The X-Files : Squeeeze

by Ellen Steiber

1/37 Contents

Chapter One: Working Late...... 3 Chapter Two: The Fingerprint...... 5 Chapter Three: A Profile of the Killer...... 8 Chapter Four: The Lie-Detector Test...... 11 Chapter Five: Another Victim...... 14 Chapter Six: The Nest...... 20 Chapter Seven: Scully in Danger...... 25 Chapter Eight: The Hunt...... 29 Chapter Nine: The Fight...... 32 Chapter Ten: Squeeze...... 36

2/37 Chapter One: Working Late

At seven thirty p.m. the Baltimore sky was striped with a bloodred sunset. Hundreds of workers crowded the streets, hurrying to get home. On the contrary George Usher, a middle-aged businessman, was returning to his office for a long evening of work. When Usher left the elevator on the fifteenth floor of his office building, he looked at the long, silent hallways, lit with Exit signs that shone in the dark. The office felt different at night. Usher reminded himself, Nobody can get in unless they work here. He walked into his office, turned on the light, and dialled a number on his phone. An answering machine clicked on and his wife's voice asked callers to leave a message after the beep. "Hello, darling," he said. "It's about seven thirty and it looks like. I'll be here for a while. Call me back. I love you. Bye." After hanging up, Usher looked at the dark hallway outside his office. Suddenly he felt an odd tremor: it was fear! He thought that a cup of coffee would help him, so he headed for① the coffee machine. A tiny noise broke the silence the moment he left his office. High on the wall, the cover of an air vent② began to move slowly. The two screws ③holding the vent in place started to turn. First the right. Then the left. Then,

① headed for：朝着...走去。 ② air vent：通气口。 ③ screws：螺丝钉。

3/37 very slowly, long, skinny① fingertips② came out from inside the vent, pushing the cover to one side. When Usher came back with his coffee, he stopped outside his office door; he was sure that he'd left the light on inside. He went in and tried to switch on the lamp on his desk. Then, all of a sudden, the door slammed shut with an unearthly③ force. And Usher suddenly realised that he wasn't alone. Frantically④ he reached for the door. He got hold of the knob⑤ and tried to open it. But someone or something had hold of him. Usher fought in the stranger's grasp and slipped free⑥. He rolled across the desk only to feel powerful hands lock around his throat. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't make a sound as his body was raised into the air with inhuman strength. For a moment the hands left his throat and his desperate scream rang through the office as his body slammed into the door with enough force to splinter⑦ it. And then there was only silence. An hour later Usher's office was a mess⑧ and the carpet was drenched⑨ with blood. Directly above Usher's body, one of the screws in the cover of the air vent began to turn. Something inside the vent was screwing the cover back into the wall. Slowly. Victoriously.

① skinny：很瘦的。 ② fingertips：指尖。 ③ unearthly：可怕的。 ④ frantically：狂乱的。 ⑤ knob：圆形把手。 ⑥ slipped free：挣脱。 ⑦ splinter: 使裂成碎片。 ⑧ a mess：一片混乱。 ⑨ drenched：浸透。

4/37 Chapter Two: The Fingerprint

Scully was having lunch with Tom Colton, an old friend from the F.B.I. training academy, who worked for the Violent Crimes Section. He was telling her about a strange case: three murders over the last six weeks victims varying in age, gender① andrace,andnoknownconnectionsto each other. The only thing in common was the lack of entry. "One victim," Colton said, "was a college girl. She was killed in her room and when she was found, the windows wore locked and the door was chained② from the inside. The last incident was two days ago in a high- security office building. It was evening and everybody had gone home. The guy parked in the garage and took the elevator to the fifteenth floor. No one else came into the building. The guy never came out." "Could they be suicides?" asked Scully. Colton shook his head and handed Scully a photograph. "All the victims' livers have been removed - without tools." "This sounds like an X-file," said Scully. An "X-file" was what the F.B.I. called a case that involved strange happenings and unexplained phenomena. "Well, I don't know about that but I'd like you to look at the case histories and see the crime scene." When Scully went to Usher's office, Mulder was already there. The office was a mess and blood was splattered③ everywhere. "Morning," Mulder said to Scully. Fox Mulder looked incredibly young for an agent with so much

① gender：性别。 ② chained：用链子拴住。 ③ splattered：泼溅。

5/37 experience. He was a tall, thin man who wore his hair unusually long for an F.B.I. agent. Scully thought there was something a little deceptive① about Mulder's appearance. He appeared so innocent, almost boyish, until you looked into his clear hazel② eyes. That was when you realised that Fox Mulder had seen more than most people. And it had cost him. Mulder was concentrating on something shining on the carpet: he recognised some tiny metal filings③. Using tweezers④, Mulder lifted a filing and thought for a second, then looked up. High above on the wall was the metal grille⑤ that covered the office's air vent. He stood up and went to his forensic kit⑥. He took the fingerprint powder⑦, tape and brush. Then he began to powder the area surrounding the vent. A long, thin print was emerging, bit by bit. It had some of the qualities of a human fingerprint, but it was certainly not human. Mulder was sure that he'd seen those prints before. Some time later, in the basement of F.B.I. headquarters, Scully focused her attention on some slides⑧ that Mulder was showing her. There were six and each of them showed an elongated⑨ fingerprint. The prints were too longandthintobehuman. Mulder pointed to one of the slides. "This is the print I took yesterday

① deceptive：靠不住。 ② hazel：黄褐色。 ③ filings：挫屑。 ④ tweezers：镊子。 ⑤ grille：铁栅。 ⑥ forensic kit：（用以搜集犯罪证据的）整套法医工具。 ⑦ fingerprint powder：指纹粉。 ⑧ slides：幻灯片。 ⑨ elongated：拉长的。

6/37 from Usher's office," he said. "All the others are from the X-files." "How many murders are we talking about?" Scully asked. "Eleven, counting Usher," Mulder replied. "Ten murders before him. All in the Baltimore area. No point of entrance in any of them. Each victim was murdered the same way. These prints are from five of those other ten crime scenes." "Ten other murders?" Scully still couldn't believe it. Then Mulder pointed to three of the slides. "These three prints were lifted in 1963, and these two were taken in 1933." Scully's eyes widened①. "You're saying the same murderer was fit' work thirty years ago and sixty years ago?" "And ninety," Mulder said. "Unfortunately, we don't have prints for that one. Fingerprinting wasn't too common in 1903. And police records weren't very complete. But there was at least one similar murder at that time." "Of course," Scully said sarcastically②. She thought, If you leave it to Mulder, he'll come up with an absolutely unbelievable case history. Mulder ignored her tone and added: "Five murders, every thirty years. Thatmeanshe'sgottwomoretogothisyear." Scully stood up and turned away from her partner. There must be a more rational explanation, she told herself. She was a scientist, a doctor. There was no way she could believe I his.

① widened：睁大。 ② sarcastically：嘲讽的。

7/37 Chapter Three: A Profile of the Killer

At 10:00 p.m. Scully was in her apartment with her eyes fixed on the computer screen. Her notes from the case were on her desk. She'd read through Mulder's X-files and now she was writing a profile of the killer. Once again she carefully thought about Mulder's theory. And then she went ahead with her own. "After a careful review of the violent nature of these murders," she wrote, "I believe the killer to be a male, twenty-five to thirty¬ five years old. He has above-average intelligence. His method of entry has so far been undetermined. This may be due to his great knowledge of the internal structure of buildings and ducts①." Scully studied the slide of the elongated fingerprint. Then she put it down, feeling puzzled②.She couldn't explain the odd print; instead, she dealt with anotheraspectofthemurder. "The removal of the liver is the most important detail of these crimes. The liver possesses restorative ③qualities. It purifies④ the blood." The next morning Scully presented her report to Colton and other agents at the Violent Crimes Section. "The taking of the liver may allow the killer to believe he's cleaning himself of his own impurities," she said. "I think he's acting under the classic form of obsessive-compulsive⑤ behavior." "since the victims are unrelated," she continued, "we can't predict who

① ducts：管道。 ② puzzled：困惑。 ③ restorative：起恢复作用的。 ④ purifies：净化。 ⑤ obsessive-compulsive：强迫性神经症的。

8/37 will be next. But we can use the fact that when serial killers don't succeed in finding a victim, they sometimes return to the site of the previous murder to recapture the emotional high①. So I think we should target② those sites where he's already killed." The stakeouts③ of the murder sites began that night. Three days later Scully parked her car in the garage below George Usher's office building. Mulder was already there. He was examining the duct system because he had heard some banging sounds. Mulder shone his light around the area and realised that the gate was sufficiently open for someone to slip through. He paced through the open gate. The ventilation duct flexed④ from the inside, almost as if it were breathing. Something was scaling⑤ the duct from inside. "Scully!" he shouted, racing towards her car. "Call for backup⑥ and get over here!" Scully made a call on the radio and went up to him. "In there," said Mulder pointing towards the ducts. Scully drew her gun. "Federal agent⑦!" she shouted. "Don't move! I'm armed!" She could just distinguish⑧ a man in the darkness of the opening. He

① high：快感。 ② target：以...为目标。 ③ stakeouts：监视。 ④ flexed：屈曲。 ⑤ scaling：攀爬。 ⑥ backup：支援。 ⑦ federal agent：联邦密探。 ⑧ distinguish：辨别出。

9/37 hesitated① beyond the glare② of the agents' flashlights③.Then he crawled out feet first④. He looked about twenty. He had a childlike face with a high forehead. He wore a tan⑤ uniform with an emblem⑥ that read ANIMAL CONTROL. His face glistened⑦ with sweat. He raised his hands over his head, looking scared to death, like a rabbit caught in handcuffed⑧. The agents handcuffed him. "you are under arrest, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law... "

① hesitated：迟疑。 ② glare：刺眼的光线。 ③ flashlights：手电筒。 ④ crawled out feet first: 以脚先爬出来。 ⑤ tan：黄褐色。 ⑥ emblem：徽章。 ⑦ glistened: 闪烁。 ⑧ handcuffed：给...戴上手铐。

10 / 37 Chapter Four: The Lie-Detector Test

The following day Scully was sitting behind a two-way mirror in the Baltimore Police headquarters. Mulder and Colton were with her. A woman with short blonde hair was getting ready to give a lie-detector test to the suspect. The suspect wore fluorescent① orange prison overalls②. He was sitting in a chair, facing the two-way mirror. Scully knew that though they could see him, he couldn't see them. One of the suspect's arms was tied with a blood-pressure cuff③.Wires④ connected the machine to sensors⑤ on his fingertips. Scully knew that his blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing-rate were going to be measured. A change In anyone of them might testify that he was lying. The woman calibrated⑥ the machine so that the ink ran through the stylus⑦ and the graph paper moved, then she started the test. "Is your full name Eugene Victor Tooms?" she asked. "Yes," the suspect answered. "Do you live in the state of Maryland?” "Yes," Tooms said. "Are you employed by Baltimore Municipal Animal Control?" "Yes," he answered again. The examiner observed the graph paper and marked "7+" next to the

① fluorescent：荧光的。 ② overalls：连衫裤工作服。 ③ cuff：绑在手臂的袖带。 ④ wires：电线。 ⑤ sensors：传感测量仪。 ⑥ calibrated：校准。 ⑦ stylus：描画针。

11 / 37 response. So far, Scully knew, the suspect was telling the truth. "Eugene, is it your intention to lie to me about anything here today?" the woman asked. "No," Tooms answered. He spoke in a monotone, and his eyes seemed glazed, as if he were in a trance①."Were you ever enrolled in college?" "Yes." "Were you ever enrolled in medical school?" "No." "Have you ever removed a liver from a human being?" "No," rooms answered. "Have you ever killed a living creature?" "Yes." Like his voice, rooms's face was absolutely neutral, empty of all emotion. "Have you ever killed a human being?" "No," he replied. "Have you ever been in George Usher's office?" "No," rooms answered. "Did you kill George Usher?" "No," he replied again. "Are you over one hundred years old?" Tooms hesitated, looking astonished by the question. Then he answered, "No." "Have you ever been to Powhatan Mill?" asked the examiner . "Yes," answered Tooms. "In 1933?" Again the suspect hesitated before saying, "No." Some time later the examiner reached Scully and Mulder and said: "As far

① trance：催眠状态。

12 / 37 as I'm concerned, the subject did not kill those people. " "Tooms lied on questions twelve and fourteen," said Mulder pointing to the graph paper. "He's our guy." Colt on stood up and went to the door. Scully could see that he didn't believe Mlilder. "Well, even if he is, I'm letting him go!” The door slammed behind him. The next day Scully sat with Mulder at a computer puter in the Baltimore police station. Mulder had called up Eugene rooms's arrest report. "Here," Mulder said, "are Tooms's fingerprints. And here is an elongated print taken from Usher's office. It matches the old ones from the X-files. This print is from the 1933 murder at Powhatan Mill" Scully looked at Mulder and shrugged①, "There's no match." "No," admitted Mulder, "but what if..." He punched in② a command and the computer stretched Tooms's fingerprint until it was as long and narrow as the one taken from Usher's office. "Just look," Mulder said while running the mouse across its pad. The two images moved towards the centre of the screen until they overlapped③ and the computer beeped. "Match 100%," it read. Scully asked: "How could Tooms's print be exactly the same as a print taken from a murder committed over sixty years ago?" "The only thing I know for sure," said Mulder, "is that they let him go."

① shrugged：耸肩。 ② punched in:：按。 ③ overlapped：重叠。

13 / 37 ChapterFive:AnotherVictim

It was dark when Thomas Werner drove into his driveway①. He opened the car door. He stopped. Something was different tonight. It was so quiet that Werner could hear the wind in the trees and the sound of his own heartbeat. He stepped out of his car and the sensor security light at the side of the house flashed on as he approached. Werner looked around trying to get rid of the strange idea that something was wrong. Evelything's fine, Werner told himself. You're imagining things. Tooms crouched② in the hedges③ on the other side of the street - watching, waiting. When Werner had gone inside the house, Tooms stood up and moved swiftly across the street like an animal following a scent④.He stepped in front of the sensor light but it didn't turn on. Werner hadn't been imagining things. Something was wrong- terribly wrong. Tooms began to search for his point of entry. Before him, going up the side of the house was a brick⑤ chimney. He'd found his way in. He started to pull himself up like a lizard scaling a wall, and with incredible strength lifted himself up onto the roof. Werner was reading his mail in the kitchen when he heard a noise - like a man grunting⑥ with effort. No, he told himself, It's impossible. He began to make himself a drink.

① driveway：私人车道。 ② crouched：蹲。 ③ hedges：篱笆。 ④ scent：气味。 ⑤ brick：砖。 ⑥ grunting：发出咕哝声。

14 / 37 Tooms stuck one arm deep into the chimney and stretched and stretched. He stretched until his hand reached down three floors, until his hand reached the bricks at the bottom of the flue. Carefully Tooms lowered his head into the chimney. With a sickening dull pop, he dislocated first his left shoulder from the socket① and then the right. He could smell Thomas Werner's sweat and feel the heat of the blood in his veins. Slowly he began to squeeze himself down the narrow chimney. In the living room Werner decided to light a fire. He took a log and lit the kindling②. A bright fire began to flicker③. But suddenly the fire died. Werner wondered if something was blocking the flue and stood up to go and get more matches from the kitchen. Werner never even had a chance In scream. His attacker threw him to the floor with unbelievable force and he was unconscious when Eugene Tooms took what he'd come for. The next day Werner's house was filled with people. Mulder stood watching the police take measurements. His eyes widened as he saw something the police had missed - a smudge④ of ash above the hearth⑤. And there was something disturbingly familiar in its long narrow shape. Mulder knelt and examined the mark more carefully. It wasn't very clear but the resemblance to the other prints was strong. He noticed another smudge ofashleadinguptothemantel⑥. The mantel was bare, covered with a fine layer of dust, but in the middle there was a perfectly clean ring. Mulder turned to Scully, "It was Tooms, and he took something from the

① socket：腋窝。 ② kindling：引火柴。 ③ flicker：闪烁不定。 ④ smudge：污迹。 ⑤ hearth：壁炉床。 ⑥ mantel：壁炉架。

15 / 37 mantel." Mulder was sitting in front of a microfiche① machine. The screen displayed a taped form. The first line read, "1903 Census". The census, Mulder knew, would tell him precisely who had been living in Baltimore at that time. Mulder advanced the screen through a few more pages. He bent forward as he found what he was looking for. This copy of the census form had been filled out by hand. The old-fashioned writing read, "Eugene Victor Tooms." Mulder smiled. Finally the pieces of the puzzle were starting to fit together. "I found him," he said. Scully gave her partner a questioning look. "How do we learn about the present?" Mulder asked. "We look to the past. That's where it all started - in 1903 on Exeter Street." He pointed to the screen. Scully began to read the census form aloud. "Residence: apartment 103, Sixty-six Exeter Street, Baltimore, Maryland. Occupation: Dogcatcher." A profession similar to that of the current Tooms, she thought. The following day Scully and Mulder decided to pay a visit to Frank Briggs, the man who had investigated the murders in 1933. So they drove to Baltimore's Lynne Acres Retirement Home where man was living. Briggs was sitting in a wheelchair' in his room and seemed to be waiting for them. He told them that he had left the police in 1968, after 45 years as a cop. "Could you tell us about the 1933 murders?" Mulder asked. Briggs nodded. "I was a sheriff then ... " he began. His voice trailed a way

① microfiche：微缩胶片。

16 / 37 as if I he subject was difficult for him to talk about. "They were like nothing else. I’d seen my share of murders. But I could i1ways go home, play with my kid and forget about them. You've got to be able to do that when you're a cop, otherwise you'd go crazy. But those murders in Powha tan Mill ... " Briggs continued. "When I walked into that room, my heart went cold. I could feel it. " He took a deep breath and went on. "That's why I've been waiting for you," he said. "Because I knew it was never going to go away. And I've been waiting for it to come back." His eyes searched Mulder's face. "It's killed again, hasn't it?" "Four times so far," Mulder told him. Briggs pointed to a trunk① in the corner near his bed. "There's a box in the trunk there," he said. "Would you please get it for me?" Mulder dragged② the trunk towards the man and opened it. He took out an old cardboard box and put it down on the bed. The retired police officer removed the lid, and Scully saw that the box was filled with thick folders. "I knew the five murders in 1963 were committed by the same person," Briggs said, "The same one who'd killed in thirty-three. But by then the sheriff said I was too old. Wouldn't let me near the case. But I kept my own kind of tabs③ on things anyway. I knew that some day there'd be someone who could use what I found." Scully pulled a glass jar④ out of the box. Inside it was a clear liquid that was probably formaldehyde⑤. A chunk⑥ of

① Trunk:有盖的大箱子。 ② dragged：拖，拉。 ③ tabs：资料。 ④ jar：广口瓶。 ⑤ formaldehyde：甲醛（甲醛的水溶液为formalin，用于防腐）。 ⑥ chunk：厚块。

17 / 37 red tissue noated in the liquid. "A piece of a removed liver?" she guessed. Briggs nodded, "Yes! And livers weren't the only trophies① he took." "What do you mean?" Mulder asked. "In each case, family members reported small personal effects② missing," Briggs answered. "A hairbrush from the WaIters murder. coffee mug from the Taylor murder." Mulder's eyes met Scully's. They were both thinking of the object missing from Werner's mantel. "Have you ever heard the name Eugene Victor Tooms?" asked Mulder. The old man looked through a pile of black and white glossy photographs. He handed a grainy③ one to Mulder. "That's Tooms. Thirty years ago." A chill④ went through Scully as she realised that in 1963 Tooms had looked exactly the way he did thirty years later. He hadn't grown old. "Where did Tooms live?" Mulder asked. "Sixty-six Exeter Street?" "That's it," Briggs said, looking satisfied. "Right there." Mulder held out the photograph to Scully and she inspected it more closely. The photograph showed a tall brick building, like a warehouse⑤,on a narrow street. A sign on it read PIERRE PARIS & SONS. Mulder held his hand out to Frank Briggs. "Thank you," he said. "You've been a tremendous⑥ help." He turned to Scully and said, "I think it's time you and I checked out Sixty-six Exeter Street."

① trophies：纪念品。 ② effects：财物。 ③ grainy：有明显颗粒的。 ④ chill：寒颤。 ⑤ warehouse：仓库。 ⑥ tremendous：巨大的。

18 / 37 Scully nodded and felt something tightening in the pit of her stomach①. They were getting closer to Tooms and she couldn't help feeling afraid of what they would find.

① Scully …felt … pit of her stomach: 斯卡莉探员感到案情渐有头绪，律己可能发生 的事情，心情十分沉重。

19 / 37 Chapter Six: The Nest①

Sixty-six Exeter Street was an old, red-brick building, whose windows were boarded up②. Scully stared up at the building. If Mulder and Briggs were right, this was where Eugene Victor Tooms had lived in 1903. And in 1963. Was he here now? They stepped inside the building, drew their weapons and switched on their flashlights. Scully led the way down the hallway to the apartment where Eugene Tooms had lived, and pushed open the door. The room was empty except for some garbage③ on the floor. Athintrickle④ of light filtered through the rotting⑤ wood. Nothing in Scully's scientific training had prepared her for this. This was not the sort of phenomenon she normally believed in: that you could go inside an empty room and reel something awful, like a memory trapped in the walls, in the air. Something horrible had happened there. And the feel of it was still present. Scully played the beam or her light along the walls. She wanted to focus Oil the physical. She wanted evidence she could touch, proof that would hold up in court. She realised that the brick outer wall showed through the torn plasterboard. The paint peeled from the walls. A stained mattress leaned against a wall. But there was no sign of Tooms. Clearly it had been ages since anyone had lived in the apartment.

① nest：巢。 ② boarded up：用木板封掉。 ③ garbage：垃圾。 ④ trickle：一丝。 ⑤ rotting：腐朽的。

20 / 37 "There's nothing here," Scully said to Mulder. But the old mattress caught Mulder's attention. He shone his flashlight behind it. "Check this out," he said. Scully saw what had drawn① his attention: a hole about four feet high, cut straight through the plasterboard. Big enough, Scully thought, for a man to fit through. She sent the beam of her flashlight straight down and saw a ladder dropping into the darkness. "What's down there?" Mulder asked. "I don't know," Scully answered. "Let's find out." Without hesitating, Scully lowered herself onto the metal ladder. The pendant② on her necklace swung out③ as she started to climb down. Mulder was right behind her. When they reached the bottom, they were in a very dark area. Scully shone her light overhead. Heavy pipes④ crossed low ceiling joists⑤.They were definitely in the basement of the building. It was chilly and damp⑥. And it felt even worse than it had in the apartment. Scully fought back a shiver⑦. The two agents began to check out the dark basement. Finally Scully shook her head. "Nothing," she said, disappointed. "It's just an old coal cellar." "What's that?" Mulder asked. He aimed his flashlight straight ahead.

① drawn：吸引。 ② pendant：垂饰。 ③ swung out：摆动。 ④ pipes：管子。 ⑤ joists：托梁。 ⑥ damp：潮湿的。 ⑦ fought back a shiver: 尽力地把内心的震颤压抑下去。

21 / 37 Something reflected the light to him. He walked towards the shiny object. "Somebody having a garage sale?" he said. On a wooden crate① sat a collection of objects: a pipe, a coffee mug, a glass cigarette lighter and other things. Scully nodded, thinking of what Briggs had told them about Tooms. "Briggs said he kept trophies." Mulder picked up the cigarette lighter. "This is the shape that was on Werner's mantel" "Does Tooms live in here?" Mulder asked himself aloud. He sent the beam of his light across the coal cellar. The far wall was damp. "It looks like the wall's deteriorating②, "Scully said. "No," Mulder said. "Somebody made it that way." Before Scully could ask him what he meant, Mulder went over to examine the wall. Seconds later she was at his side. He was right, she saw. Someone had plastered a strange assortment③ of things against the wall. Greasy④ rags⑤, torn strips of newspaper, and trash⑥ were all stuck together to form a large mound⑦. It extended from ceiling to floor and wall to wall. "It's a nest," Mulder said in wonder. Scully saw that the nest had been stuck together with a greenish-yellow substance. In the very centre of the mound was a hole. "Look," she said, "this must be the opening. Do you think there's anything inside?" Mulder reached inside the hole and touched it.

① crate：板条箱。 ② deterorating：崩解。 ③ assortment：混杂物。 ④ greasy：有油脂的。 ⑤ rags：破布。 ⑥ trash：垃圾。 ⑦ mound：一堆。

22 / 37 Scully was about to do the same and then she realized what the substance was. "Oh, my God, Mulder." She tried not to gag①,butshefeltsicktoher stomach. "It smells like ... I think it's bile. Tooms must have taken it from his victims' livers." "I think this is where Tooms ... hibernates." "Hibernates②?" echoed Scully. "What if some genetic mutation could allow a man to awaken every thirty years?" said Mulder, excited by his idea. "What if the five livers could provide sustenance③ for that period; allowing him to regenerate the cells in his body so that he never aged?" Scully didn't find this wild theory possible. She and Mulder had something more serious to worry about. "Tooms isn't here now. But he's going to come back." Mulder nodded, "We're going to need a surveillance④ team." The two agents started⑤ out of the coal cellar. This time Mulder was in the lead⑥. Scully suddenly stopped, with a sharp intake of breath. "Wait," she called. "I-" Mulder spun⑦ around. "What is it?" "I-I think I'm entangled⑧ in something," Scully said. She twisted⑨ a bit. Whatever had been caught was abruptly⑩ set free. ''It's okay," she called.

① gag：作呕。 ② hibernates：冬眠。 ③ sustenance：食物，养料。 ④ surveillance：监视。 ⑤ started：移动。 ⑥ in the lead：在前面。 ⑦ spun：转身。 ⑧ entangled：缠住。 ⑨ twisted：扭动。 ⑩ abruptly：突然的。

23 / 37 ''I'm fine." She followed Mulder up the ladder and out of the coal cellar. The coal cellar's ceiling was topped with pipes. If Scully had shone her flashlight right above her, she might have seen a hand tightened the pipes. A hand that now held her necklace. If she'd shone her light even higher, she would have seen the fire-red eyes of Eugene Tooms. He'd been there all the time. Now his eyes followed the agents as they left the cellar. His hand tightened on Scully's necklace. A trophy for each victim. He'd just found number five.

24 / 37 Chapter Seven: Scully in Danger

Scully was distracted① as she drove home. Her thoughts went back to Briggs. She remembered his talking about how he could usually forget a case when he went home. How that was essential if you were going to do police work and not go mad. Tonight, though, that was impossible. This case stayed with her every second of the day. Scully parked in front of her building and walked towards the lit entryway. What she couldn't know was that this case had come home with her. Eugene Tooms hid behind the car that was parked in front of hers, watching her every movement. Darkness covered the city. Rush hour② was almost over. The downtown③ sidewalks④ were empty. Mulder found himself returning to 66 Exeter Street. He'd been nervous all day. He hadn't been able to eat or sleep. Scully went into her apartment and resolved⑤ to take a hot bath. She went into the bathroom and turned on the hot and cold taps, adjusting them until the water was the right temperature. She wished Mulder would call back. She couldn't really relax until she talked to him. She was about to pin up her hair when she realized that her hairbrush was in her purse⑥. And her purse was in her bedroom. She went into the bedroom to get the brush. That was why she didn't see the outline⑦ of a man's body pressed against her bathroom window.

① distracted：精神不能集中。 ② rush hour：交通高峰时间。 ③ downtown：市中心。 ④ sidewalks：人行道。 ⑤ resolved：决定。 ⑥ purse：手提包。 ⑦ outline：轮廓。

25 / 37 At Sixty-six Exeter Street Mulder pushed through the broken door of apartment 103. As soon as he entered the apartment his heart began to race①. He had never been so sure that Evil was a living, breathing presence. There was no doubt in his mind. Tooms had been back. The old mattress was precisely② where he and Scully had left it. He went through the hole in the wall. He then climbed down the ladder into the coal cellar. He cast③ the beam④ of his flashlight onto the wooden crate. Tooms's trophies shone back at him. Mulder recognized the pipe and cigarette lighter. But this time there was a new trophy too. One that sent ice through Mulder's veins. Hanging from the trophy crate was Scully's necklace. Scully stood in her bedroom, facing her mirror. She was pinning up her hair for her bath. Her mind was still on the case. She knew they'd got closer to finding Tooms. And what they'd found made her agitated⑤. Could Mulder possibly be right? she wondered. Is Tooms some kind of mutant who hibernates for thirty years and then keeps himself alive by murdering people and eating their livers? Has he really been alive since the beginning of the century? Scully shook her head. Until she saw medical tests that proved otherwise, she'd deal with Tooms as a human. A very dangerous human. She went back into the bathroom just in time to shut off the water. The tub was nearly full. She reached over to one of the shelves and chose a bottle of

① race：急速跳动。 ② precisely：正是。 ③ cast：指向。 ④ beam：光线。 ⑤ agitated：使人不安。

26 / 37 blue bath oil, and then she poured it into the steaming① tub. The smell of rosemary filled the room. She started to undress, but she stopped as she realised she'd forgotten to bringinherrobe② from the bedroom. The case definitely had her distracted, she told herself. She returned to the bedroom. That was when she felt it. Something damp on her wrist③. She held it up to the light and saw two drops of clear greenish-yellow liquid. It doesn't make sense, she thought. The bath oil was blue. And furthermore, she hadn't spilled④ any. She thought for a second. The building was an old one. Maybe there was a leak⑤ in the ceiling from the apartment above her. She looked up at the ceiling and felt the muscles in her chest tighten⑥ with fear. Right above her was a heating grate. A thick greenish-yellow liquid was pooling⑦ in the corner of the grate. No, Scully thought. She fought down a surge⑧ of panic⑨. She lifted her hand and smelt the fluid on her wrist. Her body froze with terror as she recognised the smell. She was suddenly horribly aware of how alone she was. and of how many hiding places there were in her apartment. Especially for someone who could squeeze himself inside a pipe. Or under a counter. Or into the air vent above her.

① steaming：冒着蒸汽的。 ② robe：浴袍。 ③ wrist：手腕。 ④ spilled：溅出。 ⑤ leak：裂缝。 ⑥ tighten：勒索。 ⑦ pooling：形成水洼。 ⑧ surge：涌起来。 ⑨ panic：恐慌。

27 / 37 She touched the greenish-yellow substance. She had to be sure. And she was. There was no mistaking it. It could only be bile from a human liver. “Oh, my god ,”she said quietly.

28 / 37 Chapter Eight: The Hunt

Mulder was already sitting in his car, driving speedily to Scully's apartment. All he could think about was what he'd found in the basement of Sixty-six Exeter Street. Tooms has Scully's necklace. That could mean only one thing: Scully was going to be the fifth victim. Mulder reached for his cellular phone① and dialed Scully's number. Scully's phone rang and rang and rang. "Come on, Scully," he muttered②. "Answer!" But all he heard was the sound of her phone ringing endlessly. Somehow this alarmed him even more than seeing Scully's necklace in Tooms's apartment. Mulder tried Scully's number again, and then he threw down the phone and hit the gas pedal hard③. He hoped he wasn't too late. There was, in fact, a reason why Scully wasn't answering. She didn't answer because her phone never rang: someone had cut the wires to her phone. For a second, panic froze every muscle in Scully's body. I'm alone in the apartment with Tooms. Her heart hammered④ a rhythm of terror through her veins. Tooms is hunting me. She ordered herself to take a deep breath. The panic broke and instinct took over. She raced for the bedroom. She had to get her gun. She'd left only one light on in the room. The rest of the bedroom was dark.

① cellular phone：移动电话。 ② muttered：喃喃自语。 ③ hit the gas pedal hard：踏油门使汽车加速。 ④ hammered：敲打。

29 / 37 Tooms could be anywhere. In her closet. Under the bed. Crouching in the shadows. Please, she thought, don't let him be in here. Frantically she looked for the gun. She forced herself to think calmly. Where had she left it? She knew she'd brought the gun home from work. In her bag. The gun was still in her bag. And the bag was on the bed. She ran across the room. She reached for her bag and opened it. Her heart slowed as her fingers closed on the familiar metal barrel①. Now she was the hunter. She braced② the gun with both hands straight in front of her. Slowly she began to move through the apartment, searching for Tooms. She looked under the bed, in the closet, under the desk, anywhere he might be. But she was the only one in the bedroom. Tooms was still in the apartment, she was sure of it. And he was hiding. She went back to the bathroom, moving slowly, silently. She looked up at an air vent in the hall ceiling. Nothing. She whirled③ as she thought she heard a noise behind her. She trained④ her weapon on a heating grille just above the floor. Nothing again. She didn't see the cover of the heating grille opening. She only heard a crack as it flew off the wall and hit the hardwood floor. Instantly Tooms's hand shot out of the vent and locked around her leg, pulling it out from under her. Scully hit the floor hard. The gun fell from her hand. Terror paralysed her⑤ as she stared at Tooms. The rectangular air vent framed his face. He

① barrel：枪管。 ② braced：紧握着。 ③ whirled：快速转身。 ④ trained：把。。。对准。 ⑤ terror paralysed her：恐惧令她无法动弹。

30 / 37 no longer looked fearful and innocent. He looked like a vicious① predator② about to devour③ its prey④. For a long moment Scully and Tooms locked stares⑤. Then a low, animal growl⑥ filled the apartment. And Tooms, using unbelievable strength, began to pull her towards him. Scully knew that she'd never been up against anything like Tooms. That this would be the hardest fight of her life. And that if she didn't win, it would be the last.

① vicious：凶猛的。 ② predator：猎食其他动物的猛兽。 ③ devour：狼吞虎咽地吃。 ④ prey：猎物。 ⑤ locked states:瞪目相向。 ⑥ growl：低沉地怒吼。

31 / 37 ChapterNine:TheFight

Mulder's car screeched to a halt① outside Scully's apartment building. He got out of the car and stood for a moment. His eyes scrutinised② the fourth- floor windows. There was a light on in Scully's apartment. She was there, all right. And he was sure that Tooms was there with her. Mulder rushed into the entrance of the building and ran upstairs. In a short time he was at Scully's door. "Scully!" He banged on the door. There was no answer. "Scully!" Still no answer. He tried the knob. Scully had been careful, as usual. The door was tightly locked. Mulder put his ear to the door. There were sounds coming from inside the apartment, as though some sort of fight was going on. At least she's still alive, Mulder told himself. But he knew that unless he got in there fast, Scully had only a few minutes left to live. Scully knew she had to get out of③ Tooms's hold. And she had to get her gun back. Frantically she got hold of the bathroom door frame. Using all her strength, she pulled herself towards it. At the same time she kicked violently at the arm that held her ankle④. She kicked again. This time she managed to wrestle free⑤ of Tooms's grip. Still on her back, she slid⑥ away from the duct and into the bathroom.

① screeched to a halt：发出尖锐声地突然刹车。 ② scrutinised：仔细观察。 ③ get out of Toom’s hold：从Tooms的手中逃脱。 ④ ankle：脚踝。 ⑤ wrestle free：挣脱。 ⑥ slid：滑行。

32 / 37 She paused for a second, terrified and breathless. Then she watched in disbelief as Tooms's body stretched impossibly long and narrow and shot① out of the air duct. Scully never even had time to shout. One second he was in the air. The next he'd landed on top of her, pinning② her to the ground. Scully struggled to escape, but Tooms was too powerful for her. He held her down with the strength of ten. He stank③ of sweat and bile. Scully wrenched④ her body to the side, trying to throw him off her. Tooms grabbed⑤ her chin with one hand. Then he lifted his other hand. She knew what he was planning. He was going to hit her and knock her out so that he could take what he wanted without a fight. Scully didn't know if she had enough strength to escape him. But she certainly had enough to make things difficult. Before he could hit her, she landed a hard uppercut⑥ on his jaw⑦. Tooms's head snapped back⑧,and Scully felt a flash of hope. At least he could be hurt. Tooms drew back his arm again. This time Scully reached up with both hands. Like a cat, she went for his eyes with her nails⑨, scratching⑩.Ifshe could blind him, she'd have a chance. With a cry of rage, Tooms seized her wrists. She gasped as he slammed them to the floor above her head. With one hand he pinned them there.

① shot：飞快的移动。 ② pinning：用身体压住。 ③ stank：发出难闻的异味。 ④ wrenched：用力扭转。 ⑤ grabbed抓住。 ⑥ landed a hard uppercut：施以上钩拳。 ⑦ jaw：下巴。 ⑧ snapped back：迅速向后移动。 ⑨ nails：指甲。 ⑩ scratching：抓。

33 / 37 And with the other he reached for her right side. His eyes burned fire red with hunger. Scully's heart was beating so fast she thought it would explode. Terror flashed through her. This was it. She knew exactly what was going to happen. The same thing that had happened to the other victims. Tooms was going to kill her so that he could live and kill again. Andshewashelplesstostophim. Mulder kicked open Scully's door and rushed to the bathroom. He entered. For a second he didn't even notice Tooms. All he saw was that Scully was still alive. Then Mulder's brain quickly made sense of the scene. Tooms had released her. He stood with his face to the bathroom window. A shattering sound① filled the room as Tooms's bare fist② smashed through the frosted glass③. With inhuman strength, Tooms stretched his hand up and began to lift himself towards the opening in the glass. But Scully was up. And she wasn't about to let Tooms escape. She grabbed his legs. "Freeze④!" Mulder shouted. But he couldn't shoot. Scully was in the way. Mulder's heart sank⑤ as Tooms turned on Scully. He grabbed her throat and pushed her backwards. Mulder had a good idea how strong Tooms was. Scully was about two seconds away from having her neck snapped⑥.

① shattering sound：玻璃破碎的声音。 ② fist：拳头。 ③ frosted glass：磨砂玻璃。 ④ Freeze：不许动。 ⑤ Mulder's heart sank ：Mulde心一沉，感到没有希望。 ⑥ snapped：断裂。

34 / 37 Quickly Mulder opened his handcuffs and went after Tooms. He seized Tooms's arm, but he wasn't fast enough to cuff him. Tooms let go of Scully and whirled to face Mulder. Like an angered bull, Tooms charged①, knocking Mulder to the floor. Mulder rolled, then kicked at Tooms. It didn't stop Tooms, but it bought Mulder a little time and distance. He knew that if Tooms actually got hold of him, he wouldn't have a chance. Tooms stood over him now, roaring like a hurt animal. Scully caught Tooms's other arm. She snapped Mulder's open handcuff around Tooms's wrist and fastened the other cuff to the bathtub faucet②. Instantly Mulder was up, his automatic trained on Tooms. Tooms jerked ③at the metal cuff. He twisted and pulled. But the old fixtures④ were strong. And gradually Tooms settled down. This time he couldn't escape. With his gun on Tooms, Mulder glanced⑤ at Scully. She was leaning against the wall, still breathing hard. "Are you all right?" Mulder asked her. Scully nodded. She was trembling and she looked exhausted. Mulder glanced back at their prisoner. "Well, at least he's not going to get this year's quota⑥." Scully smiled, for the first time all day.

① charged：猛冲。 ② faucet：水龙头。 ③ jerket：拉。 ④ fixtures：水管装置。 ⑤ glanced：瞥视。 ⑥ quota：定额。

35 / 37 Chapter Ten: Squeeze

In a tiny cell① in the Maryland State psychiatric ward②, Eugene Tooms sat on the narrow prison bed. He was holding a newspaper. He began to rip③ the paper into long, narrow strips. Tooms lifted one of the strips and ran his tongue across it. He crumpled④ the slimy⑤ paper in his hand. Then he tossed⑥ it at the wall in the corner of his cell. It slid to the floor at the base of a growing mound of shredded⑦ papers. Tooms picked up another strip of paper and ran it along his tongue. He gazed at the corner with contentment⑧. It looked a lot like the wall in the basement of Sixty-six Exeter Street. Mulder stood outside the door to Tooms's cell and stared through the small circular observation window. He knew that the door was made of steel. And that the barred⑨ cell was fortified⑩ by a strong chain link. Tooms was safely imprisoned. So why did he still seem so scary11? Mulder watched as Tooms methodically shredded12 the newspaper and added the pieces to the pile on the wall. Mulder didn't look away even when he heard Scully's footsteps coming towards him from the other end of the corridor.

① cell：囚室。 ② ward：病房。 ③ rip：撕开。 ④ crumpled：挤皱。 ⑤ slimy：粘稠的。 ⑥ tossed：扔，掷。 ⑦ shredded：碎条状的。 ⑧ contentment：满足。 ⑨ barred：有铁条闩住的。 ⑩ fortified：加固。 11 scary：惊恐的。 12 shredded：撕碎。

36 / 37 "Look at him," Mulder said in a troubled voice. "He's building another nest." Just the sight of Tooms made Scully's skin crawl①. His building a new nest was not a good sign. Still, he was finally in custody②. Scully put a hand on Mulder's shoulder. "Come on. It's time to go," she said gently. Eugene Tooms tore another strip of paper, wet it with saliva③,andadded it to his nest. A narrow slot④ II in the door opened. A guard slid a food tray into the slot, leaving it open so that Tooms could put the tray back when he had finished. Tooms's eyes glowed red as he gazed at the light pouring through the narrow opening on the cell's door. A smile crossed his face. It was a very narrow slot. Maybe only six inches high and nine inches wide. But that actually wasn't a problem if you knew how to squeeze...

① crawl：毛骨悚然。 ② custody：监禁。 ③ saliva：唾液。 ④ slot：狭缝。

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