MRS KERNOF: Good Evening, Father.

FATHER MCCUE: Is she ready?

MRS KERNOFF: Yes.

(He enters.)

(Later, FATHER MCCUE is pouring a flask of water into a metal basin.)

FATHER MCCUE: Baptism is the rite of initiation. This holy water takes away original sin. The sacrament confers the grace of god … bringing the soul into God’s family.

(MR and MRS KERNOF go to their wheelchair bound daughter, DARA who is physically very handicapped. MR KERNOF holds DARA as she is baptized. DARA reacts as the water touches her face.)

FATHER MCCUE: Dara, I baptize you in the name of the Father … and of the Son … and of the Holy Spirit. Bless you my child.

(MR and MRS KERNOF are very happy.)

(Later. The KERNOFS are in bed. The storm is much worse. DARA gets out of bed. She has six toes on each foot. MR KERNOF hears a noise. He gets out of bed.)

MR KERNOF: Dara?

(He goes into DARA’S room. Her bed is empty. He looks out the window and sees her stumbling down the street outside)

MR KERNOF Oh, my God.

(Outside, DARA approaches a figure dressed in black. She falls to her knees and raises her hands as if in prayer.)

MR KERNOF: (running toward them) Dara?! Dara!

(There is a very bright flash of light. The dark figure is gone.)

MR KERNOF: Dara! Dara?

(He reaches DARA. She is dead, frozen in the position of prayer. Her eyes have been burned out. Crying, MR KERNOF holds her.)

MR KERNOF: Oh … Oh, God. Oh, my God. Dara! No! Noooo!

(Camera pulls away until the telephone pole hides the father and daughter behind the shape of a cross.)

ST JOHN’S CHURCH
ALEXANDRIA, VA
(SCULLY enters church. She looks around for a moment and at a picture of EMILY. One other woman is there, praying. SCULLY goes to a confession booth.)

SCULLY: Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been several months since my last confession.

PRIEST: You have a sin to confess?

SCULLY: Father, I’m an FBI agent. I’ve taken it as my code and purpose to uphold the law …
to save lives.

PRIEST: And now your work has come in conflict with your faith.

SCULLY: In a way. I was here for Easter services last week and Father McCue approached me for my help.

PRIEST: Why did he come to you?

SCULLY: Because there was a family that he felt needed my help. But it was more than that. Father, I had a daughter who died … A strange and sudden death several months ago.

PRIEST: Father McCue thought that by helping these people you might in some way help yourself to come to terms with your grief.

SCULLY: Yes.

PRIEST: But you haven’t.

SCULLY: (crying) Father, I told you that I had a sin to confess … But the sin of which I’m guilty … I’m not sure if you can offer forgiveness.

PRIEST: What is the sin?

SCULLY: An innocent girl is dead because of me. I could’ve saved her life, but I let her die.

FATHER MCCUE: Dana … Do you have a moment? I’d like to speak with you in private.

(Later, in FATHER MCCUE’S office.)

FATHER MCCUE: I must say, Dana, it’s been nice seeing you at mass again. I’ve almost started getting used to it.

SCULLY: I’ve been trying to make an effort to come more often.

FATHER MCCUE: I don’t mean to take advantage of your attendance, but I’ve become involved in a difficult situation with a couple that are also members here. Do you know the Kernofs?

SCULLY: No, I’m afraid I don’t.

FATHER MCCUE: Recently, they lost their daughter, Dara. You may have heard about the situation?

SCULLY: No, I didn’t.

FATHER MCCUE: The circumstances of the girl’s death were sudden and I’m afraid the police haven’t been able to tell them much.

SCULLY: Are you asking for my help?

FATHER MCCUE: The Kernofs are devout but their faith is giving them little comfort. I thought with your background your words might carry a certain weight. Can I tell them you’ll be visiting?

MRS KERNOFF: (showing picture of DARA) That’s Dara on her 16th birthday. We couldn’t have children of our own. I persuaded Lance six years ago to adopt. At first he was reluctant to accept a special needs child, but he became so attached to her. Then this happens. You make the choice never imagining something like this or how vulnerable you are. Dara had just been baptized. I know in my heart she’s gone to a better place, but Lance is angry. Angry at God. They say time heals.

(SCULLY looks over at MR KERNOF.)

SCULLY: Oh, Father McCue said that, uh, that you’ve been having trouble getting much information about what might have happened to her.

MRS KERNOFF: They say now she may have been struck by lightening but no one seems to know for sure. How she even got out of the house onto the street is a mystery.

SCULLY: What do you mean?

MRS KERNOFF: Dara suffered from congenital spinal deformities. She’s been wheelchair bound her whole life.

SCULLY: Could somebody have taken her out of her room?

MRS KERNOFF: Lance said he saw her walking and that when he found her she was on her knees, praying. I think that’s the hardest part for my husband. He’ll never understand how God could … forsake the life of an innocent girl. How God, in His mercy could let this happen to our Dara.

CUT TO:
(Confessional. Present)

SCULLY: Mrs. Kernof was talking about her husband, but she might as well have been talking about me.

PRIEST: You, too, were angry at God?

SCULLY: I felt drawn to these people, Father … in a very personal way. I was determined to help them understand why their daughter had been taken.

PRIEST: And did you?

SCULLY: As much as I have my faith, Father, I am a scientist trained to weigh evidence…
but science only teaches us how … not why.

CORONER: If you want me to stand by my report, I will, but I have to say it’s not exactly open and shut on the cause of death.

SCULLY: You think it was lightning?

CORONER: I’m guessing it was lightning, The way her eyes were burned suggests the bolt may have gone to ground right through the top of her head. Funny thing is there was no other sign of arcing except for the face.

SCULLY: Her mother said that she was found in a kneeling position.

CORONER: Genuflecting. Are you a religious person?

SCULLY: Why do you ask?

CORONER: I haven’t been to church since I was a kid, but I went last Sunday. I’m going to show you something. (Shows pictures of DARA’S body.) Her body was rigored such that I had to do my examination in the position she was found. I’ve never seen anything like it.

(One of the close-up pictures show a scar on the outside of DARA’S hand.)

SCULLY: Looks like there was surgery done on her hands.

CORONER: She was polydactyl. Same with her feet. I haven’t asked her parents yet. Haven’t had the heart to, but I assume they had the extra fingers removed.

SCULLY: What’s the connection?

CORONER: I found no other evidence of any other tissue damage of electrical burns or any other serious trauma. It’s as if God Himself struck her down.

SCULLY: Dara Kernof was adopted. I don’t suppose that you’ve requested any information about the birth mother.

CORONER: I can do that if you like.

SCULLY: No, that’s okay. I, uh … I have someone I can ask. Somebody I’d like to confer with, actually.

(A man gets out of a silver Cutlass Ciera. There is an upside-down cross pendant hanging from the rearview mirror.)

(Inside. FATHER GREGORY and an ORDERLY are walking down a hall.)

ORDERLY: Koklos … Koklos … Paula Koklos, room 213. We’ll get her things packed up and get you on your way.

(The ORDERLY begins to unlock the door. Inside the room, PAULA KOKLOS, identical to DARA KERNOF, is looking out the window. At the sound of the key in the lock she jumps then begins crawling across the floor. She has six fingers on each hand.)

STARKEY: (running down the hall) Hold it! Just hold it. Are you Father Gregory?

FATHER GREGORY: Yes.

STARKEY: I’m Aaron Starkey with the Department of Social Services. I am very sorry but we’ve had a mix-up.

FATHER GREGORY: What are you talking about?

STARKEY: Your adoption petition for Paula Koklos. It’s missing an approval.

ORDERLY: I’ve got the court order right here.

STARKEY: Well, that’s the mix-up. See, it never should have gone to family court without getting an approval from the social worker assigned to the case, and that’s me.

FATHER GREGORY: Give it to me here then and we’ll be on our way.

STARKEY: No. I can’t, at least not yet. I’ve just been assigned to Paula, so I’ll need time to familiarize myself with her case…

FATHER GREGORY: Look, I’ve already been through all this. I’m here to take the girl home.

STARKEY: I’m sorry, Father, but you’ll have to wait … until I can get the paperwork in order.

(FATHER GREGORY walks away, stiffly.)

SCULLY: (on phone) Hello?

(MULDER is in a phone booth dressed very casually throughout the ep. Rain is very heavy.)

MULDER: (on phone, impatient) Hey, Scully. I’m returning your call. (checks his watch)

SCULLY: (on phone) Hi .. uh, something’s come up. I was, uh, hoping that you could do me a favor.

MULDER: (on phone) Why? What’s going on?

SCULLY: (on phone) This isn’t official FBI business so I was hoping that we could keep it outside of work.

MULDER: (on phone) Hey, look, I’m, uh … I’m kind of tailing a possible suspect right now, so I’m kind of rushed, so, uh …

(Through the window of MULDER’S phone booth you can see neon pink - XXX.)

SCULLY: (on phone) I need some birth and adoptive records on a Dara Kernof.

MULDER: (on phone) Who?

SCULLY: (on phone) Dara Kernof. I can’t tell you much more than that, Mulder. I’m sorry.

MULDER: (on phone) You want to give me a hint? Anything?

SCULLY: (on phone) Not until you get me those records.

MULDER: (on phone) All right, I’ll talk to you later.

(MULDER hangs up and runs back into movie theatre - Marquee says- 6 PM AND 11 PM -
A DECADE OF DIRTY DELINQUENTS)

(A figure walks down hall to PAULA’S room and stands in her doorway. PAULA raises her hands in prayer. There is a very bright flash of light.)

(Commercial)

MULDER: Scully? Aren’t you the secret squirrel.

SCULLY: What so you mean?

MULDER: Just got a look at that body they wheeled out of here. You’ve been holding out on me.

SCULLY: Mulder, it’s not what you think. I - I didn’t want to involve you. I got asked to look into this as a favor for a family.

MULDER: Dara Kernof’s family?

(MULDER begins pacing.)

SCULLY: You found Dara’s records?

MULDER: No, those are her birth records. The adoption records have been sealed.

SCULLY: I think one of my questions has already been answered. Dara was a twin.

MULDER: No. Actually she was a quadruplet – one of four girls. Was this, uh … cross found like this?

SCULLY: Uh, yes, as far as I know. Why?

MULDER: It’s inverted. Upside down. That’s a protest, a sacrilege against the church.

SCULLY: Put there by whom?

MULDER: It’s your case, remember, Scully? Do you have any suspects?

SCULLY: Not as of this time.

MULDER: Could the, uh, the victim have placed it?

SCULLY: Uh, it’s doubtful. Paula Koklos was severely impaired -- physically and mentally – as was Dara Kernof.

MULDER: And they both died the same way?

SCULLY: It appears that their eyes were burnt out. Their bodies frozen in a position of prayer.

MULDER: Their physical deformities could account for that.

SCULLY: They might.

MULDER: Look, Scully. I know you don’t really want my help on this, but can I offer you my professional opinion? (SCULLY nods.) You’ve got a bona-fide, super-crazy, religious wacko on your hands.

SCULLY: What makes you so sure?

MULDER: The mote in the eye, the eyes as windows to the soul, an eye for an eye – he’s working from ancient scripture … ancient text … Maybe even the Bible. He may even think he’s doing God’s work.

STARKEY: (entering) Did you find anything? My name is Aaron Starkey. I’m the social worker assigned to Paula Koklos. This is so tragic. I just hope you catch whoever did this.

SCULLY: Mr. Starkey, do you happen to know if that cross over there belonged to Paula?

STARKEY: I don’t remember seeing it before. I’m sure it didn’t.

SCULLY: Did she have any visitors or anybody who might have left it behind?

STARKEY: Well, she had no family. No friends, really. I don’t know if you knew this, but… Paula was about to be adopted.

SCULLY: By who?

(MULDER and SCULLY drive up to The Church of St. Peter the Sinner. The name of the church is prefaced by an upside down cross. They enter the church. It looks like an old warehouse, very simple. Folding chairs set up as pews. Someone watches them from under the stairs. MULDER finds a plainly bound book: The Book of St. Peter the Sinner. It has an upside-down cross. He turns the book upside down, looks at the cross, then turns it right-side up.

MULDER: Scully, look at this. (Begins thumbing through it.) The Gnostic Gospels, Book of Enoch … Book of J … Apocrypha … I’m surprised there’s nothing here from "Jesus Christ Superstar".

SCULLY: What kind of church is this?

MULDER: There’s no telling.

FATHER GREGORY: (entering) Can I help you?

SCULLY: Father Gregory?

FATHER GREGORY: Yes?

SCULLY: I’m Dana Scully. We’re here about the death of Paula Koklos.

FATHER GREGORY: (reacts to the news with shock) Oh …

SCULLY: Are you all right, Father?

FATHER GREGORY: I was trying to adopt Paula. I’m sure you knew that.

MULDER: (suspicious) We hear you were very anxious to do so.

FATHER GREGORY: I … I hope to God you’re not suggesting I had something to do with it.

MULDER: Why adopt her?

FATHER GREGORY: You think I was interested in harming her?

MULDER: Why adopt her?

FATHER GREGORY: I - I was trying to protect her. I knew her mother.

SCULLY: Do you know where she is?

FATHER GREGORY: Yes.

SCULLY: We were looking for her name. It’s not listed on the girls’ birth records.

FATHER GREGORY: Why would you want it?

SCULLY: The other two girls may be in danger. We’re hoping that she might be able to help is find them.

FATHER GREGORY: Their mother died in childbirth.

(SCULLY looks to MULDER who says nothing.)

SCULLY: Can you give us a name?

FATHER GREGORY: When I was a priest in the Roman Church, before I founded my own, I was her confessor. Divulging her name would violate the code of my faith …(he looks at SCULLY’S cross necklace) … and yours, I see.

MULDER: You said you wanted to protect Paula. From what?

FATHER GREGORY: Whatever your intentions … your secular prejudices blind you from seeing what’s really happening here. Two girls are dead … not by the hand of Man. Unless you accept the truth of God’s teachings that there is a struggle between good and evil for All Souls and that we are losing that struggle, you’re but fools rushing in. You put your own lives in danger as well as the lives of the Messengers. I have nothing more to say..

CUT TO:
(Confessional. Present.)

SCULLY: I brought Agent Mulder on the case to help temper my feelings … to keep them from clouding my judgement. I wouldn’t admit it to him, but … as we stood there, I felt as if Father Gregory were speaking directly to me … in a language only I could understand.

PRIEST: The Messengers.

SCULLY: Yes.

MULDER: I know people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, blah, blah, blah, but that guy is paranoid.

SCULLY: I think you’re a little extreme in your judgment, don’t you, Mulder?

MULDER: All that crap about the fight for All Souls, the literature we saw in there, the performance we just witnessed – it all fits. He thinks he’s doing God’s laundry.

SCULLY: Well, he said this wasn’t done by the hand of man. Do you think he believes that, too?

MULDER: If he does, he’s even more dangerous than he appears. Even if he’s not your killer, he is hiding something.

SCULLY: What?

MULDER: Well, he says he knew the mother, but won’t give up her name. Maybe she’s still alive. I think you have enough to bring him in for questioning if not make an arrest.

SCULLY: But, basically, you’re ruling out any element of the supernatural?

MULDER: (slowly) What … do … you… mean?

SCULLY: Well, Dara Kernof was baptized on the day of her death. She was sanctified by the ritual sacrament … submerged in the spirit..

MULDER: And why would God allow this to happen. Why do bad things happen to good people? Religion has masqueraded as the paranormal since the dawn of time to justify some of the most horrible acts in history.

SCULLY: I was raised to believe that God has His reasons, however mysterious.

MULDER: He may well have His reasons but He seems to use a lot of psychotics to carry out His job orders. You want to find out who did this? I suggest you autopsy the body of Paula Koklos before it’s interred, before the man who killed her has a chance to find her sisters. (Gets in driver's side of the car.)

SCULLY: The victim is Paula Koklos, age 16, cause of death unknown. I’ll begin with the external examination. (Pulls back sheet to show PAULA’S burned eyes. PAULA has six fingers on each hand) Victim has signs of congenital physical defects including four supernumerary digits. The only indications of external trauma are the burning … by means unknown, of both globes of the eyes. (feels a lump on the shoulder) I’m noting something on the shoulder – a bony process of some kind, possibly a tumerous mass. No- no indication of surgical procedure. (looks at x-ray) The mass appears on both the right and left clavicle.

(When SCULLY looks back at the table, she sees EMILY lying there, looking at her. SCULLY closes her eyes. When she opens them again she sees PAULA staring back at her.)

SCULLY: (quietly) Oh, God. (turns away)

EMILY: Mommy?

(SCULLY turns in shock to see EMILY speaking to her.)

EMILY: Mommy, please.

(SCULLY, beginning to cry, puts her hand over her mouth and turns away. When she turns back, Paula is there again. SCULLY tries to get control of herself.)

CUT TO:
(Confessional. Present.)

SCULLY: I told myself that it was all in my head … a hallucination brought on by my emotional connection to the case.

PRIEST: That would seem to be a reasonable explanation.

SCULLY: But that’s not what it was, Father. I was meant to see Emily … for a purpose.

PRIEST: Which was?

SCULLY: To save these girls.

MULDER: (on phone, voice) Hey, Scully, it’s me. I did a little more digging on those adoption records.

SCULLY: (on phone) What do you mean?

MULDER: (on phone, driving slowly - in sunglasses) I think I got a lead on that third sister.

SCULLY: (on phone) Where?

MULDER: (on phone) She was under county care ten years ago. Apparently, she wandered into a teen crisis center here in DC last week, homeless. That guy over at, uh, social services, Starkey – he’s helping me canvas the area. (Stops the car and begins walking, followed by STARKEY.)

SCULLY: (on phone) Well, Mulder, if she shares anything with her sisters, she wouldn’t be walking anywhere far.

MULDER: (on phone) What did you find?

SCULLY: (on phone) There’s evidence of a progressive degenerative bone disease and, uh, I know you’re going to think that I’m crazy … but I swear I found evidence of something winglike.

(MULDER looks in a silver Cutlass Ciera that has an upside down cross hanging from the rearview mirror.)

MULDER: (on phone) Well, then, maybe she flew here, Scully.

SCULLY: (on phone, voice) Mulder, there’s something else …

MULDER: (on phone) Why don’t you hold that thought and tell it to me and Father Gregory when you see us?

(STARKEY goes into a fenced off area. MULDER hangs up and goes after him.)

(Another girl, identical to DARA and PAULA, stumbles into a room in an abandoned building. A dark figure follows her into the room. She raises her hands in prayer. There is a very bright flash of light.)

(MULDER enters the building. No sign of STARKEY. MULDER sees a figure at the end of a hall and pulls out his gun. It is FATHER GREGORY.)

MULDER: Stop right there! Move into the light. Move into the light. Hands where I can see them!

FATHER GREGORY: We’re too late.

(MULDER pushes FATHER GREGORY against the wall, roughly.)

MULDER: Where’s the girl?

FATHER GREGORY: She’s dead.

MULDER: Where is she?

FATHER GREGORY: In there.

(MULDER slowly pushes open a door and enters. The girl sits in a position of prayer. Her eyes are burned out. MULDER looks up suddenly as a bird flies up and out through a grate in the roof.)

MULDER: What are you asking for, Father? Mercy or forgiveness? You know they say when you talk to God it’s prayer, but when God talks to you, it’s schizophrenia. What is your God telling you, Father?

FATHER GREGORY: I pray for the girls’ souls.

MULDER: You pray for their souls now. That’s convenient.

FATHER GREGORY: I’m immune to your mockery. You’re not interested in the truth.

MULDER: I am only interested in the truth. I would like to know why you did what you did to three defenseless, helpless young girls. What in your sick mind would possess you to burn their eyes out! Did they see you for who you are, like I do? (Pushes upside down cross pendant toward him.) What does this mean, Father?

FATHER GREGORY: (to SCULLY) Tell him what it is.

(MULDER looks at SCULLY. SCULLY hesitates.)

FATHER GREGORY: St Peter. You know the story. St Peter on the cross.

SCULLY: St. Peter would only be crucified upside-down out of humility towards Christ.

FATHER GREGORY: I’ve risked my life to protect their precious souls, which the devil has sought to claim for his own. He took two before I could reach them. I was too late to save the third.

(GUARD enters.)

GUARD: Agents Mulder and Scully?

(MULDER leaves, SCULLY following slowly.)

FATHER GREGORY: (to SCULLY) You know. You’ve already guessed … what they are. The last one is still out there. The Devil is here and if he finds her, his victory will be complete.

MULDER: (reentering) Scully, they think they’ve found the fourth girl.

FATHER GREGORY: As long as I’m in here, there’s no one to protect her. Let me go … or she will die.

CUT TO:
(Confessional. Present.)

PRIEST: You believed him.

SCULLY: Yes.

PRIEST: But you didn’t tell your colleague.

SCULLY: He believed that he could find the last girl. But I already knew that I was meant to save her.

PRIEST: From what?

SCULLY: I wasn’t sure. Father Gregory said that the Devil claimed the lives of the first three girls.

PRIEST: You don’t believe that.

SCULLY: I know now that Father Gregory was mistaken. The Devil didn’t take their souls, but the threat to those girls was real. And Father Gregory gave his life to protect them.

MULDER: The fourth girl is Roberta Dyer. Transferred to Maryland Adoption Services in 1995 when her foster father got a job in Gaithersburg. Adoption services were called out to investigate allegations of child abuse in September of that year. Three more times in ’96, then two more times in ’97.

(SCULLY does not respond, just stares at the picture of the girl.)

MULDER: What’s wrong?

SCULLY: Father Gregory called them Messengers.

MULDER: Scully? Scully, don’t let this guy get in your head. That’s the last thing you want. Sometimes the most twisted ones are the most persuasive.

SCULLY: Mulder, he knows where she is.

MULDER: Well, that’s okay. As long as he’s locked up here, it doesn’t matter.

SCULLY: You’re not going find her. I think you’re being misled.

MULDER: By who? Scully, I think you’re the one who’s being misled. Not just willingly, but willfully. I’ve never seen you more vulnerable or susceptible or more easily manipulated and it scares me because I don’t know why.

SCULLY: I saw Emily. She came to me in a vision.

(Puts his arm around her shoulders and leans in close to her.)

MULDER: I think you should step away. Personal issues are making you lose your objectivity, clouding your judgement.

SCULLY: You go. Go find the girl. I’m going to finish up with Father Gregory.

MULDER: Okay.

(MULDER releases her shoulder, gently takes the folder and leaves.)

STARKEY: Father Gregory. Where is she, Father?

FATHER GREGORY: (seeing STARKEY) How did you get in here?

STARKEY: I will not be denied this time, Father.

FATHER GREGORY: But you took the others.

STARKEY: The others were taken from me. I will not allow that to happen again. Where is the fourth girl?

(FATHER GREGORY’S hands begin to smoke and turn red. He cries out in pain.)

STARKEY: (voice deepening) Tell me, Father. Save yourself.

SCULLY: I’d like to get back in here.

GUARD: It should be open. (He tries to unlock the door.)

SCULLY: Father Gregory? (bangs on door) Father Gregory?

(Inside the room, we see FATHER GREGORY dead. His skin is completely red and blistered.)

MULDER: We have a warrant to search the premises for your daughter.

DYER: She’s not here. I tell you, she’s out … she’s at school.

MULDER: We checked at school. She hasn’t been there in over a week. We have reason to believe that her life may be in danger. If you know something … (Tries door under stairs.) What’s behind this door?

DYER: It’s the basement.

MULDER: Well, can you unlock it?

DYER: I don’t have the key.

(MULDER gives him a look, then kicks in the door. He shines his flashlight in. Blankets and clothes and dirty dishes are strewn about. It looks like a homeless person’s corner of an alley.)

MULDER: (angry) Is this her room? Where is she, Mr. Dyer? Where is she?!

DYER: They’re going to cut off the checks, aren’t they?

MULDER: Where is she?!

DYER: He said he’d take her off my hands, but I could keep the disability.

MULDER: Who?

DYER: The priest.

MULDER: Who?!

DYER: Father Gregory.

SCULLY: (on phone) Hello?

MULDER: (on phone, voice) Yeah, hi, Scully. It’s me.

SCULLY: (on phone) He’s dead, Mulder.

MULDER: (on phone, voice) Who?

(MULDER is standing in the basement of the DYER house.)

SCULLY: (on phone) Father Gregory. They found him alone in the interrogation room. No one can figure it out. There was a guard sitting right outside the room.

(SCULLY drops her keys. She bends down to pick them up and sees a pair of legs.)

MULDER: (on phone, voice) We didn’t find her. The fourth girl – she was here.

(Speechless, SCULLY looks up slowly and sees a man’s smiling face which is backlit by a very bright light. The head begins turning, different animal faces appear.)

MULDER: (on phone, voice) Hey, Scully. Scully, you there? Answer me. Scully? Scully!

(Very bright light.)

(Commercial.)

SCULLY: Father?

FATHER MCCUE: Come in, Dana. I understand you found the man responsible for the death of those girls. I’m sure the Kernoffs will be relieved.

SCULLY: I’m not sure if they should be, Father.

FATHER MCCUE: Why not?

SCULLY: I’ve seen things. Things that have made me question if there aren’t … larger forces at work here.

FATHER MCCUE: What have you seen?

SCULLY: Visions … of my daughter Emily, for one.

FATHER MCCUE: I think that’s understandable. I’m sure you identified with the loss.

SCULLY: I considered that, um… but then I saw something last night, which I … Which I can’t explain. I saw a man … in dark clothes … but he had four faces. They weren’t human.

(FATHER MCCUE goes to a bookshelf and gets an old book. He opens it and hands it to SCULLY. There is a drawing of a figure with four animal faces and four human figures below it.)

FATHER MCCUE: Is this what you saw? It’s a Seraphim. An angel … with four faces … Those of a man, a lion, an eagle, and a bull. In the story, the angel descends from heaven and fathers four children with a mortal woman. Their offspring are the Nephilim – The "Fallen Ones." They have the souls of angels but they weren’t meant to be. They’re deformed, tormented. So the Lord sends the Seraphim to Earth to bring back the souls of the Nephilim to keep the Devil from claiming them as his own.

SCULLY: How did he bring back their souls?

FATHER MCCUE: They were smote with the brightness of his countenance. To look upon the Seraphim in all his glory is to give up one’s soul to heaven.

SCULLY: Do you think that’s what I saw?

FATHER MCCUE: No. I think what you saw is a figment of your imagination. A half-remembered story from your childhood that surfaced because of this case.

SCULLY: But I saw it, Father.

FATHER MCCUE: Dana, the Nephilim is a story. The text in which it appears isn’t even recognized by the Church.

SCULLY: Father, do you believe that … God has His reasons?

FATHER MCCUE: Yes, I’m certain of it. It’s how He rewards our faith.

STARKEY: Agent Scully? I can’t believe I found you.

SCULLY: What is it?

STARKEY: Agent Mulder’s been trying to reach you. He’s been at the station.

SCULLY: Trying to reach me for what?

STARKEY: The fourth girl – she’s at Father Gregory’s church. Come on. I’ll drive you.

SCULLY: There’s no one here.

STARKEY: They must be on their way.

(SCULLY sees horns in STARKEY’S shadow.)

STARKEY: You don’t see her in there? She’s here. I know it.

(SCULLY goes to top of stairs. The door is locked. Coming back down, she sees someone under the stairs looking up at her.)

STARKEY: Agent Scully? Did you find her? Agent Scully?

(SCULLY opens door under stairs. ROBERTA, identical to other three girls, cowers in the corner.)

SCULLY: (to ROBERTA, quietly) My name is Dana. I’m going to get you out of there, okay? I’m not going to hurt you.

(SCULLY holds out her hand. ROBERTA cautiously takes it and allows SCULLY to help her out.)

SCULLY: I’m going to take you someplace safe.

(SCULLY begins walking ROBERTA to front of the church, not towards STARKEY.)

STARKEY: Where are you going? Where are you taking her?

SCULLY: Everything’s going to be fine.

(Bright flash of light from the front of the church startles SCULLY and ROBERTA.)

STARKEY: Bring her to me! Bring her here! Bring me the girl!

(ROBERTA begins moving toward the light. SCULLY tries to hold her back.)

SCULLY: No, it’s okay. It’s all right. Stay here. It’s okay. Stay … Just stay here! It’s going to be okay.

STARKEY: Bring her out to me.

(SCULLY looks back towards STARKEY.)

EMILY: Mommy?

(SCULLY looks back to see that it is EMILY’S hand she is holding.)

EMILY: Mommy, let me go. Mommy, please let me go.

SCULLY: Emily.

STARKEY: Agent Scully, get her out of there!

EMILY: Mommy, please.

(SCULLY slowly releases EMILY’S hand and watches her walk into the light.)

SCULLY: Emily? Emily?! Oh, God.

(The light fades. ROBERTA’S dead body sits, hands raised in prayer, eyes burned. STARKEY is gone. SCULLY sits down on one of chairs.)

CUT TO:
(Confessional. Present.)

PRIEST: You believed you were releasing her soul to Heaven.

SCULLY: I felt sure of it.

PRIEST: But you still can’t reconcile this belief with the physical fact of her death?

SCULLY: No. I thought I could, Father, but I can’t.

PRIEST: Do you believe there is a life after this one?

SCULLY: Yes.

PRIEST: Are you sure?

(SCULLY tries to answer, but cannot.)

PRIEST: Has it occurred to you that maybe this, too, is part of what you were meant to understand?

SCULLY: You mean, accepting my loss?

PRIEST: Can you accept it?

SCULLY: Maybe that’s what faith is.

[THE END]