The X-Files Origins--Devil's Advocate

by Jonathan Maberry

  “It sounds … amazing.”

  She took his hand and shook it, and for the first time the clouds that had gathered in her life seemed to split open and let clean, clear sunlight spill down.

  “Be strong and be patient,” he advised. Sunlight gave her hand a final pump, and then he slid out of the booth and walked out of the store.

  Dana watched him go, feeling her heart swell with admiration for him. He was like her mentor, sure, but more than that. Much more. Why hadn’t her own father offered her that kind of love, trust, and support?

  Her thoughts were interrupted by Corinda’s voice speaking to a customer on the other side of the partition.

  “Yes, I’m happy to help the sheriff’s department in any way I can.”

  Dana half turned in her seat to listen. The customer was gushing about how wonderful it was that Corinda was using her gifts to help the town. Corinda was eating it up.

  Then something occurred to Dana, and it made her blood run cold. She could hear everything that was said at the café register. The partition was, after all, nothing more than a piece of colored canvas over a wooden frame. And if she could hear Corinda have a conversation, what could Corinda hear from the booth behind her?

  Dana thought back to the times she and Melissa had been here, and everything they’d talked about. Dana’s visions, the angel, seeing Maisie in dreams and at school, the reaction of the teachers and other students …

  Pretty much everything.

  Every.

  Single.

  Thing.

  Before she knew it, Dana was out of her booth. She all but pushed the customer away from the register and pointed an accusing finger at Corinda.

  “You lied!” she yelled.

  “What? Lower your voice,” demanded Corinda.

  “You’re a fraud,” cried Dana, her voice rising. “You’re not a psychic, and you didn’t see anything. You’re a fake and a liar.”

  “Dana, I asked you to lower your voice.”

  People in the store were looking, eyes wide, gaping at the outburst, appalled at the scene Dana was making. But Dana did not care. She wanted to crawl over the counter and punch Corinda.

  “You heard me and Melissa talking. That’s how you know so much. You’re about as psychic as a dead rat. God! How could I ever believe in someone like you? You snoop and eavesdrop, and then you pretend it’s all stuff that came to you in your visions. What a joke! You’re a slimy, backstabbing, egotistical—”

  “Shut up!” roared Corinda with such force that it shocked Dana to silence. “Shut your mouth right now and get out of my store. Get out. No, don’t say another word. Out. Out!”

  She came around the counter and pushed Dana toward the side door. Corinda was tall and strong and filled with furious anger.

  “You’re a stupid girl who doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Go on. Get out of here and never come back.”

  And then Dana was on the sidewalk, watching Corinda pull the door shut. She watched through the big picture window as the customers inside the store came hurrying over to offer comfort to Corinda and throw hateful glares out at Dana.

  CHAPTER 78

  Craiger, Maryland

  11:21 A.M.

  And so Dana headed home.

  Home.

  It should have been a beacon of hope promising an oasis of calm and of acceptance. As if. She trudged along the street, dragging behind her the wreckage of too many things. Despite Sunlight’s encouraging words, Dana had to think about everything that had happened at Beyond Beyond.

  That she was right about Corinda being a phony seemed beyond question. Everything that Corinda had said on TV and to her in their “sessions” could have come from things Dana said at the store. Maybe there were some things from Dana’s session in the Chrysalis Room, but at this point Dana wouldn’t have put it past Corinda to have bugged Sunlight’s room. Maybe that was her whole thing—stealing information and insights from the people who trusted her. She was always gossiping in the store. Was that how she picked out details about the regular customers?

  Every fiber of Dana’s being screamed yes.

  It saddened her as much as it made her angry. She’d trusted Corinda, and she’d trusted Corinda’s abilities as a true psychic. Now so much was a lie.

  Not all of it, whispered her inner voice. Sunlight is real. Believe in him.

  She did, but even that felt fragile as spun glass.

  Halfway home Dana saw a figure running toward her. Even from three blocks away she knew that run, knew that wild, curly, bouncing ponytail.

  “Missy,” murmured Dana, and there was a catch in her throat. She broke into a run to meet her sister, knowing that somehow they’d both cut through whatever tangle of knots had snared them last night. But as they closed on each other, Dana could see that there was something wrong. Melissa wasn’t smiling. This wasn’t going to be a happy reunion. She was scowling. Her face was twisted into a mask of pure anger and resentment.

  “What’s wrong with you?” cried Melissa from half a block away.

  Dana skidded to a stop. “What are you…?”

  “She called Mom and she was crying on the phone, Dana,” said Melissa with real heat as she slowed to a walk. “How could you do that to her? How could you say those things?”

  “Corinda called home?” asked Dana, shocked by the news.

  “Of course she did. Corinda cares about you. She’s worried that you’re going to do something stupid.”

  “Like what? Tell everyone that she’s a phony and a liar?”

  “No, she’s afraid you’re going to fly to pieces and maybe hurt yourself.”

  The two sisters stood facing each other, both of them flushed and angry, fists balled, eyes bright.

  “She’s a liar,” Dana repeated.

  “And you’re an idiot. You had no right to say those horrible things to her in front of all her customers. She was so upset, and Mom had to calm her down. It’s awful. I never thought you could be this mean.”

  “You’re going to take her word over—”

  “Over yours? Yeah, I guess I am. Who wouldn’t? I heard about your drug test, Dana. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. After all this, who would believe anything you say?” Melissa pointed toward home. “You should be lucky Mom took that call and not Dad. You were supposed to come home right from school. Mom called the office, and they pulled me out of class to go look for you. You’ll be lucky if your suspension doesn’t turn into you getting completely kicked out. Mom wants me to bring you home if I have to tie you up and carry you.”

  Dana opened her mouth.

  “I don’t want to hear it,” snapped Melissa. “Mom said she won’t tell Dad if you come home right now.”

  And there it was. No options, no way out. And no allies, even in her own sister.

  Melissa turned and began heading home, fists still balled, shoulders rigid with anger. Dana followed like a prisoner going to the guillotine.

  CHAPTER 79

  Scully Residence

  11:35 A.M.

  Mom cried a lot. She asked the same questions everyone else had asked her. Dana repeated the same answers, but now it was like she was repeating lines in a script. Mom sent her to her room. No calls, no anything.

  Later, though, there was a knock on the door, and when Dana opened it, she found a tray of food on the floor and heard Mom’s footsteps on the stairs, retreating quickly so she didn’t have to engage. It was horrible.

  Dana slammed the door on the tray and sat on her bed all day and into the evening. Dad came home but did not come upstairs. Charlie played alone with toy spaceships in the front yard below Dana’s window. Melissa turned on her stereo and played very loud, very tragic music.

  When Dana heard the front door creak open, she listened and heard Mom and Dad on the porch, talking quietly. Mom sobbed every once in a while.

  That was the opportunity Dana was waiting for. She opened her door very quietly and crept into the hall. Melissa’s music was l
oud enough to provide good cover while Dana lifted the phone receiver and dialed a number.

  Ethan answered on the sixth ring.

  “I need to talk with you,” said Dana.

  “Yeah, I figured you’d call with everything that’s going on,” he said. “But it’s going to have to be quick, because Uncle Frank just went to the store. He’ll be back any minute.”

  “Ethan, I…”

  “No, let me talk first,” said Ethan. “First, I’m really sorry about what happened. I didn’t say things right.”

  “It’s okay,” she said.

  “No,” said Ethan, “it’s not. I don’t know how to talk to girls, and I really like you. I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  She cleared her throat. “I like you, too, Ethan, and it is okay.”

  “Thanks. Look, I just hope you know this isn’t your fault.”

  “No, it’s Corinda’s fault.”

  “Huh?” he said.

  “Screwing up what we were doing. She heard me talking to Melissa, and that’s where she got all the stuff to say.”

  “Dana, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about what happened tonight. I thought that was why you called.”

  “What do you mean? I’m confused. I … I was afraid and … wanted to make sure you were okay and to see if your uncle came down on you. So … are you okay?”

  “Me?” Ethan said. “Wait, you didn’t call about Karen?”

  “No, why should I? Karen’s safe now. Angelo’s in jail and—”

  “Dana, don’t you even watch the news?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It’s all they’re talking about. They just broke the story an hour ago. They found Karen Allenby in the school soccer field. Dana … she’s been murdered.”

  CHAPTER 80

  Scully Residence

  8:35 P.M.

  Dana slammed the phone down and ran to Melissa’s door. She knocked but there was no answer, so she tried the knob, and the door opened. Melissa was on her bed with her feet propped up on the wall, ankles crossed. She turned her head with a great show of uninterest.

  “Go away,” Melissa said.

  “Listen to me,” barked Dana. “Someone just killed Karen Allenby.”

  Melissa swung her legs over and stood up, eyes wide. “What?”

  “It’s true, it’s on the news. Ethan told me.”

  “How? Wait, you called him?”

  “Yes, I called him. So what? Karen’s dead. Don’t you understand what that means?”

  “I—”

  Dana grabbed Melissa by the upper arms. “If Angelo’s in jail, then he couldn’t have done it. It means Corinda was lying. It means this is Corinda’s fault. She got the cops to arrest Angelo instead of looking for the real killer. God, how could I be so stupid? I should have done something about this.”

  Melissa looked as dazed as if she had been hit by a stun gun. “Was it another car accident?”

  “No,” said Dana. “She was stabbed on the soccer field.”

  The horror of that—both the way Karen was killed and where she was killed—sucked all the air out of the room.

  “We have to call Corinda,” gasped Melissa. “Maybe Angelo had an accomplice and she can find out who it is. She’ll help us and—”

  “Gah, you’re useless,” growled Dana.

  She shoved Melissa back onto the bed, spun on her heel, and ran from the room. She was halfway down the stairs when she realized that her parents were still on the porch. Then a figure stepped out of the shadows of the den. Gran. Smiling a strange and distant smile.

  “You used to like to ride your bike, Margaret dear,” asked Gran. “Why don’t you ride your bike anymore?”

  Dana blinked. “Bike? Great idea. Thanks, Gran.”

  She kissed her grandmother and took a step toward the backyard, but the old woman caught her arm and held her with surprising strength.

  “Be careful, Dana Katherine Scully. So many people love you. So many people need you. Even some you haven’t met yet.”

  “What?”

  The clutching hand lost its strength and Gran gave her an empty smile. “You always loved your bike.”

  She let go and wandered back into the darkened den. Dana wanted to ask her what she meant, but there wasn’t time, so she headed out the back door, grabbed a heavy hood-sweater off a peg by the door, took her bike from where it stood against the shed, and walked it quickly through the gate and down the back alley. She mounted it when she reached the cross street, and then she bore down and flew into the night.

  It took no time at all to reach Main Street, and she cut right and raced in and out of traffic. It was after nine and there were only a few cars. She saw the sign for Beyond Beyond ahead of her. The window lights were off, and her heart sank, but as she skidded to a stop, Dana saw Corinda inside, standing beneath a single light, totaling the front register. Dana dropped her bike in the middle of the pavement and jerked open the door.

  “Sorry, we’re closed,” said Corinda without looking up.

  “Believe me,” said Dana, “I’m not here to have my aura read.”

  Corinda looked up. “What are you doing here?”

  “That’s what I’m here to ask you,” Dana fired back. “Did you hear the news?”

  “What news? Did you go to the TV people to say that it’s all you and that I’m nothing but a fraud? Isn’t that the story you’re telling people?”

  “I want to punch you right now. No. I mean the news about Karen Allenby.”

  Corinda sighed impatiently. “What about her?”

  Dana leaned on the counter and shouted it in Corinda’s face. “Karen’s dead! Someone killed her, and it wasn’t Angelo Luz, because he’s in jail thanks to you.”

  “No…,” said Corinda in a tiny voice. “No, that’s impossible.”

  “Why? Because you’re this big, infallible psychic? Because you’re Corinda Howell and you can’t be wrong? Well, guess what? All that psychic stuff is pure crap, and you know it. You’re nothing. No, I’m wrong about that. You’re responsible for Karen. Because of you, the cops stopped looking for who really killed everyone, and now Karen’s dead and it’s on you.”

  “No, no, I told them what I knew.… This is wrong. It can’t be true.”

  “What made you so sure it was Angelo anyway?”

  “All the signs point to him, Dana.”

  “Signs? Signs? How about facts? How about evidence?”

  “Belief does not require proof,” said Corinda sagely, “not in the presence of true intuition.”

  “Are you out of your mind?”

  “You don’t understand.…”

  “Understand what? You’re saying you don’t really have proof that Angelo is the killer? You told the police he was. You somehow convinced them.”

  “And what did he do? He ran away. I think that’s proof enough.”

  “No it’s not!” roared Dana. “All you do is lie and make excuses and hurt people, Corinda. What’s wrong with you? Are you hiding something else? Is that it?” Dana pounded her fist on the counter. “Is that what this is all about? Are you the one who’s helping the killer? Or are you the one selling that stupid Eclipse stuff? Is that what you put in my tea so I’d freak out? What did Angelo do to you? Did he know you were dealing drugs out of here and you lied about him to get him out of the way? I’ll bet that’s it.”

  “No, no, no, no, no, no!” babbled Corinda.

  “Are you dealing drugs out of here? Did you slip me some Eclipse?”

  “Don’t be absurd.”

  “I’m serious as a heart attack, Corinda. They found it in my blood, and now I’m wondering if you used it to spike my tea.”

  “I would never do something like that, Dana, I swear,” said Corinda, backing away so that her shoulders hit the partition hard enough to knock it from its hooks. It crashed down to the floor, exposing the booth behind it. Dana thought it was a great statement about how Corinda managed her whole psychic con game.

>   “I took some of those tea bags today,” announced Dana, “and I’m going to turn them over to the cops. Then they’ll come here and arrest you and lock you away forever.”

  “I never gave you drugs. God, I would never do something like that. You’re only a kid.”

  “So was Karen. So were Maisie, Todd, Jeffrey, Chuck, and the others. We were all kids and you tore us apart. Maybe you didn’t hold the knife, but it’s all your fault. And you tried to blame poor Angelo.”

  “Angelo’s a monster,” snapped Corinda. “He’s always sneaking around. Always listening at doors and sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. He knew every single one of the kids who died. Did you know that? No, I bet you didn’t. They all came here for classes, and I saw Angelo talking to each and every one of them, one time or another. That’s how he targeted them. He was using this store—my sacred space—to select his victims. If anyone slipped you Eclipse here, it was him. He has to be the one who did this.”

  “He’s in jail.”

  Suddenly, the store lights went out and the whole place was plunged into darkness. Dana and Corinda both screamed.

  Then there was a sound behind them, and a figure stepped out of the darkness in the back of the store, his face lit by weak light that slanted in through the windows. He was broad and muscular, and his clothes were streaked with blood.

  “Angelo…?” whispered Corinda as she stepped out from behind the counter.

  Angelo took another step forward, and now the light glittered off the sharp knife he held in one bloody fist.

  CHAPTER 81