The Loop

Chapter Two

There's a blinding white light. Scully tries to open her eyes, but resorts to a squint, bringing her hand up to shield her eyes from the bright light. She blinks a few times and stares at the ground, letting her eyes adjust. Once she is sure the light won't hurt her, Scully removes her hand from her eyes and looks around, blinking a few more times. Her surroundings are unfamiliar. She sees people walking all around, not really taking any notice of her. She then notices a racing track, some tall bleachers, and a few concession stands. Though confused, Scully quickly notices that Mulder isn't next to her.

"Mulder?" she calls out, looking around as she waits for a reply, which doesn't come. Starting to panic, she takes a step forward, yelling out his name again. "Mulder!"

"Scully!" she hears from behind. She quickly turns around to see Mulder a few yards away from her, squinting at the brightness just as she had been. She rushes over to him.

"Mulder, where are we?" Scully asks, her mind immediately searching for answers.

"I think we're at the racing track."

"How did we get here?" she asks, slightly shaking her head in confusion. Mulder pauses and looks around, as if searching for the answer.

"I don't know." he finally responds.

"Well then, that makes two of us." Looking around once more, Scully turns her gaze back to Mulder, who was staring at the bleachers.

"I don't see any police." he notes. Scully looked at the bleachers, noticing as well.

"Huh. Maybe they cleaned up quickly. We may have to go to the station." she says, giving him a pointed look. Mulder shook his head.

"I think we should check first, you know, make sure there isn't anyone waiting for us. They knew we were on our way here." Scully tilted her head in agreement.

"Okay. Let's go see."

Scully and Mulder made their way towards the bleachers, yet still didn't see a single police officer on their way there. They didn't even see a regular guard. As they reached the area behind the bleachers where the man had supposedly landed, there was no sign that someone had ever fallen there. There was no ruffle in the dirt, no imprint from the body, not even a speck of blood.

"You'd think that there'd be more of a mess." Mulder stated, Scully nodding in agreement. The two continued to look around for any sign of the suicide, or even an officer, but still turned up with nothing.

Scully was staring at the ground, searching for anything, a scuff even, when Mulder spoke out, sounding slightly alarmed.

"Scully," he called. She turned to see Mulder looking up, and when she saw what he was looking at, she could barely believe her eyes. Up at the top of the bleachers stood a man on the outer side of the railing, looking down at the ground right in front of him as he held on, a look of terror on his face.

"Oh my god." Scully started, breaking the two out of their shocked trances, and suddenly Mulder was running to the other side of the bleachers, Scully immediately following right behind him.

The two agents ran up the bleachers as quickly as they could, miraculously not running into anyone as they scrambled to the top, calling out to the man. They were just a few feet away when the man let go, falling forward and out of their view. With a sudden boost of energy, Scully and Mulder finally reached the top of the bleachers, though it was already too late. They stood there, looking down at the man's body, breathing heavily as a result of their hurry. The two couldn't believe their eyes. They had not only just witnessed a suicide, but one that seemed exactly like the description of the one they had been called in to investigate just a few hours earlier.

They stared down at the man's lifeless body, watching as blood began to seep out from under him, filling in every crack in the ground and pooling around him. Scully and Mulder were frozen. They couldn't think of what to do. They continued to stare in terror and confusion, when suddenly, everything went black. ​​​​​​​