this woman was murdered, and yet...

And yet the coroner concludes that she stabbed herself to death.

Agent Harrison, I see no reason to disagree with the coroner.

But... I mean, how could someone stab themselves 16 times?

Look, it is unusual, but I have seen it before.

Tommy's father took him to a mountaintop in Pennsylvania in the middle of nowhere.

He took him away from his friends, his family. They don't even have a phone.

Tommy's own grandmother isn't allowed to see him any more.

I'm sorry, Agent Harrison, but unless you have other evidence...

Wait, wait.

Tommy said that the same monster that killed his mother killed Spanky, his pet cat.

Unless you bring me Spanky, there's nothing I can do.

Apple and tuna salad?

- Hello? - Dana, it's Monica Reyes. Is this a bad time?

I was just putting the baby down. What is it?

I wanted your opinion on an autopsy finding.

It's pretty unusual - a woman who stabbed herself 16 times.

Last name Conlon? I assume you've been talking to Leyla Harrison.

Yeah. The three of us are headed to Pennsylvania.

It sounds like you're familiar with the case.

What do you mean, there is no case?

All right. Thanks.

Why didn't you tell us you'd already gone to Agent Scully?

- I didn't know that's who you were calling. - That's not the point, Leyla. You misled us.

Agent Doggett, we're almost there.

"How'd you spend Friday night, John?" "Driving around like an idiot."

Agent Doggett!

Both of you got in this car believing a little boy may be in danger.

What's changed since then?

Even if this isn't an X-File - which it is - what will it hurt to keep going?

If Agent Mulder were here he'd keep going.

- Jeffrey Conlon? - Yeah. Can I help you?

Hi. I'm Agent Monica Reyes. This is Agent John Doggett and Agent Harrison.

- We're with the FBI. - FBI? Really?

We're here at the request of Dorothy, your mother-in-law. It's about her grandson.

Tommy is fine.

I told Dorothy over and over. There's really nothing more to say.

Is that blood on your hand, Mr Conlon?

Yeah. I cut myself.

- On what? - A piece of broken glass.

- Sir, can we speak with your son? - He's asleep.

It's not even seven o'clock. Early for bedtime.

Not for Tommy. And I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your voice down.

Look, I'm gonna be straight with you. We drove a long way.

Agent Doggett is stubborn. I don't think you'll get him to leave until we see your son.

Dad?

- Tommy, go back inside, please. - I heard something. I got afraid.

Hi, Tommy. I'm Monica. This is John, and this is Leyla.

I'm friends with your grandmom. She wanted us to see how you were doing.

Tommy, it's too cold out here. Go back inside.

Do you remember what you said to your grandmom?

Something about your mother? Do you remember?

Monsters.

You said there were monsters, right?

No such thing as monsters.

Tell Dorothy this is exactly why she's not allowed to visit any more.

Now, good night.

Come on.

I apologise. I let my imagination run wild and I ruined both your evenings.

Thank you in advance for not yelling at me.

- Something's going on here. - Wait. There is?

That boy only said what his father wanted him to say.

Did you notice the dirt on that guy's hands and knees? He's been digging.

This time of the year he sure as hell ain't gardening.

I say we find a judge, get a warrant and search the place.

Dad?

The monsters aren't gonna let those people leave, are they?

They're leaving, Tommy.

They're leaving right now.

It's too late.

What the hell?

Oh, God!

A possum maybe?

That doesn't make any sense. How'd it get from here into the vents?

- Who is it? - It's Gabe Rotter.

I have the thing you've been waiting for.

Who?

Gabe. Rotter?

I'm a friend of Leyla Harrison.

- Do you know what time it is? - Hey, I just do as I'm told.

- Enjoy. - Whoa! What the hell is that?

- A dead cat. - Come again?

His name's Spanky. Leyla said you're helping her on a case and you needed it ASAP, so...

Hey.

You're welcome.

I am going to be exceptionally polite.

Leave. Now. Leave now and take that with you.

Do you know what I went through to get this?

I snuck onto the property where your perp used to live and I dug up the whole thing.

I don't care. Leave, now, please!

Uh-uh. Leyla said she'd go out with me only if I got you the cat and, damn it, I got it.

Oh!

Are you calling the cops on me?

If only.

God help me, but Agent Harrison might be on to something after all.

Any luck?

Our engine's shot. His truck won't start, though I can't find one thing wrong with it.

- Looks like we're here for the night. - I'd better get Tommy back to sleep.

Phones that won't work. Cars that won't start.

It reminds me of a case Mulder and Scully investigated.

A teenager who was struck by lightning.

He affected the electrical workings of everything around him.

- That's not what we're dealing with here. - Mulder wasted no time closing that case.

I just try to think like him. What would Agents Mulder and Scully do in this situation?

Agents Mulder and Scully aren't in this situation. Agents Doggett and Reyes are.

I don't know about Agent Reyes, but Agent Doggett's gonna sit his tired ass down.

What kind of a course of action is that?

I think Agent Doggett is saying that right now we're in the best possible place.

Exactly. Bottom line, we're all concerned for this boy's safety.

If we're here, nothing's gonna happen to him, right?

Help! It's in here! Daddy!

Help! Help me!

Dad! Daddy!

- Hey! - No, don't do it.

John.

How's he doing?

He's a hell of a lot calmer than I'd be.

I checked the place. Whatever the hell those things were, they're gone.

I have no idea where they went.

That's really good, Tommy.

Is that you?

- Who's that? - That's her.

Tommy, tell John what you told me, about what we saw in your room tonight.

Those are the monsters that hurt my mommy.

But my dad says I'm not supposed to talk about it.

This is my house. Why do I have to sit here?

- Tell me what we're dealing with. - (Con/on stammers)

Don't tell me you don't know, because you're not gonna like what happens next.

These things were in the room with your son and you knew it. You held the door shut!

You wanna see something, look at that. Look at that.

That's what they did to me.

They almost killed me one time before.

They? What are they? Some kind of animal? What?

All I know is that they won't leave us alone and I'm dealing with this the best way I can.

- Now it's too late. - How's that?

They mean to kill every one of you, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

Oh, come on. You saw what happens.

You think you've killed one and then it becomes two.

I don't think Mr Conlon is telling us the whole truth.

- No kidding. - I mean, I think you can kill them.

Because I don't know what else he would have been burying when we showed up.

You've gotta be kidding. I can't believe you're cutting up a dead cat on your kitchen table.

Will you keep your voice down, please? You're gonna wake my baby.

This... this just isn't right.

Can you clue me in here as to why the cat's so important?

Because it would seem that poor Spanky here may have chewed a hole in his own stomach.

Which, you'll admit, is unusual behaviour.

You mean... he killed himself?

Just like his owner, Mrs Conlon, stabbed herself with a knife.

The wounds are in the same place.

And if we figure out why,

well, then, you'll have something really good to share with your friend Leyla Harrison.

True that.

Can you hold the ribs open while I grab that, please? Just...

Now.

Thank you.

Agent Scully.

This is Sheriff Jack Coogan. I got a message to call this number.